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First McDonald’s north of Campbell River opens in Port Hardy

The golden arches rise over skyline as Big Macs sold for first time in North Island history

It’s official. Anyone in the North Island can now easily get a Big Mac and fries without having to drive 2.5 hours to Campbell River.

McDonald’s opened bright and early at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning in Port Hardy, but only after holding a special “Family and VIP Night” the previous evening.

If you’re wondering what was going on at “Family and VIP Night”, Grimace and Birdie were both in the house mingling with the roughly 30-50 people who were invited, there were cupcakes and balloons, and everyone was busy ordering McDonald’s meals for dinner.

“It was a full house,” confirmed North Island Gazette Publisher Natasha Griffiths, who was in attendance. “It’s very exciting to have McDonald’s come to our community and getting to see Port Hardy grow.”

Andrew Warner was at McDonald’s with his sons Kayas and Kane on Wednesday afternoon for lunch. Warner has lived in Port Hardy for 10 years now, and he said he thinks that a McDonald’s opening here is exciting because it “leads you to believe there’s more things that are coming.”

Kayas and Kane added they love to eat at McDonald’s.

“Everytime we go down island we always have to go to McDonald’s,” said Kayas, who was pleased he was finally able to get it locally.

McDonald’s is already giving back to the community, promising to donate one dollar from the sale of every Big Mac this Friday to Sunday to the Port Hardy Hospital Auxiliary Society.

“Every dollar we receive goes directly back into our North Island emergency services,” confirmed the society in a social media post.

READ ALSO: The hard truth about Tim Hortons



Tyson Whitney

About the Author: Tyson Whitney

I have been working in the community newspaper business for nearly a decade, all of those years with Black Press Media.
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