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.
MAY
2—Excitement was building for the Creston Valley Farmers’ Market’s 10th season, which would start on May 4, next to the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce, a new and permanent location.
“Everyone is talking about it,” said manager Martha Boland. “All of the vendors are coming to the office saying, ‘Everyone is so excited.’ The energy around it is just phenomenal.”
•Fewer than 100 attended a forum sponsored by the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce for the candidates in the May 14 election.
Liberal Party candidate Greg Garbula focused on the need for a strong provincial economy from which health, education and social services can improve as more taxation rolls into government coffers.
Incumbent Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall said that even in opposition the NDP has done “what some thought would be nearly impossible to achieve.”
Sjeng Derkx described his Green Party as “fiscally conservative and socially progressive.”
•Creston RCMP were seeking information following an alleged break and enter and alleged assault, which resulted in the arrest of two males, 21 and 22.
Police had been called to a Creston home when a resident and friends arrived at the residence just as suspects who broke into the home were leaving. The occupant apprehended one suspect, but the other fled and was arrested on Tuesday, after which an investigation revealed the pair was allegedly involved in unreported violent offences prior to the break and enter.
9—Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall said she had learned a lot in her four years representing her constituents, and her fondest memories include “keeping the Glacier and Hauser Creeks running free.” The West Kootenay creeks were targeted for controversial independent power projects, an overall approach that has saddled British Columbians with high-cost power purchase agreements with private developers.
Lack of consultation by the Liberal government is evident in they way the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area has been handled, she said.
“We all know the CVWMA has been neglected by this government,” she said. “A government cannot move the CVWMA forward without working with the local community. It is integral to the process to include people with the strongest vested interest.”
16—The Creston Valley Public Library and Lower Kootenay Band teamed up to enhance their connection. A sign welcoming library patrons in the Ktunaxa language was slated to be installed, First Nations artwork displayed and historical items — like a sturgeon-nosed canoe — given a home in the library.
“I hope we can explore the bigger question about how to share this knowledge and information that isn’t in a conventional form,” said chief librarian Aaron Francis. “Lower Kootenay people are keepers of the deepest knowledge of this place we live in.”
•A partnership between Adam Robertson Elementary School and Cresteramics, which provides day program for adults with developmental disabilities, earned an award from the BC Principals’ and Vice Principals’ Association, a recognition that the adult-student relationships have provided clear benefits for all involved.
“The program with ARES has been a wonderful part of Cresteramics community inclusion program for the last several years,” said Cresteramics director Donna McCready. “Three developmentally delayed adults have been attending classes with grade 2 and 3 students. While at first there was some hesitancy from both the students and visiting adults, this was quickly overcome. The clients from Cresteramics now await their visits to ARES eagerly each week.”
•After months of seeing his detachment members dealing with an ongoing neighbours’ dispute on Erickson Street, Staff Sgt. Bob Gollan said he “assigned one of our officers to looking into recommending charges of public mischief against these two men.”
A week earlier, two calls came from one who called on consecutive days to complain about early morning noise; the neighbour was using firecrackers to scare skunks away from the rabbits he raises. A third call on May 8 reported a neighbour cutting tree branches along the property line, but attending officers could find no evidence.
•A private room at Creston Valley Hospital was furnished with proceeds from Tim Hortons ($5,040 from the Smile Cookie campaign) and the Tuck Shop ($4,025). Brand new were cabinets, a couch and recliner, and over-bed table and blinds.
23—For his long commitment to Creston, where he has lived for 20 years, Henry Schoof was named the 2013 citizen of the year at the Creston Valley Blossom Festival opening ceremonies on May 17.
He has been a member of the Lions Club for 40 years, and in his time in Creston has been a member of the Creston Rotary Club and founded the Creston Valley Heide Club. He also helps Adam Robertson Elementary School students with a reading program, and was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
•Nelson’s Michelle Mungall romped to a runaway election win on May 14, amassing more votes than her Liberal and Green opponents combined. With 7,576 votes, she easily outdistanced rookie candidates Greg Garbula (4,348 votes) and Sjeng Derkx (3,133 votes), in an election that saw the Christy Clark-led Liberal Party wipe out expectations that a New Democrat government would be elected.
“It’s not what people were saying as I toured around the province,” Mungall said this morning. “I wonder, did people just not show up to vote, thinking the election of an NDP government was a foregone conclusion?”
•After reviewing the procedure for granting permissive property tax exemptions, Creston town council voted May 14 to cap the total amount at 1.75 per cent of the local tax base. Non-profit organizations that own or lease property in Creston that is used for the benefit of the community can request to be exempted from paying property taxes, which fund most services provided by the town.
“A permissive exemption is the equivalent of a donation to an organization by all property taxpayers,” said Mayor Ron Toyota on Friday. “Council must operate with the awareness that as more exemptions are granted, taxes are higher for everyone else.”
•After nearly $40,000 in renovations and upgrades, as well as the purchase of a new horse, the Creston and District Society for Community Living’s Therapeutic Riding Program celebrated its grand reopening on May 18.
Funding came from a variety of sources — Kootenay Employment Services, the Creston-Kootenay Foundation and Columbia Basin Trust locally — including $25,000 from the Kraft Celebration Tour, which the program won last year. A large portion of the Kraft money was matched with $7,500 from Tire Stewardship that went toward new flooring in the tack area.
30—With the former Wynndel Elementary School — operated from 1955-2008 and unused since — about to be put up for public tender, residents made one last push to buy the property.
“This isn’t about the building,” resident Korie Bartsch said on Friday. “The building is dying. But the property is very important green space in the heart of community and adjacent to our community centre. It would be devastating to lose it.”
•Nearly 200 people marched along Canyon Street on May 25, part of a worldwide protest against global giant Monsanto, a producer of genetically modified crops seeds and agriculture chemicals. In the March Against Monsanto were people who drove from Cranbrook and Nelson to participate in what local organizers believe was the smallest community to participate in the day of protests. Families with young children walked alongside senior citizens.
•After a day of intense snowfall on Kootenay Pass, travellers driving between the east and west Kootenay were able to safely take Highway 3 between Creston and Salmo on May 23. The day before, Yellowhead Road and Bridge urged motorists travelling between the east and west Kootenay to take the Kootenay Lake Ferry, as a weather system had created winter conditions on Highway 3. Over 30 centimetres of wet snow had fallen on the summit of Kootenay Pass between Creston and Salmo that afternoon.