Holiday events return to Vancouver Island after last year's pandemic cancellations
The festive season is in full swing on Vancouver Island, after many holiday events were cancelled last year.
On Thursday night, the Town of Ladysmith illuminated its downtown strip with thousands of colorful lights. Christmas decorations are on full display at many island homes, and the festivities continued on Friday night in Oak Bay with the Sea of Lights Lighted Ship Parade.
Eleven decorated vessels sailed past Cattle Point, Willows Beach and Gyro Park before returning to the Royal Victoria Yacht Club.
“Everybody’s really happy about it because we’re outside, we’re safe and we’re comfortable, and it gives us an opportunity to help the community and give others in the community an outing, when there haven’t been many lately,” said Sea of Lights event coordinator Andrew McBride.
On Saturday evening, the largest and longest winter parade on the island is set to roll out from Ogden Point at 5:45 p.m., with a convoy of 80 commercial vehicles making its way to the West Shore.
“We go through Oak Bay, downtown, past the hospital into Colwood and Langford and we end up at West Shore Speedway,” said Always Towing co-owner Cheryl Parker.
Always Towing has sponsored the Island Equipment Owners Association Truck Light Convoy for several years now. It’s a special event for the family behind the business.
"My father, we lost him 9 years ago, but my dad’s last ride was in the passenger seat in the convoy,” said Parker.
“So for me, the joy is doing this in honour of my father as well as helping out people at this time of year and the smiles on people’s faces"
The truck light convoy is also a fundraiser for several South Island food banks. Donations can be made on the IEOA website, which also includes a live parade route tracking feature.
"There’s so many places for people to park and watch instead of having to be in a whole group," Parker said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.