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Comox Valley Beefs and Bouquets

Week of March 5, 2019
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Do you have someone to thank, or a peeve to get off your chest? Send it to BandB@comoxvalleyrecord.com

Record staff reserve the right to edit all submissions, and discard Beefs deemed to be libelous or mean-spirited. Please keep submissions within 150 words. Although the post will be anonymous, include a contact name and phone number, because there’s a draw every week for a meal for two from Dairy Queen. This week’s winner is Amanda Vaughan.

A HUGE Thank you bouquet to Cumberland Sand and Gravel, M.J.B. Excavating and all the parents who donated time and materials to improve the outdoor play yard at Lighthouse Early Learning Center. We love to play outside!

I would like to respond to the “Enormous Gratitude” piece in the Jan. 15 issue of Beefs & Bouquets. I am that crafty person you are referring to and I cannot express what a surprise it was to see your note. A surprise and a very welcome compliment, I might add. To be recognized for enjoying my life, my hobby, my job and my acquaintances is uplifting to say the least and I thank you deeply for your kind words and thoughts. To further my reflections while I am here, I wish to thank all my paper customers for their kindnesses, their tips, their Christmas cards and gifts and for having their porch lights on at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. during these dark months of the winter. You have no idea how warming it is to approach a house that is lit up outside on a dark, wet morning. And through the holiday season, those Christmas lights were a bright welcoming beacon when my weary self was starting out on my multiple routes. Thank you dearly for the lights, the gifts, the well wishes and all your troubles to make my efforts feel appreciated.

I would like to send a bouquet to the Comox Valley community for all of their help and support in helping us support Habitat for Humanity as our focus charity for this year. With your help (including $2,400 donated at our Christmas Eve service), we have been able to help Habitat in terms of donations and volunteer time to the equivalent of $10,000! We thank God for your generosity and helping make a difference in this community we all call home.

A large bouquet of flowers and a large box of chocolates (calorie free) for six people who came to my rescue when I had a fall at the Comox Valley Sports Centre. Thank you for your concern and help. Such a great place to live when there are so many caring people. Many, many thanks.

A big pile of rotten beef to some dog owners in the Comox Valley. Just in case you were not aware, having your dog off-leash does not absolve you of responsibility for your dog’s actions! My dog is not sociable with many other dogs due to a serious, vicious and life-threatening attack in the past. I keep my dog on leash at all times and am courteous and let other dog owners know that my dog is not always friendly to other dogs. Some people are lovely and call or leash their dog until we go past, but I have had abuse shouted at me, been sworn at or told to take my dog to a trainer by some other owners. If your dog is off-leash, they should be well enough trained that they will come when called by you and are not aggressive (barking, growling and trying to mount another dog, etc.). If that is not the case, keep your dog on the leash. The worst situations are from the large packs of free-roaming dogs and their oblivious owners who are too busy sipping their coffees, chatting and ignoring their dogs. Appreciate that having your dog off-leash is a privilege, not a right, and the rest of us have the right to be able to walk in our beautiful parks without being barked at, snapped at or yelled at by other people or their dogs.

A ROOM FULL OF COLOURFUL SPRING BLOOMS goes to a much deserving lady, Jean, who, in a warm and gentle way, gives most of her time to caring for many little dogs, day and night, when their masters have travelled or have had to work. Her kindness comes in many forms from dog sitter to sympathetic support. Thank you Jean for being there for me and many others who have lost their little fur friend.

To the person who found our car keys outside the CIBC mid-January my husband and I wish to thank you so much. It was a worrisome couple of hours.

Well well, I can tell you that if I am walking Seal Bay Park I would certainly be alarmed to see a pack of dogs off-leash approaching me whether leash regulations are in force or not. For the information of the uninformed, dogs in a pack follow a leader, the strongest in the pack, and that can mean trouble. The man was fearful of the approaching pack, there was no use of bear spray, he is just a frequent walker of Seal Bay Park. The reporter of this incident has done a good service. It is respectfully suggested that whoever is now policing this park, please make leashing mandatory for all trails.

Deep-rooted thanks to trees everywhere. Our best friends against climate change, trees remove CO2 from the air, provide oxygen, shade and beauty, release chemicals which promote rainfall; they build and stabilise soil and trap moisture in the ground. The poet said, “Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.”

Here we go again. New council opens seemingly bottomless pockets to spend $20,000 on consultation. Why do we elect you to make decisions for our community? You obviously aren’t competent enough to decide if dogs can be ‘off-leash’ in the Northeast Woods. Don’t staff get paid? What on earth will $20,000 buy? You launched the new municipal governing period by awarding yourselves a huge undeserved raise, so why do you need more money for consultations? Just do your job and govern and stop throwing good money after bad because you don’t have the guts to make hard decisions, let alone easy ones. Hats off to Nicole Minions for voting against the motion and a little tip of the hat to Alex Bissenger for questioning amount. Are we in for four more years of fiduciary ineptitude or can we expect some real governance? If this decision is any indication I think not.

I would like to thank the young man and the Canadian Tire employee who lifted me up after I lost my footing and fell in the lineup on Jan. 31. I’m ok just embarrassed.