Tennis ’til midnight?

No. 138Saturday, August 29, 2026Oak Bay, B.C.

5 min · about one cup of tea · from the desk

Good morning, Oak Bay.

One last August weekend.

The Victoria Summer Open wraps up at Oak Bay Rec this weekend, with matches listed as late as midnight. Monterey is closed Sunday for a planned power outage, and the monthly Open Mic has moved to Sept. 6.

Four new notices are pinned up from neighbours. We also have the story of Matthew Jackson, who grew up in Oak Bay and had a habit of disappearing uphill on family walks. A new UBC scholarship now honours him.

The Oak Bay Local team

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Editorial illustration of a late-summer tennis match continuing into the evening on a coastal community court

Oak Bay Local editorial illustration

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Worth knowing

🔌

Monterey Rec is closed Sunday; Open Mic moves to Sept. 6. A planned BC Hydro outage has cancelled every program, rental and service at Monterey on Aug. 30. The monthly Open Mic has moved to Sunday, Sept. 6, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.

🎾

The Victoria Summer Open wraps up this weekend. The tournament runs through Sunday at Oak Bay Recreation Centre. Tennis BC lists weekend play from 8 a.m. to midnight; the draw has individual match times.

🌿

Oak Bay gets $70,000 for climate planning. The federal grant is for a community climate action plan and the scope of future resilience and adaptation work. It pays for planning, not a finished capital project.

🔒

Five cars were entered in South Oak Bay. Most were unlocked. Police are also adding evening patrols in Estevan after complaints about noise and damage.

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Reader survey · $50 gift-card draw

📣Help shape Oak Bay Local. You could win a $50 gift card.

Five questions. About two minutes. Tell us what you enjoy, what you skip and what you want more of. Complete it by Sept. 9 to enter the draw.

Take the survey + enter the draw →

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From the Community Board

What's pinned up around the village

Posters from around Oak Bay. Tap any to open the source.

Notice: Looking for the Former Heartwood Hairdresser

Services: Wednesday Group Piano Near Estevan

Click any poster to read the full notice

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Coming up

🛍️

The final Oak Bay Night Market is Sept. 9. Oak Bay Avenue closes to traffic from 4 to 8 p.m. for the season's last evening of produce, food, music and local makers. Go early if you want dinner without the longest lines.

🐦

Listen for birds differently at Cattle Point on Sept. 12. Birder Geoffrey Newell and musicians from the SALT Experiment lead a 10 to 11:30 a.m. listening walk. It is by donation, supports Friends of Uplands Park and requires advance registration.

🎸

Celtic guitarist Tony McManus plays Oak Bay on Sept. 19. The Scottish-born guitarist brings Celtic traditions, jazz and eastern European influences to the Sports View Lounge from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are required for this Beacon Ridge show.

🧠

Monterey's Trivia Pub Night is Sept. 22. The $25 member and $30 non-member ticket includes dinner before Tom Watson starts the questions. Tickets are on sale at reception only until Sept. 8, so this one needs an early decision.

🎤

Maureen Washington brings jazz, blues and funk on Sept. 25. Washington and friends play the Sports View Lounge from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Expect a proper evening show rather than background music; tickets are through Beacon Ridge Productions.

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Matthew Jackson scholarship

The Oak Bay kid behind a new UBC scholarship

Editorial illustration of swim goggles, a physiotherapy notebook and a university envelope overlooking the coast

AI-generated illustration

On family walks, Matthew Jackson had a habit of disappearing uphill. "He'd already gone up a hill that we hadn't noticed," his mother, Barbara, recalled.

Jackson grew up in Oak Bay, attended Monterey School, Glenlyon Norfolk and Oak Bay High, swam at UVic, then earned his physiotherapy degree at UBC. He later returned to Victoria and worked at RebalanceMD.

Jackson died while surfing near Tofino in 2023. He was 58.

RebalanceMD founder Stefan Fletcher has created a UBC endowment in his memory. The first $1,750 entrance award will go to a student entering the Master of Physical Therapy program this winter, with preference for the Victoria cohort and students involved in athletics.

It is a fitting route back into the profession for someone who spent so much of his life in motion.

“He would be staggered to know this.”

Barbara Jackson, Matthew's mother

Sources · Saanich News

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AROUND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Two good reasons to stop scrolling

Two real photos shared by neighbours in the Oak Bay Local Facebook group.

A fiery red and orange sunset seen from Gonzales Hill

Gonzales Hill did not bother with subtlety. Claudia Ferris caught the sky going full orange over the water.

📷 Claudia Ferris · Oak Bay Local Facebook group · see the post →

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Purple and yellow flowers in a glass vase on an antique wooden cabinet

Mary McArthur's 'buy the flowers' post arrived with a vase that makes a fairly strong case.

📷 Mary McArthur Photography · Oak Bay Local Facebook group · see the post →

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We'll leave you with flowers on the table and that Gonzales Hill sunset. Have a good last Saturday of August, Oak Bay.

The Oak Bay Local team

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Oak Bay Local · Oak Bay

Made with care in Oak Bay, Victoria BC

Independent village news, supported by readers and local businesses. Sponsors do not influence our coverage.

— The Oak Bay Local desk. Next one Saturday, kettle time.

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