Yarrow, BC

Well, I missed daylight savings time and

had an extra hour to kill. It was a sunny day, but cool-winter is in the air.

Gave the grass the last cut of the year, sharpened and clean the

lawn mover and weeded and took down the sunflowers. We're

good to go now. Unless we get an "Indian summer", then

I start this process all over again.

Next week I guess, I'll be putting up Christmas lights.

I waited too long last year and we had unprecedented snow,

so I was up on a ladder in 2 feet of snow hanging these damn lights.

Not this year!

Yarrow is a village, for some reason it's classified as that - although don't really call it a Village - it's just a distinct 'in the country' part of chiliwack. Located 90 kilometres east of Vancouver and 12 km southwest of downtown Chilliwack.

The fertile upper Fraser Valley supports the growth of many varieties of fruit, vegetables and herbs. Yarrow's economy is mostly agricultural and includes dairy farms and field crops (blueberries, corn & hay).

The area of Yarrow was first owned by Volkert Vedder, who alienated it from Crown Land in 1858. In 1910, the B.C. Electric Railway constructed a line from Vanouver to nearby Chilliwack and skirted around Sumas Lake. One of the stations along this line was named Yarrow.

The townsite was built on land reclaimed, in part, from Sumas Lake. In the early 1920s, the provincial government built dykes to channel the Vedder River through the Vedder Canal to the Fraser River. This dyking project, which was completed in 1924, opened 12,000 acres of land for agriculture to the west of Yarrow.

By 1928, most of the land was owned by Chauncey Eckert. That same year, a group of ethnic Dutch-German Mennonites, who had fled persecution in the Soviet Union, began buying lots of this land from Eckert. They created a Mennonite community that flourished from the late 1920s until the early 1960s. As many Mennonites began to assimilate into mainstream Canadian culture, they moved away from the rural village of Yarrow, and subsequent settlers were of many different ethnic backgrounds. Today, Yarrow functions mainly as a semi-rural suburb of Chilliwack.

Yarrow Days

Come check out Yarrow Days on the first weekend of June, (if you can wait that long) when residents of Yarrow celebrate their community. Festivities begin at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, with a parade down Yarrow Central Road that starts at the Yarrow School on Wilson Road and ends at the Yarrow Mennonite Brethern church. Booths located in the park show off local crafts, clothes, and homemade food. Particularly popular are the bake-sales and barbecues by members of the local churches, offering ethnic and traditional wares.

Performers entertain as residents and visitors make chat and mingle. Local merchants offer specials in the nearby shops. Events include a barbecue and dance at the Community Hall on Saturday night and a pancake breakfast at the hall and church service in the park on Sunday morning.

Thinking this is the kind of community you might want to live in? Close enough to town but with a rural quality?

Check out these Properties for Sale in Yarrow; or Properties for Sale in Majuba Hill. Then give me a call!

If you or someone you know is thinking of Buying or Selling property in Cultus Lake, Chilliwack, Hope, Abbotsford, Langley or anywhere in the Fraser Valley Area of B.C. - or if you would like more information please give Liz Moras of Landmark Realty Chilliwack a call at- 604-799-0459 or e-mail at lizmoras@gmail.com.

This is a true story. A case currently wending its way

through the Canadian justice system has caused outrage.

Here are the facts: Anthony Bennett, 51, and a crack addict,

has a criminal record spanning 33 years. One of Bennett's tricks

was to ride his bicycle from store to store stealing things for re-sale

to support his habit. One particular day, he returned to the

Lucky Moose Market to help himself to expensive

plants. This was his second visit on the same day.

David Chen, owner of the market, had had enough.

He and 3 of his employees, gave chase, caught the thief,

hog-tied him and locked him in a van. They then called

the police. The upshot of this whole scenario was this.

Bennett, pleaded out in August. It should be pointed out

that this was a mere 3 months after a previous arrest for theft.

David Chen on the other hand, has been charged with "Forcible Confinement"

and having a concealed weapon. (he had a box cutter clipped to his belt, and there

there is no suggestion that he threatened to use it).

Now here's the kicker:

Bennett received a light sentence because,

"in his capacity as a victim", poor fellow, he has agreed

to be "a Crown Witness" and testify against Mr. Chen

for the proscecution.

August 20th; I'm scheduled to leave on a trip to Alberta and Saskatchewan.

If it wasn't for my partner Bob, I wouldn't have been going anywhere.

Subject removals and addendums were due just after I left,

and three new requests for market evaluations came

in at the 11th hour. Add to that some complications

that arose on two of our recent deals.

Where I was, there was no internet, and to complicate

matters even more, I dropped my cell phone in the lake.

So basically, I was totally out of touch. Bob came through

and handled everything on his own. I owe him big time!

Like I said, thank God for partners!

Two old guys,

Bill and Sam, met at the park every day to feed the pigeons,

watch the squirrels and solve the world's problems.

One day, Bill didn't show up. Sam didn't think much of it and figured Bill

had a cold or something. But after a week or so, with Bill being a

no-show, Sam was getting worried. Since they had always met

at the park, Sam had no idea where Bill lived so he wasn't

able to go and check on him. A month passed and Sam

figured he had seen the last of his old friend. But one

day Sam approached the park, and, lo and behold

there sat Bill! Sam was very excited and glad to

see him and told him so. He said, "For crying

out loud Bill. Where have you been?"

Bill replied. "I've been in jail!"

"Jail? What in the world for?"

"Well, you know that cute blond waitress that works in the coffee shop?"

"Yeh, I remember her. What about her?"

"Well, one day she filed rape charges against me, and at 89

I was so proud, I pleaded guilty. The damn judge

gave me 30 days for perjury!"