B.C. Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon will be arriving in Creston Saturday morning, geared up for a full day of touring and Creston Valley Blossom Festival events.
“Her timing is excellent,” Mayor Ron Toyota said. “I think that at first it was just a coincidence that she was coming on Blossom Festival Saturday. She will have a very full day of experiencing what the Creston Valley has to offer.”
Guichon, who will be in Toyota’s company for much of her visit, has an intensive schedule to follow once she arrives at town hall at 8:30 a.m., where she will be greeted by the mayor and his wife, Judy. She and Toyota will almost immediately head off for a meeting with Lower Kootenay Band Chief Jason Louie.
During her visit, Louie will lead a tour of the new LKB roundhouse (which is not intended for use in public events) and provide her with information about the proposed expansion to the LKB’s Yaqan Nukiy School.
They will then return to Creston, where a meeting with Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 29 will precede Guichon’s participation in the Blossom Festival parade.
Invited guests at the traditional post-parade lunch at town hall will be able to meet Guichon, a resident of Nicola Valley, where she owned and operated a cow-calf operation prior to her appointment by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Guests will include Kootenay-Columbia MP David Wilks, Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall and Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt.
In the afternoon, Toyota will accompany Guichon and her entourage as she visits the 25th annual Yaqan Nukiy Powwow, the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area and the Creston Museum and Archives.
“We are very fortunate to be hosting the Honourable Judith Guichon during Blossom Festival celebrations,” Toyota said. “It is a wonderful time to show off the Creston Valley and it looks like the weather will be co-operating, too!”