Holiday Shopping, Youbou Style
Youbou’s Annual Christmas Craft Fair is slated for Saturday, November 30, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Youbou Community Hall (doors at 8:30 a.m. for set-up). To book a table to sell your craft items, call 250-749-6742, ext. 3600 ($15 for one table, $30 for two tables, $45 for three tables). The Youbou Community Association will once again be selling breakfast and lunch items to hungry shoppers and sellers.
Ho, Ho, Ho! on Parade
Santa arrives early this year in Lake Cowichan, on Sunday, November 24—a full month ahead of schedule to be exact. The annual Christmas parade starts at 5 pm and the elves and reindeer from Youbou will be in the mix. If you’d like to join our Youbou Community Association float or help us decorate it, please let us know. We’ll be promoting the best New Year’s Eve party on Vancouver Island, at the Youbou Hall, of course.
New Year’s Eve Tickets
Speaking of New Year’s Eve, December 31 may still around the bend a bit, but tickets for our Youbou end-of-year celebration are on sale now. Buy them for $40 each at Cassy’s Coffeehouse, Daly’s Auto Centre, and the Shop & Save in Youbou, as well as at Scarlet’s and the Visitor Centre in Lake Cowichan. Board members will also be selling them so reach out to them for a personal delivery. Littlehead will be rocking us into 2020 this year. The same great intermission snack, decorations, and free shuttle service will be in play to help you ring out the old and ring in the new!
Oktobeerfest Rollicked
Just like in the halls of Bavaria, Oktobeerfest celebrants packed into Youbou hall on Saturday, October 19, ready to dance the night away. And dance they did, to the rockin’ tunes of The Rivals with Rob Fortin. The intermission provided an opportunity to refuel on a filling snack of German-style sausages and buns, plus Black Forest ham and lots of veggies for healthy eaters. We couldn’t do this without the generous spirit of our volunteers and want to acknowledge all who helped make the evening a super success: Youbou Community Association board members: Eva and Garry Fearon, Lori LaFave, Spencer Day, Allan Gott, Randall Wilson, and Julia Martinusen
Decorating team: Alice Yanke, Bee Greenway, Lyle Kuchmak, Susanne and Al Thom, Teresa Gustafson, Noni Baanstra, Bob and Cathy Fish, plus Eva, Garry, Lori, Spencer, Allan, Randall, and JuliaParty staff (food, drinks, door, sales): Richard Madill, Floyd Augustine, Dan Martinusen, Joanne White, plus Eva, Garry, Lori, Spencer, Allan, Randall, Julia, Bob, Cathy and Alice
Clean-Up crew: all of the above, plus volunteer partygoers. Thank you!Tickets sellers: Shop & Save, Cassy’s Coffee House, Daly’s Auto Centre, Youbou Bar & Grill, Lake Cowichan Visitor Centre, and Scarlett’s Second Hand Boutique, plus Lori, Julia, Eva, Spencer, and Noni.
Winners, Winners, Winners
The suspense was palpable when it came time to draw the long-awaited raffle prizes at our Oktobeerfest gathering. Who would win each of our three prizes—the truckload of firewood, donated by Max Russell; the appetizer cruise on beautiful Lake Cowichan, donated by Eva and Garry Fearon; and the pair of tickets to our popular New Year’s Eve party, donated by the YCA? We’d sold out of our 250 raffle tickets so the odds were long. Ta-da! Sally Ball won the New Year’s Eve tickets, Theresa LaFloch won the appetizer cruise, and none other than our own Grant Daly won the firewood, so congratulations to them all. And thanks to all who bought raffle tickets. In a way, we all win, because the proceeds are going toward helping Youbou prepare for emergencies, such as the power outage last winter.
Not to be overshadowed was the 50/50 winner of the evening: Donna Walker won $240 for her contribution to the pot—not too shabby, eh? Again, proceeds will benefit Youbou emergency preparations, so thanks to all those who bought 50/50 tickets.
Wild West Ghost Town
Our annual haunted house in Youbou took on a “Wanted Dead or Alive” theme this year, complete with a ghostly saloon, frontier jail, butcher shop and railroad station, plus a mother lode of scariness in an “underground” mine. For those more into merriness, not scariness, downstairs offered the costume contest plus fun things for little ones with the Youbou Community Association, and treats from the fire-fighters. It’s difficult to thank all those who contributed to the haunted house, but here’s a short list: Connie for overseeing the whole display, Teresa for the saloon, Sandra and Brett for the town framework, Bee for hours of decorating, as well as Roberta, Debbie, Julie, Bonnie, Eva, Julia, Susanne, Lyle, Sandy, Spencer, and many others who gave their time. Thanks also to the CVRD for the event, the YCA support, and the Youbou Volunteer Fire Department, for the awesome fireworks and snacks!
Join Us!
Youbou is bubbling with activities and opportunities for us to spend time together for good causes or just plain fun. The Youbou Community Association is just one of several organizations making things happen in Youbou and we’re looking to grow the board a bit. Our current board is comprised of 7 fun-loving people who enjoy working (and playing) together. We’d like to add a couple more people to our board. Please consider joining us in our efforts to make Youbou sparkle as a community and let us know of your interest. Voting for the board would occur at our annual meeting in January.
Emergency Preparedness
With the oncoming winter approaching, a few folks have been asking how Youbou is coming along with emergency preparedness. A small group of volunteers has been diligently working through the summer on a plan to use the Youbou Hall as a warming shelter. Should that plan be approved, it will take some time to implement a few changes before the hall is ready to serve as a centre. The recent raffle and Oktobeerfest 50/50 provided solid seed money to take the first steps (thank you). However, until this dedicated committee can move forward, the plan for now is as it has been: prepare your home and family, shelter in place, and check on neighbours and their pets to see what help might be needed. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments.
40 Years and Counting. . .
With little fanfare and much love, Youbou celebrated one of its own on October 2. Grant Daly marked exactly 40 years of doing business in our little town. It’s a remarkable feat, considering all that has happened here, including the sawmill closure in 2001 and a fire at the station shortly after. We all know Grant is a humble guy, but he took the day in stride, gamely donning a 40-year anniversary shirt, posing under a Daly’s Tailgate Party banner, and greeting well-wishers—his team, past and present; his local and extended community; and a parade of people who have either been mentors to Grant or influenced by him, such as:
• Gary Carpentier, who encouraged Grant to buy a boarded-up and essentially abandoned building in 1979.
• Ken Schedel, fondly known as Grant’s wingman, who taught Grant to pump gas, change tires, check oil, etc. and still visits the station most days.
• The guys who helped rebuild the shop after the fire, including the man Grant calls Humpty Dumpty—he helped put it all back together again.
• His fellow towing, gas-pumping, and mechanic buddies from literally hundreds of kilometres away.
• Members of the Youbou Volunteer Fire Department, where Grant has served for 40 years.
• North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP’s Sarah Pharis, who said the station is “like the heart of Youbou.” Several other police officers, retired and active, sargeants and officers, came from near and far.
• The woman who got married in the garage. Tami Wilde said her wedding venue choice was “Because it was a big part of our lives.”
• The Carlow children came from across the street and each gave Grant a hand-drawn card.
• Paramedic Mike Wright, who took his lunch break to play the bagpipes.
• Skye Ryan of CHEK News, which broadcast the event on the 5:00 news (and the 6:00 and
the 10:00 reports as well)—with a video that subsequently went viral across Canada, we’ve heard.
• His wife, Teresa, whose first job was pumping gas at the age of 16, wrote a letter addressing the honour and integral challenges of running a small business. She shared, “How does one incorporate the work of a man, who many fondly refer to as “Cheeze”, along with the inherent sacrifices—sleep deprivation, cold meals you’ve conditioned yourself to enjoy, and fashionably late or missed functions, just to name a few. Most are unaware or simply cannot begin to comprehend the tragedies you’ve witnessed, often as “tow-truck direct.” You have seen people at their worst moments and undeniably been the person more than a few have come to for answers, information, or simply just to listen. You are our “go-to guy”, with the irrefutable ability to make those around you feel safe and valued, and to always have more answers than questions.”
We agree with Teresa, “You’re a good man, Grant Daly!”
Youbou looks forward to the next 40 years with the little gas station that could.
What’s Happening
November 24: YCA in Holiday Parade in Lake Cowichan, 5 pm
November 30: Christmas Craft Fair
Ongoing
Church: Sunday: 10 am Coffee and social, 11 am service. The last Sunday of every month is a potluck lunch gathering after the 11 am service.
Pickleball at Youbou Hall: foul-weather Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings.
Bowling:
Tuesday nights: Men’s League (Nov. 5 to Dec. 10)
Thursday nights: Women’s league (Sept 18 to Dec. 5)
Sunday nights: Mixed League (Oct. 20 to Dec. 8)
Friday nights: Family bowling; Saturday nights: Adult bowling
Loonie nights: Nov. 1, and Dec. 6.
Toonie nights: Nov. 16, and Dec 21.)
Got News?
If you’d like to contribute news for the newsletter about a public event happening in or around Youbou, please send particulars about date, time and place to julia@raedwulf.org. Remember to check out our web site at youbouyca.com and our facebook page for the latest information as well.
Your YCA Board
Chair: Julia Martinusen
Co-Chair: Lori LaFave
Secretary: Randall Wilson
Treasurer: Spencer Day
Social: Eva Fearon, Garry Fearon
Publicity: Allan Gott