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Year in Review: September

The News looks back at what made headlines in July
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Bella Guilford holds the cob while Jeshannhah Foster rips away during Parkview Elementary’s annual corn shucking and Terry Fox run event. File photo

• Sicamous council plans to talk about a legal approach to invasive zebra and quagga mussels during its upcoming meeting with Ministry of Environment officials at the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver, Sept. 25 to 29.

• Preparations were underway for the 2017 Fungi Fest and organizers put out a call for volunteers. This unique, Sicamous-based event always offers an opportunity to learn about wild mushrooms, where to find them, which ones are good to eat, which ones to avoid and much more.

• A record dry summer impacted water levels, said Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist.

“It was an incredibly dry, stressful summer with the potential effects on human physical and mental health from months of smoke. We had a very unusual, persistent strong high over the province from the last half of June.”

• Sicamous Mayor Terry Rysz said his community fared well over the summer.

“So far we’ve been very fortunate; we din’t seem to have the same implications as other communities,” he said of the drought and low lake level. “We haven’t been too impacted by lake levels but certainly have been concerned.”

• Sicamous council received a strong message from more than 600 people in the form of a petition opposing a proposed option for the construction of a bridge across the channel.

• While the final numbers weren’t official, the number of students in Sicamous schools was up from last year. “We’ve got very solid numbers,” said Parkview Elementary principal Carla Schneider. “We’ve moved up from seven to eight divisions in the school.”

Over at Eagle River, Principal Mark Marino said school enrolment was projected to be 123 students but they are now sitting at 132.

• Residents of Sicamous Sands voiced their opposition to a proposed waterpark near their waterfront properties in a letter to Sicamous council. Janice Rempel, president of the Sicamous Sands Resort Society, gave a presentation and made it clear Sicamous Sands residents were not onboard with the proposal.

“It is unfortunate that the applicant invested time and energy without consultation of the upland owners,” said Rempel, adding they learned about project through the newspaper.

• A Sicamous man is under court-ordered curfew after being charged in relation to a rash of thefts from boats. Sicamous RCMP Sgt. Murray McNeil said police arrested a 23-year-old Sicamous resident and charged him with break and enter and released him on conditions.

“One of the conditions I asked for was that he not be allowed to reside in Sicamous,” said McNeil. “But I wasn’t successful in getting that. He is on a curfew.”

• Upgrades were underway for Eagle River Secondary including a three-year geothermal and HVAC upgrade. Also completed this year: new bleachers, laminate and paint in the gym, a new sound system and new lights and lockers in the change room.

Parkview Elementary students carried on the tradition of the school’s Terry Fox Run and corn-shucking relay event on Friday, Sept. 22. The relay began at the former Malakwa Elementary School 36 years ago for harvest celebrations.

• Two options remain for the replacement of Bruhn Bridge - one of them including the contentious Main Street bridge proposal. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said a preferred option had not been selected. Further public engagement is planned, with an open house being looked at for 2018.