As the sands of time slip through the hourglass, so do lifeguards through their tenure here as lifesavers. OK, that’s a really bad analogy, but as we bid farewell to six young adults moving on in their lives to bigger and better things, it is reminiscent of our seasonal pool, oh so long ago, when basically everyone left at this time of year. It is almost an even split between the departing guards — some are going on to further school studies and some are travelling around the globe, but either way they take with them a level of experience and training that you wouldn’t get pushing a broom, as well as memories that they will always look back fondly on.
This is another of those intangibles that often gets overlooked when you study the numbers on the spreadsheet — the work ethic and responsibility that becomes instilled in these youth. As I learned at an early age, to learn responsibility, one must be made responsible, loosely translated to me at the tender age of 14 as “Yes, you can drive the forklift but if you wreck anything, you’re gonna pay for it.” Our guards’ responsibility is for you and your kid’s safety and while some feel they are a bit authoritarian in the performance of their duties, it’s actually their job to do so and many visitors from other larger centres and facilities have complimented us on their professionalism. I’m sure we have all seen the flip side elsewhere as the gum chewing teenager guard yaks with their friends through the fence, oblivious to young Billy flailing around in the deep end.
So, so long to Crystal, Emma, Eric, Kevin, Kira and Monique and good luck in all your future endeavours. We also say welcome to Alan, Cherie, Jacob, Libby and Sam as they join the great team we have in place. Not unlike having a certification in a trade, you take the skill set with you and typically could get a job anywhere as the Canadian and B.C. certification requirements are a lot higher than other locales.
For those of you that had the opportunity to see the Stanley Cup on a brief visit to the community complex on Aug. 20, good on you. as Joe would say. We did the best we could at getting the word out to the public with extremely short notice — in fact we did not have confirmation until late Thursday as to whether it would even touch down here — but I heard that somewhere between 750 and 1,000 people got to see it. Hats off to our arena namesake, Johnny Bucyk, for making it happen, as well as signing autographs and chatting with people through the event. Honourable mention goes to John Kettle for helping to stickhandle (overt hockey reference) through some of the obstacles in making it happen and Chad Luke for helping keeping things moving during the crowds.
You should have the Creston and District Fall Leisure Guide in your mailbox by the time you read this — check it out as there is probably something that will interest you within the pages. For the non-Luddite set, check out our website at www.rdck.bc.ca/creston and see our new interactive leisure guide online. The new format lets you flip through the pages, zoom in on descriptions or photos and if you click on the barcode, it will take you right to the online registration page. Almost as much fun as the shopping network and certainly more educational, this new format promises to make perusing what is happening at the community complex a lot easier.
Neil Ostafichuk is the recreation supervisor at the Creston and District Community Complex.