Aikido sensei James Goreas has opened his first studio, called Crane Aikikai Aikido, in Duncan.
Goreas, who has achieved third dan in the Japanese martial art, has been teaching aikido for a decade, but this is the first time he will be offering beginner courses from his new studio at 2753 Charlotte Rd.
Classes start on Sept. 12.
“Classes are open to all ages,” Goreas said. “It should be said that aikido is not a hard martial art.”
To register, check out craneaikido@gmail.com or text Goreas at 250-732-5921.
Duncan Sears closing down
The Sears Hometown Store in Duncan will soon be closed.
The news comes just weeks after Sears Canada Inc. announced it plans to close 59 locations across Canada and cut about 2,900 jobs under a court-supervised restructuring.
The Duncan store, which has seven employees, was not listed among those to be closed at the time, but owners Tessy and Robin Mayo decided to close on their own.
Tessy said business, which the couple has operated for six years, has been good, but they foresee problems dealing with and buying from the Sears corporation with all the downsizing that is occurring.
Robin said the store will be holding large sales in order to liquidate its products before it finally closes.
“We’re just going to retire,” he said.
The majority of stores affected by the decision by Sears to downsize operations are based in Alberta, Ontario or Quebec.
Sears has full-line department stores in Victoria and Nanaimo, and smaller Sears Hometown stores in Courtenay and Parksville, as well as the Duncan location.
It also has pick-up locations in Port McNeill, Salt Spring Island, Pender Island, Sooke, Mill Bay and Mayne Island.
Villa Eyrie among Canada’s best
The ballots are out and Summit Restaurant at the Malahat’s Villa Eyrie Resort is honoured to be amongst 30 top nominees for enRoute’s coveted 2017 Best Restaurants in Canada list.
The restaurant is known for delivering West Coast, Italian-inspired coastal cuisine overlooking the picturesque Saanich Inlet at 1,880 feet above sea level.
enRoute’s top 10 Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2017 list will be unveiled on Oct. 19 at a gala event in Toronto and on the CanadasBestNewRestaurants.com website, in addition to the November issue.
“We are thrilled to have Summit Restaurant be recognized for this prestigious accolade,” says Peter Trzewik, spokesperson of GAIN-Vancouver Island, who opened mountainside retreat Villa Eyrie Resort in November.
“The restaurant truly features the finest ingredients from our surrounding Lake Cowichan area in Vancouver Island, with an Italian influence — an ode to Villa Eyrie’s history.
“Our chefs team have cultivated many loyal relationships with neighbouring farmers, as well as growing their own. We thank our dedicated staff and diners for helping us make this a reality.”
Pizza Hut raises close to $900
Duncan’s Pizza Hut location has raised $883 for the 2017 JDRF Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes.
The money raised came from the generous donations of Pizza Hut customers, managers and team members who purchased paper sneakers and participated in local fundraising events leading up to the Walk in June.
Overall, Pizza Hut locations from across B.C. raised a total of $87,000 in this year’s campaign.
This marks the 10th year of Pizza Hut’s involvement with the Walk to Cure Diabetes, and brings the total funds raised to $285,000.
All funds raised by Pizza Hut go to the JDRF, the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes research.