By Neil Ostafichuk
How was your holiday season? For some, it’s business as usual; maybe only taking a couple of days off, maybe a quiet time at home thing with no travel. For others, the post-vacation honeymoon has ended; perhaps after a week or more off and the joy of sharing with co-workers all the great or not so great times with or without family has eroded into a frigid, bleak outlook of facing trudging to work in the dark, snowy mornings. (When I retire, I may get a job writing inspirational posters.) Actually, everyone I cross paths with had a good rest with positive visits and has jumped back into the swing of things relatively recharged – hopefully you are one of those.
We do have to hit the ground running, however – the Tender has closed for the Community Park and is in process of being evaluated and awarded in order to prep for action on the ground speculatively early March. It is also budget season for many, Local Government included and as we move through preliminary meetings with the RDCK Local Area Directors, presenting and discussing each budget line (and there are a lot), I had some pangs of empathy for what can often be regarded as a thankless role representing constituents as responsibly as possible; dancing the knife edge of fiscal responsibility yet still maintaining or providing services in an increasingly inflationary world. I always have admiration for people who legitimately take on a representative role; most of the general public has no idea the trials and tribulations that are attached to those positions and hopefully the progress we make together as the Creston Valley keeps the truly dedicated ones involved.
I flashed back to a Creston Valley Services meeting a few decades ago where an angry constituent was addressing the committee, who at that time had Elvin Masuch, Alan Wilson, Tom Mann and I believe Don Leben as RDCK Directors, about how Area C mosquitos were coming into Area A. To punctuate his point, he had half a pillowcase full of dead mosquitos he was waving animatedly and I fully expected the culmination of the dissertation to be ended with the ceremonial dumping of the bag of bloodsuckers over Chairman Masuch, and having unwisely chosen my seat on this particular occasion, me as well. One of a million stories in the naked city, this one ended without us having to comb out insects but punctuates the diplomacy that is required in order to respectfully address concerns and also communicate that it isn’t always possible to be everything to everyone.
Over at the Creston Valley Visitors Centre, we begin prepping for the 2019 season; first by evaluating the 2018 Winter Festival and Santa Claus Parade and providing recommendations for the next one (yet so far away). As well, you may have noticed with the advertisement in the Creston Valley Advance that the Creston Valley Travel Guide preparation has begun which is the feature-filled brochure we hand out to tourists visiting or being encouraged to visit the area. We are also gearing up for another busy season of visitors to the Valley and what we can dangle in front of them to stay over an extra night or two from their original plans. Many times, the Visitor Centre is the first point of contact for people looking to relocate our little piece of paradise so we like to show them all we have to offer.