Some weeks its easy to write a column on a single topic, sort of a full course meal on a single item, but this week is going to be more of a buffet – a little of this and a little of that.
I wanted to send a shout out to Christie Fiebelkorn, who was the City of Salmon Arm’s summer bylaw enforcement intern for the second year running. I was driving downtown on Husdon Avenue near the post office the other week and noticed Fiebelkorn, in uniform, enthusiastically pushing a disabled woman in a motorized wheelchair up the sidewalk. It was clear this was a very heavy contraption and apparently the battery power couldn’t cope with the hill. So Fiebelkorn jumped in and pushed the woman’s wheelchair until the battery was recharged.
While her term in parking enforcement is now complete, I thought she deserved special recognition. That is not always a pleasant job, and Fiebelkorn took her share of abuse, including being called some of the worst profanity the English language has to offer. No one likes a parking ticket, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to be abusive.
In gloomier news on the parking front, the free parking in the lot adjacent to the Salmar Grand Theatre comes to an end at the end of August. This means many downtown employees will go back to playing parking ticket roulette in order to save some cash.
Development permits have been issued for the new Winners and Dollarama stores to add to the Smart Centres development adjacent to Wal Mart.
While new retail options are appreciated by many, what is with this town and duplication of the retail marketplace? We seem to be overpopulated with dollar stores, spas and pet stores in particular. In my opinion, if someone is looking for a new business venture, what we really need is a shoe store that offers some affordable, quality options for kids. Winners may offer some shoe selection but, in my experience, it’s hit-and-miss on sizes and selection for the younger set. Hauling three kids out of town to buy shoes is not this mom’s favourite thing to do.
It appears the Roots & Blues Festival has weathered the worst of a financial storm, having lost money the previous year. The Salmon Arm Folk Music Society came up with quite a few creative ways to cut costs, and reducing the number of stages (and thereby the costs associated with performers, sound equipment, etc.) was a good call.
There was still plenty of choice for festival-goers and some people even remarked to me that they found it good to have so many of the performers doing more than one show, because if you missed one performance, you could catch up with another.
While the final figures haven’t been compiled, and while Mother Nature was a bit unkind for Friday evening’s attendance, I’m hearing a collective sigh of relief. The show will go on.