News – Wood Islands Market

Yardsale signs

Signs are now ready for those of you that have registered your yardsale in the annual 70 Mile Coastal Yardsale event.

All signs have been delivered for pickup at the two locations that were available, based on the choices indicated in the forms. If you can’t recall which location you picked, it will be in the email you would have received after registering. All registrations returned an email with all the data you entered on the registration form. If you didn’t see that email, be sure to check your SPAM folder. Please proceed to the location you indicated on the form to pickup your Yardsale sign.

Canada Day!

What better way to celebrate Canada Day than to enjoy the small piece of Canada near you! Come down to Wood Islands Market and Wood Islands Lighthouse to enjoy the scenery, walk the trail or visit our local businesses.

The Wood Islands Liquor store and Commissary is open on Canada Day from 10 am to 5:30 pm for you to grab some beer, spirits or wine for your BBQ. We also have salty snacks, salsa, jams, chocolate bars and cheese. Need that last minute item for you BBQ? We also have other essentials like bug repellant, toys for the kids, charcoal and ice.

The Sweet Factory has an assortment of candy, hand made fudge, and ice cream. Grab a frosty cone and stroll around the grounds or explore the trail.

Looking for something to do with the kids? Tour the lighthouse! The lighthouse is chock full of things to see. Learn about the history of the island lighthouses, rum runners, fishing industry, sea glass, the burning ship legend and life in a lighthouse. Interactive displays for the kids like learning to tie a variety of knots. Climb to the top of the lighthouse and view the magnificence of the ocean. Bring a picnic lunch to have while enjoying the scenery. Washrooms available on site.

Have a Happy Canada Day and support our local businesses!

Free Tiny Library

Cooler evenings are coming our way and what better way to spend an evening than snuggling up with your favourite blanket and a good book. Wood Islands Market now has a registered Free Tiny Library in the form of a little Dory packed full of stories.

Little Dory will be open year round for you to visit. Currently located just inside the doors of the Visitor Centre, right next to the debit machine.

Come pick out something new to read! Or, clean out those old books you’re finished with and share them with others.

Children’s books, classic literature, mysteries, adventure…all are waiting in Little Dory for you to explore. What will you read next?

Another successful Yardsale!

The 70 mile coastal yardsale was another rousing success despite a 2 year hiatus due to Covid. We had 170 registrations and this year we were able to get everyone marked on a custom Google map to make finding those bargains even easier.

For those of you that registered offsite, your 70MCYS marker signs can be returned to the Wood Islands Liquor Store during business hours until Sept 30 for the $5 refund.
Anyone who did not pick up their signs can also claim the $5 refund at the Liquor Store.

There was lots of crowds and happy shoppers at Wood Islands Market both days. The air was filled with laughter and the smell of sausages on the grill. Lots of people walked away with that special something they’ve been hunting for, or a bargain they couldn’t pass up. Some happy winners of the 50/50 draw and quilt raffle rounded out the fun-filled weekend. CTV News captured the fun in this video

Winners and their prizes:
Brad Carson – Chimney cleaning by Capitol Chimney Sweep
Wendy Nicholson – Ferry pass
Mathew Emery – Ferry pass
Bob Brooks – Ferry pass
Janet White – Ferry pass
Joan McInnis – 50/50 draw
Christine MacKinnon – Quilt by Bertie Cook
Offsite Vendor Draw:
Evan Forrester – Ferry pass
Richard Montag – $50 Gift certificate for Ocean Acres

Thanks to all the vendors and shoppers for making this annual event a success! Additional thanks to all the Board members, staff and volunteers whose hard work and effort made it all possible. We can’t wait to do it again next year and hope you will join us again.

We’re Re-branding!

In April all community members were invited to attend a presentation in which a revitalization plan was unveiled.

Wood Islands and Area Development Corp (WIADC) and various community stakeholders formed a Project Steering Committee, and working with consultants formed a plan to find ways to enhance the local quality of living and bring greater destination stature to the Wood Islands area.

As part of our revitalization project, Wood Islands Welcome Centre is taking on a new name, Wood Islands Market.

In the months to come watch for changes to our signage, logo, new banners, updates to our website and more, as we embark on this new journey. Subscribe to this newsletter to stay in touch with all the changes we have coming up, as well as announcements for upcoming events.

We are working hard for our community, to make this area the place where everyone wants to come and play. Wood Islands Market, the Wood Islands Lighthouse and surrounding businesses have much to offer, and we hope to shine a spotlight on it for locals and tourists alike.

New Board Members

Wood Islands Welcome Centre is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors. We have been working hard the last two years with a very small Board of only three dedicated volunteers, who have been with us for a very long time. Many thanks to John Rousseau, Dorothy Oulton and Gwen Davies for their continuing efforts and time, and doing such a great job of holding down the fort.

So it is with extreme excitement that we welcome a host of new Board members to help us keep Wood Islands the place to come relax, play and enjoy those lazy summer days that seem to pass by us so quickly.

Welcome new members!

Harvey Sawler – a long history of working with the tourism industry
Daniel Emery – an engineer who lives in Wood Islands and son of Stuart Emery, a past Board member.
Kyle Cook – a Wood Islands resident whose father Jim Cook, was also a past Board member
River Waterman – working with BAWG (Belfast Area Watershed Group) for the summer and one of our youngest members
Jasmine Katz – is really devoted to Environmental Sciences. She loves the woods and will be one of those who works hard to take care of the planet.

We are excited to have an influx of new perspectives and new ideas to help us improve the Wood Islands experience. The donation of their time and energy to our community will ensure our success in that endeavour.

To that end, we are working on a revitalization plan and taking first steps towards rebranding. In the months to come you may notice some new signage and banners as we move forward. Stay tuned for future posts on our plans as we progress.

Wood Bins

When travelling between provinces it’s important to be aware of regulations regarding the transport of firewood. The Don’t Move Firewood (DMF) campaign was created to help educate the public on the importance of limiting the movement of firewood to prevent the spread of invasive species across our North American forests. The overarching campaign is managed by The Nature Conservancy.

The Wood Islands Village is recognized as being one of the two entry points to PEI, so The Wood Islands and Area Development Corp. was invited to participate in this opportunity for DMF drop-off sites. The provincial government has been contracted to organize the emptying of the bins and have contacted the local watershed for that support. The wood will be destroyed at PEI Energy systems. More information on the exchange program for donated wood, please contact, peiinvasives@gmail.com.

Rural Municipality of Belfast

Beginning February 21, 2021

Rural Municipality of Belfast ~”RMB”~ Community Office will be located at the Wood Islands Village next to Visitor Information.

A sad farewell to the Fishing Village

The little fishing village situated near the Wood Islands Lighthouse has been a delight for locals and visitors alike. It was a labour of love by locals and constructed with local materials. Built in the 60’s by local trades people, with logs hauled out by horses from local woodlots, it has held a place that was near and dear to many hearts. It was not only a peek into history to educate but also a commitment by community to keep history alive.

Time and weather have had their effect though, and recently the Province deemed it unsafe and scheduled removal.

But have no fear! While we are horribly saddened to see this local icon disappear from our shore, we are hard at work on a solution to replace it, so that we can continue to pay homage to our local history. With love in our hearts and a tip of the hat to history, we hope to one day have a safe, new fishing village on our shore for all to enjoy once again.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-wood-islands-park-seaside-fishing-village-1.5464361