VIHA will be having a Food Safety Workshop on April 2, at the Parksville Community Centre from 1:30- 4:00 and another that evening from 6:00-8:30. If anyone is interested, please contact Bill or Elizabeth at 250-947-8222.

The bottle drive committee is advancing in its organization for the Drive scheduled for April 12 at Encorp Return-It, 611 Alberni Highway, Parksville.   

At the moment they are looking for volunteers — of more than one sort:

• Do you have teenaged grandkids who wouldn’t mind helping with the physical work of loading and unloading trucks?
• Are you able to volunteer on April 12 to collect recyclables from the areas we select or help sort them?

Please contact lornareid@shaw.ca  orcadodd@shaw.ca if you are willing to help.   If you volunteer please let us know the street & area in which you live.

You can also help by:

• asking your neighbours to bring their refundable beverage containers to your place and taking them with yours when you go to Return-It either on a routine trip or just for the Drive on April 12.   Remember we’re willing to do the pick-up and sorting if you can’t!
• spreading the word by word-of-mouth, e-mail or social media that we’re collecting aluminum pop beer cans, plastic soft drink, water, cooler and spirit bottles, PVC juice bottles, glass beer, wine spirits and cooler bottles, gable topped drink containers (except milk)  and juice boxes.

If you are unable to take your collection to the Return-It Depot please let Lorna or Carolyn know and they’ll arrange pick-up. You can also give them your returnables at the regular g2g meetings.

Thanks from the Bottle Brigade!

Come and learn how to sew our famous tie bags. We need more sewers for tie bags, so the two of us who sew these bags will be giving a lesson on THURSDAY, MARCH 27 at 10:00 a.m. in the private room at SERIOUS COFFEE in Parksville (Heritage Centre Mall, #9-1209 East Island Highway). Please RSVP to Anne at  ian.anne.ward@shaw.ca  so that we have enough instruction sheets prepared.

Diane Tobin and Anne Ward

The Refresh, Re-energize, Respond afternoon upcoming on March 12 is going to be terrific.  With dramatized readings, video clips, small group discussions, and a slide show, this afternoon will inform, uplift and bond anew our Oceanside Grandmothers to Grandmothers group.  So this is a reminder of an afternoon you will not want to miss:  Knox United Church, Wednesday March 12, 1:30pm to 3:30pm.

Remember — the afternoon is not a public event or a fundraiser.  It is a time for our own members and for interested friends we might want to invite.

Could we please get a rough idea of how many people are coming?  Would you mind letting Barb Whyte barbwhyte@shaw.ca know by Saturday, March 8 if you expect to be coming, and if you’ve invited anyone?  This indication doesn’t commit you — you can still change your mind — but helps the organizational group plan better.