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What’s the good news, 2020? Salmon Arm neighbourhood surprises health-care worker with show of appreciation

The Salmon Arm Observer looks back at some of the year’s positive stories

Gratitude for a neighbour who works at Shuswap Lake General Hospital melded into a parade of appreciation in a Salmon Arm neighbourhood last week.

Holly Gray and two of her neighbours in the Ridge subdivision, Prab Dhaliwal and Joanna Bickle, had heard the news about people in different cities across Canada showing their appreciation for healthcare workers at 7 o’clock each evening, a shift change time for many, by banging pots and honking horns to recognize their work.

Gray explained they talked about honouring their well-loved neighbour Jo Tighe, whose official title is patient care coordinator of emergency, intensive care unit and oncology at the Salmon Arm hospital.

They included Jo’s spouse Randi in their plans, deciding that when Randi picked up Jo from work on Thursday afternoon, March 26, he would drive her slowly through the street to their home.

It would be lined with neighbours in their yards, showing their appreciation for her.

As arrival time approached, adults and children at about 12 residences were out on the streets —keeping their social distance, holding thank-you signs and ready to bang on pots and buckets.

Read more: Photos - With a crash and a bang, B.C. residents applaud health-care workers

Read more: ‘Corona Busters’ - Vernon man drives vintage ambulance in appreciation of health-care workers

Jo was both surprised and very moved. Randi texted the organizers later to say that he didn’t drive as slowly as planned — Jo told him to speed up because she was crying so much.

“There were a few of us crying including Jo,” Gray said. “I think it made us feel as good as it made her feel appreciated. She’s a very humble person.”

23750360_web1_copy_200403-SAA-welcome-home-ER-nurse
Neighbours of nurse Jo Tighe welcome her home with signs, cheering and drumming after her shift in the emergency department of Shuswap Lake General Hospital on Thursday, March 26 to show their appreciation for all the work that she and other health-care workers do for the community during this pandemic. (Contributed)


Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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