Thursday, August 24, 2023 edition -- An unexpected welcome

Thursday, August 24, 2023 | ☀️ High 23C

Good morning!

If you read Harrison Mooney’s memoir, Invisible Boy, and enjoyed it as much as I did, or even simply found it thought-provoking, you’re in luck. Today and tomorrow we have a two-part update with Mooney about life after writing about his life.

Thank you to new members like Holly and Elinor! Join them and become an Insider here.

WORTH KNOWING

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

⚠️ Here’s the current smoke forecast / Check the BC Wildfire Dashboard here

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

NEWS

The 'remarkable' return of Harrison Mooney

Harrison Mooney thought he was done with Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley.

But the valley wasn’t done with him.

• Last year, Mooney published a memoir about growing up in a religious fundamentalist Abbotsford household. Tyler recently talked to Mooney about the valley’s reaction to the acclaimed book, and what comes next after one puts their soul onto paper—and into the public.

Need to know

🔥 The Kookipi Creek wildfire north of Boston Bar is now 14,426 hectares in size; the Stein Mountain wildfire is up to 1,811 hectares. Evacuation orders remain in place for Kanaka Bar and Boothroyd First Nation; an alert remains in place for Boston Bar and Lytton [BCWS]

🚦 Four Abbotsford intersections are getting renovations [Abbotsford News]

🏢 A new Chilliwack RCMP building remains vacant nearly a year after its grand opening [Fraser Valley Today]

🚗 A red convertible, along with other valuable items, was stolen from a Mission home [Mission Record]

🏚️ A house in Hope caught fire on Tuesday [Fraser Valley Today]

🚲️ Mission plans to open its new greenway for pedestrians and cyclists along 7th Avenue [City of Mission]

👉️ Abbotsford police responded to a call Tuesday morning concerning a man passed out next to a gun; the weapon turned out to be an airsoft pistol [Abbotsford News]

🤿 A GoPro lost 12 years ago while cliff diving in Cultus Lake resurfaced with the help of an underwater drone [Chilliwack Progress]

🚓 Abbotsford Police are looking for a damaged Mercedes involved in a hit-and-run Tuesday [Abbotsford Police/Facebook]

👉️ Agassiz residents voiced their opinions to council about increased housing density [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🔥 The Kookipi Creek fire destroyed the Nahatlatch lookout tower [Hope Standard]

➡️ The Sardis Bottle Depot is opening a new facility on Vedder Road [Fraser Valley Today]

🥇 The Abbotsford 55-Plus BC Games are officially underway [55+ BC Games/Facebook]

📷 CURRENT CAM: Congrats to Pat Legacy, who was the first to identify the mural outside Theatre of the Mind Books in Mission as the location of yesterday’s Current Cam photo.

📈 The Fraser Valley’s new inaugural Digital Marketing Conference is happening in a couple weeks! Get your ticket and check out this a prime opportunity for professional growth.*

*Sponsored Listing

The Agenda

Fraser Health taking in relocated evacuees

Long-term care residents and hospital patients arrived in Vancouver from both Kelowna and Yellowknife after wildfires forced them to evacuate over the last week.

Patients from Yellowknife’s Stanton Territorial Hospital were placed in Lower Mainland hospital beds, including those in the Fraser Valley, after they arrived at YVR via Royal Canadian Air Force medical evacuations on August 19.

Fraser Health is “augmenting” staff at centres in Vancouver that are taking in evacuees from long-term care homes in Kelowna. Residents of the Vineyards Residence in Kelowna were temporarily relocated to George Pearson Centre and Villa Cathay in Vancouver.

SPONSORED BY ABBOTSFORD TECH DISTRICT

Agritech and affordability in Abbotsford

Housing affordability has decreased significantly in the past 5 years, especially in desirable communities like Abbotsford.

Abbotsford Tech District will deliver affordable housing for young people and families in a complete community with high-quality education and well-paying jobs. It will strengthen food security through education, innovation, and commercialization in agricultural technology.

Throwback Thursday

Hell’s Gate, an abrupt narrows in the Fraser Canyon downstream of Boston Bar, received its name from the journal of explorer Simon Fraser. He wrote that it was “a place where no human should venture, for surely these are the gates of Hell” in 1808.

This photo, taken in the 1920s, shows Hell’s Gate after the rockslide that decimated salmon migration up the river in 1914. The Nlaka'pamux people had fished in the area for centuries and the slide—caused by railroad construction nearby—shrunk the channel and intensified the current to the point of overwhelming the migrating salmon. The limited salmon in the area afterwards, and the restrictions that the Canadian government put in place to try and help the fish, forced nearby Indigenous communities to find new ways to feed themselves.

🗓 Things to do

Ongoing, August 24 to 30

🎈 Langley’s 150th birthday: The Township of Langley is holding a celebration to celebrate its 150th birthday this weekend from Friday, August 25 to Sunday, August 27. Different parks and spots across the town will involve various free games, activities, vendors, and entertainment. More info available online.

🎞️ Film festival: The second season of the Abbotsford Film Festival runs from Friday, August 25 to Saturday, August 26 at The Reach Gallery. Watch a wide selection of short films and documentaries. More info online.

🌻 See some sunflowers: The Harrison Sunflower Festival is running every day this week form 10am to 6pm. Advanced tickets are a little cheaper, find more information online. 

Thursday, August 24

🎹 Outdoor concert: The Jodi Proznik Ensemble will play an outdoor concert on Thursday, August 24 at the amphitheatre in Willoughby Community Park as part of Langley’s Summer Festival Series. Details online.

🥧 Blackberry bake-off: The Langley Demonstration Garden hosts its Blackberry Bake Off Thursday, August 24. Enter your own blackberry creation, enjoy a $5 barbecue, and tour the site. Details online.

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