Chilliwack.

Our annual display booth at the Chilliwack Canada Day celebrations is always an opportune time to fly our Loyalist flag along with our Canadian flag and it is a great time to share our story with display boards, information and handouts.

The Chilliwack and Vancouver Branches were highly focused on the Pacific Regional Mini-Conference held on September 26-28. Friday night and Saturday events were held in Chilliwack, and the Sunday event was held at "Fort Anderson" in Vancouver. Joining us were the other B.C. Branches, Victoria and Thompson-Okanagan. A Black Powder Shoot at the Chilliwack Fish and Game Club was a unique and fun experience for those participants. Saturday's all-day event at Carman United Church featured greetings from the Honourable Steven L. Point, Lt. Governor of B.C., and a lunch visit from the Honourable Chuck Strahl, MP for Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon and Minister of Indian Affairs, accompanied by his wife Deborah. We were thoroughly honoured to have our UELAC President, Fred Hayward UE, and First Lady, Margaret Hayward, attend all our events.

President Fred presented twenty-three certificates to members from Vancouver, Victoria and Chilliwack. Chilliwack members receiving were: Janet Duncan (Loyalist ancestor = George Shriver UE), Anne, Catherine, Jillian and David Yuen (Loyalist ancestor = John Wert UE), and Alison, Brittany, Heidi and Kirsten Vance (Loyalist ancestor = Frederick Shaver UE). A poignant note was the presentation of six certificates to the White family of the Vancouver Branch. Rev. James Henry White was the first minister of Carman United Church when it was founded in 1898, one hundred and ten years prior to our event. The Pacific Conference fostered a great deal of camaraderie between our Branches.

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The Remembrance Day wreath was presented by Janet Duncan UE and her mother, Cleo Waiters UE (Loyalist ancestor = George Shriver UE).

Our Christmas celebration featured a special program by Fleita Rae and Shay Thornton (Loyalist ancestor = John Thornton UE). Over the past year, Branch member, Gordon Vance UE (Loyalist ancestor = Frederick Shaver UE) has obtained certificates for his five daughters and grandchildren. In addition to the aforementioned, four more certificates were presented to Vance grandchildren at our Christmas event: Jack Andrade, Zakariya, Yasmina and Elias Enneddam. Daughter Erin and granddaughter Melissa Enneddam, received certificates at a prior date.

The Chilliwack Branch web site is now connected to the Dominion site at www.uelac.org.

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By Shirley Dargatz UE, Branch President