May
Crews work to restore Eagle Bay Road as a washout on April 27 completely blocked access to 318 residences on the other side. Darcy Mooney, the Shuswap Emergency Program’s emergency operation director, reported the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure informed him Eagle Bay Road is expected to be restored to a two-lane, paved roadway by the end of the week.
Construction crews were on the job for the expansion of the Larch Hills Ski Area chalet. The Larch Hills Nordic Society has been planning a 2,400 sq. ft expansion of its chalet for the past few years. A crew of volunteers removed the deck to make way for excavation of the new foundation. The Larch Hills Nordic Society hopes to have the chalet expansion completed to lock-up stage before next winter.
Silverbacks head coach, Misko Antisin, stepped down to pursue professional opportunities in the United States.
Two local boxers win medals at national championships in Quebec. Dominic Barbosa brought home a gold in the 60 kg junior division without ever throwing a punch because his only competitor moved down a weight class leaving him the unchallenged champion of his division. However, he was determined to get in a match and ended up in the ring with a three-time national champion in an older age division, where he held his own. Emma Morrison-Turley brought home a bronze medal in the 51 kg youth division.
The Roots and Blues announced the confirmation of five more international arts joining the 2017 line-up: Alex Cuba, Talking Dreads, Asani, Altameda, and Andy Hillhouse.
A Sunnybrae man is missing and presumed dead following a May 6 mudslide in the 5900 block of Sunnybrae Road. After days of fruitless searching, Salmon Arm RCMP said Roy Frederick Sharp, 76, is presumed deceased and search effort has become a recovery mission.
What began as a fun family experiment took Teena Gudjonson’s Winebox Sweets to first place in the fourth season of Launch-a-Preneur. Winebox Sweets was the recipient of more than $15,000 worth of prizes and services. They also won the People’s Choice Award. Shuswap Event took second, On Point Concrete - third, and Elderberry Grove came in fourth.
Liberal MLA Greg Kyllo was re-elected in the Shuswap but provincially, the final outcome of BC’s 41st general election remained to be seen. Preliminary results suggested a minority government, with the BC Liberals picking up 43 seats in the legislature, just one shy of a majority. The BC NDP picked up 41 seats and the BC Greens 3.
This year the migration of Adams River Sockeye took a detour, a magical stop in Vancouver thanks to internationally acclaimed documentary film maker Nettie Wild. Wild and her Canada Wild Productions documented the salmon run and used high-tech projection of the footage onto the legs and underbelly of Vancouver’s Cambie Street bridge. Her hope for the cinematic spectacle is to imbue the kind of wonder that the sockeye run itself does.
Salmon Arm council was onboard with the quest for a new brand for the city. Council committed $14,000 to an estimated $95,000 community brand development project spearheaded by the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society (SAEDS). Lana Fitt, SAEDS economic development manager, outlined the goals for the project: to find one message that could be used and supported by all residents, businesses, community organizations, and local government.
“It’s all about managing Salmon Arm’s reputation, more specifically, it tends to build name awareness for our community. It would be developing a distinctive, believable, memorable, co-creative, but most importantly, an authentic image of Salmon Arm.”
The Salmon Arm Secondary (SAS) Jr Boys rugby team capped off their season with a victory in the Okanagan Championships. The SAS Junior Girls soccer team finished second place in the Okanagan after a series of hard-fought games from their rivals from Kamloops.
Joyce Hederson gave the week long Theatre BC Okanagan Zone Drama Festival rave reviews - the plays and the people involved. Shuswap Theatre hosted the successful festival with the theme Canada 150.