Wednesday - Sept. 24 - Oysters, brunch towers, and reef & beef

Hey everyone,

Lubna is off this week, so it’s William here. I’m one of the leaders at Overstory Media Group, but I also love to write—especially about restaurants, food, and the way eating together builds community. So from time to time, you’ll see me popping into your inbox.

That’s why I’m especially excited about this week’s top story: a feature on Bow & Stern, an Abbotsford-founded restaurant group that’s doing some really great things.

I’d also love to hear from you—what do you enjoy most about the Fraser Valley Current? What would make you love it even more? Please email me directly at [email protected] and let me know. Have a great day.

– William

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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

Bow & Stern marks new chapter as Burnaby outpost turns one

For Jordan Smith, restaurants aren’t just a career—they’re practically a birthright. His earliest memories trace back to Kamloops, where his father Jon ran a fish-and-chip shop for three decades. “I grew up in a restaurant,” the younger Smith says. “My dad had a place for 30 years, and I started working there when I was young. A couple years after he sold it, I called him up and said, ‘Hey, let’s partner up. I’ve got an idea.’”

That idea was simple but sturdy: keep Jon’s beloved fish and chips recipe, add oysters and craft beer, and see if Fraser Valley diners would bite. They did. Bow & Stern Abbotsford opened in 2014 with furniture sourced from Craigslist and chairs sanded by hand. Five years later, Chilliwack followed—built in a century-old theatre in what would become the city’s District 1881 cultural hub. “We were one of the first to open there,” Smith remembers. “The building still had the original tin ceiling tiles. We saved them and lined the bar with them.”

Both spots thrived. Chilliwack’s launch was “gangbusters,” Smith says—lineups every night for three months straight. Abbotsford, meanwhile, matured into a neighbourhood institution with loyal regulars who still bristle at the slightest menu change.

The Valley roots run deep. But when the family—Smith, his parents Jon and Jacki, his brother Jake, and brother-in-law Adam—looked beyond, they landed somewhere unexpected: Burnaby.

Keep reading this story.

Need to Know

🔥 Off-duty firefighters and bystanders rescued a severely burned individual from flames at a Mission encampment near Lougheed Highway, with the victim sustaining third-degree injuries before emergency crews arrived [Fraser Valley Today]

💼 More than 600 Fraser Valley Regional District employees represented by CUPE Local 458 have ratified a new contract featuring annual pay increases starting at 5.75% and extending through 2027 [Fraser Valley Today]

🏃‍♀️ Hope's annual fundraising run returns October 4 for its seventh year, with participants completing a five-kilometre course to support medical equipment purchases at Fraser Canyon Hospital [Hope Standard]

🚛 A commercial lumber vehicle caught fire on Highway 3 near Hope, prompting firefighters to battle flames that spread into surrounding brush areas with no casualties reported [Hope Standard]

💃 A Chilliwack couple who married at Cultus Lake rushed to Rogers Arena where Jonas Brothers invited them onstage to perform their wedding dance before thousands of concert attendees [Chilliwack Progress]

🏈 W.J. Mouat Secondary's athletic field returns to service Friday following a four-year closure, with new synthetic turf installed under a cost-sharing agreement between Abbotsford and the school district [Abbotsford News]

🎆 Mission has adopted updated fireworks regulations replacing nearly four-decade-old rules, establishing $500 penalties and mandatory advance permits for pyrotechnic displays [Mission City Record]

🚁 Residents can expect overhead helicopter activity for pipeline inspections as FortisBC conducts month-long aerial surveys of natural gas infrastructure across multiple Fraser Valley communities [Mission City Record]

🧡 Community members can participate in five separate Truth and Reconciliation observances throughout Chilliwack before September 30, featuring powwows, educational panels, and cultural programming [Chilliwack Progress]

🏠 Two major rental developments totaling 246 units have commenced construction in Langley through the BC Builds program, targeting middle-income residents with mixed market and reduced-rate housing [Langley Advance Times]

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The Agenda

Latham Field reopens with community celebration

Abbotsford’s Latham Field at W.J. Mouat Secondary is back in action.

After being closed since 2021, the synthetic turf has been replaced through a joint-use agreement between the City of Abbotsford and the Abbotsford Board of Education. The upgraded field will support both school teams and community sports.

The reopening celebration takes place Friday, September 26, beginning at 5:30 pm with music, food trucks, and a ceremonial coin toss. The Mouat Hawks football team will then take on South Delta Secondary at 7 pm.

Earlier in the day, the City and School Board will also rename three nearby fields in honour of community members who contributed to Abbotsford’s sports and recreation culture.

Mayor Ross Siemens called the reopening “a great example of how partnership can create lasting benefits for everyone in Abbotsford.”

Board Chair Shirley Wilson said the fields “represent the heart of our community” and will be places where “games, gatherings, and celebrations” continue for years to come.

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🗓 Things to do

Indian Street Food with Chef GJ: Chef GJ teaches participants to prepare authentic Indian street food on September 25th from 6-9 PM at 20353 64 Ave in Langley, featuring dishes like vegetable pakora, chaat papadi, chana kulcha, chicken malai tikka, and sabutdana kheer.

Artistic Prints with Sunlight: Photographer Bob St-Cyr leads a free cyanotype printmaking workshop on Saturday, September 27th from 12:00-2:00 PM at Kariton Art Gallery (2385 Ware Street, Abbotsford), teaching participants to create blueprints using the historic 1842 process with sunlight and basic art supplies.

Chilliwack Archives Behind-the-Scenes Tours: The Chilliwack Museum & Archives offers free drop-in tours on the last Friday of each month at 3:00 PM at 9291 Corbould Street, showcasing over 100 years of preserved community history including 657 linear meters of records and 20,620 digitized photographs.

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Catch up

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