Prince George, BC – After a five year hiatus, the North Central branch of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association is being revived…

Co-Chair Mary Jarbek says the branch’s first membership meeting last month, and this week’s Restaurant Week in BC – meant to coincide with BC Family Day – are providing the ‘sparks’ needed to once again start the engine.

Jarbek says the local association was a thriving one – very involved in the community –  until a number of the volunteers either retired or moved away, but she says the desire to revitalize the group seemed strong among those who attended last month’s meeting.

Jarbek says the goal is to bolster the local industry, as a whole.  "There’s especially a need in those slower times, the winter months – those are the months where things are on the slower side for all businesses and they need to kind of band together and gain momentum from each other and support each other during those times."

By all accounts, she says tying the kick-off of BC’s inaugural Restaurant Week, to the first BC Day was a good move.  "I sort of compare it to Remembrance Day," says Jarbek.  "You take time to remember and Family Day kind of did that for the people that I’ve spoken to – it’s like spend time with your family, go out for brunch, breakfast, what have you, and just be together."