Events from Friday June 7th to Sunday June 9th.  Bring the family and plan for fun!

Learn more by clicking here:  Sea Capers 2013 Poster

The Chamber had a great year of events and programs.  In addition to Member events and mixers, the Chamber hosted Canada Day, Salt Spring Blooms in April, Sip & Savour Salt Spring, Small Business Week including the popular Business Awards as well as participating in Christmas on Salt Spring.  Newly reduced membership fees will encourage new members to join and make the Chamber membership more cost effective for existing members.

On the financial side, Treasurer Mike Best was pleased to report a surplus for the second year in a row.  This will ensure the financial well-being of the Chamber for years to come.  With the Chamber now being in the black, we will be able to support local economic development initiatives and develop better tourism marketing tools.  We now have a contract with Coast Outdoor Signs to have a billboard on the Pat Bay Highway as well as a contact with CTV to promote Salt Spring to a Vancouver Island audience.  These are both sponsored by Mouat’s Trading, Thrifty Foods, Tourism Vancouver Island and your Chamber of Commerce!

The Members also voted on new Bylaws. The new Bylaws are available here:  2012.12.31 Final Bylaws.Approved May 15 2013

Thank you to outgoing Directors Blair Howard and John Quesnel for all of your work while on the Board.

Congratulation to the new slate of Directors!

Returning for a 1 Year Tearm:

Fred Lizotte, McLean, Lizotte, Wheadon and Company

Marnie McAughtrie, Mout’s Clothing

Murray Nurse, Individual Member

Amber Ogilvie, Driftwood Pubishing

Genevieve Price, Purely Salt Spring / Fishbowl

Matt Steffich, Steffich Fine Art / Windworks

Newly Elected for a 2 Year Term:

Mike Best, Alders Plantation Vacation Rental

Linda Bradford, Gatehouse Lodge

Ken Byron, Byron Excavating

Bryce Chapman, Property Team

Kate Fischer, McKimm & Lott

Bruce Gamble, Bruce Gamble and Sons Construction

Fraser Nixon, Individual Member

Li Read, Sea to Sky Premier Properties Salt Spring

Peter Vincent, North End Fitness

We will also be voting on adopting new Bylaws for the Chamber which members are encouraged to review in advance of the meeting.  You will need to be a member in good standing with membership dues paid for 2013/14 in order to vote.  Please contact the office to arrange for your membership dues payment if you have not renewed for the year.

To see the proposed new bylaws, click here:

2012.12.31 Final Bylaws.Approved May 15 2013

To see the AGM Agenda, click here:

Agenda for 2013 AGM

Participating Salt Spring restaurants were Auntie Pestos Café, Salt Spring Wok Bar, Rawesome Foods, Jana’s Bake Shop, Oystercatcher, and the Harbour House Hotel had chefs serving up scrumptious morsels paired with tastings courtesy of Salt Spring Vineyards, Mistaken Identity & Salt Spring Island Ales.  Also on hand was Monsoon Coast Spice featuring our own “Spice Girl” Andrea LeBorgne!

This foodie’s dream bouquet of flavours took place on Sunday April 14th at 4pm in the Harbour House Hotel’s Orchard Room.

Tickets were $17 inclusive.  Partial proceeds went to the Japanese Garden Society.

The prize winner of the Salt Spring Blooms in April Passport was made and the winner is T.McKillop of Salt Spring – Congratulations on winning the Grand Prize

If you liked this event, you will love Sip & Savour Salt Spring taking place on September 27 and 28th featuring local farmers, growers and food producers, local and region chefs and BC wineries, cideries and distillers.  Tickets will be going on sale soon so check www.sipandsavoursaltpring.com for more information.

Saturday – Sunday, April 6-7, 10:00 am – 3:30 pm

Attend the following FREE seminars on this weekend offered at various locations around the island. All of these include a tour of the grounds. Seminar Speakers and Topics are:

Saturday, April 6:
10:00: Growing & Grafting Fruit Trees

SS Apple Company, Peri Lavender, 589 Fulford-Ganges Rd

11:00: Don’t PANIC! Keeping up with Pests & Diseases

Lecture by Master Gardener and renowned author Linda Gilkeson
Location: Foxglove Farm & Garden, Atkins Rd

Noon: Propagating Indigenous Native Plant Species

Fraser’s Thimble Farms, Richard Fraser, 170 Arbutus Rd

1:00: Introduction to Farm Life and Animal Husbandry

Sunset Farm, Sandy Robley, 1325 Sunset Drive

2:00: Promoting Pollination using Mason Bees & Raising Food Crops

Ken & Marian Hargrove – 347 Epron Rd

3:30: Lavender Varieties and Ways to Use Lavender in Everyday Living

Sacred Mountain Lavender, Ben & Jackie Sutton, 401 Musgrave Rd

Sunday, April 7: 

10:00: Developing a Tree Farm – from Seed to Harvest

Seven Ravens Tree Nursery, Michael Nickels, 1641 Fulford-Ganges Rd

11:00: Early Spring Planting of Vegetables and Herbs

Chorus Frog Farm, Rod Martens, 255 Rainbow Rd

11:45: The Perils, Profits & Pitfalls of Raising “Meat Birds” and (if no rain) Beekeeping

Indigo Farms, Kim Elsser, 289 Rainbow Rd

12:30: From Farm to Table: Creating an All-Organic, All-Edible Garden

Harbour House Hotel, Farm Manager Rob Scherer, 121 Upper Ganges Rd

2:15: Why Organic?

Duck Creek Farm, Sue Earle, Island Natural Growers, 134 Tripp Rd

3:15: Garden Plot Efficiency

Hastings House Country House Hotel, Shelley Kobylka, 160 Upper Ganges Rd

Passports may be stamped at any of these locations; passports stamped by a minimum of six artists, garden, studio, farm, seminar or restaurant hosts can be entered in a prize drawing at the Taste of Salt Spring Reception on Sunday April 14 for prizes worth hundreds of dollars.

2013 SALT SPRING BLOOMS IN APRIL

SALT SPRING ISLAND: Easter weekend beginning Friday March 29 marks the start of a fun-filled month of activities for the entire family. Salt Spring will burst with a variety of events including studio tours & art shows, farm & garden tours, free gardening seminars, plant sales, culinary treats with wine tasting and shopping at the island’s famous Saturday Market. Many of the activities are free.

Sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, Harbour Air and the Salt Spring Arts Council, the Easter Art Tour begins the month’s events. The self-guided Studio Tour is open Friday to Sunday, March 29 – 31 from 10 – 5 and includes over 30 artists.

Friday night, March 29, 6 pm is the Gala Art Reception at historic Mahon Hall with free hors d’oeuvres courtesy of Country Grocer and a cash wine bar. The Show features the posthumous work of four prominent Salt Spring artists.

Saturday March 30 is the official 2013 opening of Salt Spring’s famous Saturday Market where everything from fresh produce and tasty treats to locally made crafts are available. The weekend will include Easter egg hunts at various locations, a kids’ “Budding Artist” Day at Mahon Hall and Easter dinner and brunch specials at local restaurants.

Need more knowledge about planting gardens and food crops? The weekend of April 6-7 is sponsored by Mouat’s Trading and will feature a dozen lectures on a variety of topics from raising meat animals to organic seed propagation, from insect and pest control to wool harvesting. All seminars are free and include farm and garden tours or “hands-on” demonstrations. Saturday April 6 also marks the annual Open House at Foxglove Farm & Garden where youth from Salt Spring’s 4-H Club will have their livestock on display.

April 13 – 14 is the Blossom Festival, presented by Shibusa Ponds & Landscape of Victoria that features events from The Japanese Garden Society of Salt Spring Island. The Japanese Garden Society is responsible for building a garden of unity and reconciliation honouring the island’s Japanese-Canadian pioneers. Saturday from 11 – 3 is the Blossom Picnic at the Heiwa Garden in Peace Park on Seaview Drive. Festivities include Haiku & Poetry Readings, Live Music with Raffi, Karate Kids demo, Plant Sale, Japanese Bento Lunch Box and other goodies.

From 1 – 4 pm on both days will be Home Garden Tours to six different locations on Salt Spring. Some homes will have theme gardens, others water features, and still other locations will be hosting plant sales for your summer gardening beds. On Sunday, April 14 from 1 – 4 will be a Haiku Workshop at the Salt Spring Library’s Program Room.

“A Taste of Salt Spring” begins at the Harbour House Hotel at 4:30 to 6:00 pm on Sunday April 14 – a culinary delight of various foods from Salt Spring restaurants and growers matched with wines from Salt Spring wineries. Cost is $17 per person and all Festival participants that obtained six stamps or signatures on passports over the past three weeks will be entered in drawings for a weekend getaway to the English Garden Inn, round-trip float plane tickets to Vancouver courtesy of Harbour Air and gift baskets.

The final weekend of Salt Spring Blooms in April (20th – 21st) is sponsored by Thrifty Foods and is marked by various Earth Day festivities. Volunteers from the community will join students from Gulf Islands Secondary at 11 am on Saturday to plant and rejuvenate the school’s vegetable garden plots. This is another weekend of farm tours featuring seven different farms and nurseries on Salt Spring. And there is a Harbour Clean-Up scheduled in Ganges with a $50 Shopping Spree for the person that collects the most garbage from the beaches in Ganges Harbour, courtesy of Thrifty Foods. Sunday there will be speeches and demonstrations in Centennial Park sponsored by the Earth Festival Society to commemorate Earth Day.

Detailed information on all the events can be found at www.SaltSpringTourism.com under the Events icon. For information concerning tickets for specific events, contact Event Chair Genevieve Price by phone at 250-538-8427, or email at GPrice@SaltSpringChamber.com or Chamber Manager Janet Clouston (250-537-4223) or email Chamber@SaltSpringChamber.com.

Guest Speaker is Fred Lizotte from McLean, Lizotte, Wheadon and Company Accountants.

Fred will be discussing the transition from HST to GST and PST and how your business will be affected.  Handouts will be provided.

Directly after the Mixer a tour of the new Library is being offered to members.

Transition Rules on the HST Available Here:  HST Transition Rules – BC Provincial Government

Cost is only $5 for members and $10 for non-members and guests and includes coffee, tea, muffins & fruit.  Plus HST of course … for now!

Location:  Salt Spring Public Library Meeting Room, 129 McPhillips Ave.

Register in advance by calling Janet at 250.537.4223 or email chamber@saltspringchamber.com

Chamber Board Member Fred Lizotte from McLean, Lizotte, Wheadon and Company Accountants was on hand to probive advice to Chamber members and guests at a recent Chamber mixer.  His advice

Fred discussed the transition from HST to GST and PST and how businesses will be affected.  Handouts were provided.

For your convenience we have the helpful handouts here.  Thanks Fred for your great presentation!

Transition Rules on the HST Available Here:  HST Transition Rules – BC Provincial Government

PST Taxible items are listed Here: 2013 PST Taxible Items

Traditionally, Easter Weekend benefits the Salt Spring Arts Council through the Easter Art Tour and Show. This year’s show features a retrospective exhibition of works in memory of four prominent Salt Spring artists. This weekend, sponsored by Harbour Air, also marks the official 2013 opening of Salt Spring’s famous Saturday Market where everything from fresh produce to locally-made crafts are available.

Need more knowledge about planting gardens and food crops? The weekend of April 6-7, sponsored by Mouat’s Trading, features 12 seminars on a variety of topics from raising meat animals to organic seed propagation, from insect and pest control to wool harvesting and includes farm and garden tours.  All seminars and tours are free.

April 13 – 14 is the Blossom Festival, presented by Shibusa Ponds & Landscape of Victoria that features events from The Japanese Garden Society of Salt Spring Island such as the Blossom Picnic and a Haiku Workshop. This is the weekend of the Home Garden Tours, plant sales and on Sunday April 14th from 4-6 at the Harbour House Hotel is A Taste of Salt Spring – a food and wine-tasting extravaganza!

April 20-21 is the final weekend of the festival and pays tribute to Earth Day with several programs including garden planting at the high school, farm tours, beach clean-up and Earth Day festivities, all sponsored by Thrifty Foods.

Click below for the Events Calendar:

Salt Spring Blooms in April 2013 Schedule of Events

Please also click here for the Event Calendar for specific dates which also contain links to other pages with more details where applicable.

For the Official Map & Program Guide click here: Salt Spring Blooms in April Map 2013

“A Taste of Salt Spring” April 14th from 4-6: A Taste of Salt Spring

Check out our Official Press Release on the News Page.

“It is pleasure to give to these important groups who are both doing great things in our community.  During these economic times it is very important that we are able to support these organizations through our efforts.” said President Steffich.

Representing Island Natural Growers (ING) were Sue Earle and Anne Macey who were excited to be a part of organizing Sip & Savour Salt Spring and happy to receive the funds on behalf of the farmers, growers and food producers on Salt Spring. Sip & Savour Salt Spring was also able to contribute to StageCoach Theatre School’s Rising Star Grant Fund which offers theatre programs to children and youth.  On hand to receive their cheque from the Chamber were Maggie O’Scalleigh and Adina Hildebrandt.

Details on the 3^rd Annual Sip & Savour Salt Spring for 2013 are Coming Soon!  Sip & Savour Salt Spring unites growers, food producers, chefs and vintners from Salt Spring Island and the Vancouver Island region with local and BC vintners in mélanges a trois of culinary magic at Wine-Maker’s Dinners hosted by various Salt Spring restaurants and the very popular outdoor Grazing Event.  Venues and ticket prices to be announced.  Details will be posted on the Sip website: www.sipandsavoursaltspring.com

Read the full press release here: Chamber Donates Sip & Savour Proceeds