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PHOTOS: Locals brave wet weather to dump chum into Maple Ridge creek

Goodbye Chums event draws more than 400 guests despite rain

The weather might have dampened everything else last Saturday, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of those who attended the Goodbye Chums event at Kanaka Creek Regional Park.

This annual event gives people a chance to come down to the park and enjoy a wide range of entertainment and educational booths.

But the biggest draw of the event is the chum station, where buckets of chum salmon fry can be picked up and carried down to Kanaka Creek, where they are dumped in and set free.

These fish, which are reared at the Bell-Irving Hatchery, are then able to continue their life cycle and eventually migrate their way into the Pacific Ocean.

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Ross Davies, spokesperson for the Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society, explained that the event had a good turnout despite the rough weather conditions.

“It was 411 visitors singing in the rain,” said Davies.

The Goodbye Chums events are responsible for releasing approximately 20,000 fry into the local creek each year.

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Brandon Tucker

About the Author: Brandon Tucker

I have been a journalist since 2013, with much of my career spent covering sports and entertainment stories in Alberta.
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