At this time, we present our annual year in review, looking back at the events of 2011 as recorded in the pages of the Creston Valley Advance.
JANUARY
6 — Minutes after he had stopped to admire the view from 7,400 feet and take photos, Creston accountant Ken Gadicke, 53, tumbled backwards down a mine shaft near Bayonne Creek in the Selkirk Mountains on Dec. 28.
A broken beam and loose gravel finally stopped Gadicke’s descent, and his son, Steve, climbed down to keep him company for three and a half hours before rescue crews arrived. Gadicke suffered a broken arm, heel and two anklebones.
• Real estate assessments for British Columbia have topped the $1 trillion mark for the first time, but that didn’t mean significant changes in assessments for Creston Valley property owners.
A single-family home in Creston that was valued at $267,000 for the 2010 assessment roll was valued at $274,000 for 2011. Overall, the town of Creston’s assessment roll increased from $657 million in 2010 to $689 million in 2011.
13 — The Creston Valley’s first baby of 2011 made its way into the world at 6:35 a.m. on Jan. 6. Tessa Jessop weighed six pounds, 12.5 ounces when she was born.
• One hundred Creston Valley Grade 7 students prepared to present a short film based on the results of the 2008 McCreary Centre Society’s Adolescent Health Survey. The survey showed that one out of 10 children in the East Kootenay go to bed hungry, and that only 32 per cent of local youth have had sexual intercourse by the end of high school.
20 — Creston RCMP arrested a 41-year-old male on Jan. 12 after busting a grow-op. Nearly 500 marijuana plants in various stages of growth were seized, along with dried marijuana and a large amount of growing equipment.
• Volunteers of the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce were working to bring a Tutor jet of the sort former Lister resident Clarence (C.B.) Lang flew with his fellow Golden Centennaires pilots.
Chamber of commerce director and pilot John Huscroft said the money for the purchase was being raised through private donations, and envisioned the jet being displayed at the chamber of commerce site, mounted in a flying position.
27 — Town council approved a request from the Creston Valley Food Action Coalition farmers’ market committee to hold a weekly farmers’ market in the Spirit of Creston Square on 11th Avenue between Canyon Street and the alley to the north. The market would be held in July, August and September on a weekday and be for sales of produce only.
• There was no consensus among town council when it came to parking meters. A debate arose when council discussed a staff memo that listed five parking options: maintain status quo, retain meters on Canyon Street only, remove all meters with no restrictions on parking, remove all meters and have enforced time restricted or increase revenues by raising parking meter rates.
• Five years after filming was completed, and months after its one-night Creston premier, Lovers in a Dangerous Time was scheduled to return for a three-day showing after being picked up by distributor Landmark Cinemas.
Former Creston Valley resident Mark Hug and May Charters co-wrote, -directed and -starred in the film, shot between 2003 and 2005, in which Creston, Kootenay Lake and many residents play themselves.