Editor Brian Lawrence compiled this brief look back at some of the goings on in the Creston Valley over the last 12 months, gleaned from the pages of the Advance.
6 — Patients with appointments at the Osprey Medical Clinic got a rude surprise when they got a phone call saying the clinic had closed Jan. 31.
“We were unable to reach an agreement with the doctors that would make this a self-sustaining business,” said Ken Gadicke, who owned Osprey Medical Clinic in partnership with his former accounting firm partner, Rick Minichiello.
A message distributed to patients by Drs. Raphael Elemuo, Tara Guthrie and Suzanne Hopkins wasn’t quite so diplomatic: “The owners of Osprey Medical Clinic breached our contracts in January of this year. In response to our request that they honour the terms of our contract, they have locked us out and closed the clinic without notice.”
•After Creston’s only remaining video rental store, Video Express, closed in 2013, Shane Gilmour started his own rental service, Video Fix, housed in a big red box now outside Overwaitea Foods. The machine is stocked with movies on DVD and Blu-ray, and include current hits and older films.
13 — More than 500 people attended the Children’s Winter Festival at Rotacrest Hall on Feb. 8, hosted by several community organizations on the Family Day long weekend. Among the activities were a Play-Doh table, painting and balloon shaving, as well as a new ice castle built by B-Boys Construction.
•A few months shy of two years old, Ricky’s All Day Grill has earned the company’s 2013 Rising Star Award, presented annually to the franchisee that has shown the most improvement over the year.
Creston’s Ricky’s is one of about 20 in the South Alberta District, and the award is based on a variety of criteria, not the least of which is customer feedback, which was growing steadily more positive, particularly since kitchen manager Brad Sutherland arrived in November 2012, bringing experience and familiarity for customers.
20 — Nearly three weeks after they were locked out of the Osprey Medical Clinic, Drs. Tara Guthrie, Raphael Elemuo and Suzanne Hopkins were once again seeing their patients on Feb. 17, having moved into temporary offices in the Family Practice Associates Clinic.
•After just over 100 years in business, Wynndel Box and Lumber rebranded as Wynnwood, CEO Michael Combs announced to employees on Feb. 14.
“It’s been a long time coming, but I think I can honestly say today that we have saved the mill,” he said. “All of us here today have saved the mill.”
27 — Owners Ken Gadicke and Rick Minichiello said they established Osprey Medical Clinic to respond to a community need.
“We kept hearing that one of the challenges of recruiting doctors was the lack of clinic space,” said Gadicke, an active member of Creston’s last economic development initiative. “There was no room at Family Practice or other clinics and most doctors don’t want to set up on their own. We saw Osprey first and foremost as a community development opportunity, and if it made a little profit eventually, that would be great.”
•The Creston Judo Club’s Kaeden Rendek was one of 12 Kootenay Zone judokas competing in the BC Games, coming home with a gold medal. The 13-year-old competed against nine others in his class, U16, which meant that some were nearly three years older, and others were blue belts, one higher than Rendek’s green.
•A rockslide on Highway 3A around 9 p.m. Feb. 20 about 35 kilometres north of Creston near Twin Bays, closed Highway 3A in both directions. Although the road was expected to be cleared by mid-Feb. 22, several large boulders had to be broken up with a hydraulic rock hammer, preventing an opening until Feb. 23.
•The Creston Valley Thunder Cats ended the regular season on Feb. 22, beating the Columbia Valley Rockies 4-1. They had secured the top spot in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Eddie Mountain Division a few weeks earlier, and finished the season with a record 80 points.