Saltwater Intrusion and How to Prevent It.

Overuse of groundwater from our aquifers can cause saltwater intrusion, particularly during prolonged dry spells and particularly on smaller islands like Thetis and wells close to the shoreline. All of the fresh water in our aquifers comes from the precipitation that falls and percolates into the ground in close proximity to where we pump it out. Once an aquifer is contaminated by salt water, it can take (many) years for it to flush the salt out.

Things to do:

Consider a brown lawn as a badge of honour. Replace "thirsty" plants with native and drought tolerant alternatives. Use captured rainwater for all of your landscape wateringIf it's yellow, let it mellow. Create a "culture of conservation" since climate models suggest that our summers are only going to get longer, hotter and drier in the years to come. Fix any leaks, drips or running toilets immediately. A 1 gallon per minute leak can waste 1,440 gallons of fresh water per day. A single hose running full volume can take 300 gallons of water out of your aquifer every hour! And thousands of gallons can be removed in only 12 hours by a single sprinkler.

For more information, please feel free to contact me.

David Slade
Retired Well Driller and past president of the BC Groundwater Association
dslade@telus.net phone 250-732-0256

Reminder: Ping Pong on Thursday

Come join us at Forbes Hall for ping pong Thursday nights from 7:00 pm till we get tired or 9:00 pm whichever comes first…

Ping Pong team

Green Burial and St. Margaret's Cemetery

A year ago, in September 2023 the Board of St. Margaret’s Cemetery commissioned a group of volunteers to prepare a development plan for the possible creation of a Green Burial section in the cemetery. The committee was comprised of Sharon Maloney, Nan Beals, Mary Des Chene, and Lynn DeCaire with added support from Norm Kasting, Sid Mawson, The Thetis Island Nature Conservancy , Chris Call and Capernwray. Over the winter this committee researched how Green Burial cemeteries operate and reviewed the data with regards to trends today and into the future for the disposition of remains. They visited a couple of operating Green Burial cemeteries on Salt Spring and Denman Islands and spoke directly with the operators. In the spring of this year, they presented their findings to the Board. We are grateful to the hard work, commitment and enthusiasm with which this committee followed the directive. They did an amazing job!

On Sunday August 11 Simone Luckham ( Treasurer) and myself will be present in the Board Room at Forbes Hall during library hours 1 pm ‘til 3 . The final reports and proposals will be available for the community to check out. We are there to answer your questions and to make public the cemetery’s next moves with regard to this project.

See you there.

Suzanne Sarioglu
Chair, St. Margaret’s Cemetery

Queen Sized Box Spring Wanted

I am looking for queen sized box spring ( no mattress required). If anyone has one on the island that they wish to sell, please text or call me at 613-294-4635.

Thanks, Mark
rupidoo@me.com

Final Flight of the Hawaii Martin Mars Water Bomber

The final flight of the iconic Hawaii Martin Mars Water Bomber from its home in Sproat Lake to its museum destiny in Saanich will take place on Sunday, August 11th. The aircraft will fly down the east coast of Vancouver Island, landing in Pat Bay between 6 and 6:30 pm. You can track its progress on the app Flightradar24. We hope to be able to wave to it from Thetis Island if it flies close enough.

Fire Chief J. Caldbeck
Thetis Island Vol. Fire Dept.

Disposing of Expired Marine Flares

In Canada, distributors and manufacturers of flares are responsible for accepting and disposing of expired flares. The term “distributor” does not apply to all retailers that sell flares as a product. Distributors are only responsible for accepting the brands of flares that they sell, although some do accept all brands for a fee. Flare disposal costs range from $4 to $10 per flare depending on the type. There are no flare disposal facilities in British Columbia, meaning all flares are shipped across the country for disposal in either Alberta or Quebec.

Listed below is the contact information for companies on Vancouver Island that accept flares. Always contact the distributor before you ship any flares to them. They will set up the shipping for you and provide shipping requirements and costs. Shipping costs will be high, as flares are considered dangerous goods.

Pacific Coast Liferaft, Victoria 250-360-1573 Accepts all brands of flares.

The Harbour Chandler, Nanaimo 250-753-2425 Only accepts CIL/Orion flares.

All Bay Marine, Sidney 250-656-0153 Only accepts CIL/Orion Flares

Posted from information from Transport Canada, Office of Marine Safety.

Fire Chief J. Caldbeck
Thetis Island Vol. Fire Dept.

Ride Needed to Nanaimo - Aug. 14th

Anyone going to Nanaimo on Wednesday Aug 14 afternoon or evening? Looking for a ride.
Thanks

Jim Moloney

604-534-1635

Ticks on the Island?

Hi 

Just enquiring if anyone knows about the "tick" population/risk?

Thanks 

Dawn Mills

Telephone: 604 822-4949
Cell: 604 790 9721

Book & Bake Sale…and that’s a Wrap!

Thanks to the Community’s great support we’re happy to let you know that Saturday’s Book and Bake Sale raised $1,973 in support of our island’s Library.

Forbes Hall was full of islanders and visitors visiting and enjoying this favourite annual island event. With more than 1,000 books sold, the volunteers were busy making change right up until (and a bit after) the sale closed at 1 pm. The baking sold out fast, and we appreciate all the bakers for taking time to create tasty treats for this part of the event.

The Kitchen served up an excellent lunch which was enjoyed by a record amount of folks, while the Beverage Station snacks and beverages volunteers were busy serving folks right through the event.

And we can’t forget the Merchandise Sales – a favourite of TICA events at the Hall, the volunteers sold continuously through the day, with gross sales of more than $1,900.

We are very thankful for our fabulous group of volunteers and our supportive community.

With thanks,

Ann Dickie,

President, Thetis Island Community Association/Forbes Hall Community Centre

2025 Calendar

August, already! The days are getting shorter, and there’s a crispness to the mornings.

We’re looking forward to seeing your photo submissions for the 2025 follow-up to this year’s beautiful Thetis Island Calendar.

Browse through photos you’ve taken in the past; maybe take a few more within the next few weeks! We will be doing a “Thetis through the Seasons” calendar for 2025 and are excited to see some beautiful images.

You can start sending them as soon as you like, we’ll hold them in a file until early fall when we will sort through them finding the special 12+ to create 2025’s calendar.

Images to be 1 MB or larger, send to info@forbeshall.ca

We're looking forward to seeing what Islanders have been snapping!

TICA Board

Kiddie Pools Needed

Looking to borrow a few kiddie pools for this Saturday the 10th.

This will be part of the water fun activities at Telegraph Marina 2-5pm.

Hosted by Karl Kruse a new resident on Thetis.

Come and enjoy the fun.

If you have one to spare call Ernie 250-252-0144.
He can pick it up.

Mechanic Needed

Is there a mechanic on the Island that can help me with replacing a Fuel Tank Pressure Sensor, or if someone can recommend Chemainus? 

Please let me know at selahmediaarts@gmail.com