Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce
125C South Shore Road V0R2G0 Lake Cowichan, BC, Canada

https://www.ecdevcowichan.com/cowichan-circular-economy/

Woah! The snow sure is coming down out there! If you do have to be out please be very careful! If you don't have to be out, consider staying home. Stay safe everyone!

These beautiful works by Carlyle Crafts are currently available for purchase at the Visitor Centre. Any of these incredible pieces would make perfect holiday gifts! Holiday hours are 11am-4pm Dec 19-23 (closed 24-27), 11am-4pm Dec 28-31 (closed Jan 1-3) We'll be back to business as usual starting Jan 4: 11am-4pm Mon - Sun

How is COVID Impacting your Business, take the Survey here. https://mailchi.mp//request-from-the-ceo-of-bc-chamber-108

The Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce would like to congratulate the winners of the 2020 Light Up Cowichan Lake event! Thank you to all those who participated; Every entry was incredibly breathtaking and all have have helped make our communities brighter places this holiday season!

https://mailchi.mp//building-resilience-to-thrive-training

Thank you Ladysmith Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Centre for hosting this information session on how your business can access a FREE SERVICE to transition to the Digital Economy on Dec 3, 2020 Thank you to Innovation Island’s Jennifer Hufnagel and Janet Bonaguro for delivering a fantastic session discussing the ‘Digital Economy Response Program‘ DER3 which helps connect Small and Medium Businesses who want to enter or expand into the Digital Economy. The program is gear...ed to help Businesses build , grow and stay on the island. It's ok if you don't know what you need or where to start. They provided resources to point you in the right direction fit for you and your business. DER3 is available until the end of February. Make the call, take the assessment, it will probably be one of the most valuable moves you can make! If you missed the presentation you can view the Recording or Session Slides Recording: Click Here Session Slides: Click Here (includes some additional DER3 client stories) If you are interested in applying for the DER3 program please fill out a SMB form here - https://innovationisland.ca/der3/

Great news! Santa has set up a Zoom meeting with the children of the Cowichan Lake area! To sign up, just email [email protected] with your children's first names and ages by December 3rd. The meeting will be on December 5th at 3 pm. To keep the Zoom meeting at a manageable level, the meeting will only be open to families in the Cowichan Lake area (Lake Cowichan, Youbou, Mesachie Lake, Honeymoon Bay, Skutz Falls, Caycuse, etc.). Sign up soon to meet Santa!

With the new health orders, we have changed our plans regarding the Santa photos and art kit collection. We will now be delivering 100 family art kits to 100 families in the Cowichan Lake area. Please sign up by November 25th if you wish to participate as our elf will be delivering the art kits November 28th to 30th. Email your name and address to [email protected] to participate. The art kit is ideal for families with young children. Thank you and stay safe!

Edit: Unfortunately, due to new provincial health orders (see link below for details), we have decided to cancel the Santa photos event. Originally, we planned to postpone it, but we have decided to cancel it altogether. Instead, we will be delivering art kits to families with kids in Cowichan Lake. To sign up, email us your address by November 25th to [email protected]. We only have 100 art kits so it is while supplies last. We will be delivering from November 28th to 30th.... Stay safe and stay tuned for new information. https://www2.gov.bc.ca//covid-19-provincial-s/restrictions

Our Mayor Bob K. Day does a quick video to give us update on the Covid-19 and the information data sheet to back him up. https://www.icloud.com/photos/#0ftSuwN_obsSRHaEw5gIZoAgw https://www.islandhealth.ca//public-health-covid19-daily-d

Cowichan Lake Community Forest Cooperative representative Richard Weir stopped in to see Santa today and presented us with a cheque of $1000. 00 to go towards purchasing items for the family gift packs that we will be giving out during the pictures with Santa at the Visitor Centre on Saturday November 28th and Sunday November 29...families must pre-register by emailing [email protected] with the names of who will be with them and we will send them back information on their registered time slot. We want to thank in advance all of our sponsors. Country Grocer Lake Cowichan, Cowichan Lake Arts & Culture Society - CLACS, Thomas Hutchings of Spirit Brush Art Studio and the Cowichan Lake Community Forest Cooperative.

Thank you to Amanda Sihota for hosting the Cowichan Lake Holiday Craft Crawl. Featured in the photo is Tony from the Lake Cowichan Food Bank collecting the food, cheque, and cash donations raised by the participants and vendors in the craft crawl. We had such a fun time being a vendor in this safe and fun holiday event. Thank you!

The Cowichan Lake Craft Crawl is happening today until 2 pm (but we will be open until 4!). Stop in to pick up a craft crawl map, drop off donations to the Lake Cowichan Food Bank or Toys, Toiletries, Toques (no toys this year--just cash or card), or purchase jewelry or t-shirts/hoodies. Proceeds from the jewelry will go toward the food bank and the t-shirts/hoodies will be 20% off today only.

FOUND: Car key in Saywell Park. If this looks like your key, you can pick it up at the Cowichan Lake Visitor Centre, open daily 11 to 4.

We are a drop-off location for Toys Toiletries & Toques once again! However, due to COVID-19, only money and gift cards will be accepted. We encourage you to purchase gift cards from our local businesses to support our community. #shoplocal #supportlocal

Chamber November E-News. https://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-E-News.html

. CRA Outreach provides information to increase awareness of the services, benefits and credits available to vulnerable segments of the population. Making ...sure all vulnerable Canadians receive the benefits and credits they are entitled to. You can register for any of our upcoming webinars by going to this link: https://canada.webex.com/canada/onstage/g.php and clicking on the link associated with the date & topic of your choice. Sign up to join in on the webinars. https://canada.webex.com/ec3300/eventcenter/enroll/join.do

Congratulations to all our Business and Community Award winners and nominees for their hard work. It is thanks to individuals and businesses like them that our community is such a wonderful place to live. Youth of the Year: Simone Hinojosa Aidan Sidhu (winner)... Nichole Stock Community Service Award: Jim Spice Parm Birk Ginny Saboe (winner) Customer Service Award: Erin Butler of Butler Locksmithing Joseph Pearson of the Lake Cowichan Post Office Jodi McKenzie of Lake Cowichan Chiropractic Michelle McCoy of Country Grocer (winner) Citizen of the Year: Carolyn Graham Melanie Livingstone-Hamilton and Aaron Hamilton (joint winners) Island Savings’ Business of the Year: notary public Patricia Thompson Mesachie Lake Automotive Repairs Cassy’s Coffee House (winner) Above and Beyond: Dr. David Froese (winner) Lifetime Achievement Award: Dick Orman (winner)

The following is a message from Vancouver Island Regional Library. This is a great opportunity for businesses! It doesn’t get more local than your library. With that in mind, Vancouver Island Regional Library is hoping to partner with locally owned and operated retail businesses in communities across our service area to Give Library this holiday season. Give Library, you ask? It works like this:... We’ll provide professionally produced point of sale cards stands loaded with holiday themed library cards for kids and adults. All we’re asking businesses to do is place them in high traffic areas (yup, at point of sale area is best) and encourage people to take them as stocking stuffers. In return, we’ll give participating businesses shout outs on our website and across our vast and vibrant social media sphere. We piloted this last holiday season by partnering with four retailers in Nanaimo and it was a resounding success. We moved 500 cards through the four businesses in less than a month! What could simpler? Local businesses can feel good knowing they’re supporting literacy, connection, and community, and they’ll get some free advertising to boot from their library. Interested businesses should contact VIRL’s Sales and Marketing Officer, Jason Kuffler, at [email protected] (me) to get involved. We have a limited number of library cards available, so act fast! Let’s all Give Library and celebrate local this holiday season.

Click the link to check out the auction: https://www.charityauctionstoday.com//Cowichan-Lake-Distri

Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce FallFling Fundraiser and Community & Business Awards https://m.charityauctionstoday.com/m/auctions/13741

In order to view and bid you have to register.

Don't have cable? Watch Shaw Community Link's recording of the 3 pm to 5 pm All Candidates Meeting on Youtube! Thanks so much to Shaw for helping us make the meeting accessible to so many! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH0Syisl348

As you may already know, every year the Chamber hosts a Spring Fling with a silent and live auction to raise money for the Chamber every year. The Chamber uses the money raised to promote businesses, host events, and otherwise support the community. This year, our Spring Fling was cancelled due to the pandemic, so we are holding one online in the fall instead! It starts today, October 9th and and continues until October 17th. Click the link to view and bid on the auction items. You can also donate if you prefer. Every cent raised helps us support businesses and the community. We also donate 2 scholarships to students graduating from Lake Cowichan School every year. We appreciate any support you can give us as we know it has been a tough year for many. https://www.charityauctionstoday.com//Cowichan-Lake-Distri

We had 3 great All Candidates Meetings with a lot of insightful and thoughtful questions from the public yesterday. Thank you to our attendees for following social distancing guidelines, wearing your masks, sanitizing your hands, and being safe. Thank you to our candidates for attending, as we know it was a long day for you! And thank you to our volunteers for making the meetings possible. It was our goal to be as accessible to the public as possible, while keeping our commun...ity safe, and we believe we achieved that. If you missed the live stream for the 11 am to 1 pm meeting, it's still able to be viewed on our page. In addition, Shaw will be broadcasting the 3 pm to 5 pm meeting on Channel 4 or Channel 105 if you have Blue Curve. The following is the schedule: Friday Oct 9th 6pm Saturday Oct 10th 10am & 8pm Sunday Oct 11th noon Monday Oct 12th 9am & 7pm Friday Oct 16th 6pm Saturday Oct 17th 10am & 8pm Sunday Oct 18th noon Monday Oct 19th 9am & 7pm

Katherine Worsley is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Chamber Hosting Municipal All Candidates meeting on Zoom round 3 and final Time: Oct 8, 20...20 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81245787625 Meeting ID: 812 4578 7625 Passcode: 567647 One tap mobile +17789072071,,81245787625#,,,,,,0#,,567647# Canada +12042727920,,81245787625#,,,,,,0#,,567647# Canada Dial by your location +1 778 907 2071 Canada +1 204 272 7920 Canada +1 438 809 7799 Canada +1 587 328 1099 Canada +1 647 374 4685 Canada +1 647 558 0588 Canada Meeting ID: 812 4578 7625 Passcode: 567647 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcNMOcA8vH

This is a great video put together by librarians in Sooke about Vancouver Island Regional Library eResources that would be helpful for chamber members. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNtjeyXsHmw

For those not attending today's all-candidate meetings in person, below is Zoom Meeting link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../tZUvc-yvpjwsGNFdG5vzZtq0E... After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about when you can join the meeting.

Chamber Mayoral All Candidates Meeting beginning at 11 a.m. (Headphones are recommended to improve sound quality, sorry for the inconvenience)

Tune into the Chamber's Mayoral all candidates meeting, scheduled for 11 a.m. on Facebook live!!

We went tubing down the Cowichan River! Check out the video on our youtube page here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKowKhqs1Ug&t=51s

The Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce will be hosting three (3) all-candidates meetings. The events are set as depicted below. The doors open a half hour before each scheduled time slot to allow opportunity for the volunteers to confirm the registered attendees list. We will only be able to accommodate 30 members of the public per meeting, and the public will have to register in advance in order to attend one of the three in person events by emailing the Chamber off...ice at [email protected] no later than October 5th. Registration is for individual, eligible voters only, this will allow us to keep within the numbers as per the COVID-19 Social Distancing Safety Plan Measures that we must abide by. These meetings will be shared on Facebook Live and will also be recorded by Shaw TV before the advance voting polls. These meetings will be moderator led events and will include introductions, rules and regulations, as well as opening and closing remarks from all the candidates so the public has an opportunity to hear from the candidates and get informed before voting. Due to COVID-19 - THERE WILL NOT BE AN OPEN MICROPHONE ON THE FLOOR for questions from the public. Any questions from the public will be through written submission only. If you cannot attend any of the scheduled meetings due to capacity, you will still have an opportunity to join in on a Zoom All Candidates meeting during the last scheduled time slot scheduled for 7pm-9pm When: Oct 8, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) In order to attend the Zoom All Candidates meeting: You must Register in advance no later than Tuesday October 6 th Below is the All Candidates Zoom Meeting link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us//tZUvc-yvpjwsGNFdG5vzZtq0E-gUVcIFb After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about when you can join the meeting. You can submit your questions to the Chamber in advance via email [email protected] , or by clipping this form and submitting to the Chamber office at 125c South Shore Road no later than 1pm Monday October 5th 2020.

An iPhone with a black case and magnetic clasp was lost in Saywell Park. If you have any information, contact us at 250-749-3244 or the number in the photo

Be sure to check out the third and final round of the Cowichan Lake Idol! Winner to be announced tomorrow night (Sunday, July 18th)! The theme is fast-paced songs and all 5 entries are now up on our page!

https://email.market2all.com//28CDDDEA96840DA17D6D0E086E05

https://marketplace.smallbusinessbc.ca/ppe

Great resource for Ladysmith businesses http://investladysmith.ca/covid19

WE'VE ADDED CLASSES DUE TO POPULARITY! We have added 2 - morning classes due to the success of Tuesday's Hatha Yoga class. Reservations are encouraged but not... mandatory; to reserve your spot please call or text Ross at 250-932-5858. Please see the new schedule attached. When the restlessness of the mind, intellect and self is stilled through consistent practice a treasure above all others has been found... Namaste #yoga #lakecowichan #health #fitness #cowichanlake

https://www.canada.ca//changes-to-travel-restrictions-for-

Participate in the Chamber - Taglines, Signs and Stickers Survey http://survey.constantcontact.com//a07eh4zh/_tmp/questions

https://www.picuki.com/tag/explorecowichanlake

"Join the BC Chamber of Commerce Townhall to hear from WorkSafeBC on how to restart your business safely." https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/getting-back-to-business-worksa

"This $962-million Government of Canada fund is to support small and medium size businesses that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These businesses can now apply for loans of up to $40,000 through RRRF." https://www.wd-deo.gc.ca/eng/20065.asp

Welcome new chamber member, Vancouver Island Regional Library!

https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020FIN0034-000988

https://cowichanstrong.ca//waltjudastiabc-calummatthews-t/

Great resource for businesses looking to hire new employees https://workbcvirtual.ethoscmg.com/employer-resources/

https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020TAC0022-000927

Temporary new hours: Thursday Friday and Saturday 11-3. Things are still very quiet in town. We are still available for schedule private shopping until people ...feel more comfortable out and about. Looking forward to seeing you soon!!! #swordfernboutique #adaptforcovid19 #thieveshandsanitizer #lakecowichan #ecoboutique @ Swordfern Boutique See more

If you are thinking about stopping by for GOURMET BURGERS June 6th or June 7th 12-7pm our PATIO WILL BE OPENED and meets all social distancing and sanitation standards. Just don't sit in this little girl's spot hahaha

COVID-19 Camping Rules at the Mosaic Forest Campsites Additional Special Rules for Camping in 2020: Covid-19 For your protection and the protection of others at your campground Visitors are responsible for their own health and safety, including complying with all Provincial... Health Ocer orders and guidelines. Though disinfected regularly, campground outhouses and common structures cannot be guaranteed disinfected for Covid-19. Visitors must be prepared to clean and disinfect facilities prior to and after use to maintain hygiene. Visitors are expected to bring a sanitization kit that includes at minimum, paper towel, cleaner, hand sanitizer and gloves. Visitors are responsible for sanitizing their own sites. Make sure to sanitize commonly used surfaces, eg picnic tables, when you arrive, when you leave, and during your stay. Visitors are expected to sanitize hands before entering an outhouse, and upon leaving the outhouse. In general, visitors should sanitize/wash hands often and avoid touching common surfaces. Visitors must maintain social distancing from other parties at all times. This includes at common areas, outhouses, on trails and other. All playground areas are closed. Only one group is permitted on a site unless from the same household. No outside visitors. Visitors that are ill should stay home. No campers residing outside of Canada. All garbage must be taken out by campers. There will be no garbage cans provided. Take in take out. NOTE: If these protocols are not abided by, you will be given a warning, and then will be asked to leave and will not be refunded. See more

Campgrounds Pine Point, Maple Grove, Nixon Creek, Lizard Lake, San Juan and Fairy Lake will be opening June 1st at noon for Social Distancing Camping. Please b...ring your CLEAN TRIP KIT and enjoy a safe camping trip. Please read all of the signs that are posted on the Campground information boards to stay up to date with current rules and regulations. Due to Covid-19 restrictions there will be a maximum of six people per site from the same household. All campgrounds are first come first served and cash only. Exact change is appreciated. For more information please visit grandgetaways.ca Thank you. Happy Camping 2020 See more

https://thediscourse.ca//lake-cowichan-to-allow-river-tubi

Food and Beverage Re-Opening Resources, Worksafe and Best Practices https://www.bcrfa.com/download-reopening-resources

https://www.canadianbusinessresiliencenetwork.ca/

Happy May Long Weekend to everyone. Here is some information in regards to the big May Day Parade that is held in Victoria, but this year it is going virtual on Monday. click the link for the information. https://app.frame.io/p/a159a575-b70f-4faa-849b-1607ea2cc464

Day-Use Open - May 14 BC Parks is excited to welcome you back! Many parks are now open for day-use. The Discover Camping reservation system will be online for b...ookings May 25, with many BC Parks campgrounds opening for the season on June 1. As we get back outdoors, please remember to stay local and only visit the parks that are closest to your home. Some high-use areas will remain closed for now. For more information, and to check the status of your local park, please visit http://bcparks.ca/covid-19/parks-affected/ #BCParks #staylocal #InThisTogether

Lots of great webinars for small businesses on this site! http://smallbusinessbc.ca//catch-up-with-sbbcs-free-covid/

https://www.worksafebc.com//covid-19-returning-safe-operat

https://www.worksafebc.com//health-safety-responsibilities