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A wish list for the city

Salmon Arm has become known for its Christmas spirit, so you shouldn’t be surprised to be getting a letter.
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Editor Tracy Hughes

Dear Santa,

Salmon Arm has become known for its Christmas spirit, so you shouldn’t be surprised to be getting a letter from our little corner of the world.

While I’m sure the children of our fine city have been sending you their requests, but I’m going to look at the bigger picture and ask for a few things on behalf of all the citizens who live here.

It looks like the long-anticipated gift of an improved Trans-Canada Highway, including a remodelled Salmon River Bridge, will be the gift that keeps on giving for a few years. With construction scheduled to start in 2017 and continue until 2022, the project will address a situation that residents have been concerned about for decades.

Work has also continued on improvements to Blackburn Park, with grading on the planned soccer fields having the hundreds of children and adult players drooling with anticipation for the opening. The proposed spray park, stationary outdoor exercise equipment and paved fitness path will also be an asset to young and old in our community. It would be a great gift for the health and happiness of our residents.

While the idea of the city moving the public works yard to South Canoe fell flat, the idea of a move and using the land for additional recreation space at Little Mountain is sound. Maybe you could help our municipality find a site that would be a winner?

It was nice to see the city council’s foresight in purchasing the former Mino’s Restaurant property for future expansion of the SASCU Recreation Centre. With more than a half-century under it’s belt, it’s a nice facility, but aging and in need of some upgrading.

Ideally, Santa, we’d love to be able to develop a bigger swimming pool with more amenities. There’s a number of vibrant swim groups who would love more access, not to mention all the families who have fun spending time in a healthy way. It’s a big ticket item, but one which would be beneficial to many.

It’s a little out of town, but if you could spare a little holiday help for the fund to help expand the chalet at the Larch Hills Ski area, it would be another wonderful addition to an ever-increasingly popular locale for both residents and visitors. With the exploding popularity of snowshoeing, as well as more and more liftetime skiers, the facility has well outgrown the demand. This year with Christmas on a Sunday, try popping in on a Saturday morning to see how crowded it can get.

It’s amazing to see the spirit of generosity that sticks with so many of our residents all year long, but, Santa, please spare a little extra Christmas cheer for all the people in our community who volunteer their time to so many worthwhile causes. Our city would be poor without them.

Merry Christmas.