Wednesday, July 5, 2023 edition - An afternoon in Chilliwack

Wednesday, July 5, 2023 | Today: ☀️ High 26C

Good morning!

Here at The Current, we started a series of articles we’ve been calling “tourist in your town.” We took a bit of a break after the first one because I didn’t have a functional car. But I’m back on the beat with a great new (to me) set of wheels. Today, you’ll find the next instalment of these little journeys, this one taking place in downtown Chilliwack!

Join our newest members William and Edward and support local journalism by becoming an Insider. Members can scroll to the bottom of this article for an icy preview of a coming series of stories.

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

Breakfast, books, and historic battles: An afternoon in Chilliwack

There are few problems that polish sausages and a lavender latte can’t fix.

That’s one of the many things I learned when I became a tourist in Chilliwack for a day. I arrived cold and hungry. But exploring the downtown area—its coffee shops, restaurants, stores and bookshop (especially the bookstore) turned the day around pretty quickly.

• Today, we take a tour of Chilliwack.

Need to know

🧑‍🌾 Emma’s Acres, a Mission farm that employs former prison inmates, may lose its funding [Vancouver Sun]

👉️ Harrison Hot Springs has filled several positions in its ranks of senior staff after a tumultuous period [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

👏 A 99-year-old great grandmother celebrated her birthday by jumping out of a plane in Abbotsford [Global]

🚢 Continent-wide slowdowns loom as cargo loaders at BC ports strike [CBC]

☕️ A new Popkum Starbucks will not open until September [Fraser Valley Today]

🚛 A prolific offender who crashed a stolen semi truck in Abbotsford was sentenced to another year in prison [Abbotsford News]

🏎️ The Aldergrove Fair’s show ‘n’ shine will be back this summer [Aldergrove Star]

➡️ A walk to raise money for mental wellness in Langley brought in $8,000 [Langley Advance Times]

👯 Local dance studios in Chilliwack are combating stigma surrounding drug use with performance art [Chilliwack Progress]

✒️ A Chilliwack mom is collecting pen-to-paper signatures to change rules around Amber Alerts [Chilliwack Progress]

👉️ A man died while trying to cross the Chehalis River near Harrison Mills on Canada Day [Fraser Valley Today]

💵 A fundraiser in Chilliwack brought in $13,000 for the Alzheimer Society of BC [Chilliwack Progress]

The Agenda

Summer schedules in effect for Chilliwack pools

Chilliwack pools will be open for more hours during the summer months—but they’ll stay closed on alternating weekend days.

Both the Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre and the Cheam Leisure Centre will add a few more hours to their aquatic schedules this summer. The Current reported in March that the pools were open far below the 110 hours per week the city requires from the YMCA, the contractor it hired last year to operate them.

This spring, the Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre was open 55.5 hours each week, with shorter hours Thursday through Saturday, and closed Sundays. This summer, it will be open for longer on Thursdays and Fridays for a total of 77.5 hours per week. It will stay closed on Sundays.

The Cheam Leisure Centre saw similar incremental increases. It will now be open Tuesday and Thursday mornings in July, and have longer hours on Sundays. The pool will be open for a total of 79 hours a week, up from 62.5 hours this spring. The pool will remain closed on Saturdays.

The number of swimmers allowed in each pool at any given time (determined at least in part by how many lifeguards can be scheduled) is also increasing for both pools over the summer.

Cheam will allow up to 160 swimmers in its highest-capacity timeslots (public swims, largely) while during the spring it could only allow up to 80.

Chilliwack Landing will also allow up to 160 swimmers. While it had some swimming sessions with that capacity during the spring, they will become more common over the summer.

🤝 Now hiring

• Vehicle acquisition specialist at Murray GM in Abbotsford

• Armed guard at Brinks in Langley

• Local area coordinator at YFU Canada in Mission

• Dog walker at Lower Mainland Dog Walkers in Langley

• Clinic manager at Optimum Sport and Health Centre in Chilliwack

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.

Any guesses as to where this week’s Current Cam was taken? Fill out this form with your best guess—or with a picture we can use in a future edition.

Things to do

🖼️ Art at the Farm: Langley's Fort Gallery is hosting Art Jam at the Farm, a day of workshops in the garden and studio on Saturday, July 8, at 9am. Register online.

🚴‍♀️ Ride for hope: The Terry Fox Ride of Hope, a fundraising event for the Terry Fox Foundation, will see a team of cyclists ride 360km from Port Coquitlam to Chilliwack on Saturday. You can donate here, and if you see them on the roads, give them space.

🪕 Music Festival: The 36th annual Mission Folk Music Festival takes place July 21 to 23 at Fraser River Heritage Park. This event features music, stories, songs, and dance from across Canada and around the world. More online.

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