Aldergrove Star
data provider: CONTENTdm
is part of: BC Historical Newspapers
contributor: [unknown]
issued: 2022-11-23
issued: 1989-02-09
aggregated CHO: https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/alderstar/items/1.0421995/source.json
format: application/pdf
note: "■»" RELIEF FROM THE COLD Community pulls together By KURT LANGMANN ALDERGROVE - Residents, farmers and some business- people certainly took it on the chin during last week's devastating cold winds. No final tally of property loss has been compiled, but it's safe to say it will total well into the millions of dollars. Perhaps worst hit are local farmers, particularly greenhouse operators. The loss of electricity and heat, coupled with a wind- chill factor that brought temperatures as low as -50 Celcius, caused serious losses of vegetat- . ion and livestock. Derek Smith, owner of Harvest Moon Farms, told The Star that he lost between $50,000 and $75,000 in a mere 20 minutes, the night of Jan. 31. Smith, along with eight friends worked frantically to save his greenhouse, but the lack of heat, and winds which tore the plastic cover apart, were impossible to cope with. They did manage to save the structure, however, and Smith swears, "Come hell or high water we're determined to reopen in the spring." Smith had started to replace the plastic, Monday, and called in plumbers to repair the shattered hot water heating system. Joe Zanatta of Van Kestem greenhouses lost his entire crop, too. Others in the trade didn't suffer as great losses, such as Arjan Smits, who reckons his destroyed freesias and carnations cost him about $10,000. Smith said a four-acre tomato operation in Chilliwack was wiped out, to the tune of about $l-million, however. Help still needed "Many of us need fast help, some kind of disaster relief or else we'll either downsize or go under," said Smith. Local MLA office spokesman, Ida Fallowfield said public response to the government's disaster assistance had been overwhelming, but it had begun to settle down, Monday morning. "The biggest, unresolved problems are mostly with the greenhouse operators," said Fallow- field. "I understand that the , possibility of some kind of assistance will be discussed in cabinet." Premier Vander Zalm said last week that the…
note: Title changes in chronological order: Aldergrove Herald (1957-10-16 to 1958-02-20), Aldergrove News (1958-02-27 to 1964-04-30), Central Fraser Valley Echo (1964-05-06 to 1964-12-23), Central Fraser Valley Star (1967-01-17 to 1969-02-05), and Aldergrove Star (1969-02-12 to 1991-12-31). Presented to the Alder Grove Heritage Society by Kurt Langmann and Family, July 1, 2021.
has type: Newspapers
spatial: Aldergrove (B.C.)
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0421995
language: English
lat: 49.0851
long: -122.4707
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: [place of publication unknown] : [publisher not identified]
rights: Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from the Digitization Centre: http://digitize.library.ubc.ca/
source: Original Format: Alder Grove Heritage Society
type: Text