Home Page | Rotary Club of Port Alberni Arrowsmith

The Rotary Club of Port Alberni-Arrowsmith is pleased to announce the 13th annual Alberni Valley HOPS Festival, Saturday March 23rd, 7-9 pm, at Echo Centre. Tickets are now available.

Street Banner Painting Event - 10th Anniversary

How time flies when you are having fun!! Now is your chance to be an artist, and to have your artwork on display on the Argyle Street corridor (Rotary Arts District) this summer. The Arrowsmith Rotary Club and its partners are pleased to announce a 10th year of the banner painting program. This event takes place from February 7th through to the 10th, so plan for the family to attend Glenwood Center and paint a banner. Further details are contained in the attached poster (below) as to location and dates, and specific times. Cost of registration is $10.00 and registration forms are now available at Echo Centre, or at the Rollin Art Centre. We encourage registration prior to the event.

17th Annual Alberni Valley Wine Festival

The Rotary Club of Port Alberni - Arrowsmith, is pleased to announce the 17th annual Alberni Valley Wine Festival - Saturday September 15th, at the Echo Center in Port Alberni. Tickets for this event are now on sale at the Hospitality Inn Liquor Store on Redford Street, or at Echo Center.

Rotary Arts District - Banner Painting Program 2018

Summer Literacy - the Cooks and Books Program

The inaugural Literacy Alberni Cooks and Books program (Summer 2017) wrapped up with a bang! The youth cooking and reading program, funded by Island Health's Wellness Grant, helped take 16 youths aged 9 - 12 on a food exploration journey that lasted 6 weeks and involved an array of activities associated with culinary skills, tasting, and bringing home meals, and literacy skills!

The program's goal was to create self-sufficient and knowledgeable young chefs who would be able to help out in the kitchen and even handle their own recipes. Week 2 of the program had the students prepare two different types of bread, both of which they took home to their families. Another week the students visited Healthy Harvest Farm, harvesting their own salads to take home along with their dressings they also prepared.

The final week of the program was a special one as the students prepared all of the treats for the libraries' summer reading program wrap-up party hosted at the Echo Center. Over 120 cupcakes and 70 homemade cookies were shared with the children who attended the event.

The program was a partnership between Alberni Valley Transition Towns Food Group, Literacy Alberni, and our local branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library. All of the kids enrolled in the program were also registered for the summer reading program through the library. As well, each week the students were given take home articles that focused on cool youth cooking stories.

Special thanks goes to The Rotary Club of Port Alberni Arrowsmith - whose members volunteered each week, and offered a ton of support when things got hairy in the kitchen.

Program Coordinator and main Instructor: Marcus Lobb

Food Hub Coordinator

Alberni Valley Transition Town Society

(All photos below provided by, and used with permission of Literacy Alberni)

Top Left: Terry Deakin (President Arrowsmith Rotary)

Top Right: Terry Deakin

Center Left: Anna Berry (member Arrowsmith Rotary)

Center Right: Program participants and group leader

Bottom Left: Marcus Lobb (Program Coordinator)

Bottom Right: Participants and group Leader

Other Rotary members involved but not shown include Pam Craig (Literacy Chair), Larry McGifford (President Elect), Neil Malbon (Seargant at Arms)