Photos by Jim Brown

New London area residents won’t have to go far to find delicious fare this spring.

Summerside entrepreneur Viva Dagher took her food truck business, Viva La Crepe, to the Village Pottery parking lot on the Victoria Day weekend, at Village Pottery’s invitation.

Dagher, in business for four years, says she usually spends her summer at Spinnakers Landing. Dagher plans to spend a couple of weeks or so in her New London location, before heading back to Summerside where she is booked for the season.

So if you want to try her food, you better not wait too long since she expects to have her truck back in Summerside before mid-June.

What does she offer on her menu?

“Mostly crepes, and I have traditional meals such as burgers and fries and fish and chips, but I have a little bit of Mediterranean food.”

It’s probably a safe bet to say she will be very busy while she is in New London.

Story and photos by Jim Brown

Marion Murphy had something important to drop off at Malpeque MP Wayne Easter’s Hunter River office on May 24.

It was the Second Volume of Minding the House, a Biographical Guide to Prince Edward Island MLAs (1993-2017). The book contains biographical information on all current members, including the recently elected Green Party MLA Hannah Bell. It picks up right where Volume 1 of the book ended (1873-1993). The book will also be delivered to libraries, government offices and schools across PEI and is available for sale at $20. Murphy, a former PEI MLA and one of several Islanders responsible for the book’s printing, asked Easter and his staff to make sure copies got to Island MPs and Senators in Ottawa.

On May 16, the second volume of “Minding the House” was launched by Francis (Buck) Watts, speaker of the Legislative Assembly of P.E.I., and George Webster, chairman of the Association of Former Members of the Legislative Assembly of P.E.I.

Watts stated, “This publication and biographical guide of members past (1993-2017) compliments the previous one that was published in 2002, ‘Minding the House, A Biographical Guide to Prince Edward Island Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs),1873-1993.’ The original publication was a project supported by the Association of Former Members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island and co-published by Acorn Press, a local Island company.”
The publication serves as a reference guide and a tangible reminder of the service of those elected Island leaders who achieved the right to sit in the Legislative Assembly.

For more information on the publication or to purchase “Minding the House, A Biographical Guide to Prince Edward Island MLAs (Volume II) 1993-2017,” contact the Office of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly at (902) 368-4310. Purchase price is $20 including taxes.

Story and photos by Jim Brown

Maldaa and Mohammed faced a long line up of wellwishers at a special dinner on May 12 to show their deep appreciation to the community for all the help they received settling in Kensington.

It was their chance for a Syrian refugee family to say a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to an entire community for accepting them into their homes and into their hearts.

Mohammed Albrzawi and his wife Maldaa Al Nahas Alhomsi flashed beaming smiles as they greeted dozens of people at the Kensington United Church Saturday, May 12. The couple special guests at a potluck meal sponsored by KARSI – The Kensington and Area Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (KARSI). They were joined by their two children, Hala and Kenan, nine and six years respectively.

The family had arrived on April 19, just in time to experience their first snow.

More than $38,000 was raised by KARSI to sponsor the family in Kensington, $8,000 more than the recommended amount, said Patricia Bennett, co-chair of KARSI with Carolyn Francis.

“They have a place to live and Mohammed has a part-time job in Summerside, working in a florist shop,” said Patricia.

“They are very anxious to thank the community. Because they realize it wasn’t just the community of Kensington, but the whole area who bought raffle tickets, who donated furniture and (prepared the) house.”

Mohammed owned a flower shop in Syria before the horror and devastation of war turned them into refugees. His wife was an accountant. They had lived in Damascus before the war and then found themselves in Istanbul Turkey with other refugees.

The transition to life in Kensington has been seamless.

“It was more than we expected,” said Mohammed, who had begun his second day of work at the flower shop.

“Everyone is so kind to us,” said Maldaa.

“The children are in school. They love the school and they love their teachers. The principal, the staff and the school are all very helpful. Everyone has been working hard to make the kids love the school. They’ve done a great job. They made it seem as if they are in that school for a long time,” said Mohammed.

The couple said they were amazed at how easily they able to find a rented house and move in, thanks to the community and KARSI.

“When we arrived on our first week it snowed, and it was our kids wish. The kids were playing in the snow,” said Mohammed.

“Our sponsors arranged this dinner to help us say thank you to the residents of Kensington and the surrounding area,” said Mohammed.

“We told our sponsors if we don’t meet everyone and say thank you we’re going to knock on every house door just to say thank you,” he said.

“Everybody here is so friendly and so helpful, they make us feel like we are home,” said Maldaa.

“We were worried once we arrived in Kensington we would have to worry about the house and the furniture, but when we arrived everything was set up for us. That was one of the main reasons that I was able to find a job that quick,” said her husband.

“When we moved from Syria to Istanbul it took us about four to five months to find the right house and furniture. All of this time was saved by our sponsors. We are so grateful to our sponsors, they did a great job.”

Maldaa and Mohammed greet Malpeque Liberal MP Wayne Easter.

Maldaa and Mohammed greet Carol Evans. Carol donated a handmade quilt to KARSI, which was sold in a raffle that raised $400 towards the family’s sponsorship.

Story and photos by Jim Brown

The newly renovated Margate Apartments building

Austin Roberts is the owner of a newly renovated motel in Margate along Highway 6. He says it didn’t take him long to fill every one of its seven units with long term tenants.

“We’re actually quite excited about that property. It was a bit of an eyesore (before),” he acknowledged.

Not any more.

The Margate Apartments building had been sitting idle for quite some time, before he bought it in the fall and shortly afterwards began its remarkable transformation.

“We had a need for accommodations – we had some foreign workers working with us,” said Roberts.

So he bought a strip motel that was slowly deteriorating, and began working on it from top to bottom for several months through the fall and winter, using a local contractor.

The motel consists of six two bedroom units and one one-bedroom unit.

“Kensington is such a great area for business (and) we knew we would have no problem renting it,” said Roberts, adding there’s a waiting list.

“We took three units for foreign workers and four units were left over” for other renters.

“We probably could have rented them at least three times over,” he said.

Roberts had no problem finding tenants. In fact, he didn’t even have to advertise.

“People would search us out, they’d see the work was getting done and they would find out who we were and come up to the office. They’d get hold of us through neighbors and friends.”

Roberts estimates the renos have cost in the range of $350,000 to $370,000 and though the gleaming building looks done, he says there is still some work to finish.

“We’ve got painting to do on the doors, and we’ve got some design work going between doors to give each (room) privacy,” he said.

There’s also landscaping that needs to be done behind the apartments to draw water away from the building.

His foreign worker complement includes young employees from India.

All told, 10 foreign workers are employed in Roberts’ businesses in New Annan and Kensington.

The units were available for renters on April 15.