spin vol. 9 issue 11
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Sun Peaks Independent News — news, events, arts, sports from Sun Peaks Mountain Resort MunicipalityTRANSCRIPT
Vol 9. Issue 11—2011 • Oct. 7 to Nov. 4 • SPIN NEWSMAGAZINE • www.SunPeaksNews.com • 250.578.0276
getOUTthereFall fun on the farmP2
newsDrafting new bylawsP12
sportsWhite’s strong season finishP15
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NEWS ONLINE
www.SunPeaksNews.com2 Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
A
TOURISM • GET OUT THERE
by Kim Cameron
As summer’s warmth gives way to fall’s cooler nights and shorter days, area mar-kets begin to fill with the bountiful delights of the fall harvest season. Buying local is no longer a pass-ing trend, it’s a way of life, and this time of year is one of the best for getting out and exploring local farms and community markets for
the perfect ingredients for a flavourful fall menu.
The basic concept of buy-ing local is simple—buy lo-cal foods that are produced as close to home as possible. It not only reduces your car-bon footprint, but it gives you an opportunity to meet the people who grow your food.
If you don’t have your own garden full of vegetables,
there are plenty of choices within a short drive of Sun Peaks. Many farmers wel-come visitors by offering farm gate sales, and, in some cases, a guided tour of their farm.
Pete Murray’s corn is legendary in the region, and every fall, corn becomes the side dish to the main entree served up fresh from the pumpkin patch. The Mur-
rays, whose farm is on the VLA Road just west of Chase, grow 10 different varieties of gourds suitable for carving, displaying and, best of all, baking. Small Sugar (perfect for pies), Schooltime and Cannonball (ex-cellent for carving) are just a few choices vis-itors may select from.
Not only will a vis-it to Pete Murray’s farm get you a tractor drawn hayride to the pumpkin patch, but children delight at the opportunity to feed corn cobs to the resi-dent sheep.
“We give them a cob of corn before they get on the wagon, and we take them over to the sheep where they’ll feed them through the fence,” says Ray Murray, who owns Pete Murray’s Corn with her husband. “The sheep either nibble or grab it and the kids love that.”
After visiting the sheep the tractor ride continues to the pumpkin patch where visitors are free to roam the field in search of the perfect pumpkin to take home. The
tour costs $5 per person and includes the tractor ride and pumpkin of your choice.
New for 2011, Pete Mur-ray’s Corn Farm has part-nered with Treetop Flyers in Chase to offer two rides on the flying fox zipline, fol-lowed by a guided tractor ride to the pumpkin patch.
“Tours are $40 per per-son,” notes Daniel Ruzic, operations manager at Tree-top Flyers. “We’re offer-ing it Thursday to Sunday throughout the month of October.”
Tour times vary and should be booked in advance to guarantee a spot.
Nothing finishes a meal quite like a bite of cheese and, to explore cheese mak-ing in our region, head over to Gort’s Gouda cheese farm in Salmon Arm. Gort’s has been making and sell-ing fresh gouda and feta cheeses since 1981. A visit to the farm yields a tour of the cheese making facility and samples of their prod-uct. Children will especially enjoy a visit to the barn to
meet the cows and goats that provide milk for dairy. Gort’s is open Monday to Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A bit closer to home, you can venture over to the Kamloops Farmer’s Market which remains open Sat-urday mornings through the month of October. The market provides a one-stop shopping experience for people who prefer to buy their food directly from the source. The market features an array of seasonal fruits and vegetables, flowers and baked goods, all produced in the Thompson-Okanag-an region. The Kamloops Farmers Market is located in the 200 block of St. Paul St. in downtown Kamloops and runs from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
October is the last month to truly enjoy the bounties of our harvest season in our region, so get out and meet a farmer! While you’re at it, thank them too, because at the end of the day, farmers feed us all.
Ingredients for a flavourful menu
PHOTO: PETER SMITH
BAH-BAH-BOUNTIFUL HARVEST SEASON: Visitors get to feed the sheep, and cows too, during the tractor-pulled hayride out to the pumpkin patch at Pete Murray’s Corn Farm. Next stop—pumpkins!
For schedules and more information, visit: www.petemurrayscornfarm.com
www.treetopflyers.ca and www.gortsgoudacheese.bc.ca
WORKOR PLAY?DRESS WELL EITHER WAY
( we can help you with both )
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Photo: Adam Stein
Local Kids Ski & Ride Program | Dates and Times VarySki lessons for kids aged 4 to 12 years and snowboard lessons for kids 8 years and up. 10 lessons for $185—dates, times, and more information available online at www.SunPeaksResort.com/school
Turkey Sale at Bento’s Day Lodge | October 8–10 | 9:00am to 5:00pmClearance prices on equipment, outerwear, and accessories from Helly Hansen, The North Face, Burton, DC, Orage, Billabong, Peak Performance, Bonfire, Sessions, and more.
Sun Peaks Resort Corporation Job Fair | October 8 | 9:00am to 5:00pmAccepting applications for all winter positions. Bring a copy of your resume and cover letter… and be prepared for an interview!
250-578-5474www.SunPeaksResort.com
www.SunPeaksNews.com 3Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
Kookaburra Lodge From $299,900 + HSTIntelligent green design with central location & spectacular views. Gourmet kitchens with granite counter tops, hardwood floors, steam showers, convenient ski storage, fully furnished with hot tubs.
53 Trails Edge $499,000 + HSTSki in /Ski out 3 level, fully furnished, 3 bedroom & family room townhouse.Open f loor plan, gourmet kitchen, spacious deck and walkout basement with covered patio and hot tub. Private garage.
16 Snow Creek Village $279,000 + HSTTrue ski-in, ski-out, fully furnished, 2 bedroom, 2 bath end unit boasts the best ski-in, ski-out & just steps from village amenities. Large covered deck backs onto forested ski terrain. Includes heated garage parking space.
1310 Burfield Drive $385,000 + HSTBrand new, economical 3 bedroom, 3 bath half duplex with posts and beams throughout the main level, spacious living room with pellet stove, large lofted area, storage garage & amazing views.
20 Trapper’s Landing $539,900Ski in, ski out, fully furnished, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom end unit, on the Valley Trail. Features large galley style kitchen, 2 car tandem garage & private hot tub.
59 Stone’s Throw $429,900Customized upper level, south facing end unit with amazing mountain views was Developer’s own unit. Fully furnished. 2 bedrooms, loft, media room, 2 baths, floor to ceiling windows & gas fireplace.
44 Stone’s Throw $288,000 + HST2 bedroom, 2 bath, ski-in/ski-out end is fully furnished and tastefully upgraded and decorated. Granite counters,stainless appliances, cozy gas fireplace and exceptional storage. Heated underground parking.
4122 Sundance Dr $1,725,000Timber frame with 3 bedrooms, family room, sauna and triple garage. Features A/C, humidifier, radiant in-floor heat, heated driveway, high velocity furnace, water purification system, integrated generator and more. Fully furnished.
2509 Mountain View Dr $969,000Big Toy Storage in this rare 4 bay heated garage with 12’ ceilings, tons of shelving, 220V outlets and exhaust fan. Three bedroom home plus 1 bedroom revenue suite, outbuildings, extra storage and easy care landscaping. 2 covered deck areas.
38 Trapper’s Landing $419,000South facing ski-in/ski-out 2 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom level entry townhome offers mountain luxury at an attractive price. Family room with walk out basement leads to private hot tub. Private garage.
Lookout Ridge From $195,000 + HST2 lots just sold to Pacific National Exhibition (PNE). Prime building lots in Sun Peaks’ newest ski-in/ski-out residential neighbourhood. Steps from the skier overpass & alpine, nordic, snowmobile & bike trails.
Bridge Gate $729,900 + HSTLast one ! Brand new, ski –in/ski-out 4 bedroom luxury townhome with family & enter tainment rooms & high end features throughout. Gourmet kitchen, sumptuous master suite, double garage.
Canadian Owned and Operated. E.&O.E.: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective Purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. sothebysrealty.ca
lo cal expertise, g lobal connectionsOPEn 9 TO 5 Daily: 9-3250 Village Way Sun Peaks, BC
t: 250.578.7773 | tf: 1.877.578.5774 | [email protected] & shuswapcollection.com
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*COnTaCT uS TO f inD OuT Why nOW iS ThE TimE TO inVEST in yOu anD yOur family.
SOlD SOlD PEnDing
www.SunPeaksNews.com4 Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
“Can’t anyone here play this game?” — Casey Stengel ex-plaining his 120 game losing 1962 New York Mets.
October seems to be the time of year when financial news head-lines are at their goriest. The Great Depression of 1929 started in that month; the biggest one day drop in the Dow was in Oct., 1987 and the most recent Leh-man Bros. et al col-lapse happened this time of year too. The 2011 version is omin-ously on track with fears of the Eurozone meltdown leading to “worldwide financial contagion” whereby banks and governments will renege on their obligations. This spark will lead other banks to announce that, be-cause of their stakes in each other’s assets, if one starts going down, they’ll domino and you and I will pay for these misdeeds through in-creased service charges, zero interest on savings
and new fees on every-thing.
It doesn’t help that there are rogue traders making billion dollar losing bets at UBS, for-mer executives pock-eting multimillion dol-lar severances and bo-nuses, huge insurance and federal disaster relief costs due to wild weather and people building where mother nature is saying, “No, don’t.” Congress had to authorize another borrowing increase for storm damage and it almost shut down the U.S. government.
Borrowing money is the culprit in this scenario. In order to keep the Europeans partying like there’s no tomorrow, the Amer-icans throwing trillions into playing war, and the Chinese build-ing shoddy railways, the sums involved are mind-boggling. C. D. Howe, the famous Canadian finance minister once stated, “What’s a million?” Now President Obama
can talk about a mild stimulus of $44.5 bil-lion and nobody except the talking heads on TV pay much attention be-cause we all know how effective the previous stimulus was or wasn’t. Apparently, as a nation we owe more money, per capita, than ever before and yet we’re not alone.
REM’s recent retire-ment gave their song, “It’s the end of the world as we know it,” lots of airtime, and rightly so, given that it’s the precise anthem for our particular zeitgeist. Politicians and finan-ciers talk of numbers no one can really under-stand. The whole world has so many IOU’s out-
standing it seems logical to go back to square one and start over. The U.S. has no hope of paying off upwards of $14.5 trillion federally, never mind many times that much when you add up household debt. Europe is in trouble because the Germans won’t pick up the tab for other coun-tries because it’s facing internal pressures of its own. China has a fake banking system prone to inflation and Japan is falling off the cliff due to an aging, expensive population. Russia even with its Canadian-style resources can’t make a go of it, and is los-ing population because people feel there really is no tomorrow and won’t reproduce be-cause it’s too expensive.
It’s a good thing ski season is starting soon because we need a distraction. So, when you’re trying to keep your skis together in the powder, banish from your mind how others are ringing up a tab at your expense.
Your opinions, comments or commendations are welcomeSend your letters & opinions by mail to: SPIN Newsmagazine | Box 1012 Sun Peaks, B.C. V0E 5N0
by fax: 250-578-0287 | or by e-mail: [email protected] correspondence must contain a last name & a contact number for verification—phone numbers won’t be published. Writers are encouraged to keep letters to 250 or fewer words.
Letters submitted without the writer’s name won’t be published. SPIN reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, legality & taste. Letters not published in SPIN will be published online at www.sunpeaksnews.com
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 18 months since Sun Peaks Resort became the first Mountain Resort Municipality (MRM) in B.C. While there are a total of 13 resort municipalities in the province, Sun Peaks’ designation as an MRM allows for special features such as an appointed coun-cillor, additional hotel tax rebates, and other grant/funding streams that many other mu-nicipalities don’t have. Although there’s been considerable debate on both the supporting and opposing sides of this new municipality, the reality is, it’s now legislated and written in law that the people of Sun Peaks, B.C. can collect their own prop-erty taxes and govern their own destiny from within.
As a long-time local and publisher of the
local newspaper, I tend to hear a lot of scuttle-butt about how council should be or shouldn’t be doing this or that, and what they’re doing is good, bad or indif-ferent to the needs of this community. The funny side of it is that many people, regard-less of their feelings toward the new muni-cipality, or Sun Peaks as a whole, have no real clue what they are talking about or what they are really for or against, because they don’t understand lo-cal governance or read the bylaws or meeting minutes in the first
place! The term “know-ledge is king” comes to mind whenever I hear someone complaining about something in this community they really know nothing about.
Democracy is a won-derful thing and it shows in no uncertain terms what the true will of the commun-ity is. People running for municipal office are either elected by their peers to represent their community or they’re not, Palin and simple. Pun intended. Local governance is just as it sounds—a town, ham-let or small village gov-erned by elected cit-izens of that commun-ity for the betterment of that community.
It takes a huge amount of personal time and effort to rep-resent your community on council and it’s the people with a willing-ness to make a positive
difference that tend to succeed in these pos-itions, because we all know they don’t do it for the money.
If political change is what the people of Sun Peaks wish for, and this I truly question, then people should not only educate themselves in the governance of Sun Peaks, they should also step up and run for the position of mayor or councillor in the Nov. 19 election.
In closing, I’d like to truly thank our current mayor, council and staff for their baby steps, take our time, let’s do this right the first time, fiscally responsible ap-proach to the govern-ance of Sun Peaks over the last 18 months. To all those that think you can do a better job, you have until 4 p.m. on Oct. 14, 2011 to put in your nomination pa-pers. Good luck to all on Election Day.
local Governance 101
Fools and your money
Adam EarlePUBLISHER’S NOTE
Gerald AllgaierPOLITICAL
POINT OF VIEW
OPINIONS • WE SAY | YOU SAY
yOu SAY
Re: Residents speak up on dog leashesFrom my vast experience with dogs in resort areas, I feel that during busy times in the village leashes are appropriate because dogs can get overwhelmed in crowds.However along the valley trail and other places, dogs, when leashed, feel they’re at a disadvantage and therefore become aggressive. If they’re left to deal with each other, for example sniffing backsides as they normally do, they’re more likely to say hello and carry on. I feel strongly about this as I’ve witnessed too many dog disagreements with leashed dogs and virtually none when left to their own devices. When you think about it, they’re not that different from us humans, we would feel defensive if we were restrained too.If your dog is known to be aggressive, a leash is appropriate, but some time spent training and lots of exercise off-leash will do wonders to calm it down. Dogs inherently just want to please but there are basic requirements a dog needs to be good natured and well behaved. Food, water, love and exercise.Roby Cran, Submitted Online
Re: Local Sun Peaks CookbookCorrection NoticePlease note, Terri Reed’s email address was published incorrectly in the Vol. 9 Issue 10 SPIN. Please email [email protected] for more information about A Taste of Sun Peaks Cookbook. All profits from sales of the cookbook will be donated to the Sun Peaks Health Association.
REACh FOR ThE TOP: Kamloops skateboarder Blaise Tschirhart
launches out of the bowl during the Oronge/B&B board shops
Sk8 Rock Park Jam. Photo: Adam Earle
COVER SHOT
WEATHER FORECASTThe Old Farmer’s Almanac 2011
weather conditions for B.C. Oct. 7 to Nov. 4
Oct. 7 to 11 Sunny, cool.
Oct. 12 to 23 Rain, then sunny, mild.
Oct. 24 to 27 Sunny, seasonable.
For current weather conditions visit www.sunpeaksnews.com
Oct. 28 to 31 Rain, turning cold.
Nov. 1 to 5 Rainy periods.
PUBLISHERAdam Earle
EdITOR Kirsten Flinn
LEAd WRITERKim Cameron
FREELANCE WRITER Rikki MacCuish
AdvERTISINg & dISTRIBUTION Adam Earle
CONTRIBUTORS Gerald Allgaier
June Earle Amanda Winters
Peter Sulzle
Each issue reaches thousands of readers and one copy is
available FREE to residents and visitors. Anyone taking papers
in bulk will be prosecuted.The opinions expressed in the
articles do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher,
owners or writers. This publication may not be reproduced in any
form without prior written consent from the publisher.
Sun Peaks Independent News Inc. PO Box 1012
Sun Peaks BC V0E 5N0
Phone: 250•578•0276Fax: 250•578•0287
E-mail: [email protected]
www.sunpeaksnews.com
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www.SunPeaksNews.com 5Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
The common denominatorThere’s a vast array of experiences that we can all attest to. We can often run the gamut from joy to sad-ness, from love to anger, from acceptance to judg-ment all in a matter of a few moments. Certainly this palette of experiences can be observed over time, whether days, weeks or months.
It appears as though these ups and downs are created by the events in our lives. When we are rushing to an appointment, a traffic jam can often make us feel angry and upset with other driv-ers. There is an endless list of things that seem to alter our sense of well-being. Burnt toast, a stubbed toe, spilled coffee, misplaced keys are among the more common, minor occurrences that can “set us off ”. Sometimes even the weather can be seen to cause a low mood. Equally evident are the things that
evoke a feeling of joy and enthusiasm. The smile of a loved one, the sound of a favourite song, the smell of fresh coffee can all bring us a sense of pleasure.
Naturally in the course of our lives we face other more significant events. We all have experienced both ups and downs, losses and gains, as part of our journeys.
For some reason, when we
consider our well-being, we tend to focus on our negative experiences or low moods. But what is the common de-nominator in our extremes of feelings? What is the source of our moment-to-moment view of the world?
There has been much writ-ten about various causes and cures for “the blues”. Cer-tainly there is sound scien-tific research behind a great deal of it. We feel better when we exercise, get enough rest, avoid certain dietary pitfalls. There are proven variations in brain chemistry and hor-mones that can affect our perceptions. However, at the end of the day, it is thought that paints the final picture.
So what is our role in the creation of our experience? How can we live in a more consistent state of well-be-ing? What is the “common denominator” in both our joy and our sadness, in our highs
and in our lows?We seem to have little to
say about what thoughts pop into our minds. Save for the already mentioned self-care, our thinking appears to be beyond our control and in re-sponse to the outside world. As we’ve discussed often in this column, we now know that life is an inside out ex-perience and that it’s not the event that creates our “mov-ie” but instead it’s what we make of the event. What we think is what we get—until we recognize our ability to let a thought go. Hand-in-hand with that, however, is realizing the impersonal na-ture of thought. Thought in and of itself has no spin. We give it meaning by what we make of it. That is the “com-mon denominator”. What-ever the thought, it’s how seriously and personally we take it that creates our expe-rience and our reality.
HEALTH • MIND & BODY
June EarlePSYCHOLOGY
June graduated from Antioch University with a Masters in
Counselling Psychology. She is a graduate of U of T in Physical & Occupational Therapy and has a B.Sc in Rehabilitation from UBC.
Call 250-578-5380 or visitwww.sunpeaksresort.com/tourism
Tourism Sun PeaksCommunity Update: October
The fi rst annual Classic Car Gathering took place in Sun Peaks on September 24 with over 40 classic cars lining the village. Planning has already begun for a summer 2012 event. The 4th Annual Christmas Market will take a new direction this season with vendors spread throughout the village for a fun progressive market including live musical entertainment.
Central Reservations had a successful summer. Sales exceeded 2010 lodging revenue by 5% and room nights booked by 6%. Summer package sales were up by 39% due to the success of the ‘3 for 2 package.’ Online bookings accounted for 55% of summer bookings.
TSP met with over 80 writers in the last month at GoMedia Marketplace and at ski meetings in Boulder, Colorado. Pre-winter ski meetings with writers in Toronto, Seattle and London take place through October where TSP will pitch to over 60 ski journalists. The 50th Anniversary of Tod Mountain at Sun Peaks Resort is a lead media pitch.
Consumer direct winter advertising begins in October with an integrated media mix including vertical ski publications (ex. Ski Canada Magazine), TV and radio in the major markets of Vancouver, Edmonton and Seattle, and an increased investment in targeted online advertising. All advertising will use the new brand messaging that was recently launched to the membership.
Although the global economy is challenging tourism in all sectors, the sales team is happy to report that eff orts are not going unnoticed within travel trade. Sun Peaks Resorts’ largest tour operator in New Zealand reports they are 29% up year-to-date over last year. Another New Zealand operator forecasts doubling their numbers into Sun Peaks over 2010–11 making the small country from down under a growing key market.
The sales team placed Sun Peaks into two new brochures for summer self drive itineraries (2012). One itinerary will be promoted through one of the largest wholesalers throughout Australia and one being promoted as part of a golf itinerary including Banff , Jasper, Sun Peaks, and Whistler.
IN BRIEF
Sun Peaks Men’s Golf Association SPIN Cup Men’s Night
AT SUN PEAKS RESORT GOLF COURSE
$10.00 Men’s Night entry fee$5.00 optional Skins Game
Open to all golfersGreen fees and carts extra
3 FOR 1SKI AND BOARD TUNE-UPS
UNTIL OCT. 30TH ONLY
Pay the price of one tune and get two, of equal or lesser value, for free.
OPEN 10am to 4pm Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays throughout October.
250.578.0432
Banking, healthcare, e-government, and many other essential services are switching to the Internet as their preferred vehicle for information, and communication. Although this may be a welcomed convenience to some, it poses a barrier to senior citizens wary of using online services. Researchers have termed the divide between younger and older Internet users the “gray gap”. The gray gap is especially noteworthy in rural areas, as the shift to Internet services frequently comes as a replacement of traditional banks and government offices. When seniors fail to take advantage of online services, they can become out of touch with the only outlet they have to the services on which they depend. Researchers at Simon Fraser University are currently studying how senior citizens in rural and remote communities are, or are not, using computers. They’re investigating general Internet use, and how it’s used in regard to seniors’ health and safety.
To take part in the study, and for more info, email Patrick Truman at:
[email protected] or visit sfu.ca/silversurfers
University research maps the gray gap
www.SunPeaksNews.com6 Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
T
HEALTH • MIND & BODY
“With great moustache, comes great responsibility.” — The Family GuyThe responsibility of willing men this November is to stop shaving their upper lip to support the annual Movember grow a ‘mo’ (moustache) campaign, while rais-ing awareness and funds to support men’s health issues.
From pencil-thin to Fu Man Chu, grow-ing a ‘stache for Movember “has truly be-come a global movement,” says Adam Ga-rone, co-founder and CEO of Movember. Since 2003 the Movember campaign has raised over $176 million to support men’s health specifically, prostate cancer, a disease that affects one in seven men.
Last year Canadians raised $22.3 million for the cause and, while fundraising is im-portant, raising awareness and getting men to the doctor is even more crucial.
“At the end of the day, if men don’t get to the doctor, all the research and all the great
work being done is for naught,” says Pete Bombaci, director of Movember Canada.
“We don’t put numbers to our (fundrais-ing) goals. We want to see increased con-versation about men’s health,” continues Bombaci. “Growing that moustache and having those conversations over the dinner table, the boardroom table, wherever they take place, is the critical piece.”
Prostate cancer is as prevalent in men as breast cancer is in women, and is the most common cancer to afflict Canadian men. Developed as a result of dietary, environ-mental or hereditary factors, 70 Canadian men will be diagnosed with, and 11 men will die from, prostate cancer every day in Canada. Over 90 per cent of prostate can-cer cases are curable if detected and treated in their earliest stages.
There are plenty of ways for both Mo Bros and Mo Sisters to get involved in the campaign, either individually or in teams. “Last year, 65 per cent of our donations came from women, so they play a key role in our campaign through (the) encourage-ment of their men,” says Bombaci.
One of the more entertaining ways to participate is to throw a Mo Party. “We really leave it up to our Mo Bros and Mo Sisters to drive the kind of engagement in their community that works best for them,” commented Bombaci. “We can pro-vide tools like posters, awareness cards and sashes for the winner of Mr. Movember and Ms. Movember.”
The organization not only supports edu-cation and awareness, but funds research and various survivorship initiatives for prostate cancer. Last year over 86 per cent of money raised went directly to Prostate Cancer Canada research and survivorship programs, while two per cent was directed to education and awareness campaigns.
LIP RUG, MOUTH BROW: November’s the month to give the razor a holiday, and give your two cents toward men’s health.
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY MOVEMBER CANADA
Changing the face of men’s health
Six weeks to get ski fitThe snow hasn’t yet begun to fly, but with only six weeks until Sun Peaks’ opening day on Nov. 19, there’s just enough time to get winter-fit for another golden season of winter sports.Whether it’s skiing, riding, skating, or snowshoeing, winter sports are a total body workout and not something that should be done straight off the couch.Experts recommend at least six to eight weeks of training, including both core and strength training, along with a healthy dose of cardio, to prepare for the ski season.“You don’t want the first day on the slopes to be your last day,” says Meghan Drew, centre manager and certified instructor at the Kamloops Community YMCA. To prevent knee injury, improve your cardio health, and to increase your muscle capacity, it’s best to train for the winter sports season.At the beginning of every winter, personal trainer Alessandra Labbe says she sees lots of pulls and strains, due to muscles being tired. Drew recommends you train in order to prevent early strains and pulls.Simple exercises like squats, leg lifts and lunges help build leg strength, while crunches, sit-ups or tossing a medicine ball side-to-side help build core strength. “Programs such as yoga, pilates and
stretching courses aid in flexibility, while spinning classes or core conditioning courses will improve your cardio and stamina,” says Drew.“We all know we should do squats and lunges to make our muscles strong, but cardio tends to be overlooked by downhill sports fans,” says Labbe. “Cardio is huge! You don’t fatigue so fast because you can breathe. Strength is important, but don’t forget about your cardio.”If your schedule doesn’t allow time to hit the gym, find creative ways to add a workout into your routine—take the stairs instead of elevators, go for a walk, but make it uphill, or do sit-ups and squats while watching TV.By working out at least 30 minutes, three days a week, you’ll build enough strength to make opening day on the slopes more fun, less painful and hopefully, injury free.
www.restaurantssunpeaks.com@sunpeaksfood Restaurants Sun Peaks
CAHILTY CREEKBar & Grill
Taste the Difference. Enjoy the Tradition.
Located in the Fireside LodgePh: 250 578 0014 • Reservations Recommended
Located in Hearthstone LodgePh: 250 434 0282
Located in Nancy Greene’s Cahilty LodgePh: 250 434 0279
OPEN DAILYThroughout the Fall
5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Thanks for anothergreat Summer!
Reopening end ofNovember.
Thank you everyone for afantastic fi rst Summer.
We look forward towelcoming you back
for the winter season.
Closed Oct. 10Reopening Nov. 15
“Book your Holiday Party with Us!”
Sun Peaks Firefi ghters’10th Anniversary Charity Gala Sat. November 19, 2011 • Delta Sun Peaks Resort Ballroom
Cocktails:Dinner:
Live Music:
Tickets:
5:30 pm7 pm Includes 3-course meal
Mountain Formal
$80 + HST
Tickets available at Central Reservations1-800-807-3257 or e-mail [email protected]
Dress:
“The Rimshots”
The Live & Silent Auctions are put on by & in support of:Sun Peaks Alpine Club and theSun Peaks Education Society
PHOTO WIKI MEDIA COMMONS
To register for Movember 2011, visit: http://ca.movember.com
www.SunPeaksNews.com 7Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
IYOUTHFUL CONNECTIONS
I once did a school project that required me to classify a child at their developmental level by studying their art.
I found a three-year-old, and asked her to draw. Background on the child: her father is an equipment operator.
“This is my dad. And here are the hydraulics,” she said as she scribbled indecipherably yet pur-posefully. She worked hard, her lines and dots deliberate. What she did, I concluded, consti-tuted the second phase of drawing development.
The first phase is the sc r ibb le /exp lora tor y stage. Here children ex-plore the magic of mak-ing marks appear on a surface, be it paper, walls or self. The marks are just marks, that is, non-representational.
Following this stage of random scribbling is the stage mentioned above—naming the scribble. The hydraul-ics aren’t recognizable to anyone but the artist, but for her, those marks bear that meaning.
Typically, the schema/
schemata phase comes next. Kids begin to make shapes representing familiar things. Squares might mean houses, cir-cles: people. The pictures might not be represen-tational to the onlooker, but for the child, they’re the graphic words of the stories they’re telling. When children repeat the square = house con-sistently, they’re using a graphic vocabulary, a precursor of sorts to writing.
A child’s pictures then make the big turn to tadpole figure. Kids will tend to draw themselves and their families, and the tadpole figure em-phasizes what’s import-ant to a child—a head, with arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, toes. Inter-estingly, no torso.
Next, a child starts
to place figures in their environments. A green plane will indicate grass, a straight blue line be-comes sky. Kids are mak-ing their own 2D snap-shots of the 3D world.
Then young artists begin to grapple with expressing complexity. I once witnessed a six-year-old labour over a picture of himself until it was perfect. Then he painted the whole page black. “Why?” I asked. He simply said, “It was night.”
Similarly, kids will draw a house, and show the people inside, or even a baby in the mommy’s belly. What they’re doing is trying to represent what they see with what they know and feel. They’re incor-porating the knowledge they’ve accumulated,
and are trying to represent it in the only written form they have avail-able—pictures.
After these x-ray pictures, children will move on to se-quence draw-ing, mini-stor-ies told graph-ically rather than snapshots of particular events. By this point, they’ll usually also be literate, and could tell the
story through writ-ten words. But there’s a freedom of form in illustrating a story that can give children a re-lieving break from rules of writing.
Why this discussion of kids’ pictures? Fos-tering a child’s interest in drawing can set their brains up for success. The “simple” action of operating a pencil is a skill that’s built. Form-ing lines, curves, and later letters, relies on practice and the estab-lishment of muscle memory. Repeating a form consistently is akin to habituating ourselves to sight words. Grap-pling with multidimen-sional or sequential con-cepts within one image shows a brain that’s able to think scientifically and mathematically as it condenses principle concepts in recognizable graphics.
Encouraging children to draw, at any stage, is meaningful not only to their artistic and cre-ative development, but for their capacity to en-gage in a project, follow it to completion, and feel a sense of worth with the effort and ac-complishment. Drawing develops skills of spa-tial awareness, problem solving and observation. Math, science, creativity, literacy, and self worth. Who knew there could be so much in a picture.
A picture’s worth 1000 lessons
groce r i e s • de l i • p roduce
Located on the Ground Floorof the Delta Residences
Phone: 250-578-2414
Meat & Produce • Baked GoodsOso Negro Coffee • Pharmacy/Personal Items
For all your Grocery NeedsSee you at the Bluebird Market
WE’RE OPEN DAILY11am to 6pm
Kids invited to enter art competition
Kids are invited to explore what the forests mean to them in a province-wide competition celebrating the International Year of the Forest. Kids aged four to 12 may submit a picture of what forests mean to them. Three $50 gift certificates to Chapters will be awarded by the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals (ABCFP) and the Truck Loggers Association (TLA). Winning entries will be published in ACBFP and TLA magazines and websites.“2011 is the International Year of the Forest,” says Ian Emery, registered forest technologist and president of the ABCFP. “This is just one way we’re helping B.C. children understand what roles the forest plays in their communities.”The contest is open until Oct. 21.
For more information and to download the entry form visit:
www.abcfp.ca or www.tla.ca
IN BRIEF
Protect Your Family From FireSMOKE ALARM
test your smoke alarm monthly
HOME ESCAPE PLANmake and practice
a home escape plan
www.fi repreventionweek.org
TAKE THE FIRE PREVENTION WEEK QUIZ AT
Fire Prevention WeekOctober 9 to 15
www.SunPeaksFireRescue.com
For o
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FREE
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ON
Visit
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intere
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and cli
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PAID
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SKI SHOW & SWAPFriday & Saturday
November 4 & 5, 2011313 Nishga Way
Mt. Paul Soccer DomePHOTO: ADAM STEIN
Still time to be an exhibitor andshow your product to over 4,000
committed winter enthusiasts.
Be sure to visit our exhibitors boothsat the swap: Sun Peaks Resort
Harper Mountain | OrongeSpoke ‘N Motion | Revelstoke
Powder RentalsVisit www.winterextreme.com for
Exhibitor Package or email:[email protected]
SHOW: Fri., Nov. 4th • 6pm - 9pmSHOW & SWAP: Sat., Nov. 5th • 9am - 3 pm
CONSIGNMENTDROP OFF: Fri., Nov. 4th • 6pm - 9pmPICK UP: Sat., Nov. 5th • 5pm - 7pm
ADMISSION: Adults $2.00 • 16 & under FREE!
Kirsten FlinnOBSERVATIONS OF A
TEACHER-MOMKirsten has a Bachelor of Arts from McGill, and a BEd from TRU. She started the teaching program when her daughter was six months old, and finished it while she was pregnant with her son. In lieu of teaching in a classroom, she spends most of her time being a mom.
Education Society AGM shakes up the boardThe Sun Peaks Education Society (SPES) held its first Annual General Meeting in September. On the agenda, were the review of the annual report, review of the budget and election of directors. The report highlighted the excellent academic success of the students last year, the continued importance of community volunteerism, and the ongoing challenge of fundraising.The society raised $100,000 in 2010-11, and despite a closing balance of almost $28,000, it must fundraise $105,000 this year to meet the greater cost of a larger staff, and increased day-to-day expenses.Maria Cannon, former president of the SPES, stepped down during the election of board members, but remains on the eight-person board as a director. Barb Kupferschmidt Linder replaces Cannon as president, and Darcy Franklin takes over Linder’s former duties as vice-president. Terra Stebner continues on as treasurer, and Kirsten Flinn assumes Yolanda Dye’s portfolio as secretary. Kevin Miller, Silvia Erler, and Dye remain on the board as directors.
PHOTO:WIKI MEDIA COMMONS
www.SunPeaksNews.com8 Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011IN PICTURES
A
Waterton Wildlife Bonanza
Whitecroft residents Kelsey, Isabella and Shannon pose with the pooches at the BC SPCA Paws for a Cause walk.
Peter Wilson rips it up at the Oronge SK8 Park Jam
Sun Peaks firefighters in test mode for the Emergency Vehicle
Operators certification.
Rich, Gerald and Kelly tee up at the last SPIN Cup Men’s Night.
The Vintage Car Show and Shine rolled more than 40 classic rides into to
Sun Peaks.
It won’t be long ‘til that light dusting turns into champagne powder!
K-1 students take phys. ed. to the course and get lesson from the pro, Chris Seeley.
Visit us online at www.sunpeaksnews.com to view our online PHOTO GALLERIES.
SPECIALIZING IN SITE PREPARATION,RESIDENTIAL EXCAVATION, GROUND WATER ISSUES,
BOULDER STACK RETAINING WALLSFor Estimates: 250-851-1021 [email protected]
ESTABLISHED: 1996
Are you interested in a late-season photography road trip to one of the most extra-ordinary locations in Western Canada? Well, start packing and drive down to Waterton Lakes National Park. Locat-ed in the southwest corner of Alberta, Waterton is adjacent to Montana’s impressive Gla-cier National Park. This zone between prairie and moun-tains makes an ideal location to photograph wildlife. Fall and early winter provide a spectacular setting of snow-capped peaks, golden leaves and colourful rock layers dra-matically set against a rolling grassland prairie.
One of the great scenic roads in the area is the Red Rock Parkway. This 15 kilo-metre drive to Red Rock Canyon can provide a wide variety of creatures to photo-graph. Black bear, elk, coyote and white-tailed deer can be seen on a regular basis and you’re sure to come face to face with Rocky Moun-tain bighorn sheep. Grizzly, moose and cougar can also been viewed, but are less common. Wildlife is every-where in the park and in
addition to the Red Rock Parkway, a walk along Blak-iston Creek, or a drive on the Akamina Parkway, are sure to produce great photographic opportunities.
The Rocky Mountain elk mating season has begun and will last into November as huge herds of elk move into the grasslands. The elk rut is a spectacular display of behav-iour that cannot be missed. Although the Waterton elk are not as tame as the ones you might find in other na-tional parks, the sights and sounds of bugling bull elk still abound in this breath-taking landscape. During fall and winter mule deer can be photographed in and around the town of Water-ton. The deer have taken up residence near the town in order to avoid cougars and other predators. For the wildlife photographer an ob-vious benefit is being able to
photograph big bucks that are accustomed to having people around. One mule deer hotspot appears to be Waterton Avenue running along the shore of Upper Waterton Lake.
Waterton Lakes National Park is a low-key destination that has much to offer the photographer. The wildlife can appear docile, but never forget they’re wild animals trying to survive. When trav-elling on foot carry bear spray, and while photographing from your vehicle keep a safe distance from wildlife and re-spect other visitors and park staff.
I recommend a visit be-fore the end of November. But, no matter when you find the time, Waterton’s wildlife bonanza can be enjoyed throughout the year and should be included in your future wild outdoor adventures.
Peter SulzleWILDLIFE PAPARAZZO
Peter has been contributing to SPIN since 2009.
His original wildlife images have been used
by many conservation organizations in North America.
www.petersulzle.zenfolio.com
www.SunPeaksNews.com 9Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
UNTIL OCT. 10Sun Peaks Golf Course
Open for PlaySun Peaks’ Golf Course is
open until Oct. 10. [email protected] or 250-578-5431
UNTIL OCT. 29Kamloops
Farmers’ MarketSat: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., 200 block of St. Paul
Wed: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 400 block of Victoria
.OCT. 7 TO 10
Thanksgiving atThe Delta Sun Peaks Resort
FRI., OCT. 7Fondue & Flights
Pair flights of wine with traditional fondue favourites.
Mantle’s Lounge 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.,
$29.00 per person
Couple’s Cooking ClassLearn from the pros as the
Delta chef’s create taste-tempting treats.
Delta Kitchen 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.,
$35 per person
SAT., OCT. 8Fashion Fundraiser
Preview ski & snowboarding fashions and raise money for
the Kamloops Food Bank.7:30 p.m.,
Delta Ballroom$12 per person
($5 of each ticket goes to the Kamloops Food Bank)
OCT. 8 & 9Yoga
One-hour guided yoga class. 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.,
MacGillivray RoomAdmission free
Children’s Bouncy Castle
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.,Delta Ballroom, Salon C
Admission free
SUN., OCT. 9Thanksgiving Brunch
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.,Mantles Restaurant
Reservations recommended$20 per person
Iron Chef CompetitionDelta Chefs create dishes with a secret ingredient
1p.m. to 2:30 p.m.,Delta BallroomAdmission free
Thanksgiving Dinner5 p.m. to 9 p.m.,
Mantles RestaurantReservations recommended
$25 per personTickets for all events may be purchased at the hotel’s front desk.
OCT. 7 TO 10Sun Peaks Annual
Turkey SaleClothing and accessories
at up to 50% offOct. 7 to 10
Jardines and McSportiesOct. 8 to 10:
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,Bento’s Day Lodge
WED., OCT. 12Creativity in Nature
Photography
Presented by renowned wildlife and nature
photographers Darren Wiggett and Samantha
Chrysanthou Henry Grube Centre,
Admission $10Doors open at 6 p.m.
kamloopsphotoarts.ca
OCT. 26, 28, 29Haunted Tour at The Kamloops Museum
Explore historical spooky spots for Halloween!
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.,Admission $15
250-828-3500
OCT. 28 TO 30Boo at the Zoo!
Halloween festivities abound at the BC Wildlife
Animal Park.www.bczoo.org
FRI., OCT. 28Heffly Creek Family
Halloween PartyHeffley Creek
Community Hall. All ages invitedBegins at 5 p.m. Admission free
OCT. 29 TO 31Halloween Carriage Rides in Sun Peaks
Includes ride, hot dogs and candy bags
$14 per personmilehighrides.ca
SAT., NOV. 5Bluebird Day Fund 4th
Annual Fall Ball
MackDaddy’sAdvance tickets available
on-line $30, Tickets at the door $40Tickets on sale Oct. 11ticketzone.com key
word search: Bluebird
NOV. 4 & 5CSPS Winter
Ski & Snowboard Show & Swap
Show: Nov. 4: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Swap: Nov. 5: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.,Kamloops Soccer Domewinterextreme.com
TUES., NOV. 8Decentralized Dance Party
Dance your heart out at Kamloops flash mob party!
Admission freewww.decentralized
danceparty.com
Event Listings Heads up for Halloween
G
Follow us on Twitter @sunpeaksnews or visit our website www.sunpeaksnews.com for daily event listings.
Richard H. Jensen, Q.C.
We also handle: • Family Trusts • Clearance Certificates • Family Law • Corporate & Commercial Law (Including Leasing) • Business Law • Personal Injury Claims
Plus a variety of other areas. For more information please visitour website at www.mjblaw.com or contact:Richard H. Jensen, Q.C. Email: [email protected] • Ph: 250-374-3161Darlene Jeffery - Legal Assistant Email: [email protected] • Ph: 250-372-4915
Mair Jensen Blair LLP - Lawyers700-275 Lansdowne St.,
Kamloops, BC V2C 6H6 • Ph: 250-374-3161Toll Free: 1-888-374-3161
Real EstateConveyancing
For rESIdEnTS & non-rESIdEnTS
Get the bucket of candy in place, and carve that pumpkin for Halloween.
Kamloops is a city that loves its Halloween festivities. Boo at the Zoo is an annual event at the B.C. Wildlife Park that showcases a spook train, disorienting maize, haunted house, and aliens.
“� e alien experience—you take a walk and encounter some aliens,” explains David Edwards, manager of education and special events for the B.C. Wildlife Park. “We top it all o� with a spectacular pyrotechnic and � re-work display each night.”
� e Kamloops Museum also honours the spirit of the season, and will be mapping out a haunted Kamloops tour for the third year in a row.
“� is year it’s going to be a little di� erent,” states Melissa Baker, museum educator for the Kamloops Museum, “and visitors can ex-pect the unexpected.”
� e tour explores the eerie and sinister corners of the city that hangings and mur-ders continue to haunt. “We’re going to two new locations and we’re having some experts host the tours,” says Baker. “We’ll be travel-ling around to di� erent locations and learn-ing about the di� erent ghosts and why these places were haunted. Ninety nine per cent is fact.”
As part of the Kamloops Bicycle Summit, a costume-optional Halloween graveyard tour is on the calendar as well.
And, in the Whitecroft/Louis Creek Valley area, community residents have been known to combine the traditions of Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night, hoisting an e� gy of Fawkes before beating the streets in search of candy.
� e celebration of Halloween emerged from a Celtic end-of-summer festival, al-though the word itself is a variant of All-Hal-lows-Eve, the night before All Hallows Day. It’s on this day Christians believe the living can commune with the souls of the dead. Children and the poor would traditionally go door-to-door singing and saying prayers for these souls, and in turn would be given a “soul”, or cake, representing a soul being re-leased from purgatory. Today, those “souls” have morphed into candies and trinkets.
� e relationship with ghosts and all things spooky has been getting folks out of the house on blustery October evenings for generations.
� is Halloween, have fun, and fol-low these few tips to keep the night safe.
Choose a brightly coloured costume, and try to incorpor-ate re� ective tape into it, use face paint rather than a mask to ensure children can see clearly and breathe easily, and look for costumes and accessories that are � ame resistant.
Don’t forget road-safe rules, and en-
sure that kids under nine are accompanied by a responsible adult or older child.
Examine your child’s candy before they eat it, and be sure to throw out unwrapped treats.
And, for drivers on Halloween night, be aware that there’ll be lots of people out on the streets. Reduce speed and distractions, and increase alertness for the little witches and wizards.
PHOTO: KAMLOOPS MUSEUM & ARCHIVES
BOO! Kamloops’ Pioneer Cemetery is one of the spooky spots featured in theannual Haunted Kamloops tour offered through the Kamloops Museum.
www.SunPeaksNews.com10 Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
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W
The sounds of cinema
REVIEWS • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Have you ever thought about what your favour-ite movie would be like without music? I don’t just mean the musical lovers out there, who’d probably tear their hair out at the thought of The Sound of Music without “A Problem Like Maria” and “Climb Every Mountain.” Mov-ies just wouldn’t have the same punch without those melodies. Imagine how lame Jaws would be with-out that two-note tune, or how Kevin Bacon’s career would’ve gone if it hadn’t been for Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose.”
I recently watched the riveting Hanna and the moment I heard the first eerie chords from the soundtrack, conceived by one of my favourite music groups, the Chemical
Brothers, I began ruminat-ing on the power of music in movies.
First off, let me say that Hanna is an intriguing film. Part Cold War spy flick, part coming-of-age story, it contrasts a child’s innocence with the dark forces surrounding her birth. Eric Bana (Mun-ich, Blackhawk Down) and Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, The Lord of the Rings tril-ogy) are the cinematic pil-lars upon which Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, The Lovely Bones) balances her impeccable performance. There are very few young actors who can convin-cingly realize both angelic naivety and brutal merci-lessness, yet Ronan does it with a flair that left me breathless. This film merits attention, even before you
consider the score.There’s been a recent
trend of artists, usually with electronica leanings, collaborating on sound-tracks. Last year, Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails, collaborated with English composer At-ticus Ross to put together the Oscar-winning score
for The Social Network. 2010 also saw French duo Daft Punk step up for the hyper-synth Tron: Legacy soundtrack. Hanna fol-lows in this tradition, and the Chemical Brothers did a fine job providing dis-cordant yet oddly beautiful sounds as a quirky underlay for the film. Just as Ronan’s performance sets up deep contrasts, so do the music-al themes. Deep, dark syn-thesizers provide moody atmosphere, while xylo-phones and bells chime in with child-like humour. Scenes that should be ter-rifying take on a level of irony that wouldn’t be pos-sible without the harmonic backdrop. As a cinephile, I enjoyed the character stud-ies, the location choices and the cinematography, but it was my inner-audio-
phile that forced me to take a closer look and lis-ten to Hanna.
There are scenes in mov-ies that are memorable be-cause of what you saw, but more often than we real-ize, it’s the sounds of the film that leave traces. The trumpet solo in The God-father, the rolling strings and horns of Dances with Wolves, the haunting piano of American Beauty. With-out music, these films lack richness and colour. If you’re looking for a fan-tastic movie with music to match, be sure to pick up a copy of Hanna. But if you really want to have your mind blown, pick up an old favourite and when your favourite scenes come, close your eyes. I bet you’ll be surprised by what you hear.
Amanda WintersRAVE REVIEWS
Amanda loves movies—she particularly adores indie and horror films. When she’s not
reading, Amanda spends a lot of her time looking up
previews for upcoming releases.
Kamloops’ bicycle cultureThe Kamloops Bicycle Summit, presented by the Arnica Artist Run Centre, explores bicycle culture and its effect on individuals and communities. With rising fuel costs and limited room for road expansion, many communities are embracing the bicycle as a green alternative. Urban centres around the world are transforming their cityscapes to include cyclists, creating a subculture that’s gaining momentum and impacting how people live. Kamloops has joined the movement with the Valleyview Interchange Project (VIP). It’s a network of safe, convenient trails for recreational and commuter cyclists to use throughout the year that includes a three metre wide multi-use pathway that will connect Rose Hill Road to Nicola Street.The interchange project is only one aspect of a multi-phase bicycle master plan being implemented by the city of Kamloops. This fall, construction begins on a pedestrian/cyclist overpass from the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks at 15th Avenue providing access to the Rivers Trail. Completion of the overall project is anticipated in early 2012. In the meantime, the art-based exploration of the Kamloops Bicycle Summit examines bicycle culture through the work of artists Ruth Lloyd, Lilka Dragowskas, Doug Buis and Craig Williams. It invites patrons to get in on the culture by participating in a fall gardens tour, a tour of public art, and a special Halloween Graveyard Tour, all by bicycle.
Who says you can’t party outdoors in November?
Kamloops is about to host the Decentralized Dance Party (DDP) Tues., Nov. 8, and it’s all busi-ness—and bananas.
What is a DDP? It’s an outdoor flash mob dance event featuring a van-load of boom boxes tuned to the same station, broad-casting genre-spanning dance tunes. Why should you get involved? Do you really have anything bet-ter to do on a Tuesday night in November in Kamloops? Most import-antly, it’s a lot of fun and a great way to stave off the pre-winter blues. The event is free.
Tom and Gary, known only on a first-name basis, are the founders of DDP. They started the parties in 2010—and one of the best known DDPs was held during the 2010 Vancou-
ver Olympics, where over 10,000 people got togeth-er in costumes to dance and celebrate.
So far, Tom and Gary have thrown events in major cities all across Canada. The 2011 Strictly Business Tour has made its appearance in Calgary and Victoria, and, as long as fundraising meets the
group’s expense require-ments, the tour will con-tinue to the end of 2011.
Currently, DDP is hav-ing difficulties with Fa-cebook, which is affect-ing its exposure. Gary explains that their entire roster of event listings was erased when Tom and Gary tried to change their group name from “Tom and Gary’s Dy-namic Dance Party De-livery Service” to “Tom and Gary’s Decentralized Dance Party”. As such, no one can view event posts, which Gary says affects their fundraising efforts.
“They (Facebook) de-leted the events for this tour and the American tour,” he says. “This is trouble for our fundrais-ing, because all the URL links are broken.”
The team, which also includes the Elite Banana Task Force, a group of
friends dressed in banana suits that help with the radio transmission during the events, and, as Gary says, “Keep an eye on things,” is also currently seeking sponsors to help promote and fund the tours.
It does sound a bit crazy—a dance party in the middle of the city, with no formal security, has worried police and city officials. But to date, the parties have been safe; no major incidences re-ported. The parties are for all-ages, and the focus is on lowering inhib-itions, dancing, listening to music, and having a great time. Drugs and al-cohol are not condoned. As the DDP website claims, “People drink a lot at most parties because
most parties are boring and drinking is therefore necessary to loosen up and have fun.”
While DDP events end at 11 p.m., in accordance with city noise laws, they look anything but boring. Gary points out that he believes the dance music they play has a lot to do with the atmosphere at each event.
“It’s been a crazy social experiment,” he says. “We play just upbeat music; if we started playing heavy metal it would be a differ-ent environment.”
Should life have to be so serious? On Nov. 8 exchange your laptops and textbooks for busi-ness attire—DDPs current theme—and join in on Canada’s party revolution.
Rikki MacCuishMUSIC DIVA
Rikki is a frequent concert-goer who always has one ear to the ground
and the other to the speaker. Always looking out for new and innovative artists, she loves everything Indie and keeps a close eye on what’s going on in music locally and
internationally.
For more info or to make a donation visit:
decentralizeddanceparty.com
The Summit runs until Oct. 29.
For info and schedule visit: www.arnica.ca/arc
IMAGE COURTESY OF ARNICA
Time to go bananas! IN BRIEF
www.SunPeaksNews.com 11Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
E
ENVIRONMENT • EARTH ISSUES
IN BRIEF
Permits required to cut firewoodAutumn’s cooler temperatures means it’s time to stock the woodpile for wood burning stoves. While most area residents harvest their annual supply from nearby forests, many are unaware that cutting wood from Crown land requires a permit from the Ministry of Forests. Anyone cutting firewood must carry this free use permit with them and be prepared to produce it at the request of a Forest, Conservation or Peace Officer. Cutting on Crown land without a permit could result in confiscation of the wood and/or charges.Harvesting free wood to fuel stoves,
while cost effective, can be inefficient if it’s burned in an older stove. New, high-efficiency wood stoves burn one-third less wood and reduce emissions by as much as 70 per cent. It’s estimated that 120,000 older, inefficient stoves are in use throughout B.C.“By switching to a new, high-efficiency wood stove, people can help improve air quality in their community and save money on their heating costs by burning less wood to get the same heat,” states Minister of Environment and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA, Terry Lake.
Free appliance recycling in KamloopsIt’s now easier to dispose of old small appliances without heading to the landfill.Unplugged, the Small Appliance Recycling Program is a B.C.-wide, appliance recycling program accepting over 120 different types of small appliances, from electric toothbrushes to vacuums, for recycling. This no-cost service is the first of its kind in Canada, and the only government-approved small appliance recycling program in B.C. More than two million small appliances are expected to be diverted from landfills each year because of the Unplugged program.“This is a welcome addition to B.C.’s industry-managed and funded recycling programs,” says Brock Macdonald, executive director of the Recycling Council of B.C. “Unplugged will recover valuable resources, promote conservation and reduce waste management costs for local governments throughout the province.”One hundred drop-off locations have been established, including two in Kamloops: General Grant’s at 611 Fortune Drive and the Lorne St. Bottle Depot at 270 Halston Road.
by Kim [email protected]
Every year more than 800 black bears are de-stroyed in B.C. due to conflicts between hu-mans and bears. While many view this as a bear problem, the real-ity is, most deaths were preventable had people taken the time to reduce their chances of a bear-human interaction.
With autumn comes the migration of bears, from the alpine to the valley, seeking food. While sightings this fall have been limited, con-servation officers expect this to increase as bears forage vast quantities of food to build up their fat stores.
“They’re going to be guided by their stom-achs this time of year,” states Mitch Kendall conservation officer for the Conservation Offi-cer Service. “As long as they’re finding decent food, they may stay high
and if they’re not find-ing any, that’s when we tend to have problems.”
Should you encounter a bear in the wild, back away slowly speaking in a deep, low voice. If the bear hasn’t seen you, simply leave the area quietly. Don’t run, or climb a tree to get away from a bear.
If you encounter an aggressive animal on your property you must report the animal to the Conservation Officer Service. Conservation officers respond to con-flicts with dangerous wildlife when there’s a risk to public safety. This includes attacks, animals breaking into buildings, repeated dan-gerous wildlife encoun-ters at, or near, public locations and when animals have become habituated (no longer afraid of humans), or food conditioned (de-pendent on humans for their food source).
Eliminate bear temptation
FILE PHOTO
GUT INSTINCT: Bears are guided by their stomachs this time of year as they prepare for hiber-nation, gaining up to 30 pounds per week in anticipation of a long winter snooze.
SUN PEAKS RESORT | 250.578.5434
$5.00$4.00
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après-anythingwith everyday specials!
Domestic bottled or draught beer
Coronas plus a chance for Corona swag
Cans of beer... while supplies last!
Pound of wings, choice of flavours
Climate Smart, a Vancouver-based environmental organization, along with Venture Kamloops, the City of Kamloops and FortisBC, is subsidizing a training program that helps area businesses evaluate and reduce their carbon footprints.The series of three workshops develops strategies for businesses to cut costs and improve operational efficiencies, while reducing their carbon footprint. The program also helps small and mid-sized businesses navigate utility incentives and rebates, while gaining a competitive edge on climate change.“Often, in finding those places there are opportunities to save costs as well as greenhouse gases,” says Michelle Bonner, vice-president of Climate Smart. Nexbuild Construction and Absorbent
Products were first to sign up for two of the ten $1,000 subsidies being offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The program starts at $1,250 and is tiered based on the size of businesses participating. When the cost of the program is combined with the subsidies, reducing greenhouse gas consumption can be within even the most limited budget.“It’s a great opportunity for a business that wants to understand what they’re doing in terms of energy consumption and their greenhouse gas emissions,” says Bonner. “They’ll finish the program having been reviewed by an external expert so they can feel really confident that they’ve done a greenhouse gas inventory to best practice.”The program runs three half-day sessions Oct. 25, Dec. 6 and Jan. 10.
To report concerns about wildlife call conservation officers at RAPP:
1-877-952-7277
For a list of acceptable recyclables visit:
unpluggedrecycling.ca
For more information and to apply for one of the subsidized placements, visit: www.climatesmarthbusiness.com/
kamloops or call 1-888-688-6283
Subsidized training to reduce carbon footprint
For more information search for ‘Firewood Permits’ at:
www.gov.bc.ca
To ensure your home and property don’t
become attractants to resident bears:
• Keep garbage secure in your house, garage or shed until taken to the landfill
• Don’t add meat, fish, fat, oil, un-rinsed eggshells or cooked foods to compost
• Turn compost regularly and keep it covered
• Pick ripe and fallen fruit daily
• Consider replacing un-used fruit trees with a non-fruit bearing ornamental variety
• Only use bird feeders in winter and keep seeds off the ground
• Clean barbecue grills and fat traps after each use
• Store covered barbecues in a secure area
• Store pet food inside and feed pets indoors
• Keep doors and windows closed and locked—cooking smells can lure hungry bears
www.SunPeaksNews.com12 Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011CLASSIFIEDSFOR RENT
2 bdrm, furnished basement suite on Sunburst Pl. Own en-trance and slope side to main lifts. $1150 winter, $850 sum-mer, plus utilities. Contact David at [email protected] bdrm, furnished, cable, utili-ties, W/D, internet. $1200/mo with one year lease, plus first and last month’s rent. N/S, N/P. 250-819-0444, or [email protected] bdrm, unfurnished suite avail-able in Whitecroft. $750/mo includes cable, hydro, internet and laundry. Mature tenant, NS/NP. Contact 604-925-8366 or [email protected] Lake Home Winter Rental — Nov 15th to March 30th. Fully furnished waterfront home. 3 bdrm, 2 bath, TV, wood burning airtight fireplace, elec-tric heat. $1800 per month all in. Call: 604-626-7100. 1, 2 & 3 bdrm suites, furnished or not. View of creek, covered deck, in-floor heating, fireplace, N/S, N/P. Call: 604-240-1756.Newer 2 bdrm suite includes W/D, fireplace, full kitchen with dishwasher, self-cleaning oven, over-range microwave, Inter-net, cable, separate heating system. Great view. Lrg cov-ered deck backing onto creek. Ski-in/ski-out. $1,000/mo. Call Tom 604-351-0798 or e-mail [email protected] bdrm nearly new furnished, 6 appliances, ski-in. Heated floors. $850/mo incl. heat cable/Internet. $750 off-season. One yr lease. References. N/S, N/P. 250-682-2289 or email veofinx@ cablelan.net.Bright & clean 2 bdrm suite. In-cludes in-suite laundry, Internet, cable & heat. Looking for respon-sible tenants. Sorry, N/Pets, N/S. $1000/mo summer, $1200/mo winter. Hugh @ 778-835-7267.Sunburst drive 2 bdrm suite. Private entrance, W/D, 2 bath-rooms. Fully furnished. Stor-age, internet, big back yard. $2,000/mo. Hydro and water excl. Mature couple only, four people maximum. No pets, no parties, no smoking. Ref. rq’d. [email protected] Cabin on Heffley Lake One bedroom + loft. Wood stove is main heat, plus electric baseboard. Wood supplied, hy-dro extra. Four appliances, par-tially furnished. Available Oct – May, $700/mth. Negotiable. Pet considered. (250) 578-7804, [email protected] your suite rented for the win-ter! Place an ad with the SPIN!
SERVICESMostly Mental Shuttles. Lo-cal Kamloops Shuttle. Call for details and to book: 250-828-2558. Check us out on Face-book. Way cheaper than any-one else!
WANTED TO RENTAustralian retired couple wish to rent 2 or 3 bdrm house/unit ski-in/ski-out for any four con-secutive weeks between early Feb. and late March 2012 OR SWAP for large home plus car in Nedlands, Perth; close to beach and all amenities. OR SWAP for equivalent time in 3 bdrm beach house at surfing mecca Margaret River Beach. Contact [email protected] couple plus lab, seeking 1 or 2 bdrm condo. Approximately February, March or possibly more. Contact Ted at [email protected]
FOR SALENEW in the plastic Queen Mat-tress and Boxspring. Worth $899. Must sell $299! 250-434-2337 or 250-314-7022. Can Deliver. www.GoWFB.ca/Sun-Peaks.NEW Wholesale Furniture for Cabins and Condos. Bedroom, Dining Room, Living Room and Mattresses. Visit our showroom or order online. 250-434-2337 or 250-314-7022. Can Deliver. www.GoWFB.ca/Sun-Peaks
The Nancy Greene Cahilty Lodge is having a TV sale. All hotel TV’s are being sold at $15 per unit. Proceeds from this sale will be donated to the Discovery Centre for Balanced Education at Sun Peaks. Contact 250-578-7454 or EM: [email protected] gear to buy or sell? Get the word out there in print and online with the SPIN
STOLEN - REWARD1997 Yamah PW50cc automatic dirt bike. Taken from the side of Upper Heffley Louse Creek Rd. between 3.5 - 4 kilometer mark, between 4:50 p.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. Oct. 2. The bike was left behind a bush on the side of the road for 10 minutes after break-ing down. When we returned it was gone. Our seven yr. old daughter’s heart is crushed and she would like it returned. No repercussions to whomever has it. If you have this bike and don’t want to come forward, pls just leave it anywhere in White-croft Village. Anyone with info. call (250)-578-7726, email [email protected], or call Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477
TOWNHOUSE FOR SALE
$589,000 Trail’s Edge #1 townhome. Sought-after com-plex, model unit with 180-de-gree views of all mountains and valley sunsets! Fully furnished 3-bdrm, 4-bath w/large family room and wet bar. Heated tile floors throughout. Large yard, true ski-in, ski-out. This is the perfect retreat to enjoy with family and friends. Open floor plan, vaulted ceilings, gour-met kitchen w/granite counter-tops, two decks, covered patio to enjoy your private hot tub. Abundant natural light w/moun-tain views and two cozy gas fireplaces. Two snowmobiles w/trailer included in private ga-rage. HST paid. [email protected], or call 425-244-0345PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTHeffley Hall available for rent. Kitchen and bar facilities. Great rates. Lots of parking. For rates and bookings, call 250-320-3303.
EMPLOYMENT
DUPLEX FOR SALE
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Sun Peaks municipal council is working on a business license bylaw they hope to introduce by the new year. Currently, businesses need only follow federal and provincial business licensing regulations to open in the municipality. Byron Johnson, Sun Peaks municipality’s chief administrative officer, states, “We have no business licenses yet, however, we’re working on a bylaw with the goal of possibly bringing in business licenses by 2012.”Johnson notes the licensing bylaw is being developed in consultation with the business advisory committee.“There was a portion of people (who said) I can’t afford any more expenses,” says local business owner, and advisory committee member, Dan Stebner. “If they choose to embrace the municipality, then they also have to embrace the growing pains that come with it.”“What a business license will do is make a business go through the avenues to make the business safe for the customer,” says Ryan Schmalz, owner of Mountain High Pizza and Tod Mountain Coffee. “Really, it’s protection for the consumer.”Licensing can provide consumer protection and function as a regulatory control for the municipality as the business community grows in Sun Peaks. “A questionable type of business—we might want to regulate that,” says Stebner, pointing out that other municipalities they’ve studied have stringent regulations for businesses, depending on the type of services provided.Licensing fees have yet to be determined but are anticipated to be modest. “A first mandate for the business licenses is to keep (fees) at a base minimum,” comments Stebner. “There has to be a cost applied. Based on the current economic times, the current business climate and the current mood of business owners, we’d do our best to keep (the business license fee) at a minimum.”How those fees will be used is also to be determined. “That’s a council decision,” says Johnson. “Money that’s collected from business license fees is used to promote interests of business, maybe for additional security.” “People have to understand they’re not going to pay their fee and next week they’ll see additional security. Everything takes time,” added Stebner.A draft of the bylaw will be presented to the business advisory committee for input in October with a goal of first council reading in November. If adopted, the business licensing bylaw will come into effect in January 2012.
Crime on the riseSeveral break-ins on Alpine Road, Sunburst Drive and Fairways Drive were recently reported to the RCMP, an increase over the same period last year.RCMP rural detachment commander Wes Waters reported that in most of the incidents, nothing was taken from the homes, with a couple of exceptions of TVs being stolen. “Residents should be familiar with what’s happening in their neighbourhoods,” says Waters. He urges residents to report suspicious activities to the RCMP.
Cleaning and hot tub maintenance staff
required. Full and Part Time
available. Email your resume to: info@sunpeaksvacation
chalets.com
Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each 3-by-3 block contains all the digits 1 thru 9. Solution in next issue.
SPIN SUDOKU • Level: INTERMEDIATE
4 7 8
5 4 7
7 3 1 4
6 2
6 5
1 7
9 8 6 3
8 5 2
7 2 4
Business licensing bylaw proposed
CARPET CLEANINGwww.tundratrail.com
Ph: 250-682-7571
Private Sale of Full Duplex Revenue / Recreational Property in Sun Peaks
Four Season Resort$479,000 each side
• 45 minutes from Kamloops• 2,800 sq. ft. duplex
recreational revenue property
• Great investment opportunity for 2 families or a partnership
• Very good revenue with room to grow
• Sweet view lines, yet private• Ski-in, walk to Burfield Chair• Each side has: 5 bdrm, 3
bath, 1.5 full kitchens, Great Room, Games Room & Bar area, hot tub, sleeps up to 14
• Lower 2 bdrms can be closed off
We work with agents. Contact: 1-604-626-7100
view at:northrockhomes.ca/SunPeaks
DISTRIBUTEDEVERY 4TH
FRIDAY
Classifieds cut off date for next issue (Vol. 9 Issue 12)
Monday 31 October
Regular display advertisements cut off
date for next issue(Vol. 9 Issue 12)
Friday 28 October
Online classifieds ads are placed daily at:
SunPeaksNews.com
clASSIFIED ADS$10 per issue,
for 20 words or less.
Extra words 30 cents per word,
per issue
HST not included in above pricing.
BUSINESS LISTINGS
DISPlAY ADS
Includes logo or pictureand limited design.
$15 per column inch.
Larger classified display adsare welcome, please call
250.578.0276 for a quote.HST not included in above pricing.
FREE ADSGiving something away, lost or found an item? Phone, fax or e-mail
today to receive your free classified!
PAYMENTAll advertisements must be prepaid.
We accept payment by Cash, Cheque or
VISA & MASTERCARD
SUBMISSIONSAll classified advertisements
are printed as submitted.
It’s the classified advertiser’s responsibility to ensure
information is correct and content reads as it should
appear in print.
To place your advertisement in the SPIN Newsmagazine
Classifieds Section
E-MAIl:[email protected]
Phone: (250) 578-0276
Fax: (250) 578-0287or submit your
advertisement online at:www.sunpeaksnews.com
ONlINE:www.sunpeaksnews.com
www.SunPeaksNews.com 13Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
Phone: (250) 578-0276 • Fax: (250) 578-0287 • Email: [email protected]
GUIDE • BUSINESS LISTINGS
sun peaks only dedicated professional hot tub company
located in the fireside lodGe250 578 8669
open daily: 10am to 5pm24hr emerGency call out 250 214 0464
Vacation Rental Marketing and Management
Serving Sun Peaks
Call Garry Smart [email protected]
• Residential• Custom Homes• Renovations
• Commercial• Telephone/Cable• Hot tubs
PLUMBING, HEATING, GASFITTINGSun PeakS, BCInsured and Bonded
Michael Forster(250) 571-3759
John Hecimovic (250) 320-3859
FAX: (250) 578-2011 email: [email protected]
Site Preparation • All Sand & Gravel ProductsTrucking & Loading • Equipment Rentals Culvert Sales • Snow Removal Stone Slinger Trucks • Custom Crushing & Screening
GeneralPractitioner
Providing Preventive, Restorative & Cosmetic
Dentistry Dental Implants
250-376-5354Dr. D. Barry Dextraze
Dentist
New PatieNts welcome#21-750 Fortune Drive, KamloopsE-mail: [email protected] ~ www.drdextraze.com
ZOOM! — Whitening System
SERVICES
HOME & PROPERTY SERVICESBUILDING & CONSTRUCTION
P
PROVEN EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION
Ph: 250-578-6969 or 1-800-811-4588Email: [email protected]
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
The only certified and licensed property management company at Sun Peaks! Largest national and international client base
with consistent increase.
HOT TUB SERVICE
24/7 On-call ServiceDaily/Weekly Water Maintenance
Includes Chemicals, Water Changes & Snow Clearing Certified Spa Operators & Technicians on staff
Ph: 250-578-6969 or 1-800-811-4588Email: [email protected]
HOT TUB LOCK $99 + TAX
Interior/Exterior Paint & Stain • Complete RenovationsKitchens, Bathrooms, Basements, Garages, Decks
Full Liability and WCB Insurance
Proprietor: Kai Gibbon, B.EngPh: 250-578-8787 E-mail: [email protected]
http://todmountainrenovations.blogspot.com
NEWS BRIEFS
More flights now availableAir Canada announced a seventh daily flight to Kamloops for winter 2011-2012.The new flight allows for greater connectivity to Kamloops for Sun Peaks’ visitors. “When guests are making a decision, certainly the price of air, but also the frequency and convenience of their air connections is a consideration,” says Christopher Nicolson, president of Tourism Sun Peaks. “The increase in frequency definitely puts Sun Peaks in a much more competitive position.”“One of the major challenges for the resort is accessibility,” says Ian Thorley, director of sales and marketing at the Delta Sun Peaks Resort. “The more flights, the easier it is to get to Sun Peaks.”The additional flight is also good news for the group that lobby for new routes, carriers and larger aircraft to service Kamloops. “Tourism Sun Peaks, Tourism Kamloops, Venture Kamloops and YVR all work together, lobbying to improve air service; that includes more frequency as we’re seeing in this case,” says Nicolson.Air Canada’s new winter flight schedule runs Dec. 2011 through March 2012.
Fire prevention weekSun Peaks Fire Rescue (SPFR) is teaming up with National Fire Protection Association from October 9 to 15, 2011 to let the community know—It’s Fire Prevention Week. Protect your Family from Fire! This campaign focuses on the leading causes of home fires—cooking, heating and electrical equipment, candles and smoking materials. It urges people to protect their homes and families with life-saving technology and planning. “In B.C., 83 people were injured or died in home fires last year,” says Colin Cannon, fire prevention officer for SPFR. “Nearly all of these deaths could’ve been prevented by taking a few simple precautions like having working smoke alarms and a home fire escape plan, keeping things that can burn away from the stove and always turning off space heaters before going to bed.”Staying in the kitchen when food is being prepared, keeping children and combustibles away from heat sources, smoking outside and disposing of cigarettes safely, and never using candles in places where they’re able to ignite materials or be forgotten are some tips that SPFR offers. SPFR urges families to develop, and practice, a fire escape plan, and equip homes with smoke alarms and sprinklers, test them regularly, and practice using them.“While preventing home fires in Sun Peaks is always our number one priority, it’s not always possible,” Cannon says. “Sun Peaks’ residents need to provide the best protection to keep their homes and families safe in the event of a fire. This can be achieved by developing an escape plan which you practice regularly and equipping homes with life-saving technologies like smoke alarms and home fire sprinklers.”Sun Peaks Fire Rescue will be teaching fire prevention to the children attending the Discover Centre facility to promote It’s Fire Prevention Week.
Animal control bylaw reading deferredThe third reading of the proposed animal control bylaw in Sun Peaks has been deferred to mid-October. The Sun Peaks Municipal council introduced and passed two readings of the Animal Control Bylaw No. 0018, 2011 at the Aug. 15 meeting, with the third reading originally slated for September. Minor changes to the proposed bylaw document, none of which affect the spirit of the bylaw, required the third reading to be rescheduled to the next council meeting.Council will read the draft bylaw for the third time on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. in council chambers.
For more fire safety info, visit: sunpeaksfirerescue.com orsunpeaksmunicipality.ca
For more information visit: www.aircanada.com
www.SunPeaksNews.com14 Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
by Kirsten [email protected]
Running a business is a chal-lenge, but running one without access to Internet and phone services is a near impossibility.
This is what many Telus cus-tomers and small business owners at Sun Peaks experi-enced with noticeably deterior-ating intermittent Internet ser-vice in September.
Business owner Rod Honey described service as cutting out for an instant, alternating a few minutes on and a few minutes off, or even off for more than a day. Each time that signal failed, online service stopped.
At least seven other Telus customers reported similar ser-vice problems, and each phoned Telus support several times.
Shawn Hall, media and public relations spokesperson for Telus, stated that Telus had received calls from only two customers, and had sent a couple of techni-cians to Sun Peaks.
“Looking at our system it looks like we’ve received complaints
from two customers over the last couple of weeks. We’re going to dig fur-ther into that,” said Hall. “We’ll be calling all of the customers and ask-ing what happened and what they experienced. If there’s anything we can do to improve our systems we’ll certainly do it. In terms of com-munications with our company we’ll certainly look at that as well.”
Yet Honey had three techni-cians to his home, replacing lines, filters, and three modems with no positive results. He was told that a fourth technician would respond, service would be restored within 24 hours, and that he would receive a call when it was fixed. Not only did he not receive the call, when he made his own follow-up call, there was no record of his ser-vice request.
Similarly, Sun Peaks resident and Telus customer Nancy Wil-son stated, “Every day I called
(Telus) once or twice. On the Monday I called three times and got three different people, I got cut off and waited a bit, and of course no one called back.”
Each time a new call was placed by the affected custom-ers, no record of a previous complaint or communication was available from Telus. In re-sponse, Hall stated, “There are records of customer complaints, if they’re not there then some-one has made an error. We want to get that right.” He continued, “I’m concerned to hear that people are saying that those rec-ords don’t exist.”
Russell McCue, field support manager with Telus, explains that when a service call for the area is made to the company’s switch-board, the service re-quest goes to McCue. He dispatches techni-cians to manage the problem.
“There’s no pattern to (the dispatching of
a Telus employee or contract-or),” he says, “It just depends on who’s available whether the dispatch centre sends a Telus employee or a contractor. For all intents and purposes, they’re the same.”
McCue estimates there are anywhere from 30 to 40 techni-cians in the Kamloops area, who respond as far as east as West-wold and Pritchard, north to Sun Peaks and west to Savona.
Telus confirmed on Sept. 27 that a malfunctioning cooling unit appears to have caused the service failures, and has been re-paired.
NEWS
IN BRIEF
Municipality council nominationsThe Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM) is holding its next local government election on Nov. 19. Anyone interested in running for council must complete the nomination documents available from the municipal office, and submit their candidacy to the chief election officer between 9 a.m. on Oct. 4 and 4 p.m. on Oct. 14. To qualify for nomination, a person must be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 years of age, a resident of B.C. for a minimum six months prior to nomination, and not be disqualified or barred from voting, being elected, or holding office in any way.
The proposition to create a volunteer fire service for the Whitecroft and Heffley Lakes area has been rejected.
The process that’s been under-way for more than two years con-cluded with the Sept. 15 deadline for petition return.
The Whitecroft Heffley Lakes Fire Association (WHLFA) confirms 27.05 per cent of prop-erty owners, representing 26.91 per cent of total assessed prop-erty value had signed the petition in support of the fire service by the deadline of the process.
Those numbers fell short of the
required support from at least 50 per cent of property owners, representing 50 per cent or more of total assessed property value for the area.
A press release issued by the WHLFA states the community-initiated project received strong initial support in a 2010 mail-in ballot, with 77 per cent of responses in favour of creating a volunteer fire service. On the strength of that response, com-munity volunteers embarked on a process toward formal Thomp-son Nicola Regional District (TNRD) approval. “I must give
the WHLFA all the credit in the world because they did an amazing job,” commented John Sternig, Area P representative for the Thompson Nicola Regional District. “I know they’re a very organized group. However, with the new standards, there are new costs. These get added to the costs of initiating the services, and it makes it tough for people to accept the service.”
Bill Brock, committee chair of the association concurs.
“No one likes new taxes and with the recent anti-tax climate associated with the HST refer-
endum, it’s surprising the peti-tion did as well as it did,” he said.
WHLFA Secretary Jim Davies suggested, “When a commun-ity like this with a large enough tax base to support a fire service votes against it, it raises the ques-tion about whether we are being over taxed for other less essential services.”
The committee respects the community’s choice to not pro-ceed with a volunteer fire service at this point, and will proceed with collapsing the WHLFA and withdrawing its application for the use of Crown land.
Regional business awardsTwo Sun Peaks businesses have recently been recognized as finalists in regional industry awards.Local building contractor, Meranti Developments, has been honoured with both silver and gold awards at the seventh annual Keystone Awards sponsored by the Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA), Central Interior, held Oct. 1 in Kamloops. The silver prizes were awarded for Best Single Family Detached Home 2,000 sq. ft. and Over, and for Best Single Family Detached Home Valued at $750,000 to $4,000,000. Meranti won gold for Best Kitchen Design Project Valued at $30,000 and Over.Bear Country Property Management, who provide accommodation rental services to Sun Peaks visitors, is a finalist for the Tourism Kamloops and Tourism Sun Peaks Tourism and Hospitality Award for the 2011 Business Excellence Awards sponsored by the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce and TD Canada Trust. The Business Excellence Award winners will be announced at their annual Gala on Oct. 22.
For more information, contact SPMRM elections officers at:
250-578-2020
Whitecroft and Heffley Lake reject volunteer fire service
by Kim [email protected]
Many Sun Peaks building lots were originally sold with the understanding that investors could build their houses to rent on a short-term basis in residential neighbourhoods.
Since then, zoning bylaws permitting short-term rent-als in residential areas has become a controversial sub-ject within the community.
To address the challenges of short-term rental pro-viders, Sun Peaks council hired the Whistler Centre for Sustainability (WCS) to conduct a survey and work-shops to find the best solu-tion for short-term rentals in Sun Peaks. A public meeting facilitated by the WCS dis-cussing nightly rentals was
held on Sept. 24. The objective of this meet-
ing was to begin a conver-sation in the community, uncover key issues related to short-term rentals, and review how other com-munities such as Whistler, Sechelt and Tofino have handled the challenges as-sociated with short-term rental accommodations.
“We’re not the only com-munity that’s had these issues,” says Sun Peaks Mayor Al Raine. “All three communities took slightly different approaches to their situation.”
Noise and parking bylaw violations are just two issues that raise the ire of perma-nent residents opposed to short-term rentals in resi-dential neighbourhoods.
Surprisingly, those oppon-ents remained silent at the September meeting.
“We were very pleased that no opposition to short-term rentals was voiced at the meeting,” says Sun Peaks resident Petr Duda. “People were solution oriented.”
With multi-generational travel a growing trend, the need for family-style ac-commodations continues to increase.
“There was a whole dis-cussion around the benefits of short-term rentals,” says Raine who also asks, “Is there a niche market that couldn’t be served by com-mercial accommodations?”
For those attending the September meeting, the an-swer was “yes.”
“I’d say 50 per cent of
our bookings are made by grandmothers; three genera-tions come up and enjoy the place,” stated Carol Barde, owner of the Kodiak Timber Lodge. “I think it provides more choice for the resort.”
The public forum high-lighted the common ground providers of short-term rentals have with their permanent resident neigh-bours.
“We realized there are a lot of people in Sun Peaks that thought they were on different sides,” says Barde. “What the meeting did was (bring) the commonalities out.”
In January 2012 coun-cil will hold another public forum. “We‘ll focus on the number of people (offering) short-term rentals, where
those locations are, how legitimate are the issues,” states Raine. “How many of those issues can be man-aged by bylaw enforcement and then look at a range of possible solutions for Sun Peaks.”
Those solutions may take some time to roll out to the community. That’s because the short-term rental market is a long-term buying deci-sion. Changes to municipal bylaws need to factor in time for business owners to advise customers of changes to local regulations.
“The recommendations, and council’s acceptance of those recommendations, may happen in summer 2012, but from there it may take
another 12 to 18 months to make significant changes. You have to respect that the booking season is more than 12 months,” say Raine.
Council wants to find the best possible solution for both permanent residents and rental business owners alike.
“This has been around in the community for at least 10 years. Taking a few more months to get it right is probably very wise,” con-cluded Raine.
It’s still possible for full and part-time residents to participate in the nightly rental survey which will be open until late October.
Nightly rental round table
For more information or to complete the survey, visit:
sunpeaksmunicipality.com
Communicating with Telus
PHOTO: WIKI MEDIA COMMONS
www.SunPeaksNews.com 15Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011 SPORTS
With two World Cup starts under her belt from the 2010/11 racing season, 22 year old, Sun Peaks local Elli Terwiel has her eyes set on more world-class slalom racing this season.
The B.C. provincial team member had a busy training season this summer, skiing with the Canadian national team in New Zealand, as well as working with the B.C. provincial team men, and national team women in Canada. On top of that, she trained with her new ski teammates from the Univer-sity of Vermont in the U.S.
“I feel really good,” says Terwiel, of her dryland and on-hill training. “In summer training this year, I felt I skied better than I ever have before. And I felt as fit as I’ve ever been on the slopes.”
A two-week training camp with the B.C. provin-cial men’s team in Valle Ne-vado, Chile in October will
open up the opportunity to attend another training camp in November.
As a ski racer hoping to secure a spot in on the World Cup circuit, Terwiel’s most direct route to the starting gates is to excel in the NorAm series.
Anne Terwiel, Elli’s mother and a ski coach her-self, explains, “What’s re-ally important for Elli is to do well at the first NorAm which will qualify her for the first North American World Cup in Aspen, Nov. 26 and 27. She’ll race for the national team in that. If she does well there, she’ll be eligible for the next World Cup which is in Europe.”
The FIS World Cup events are considered the apex of ski racing, and the dream of a title is what mo-tivates the best ski racers in the world. World Cup spots are awarded by winning first or second place in the
NorAm series, or by staying in the top 30 of the World Cup standings.
“(One) performance goal is to make top 30 in the World Cup this year,” ex-plained Elli. “Another per-formance goal is to finally get the top two NorAm standings which I’ve been as close as you can get to for the last two years in a row. If I actually get that this year, I’ll have my own World Cup spot for the following year.”
Elli is not a full-time member of the national team, but is invited to train and race with them at her own expense. She’s ranked 54 in the world for slalom, and is fourth overall in Can-ada, and seventh in North America.
When she’s not in the gym or charging down the racecourse, Elli is pursuing a civil engineering degree at the University of Vermont on a full skiing scholarship.
Elli Terwiel’s focus is set on the World Cup
TRAINING FOR THE WORLDS: Slalom racer Ellie Terwiel has her eyes on the prize. She has a busy training and racing schedule lined up for 2011/12, while also studying engineering at the University of Vermont.
IN BRIEF
SPIN Cup wraps upThe Sun Peaks Men’s Golf Association wrapped up another season at Sun Peaks on Thursday, Sept. 29. The 19 week “SPIN Cup” golf series, modelled after the famous “FedEx Cup,” saw 75 avid golfers and duffers alike test their skills while competing for skill prize points, low net scores, low gross scores, draw prizes and a skins game. In the end Sun Peaks golfer Dan Williams was victorious with 330 points, Pete Bula was second with 285 points and John McKnight was third with 255 points. Williams took home a new set of Nike Ignite irons sponsored by Nevada Bob’s (Aberdeen Mall) for his efforts.“It was a great season of golf at Sun Peaks,” said organizer Kelly Dye. “I’d really like to thank all the golfers, our sponsors and the crew at the Sun Peaks Resort Golf Course for making it all possible.” Sun Peaks Resort Golf Course closes for the winter season on Monday Oct. 10.
The 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire race season has had its ups and downs for Sun Peaks racer Jason White, but it certainly ended on a high note. Racing at the Barrie Speedway in Ontario hasn’t produced the results that Jason White and his team had hoped for this season, and the Sept. 10 race was no different. The race started strong, and White felt confident that he could’ve netted a top 10 finish. However, 200 laps into the race, that finish wasn’t fated to be, as White’s car was destroyed in a crash. “Apparently the #60 (race car) broke an axle and the car just turned in front of me,” said a disappointed White. “It’s so frustrating because the race was playing out the way we expected and we were in
line for a great finish.” The following race took White back to compete at Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia on Sept. 17, competing in a back-up car due to the previous week’s crash. The drama of this race played out as the team had two mechanical failures, first breaking all the studs on the right front tire, and later damaged rear suspension. “It’s just how things have been for us on some of the ovals this year,” reflected White.Despite the two previous disappointments, the season ended well for the #21 A&W Dodge team, with an eighth place finish at the Kawartha Speedway in Ontario on Sept. 25. “What a finish,” enthused White afterwards. “After the last couple of weeks we really needed that one. And with it we secured eighth in the championship.” “We accomplished our goals this year,” said White. “We were competitive at every event and we finished the year in the top ten in the championship. We really grew as a team and I’m excited about 2012.”
Local paddlers compete in 100 kilometre raceThe annual Length of the Lake paddling race drew 17 boats to Vernon B.C. in September. The 100 kilometer race is divided into five legs, beginning in Vernon, and finishing in Penticton. Anne and Christopher Nicolson, were amongst the competitors who braved choppy and challenging conditions that presented two to three foot waves and strong head- and cross-winds for most of the race. “The Length of the Lake can be an intimidating race,” said Nicolson. “By the end of the first leg the boats have spread
apart, and you can feel very alone in the middle of that big lake with large waves pounding your boat.”The combined team of 10 paddlers from Kamloops and Salmon Arm, entered one boat, switching crews for different legs of the race. They completed the race in just over 11 hours. “On the first leg and the fourth leg we posted the fastest times within the OC-2 division,” said Christopher, “But for the second, third, and fifth legs, there were teams that were faster. It was a great race for us.” Paddlers on the Kamloops / Salmon Arm team were Lynette Hughes, Trish and Wade Turner, Paul Blackett, Michelle Seibel, Christina Cederlof, Michael and Carla van der Kraats, and Anne and Christopher Nicolson.
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY ANNE TERWIEL
White’s NASCAR season ends strong
PHOTO: ADAM EARLE
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY JASON WHITE
www.SunPeaksNews.com16 Vol. 9 Issue 11, 2011
EACH OFFICE IS INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED
#10 McGillivray CreekThis level entry 3 bedroom, 3 bath townhouse is in pristine condition and has never been rented. Fully furnished with private hot tub and garage. Ski-in/ski-out access, located on golf course & Valley Trail. Open floor plan with heated tile floors, large custom windows, Frank-lin style stove. HST not applicable.
$449,900
#32 Crystal ForestBright and clean 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom townhouse with warm pine finishing, two secure underground parking spaces, fully furnished with private hot tub, cozy river rock fireplace, open & functional floor plan, spacious patio & sundeck, close to village & golf course. Mountain views & great ski-in/ski-out access.
$325,000
Ski-in, Ski-out Location - 80% SOLD
Commercial Space Available
Luxury condos delivering the highest standard of accomodation and pre-sentation at Sun Peaks. Full concrete structure and advanced standards of environmental efficiency. Conveniently located in the village adjacent to Mc-Gillivray Creek & valley trail. These mountain homes are beautifully deco-rated and ready for immediate possession. Elevator, secure underground parking and fantastic location.
Build your own recreational dream home and experience all the great
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Fireside Lodge starting at: $111,900
Nancy Greene’s Cahilty Lodge starting at:
$94,900Hearthstone Lodge starting at:
$22,900Sundance Lodge starting at:
$32,000Delta Residences starting at:
$105,000
This 3 bedroom, 3 bath home features a gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops, heated slate floors, authentic bridge timber & ledge stone fireplace, private sundecks & patio, personal hot tub, steam shower, large tandem garage and much more. This home is being sold fully furnished and HST is not applicable.
$499,000
Our October Resort Feature: #3 Powder Ridge
Starting at:$139,900
Village Condo Suites Residential Lots
Limited Time Offer!The Developer is offering next 2 lots at 25% discount
Starting at: $206,250Choose the way you see the mountain.These larger lots are superior with south & west facing orientation that provides desirable sun exposure along with panoramic mountain and valley views. Ski-in/ski-out location, affordable, convenient and scenic . . . what are you waiting for?
#16 The CottagesThis 4 bdrm cottage is nestled along the Sun Peaks Golf Course with large covered deck, spacious patio and new hot tub. Rock fireplace, hardwood floors, and granite countertops compliment this remarkable home. Convenient ski-in access, and a short walk to the village make this the perfect mountain retreat.
$509,000
“Nobody in the world sells more real estate than ” OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Stop by and visit us at the Kookaburra Lodge#8 - 3270 Village Way Sun Peaks, BC V0E 5N0
P: 250 578 8222 | F: 250 578 2050 | TF: 1 800 663 2838E: [email protected]
For details on all our properties visit
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Great opportunity to run your own business. Available to lease or buy in Sun Peaks newest luxury development, Kookaburra Lodge, right in the heart of Sun Peaks. High traffic exposure and good storefront visibility. Concrete structure for strength and acoustic and fire qualities. Sprinkler system in place. Phone listing agent for details.
#12 WoodhavenThis beautiful 2 bdrm townhome offers exceptional finishing detail such as timber & stone, heated tile floors, fir cabinetry, large 2 car tandem garage, private decks, superior quality & loca-tion, ski-in/ski-out convenience and adjacent to the 15th fairway of the Sun Peaks Golf Course.
$420,000
9200 Knouff Lake RoadPrivate lake front offering the best of summer and winter recreation. Multiple families can enjoy this deluxe custom built 3 level Chalet. Enjoy the luxuries of home including 3 full baths, 4 beds, loft, massive jacuzzi tub, sauna, 18ft fireplace and ceilings, massive deck, lake views, sleeps 12.
$499,000 New Price
1344 Burfi eld Drive3 bdrm 1/2 duplex situated next to McGillivray Creek. Separate 1 bdrm non-conforming suite w/private entry. Views of Burfield lift & ski runs. Easy ski-in access from Mt. Morrisey. Main floor shared laundry, hot water in-floor heating, ample level parking, quiet area of town w/great potential.
$279,000
#57 Settler’s CrossingThis ‘never-been-rented’ condo features a gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops, open living & dining area with beautiful hardwood floors, 2 spacious bedrooms, Fully furnished complete with your own private hot tub. This home has ski-in/ski-out access, and underground parking. HST not applicable.
$279,000
#47 Snow Creek VillageExceptional studio located in the slope-side development of Snow Creek Village. True ski-in/ski-out access close to village and lifts. Perched on the top floor with beautiful mountain views where you can watch the setting sun. Fully furnished with new hot tub. HST not applicable.
$164,900
#15 Forest Trails3 bedroom level entry ski-in/ski-out townhome backs onto greenspace with a creek. Features single car garage, covered sundeck, heated tile floors & cozy rock fireplace. Just steps from the valley trail & village & comes fully furnished to provide you with the convenience of a home away from home. HST not applicable.
$389,900
#2 Crystal ForestCozy upper floor one bedroom condo with private sundeck and ski-in/ ski-out location. Underground park-ing, extra ski storage space, sunny southern exposure, heated tile floors in the kitchen and bathroom. Close to village and all amenities, comes fully furnished. HST is not applicable .
$189,000
6367 Lakeshore RoadHeffley Lake location. Retreat to your 600 sq. ft. private dock or lakeside firepit and relax! Featuring spectacular views & recreation out your back door.3 bdrms, 3 bath, loft area w/office, open kitchen, vaulted ceiling, hardwoodflooring & entertainment sized decks, wood stove, games room & workshop.
$987,200
#14 Trail’s EdgeStunning 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom townhouse with custom upgrades & soaring windows. Open concept, incredible mountain views, ski-in/ ski-out. Large private deck and hot tub. Private garage and extra storage are an added bonus to this fully furnished mountain home.
$529,900
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