COMMUNITY EVENTS | 🍦 49 Below invites you to its birthday party to celebrate its first year open at 2575 Cadboro Bay Rd., Saturday, Aug. 12. Further details here. | 🐟 Bowker Creek Biodiversity Day to be held Saturday, Aug. 12 from 1 to 4pm. Come celebrate with Friends of Bowker Creek at King’s Road Community Nature Green Space. Bring the whole family for this free event, featuring music, games, crafts, and ice cream. | 🌾 Bowker Creek Brush Up takes place Sunday, Aug. 13 from 11am to 4:30pm. This fun, inspiring annual art show hosts 40+ artists displaying, demonstrating and selling their art along beautiful Bowker Creek, between Oak Bay High School and Hampshire Road. | 🧘🏻♀️ Tuesday night yoga continues this week at Willows Beach, from 6 to 7pm, led by Ajna and Oak Bay Recreations yoga instructors. Bring your own yoga mat. | 🌹 The Abkhazi Garden Art Show Fundraiser will run from Sept. 4 to Oct. 9 from 11am to 4pm where you can view paintings and sketches inspired by the beautiful Abkhazi Garden, created by local artists who have been part of the plein air Artists in the Garden program. | 🩰 Early Bird Nutcracker: Oak Bay Local readers save up to 20% off adult tickets to Ukrainian Shumka Dancers’ Nutcracker until Sep. 30! Use promo code: Nut-OakBayLocal at Royal and McPherson Theatres or 250-386-6121.* | *Sponsored Listing |
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| | COMMUNITY NEWS | 🏡 The provincial government wants more secondary and garden suites to be built in Oak Bay and nine other BC municipalities, in order to create much-needed housing. Simpler bylaws are also in sight for communities that include Victoria, Oak Bay, and Saanich, where the province will issue new housing target orders by the fall. [Capital Daily] | 🚔 A speeding driver was caught driving in excess of 100km/h in a 40 zone along Beach Drive this week. The 17-year-old driver’s vehicle was towed and impounded for seven days. [Oak Bay Police] | 🏘 Architect calls out Oak Bay’s lack of approved housing as reason for water main breaks, saying “new housing pays for infrastructure upgrades”. Public Works is still investigating after three water main breaks left many Oak Bay residents waterless and one fire truck stuck in a sinkhole for hours this week. [Aryze, Times Colonist] | 💪🏽 Cycling grandmothers reached their $2M fundraising milestone to benefit community-led organizations in Africa. The Greater Victoria members are 50-strong and are taking part in a month-long cycling tour, which culminates Sept. 10 at Mile Zero. Many of the cyclists will be arriving on Dallas Road having just completed a three-day trek from Campbell River. [Capital Daily] | 🚨 Oak Bay Police release two photos of residential break-in suspect, hoping for assistance from the public. [Victoria Buzz] | 💰 The Oak Bay mansion dubbed “white elephant”, with a price tag of nearly $10 million, has sat on the market for weeks amid a trend of slowing home sales. [Oak Bay News] | Would you consider building or living in a secondary suite? | | | P.S. Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here. |
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| | PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT | To join the conversation, become a member of the Oak Bay Local Facebook group | An iconic little library made to match its Hampshire Road home | Dozens of Oak Bay locals have given a shoutout to one incredible little library on Hampshire Road that’s not to be missed. The beautiful blue craftsman-style library was made to mirror its home. This character little library, set up in the 900-block of Hampshire Road, was praised for representing the community spirit, complete with dividing walls, stairways, and other details. One local joked that they want to set up a tiny chair inside of it, while another noted that they “couldn’t afford the mortgage on that one either” 🤭. | |
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| | | Statue gone from Mount Douglas | A local was hiking one of their favourite spots—PKOLS (Mount Douglas) with 11 different hiking trails and 360-degree views of Greater Victoria—when they noticed that one landmark is no longer there. There had been, about halfway up the path, a large simply carved, white painted faceless figurine of a person atop a dead bare tree trunk. The figurine sat there for many years, always waiting—until it wasn’t. | Around July 28, the hiker noticed the faceless figure had taken flight. After exploring the surrounding bush, they noticed its fallen, rotted perch. Several locals said they were always wondering about this faceless statue and would like to know more about it. Do you know anything about this mysterious figure? | |
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| | IN OTHER NEWS | | Figgy fundraiser to benefit the Citizens’ Counselling Centre | One local is offering 12 figs for a minimum $10 donation to Citizens' Counselling Centre. | You can donate directly and send the original poster a screenshot. Cash or e-transfer also works, and all funds raised will be donated to the centre for all the awesome work it does for the community! |
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| | | SPONSORED BY PAINT WORKS | | Painters in Victoria you can trust—today, tomorrow, and always | Victoria Paint Works has been providing friendly, trusted, quality service using superior products since 2003. All their employees are experienced residential and commercial painting contractors trained in both technique and customer service by Paint Works. | From estimate through final touch-up, Paint Works strive to provide attentive personal service. | Contact Paint Works for a skilled, professional-quality job every time. 250-213-2309. |
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| | PHOTO OF THE WEEK | | Photo credit: Laura Marie Lester |
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