Forest Grove Community Hall caretaker Tom Timlick would like to thank all those who came to the hall for a work bee on July 7.
An enthusiastic group of 22 volunteers showed up to help clean, repair, organize, weed and do any other tasks to help spruce up the hall. A lot of work got done and it really shows.
Taste of summer
There’s a new berry that folks in the Cariboo are just discovering and it’s called the Haskap or honeyberry.
While it doesn’t grow here in the wild, the plant can be purchased at most nurseries or ordered out of any of your favourite seed catalogues. It does very well in our cooler climate in zones 2 or 3.
There needs to be a male pollinator and a female plant to produce berries in two or three years. In the spring, pretty yellow flowers appear and the bees are very busy doing their thing.
The bushes need very little care – just ample room to expand and perhaps some support for when the snow starts to pile up. The berry is the colour of a blueberry but a tubular shape and the taste is a combination of blueberry and raspberry.
The berries ripen in mid-June and are perfect for fresh eating or in any recipe blueberries are called for. Put this berry bush to your garden to add to your fresh summer flavours.
Top 8 finalist
Krystal Shipley’s son, Aysac Wilson, is three years old and has had to fight for each and every day.
He has Mitochondrial disease and is the only known living child with this ailment. He is also deaf.
Mitochondrial disease is the failure of the mitochondria, which are specialized compartments responsible for creating more than 90 per cent of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. There is a lot of information online regarding this devastating illness.
Krystal and her three children lived in Forest Grove, but had to move to the Coast so Ayzac could be one hour away from the hospital. He is in palliative care now with only 12 per cent kidney function and has a nurse come in each day to care for him.
This has given mom Krystal time to attend nursing school and she is halfway through and getting top grades. She was recently nominated for the Walmart Mother of the Year contest and has made it to the top 8 finalists out of 24,644 entrants. If chosen for Mom of the Year, Krystal will enjoy a day of pampering in Toronto, $100,000 for her favourite charity – Canuck Place Hospice for Children in Vancouver - $10,000 for herself and a seat on next year’s judging panel for Mom of the Year.
If you want to vote for Krystal you can go to Walmart Mom of the Year contest and cast your ballot at www.momoftheyear.ca. The contest closes August 1 and the final 8 will be announced on Aug. 8.
The winner will be announced between Oct. 5 and 7.
In the past, there have been donation cans around town to collect money for Krystal and her family. The cost of travel and caring for a sick child is daunting, so if Krystal wins this contest it will help a great deal.
Go to the website Angels for Ayzac to read more about Ayzac and his family. It’s hoped that a charity will be created in Ayzac’s name at some point. Right now, the family is enjoying every day it has together.