• Jim Cooperman’s book, Everything Shuswap, the first comprehensive book about the Shuswap, was off to the printers and would be available soon. Cooperman said the process of the Everything Shuswap book began 12 years ago when he started writing his Shuswap Passion newspaper column. The 242-page book opens with a forward by author Alan Haig-Brown.
• After a decade of co-ordinating emergency response in the Shuswap, Cliff Doherty left the Columbia Shuswap Regional District with a plaque, praise from the board and a lot of memories. One thing that gives this South Shuswap resident the most satisfaction is having steered the Shuswap Emergency Program in the direction of preparedness, rather than a reactive response to emergencies.
• Internal political issues and relations with the RCMP were two reasons the Adams Lake Indian Band gave for a road block which began on Tuesday morning. The band issued a statement regarding the ongoing closure of one lane of Pine Street.
• The South Shuswap art community was buzzing with news of a new artisans’ market that will be opening in Sorrento in mid-May. The highway store-front location, next to the Lighthouse Market, will be a great addition to the community, offering unique handcrafted art in a convenient location.
• The Arts Council for the South Shuswap was gearing up for a three-day Culture Crawl in May. The council received a $9,700 Arts Based Community Development Grant from BC Arts Council to lead to a community participation art engagement project that resulted in a permanent art installation. The evening will be the kickoff to the Shuswap Lake Culture Crawl, a three-day event of community hall crawls featuring music, artisan collectives, First Nations art, cultural tours and more happenings in the South Shuswap.
• The Chase skate park is expected to be completed this month. Shovels will soon be in the ground as work begins to make the proposed Chase skateboard park a reality. Kelsey Snelgrove, president of the Chase & District Skateboard Park, said local contractors have stepped up and will be finalizing the project in a matter of weeks.
• The ‘Why not us!’ and ‘Never quit’ 2016-17 Chase Heat drove a long way down KIJHL playoff highway. The playoff journey began with the team being the Doug Birks Division regular season champions.
• Fed up with what he calls “mucky” conditions at waste disposal sites, one South Shuswap resident declared he would burn his garbage until the Columbia Shuswap Regional District deals with the mud and pot-holes.
“I’ve been burning for some time now – where I live I can. I burn because I don’t want to drive my $50,000 car into mucky pot-holed filled yards,” Chris Murray wrote in an email to CSRD Environmental Health Services Team Leader Ben Van Nostrand.
“I will give it a bit of time and take some more pictures and prove to you you’re not fixing your yards.”
• Music at the Maples is a new venture started by manager Susan Aylard at the Maples Waterfront Resort and Bed and Breakfast. No stranger to the music world, Aylard is combining her love of music with her job managing the resort. She is a professional musician who plays violin with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and fiddles with the band Cod Gone Wild.
During the shoulder season at this beautiful lakefront property, Aylard decided to open her vacation home to travelling musicians who, in exchange for food, lodging and tour money, put on a concert.
• Now with the ground thawed, the Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap Society (LASS) installed the first of four Little Free Libraries that were purchased with funds from the Shuswap Community Foundation last fall.
• Some citizens hoped Chase council would put the brakes on a proposal to prohibit bicycles on sidewalks. A public notice from the Village of Chase states village council is considering such a bylaw.
• A Chase resident expressed hopes that people will cut their hair for cancer patients. Michelle Grondin, a registered nurse, wrote to the newspaper with regard to April being Cancer Awareness Month.
Last year Grondin lost her younger sister to pancreatic cancer and, in November, she herself was diagnosed with cancer of the thyroid.
She wrote: “My hair was very long and a friend suggested donating it to cancer patients. After some research, I found a site on how to donate my hair.”
• The lack of affordable housing is brought to the forefront. The rental vacancy in Salmon Arm was listed at 0.5 per cent. Dawn Dunlop, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association and board member of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association said housing and mental health go together.
“When you live with a mental illness and you are doing well and have a safe, secure, and affordable housing, that’s when you can work on other aspects of your life.”
• Two Selkirk swimmers made some waves in a national competition. Maggie Manning came in the 800 freestyle in the Speedo Can Am Para-Swimming Championships held in Windsor, Ontario, making her the top Canadian, and she was selected to swim on Canada’s 4x100 metre ‘A’ relay team who went on to win the relay. Chantel Jeffrey, another Selkirk swimmer, is heading off to Victoria to compete in the Canadian swimming trials. She will be competing in in the 1500, 800, and 400 metre freestyle events as well as the 400-metre individual medley.
• The U16 Ringette brought home the bronze medal in the 2017 Provincial Ringette Championship held in Coquitlam.
• A landslide destroys two homes in Sunnybrae and the families reflect on their close call after their losses. The slide, which hurtled down the slope in the 4000 block of Sunnybrae-Canoe Point road on April 7, hit a house with enough force to knock it off its foundation, but miraculously spared Amber Blair and her son, Ryley Meyer from serious injury. The landslide also crashed into the neighbouring Hobb’s house.
• There was a lot of debate but in the end, Salmon Arm City Council voted to change the tax rates, raising business levies but dropping the rate for light industrial. The move came in an effort to retain existing industry and to attract new ones considering to move to the city. With the adoption of the bylaw for the tax rates on April 24, the tax rates for both will be equalized to $11.95 per $1,000 of assessed value for both classifications. The 2016 rate for light industry was $18.71 per $1,000, and business was $11.66 per $1,000 of assessed value.
• Elementary through high school students braved the inclement weather to make the Salmon Arm foreshore a healthier habitat for animals who call the place home. The Salmon Arm Bay Nature Enhancement Society (SABNES), City of Salmon Arm, the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, and School District #83 staff and students were involved in a large project to increase biodiversity on the foreshore. Kim Fulton, a former teacher in charge of co-ordinating the planting, said it’s important to involve the youth.
“I believe if kids love the environment at an early age and understand how the systems work, they will be less likely to make mistakes that we humans seem to make.”
• This was no ordinary annual general meeting for Downtown Salmon Arm. Board candidates are often acclaimed because the numbers don’t necessitate an election. Not this year. Eight people were vying for the remaining seven two-year terms. In the end, Althea Mongerson, Jeff Johnson, Jennifer Broadwell, Kailee Ramsell, Nicole Mundy, Ron Langridge and Steve Reid were elected for the seven positions. Because the 13 directors’ two-year terms are staggered, six directors have another year in their terms. They are: Bill Laird, Brent Moffatt, Deanna Connelly, Jacquie Gaudreau, Sebastian Hofstetter and Sheri Greeno.