At this time, we present our annual year in review, looking back at the events of 2013 as recorded in the pages of the Creston Valley Advance.
AUGUST
1— A pilot program to test the viability of a compostable material program was underway in Creston. For two months, 20 residents around town set out small green wheeled bins for pickup each Saturday. In those bins is a surprising variety of waste material, including meat, poultry, fish, shellfish and bones — virtually any kitchen waste. Also, yard debris and even torn-up pizza delivery boxes are included.
The pilot program was intended to provide data to help determine what it would take to extend pickup throughout town. With data from the pilot program, town staff will work under council’s direction in 2014 to create a business plan for the pickup and recycling of “green waste.”
•A scheduling conflict forced Creston’s Black Eyed Cherries and the East Kootenay Roller Derby League to move their Aug. 10 games to Sparwood. Regional District of Central Kootenay Area C director Larry Binks said the conflict came as a result of a decision to make ice in the Creston and District Community Complex’s John Bucyk Arena earlier than originally planned.
“Apparently the computer scheduling system didn’t pick up the conflict until it was too late,” said Binks. “Nobody feels good about this.”
“This could mean a loss of $4,000 to $5,000 in income to the league,” said Amanda Kerr, one of the team’s founding players.
•Swimmers in Goat River upstream of the Canyon-Lister Road bridge need to exercise caution, warned Creston Fire Rescue Chief Michael Moore after a male in his early 30s became trapped in the canyon on July 24.
“The popular swimming spot on the north side of the bridge is near a cascading waterfall that drops down about 20 feet,” he said. “The water is rapid and could easily pin or trap a person against a rock, being too swift to get out of [and] would lead to a drowning easily.”
It is possible to survive being washed down the falls, but once a person is at the pool below, getting out of the river is difficult — it continues about a quarter-mile with sheer rock walls leading to the hydroelectric dam.
8—The Creston Valley’s approach to attracting new physicians to the area has won recognition and accolades, and would be featured in a Health Match BC film made to supplement efforts to address the doctor shortage.
A film crew visited Creston on Aug. 2 to shoot footage of Dr. Susan Hopkins, who chose Creston as her family’s new home last year. She was actively courted by what is now the Health Working Group and recruiter Marilin States.
“The film is being produced to showcase B.C. to physicians practicing in the United Kingdom through the eyes and experiences of physicians who have located to our provinces,” States said.
•Months of hard work paid off for the Creston and District Community Resource Centre (CRC), which was told it earned a three-year accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, a requirement when an organization receives over $500,000 from the Ministry of Children and Family Development, which funds the majority of the CRC’s $1.2 million budget.
Led by executive director Serena Naeve, finance and administration manager Justine Keirn and clinical supervisor Colleen Deatherage, the CRC’s staff and management worked to ensure 13 of 27 programs met CARF standards — each program in the areas of counseling, children in adolescence, early childhood development, intensive family based services, and promotion and prevention programming had to meet 1,300 internationally-recognized standards for administration and direct services.
•Twelve--year-old Kaeden Rendek brought home a silver medal from the 2013 Canadian Judo Championships, becoming this area’s first-ever national medallist in his chosen sport. The lead-up to his medal-winning efforts came after nearly a year of travel to tournaments in Prince George, Edmonton, Montreal, Fernie, Invermere, Regina and five in the Lower Mainland.
15—At 14 years old, Skylar Eyre was already an old hand when it comes to art — pencil and paper, ink and paper, ink and skin were just a natural progression of a talent that emerged at an early age. But he met with a new challenge: painting a mural in the children’s area at the new Black Bear Books location at 1229 Canyon St. With bright colours well suited to the children’s play area it overlooks, owner Paula Carpenter was thrilled with Skylar’s initial design, which actually ended up being the final design.
“This was just a really big learning experience for me, and I’m really happy with how it turned out,” said Eyre.
•Facing another hockey season with no food concession pushed local regional directors to reverse an earlier decision to keep the facility open to all caterers.
At the Aug. 7 Creston Valley services committee meeting, a unanimous vote directed Creston and District Community Complex staff to advertise inviting proposals that could see all food services in the building provided by one operator.
“We handcuffed the staff when we directed them to only accept proposals to operate the concession, and that hasn’t worked,” said Regional District of Central Kootenay Area C director Larry Binks, who chairs the committee.
•Hikers on Goat Mountain found Gordon Hume, 79, on Aug. 7, after he had been missing for about 24 hours.
“Gordon Hume had overheard a group of youths on Goat Mountain talking about starting a fire during a fire ban, so he travelled up the mountain on his quad to speak with them,” Creston RCMP Col. Monty Taylor said in a press release.
•Over 700 Fortis BC customers in the Creston Valley went without power following a windstorm that started around 11 p.m. Aug. 6.
North of Creston, power was out in Wynndel and Lakeview, and in intermittent places along Highway 3A after the windstorm broke poles and downed power lines. That outage affected about 520 customers, who had power restored around 11 p.m. Aug. 7.
Other crews were fixing a West Creston power outage that occurred midmorning, affecting 220 homes on West Creston, Cedar Hill, Reclamation, Corn Creek, Smith, Simmons and Balsam roads.
22—Regional District of Central Kootenay directors are requesting that the board withdraw the alternate approval process to fund the Pet Adoption and Welfare Society through taxation.
“We need to do a better job of communicating the need to taxpayers, so we are filing a request to the RDCK board to kill the current alternate approval process,” said Area C director Larry Binks. “We will bring back a proposal when we are better prepared. The taxation was not a request of PAWS and the organization should not be taking the heat for our failure to help people understand why the funding plan was brought forward.”
•Town council approved a location for an off-leash dog park at the Aug. 13 regular council meeting. The option chosen was about 1,400 square metres (0.35 acres), an L-shaped area adjacent to the Steve’s Ride trailhead off Cedar Street. That space was big enough to create an environment suitable for many types of dogs and their owners, said engineering manager Colin Farynowski in a presentation to council.
A 45-metre long dog run, located across the trail and alongside the CP Rail tracks, could also join the off-leash area. It would be five metres wide, and suitable for playing fetch.
•The new location behind the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce was proven to be an asset to the Creston Valley Farmers’ Market, manager Martha Boland told Creston town council at the Aug. 13 regular meeting. Vendor attendance was up 33 per cent over the Millennium Park location, and there was a 70 per cent increase in vendors paying for the season, with some vendors are earning twice what they made in the previous location.
29—The fence around Wloka Farms in Erickson started out as just a fence. But it turned into something more: a message board that raises funds for a worthy cause.
For $25 a day (plus $5 for each additional day), messages commemorating birthdays, weddings, graduations and more will be hung on the fence, with all proceeds going to the Therapeutic Riding Program operated by the Creston and District Society for Community Living.
“It is the most wonderful program in the world,” said Barb Wloka. “You see the progression and it’s marvelous.”
•Creston RCMP identified the man who tore up Regional District of Central Kootenay alternative approval process (APA) petitions in several businesses on Aug. 19. Police were prepared to recommend charges against the man, but Regional District of Central Kootenay Area C director Larry Binks directed police to look into the possibility of using the Restorative Justice program, typically used for first offenders.
The Creston man, who identified himself to the Advance as Bill Cook, said the incidents stemmed from misinformation spread about the Pet Adoption Welfare Society, which the RDCK had intended to fund through the alternative approval process (AAP). He overheard someone saying that the PAWS on-site caretaker lived on the property rent-free with the help of taxpayer funds — in fact, the situation is cost-neutral, with the caretaker’s wage returned in full as rent.
“To my mind, there is a big stretch between the two. … I just couldn’t get over that particular lie, my emotions boiled over and I got stupid,” said Cook.