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Year in review in community: July to December

July
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July

Canada Day celebrated in the 108

July 4 - Canada Day celebrations at the 108 Heritage Site were well-attended, drawing large crowds of families to enjoy the day outside. There were plenty of events to experience at the 108 on Canada Day, including the 100 Mile Cruzers car display and a great line-up of live entertainment. Mal Wood, a director with the 100 Mile Historical Society said the celebrations were off to an awesome start. “Lots of people [are] around. It’s packed and we’re all having a great time.”

Four new chairs for hospital

July 11 - The South Cariboo Health Foundation (SCHF) donated four new chairs to the 100 Mile and District Hospital. “It’s going to really help patients,” Allison Filewich, manager of acute care services. She said that the new chairs are intended to augment the mobility project, and one of the chairs has already been set up for use in the hospital’s newly renovated emergency department and triage area. “Currently we have been very successful with getting people up and moving so that we can improve their overall health, discharge them sooner, and take them to a higher level of function by getting them moving.”

Lone Butte Rocks hits the South Cariboo

July 18 - “It went great, other than the torrential downpour at 2:30 p.m. Other than that, we had a fabulous day. The music was great, all the musicians were awesome - other than 100 Miles From Nowhere who got rained off the stage,” said Natalie Sass, president of the Lone Butte, Horse Lake Community Association. “The carnival games were great, face painting was awesome, food was great. Everything went very well on our end. Laser tag was good too.”

New summer music series in 100 Mile

July 25 - A new event drove the public into Centennial Park for music, food and local vendors. Parks Alive was a free summer music series curated by RE/MAX and sponsors alike. The event brought local and out-of-town acts together in one spot, for one purpose - banding the community together. “We have that great stage and this town gets sleepy after hours. It’s nice to do something where everybody can come out and have some fun,” said David Jurek, owner of the 100 Mile House RE/MAX branch.

August

Canlan puts on summer camps

Aug. 1 - Children were out in Centennial Park as part of Wacky Water Week, one of numerous camps put on in July and August by Canlan Ice Sports. “When I started six or seven years ago, I only had maybe 12 kids,” said Laura Albert, the Programs Coordinator for Canlan Ice Sports. “This camp here, I’ve got 26 [kids registered]. It’s a big group. It’s been growing and growing over the years. New people moving into the community probably from bigger centres that are used to these camps, they’re not too sure where to go and of course, they’re finding us and they’re coming here.”

Successful start for Bags of Plenty

Aug. 8 - An additional three families were added after the launch of People Power’s low-income family initiative. The project launched in July and after a few weeks, David and Laura Laing of People Power were providing a total of seven families with a fresh bag of vegetables each week. “It has been going really well,” said Laing. “This is the fourth week of the initiative and everyone is really happy to be getting the vegetables.”

PSO’s Cam Ardiel receives Governor General Award

Aug. 15 - Cam Ardiel, a Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School (PSO) student, won the school’s Governor General’s Academic Medal award for 2019. “It means a lot,” said Ardiel. “I’ve heard about the award quite a few years ago and it’s something I’ve always been striving to achieve and it feels really great to finally get it.” The award is given to the Grade 12 student with the highest average GPA. Ardiel said it was close to 100 per cent, but he was still waiting for the result of one of his final tests.

Parks Alive wraps up for the season

Aug. 22 - As Parks Alive wrapped up, South Cariboo residents were told to expect a return of the Parks Alive next summer. “I think we will see something next year for sure and see if we can evolve it from there,” said David Jurek, owner of the 100 Mile House RE/MAX branch. “We talked about bringing it back next summer for the main part of the season.”

Book details Emily Carr in the Cariboo

Aug. 29 - The latest book in Laurie Carter trilogy, Emily Carr’s BC: South Coast to the Interior, begins during 1904 while Carr was returning home from studying in London, England. “This was a pivotal time in her life, she had spent five years over there studying art,” said Carter. “During this time, she had a nervous breakdown and spent over a year in a sanatorium and she had just been released from the sanatorium a few months before her trip to the Cariboo.” Carr had been invited by a childhood friend to spend some time in the Cariboo at their house in 150 Mile House.

September

New faces at 100 Mile Elementary

Sept. 5 - Students and staff at 100 Mile Elementary School said ‘goodbye’ to their summer holidays when they headed back to class for a half-day with plenty of smiles and lots of sunshine, too. The elementary’s Vice Principal Shawn Nelson said the first day back was an awesome one for students and staff alike. “It was just a terrific first day back,” he said. “So many excited kids to be back at school and seeing their friends, and staff [are] so energized and ready to put another great year in. It’s good.”

Record participation at Parkinson SuperWalk

Sept. 12 - More than 50 people attended the community’s fourth annual Parkinson SuperWalk in Centennial Park and raised over $2,000 to show their support for individuals living with Parkinson’s disease. “It’s an exciting day for the 29th anniversary of the walk in B.C.” said Philip Konrad, the man behind the South Cariboo’s SuperWalk, which he began alongside his wife Barb four years ago. “It’s the largest fundraising event of the year for the Parkinson Society, and this year over 20 communities in B.C. are having their walk.”

Weather plays foul with fowl meet

Sept. 19 - The Cariboo Central Interior Poultry Producers Association (CCIPPA) held its first Poultry Swap and hoped to return next year with better weather and hopefully, a second swap date. Wiley Bystedt, president of the CCIPPA, explained that Sunday’s Poultry Swap took the form of a tail-gate at the New Cal Rabbit Farm, located just a few minutes south of 100 Mile House off Highway 97. “The idea of the swap is that people can bring their poultry and small livestock,” said Bystedt, noting that those who attended bought, exchanged and had the opportunity to talk, too. For a first event, Bystedt said things were working well and a few individuals had even stopped by off the highway.

Kingdom Youth offers plenty of activities

Sept. 26 - Every Wednesday night, Carter Froese lead a group of roughly 50 children through an evening of collaborative learning, music-making, and sharing together at CCLF in the 108 Mile Ranch. The Kingdom Youth group gathered for the third time since their summer break to enjoy another evening of community together. About 40 children attended Wednesday’s group, competing in word-search games using the 100 Mile Free Press and The Cariboo Connector, but also playing games like tongue twister in teams.

October

Community gathers for Orange Shirt Day

Oct. 3 - Schools from the South Cariboo area gathered at ballfields by the South Cariboo Recreation Centre for Orange Shirt Day in honour of the thousands of First Nations children who were forced into residential schools by churches and police forces in order to assimilate them. Orange Shirt Day was created to educate and inspire future generations on the government-sponsored cultural genocidal program enacted in 1876 with the Indian Act until the last residential school closed as late as 1996, in hopes that it or something like it will never happen again. “Violence and every abuse you could think of started when my grandparent’s generation started to be humiliated [and] shamed. Today, my children suffer and my grandchildren have also been exposed to some of that suffering,” Sheila Dick of the Canim Lake Band and survivor of the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in Williams Lake addressed the crowd.

Students take flight

Oct. 10 - It was clear skies to take flight for the 100 Mile House Flying Club’s Sixth Annual Kids Fun Fly Day. For some South Cariboo students, it was their first time being inside of a plane, let alone in the sky. “It’s really to spark an interest in aviation,” said Frank Schlueter, the club’s president. “Not everyone is built to be a pilot, but there are many avenues in the field of aviation such as aircraft maintenance or engineer.”

Children check out fire trucks

Oct. 17 - Flashing lights could be seen in front of the Cariboo Family Enrichment Centre, not because of an emergency, but rather a morning of fun and activities focused on fire prevention. According to the centre’s executive director, Chris Pettman, well over 50 kids along with some of their parents attended the event. “The day was awesome,” said Pettman. “The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves.” One by one, the children were assisted by firefighters to inspect the truck and pretend like they were firefighters themselves.

Lac la Hache students show off fashion sense

Oct. 24 - People in Lac la Hache were treated to a special show and dinner. Students from Lac la Hache Elementary went to the Thrift Store and picked out an outfit for their very own fashion show. “It went really well. It was a fun evening. We had probably 50-ish people,” says principal Kristy Davis. “I think the kids did a fantastic job getting up there on stage. They were having a lot of fun doing it.”

Girl Guide enrollment on the rise

Oct. 31 - A total of 50 girls made pledges as part of the 100 Mile Girl Guides’ enrollment ceremony. That included 10 Sparks, 19 Brownies, 16 Girl Guides, three pathfinders and two rangers. That was an increase from previous years, according to Pathfinder guide Julia Franklin. “We have actually had to cap, for example, the number of Sparks. We had to put a cap on it of 10 because we had so many people that wanted to sign up but unfortunately we didn’t have sufficient leaders to take on more of them.”

November

Halloween celebrated in Lone Butte

Nov. 7 - Taking candy from a car is generally not a great idea, but on Halloween night in Lone Butte, it’s an exception. This was the third year the Horse Lake Community Association has organized the Trunk n’ Treat part of the annual Halloween event at the Lone Butte Community Hall. Roughly 17 cars pulled up to participate in the candy hand out, according to Natalie Sass, who is one of the organizers. “It’s a way for kids to get together and go trick or treating without having to be so spread out with a lot of the farmland in rural communities,” said Sass.

Guitar-building workshop for kids

Nov. 14 - A four-day workshop was offering kids in the South Cariboo a chance to make their own guitar and learn how to play it too. Canlan Ice Sports has partnered with Peter Thorne from Slap Back Music to give kids this first-of-its-kind workshop, which had been in the works for about a year, according to Shelly Morton, the community program coordinator. “We are very fortunate to be able to offer this to the kids.”

“A great Christmas market”

Nov. 21 - “I think it has been a great Christmas Market. There were people through yesterday and today. It has been a busy, steady flow,” said Amanda Patterson, market manager of the Christmas market set up in the 100 Mile House community hall. “Some vendors have had a fantastic day and that’s what we really want to see, right?” In total, there were 46 vendors at the event with three of them switching out on Saturday for another three.

Over 100 hours of setup for Starry Nights

Nov. 28 - Following the Santa Claus Parade, the South Cariboo Health Foundation (SCHF) kicked off it’s annual Starry Nights campaign with a celebration. Aside from Millsite and Fischer Place residents, firefighters, RCMP officers and members of the public gathered outside the 100 Mile District General Hospital to watch the light up. Eric Herl, from Herl Electric, said it was his sixth year putting the lights up (though not all under Herl Electric). He starts setting up for it at the end of September because how fast it goes depends on the weather, he said.

December

Markets all over the South Cariboo

Dec. 5 - There were plenty of opportunities to shop at a local market with a market at St. Timothy’s Anglican Church, Ten Thousand Villages being back after a three-year hiatus and a Christmas market at the 108 Heritage Site. Ulli Vogler was selling jam, teas and other goods at the latter. “I started right from the beginning,” said Vogler. “This Christmas Market always tends to be good for me. I love seeing returning clients and getting to talk to them.”

Breakfast with Santa in the 108

Dec. 12 - Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance in the 108 Mile Ranch to have breakfast with local families. Each year, the annual event attracts around 75 children or more, according to organizer Ingrid Meyer. She said the event received a really good turnout this year. “It’s a beautiful event,” said Meyer.

Holiday feast for 108 Mile students

Dec. 19 - Over 200 students were served a Christmas lunch that featured all the fixings. This was the second year Mile 108 Elementary organized a turkey luncheon. “We want to make sure every student has a chance to have a turkey dinner during this time of the year,” said Ken Lucks, principal of Mile 108 Elementary.

Charlie Brown wins in 108 Mile

Dec. 26 - Shirley Whitey won this year’s annual Christmas light contest put on by the 108 Mile Ranch Community Association. In addition to all the usual elements you might expect, there was a group of Charlie Brown cutouts who looked like they were singing carols. “We didn’t think there was too many lights on at first but after we drove around a bit we found lots,” said Kathy Knutsen, one of the judges.