I drove past Carlin Elementary school on Monday, March 5 expecting to see some activity outside, but there was nothing out of the ordinary, just lots of vehicles in the parking lot. It looked like a normal school day.
As I drove through Sorrento on my way to Chase, I noticed the flash of a hot pink placard out of the corner of my eye. There were the striking teachers I was looking for, walking with pickets near the intersection at Notch Hill Road and Trans-Canada Highway.
I stopped to talk with them, and they explained they couldn’t picket in front of the school so that union members wouldn’t be forced to cross picket lines to get to work.
In order to work around that, the teachers are not officially ‘picketing’ but handing out information regarding their cause.
While teachers are taking strike action, a new trustee is taking the Carlin/Sorrento trustee seat. Jenn Wilchuk was elected decisively to the position of School District #83 trustee for the Carlin-Sorrento area.
Wilchuk garnered 153 votes to defeat Ray Wedge, with 59 votes, and Dan Adrian with 11 votes.
The byelection for the seat was necessary after trustee Lisa Rolland, who had been re-elected to the position in November, died of an aggressive form of cancer in December.
Polling took place Saturday, Feb. 25 at Carlin Elementary/Middle School and at Sorrento Elementary School.
Wilchuk was sworn in Monday at the board office and took on her duties at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled school board meeting.
Carlin, Sorrento, and North Shuswap schools will be closed for spring break March 12 to 23.
Probus
Probus, a low-impact organization for retired and semi-retired persons who have professional, business or management experience, offers opportunities to promote good health, to expand personal interests and to promote fellowship.
The first Salmon Arm club is filled to the brim and the club is proposing two more such clubs in this area.
Anyone interested in learning more about two new proposed clubs, one for Blind Bay and the other for Salmon Arm should contact:
In Blind Bay/Sorrento – Simon Brown at 250-675-2140 or Gary Koo 250-679-3340. In Salmon Arm, call Carole Shirley at 250-832-8651, Jack Armfelt at 250-833-0638 or Dave or Sharron Reed at 250-836-3652.
Curves cares
Sorrento Curves for Women Fitness, just south of Toby’s Restaurant, is doing some fundraising for the local food bank.
Curves members are bringing groceries and monetary donations to the fitness facility.
From March 12-25, interested ladies can join Curves for free by donating a big bag of groceries worth about $30. Last year’s event gathered 864 pounds and $240 for the food bank and organizers are hoping to collect 1,000 pounds of non-perishable food items this year.
This is a way to do something good for yourself and help the community at the same time. Curves is located at 1266 Trans-Canada Highway. Call them at 250-675-3039.