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Community spirit barbecue in Pressy Lake

‘They all suffered the same loss and so they’re all totally supportive of each other.’
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The Pressy Lake, Young Lake and surrounding communities came together on Sunday, Sept. 2, for a Community Spirit Barbecue.

Laura Dewar, the community wellness manager for United Way Thompson Nicola Cariboo, helped organize the event geared to unite people hit hard by last year’s wildfires.

Unlike the resiliency celebration, in 100 Mile House, this event was intentionally intimate.

“We didn’t do a lot of advertising other than just locally putting up signs, etc, as per the wishes of the people that are living there,” said Dewar.

“I think because they really wanted to ensure that they were really building community. That’s the feeling I got, that there just needed to be strength building.”

RELATED: The Community Wildfire Resiliency Celebration united South Cariboo residents through shared experience

She said conversations mostly revolved around having to rebuild after losing everything and outside communities may not have gone through the same experience.

The event was funded by the Red Cross and Health Emergency Management BC’s Disaster Psychosocial Services Program.

Food was donated by Darren McEachen, of Titan Built Construction and 700 seedlings were donated by Roserim Nursery.

For Lorne Smith and Cheryl Merriman, who are living in Clinton while their home is being rebuilt, it was a great feeling to plant 24 trees along their newly built fence.

“I like gardening, myself, and we had a really nice yard where the trees were all trimmed and the lawn was all cut and it was nice getting my hands in the soil again and starting the process all over again,” said Smith.

The couple had only moved to Pressy Lake in May of 2017 before their home was taken out by the Elephant Hill fire.

They had connected with others in the area over social media who’d also lost their homes, but had yet to meet them in person.

RELATED: Pressy Lake; a year after the wildfires

“It was good for everyone to connect and to meet … we’re supporting each other which is really good during the rebuild,” said Merriman.

Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett and Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart both volunteered at the event.

“People are rebuilding their lives and feeling good about their community because they’ve all come together,” said Barnett.

“They all suffered the same loss and so they’re all totally supportive of each other. It’s really amazing. They’re just an amazing bunch of people.”

Barnett said it was great to see how much construction and rebuilding is happening in the area, although, there are still people struggling to rebuild.

All-in-all, she said the environment was very positive and people are doing well, moving forward together.

“It was just a really, really good day.”


beth.audet@100milefreepress.net

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Lorne Smith planting one of the donated trees on his property after the Pressy Lake Community Day. Cheryl Merriman photo.