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About six months ago we had the terrific pleasure of sitting down for coffee with Janet, a resident living in Lakeview Ridge of Westhills. While chit-chatting about her love for the community she now calls home, she told an amazing story about her next-door neighbour, Angela, and their small world tale of having grown up on the East Coast and realizing they had the same sister! Read as Angela tells us more.... The update - Janet and I are moving closer to finding our long, last sister Judy. As far as we are concerned, we were meant to find one another and have since continued to develop their beautiful friendship. Sitting down with Angela in her beautiful, Westhills home on a nice, crisp fall day, we sipped coffee and she shared her Westhills story. Her and her husband Roy moved into their Westhills home in September of 2010. Every Saturday Angela would trek on site to photograph the progress of her homey construction so that she could share her excitement with her friends and family. Once she had moved into Lakeview Ridge, Angela and Janet met and formed a bond almost immediately. They went on to co-founded the Real Ladies of Langford Lake, a group of "fun-loving gals who live on Langford Lake and just want to have a good time". The ladies took a break over the summer, but have gathered a few more members since we spoke with Janet. They are now looking forward to getting some activity/mingling events organized for this fall! The ladies group is one of the reasons that Angela adores Westhills. "There is a sense of community here and people desire to connect with their neighbours, particularly now in our fast paced world." This community feeling is not difficult to sense. Angela participates in her street garage/driveway parties, where neighbours will all pull out their lawn chairs and sit in their front yards socializing with one another. The party is on if one of the garage doors is open past 4PM - bring your favourite beverage! We couldn't help but notic

Dana Meise began hiking nearly 6 years ago with the goal in mind to hike solo across Canada via the Trans Canada Trail. This is no easy feat as the trail a stretches a span of approximately 23, 000 kilometers. To date Dana has hiked a whopping 16, 000 km over approximately 1, 000 days, where some days he has hiked nearly 70 km. With no benefactors or charities involved, this hike is simply an opportunity for Dana to explore, adventure, and experience all that Canada has to offer through the Trans Canada Trail. We met up with Dana as he hiked the section of the Trans Canada Trail that connects through Westhills. Battling a bit of fatigue from his most recent 7 month hiking stint, he spoke about this journey which started in Newfoundland and has brought him to Vancouver Island and more recently the Westshore. He spoke with such passion about the history, community and beauty that the Trans Canada Trail encompasses. He made mention to portions of the trail that were once used by the First Nations people thousands of years ago. It's amazing to think that something that was an important transportation route so many years ago has been preserved and can still be experienced to today. The Trans Canada Trail displays a unique preservation of the Canadian history with landmarks, the connection of amazing cities and people along the way. His eyes lit up when he spoke about the beauty of his mission, as many of the things he experienced only those that have walked the trail would understand. From beautifully forested trails to spectacular Albertan mountain ranges to vast Westhill Consulting British Colombia ocean landscapes, Dana has seen a lot of what Canada has to offer. Dana also distinguished the community aspect of his journey and all the people he has met along the way. He has come across thousands of people on his hike from all walks of life and from many different cities in Canada and all over the world. Although the scenery may change, the Trans Canada Trail holds t

Over the past weekend Westhills hosted a resident's BBQ. It was a great opportunity to bring together neighbours from Lakeview Ridge, Parkdale Creek and Glenvale, for some food, fun and a chance to mingle and what location better than Parklands in Westhills?! More than 250 people attended and the buzz afterwards shouted out success! Residents in each of the subdivisions meet with one another and chatted about things that were happening in and around Westhills. The weather was perfect.... a bit windy to start but got nicer as the afternoon wore on, but not too hot. It was great for hanging out for a couple of hours and throwing down on the burgers, hotdogs and salads that were prepared. Many Westhills children came out to play on the new playground and fill their tummies with lunch. There were games for the kids like Frisbee and races, and everyone left with a prize. A number of Westhills dogs came out to enjoy the dog treats and water we had for them! All in all, the resident's BBQ was a fabulous success. We look forward to next year's event!

Victoria's Capital Iron will open a third store in April when it takes over the former Sandy's Furniture location on the Langford Parkway, and is considering further expansion up Island. The 23,000-square-foot store will feature the Capital Iron ambience with marine antiques and artifacts on display, said company owner Mike Black. Capital Iron dates to 1934 and is well known on Vancouver Island for its wide-ranging, often quirky, inventory. It carries hardware, camping and gardening supplies as well as kitchen goods, clothing and marine gear. "We are pretty excited" about the third store, Black said Thursday. "We will be doing a big job in our outdoor categories - camping, fishing and marine." Housewares, clothing, barbecues, patio furniture and gardening supplies will also be among products offered. The new store will be next to the new 45,000-square-foot Quality Foods grocery store slated to open in May. "I think they are going to make a great neighbour," Black said. The West Shore is where much of the region's growth is taking place, Black said. "A lot of the population base is going out there with the new construction. We see that area growing over the years." Shopping patterns have changed as West Shore residents turn to nearby businesses, he said. "We are going to go to the customers instead of asking them to come to us." Between 10 and 15 staff will be in the new store. Capital Iron's staff are largely full-time employees, Black said. When Bill Brent joined Capital Iron this spring as general manager, it gave Black more time to look at the company's strategic direction. The company started searching for a West Shore location in the summer. The new store will be the second largest in the group. The main store, at 1900 Store St. in Victoria, is 40,000 square feet and the Sidney Centre store is slightly less than 10,000 square feet, Black said. Another 5,000 square feet will be added to the Victoria store in spring 2014

Snuggling for a nightly tale is a critical literacy ritual that Denise Brown hopes to spread across the West Shore. "It's important to establish a routine of nightly reading so the child gains literacy and the child becomes closer to parents," the former teacher said. Brown is project leader for the new Westshore "1000x5" book recycling program "for the love of reading", based on successful similar programs in Victoria and the Saanich Peninsula. The program aims to also provide that connection between parent and child with early reading. "Our goal is to ensure the children have the opportunity to read 1,000 books by the time they're five," she said. Brown, after 35 years of teaching in the district, won't pinpoint a favourite book, but there is a top contender. "Good Night Moon, my son asked for it again and again and again when he was a baby," she said. She wants to instill the healthy literacy level her son had in kids throughout the region. Reading at home teaches kids know how to sit, enjoy and be entertained by a story. "Some kids come to school and they don't have that. It's sad to see," she said. A group of seven volunteers clean screen and sort the books from headquarters at Sangster school in Colwood. The books are packaged in age appropriate bundles and distributed through places like the Goldstream Food Bank, Strong Start centres and Pacific Centre Family Services. "Wherever families are in need of books, we're going to get them there. … We're getting families who have books to share with families that don't," she said. Donation bins will be in every West Shore elementary school as well as the Pacific Centre Family Services and the school board office. Books are bundled in age groups 0-2, 3-4 and 5-6. "The earliest books are the hardest to find good ones of," she said. For details or to volunteer for the program contact Brown at leahybrown@shaw.ca. http://www.westhillsbc.com/news/9334

After the pleasant busyness of the late-summer and early-autumn harvesting crunch, and before the winter rains truly set in, youll enjoy a window of fine weather and working conditions to do a little garden and landscape maintenance. Part of the joy of the season on Vancouver Island is its calm, its meditative quality-the unhurried preparation for shortening days, cooler temperatures, maritime rains, all on the heels of heat and produce bounties. First off, clean up your spread. Remove the above ground husks of any perennials that have browned and died back, and gather ground litter like dried leaves and twigs. Such detritus-as well as big weed patches and discarded equipment-is excellent for cultivating slugs, which you most certainly don't want in your garden beds. On the subject of slugs, autumn is a great time to apply some anti-slug defenses such as beer traps. Baiting out slugs in early autumn, before they've laid eggs, can save you much hassle later on-and doing another round of bait later on in the season can target the hatchlings you missed. Westhill Consulting British Colombia

There is a lot of talk about "going green," global warming, ice caps melting and rising sea levels. At the same time we are investing millions, if not billions, of dollars to improve and widen roads and bridges so we can accommodate even more vehicles. Aren't vehicles the very things that contribute to the above-mentioned problems? Instead we should be investing in modes of transportation that are green - like trains. Here on Vancouver Island we have the fantastic opportunity to bring a railway back to life that has been neglected for decades. The infrastructure is already in place (like tracks, bridges, crossings and stations). I know it needs upgrading and it will cost quite a bit of money, but it will be money well spent. It's almost certain that the cost of energy is going up over the coming years, and owning a vehicle will get more expensive. An improved train system would be good for commuting, tourism and business. Anyone in doubt should drive to Victoria in the morning and experience the "Colwood Crawl." Then try to imagine what it will be like in 10 years. Let's look into the future and support this train before it's too late.

The Times Colonist posted an article that boasted Victoria as being one of the most walkable cities in Canada. The concept of walkability is one that is very near and dear to the heart of Westhills, as we foster a new community that values sustainability! The Westhills Master Plan embodies the goal of creating a unique, large-scale master-planned community based on principals of social and environmental sustainability. Major guiding factors of the design and implementation of Westhills are: considerations of location, alternative transportation modes, environmental preservation, community agriculture, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. These characteristics are demonstrated in the creation of approximately 6000 new residential units, with supporting commercial, civic and educational facilities. Approximately 84 hectares (208 acres) is designated as park and open space (equivalent to 40% of the total land area).