Dear Congregation                                       

Rattus rattus and other matters  

Many of you are probably aware that we had some uninvited visitors to the church hall recently, and may be wondering what was done about it.  When the first settlers arrived in the Comox Valley on ships and decided it was a wonderful place to live, the ship rats thought the same. And now they are as common as the Comox deer! As soon as our visitors were detected in the hall, the pest control company was contacted. Traps were put out but remained empty. The front door of the hall was suspected of being the entry point as there was a large gap between the two doors. This was quickly fixed and you will notice that the doors are now much more secure. When evidence of further intrusion was reported, the pest control company returned to set more traps, this time in the ceiling and basement as well as the main floor. These also remained empty. The expert pest control man had a good look around and sealed up any areas that looked like potential entry points. His opinion was that they were just passing through. He thinks they are wonderful creatures who can climb vertical outside walls and trees. Well as long as they stay outside.  Thank you to Glenn Lawson our maintenance coordinator for his quick action.  

Sulin has been very keen to have a notice board outside the church. The notice board is nearly complete and we thank Don Harrinton for his workmanship in building it for us. Expect to see some exciting posters in the near future. We wanted to share this space with the community too so, one section on the notice board will be reserved for the local community to put up posters.    

You may not have seen any goats yet, but you may  have noticed that the moss is getting quite thick on the North roof of the church and church house. We have hired professionals to remove it for us. We have an obligation to keep our buildings in good repair. We do have a list of maintenance projects which we are working through but if you see anything that you are particularly concerned about, please talk to one of the wardens or Glenn our maintenance coordinator.  In Christ   Jonathan Hocking (Rector’s Warden) David Duncan (People’s Warden)