🗳️ The ballot the grown-ups don’t get

Good afternoon, Westshore.

Birdsong is on the ballot

Binoculars or a birdsong player? Colwood is letting kids choose what they’d like on the waterfront this Saturday, while the adults vote for council and school trustees.

We’d pick birdsong, just to learn a few of the calls you hear down at the Lagoon. The kids may have other ideas.

Tonight, Kayla Siefried is teaching a free class on growing your own vegetables at Gordon United on Goldstream. It starts at 7pm, and you’ll need to sign up before you go.

The Westshore team

Here's what we got for you today

The Colwood ballot you have to be a kid to cast

Got room for a few pots? There’s a class on Goldstream tonight

Where the pickleball money goes

Saturday: voting, buses and local events

Free bus rides on election day

Buses and handyDART are free on Saturday, Oct. 17. Check your route’s timetable before you go.

[BC Transit]

Langford voters can use any of these four schools

All open Saturday, Oct. 17, 8am to 8pm: Ruth King Elementary, 2764 Jacklin Rd.; Millstream Elementary, 626 Hoylake Ave.; Happy Valley Elementary, 3291 Happy Valley Rd.; PEXSISEN Elementary, 3100 Constellation Ave.

[City of Langford]

Help plant native species at Westhills Park

Saturday, Oct. 17, 9:45am to 1pm, 2988 Dornier Rd., Langford. Help restore the park and plant native species. It’s free, and drop-ins are welcome. Sign up ahead so the organisers know how many tools and refreshments to bring.

[ReImagine West Shore]

Meet local environmental groups at Church of the Advent

Saturday, Oct. 17, 10am to 3pm, 510 Mount View Ave., Colwood. Meet local environmental groups, catch a talk or watch a video. The church’s poster is on the board below.

[Church of the Advent]

COLWOOD • SATURDAY

A broken hip didn’t stop this 100-year-old voter

Binoculars or birdsong? Colwood is asking its youngest voters.

Colwood shared this photo of a 100-year-old who came out to vote after breaking a hip.

On Saturday, children get their turn at City Hall. Their ballot asks what they’d like on the waterfront: public binoculars for watching marine life, or a birdsong player to help identify the Lagoon’s migratory birds.

Saturday, Oct. 17, 8am to 8pm. Colwood City Hall, 3300 Wishart Rd. Adults vote for council and school trustees. Children choose between the two waterfront ideas in the city’s Kids Vote.

Sources · City of Colwood · City of Colwood / Instagram

The Pick · Local partner · Entrepreneurs’ Lunch Club

Sponsored: When getting out the door becomes an argument

Arguments over screens, bedtime or getting out the door? Dr. Allison Rees will talk about how to handle power struggles while keeping clear limits. There’s time for questions, too. Monday, Nov. 2 at Gorge Pavilion, Lower Hall A, 1070 Tillicum Rd., Esquimalt. Open to the public. Tickets are $29 + GST. Hosted by Entrepreneurs’ Lunch Club. The event page has tickets and the current start time.

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TONIGHT ON GOLDSTREAM

What can you grow in the space you’ve got?

Compost Education Centre

Kayla Siefried’s free class at Gordon United starts with the basics.

A few pots or a whole backyard? Tonight’s Grow Your Own Groceries class is for beginners, whatever space you have.

Kayla Siefried will cover soil, watering, weeding and mulch. She looks after the Compost Education Centre’s demonstration gardens and grows seedlings for its plant sales.

Tonight, Oct. 15, 7 to 9pm. Gordon United Church, 935 Goldstream Ave., Langford. ReImagine West Shore is hosting. It’s free, but space is limited, so sign up before you go.

Sources · ReImagine West Shore · Compost Education Centre staff biography

LANGFORD • FRIDAY TO SUNDAY

The pickleball tournament that raised $21,131 is back

Jon Matthews / Unsplash (stock photo)

The Forget-Me-Not tournament returns to Westshore Parkway this weekend.

Players are back at the Victoria Pickleball Centre tomorrow for the Forget-Me-Not Charity Tournament. An earlier tournament raised $21,131 for the BC Dementia Care Society, with tournament director Leah Gordon and 66 volunteers helping put it on.

The money raised helps pay for Memory Cafés, caregiver groups and other dementia programs.

Friday is doubles for players 50 and over. Saturday has men’s and women’s doubles and beginner co-ed play. Sunday is mixed doubles. Player registration is closed.

Oct. 16 to 18. Victoria Pickleball Centre, Unit 136, 2950 Westshore Parkway.

Sources · Tournament organisers · BC Dementia Care Society · Victoria Buzz

Community bulletin board

What's pinned on the board

Posters from across the Westshore. Tap any to read it full-size.

Paid partner · Shawnigan Retreats

Room for 18 on Shawnigan Lake

Getting the whole family together takes a bit of room. The Lakehouse at Shawnigan Retreats sleeps up to 18 across a main house and cottage, right on the lake, about 45 minutes from Victoria. There’s a dock, sauna and hot tub, too.

Local ads help keep The Westshore free. Become a partner

A few dates for the diary

What to do with the lawn before winter

Saturday, Oct. 17, 3pm. Dave Resendes explains fall lawn care at GARDENWORKS Colwood. It’s free; sign up ahead as space may be limited.

The poetry walk in the Highlands is already full

Saturday, Oct. 17, 10am to noon, W̱MÍYEŦEN Nature Sanctuary, Highlands. Yvonne Blomer hosts Avis Blackbird, Jess Housty, Danielle Hubbard and Neil Surkan for the Poet/Tree Walk. It’s sold out, and there are no walk-ins.

Bring the kids to play at Juan de Fuca Library

Saturday, Oct. 17, 10:30 to 11:30am, 1759 Island Highway, Colwood. A drop-in play session for kids 12 and under and their families. Space is limited.

I really enjoyed this. Especially this bit: “who the hell has time to work at something, to give time to craft, to create with their own minds, to spend years being mediocre.” Shawn Smucker, Please Use AI

The Westshore team

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The Westshore is produced on the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples (the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations) and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples, whose relationship with this land continues to this day.

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