Wednesday - Nov. 22, 2023 - Chilliwack's king of social media history

⛅️ High 8C

Good morning!

My computer cord is making a mysterious buzzing, crackling noise. This, on its own, is a little alarming. Could a faulty cord burn down the building? Could it perhaps fry my shiny, treasured MacBook? But there’s a silver lining to this ugly electric storm cloud. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are both rolling down the treacherous hill of November towards us. So it might be the best time of year for an expensive chunk of tech to give up the ghost.

I just have to make sure nothing important burns or fries until Friday.

– Grace

Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.

NEWS

Chilliwack’s king of social media history

Irene Bunt was born in Popkum—a then-tiny and still-tiny community outside of Chilliwack—in 1891. 

Ten years later, in 1901, Irene and her family moved to downtown Chilliwack, an increasingly bustling community of settlers where her family played a prominent role—her grandfather was Isaac Kipp, one of the first white men to move to the area. 

Irene would grow up roaming the streets of her town and the surrounding area. In 1904, she met train robber Billy Miner while he was holed up in Chilliwack. Three years later, she was photographed hiking towards the peak of Mt. Cheam. Irene would remain in Chilliwack all her life, developing a passion for learning about and passing on the still relatively recent history of the settlement she called home. 

Irene died in 1988 at the age of 97. In her later years, Irene tried to pass on her passion for history to her grandson Merlin. It must have seemed at the time like those attempts had been in vain. They weren’t. Because unbeknownst to her, they had helped spark a nine-year history project that would have been unimaginable to anyone living before the spread of social media.

• Today, Tyler writes about how a Chilliwack man turned a need for a hobby and a belated interest in local history into a beloved social media account and—soon—a book.

Related

Need to Know

🚗 A car crashed into a Langley restaurant on Tuesday [Langley Advance Times]

💰️ Harrison’s mayor is offering a $5,000 reward for identification of the ‘village mole’ [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🏂️ A lack of snow could mean a late start to BC’s ski season [Global]

🚛 Heavy truck traffic will be rerouted outside of downtown Mission [Mission Record]

🎄 Organizers of Christmas in Williams Park are asking volunteers to come out and help set up Christmas lights on Saturday [Langley Advance Times]

🏘️ A six-storey affordable-housing project will go to a public hearing in Chilliwack [Chilliwack Progress]

👉️ One person was wounded in a shooting in a residential neighbourhood in Langley [CTV]

🐶 A trio of husky puppies were stolen in Abbotsford [Abbotsford News]

👉️ Striking Metro Vancouver wastewater workers have reached a deal [Langley Advance Times]

The Agenda

Downtown Langley parking lot closing

A parking lot on the Fraser Highway in the retail centre of Langley City will be sold.

The lot, technically a part of the highway itself, is tucked behind an empty lot on the corner of the highway and Glover Road where the Fraser Highway turns into a one-way street.

Carl Johannsen, Langley City’s director of developmental services, explained that the space was no longer being used for its intended purpose, and that it was being offered for sale to the property owner to the west.

If all goes according to plan, though, downtown Langley won’t permanently lose any parking spots. The city intends to buy back 30 parking spots when the lot is redeveloped.

Eventually, the owner intends to combine the two lots and rezone them for a new, mixed-use building on the corner. Johannsen expected the application to appear before council sometime next year.

New garden opens at Hope Arts Gallery

A new garden has opened at the Hope Arts Gallery and Art Machine.

The garden was completed this week after a team of volunteers, including a horticulturist, pulled invasive species, planted native plants, removed a dead tree, and added topsoil in the area.

The space also includes a patio, a pergola, and a carving donated by a member of the Hope Arts Council last year. Though the garden could soon be covered in snow for the next several months, the arts council is encouraging visitors to check it out before winter truly sets in.

🤝 Now hiring

• Environmental outreach assistant at City of Abbotsford

• Career group facilitator at Mission Community Skills Centre Society in Mission

• Pharmacy technician assistant at Medical Shoppe 148 in Abbotsford

• School psychologist at Chilliwack School District

Hiring in the Fraser Valley? Reply back and let us know!

📸 Current Cam

Each week we showcase a different photo from across the valley and invite readers to share their best guesses about where it was taken.

Think you know where this week’s Current Cam was taken? Fill out this form.

🗓 Things to do

Saturday, Nov. 25: Gladwin Heights United Church will hold its annual Holiday Market and Tea on Saturday, complete with a special visit from a certain super-jolly somebody. Details online.

Saturday, Nov. 25: The cast of Very Very Improv Theatre will perform a show full of comedy games and long-form improv at Bez Arts Hub in Langley. Details online.

Wednesday, Nov. 22: The Chilliwack Hospice Society is hosting its annual memorial celebration today at 6pm at the Vineyard Community Centre. Details online.

Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

Catch up

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