http://www.starfm.com

World Hospice day is this Saturday, a day to celebrate the work done by hospice and palliative care organizations in your community.
Here in Chilliwack our hospice society provides end of life care for terminally ill adults, as well as counseling and other services for family members.
Executive director Geri McGrath says they’re always looking for volunteers at the hospice centre and the thrift store.
She says volunteers have to undergo fairly extensive training.

“We have our basic hospice training…it’s provincially approved as well as by the health authority, to align with the care that’s given in facilities.  It’s 30 hours of training and we have additional training on top of that for volunteers once they’ve graduated from the program.  We have vigil training, facilitators training, healing touch training…”

They have a number of fundraising events throughout the year, including their annual Hospice Gala, and this year it’s on November 3rd.  If you’d like more information on the society, or to make a donation, go to chilliwackhospice.org

The Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce has been forced to cancel the business conference scheduled for Thursday October 18th.

In a news release chamber manager Patti MacAhonic says the economic climate resulted in fewer registrations than anticipated.

The chamber thanks sponsors and participants for their support of the conference.

(Release from UFV Athletics)

Rocky Olfert, Director of Athletics at the University of the Fraser Valley, is pleased to announce the launch of an annual Breakfast Fundraiser to help support the Department of Athletics nine varsity programs.  The breakfast will take place on Thursday, November 14^th in the Envision Athletic Centre’s main gymnasium, located on the Abbotsford Campus. Mr. Olfert is also pleased to announce John Herdman, Canada’s national women’s soccer coach, will be the guest speaker at the function.  Herdman guided Canada’s women’s soccer team to their first ever Olympic medal in London, England bringing home the bronze medal in a 1-0 victory over France.

The cost to attend the breakfast is $75 per person or $500 for a table of eight people.  Enclosed is the registration form, anyone interested in attending can fax or email their payment to Mr. Olfert directly.   The funds raised in the event will go towards the Adopt-A-Cascade program to better support student-athletes.

The UFV Cascades currently have 140 student-athletes competing in both the CIS and CCAA and are looking to expand their programs and the department over the next several years.  The Cascades have enjoyed success at both levels with women’s soccer and men’s basketball earning Canada West medals and men’s golf and women’s volleyball earning PACWEST medals.  All four programs have also earned berths in their respective national championship tournaments with each team finishing in the top four of their national events.

“We are very excited to launch our first department wide fundraising event,“ commented UFV athletic director Rocky Olfert.  “It’s an opportunity to step-up and lend support to our student-athletes, and to have someone with John’s experience is a win-win” noted Olfert.  “I believe John’s values of teamwork, goal-setting and leadership will resonate not only to our athletes and coaches, but to a wide scope of people interested in these values whether in their place of work or personal life.  They certainly apply to what we are trying to do within our department so it’s a perfect fit.”

According to RCMP the north part of Chilliwack was hit with 82 property crimes in September, mostly in the downtown core.

Constable Tracy Wolbeck says most of the crimes were theft from vehicle, and says it’s another reminder to not leave anything in your car.

“People may not consider change and loose change to be considered valuable, but to thieves they are very valuable. If you look at hitting 82 vehicles over short period of time, that adds up.”

Wolbeck says so far they haven’t determined whether one person or one group is working the area, but says they are investigating.

It’s possible the warm weather contributed to the high theft rate, since thieves don’t like to be out in the rain any more than anyone else.

UPDATE: As of 10am Wednesday, this event is now sold out.  Thanks so much for your support!

It’s going to be name that tune night this Saturday at Landing Sports Centre, and all to raise money for family literacy programs.

Chilliwack Community Services will be hosting Melody Mayhem, where teams will be guessing a tune based on just a short snippet.

Fund development officer Karin Massar says you don’t have to necessarily form a team before registering.

“You can come single, couples, we can put you together in a team. Or if you would prefer you can put a team in, teams of up to eight. The cost is fifty dollars per person and all the proceeds are going to support family literacy programs.”

You can get more information at www.comserv.bc.ca.

If you have a burning question for Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon MP Mark Strahl, you might have a chance to ask it in a telephone town hall meeting Thursday evening.

Strahl says holding a meeting by telephone is easier than trying to meet with constituents all over his 30,000 square kilometre riding.

He says he doesn’t really any particular agenda he’ll be covering.

“The constituents and the people that choose to participate determine that. I expect that we’ll talk about our responsible resource development. There are usually questions on the environment, the economy, and everything in between.”

Residents in the riding database will get a call some time before 7pm, asking them to stay on the line if they want to take part.

If you’re not in the database, you can call in through a phone number that’s listed at http://www.markstrahl.com/

Chilliwack RCMP say an elderly woman involved in a serious accident last week is going to make a full recovery.  On Thursday, emergency crews were called to a 3 vehicle crash on Chilliwack Central Rd, that closed the road for several hours.  There are still no details on how the crash happened, but one woman was airlifted to hospital with life threatening injuries.  The good news is she is going to pull through.

The woman found dead in a Mission trailer park last week has been identified as 47 year old Muriel Anne Elaine Monk.

She was discovered in her home in the 34 000 block of Lougheed highway Thursday afternoon, and RCMP believe she may have been the victim of foul play.

An autopsy will be held today to determine cause of death.     (note dating if running this story on Wednesday morning)

In the meantime police are trying to find her vehicle.

It’s a green 1997 Dodge caravan with licence plate 662 RTH.

If you’ve seen this van, give police a call.

As the Paramount Theatre’s final days wind down, the City of Chilliwack is making sure people have a chance to hang on to some of the nostalgia.  They are giving away seats from the old theatre until October 18th.  Starlee Renton with the city says they will give them away in sets of 4, and they have about 150 sets.  She says while the building will come down, many of the contents will live on.

“The Cultural Centre and the Museum have already been in there, gone through it and taken what they wanted.  It will only be the seats that are open to the public.”

You can email Renton@chilliwack.com or call 793-2716 if you’re interested.  She says council has ordered that the sign be put into storage, until an appropriate use for it can be determined.

After a lengthy request for proposal for someone to take on the building, the only group to make a real push was the Friends of the Paramount, but City Council was not satisfied with their business plan, and instead voted on demolition.  CEPCO has issued an RFP for a demolition contractor, and that process will close on October 23rd.  At that time, it will be decided exactly when the building will come down, along with the neighboring Ewart building.

Even though the summer heat may be a fading memory, there will no doubt still be some outdoor enthusiasts hitting the back country for the long weekend.

If you do you’ll want to be cautious.

Coastal fire information officer Donna MacPherson says there is still a pretty significant fire risk.

“All the trees out your way are certainly bone dry. We have areas of both high and extreme fire danger rating on the lower mainland. So what that means to us is that the trees are not only dry so the risk of starting a fire is high, but also that when we do have a fire that it’s going to burn deep and it’s going to be very hard to put out.”

MacPherson says keep your campfires small and make sure they’re completely out with no smouldering embers.

Also if you’re driving an ATV, keep to dirt roads since the vehicle could generate sparks that could ignite grass or fallen branches.