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Letter: No bad apples – good initiative, Riley’s Cidery

DEAR EDITOR:

Well done Christine Hardie and Rob Purdy on your first class initiative in preserving John and  Josephine Riley’s world-famous, boutique apple orchard in our community. Your imagination, creativity and execution in opening an apple cidery were equal to the passion of the Rileys in creating their unique orchard. How considerate and thoughtful of you to name it after those longstanding, former Bowen residents, who were undisputed apple experts. Long live Riley’s Cidery.

How appropriate to have such a neat, environmentally friendly cottage-type business on the other side of the island making for a great reason for both locals and tourists to explore the entire island and be so rewarded when finding the very attractive cidery facility and experiencing the first-class product in such a wonderful setting and environment. My wife and I, family and friends have patronized the cidery on a number of occasions and have enjoyed the experience in so many ways.

The planning and execution of the sampling room and outdoor consumption area are as first class as the cider itself. What a wonderful way to preserve and perpetuate John and Josephine’s labour of love as there are few purchasers of their property who would have had the same energy and passion to undertake such an initiative. 

A great win for agricultural preservation in so many ways. Post COVID-19, whenever we get to that point, our community needs more imaginative ideas like this one that help put Bowen Island on the map. 

Thank you, 

Bruce Russell