December 31, 2009. New Year's Eve dinners at: Calvin's Bistro (early and late sittings), Rock Salt Cafe in Fulford. Also, Harry Manx's Fulford Hall New Year's Eve party...tickets required. Check out other venues.. Harbour House Hotel (New Year‘s Eve Winemaker‘s Dinner…5 courses, paired with Garry Oaks wines), Moby's (fancy dress party with Son de Cuba music…tickets needed), Fulford Inn (special dinner menu and dancing with Dale and Dave)....enjoy! Kudos to David Gullason, who has brought his Ice Pilots NWT to History Television...Wednesdays, 7 and 10 p.m. Islanders involved in helping bring this to fruition: Wayne Melvin, Leigh Badgley, and Al Flett. Such talent on this Island! Noticed in U.B.C.'s Chronicle that Salt Spring's rich visual history has been digitized, with the help of a grant to the Historical Society. Photos of local events, people and ceremonies, from Salt Spring, along with aerial photos from years past, will soon be available for viewing online. Salt Spring, along with Oak Bay in Victoria, is going to be a part of a pilot program encouraging homeowners to disclose their homes energy efficiency rating. Owners who participate in the voluntary program will allow their homes energy rating to be posted on the Victoria Board Multiple Listing Service, providing additional information to prospective buyers. The program aims at making homes more energy-efficient, thus helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Participants will benefit from rebates. "The internet is this vast sea of free content. What used to be the domain of magazines is already there" (quoted in a recent Globe and Mail newspaper article on the demise of magazines). It's true that print media is no longer the place to market listings or deliver information about an area. Specialty magazines, very niche oriented, that have a shelf life (perhaps like the annual Gulf Islander, for Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands), may survive, but the traditional magazine and print formats are disappearing quickly. This is one reason why I am happy to be a part of the Driftwood's web presence, for advertising, and am only using a small section of their monthly print format real estate supplement, now....all those endless pages of ads did not help a seller to sell, so the expense was wasted. This is not how buyers locate information today, and the search has to happen first, before the physicality on Island can take place. Thus, I am spending my hard earned marketing dollars in venues that "work", in delivering the mainly non-local buyer's interest to the seller's consideration. More info? Give me a call! I found the recent coverage of a B.C. Ferry comment, in a Victoria newspaper, interesting. The ferry person was stating that the reason fares were rising was because of the Islands Trust's cap on growth, which made it difficult for first time buyers to locate on the Island, and the retirement age group didn't use the ferries so often, thus there was a reduction in ridership (something along that line). This was picked up by our own Driftwood weekly paper, and the Trust was quoted, in response, as follows: "Trust policies have contributed to higher house prices....". Not sure that I've noticed, before, that the Trust recognized (in print) that their strict zoning bylaws, which control growth, and preserve the environmental beauties of the Islands, do have the outcome of creating an enclave area, with higher house prices. It's just simple economics: low supply plus high demand equals high price points. One does have to be able to afford to live on Salt Spring Island and on the Southern Gulf Islands, this is true. The Trust's mandate is to "preserve and protect", for the benefit of all B.C. residents, the environmental beauties of the Gulf Islands. With the advent of the internet, which erased time and geography, this entire Pacific Northwest Coast region has been "discovered", and the Gulf Islands will remain as specialty areas to reside in. What did that cow say in the film "Babe": "that's just the way things are"??? There is a moment in time, right now, though, to benefit from historically low interest rates, to enjoy substantial price reductions post market meltdowns, of late 2008, and with a higher selection of inventory available for a Buyer's consideration, than in most years. More info? Give me a call! Look forward to helping you to benefit from today's market conditions, so that you can enjoy ownership on one of these stellar Islands! It's buyers that set markets, remember, not sellers or realtors, and so these current conditions are not going to remain "forever". It's a cyclical industry. Right now, the buyer is in control of the process. 2009 has been a roller-coaster year, for many Islanders, and many others in our "global village". There is a feeling of optimism, however, even though there are still serious economic issues facing most countries, most communities, as we stand ready to enter the next decade. Some are calling the past decade the "awful oughts". On this night, where there is an ending of a year, and an entering of a New Year, perhaps remember the Scottish tradition: have a clean house, be festive, welcome family, friends and neighbours, have that dark haired man set up to be the "first foot" in the "new year", and welcome in the new possibilities with the "attitude of gratitude". We have much to be thankful for, on special Salt Spring Island! Enjoy....