Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - Disaster survivors and music therapy

Wednesday, June 20, 2023 | Today: 🌧 High 20C

Good morning!

Did you know that jetpacks were invented a while ago (in, like, the 1980s)? I didn’t. They look pretty unwieldy and difficult and, honestly, like they could accidentally barbecue an unsuspecting bystander, but they exist! And they may have neat practical applications: this video shows their use in a simulated search and rescue operation. At the bottom of the newsletter, members can hear what Chilliwack search and rescue volunteer Adam Laurie has to say about potential future jetpack rescues in the valley.

Join new members like Pamela, Tristan, and Kim and support local journalism by becoming an Insider.

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

How music helped a flood survivor deal with his trauma

On the evening of November 14, 2021, Jordan Jongema and Bowser, his 120-pound Bernese mountain dog, sat on the bed of his childhood home in Yarrow, watching debris-filled rainwater from an atmospheric river continue to rise around him.

It was so cold he could see his breath, and an unsettling silence filled the air. Feeling scared and anxious that they might not make it out, Jongema spent hours trying to navigate to safety before settling back on his bed to wait out the storm. By 3 a.m., he heard the sound of a motor, grabbed his flashlight and called out. Minutes later, a boat bearing Coquitlam firefighters pulled up next to his bedroom window in a boat.

Jongema, a musician, took a moment to toss his Taylor 414 custom guitar into the highest corner of his closet hoping it would be safe from the rising water two feet below. Weeks later, with great relief, he was reunited with his undamaged guitar.

More than a year later, Jongema said he has used that guitar and music more generally "to pull (himself) out of a lot of deep trenches."

• Today, Kayla MacInnis writes about disaster survivors and musical therapy.

Need to know

☃️ It may snow on the Coquihalla and other mountainous BC highways this week [CBC]

🔥 One of the wildfires in the Harrison area is has been extinguished [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

📐 The triangular former bank building at Five Corners in Chilliwack dates back nearly 110 years and was considered relatively small even when it was constructed [Chilliwack History Perspectives]

💸 Abbotsford school board trustees were warned about dwindling surplus funds as they passed a new budget [Abbotsford News]

🥗 A Langley charity that feeds those in need says demand for its service has more than doubled since the pandemic [Langley Advance Times]

👎 Two Lake Errock children who were tortured by their foster parents were ‘failed at every level,’ BC’s Minister of Children and Family Development admitted [Chilliwack Progress]

🏩 The Mission Motor Inn caught on fire for the second time in a week [Mission Record]

👉️ The province is setting up a $20 million fund to prevent flood damage on Fraser Valley farms [Province of BC]

➡️ A 61-year-old man was seriously injured after an attempted robbery [Mission Record]

🎸 Bill Henderson, the lead singer for Chilliwack (the rock band), will join the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame [Vancouver Sun]; the band was named after the city in part because they liked the sound of the word [Canadian Encyclopedia]

🌲 EmotionsBC is hosting its first annual walk fundraiser in Campbell Valley Regional Park this Sunday [Langley Advance Times]

⚖️ A Nelson man was found guilty of manslaughter in the off-duty death of an Abbotsford police officer [Abbotsford News]

👉️ Chawathil First Nation is inviting Hope locals to visit the Telte Yet Campsite for a National Indigenous Peoples Day celebration [Hope Standard]

The Agenda

Mission rakes in forestry profits

Mission continues to rake in significant money from logging activities in its sprawling community forest north of town.

Sales of timber in the first quarter of 2023 are expected to bring in $7 million when finished. Some of that logging was expected to take place last year, but was delayed because of extremely dry conditions in forests. The revenue from the sales left Mission with a quarterly profit of $3.5 million.

(We wrote about the benefits of Mission’s community-managed forest in 2021.)

Much of that money is slated to go into a new legacy reserve fund that will be used to finance capital projects in Mission. Earlier this year, that fund was used to help Mission Memorial Hospital pay for a new CT scanner (despite health care being a provincial responsibility.) The fund’s balance now stands at $5.3 million.

Kent needs HandyDart service, mayor says

The Fraser Valley’s HandyDART system should be expanded to Agassiz and Harrison, Kent Mayor Sylvia Pranger says.

Pranger has asked the Fraser Valley REgional District to “assess the potential for integrating HandyDART service within the Agassiz-Harrison Transit System.”

Pranger says Kent is ready to offer time and resources, though it is seeking a cost-sharing scheme that includes all participants in the local transit system.(The municipality of Kent covers Agassiz and surrounding areas.)

The FVRD board, which is composed of politicians from across the region, will consider Pranger’s request at a meeting Thursday. Any system upgrade would likely also require the support of BC Transit. Its resources have been limited in recent years, with the province declining to provide additional funding for other suggested expansions.

🤝 Now hiring

• Student museum guide and assistant at Sunshine Valley Tashme Museum

• Spa receptionist at Harrison Hot Springs Resort

• Pet detective at General Mills in Langley City

• Health care assistant at Chilliwack Pharmacy

• Camping outfitter at Cabela’s in Abbotsford

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

🎺 Blues competition: The Fraser Valley Blues Society is hosting its annual BC Blues Challenge for selecting a band and a solo/duo act to represent BC at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. The competition will take place June 25 at Coolrunnings Bistro in Abbotsford. Details online.

🌱 Indigenous Peoples Day: The Mission Friendship Centre Society is holding a free Indigenous Peoples Day celebration tomorrow from 10am to 3pm in Fraser River Heritage Park.

🌊 Cultus Lake Day: Cultus Lake is throwing a community celebration on Saturday featuring a parade, activities for kids, and music at Main Beach.

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