David Hooper was visiting the Alberni Valley News office on Napier Street when he decided to buy a Valley Vonka chocolate bar. The bars had just gone up on the counter, and because we didn't have change yet he bought five bars.

He took the bars home and, on the advice of a News employee, he unwrapped all the bars to look for the coveted golden tickets. "It was probably the third one" when he spotted the gold paper.

"It was a surprise," he said. He brought the ticket back to the office the next day and discovered he was the first golden ticket winner of the 2025 fundraising campaign.

Valley Vonka was started by the Alberni Valley News in 2019 and is modelled after the story of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Here in Port Alberni, we've teamed up with Coombs Country Candy, who have

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