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2013 Business Awards - Clarenville Honouring its Own

> Clarenville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Sixth Annual Business Excellence Awards. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL NOMINEES  2013 Clarenville Area Chamber of Commerce Awards Recipients (L/R) Jason Strickland, Lee Bennett, Chad Fisher, Stephen Chaytor of Meridian Engineering, Large Business of the Year; Wendell Moore, Clarenville Business Hall of Fame inductee for 2013; Dan Moody - SW Energy, Small Business of the Year; Daniel Allan, Salvation Army & Jill Monk - Kraft Celebration Tour, co winners of the Community Cares Award. The Clarenville Chamber of Commerce's Business Excellence Awards are designed to recognize businesses and the people behind these businesses who contribute to making our community and our region one of the best places to live and work in this province.  It is an opportunity to showcase what we do well – something that I believe we need to do more of.  Over 90 people attended the awards ceremony this past Wednesday evening, and in considering th

Assessing the Safety of Clarenville's Water Supply

As many other towns in NL are suffering water woes, Clarenville's investment in a modern water treatment and distribution system is paying off for its residents.   Just yesterday, the CBC reported that 128 municipalities in this province have THM levels in excess of the Health Canada imposed standard of 100 micrograms per litre - we are NOT one of them.  What's more disturbing for the province is that the number of municipalities with questionable water has doubled in the last thirteen years. Clarenville's report (see below and link HERE ) consistently shows that the water coming out of your town fed tap is safe and safe by a good margin. That's great news and something that the Town and particularly the people who manage our water treatment plant should be very proud of.  (There is a bit of a disturbing trend towards progressively higher THM levels however and something that we should work on addressing.) THM's are a by-product of the chlorination process.  C

TOWN OF CLARENVILLE - Take part in the Pre-budget Consultation!

It’s time once again for the provincial government to start putting its 2014 budget together and, as in previous years, the pre-budget consultation road show starts this coming week.   This year, it’s being held in Clarenville on Friday the 15 th of February from 9-11 am at the Clarenville Inn.  Are you reading this and listening Town of Clarenville? Last year, the Town of Clarenville was conspicuously absent from the pre-budget consultation process.  It  wasn't  too long after that that our Town officials went crying to government, on a couple of occasions, for money for “very important projects” such as an overpass for Clarenville.   Was this a matter of doubting the merits of the process or just someone dropping the ball? I'm sad to say I think it was doubting indifference. Regardless of the perceived merit of the pre-budget consultation process, the process at least forces Town officials to plan - identify potential projects, cost them out and make an init

Highlighting Winter in Clarenville

Winter is GREAT in Clarenville -  Well it''s the start season in Clarenville.  We're very proud of our witer recreational opportunities and with our community within 2 hours of over 70% of the population in the province we are in an ideal, easily accessible spot for almost everybody.   Over's the winter I'll be adding to this but for now here's a taste of what we have to offer!   Look for #gottaloveourwinter on Twitter and follow all of the various social media feeds.   As well be sure to like us on Facebook - Our Town Clarenville   www.facebook.com/ourtownclarenville Events Eat the Hill - Clarenville's first cullinary event - Feb. 9 & 10! Cross Country Skiing Video Tours: Our New Ski Groomer Part 1 - Trail Tour    Part 2 - Trail Tour Summit Trail to Bare Pond Trail Night Skiing on the lighted Harry's Loop Trail Down Hill Skiing Snowmobiling

A Plea for Less

It may sound odd, but the time has come for this community to ask for less of a service.   Specifically, we need less garbage collection.   We need action on reducing the amount of garbage that we throw out each week – because our learned wastefulness will soon hit us hard in the pocketbook. Councillor Rod Nicholl raised the issue of waste reduction during a meeting of Council last Nov 20.   ( November 20, 2012 listen beginning at the 2:00 minute mark)   Nichol pointed out that with the reformatting of how garbage is handled in NL, Clarenville taxpayers who have gotten used to twice weekly and unlimited volume of garbage collection, will soon have to pay for collection by the tonne – this will mean big bills if our wasteful habits continue.   (Government is closing dumps and all garbage will be moved to one of three dumps across the island – Clarenville’s will be headed for St. John's/Robin Hood Bay).   Nicholl argued that the Town should develop and communicate a strategy n

John Pickett - Presentation to Clarenville Chamber

Today, Councillor John Pickett spoke to the monthly meeting of the Clarenville Chamber of Commerce.   His topic dealt with the 2013 Town of Clarenville Budget that he presented to Council this past December. Below is a video of   his presentation. I published the details when the budget was first delivered - see HERE Have a look at Coun. Pickett's presentation:

Riding the Groomer

Eat the Hill

Eat The Hill is a winter foodabration!  Eat the Hill will be Clarenville’s first Culinary Festival and is taking place on the weekend of February 9 and 10, 2013 at Clarenville's White Hills Resort as a kick off to our 25th winter carnival . This 2 day foodie weekend will bring local chefs together to create some mouth-watering culinary treats.  Here's what to expect: Saturday, February 9th During the Day Enjoy the slopes and trails on Saturday with a full day pass for White Hills, eastern Newfoundland’s premier winter destination! As your day of skiing or snowboarding winds down head into the town and enjoy some of Clarenville’s outstanding locally owned shops. 7 Chefs - 6 Courses ​Then get ready as the evening begins... your chefs have been working tirelessly to produce an amazing 6 course meal; each chef will create a course using local ingredients. Dinner will begin at 7:30, the bar will open 30 minutes prior.  Meet the Chefs HERE After the meal, the eve

Winter's Shaping up in Clarenville! GOTTA LOVE OUR WINTER

Ok, you may be new to Clarenville, or you may be away or you may just not be aware or you may just want to know...This post is for you - read on. There's a lot of great winter opportunities shaping up in our town this winter and we want you to be part of it.  Let me just speak of a few that I know of so far - in the order of when they are happening: WHITE HILLS opening this Coming weekend - Click to play information video CARIBOUS No lockout here! Clarenville's beloved hockey is on the ice this coming weekend.  Get your tickets at the Events Centre.    SNOWSHOEING Snowshoeing is gaining in popularity and some new trails that lead to some breathtaking destinations are being developed.  Just this morning I was involved in breaking a trail to Arron's Lookout.  Arron's Lookout is the bald hill that you can on the 90 degree turn see as you drive into White Hills.  This is a 4 km round trip from the Lee Churchill Chalet and it takes you through woods, across b

Fibre-op Technology - Let's not get left behind

(I always find Barbara Dean Simmons Editorials in the   Packet though provoking. In this week's Packet see argues that governments should get on-the-ball with new technology (See: To 2013...and Beyond)  .  I want to take that a step further in relation to Clarenville)    Happy New Year everyone! When I arrived here in Clarenville twenty one years ago, the first person that I met at the College, where I work, was then Principal Steve Quinton.  Steve began to tell me about how he and a group of progressive individuals had lobbied to make Clarenville a hub in the technological revolution.  Shortly after that our campus was hooked to a brand new fibre optic network that connected Clarenville to the world at then’ blazing’ speeds  – through that innovation and initiative we (the Campus and the Town) gained a reputation for practical application of technology. Today we take it all pretty much for granted – we all connect to the internet and use it without a thought.   Techn