An article written for the Coffee News Newsletter

Snowmobile Safety

As soon as the white stuff falls avid snowmobilers can’t wait to get out on the sled and start exploring Canada’s wild winter wonderland.  Machines race through powder, flying between fir trees laden with snow under sunny winter skies, sledding buddies all in tow.  There is an incredible freedom that comes with exploring the back country on a snowmobile.

To enjoy that freedom sledders hold a great responsibility to respect the environment and their machines, as well as keep their own safety and the safety of those around them top-of-mind.  The Alberta Snowmobile Association (ASA) exists to preserve and promote safe, responsible recreational snowmobiling in Alberta.  Made up of not-for-profit volunteer clubs, the ASA builds and grooms over 6000km of trails in Alberta and offers free snowmobiling safety education programs throughout the province.

“Our number one direction is safety,” said Chris Brookes of the ASA.  “We’re proud of our Safe Riders program that is available to any school in Alberta that requests it.  It teaches kids how to ride safely on snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles.”

Educating our children plants the seeds of fundamental safe riding practices that they will take into their snowmobiling community and into adulthood.  Partnering with the Government of Alberta, the ASA is able to offer this safe riding program free of charge.  Learn more about the Safe Riders program.

“Another big focus is avalanche safety,” shared Brookes.  “Machines are taking people to avalanche zones that we couldn’t get to 20 years ago.  We were seeing several snow mobile avalanche related fatalities.  I’ve been working with the Canadian Avalanche Centre on their Snowmobile Committee to develop avalanche safety programs.”

The latest safety program is a 10 part video series called “Throttle Decisions” offering education on best safety practises when snowmobiling on avalanche terrain.  You can view this series at the Canadian Avalanche Centre’s Vimeo page.

“We’re proud of our efforts with the avalanche community and last season was the first year there were NO fatalities because of avalanches,” said Brookes.

If you’re planning on hitting the powder this season please review these snowmobiling safety reminders and help the ASA promote snowmobiling safety in Alberta.

“There is strength in numbers for getting the safety messages out there.  There is strength in numbers when working with government to keep our trails maintained and open too,” shared Brookes.

For more information about snowmobiling safety programs, snowmobiling trails in Alberta, or how you can get involved with the ASA please visit them at www.altasnowmobile.ab.ca.

A blog written for Black Rock Oceanfront Resort, Ucluelet, BC.

Photo from the Wild Pacific Trail Society

Standing beneath an ancient old-growth cedar tree, you look up in an attempt to see the top of this natural giant.  Your eyes stretch through layers of rainforest canopy seeing the trees branches appear smaller and smaller as they raise towards the sky.  The bright sky blurs the top of the tree and you move your eyes back down it’s enormous trunk, imagining a time in the trees life when you could have wrapped your arms around it’s trunk.  Walking amongst these ancient cedars is an incredible experience.  It is fantasy brought to life.

The Wild Pacific Trail skirts the shoreline on the west coast of the Ucluelet Peninsula. This easily accessible trail provides panoramic views of the wild Pacific Ocean, secluded bays, and rock formations as it follows the rocky shoreline, jumping in and out of ancient coastal rainforest. It is something Ucluelet is very proud of and we are pleased to announce that the newest extension of the trail is now open!

Visitors and community members celebrated the Grand Opening of Ancient Cedars Grove with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday, October 20th.

This trail is a loop off the coastal route which has also been extended 1.5 kilometres further north to Rocky Bluffs, a place that will offer exceptional views of incredible storms and massive waves during this winter’s storm watching season. Surge channels and reefs will create a show when the waves are plummeting into shore during a raging storm! The Wild Pacific Trail Society insists this location will be a ‘must see’ for all avid storm watchers.

Oyster Jim Martin, known as the founder for the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet, told the Westerly News that this spot has “vertical wall where waves spray water vertically hundreds of feet when there’s a storm going off.” Having easy access to Rocky Bluffs will increase the popularity for the Wild Pacific Trail as a winter-time destination for storm watching.

Great care has been taken to preserve the natural rainforest vegetation while developing this trail. The most natural path was taken and as a result much of the trail feels like a hobbit tunnel burrowing through ferns, salal and twisted trees. The path runs through thousands of plant species leading walkers from one breathtaking ocean viewpoint to another.

The Wild Pacific Trail is already world renowned for its breathtaking views, incredible beauty and accessibility for all ages and abilities.. In fact, it is ranked #1 on TripAdvisor for attractions in Ucluelet and a top attraction for Vancouver Island. One review stated that the Ancient Cedars Grove could rival the famous Cathedral Grove, located in MacMillan Provincial Park just west of Port Alberni.

“A lovely walk along the rocky shore, easily accessible from town, good interpretative signage, well maintained trails, and some really awesome views. There are multiple access points so you can walk all or parts of it with many little offshoots to spectacular vistas, and benches to have a sit-down.” – TripAdvisor Review dated October 20, 2013.

Ancient Cedars Grove is located north of the coastal loop that is made up of the Browns Beach/Artists Loop section with access from the north trailhead located on the Pacific Rim Highway just north of town.  For more information please ask us at the Front Desk.

Happy Trails!

Amy Hancock

A special event from the Alberta Camping Association.

Next week, on October 9^th, the Alberta Camping Association is hosting our annual Fall Camps Tour. Camps Tour is when we invite camp professionals from all over the province to join us for tours of other ACA member camps in a particular area. The leaders of the camps chosen will give the group a tour of their property and facilities, showing others how they run their activities, kitchen, office, maintenance, and programs.

This year we are visiting Deer Valley Meadows Camp and Bar Harbour Camp located in the East Central Alberta Region. The cost is just $20/person ($10 if you drive yourself) and that includes lunch. Follow the links to register or to get more information. We invite you and your staff to join us at these two great camps!

Sharing Ideas

Touring other camps in the company of dozens of other camp professionals allows you to share and discuss ideas on all things related to camp. Camp leaders are able to walk through different buildings and facilities, discover how other camps are using these types of buildings, and gather resources for further development of their own camp.

Last year we learned about the cost effective benefits of using yurts as cabins. These circular shaped, tent-like structures are inexpensive, easy to build and a great solution to providing extra sleeping spaces for campers and staff. Our discussion of sleeping spaces continued on to the next camp where we discussed the best options for custom made vinyl covered foam mattresses. Did you know that most companies will remove the old mattresses upon delivery of the new?

We also shared ideas around camp registration. There are many different camp registration methods including simple web-based registration systems to entire camp management systems. Smaller camps that only run one or two camps per season can get away with the old fashioned ‘mail in’ registration, where large camps and conference facilities that run year round programming might consider a full management system.

Our favourite part about Camps Tour is learning how other camps ‘do camp’. Beyond learning about the activities they offer, it’s interesting to learn how those activities roll out in a given day. You are given a great picture of ‘a day in the life of a camper’ and a staff member as well. Some camps take their kids on one or two mid-week out trips into the wilderness, while others prepare them to perform a drama production for their parents at the end of camp. Some camps offer mentorship programs that take young campers through the process of becoming counselors in training, to young staff members, all the way to camp leadership.

We know this camps tour will offer the same opportunities for discussion. Bring a pad of paper and a pen, and get ready to jot down as many great ideas from other camps as you can. The Alberta Camping Association will provide full reports of the information shared at this year’s camps tour on our website blog.

Building a Camp Community

We all have something in common: a passion for summer camp. Camp people are usually an energetic, playful type with a true desire to see children and youth experience positive life development. Most of us have no problems about jumping up and down singing about bananas in front of a hundred kids. Some might say this passion and the abilities that come with it are unique!

Although all of our camps are different, we all work hard and sacrifice for the same mission and that is to give children the opportunity to learn and grow in a positive environment.

Camps Tour is a great opportunity to connect with other camp professionals who share your same passion. Beyond sharing ideas on how you run your arts and crafts shack and how you deal with mash potato leftovers in the kitchen, Camps Tour really is a great time to build friendships with each other. We always here from our membership that one of the key reasons they attend ACA events is to build a network and community with other camps. This event will help you do just that!

Over the years we have gotten to know many of you and look forward to opportunities to meet with you again. We are also excited to meet new faces and make new friends in the camping community. We look forward to seeing you at the Fall Camps Tour 2013!

When:  Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Where:  This fall our tour will take in two camps in Central Eastern Alberta.

1. Deer Valley Meadows near Alix  (10:00am – 1pm) – lunch included
2. Bar Harbour Camp on Buffalo Lake south of Bashaw (1:30pm-4:30pm)

Cost: $20 per person includes…

• transportation (Click here for pick up locations)
• lunch meal at Deer Valley Meadows

Who:  All camp professionals!

Register Today!

StreamOn provides radio broadcasters with online streaming, podcasting, and social media solutions that engage listeners, grow audiences, and generate meaningful revenue.

Working with StreamOn has been a very rewarding experience.  Although my background is in radio broadcasting, my career has followed the trends of digital marketing and online communications.  Developing content for a company that develops innovative and creative technologies to assist radio stations grow their audiences online felt like the perfect combinations of two industries I love to work in!  I had the pleasure of writing web copy and developing content for their new website:  www.streamon.fm.

StreamOn has developed Listen Later, a unique tool that allows broadcasters to instantly pull good radio content in real time and post it online.  Their social media audience can listen to the clip, share it with their friends, who listen to it and share it again.  Each time the clip is clicked the listener is brought to the radio station’s online player and when the click ends the live stream of the radio station kicks in.  Plus, the clip is tagged with visual and audio representation for the radio station’s advertising client.  It brings in new listeners, gives advertisers access to digital advertising, brings in revenue for the station and gives great radio content the opportunity to ‘go viral‘.

The team at StreamOn are all broadcasters.  Their experience is extensive and ranges from programming, engineering, sales and station management.  These guys know radio and have come up with a suite of solutions that will help advance the radio industry in a world that is looking more and more digital.  Their live streaming appliance is easy to use and incredibly reliable.  It comes equipped with Listen Later, Smooth Spots ad insertion withAdswizz, podcasting, and audience measurement tools that will expand listening audiences both online and off, expand advertisers reach, and produce good revenue for radio stations.

Connecting Streams is a ministry arm of Power to Change that mobilizes people passionate for Jesus to reach their friends, community & world.  They help volunteers serve their communities by connecting them to various ministry opportunities in the local area.

In the spring of 2013, Connecting Streams held a Volunteer Appreciation and Celebration event where many of their volunteers shared their personal experiences working through Connecting Streams at several different organizations.

Here is a montage video we put together from this event.  Individual testimonial videos are available on the Connecting Streams YouTube Channel.

Script Writer/Producer:  Amy Hancock

Camera Operator/Video Editor:  James Cadden

An article I wrote for the Coffee News monthly newsletter.

With recent cuts to the provincial budget many people feared the worst for some of Alberta’s important social programs, including the Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD). The Alberta Human Services has stated that the PDD isn’t being cut. “It is being transformed to ensure it achieves the best results for the people supported by the program and to ensure that people get the services they need.”

Coffee News has an invested interest in supporting persons with developmental disabilities. We work with agencies in smaller communities and help provide delivery jobs for some of their clients with disabilities. In many cases these clients would not be able to work without assistance.

“Through this employment with Coffee News these individuals are learning job skills and social skills, among other things,” said Walter Heuvingh of Coffee News.

By using agency provided job coaches, individuals are able to receive on-the-job training and assistance. Although some clients are unable to drive, the job coach takes them to each distributor and the individual goes inside to make the actual delivery.

“They are getting out there, connecting with the people in the restaurants and are able to make a little extra money that might help improve their quality of life,” said Heuvingh.

“A mother of one of our employees told us her son has improved dramatically in the last 6 years he’s been delivering Coffee News.” Walter continued, “in the beginning he would shy away from people and now he is totally socialable and even participating in our meetings!”

Coffee News is proud to be able to support persons with developmental disabilities and it is our way of giving back to the community. By supporting us, you are an important contributor to this cause. Thank you!

For more information on PPD visit Alberta Human Services.

A blog I wrote for for Black Rock Oceanfront Resort

Ucluelet is completely surrounded by water.  Situated on a peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island, it is a home base for sea bound adventure seekers.  Sea kayaking, salt water fishing, whale watching, and sailing are all activities that draw visitors to Ucluelet every summer.  The Pacific Ocean, as magnificent and beautiful as it is, is not the only body of water you can enjoy while visiting Ucluelet.

Kennedy Lake is the largest lake on Vancouver Island and has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation.  It’s located just northeast of Ucluelet with many access points just a 15 to 20 minute drive from town.  There are two day-use sites along the south shore including a recreational beach, picnic area and a boat launch.  Visitors come to swim, kayak or canoe, swim and fish.

My favourite thing to do on Kennedy Lake is kayak.  When you kayak in the remote sections of Kennedy Lake you can get up close to true wilderness.  It’s an experience that will connect you to the land, the Nuu-chah-nulth history and culture, and allow you to view some of the most beautiful scenery Vancouver Island has to offer.

We left early in the morning to get to the lake before the usual afternoon winds picked up.  The water was completely calm.  The high forest covered mountains loomed overhead, reflecting perfectly on the surface of the water.  The higher rockier mountains in the distance stood tall with their snow capped peaks.  Patches of new growth forest showed off their youth with vibrant greens, bringing the forest back to life after years of logging in this area.  The Clayoquot Arm Provincial Park lines the northwest section of the Clayoquot Arm, protecting an old growth forest of Sitka spruce, a conifer tree that is able to grow in salty, magnesium rich soils where most other seedlings die.

As we paddled along the shoreline we came alongside steep vertical cliffs of grey stone, topped with cedars and spruce growing in any and all directions.  It felt similar to kayaking in the Broken Group Islands in Barkley Sound.  We kayaked around out-crops and inside of inlets, peering up rock walls and looking deep into the forest.

We paddled passed rushing creeks and small waterfalls as they ran into Kennedy Lake.  We stopped on a rocky beach near one of these streams to take a break and have a picnic lunch.  Giant cedars and Sitka spruce created a wall behind the beach.  We sat in the sunshine, listened to the sound of the creek feeding into the lake and started to plan our way back to the boat launch.

After crossing the lake at a narrow section of the arm, we paddled along the opposite shoreline back.  We saw a giant bald eagle perched on a dead, leaning log.  As we approached it, it took flight and flew low, right above our heads!  Later we saw two sleepy river otters pop their heads up from behind a pile of drift logs on a small beach.  There is a lot of wildlife along Kennedy Lake including spawning sockeye salmon, deer and even the occasional seal that come up Kennedy River from Clayoquot Sound.  Predators like bears, wolves and cougars also live here.  For this reason visitors are advised to avoid bringing pets into the park and keep young children close, especially if you are spending time on the shore.

As we made our way back the wind started to blow.  Because of the steep mountains that surround Kennedy Lake it is very common for strong winds to pick up without warning and blow through the valley like a wind tunnel.  The water started to get choppy and our cruise-like paddling became a little more difficult, but by staying close to shore and pacing ourselves we were able to make it back to the boat launch safely.  In fact, by the time we had arrived the wind had died off completely and we were paddling towards the shore in flat, glassy water.

Kennedy Lake can offers days of water fun and exploration.  It is just another breathtaking destination and memorable activity to add to your visit to Ucluelet and the Pacific Rim.

Until next time,

Amy Hancock

Please Note:  The Clayoquot Arm Provincial Park is in the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation.  Please show respect by not disturbing the park’s natural heritage.  Please do not pick flowers or cut down trees in this park.  Campfires are not allowed in the Kennedy Lake Provincial Park but are permitted in Clayoquot Arm.  Please conserve the environment by minimal use of fires and remember the “Leave No Trace” code camping ethics regarding your garbage, fire and gear.  It’s also important to know that access to Indian Reserves (Clayoquot Arm) is prohibited unless prior permission has been granted by the band office.