FRIDAY
July 15, 2011
A division of
Vol. 26 No. 56
Your community. Your newspaper.
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COMOX VALLEY RECORD
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ANNIVERSARY
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NCE 1986
www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
Historic building has changed hands
BEST ON A BIKE
Scott Stanfield Record Staff
The Waverley Hotel has a new owner, but pub patrons and music lovers can rest assured the atmosphere and entertainment scene at the Cumberland landmark will remain as is. Don McClellan, owner of Ashbury Farms on Royston Road, has purchased the establishment from Harvey Brown, a former Cumberland mayor who, along with wife Shannon, operated The Wave for the past 27 years. “It’s got a certain character being a 100-year-old building. I think the original hotel was built in the 1890s,” said McClellan, who credits Harvey for transforming the hotel into a pub with quality food and music. The pub will soon feature a new menu. “Under him the last five years or so, the music scene has become a big part of the Waverley,” said McLellan. And will continue as such, he added, noting musicians are often lodged at the premises. Hotel rooms could again reopen to the public if an opportunity presents itself, but for now McClellan will “concentrate on learning the business and trying to keep it operating as well as Harvey had it going.” Way back when the hotel was a narrow, three-storey temperance boarding house, with miners upstairs and a dining hall downstairs. It was attached to Cheap John’s Store and Searle’s Shoes, now located in downtown Courtenay. The three buildings “eventually all got married over a hundred-year period,” Harvey said. “It’s never really operated as a full-service hotel. When we first bought it, it was affectionately known as the Hug ‘n Slug. They used to come in at 7 o’clock huggin’ and by 11 o’clock they were sluggin’.” Harvey was the local Esso agent when he first moved to the Valley, thus the name Brown Fuels Unlimited. He served for several years on Cumberland
... see SPOUSES ■ A2
Courtenay’s Geoff Kabush could pedal into the record books. ■ B11
SOLITARY PAINTER
“Painting is a solitary occupation,” says Coral Barclay. “You work by yourself every day. You have to like being alone and working on your own.” But that will all change for Barclay on the BC Day long weekend. From July 29 through Aug. 1, she’s featured guest artist at the annual Filberg Festival
...Full story on page ■ B1
FINDER ■ Weather
A2
■ Lottery
A6
■ Ferry Schedule
A6
■ Editorial
A24
■ Opinion
A25
■ Arts DON McCLELLAN, Louisa McClellan, Shannon Brown and Harvey Brown (from left) pause outside the historic Waverley Hotel in Cumberland. PHOTO BY SCOTT STANFIELD
B1
■ Sports
B11
■ Classified
B23
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