Healthy Communities

The fog is clearing from Downtown Quesnel, which means it is a great time to head out onto one of the great trails in Quesnel. If you have your camera with you, take a photo of yourself or the trail and send it to http://www.healthyfamiliesbcwalkingchallenge.ca/

The community with the most stories will win $10,000 that Quesnel will use on River Front trail enhancements. Our team will be on the River Front Trail next week taking photos and getting your stories direct from the trail - so watch for our team in Ceal Tingley Park.
Happy walking!

Employment Fair in Quesnel

National Oilwell Varco is holding a Career Fair here in Quesnel!!
The Career fair will be held at the College of New Caledonia
September 8th 1:00 - 9:00pm
September 9th Noon - 5:00pm
300 POSITIONS ARE TO BE FILLED.
For more information about this job fair and the positions available stop by Quesnel Employment Services to learn more.

Grant support

We posted this earlier this year, but just wanted to share again that our office provides grant writing support for free. We received funding support at the start of this year and have hired a full time grant writer. We have a short form from organizations to fill out that you can request by contacting Erin Dzielak (edzielak@quesnelinfo.com) or April Cheng (acheng@quesnelinfo.com)

Cycling instruction

Passing along a press release we received today...

“Take your mountain biking to the next level, or learn to ride today.”

Have you ever watched an accomplished mountain biker ride techical singletrack, seeming to flow effortlessly down the trail, breezing by obstacles and floating over obstructions, and wished you could too? Does your mountain bike see mostly pavement but you’d like to explore its off-road potential? Are you struggling to “clean” a challenging trail but just can’t do it without dabbing (putting a foot down)? Join Tim Landon for a session of cycling instruction and you’ll be well on your way. Crush that learning curve and rejoice while your skills and confidence level soars. You will master fundamentals, be coached through advanced techniques and your bike-handling abilities will soar. You will develop more as a rider in one three-hour session with Tim than you would have believed possible in such a short time. What else can you expect? FUN! You can also expect the following: To forge new neural pathways, to improve your mental and physical understanding (coordination/muscle memory) through practice, to apply the theory behind the moves and to gain real-world off-road experience under the tutelage of a caring and conscientious instructor.

Perhaps you’re wondering, “Can my riding ability and enjoyment really improve that much from just one single lesson?” It sure can – but a lot will depend on the quality of instruction you receive!

Tim Landon is a veteran cycling instructor with a life-long passion for cycling both on and off-road. He “got serious about cycle commuting” in the late ‘90s and became a certified Can Bike Instructor in 2000, teaching various on-road cycling courses for the City of Toronto in 2001 and 2002. These courses ranged from Adult Learn to Ride (for adults who have never balanced or successfully ridden a bicycle) through to Can Bike 2; the national standard for on-road cycling instruction. It’s an intense, 18-hour course including traffic theory, bike-handling skills and cycling using multiple lanes in heavy traffic, suitable for experienced urban commuters. It’s also a required certification for Toronto Metro Police engaged in bike patrol – so Tim’s students range from the most inexperienced of beginners to cyclist police officers.

While already a university graduate, Tim went back to school in 2003, earning his Adventure Naturalist Diploma (with Honours) from Algonquin College and picking up a host of outdoor industry certifications along the way, including Mountain Bike Trail Guide (Canadian Professional Mountain Bike Guide/IMBA affiliation). He worked full-time as a pro mountain bike guide for Wilderness Tours, leading up to seven rides daily while also doing basic skills instruction, nature interpretation and bike maintenance. The following year Tim worked for Esprit Rafting, leading rides, maintaining bikes and conducting cycling skills clinics. Tim has an additional three seasons’ experience leading interpretive mountain bike excursions for Alberta Parks. He has also combined his passion for cycling with volunteer work, leading rides and conducting beginner mountain bike clinics for the Toronto Bicycling Network. Tim has also served as a volunteer captain and Vice President of Trail Blazers Tandem Cycling Club, where blind or visually-impaired cycling enthusiasts (stokers) ride with sighted volunteers (captains) on the club’s tandem bikes. He is a vocal cycling advocate and has truly “walked the walk” choosing to live car-free for five consecutive years, cycling year-round in all conditions and touring extensively. While he now owns and operates motor vehicles (and holds a Class 1 license) his passion for the human-powered variety burns with intensity. Tim loves to share his wealth of accumulated knowledge and experience and looks forward to meeting you for a fun-filled and jam-packed learning session that will take your cycling to the next level and dramatically improve your riding experience!

Cycling course offerings include scheduled group sessions of Mountain Biking 101 – an Off-Road Primer, beginning Saturday, September 3, 2011. This course is also scheduled for September 10 (Saturday), Sept. 18 (Sunday), Sept. 24 (Saturday) and October 1 (Saturday). To ensure a quality experience, group sessions will be limited to a maximum of six students. This course costs $75 per participant and runs from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Call Tim at 250 992-5003 to book your spot – call now as courses can fill up quickly! Please note that helmets are mandatory and your bike must fit you properly and be in good working order. Individual instruction is also available for Mountain Biking 101 – an Off-Road Primer and Learn to Ride Today for $105. Call Tim for more information or to arrange a session of top-notch, friendly instruction. Thanks for your patronage and Happy Riding!

Phone scam strikes Quesnel

A phone scam hit Quesnel last night focusing on seniors and their computer activity. The senior is told that they have been advised by Microsoft that there warranty is about to expire and that they can help update their computer. At the end of the call the senior is asked to pay for the 5 year extension to service in the amount of $399.99 USD. During the call the home computer is taken over by the caller for up to two hours while they search for information.

If this has happened to you or your family you should let your credit card company know about the occurrence and contact your bank to advise them to keep an eye on activity to ensure that no other out of the ordinary bills are processed. Given that the senior freely gives the credit card information they are not protected by fraud for the initial billing.

Remind your loved ones and senior family members that they should not give out credit card or personal information.

construction

Construction is well underway on St Laurent Avenue in Downtown Quesnel. Thank you for everyone's patience while the construction is in progress. The stores in St Laurent remain open and are happy to see your smiling face. The construction will see complete street re-paving, new curbs, gutters and sidewalks, drainage improvements, a new storm sewer system and landscaping.

What else is happening this week?

1) Two investment calls on property development - one commercial, one residential (and it's only Tuesday morning)

2) The Gaming Commission is meeting in Williams Lake this week at Pioneer Complex, Thursday Aug 18 - the intent of the community forums is to give "British Columbians an opportunity to provide input into the Community Gaming Grant Review". Forums take place from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There is another opportunity in Prince George on September 15 at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre.

3) The Gold Rush Living magazine is heading to the printers, watch for the digital copy available here later this week.

4) We have participated in writing over $500,000 in grant requests this month and have plans for more over the next few weeks - we'll be launching a grant support program in September and more details will be posted here.

Happy Tuesday!

You can help!

The Province of BC launched a healthy families program today and by participating you could win a prize and help Quesnel win funds to support trail development/enhancement!

Visit www.healthyfamiliesbcwalkingchallenge.ca and submit your favourite trail or information on walking in Quesnel! You can win a variety of prizes and grand prizes and the City with the most submissions can win $10,000 and a grand prize of $50,000 for trail development/enhancement.

We'd love to showcase your stories here too - so if you have time please feel free to email us your story and photos and we'll post them here - send them to quesnelinfo@gmail.com!

THANK YOU!