FEBRUARY 3, 2012

SHE OPENS HER HEART, TALKS TO ANIMALS

Petra Heidenreich of Peachland communicates with animals, both wild and domesticated. She showed pictures and spoke about her experiences in two hours on Jan. 18, 2012 in the Downtown Activity Centre, sponsored by Questers. She said we can all communicate with our animals. “Learn how to open your heart and be one with them and the natural flow of the universe.”

Animal communication became famous through the movie The Horse Whisperer. TV’s Cesar Melan calls himself a dog whisperer.

Petra moved with her family from Germany, where she was a city girl, to a farm in B.C. She began communicating with horses, and took a course in Vernon from the BC College of Equine Therapy where she learned about alternate healing.

She related her communication with horses, sheep, cattle, and the family dogs. When coyotes and cougars came near, she communicated with them and asked them to leave her animals alone, assuring them that they would get the remains of slaughtered animals. One winter night after a snowfall when there were no mice to catch, two coyotes connected with her and asked for food, so she put out some dog food near her office window, where she could see the coyotes approach. They came to her office window where the bowl of food was and started eating, even as she was watching them. The coyotes looked into her window and nodded their head in thanks.

Petra said animals are her best teachers. Such an example was her son’s old horse Whisper, who was half blind and could not cope anymore on the huge property, so she was taken to Petra’s friend’s place to become a companion for her almost blind foster daughter. As Whisper’s condition got worse over the next 3 years, she wanted to come home to Petra and be put out of her misery. Petra told her she’d never used a gun. But the old horse insisted, so Petra brought her home. After greeting her back home, the other horses left and went to the pasture. They knew why the old horse was there. Petra’s neighbour lent her his gun and taught her how to use it. She killed the old horse with the first shot and it was the worst thing she ever had to do, but sometimes loving an animal dearly means to let it go and help it with its passage. This is one of Petra’s great lessons of love and mercy.

ANIMAL WORKSHOP IN SUMMER

Is there interest in having several animal communicators come to Salmon Arm for a workshop in summer? People can bring their animals and practice communicating with them. If you are interested, contact me: 250-832-4831, sallys1@telus.net.

SALMON ARM HAS MANY PSYCHICS

Shuswap Questers meet once a month and hear interesting speakers. After Petra Heidenreich’s talk about communicating with animals, I wrote to a member of the organization and said there is a young man who communicates with animals. He wrote back and said “There are so many psychics around Salmon Arm it should be called Sedona North.”

I googled Sedona and learned it is in Arizona and has a population of 10,000. Then I googled Sedona psychics and saw that the city is full of psychics and healers, and stores that cater to people who come looking for answers.

Can one of our communities become Sedona North, just as Sturgis North is a motorcycle rally that expanded from Sturgis, South Dakota?

STURGIS NORTH WILL MOVE TO NORTH OKANAGAN

The motorcycle rally and music festival that was held in two locations in Salmon Arm last summer announced last fall that it would meet in one location in 2012, on Neskonlith Indian Band grounds.

But last week Sturgis North CEO Ray Sasserville announced that the July 18 to 22 rally will move to the Motoplex Speedway between Armstrong and Vernon. It’s just past the historical O’Keefe Ranch.

The main reason for the move is the lack of services on the Neskonlith grounds. Every vendor who needed power last year had to rent a generator and diesel fuel had to be delivered continuously.

COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR

A cross-Canada fundraiser is taking place on Sat., Feb. 25 to raise money for shelters. Salmon Arm is one of 18 communities registered to participate. Kamloops and Kelowna are included. The five- or ten-km walk begins at 5 p.m. at First United Church and ends before 8 p.m. at the Salvation Army Lighthouse Shelter.

I googled the name of the event but was unable to find Salmon Arm listed until I clicked on the ‘volunteer’ link. Coldest Night of the Year hopes to find team captains in Salmon Arm. Each would form a team of walkers and each would pay $25 to participate. Stand by for more details.

SMART HYDRO METERS SEND A SIGNAL

If your power is out, a new smart meter will let BC Hydro know. With the old meters, the company had to wait for your phone call.

The new meters will broadcast very brief signals about 50 times a day, no more than 1.5 seconds in total every 24 hours. If service is interrupted, the meter will send BC Hydro an alarm.

The signal from a smart meter is far lower than the emissions from a working microwave oven and a fraction of the lowest allowable limits anywhere in the world.

OPT OUT OF SMART METER

B.C. Hydro plans to install 1.8 million smart meters in homes and businesses. So far, B.C. Hydro has refused to allow an opt-out of the program initiated in 2010 by the B.C. Liberal government.

Chartwell, an Atlanta-based research firm that works with the industry, published a report on its website on Jan. 24 called Smart Meter Opt-Out Programs 2012. It states: “To defuse opposition from smart meter foes and allow utility companies to move forward with grid modernization plans, utility leaders may have to consider creating smart meter opt-out programs regardless of the validity of opponents’ concerns about health, safety and privacy.”

A physician’s group, The American Academy of Environmental Medicine, has adopted a resolution calling for a halt to wireless smart meters.

A NIGHT LIGHT THAT USES NO POWER

Do you have solar lights outside, along a path or border? You can bring them into the house for the night, set each into a vase or drink bottle, and spread them out to give you free lights all night. They aren’t bright enough for reading, but are bright enough for you to get around.

The next day, you just take your solar lights back outside and they will recharge and be ready for you to use the next night or any time the power is out.

REGAIN MEMORY THAT IS FADING

Last week I wrote that I am losing the ability to remember people’s names, and suggested we start a support group. Four people contacted me with the same solution, and one with a different solution.

Let’s meet on Wed., Feb. 8 at 11 a.m. at Bear Foot Burger House in the former Dairy Queen on the highway to share information. Everyone is welcome. This is not a support group, you can be very healthy but curious, and your name will not appear in the paper.

JANUARY 27, 2012

PICTURES WANTED OF 75-YEAR-OLD BUILDING

The present art gallery in Salmon Arm was built in 1937 as a post office. Forty years later the post office moved to Hudson and 4th and the building became the library. In 1993 the library moved to the Mall at Piccadilly and in 1994 the building became an art gallery.

At the opening reception of an exhibition to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the arts centre building, Tracey Kutschker, director/curator of the art gallery, asked for pictures of the building. She wants people to search through their attic or albums or boxes of photographs and find any of the building, especially those with people who may have worked at the post office or library.

STONE SCULPTURE GALLERY IN MALAKWA, BC

One of the pieces of art on display at the art gallery in Salmon Arm to celebrate the building’s 75th anniversary is a stone sculpture created by Audrey Nanimahoo, an artist from the Big Stone Cree Nation in Wabasca, Alberta. It is titled 75th Absolute Connections. It shows a woman on the right, connecting with her spirit guide of the grizzly bear on the left.

Audrey and her husband Bill Sanders moved from Revelstoke to Malakwa where they opened “Audrey Nanimahoo Stone Sculpture Gallery.” It is located across the highway from the Burner Bar & Grill, a kilometer down Malakwa Rd. It has dozens of Audrey’s stone sculptures, original paintings, jewellery, pottery, etc. She has been carving stone for 9.5 years and is self-taught. To see more of her work, go to www.audreynanimahoo.com.

To celebrate the building’s anniversary, the annual juried member’s exhibition is being held to Feb. 25, 2012. Gallery hours are Tues-Sat., 11 a.m. –4 p.m. Forty paintings and works of art are on display. 

WE’RE IN CANDYLAND, SAYS OTTO

Otto Pfannschmidt’s entry in the art gallery’s juried members’ exhibition celebrating the 75th anniversary of the building is entitled ‘X75 Backstage in Candyland.’ The very colourful acrylic painting is priced at $600.

His painting depicts a conceptual form of factory mind candy that is being filtered through various media acting as a distraction to the serious events that are taking place on the planet and in the environment.

Otto is a graphic designer/illustrator and fine artist with considerable height. He works above the Salmar Classic Theatre’s lobby with two other creatives in business: Louise Wallace’s Mediability and Warren Welter’s Creatability. Each is a separate entity but they all work together on different projects. More of Otto’s work can be viewed at www.ottogepko.com

You can see Otto’s painting in the exhibition until Feb, 25, 2012. Gallery hours are Tues-Sat., 11 a.m.–4 p.m. The gallery is on the corner of Hudson and McLeod in Salmon Arm.

TWO HOT FILMS: THE ARTIST & THE WAY

The Shuswap Film Society has arranged for two upcoming movies to be shown twice to accommodate the expected high audience appeal. The Artist on Feb. 4 and The Way on Feb. 11 will have both a 4 p.m. matinee and the regular 7:30 showing, both at the Salmar Classic.

The Artist is a hot title this year with multiple nominations and awards from film critics. As well, The Way is a big hit with audiences – selling over 800 seats at the Vernon Film Society in December. Advance tickets of $8 cash can be purchased at Wearabouts on Alexander Street in Salmon Arm. 

DISPOSABLE COFFEE CUPS ARE NOT RECYCLABLE

Because of their sturdy lining to prevent leakage, paper coffee cups cannot be recycled. The next time you buy coffee, why not take a travel mug? 

My problem with a travel mug is that often it is considered large by a clerk when it’s actually a medium. The lower half is narrower so it will fit in my car’s cup holder. I am tempted to make a label for it that states how many ounces it holds. Should the label be in ml. or oz., or both?

TIM HORTONS CHANGES CUP SIZES

On Monday Tim Hortons introduced a new 710 ml ‘extra-large’ coffee size across Canada and all the other sizes have been renamed. ‘Small’ is now called ‘extra small’ and the former ‘extra large’ is now just large. 710 ml is 24 ounces.

COFFEE CUTS THE RISK OF 4 CANCERS

Enjoy your coffee. Drs Oz and Roizen, writing in the Province, say new studies say coffee cuts the risk of four kinds of cancer. Dr. Art Hister, who gives medical advice on Globaal Vancouver’s TV news, promotes coffee drinking. He drinks a lot of it.

The four cancers that coffee helps prevent are endometrial, prostate, breast and basal cell carcinoma which is a common skin cancer.

I CANNOT REMEMBER PEOPLE’S NAMES

I was never good at remembering people’s names. Being raised on a farm outside Watson, Sask., there weren’t many neighbours’ names to remember. Today at age 73, I often have trouble placing a name to someone I know very well.

January is Alzheimer Awareness Month. Headlines say we should not wait to get help for dementia if we have early symptoms. See a doctor. Well, I’m not into taking prescription pills, so I am asking my readers for help. If your forgetfulness is getting worse, let’s meet at Bear Foot Burger House in the former Dairy Queen and form a support group. We will develop a strategy to remember what we are forgetting. I will attempt to remember everyone’s name. Contact me: 250-832-4831, sallys1@telus.net.

ALLOWABLE RENT INCREASE FOR 2012

For a residential tenancy rent increase that takes effect in 2012, the allowable increase is 4.3 per cent. The increase is determined by the formula in the Residential Tenancy Regulation that is inflation plus two per cent. The inflation rate was determined as the 12-month average percent ending in the previous July.

You must notify your residential tenants of a rent increase at least three months before it begins. Download a form by going to www.rto.gov.bc.ca. On the left, click on Forms & Fees. On top, click on residential tenancy and do a search for rate increase form.

JANUARY 20, 2012

RETIRED TEACHER CO-ORDINATES KIDS’ LOPPET

In the ‘90s when Brian Smith was a teacher at Ranchero Elementary, he arranged loppets for school kids in the district. For six years he introduced them to cross-country skiing, a sport they could enjoy for decades.

An avid skier, he came out of loppet retirement seven years ago when seven members of the Larch Hills Nordic Ski Club formed a committee that would organize an annual Larch Hills Pirate Loppet. This year, the seventh loppet, will be held on Friday, January 27.

Registration packages are e-mailed to all schools. Teachers and parents are invited to assist with the 400+ kids who participate. Registration is $5 per child, grades 3 to 7, and the loppet has three starts according to grades. School Supt. Dave Witt will be skiing with the kids this year, and will present a plaque to the school with the highest percentage of skiers at the loppet.

Eighteen schools are participating this year, and some kids are coming from King’s Christian School, the alternate school, home schoolers, and Revelstoke schools. Kids from seven schools have been coming for pre-loppet practice sessions with Larch Hills club members.

The 5 km. race starts at 11 a.m. and is followed by a complimentary lunch. No placement ribbons will be given because this is not a competition, but there will be lots of draw prizes and four prizes for great pirate costumes. At 1 p.m, the waiting buses will take kids back to their school.

This year the school district gave the loppet $400 and CSRD’s Shuswap Tourism gave $500. Any money leftover is given to a school for buying skiis.

For information, go to www.skilarchhills.ca and on Events, click on Pirate Loppet. Click to see 959 pictures from last year.

KAMLOOPS SYMPHONY DRAWS FULL HOUSE

I went to the symphony with friends Ella Nakazna and Lynda Wilson last Friday. The Salmon Arm Savings & Credit Union Recreation Centre was filled, much to the delight of organizers and the Kamloops Symphony. It was the biggest crowd for a symphony concert here. Several standing ovations proved everyone enjoyed it.

I highly recommend that you attend the next symphony concert.

WENDY’S WENDY THOMAS IS COMING

The daughter of the man who started Wendy’s is coming here next week for Wendy’s Dreamlift Day which is on Wed., Jan. 25. Dave Thomas took a picture of his eight-year-old daughter who had red hair, pigtails, and freckles and used it to promote his restaurant.

Weather permitting, Wendy Thomas will spend Jan. 24 and 25 visiting every Wendy’s in the interior of B.C. to see first-hand, the success that is Wendy’s Dreamlift Day. That day, the staff and management donate the day’s wages, and the proceeds from food and drink sales and the money goes toward flying children with severe physical disabilities or life-threatening illnesses to Disneyland for a day.

Since 1995, $995,080 has been raised. Sometime next Wednesday, it will top the million-dollar mark.

GARAGE REMOTE STOLEN DURING CHURCH

If your garage door remote is clipped to your vehicle’s sun visor, a thief can break in, steal it, get your address from your ICBC papers and ransack your home.

This happened to an 81-year-old Abbotsford woman while she was in church. When she got home she found someone gained access to her house through the garage and stole many valuables. She urges people to hide their garage remote.

SOUP KITCHEN AT CROSSROADS CHURCH

A soup kitchen to feed the hungry was started by Crossroads Free Methodist Church 17 years ago, long before the Salvation Army came to Salmon Arm. Being located behind the Husky gas station is a convenient location for street people. Sometimes the RCMP bring people.

Lunch is served downstairs from 11 to 1 on Mondays and Fridays. Everyone is welcome. No one is turned away, even if they are millionaires. Some people come for fellowship and a visit. Some put money into the donation box.

Volunteers are church members, and some are from the Catholic church. Crossroads supplies and prepares the food, and food donations come from Tim Hortons and the Salvation Army. Money comes from the Church’s Thrift Store and Knights of Columbus.

FOOD STOLEN FROM CHURCH KITCHEN

One Sunday morning during a church service in 2010, someone entered the unlocked door to the lower entrance of Crossroads Church and stole all the meat and expensive products from the fridge and freezer that had been donated for the soup kitchen. Most of it was replenished by people who have lunch at the soup kitchen.

Since then, the door to the downstairs hall is always locked during church services.

WASH YOUR SOILED GROCERY BAGS

I made a purchase in one store and the clerk said he doesn’t usually put items in people’s reusable grocery bags because many are dirty. Mine was clean so he used it. He said one had raw hamburger that had leaked onto the bag and it turned him off.

Look inside of your reusable shopping bags. If they need to be laundered, do it!

A REUNION WITH EMPLOYEE FROM 1975

I hired Claire Kujundzic, right, in the first year of this paper, then called Shoppers’ Guide, because she was an artist and I wanted her to add an artistic touch. She was 22 at the time.

We met again in Quesnel recently where I spent a few days over the holidays. She and her partner Bill Horne, also an artist, bought the Roman Catholic church in Wells and have a studio and gallery in the front and living quarters in the back. www.claireart.ca

In 1975 Claire worked three days every two weeks at this paper, which was published every two weeks in that first year. When I asked what she learned the first thing she said was discipline. She used the headline machine and helped put the pages together. She learned how to do things quickly.

From Salmon Arm she took her new-found skills to Vancouver and worked at Highland Echo and then Common Ground. It was wonderful to meet her again and share experiences.

ARTIST STARTED NELSON’S ART SCHOOL

Claire Kujundzic’s father, Zeljko, studied art in Budapest. When he lived and worked in Nelson, B.C. he created a large tiled mural on the front exterior wall of the downtown hotel. It depicted Nelson’s fish and trees. He founded the school of art in that city. It is now called Kootenay School of Art.

When Claire worked for me I asked why she didn’t change her name to one that was easier and she said she wants to be known by her father’s name because he was so well-known as an artist.

JANUARY 13, 2012

POLAR BEAR DIP IN ENDERBY

Adele Lacoursiere and her sister Anne wanted to bring in the new year with a swim on January 1st. They were not able to find information about the annual dip at Canoe Beach but found Enderby was having its first Polar Bear Dip in the Shuswap River at 10 a.m. Eight people took the plunge, then each was handed a Polar Dip certificate by Enderby’s community newsletter RiverTalk.

They warmed up at the Chamber of Commerce office and enjoyed complimentary hot chocolate, coffee and cookies. Adele hopes this will become an annual event with more people taking the plunge next year.

STAMPS INCREASE IN PRICE ON MONDAY

Have you bought your 59¢ stamps? On Monday you will pay 61¢ when you buy a stamp to send a letter in Canada. On Saturday, tomorrow, post offices are closed but you can buy 59¢ stamps at the postal outlet in the back of Shoppers Drug Mart in Piccadilly. The postal counter closes at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

Stamps do not state their denomination. Have you noticed that? Next week when you send a letter with one of last year’s stamps, like one with a picture of William and Kate, you will not have to add a 2¢ stamp.

QUALITY CHILDCARE REDUCES CRIME

Paul Kershaw, whose mother Sue Kershaw lives in Canoe, is on a speaking tour across Canada on a new deal for families about being tough on crime. Spend money for quality childcare to reduce crime, he wrote in the Vancouver Sun on Nov. 30. 2011, not on lengthening sentences and building more prisons.

He and colleagues at UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership learned from kindergarten teachers across the province that parents who are raising young kids are squeezed for time at home, squeezed for income after the cost of housing, and squeezed for services like child care. At present, up to 30 percent of kindergarten-age kids will probably grow up to be emotionally and socially incompetent.

By providing $10/day childcare, as being considered by the House of Commons, kids will grow up with higher self-esteem, and prevent their later incarceration potential.

Google Paul Kershaw for more info. 

MAKE WAY FOR 2-YEAR-OLDS IN SCHOOL

An article in the National Post reports on the Early Years Study that recommends in-school programs for children as young as two. It says that guided play delivered by experienced early-childhood educators would maximize children’s development. Google: schools for two year olds.

Two-year-olds going to school? Some are still in diapers!

DOUBLE PAYMENT TO SEND A PARCEL

A Salmon Arm man was sending a parcel and paying by debit card. The first time, the transaction for $24.65 was incomplete so the clerk asked him to swipe the card again, which he did.

When he got home his wife used their phone to check the account. Both transactions for $24.65 had gone through. She phoned the clerk in Salmon Arm and complained but received a snippy reply. She called the company’s 800 number and reached someone in the U.S. An unfriendly person told her she will have to fill a form, include a copy of her bank statement, and wait up to six weeks to get the refund.

She was livid when she phoned Lakeshore News, then me. She wants others who are asked to swipe their debit card a second time to check and see how many times the transaction went through. If you are told the transaction was incomplete, ask for a slip from the card reader with the information.

BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS IN CITY’S CALENDAR

The City of Salmon Arm’s 2012 calendar was delivered to homes inside Lakeshore News at the end of December. It is full of information on garbage and recycling pickups. Every month has dates when city parks and facilities are booked and events are held. For example, July 1 is opening night for dinner theatre at Haney Village. All council meetings for the year are in the calendar.

Photographs were taken by Daron Crown, Deena Viik, Pure Life Photography, Adelya Crocker, Natasha Doesburg, city staff, Duncan Myers, Gregg Patterson, Jayca Gaudreault, Makayla Stirling, and Christine MacInnes.

FLU VACCINE MISSED THE TOUGH STRAIN

If you got a flu shot in the fall, it contained three strains of influenza: H3N2, an influenza B strain, and the H1N1 swine flu. How were the manufacturers of the vaccine to know which of the 50 strains would be around this winter? They took a guess, and I believe profit was their main motive.

Well they missed. A potent strain of influenza, A/H3N2, has a foothold in B.C. according to the Dec. 30 Vancouver Sun. It causes more severe illnesses, particularly in older adults, than normal seasonal flu.

That’s why I never submit my body to a flu shot. I have known too many people who got flu symptoms from their flu shot.

TAKE DOWN THESE OLD SIGNS

The previous owner of the restaurant in the industrial park wanted bikers who came to Sturgis North Biker Rally in July to eat at Wayout Diner so he or she put several signs along the highways. Two are at the corner of 30th St. NE and the Trans Canada. Steel posts were pounded into the ground so hard that the signs cannot be pulled up by hand.

If you are going by with a front-end loader or a Jaws of Life, would you get rid of the signs? Thanks.

JANUARY 6, 2012

CHANGING FACE OF SALMON ARM

Askew’s second store up on the hill is progressing nicely. Orange tarps are hung in order to keep the inside heated for construction workers. Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union will build a branch in the Askew’s mall on the hill.

Between the new Askew’s and Holiday Inn Express, the DQ Grill & Chill and Orange Julius will open in spring.

In Centenoka, the Real Canadian Wholesale Club is renovating to make room for Staples, which will have an entrance from the parking lot.

In Piccadilly, Zellers will soon begin to downsize in preparation for its closing in July, 2012. After that, Canadian Tire will take over the space and begin massive renovations in preparation for opening there in spring 2013 after closing its present store.

At left, The Candy Vault on Hudson opened on Dec. 2 in what was once the Bank of Nova Scotia, next to the Lakeshore News office. Farther down Hudson Ave. to the corner of Alexander St., contractor Bill Laird is doing massive renovations.

The new Dollar and Deal building across Hudson Ave. from Lakeshore News is coming along.

Hilltop Toyota has competed a massive reconstruction this year.

Jacobson Ford is having a facelift and expansion.

The Husky gas station was torn down and is being replaced with two new buildings.

WALK TO RAISE AWARENESS OF HOMELESS

Communities across Canada are being asked to participate in a walk on the coldest night of the year, Feb. 25, 2012. In Salmon Arm, team captains are needed to bring together teams of walkers, and volunteers are being recruited to help plan, organize and execute the event. 

Funds raised in Salmon Arm will go to support the work of the Salvation Army Lighthouse Shelter. Read details at www.coldestnightoftheyear.org. By now Salmon Arm will be listed as a participating community. To volunteer in this, the second year of the non-competitive five- and ten-km walk, do so on the website. “Together, we’ll warm up the night.”

MERRY UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

When I was a child, I envied my best friend and neighbour Elsie Konkin because she received many gifts from the Eaton’s catalogue on December 25th. Being Doukhobor, her family did not observe the old Julian calendar which had Christmas Eve on January 6.

We Ukrainians went to church, gathered for a feast with friends, and best of all, went carolling to the homes of parishioners and raised funds for the church. My father was the cantor in church and led the carollers.

Khristos rodyvsya!! Christ is born!

DECEMBER 30, 2011

TWO FORMER MOUNTIES HONOUR ONE ANOTHER

Two former Mounties made history on Dec. 6, 2011. Judge Edward (Ted) R. Brecknell (above, left) performed the swearing-in ceremony for the new council for the City of Enderby that included Mayor Howie Cyr (above, right). Ted and Howie are former members of the RCMP and worked together off and on for 18 years.

Howie requested that Judge Brecknell install the new council, and he was honoured to have Ted there. “I have tons of respect for the man, because he represents all that we expect in someone in his position.  He always has conducted himself with dignity and compassion. Coupled with the fact he also was an RCMP member, he is truly an exceptional person.”

THE JUDGE

Judge Brecknell was born and raised in Saskatoon and joined the RCMP in 1957 when he was 18. He was stationed in Kamloops, Vernon, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and Golden. He wanted to be a lawyer, but he couldn’t just quit in those days so in 1966 as a First Class Constable, he bought himself out.

With a wife and young family he went back to Saskatoon to attend the University of Sask., graduated in 1971, and started practicing law with Henry Sivertz in Salmon Arm, B.C. He has been here ever since. He was appointed a Provincial Court Judge in Oct. l990 and retired on Dec. 31, 2006. Later he was appointed a Judicial Justice of the Peace, which he still holds and is trying to help with some changes and backlog challenges the Court system is currently facing.

He feels very privileged to have served the people of British Columbia over the past 50 years in three separate, but related careers, and very lucky to have done it mostly from beautiful Salmon Arm!

THE MAYOR

Howie Cyr was born in Brooks, Alberta and lived there until he joined the RCMP at the age of 19 in July, 1970. After graduating, all members in his troop were transferred to Ottawa where they formed the first-ever security team to provide protection for the prime minister, governor general and visiting heads of state.

This was at the end of the FLQ crisis and Howie had the responsibility to assist in providing protection for the Prime Minister, Gov. General and visiting Heads of State, later assigned full time to the British High Commissioner, whose predecesor had been kidnapped by the FLQ. These duties afforded an opportunity to speak with Prime Minister Trudeau and Gov. Gen Michener, a lasting memory.

Howie transferred to B.C. and worked in Mission, Princeton (where he met his wife-to-be), Chilliwack, Port Hardy, Osoyoos, Sayward, Merritt and Enderby. After 10 years in charge of the Enderby detachment, he retired in 2003 as a sergent. He had been in the RCMP for 33 years, mostly in the general duty field.

He worked for one of the largest houseboat companies in Canada, in Sicamous, and retired five years later. He continues being an instructor for the RCMP at its Chilliwack Academy on an infrequent basis.

Howie was a councillor for the City of Enderby for six years, and was elected mayor on Nov. 19, 2011. He and his wife have continued to live in Enderby, which he says is one of the best-kept secrets in the region!

KIDS: NAME THE RCMP FOAL CONTEST

The RCMP Musical Ride breeds its own horses and it invites children to submit names.

Google: RCMP name the foal contest. The form asks you to submit a name of a foal. The name must begin with an I and have no more than six letters. While on the website, look at photos of some of the colts and horses.

The website has this warning: “Children:

Always get your parent’s or guardian’s permission before submitting personal information such as your address, phone number or the name of school you attend, to any website.”

RCMP NAME THE PUPPY CONTEST

For 10 years, children across Canada have been providing names for RCMP Police Service Dogs. On Feb. 9, 2011, ten German Shepherd pups were born at the Police Dog Service Training Centre in Innisfail, Alberta. A press release invited kids to suggest names through a website.

By the March 7 deadline, 3,197 entries were submitted with some great names representing the noble character of the German Shepherds used as general duty police dogs by the RCMP. Submissions had to begin with the letter D. Google: RCMP Name the Puppy Contest and read the winning names.

The winners each received an 8×10-inch laminated photograph of their officially named puppy, an official RCMP ball cap, a plush dog named Justice, and a certificate.

MILLIONAIRES DO NOT RECEIVE FOOD HAMPERS

In my Dec. 16 column I wrote about a businessman who was angry that a couple of millionaires were receiving free food meant for the poor. Capt. Glen Fraser of the Salvation Army wrote to say that no one who is a millionaire receives a hamper from the Salvation Army food bank. Each person/family that receive a food hamper has undergone a needs assessment prior to receiving a hamper.

The food bank is open Monday to Friday and those who come in are able to help themselves to a share of the produce and bread that is received from local grocery stores. This is done without any questions asked.

The Salvation Army also operates a community hot lunch program weekdays that is open to whoever comes. No one stands at the door and says you have, you have not. The majority of guests are in the low-income bracket. Some who are a little better off will drop some money in the donation pot.

Capt. Glen writes: “We try to help our community and just maybe the person who made the comments does not know the entire situation and should not stand in judgment of others.”

SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX FOR STORING A WILL

The Financial Post article on estates that I quoted last week said a safety deposit box is not a good place to store a will because the executor will need it to gain access to the safety deposit box. I sent the article to Phyllis Simon, notary public, and she disagreed so I did not use the statement.

Phyllis wrote later that upon the death of the will-maker, the executor goes to the bank or credit union with the death certificate and states he or she is the executor. A bank employee will assist the person to go into the safety deposit box, itemize the contents and open the will to confirm the executor appointment.  

The original will is removed because it will be required for the probate application and all the contents that have been itemized are returned to the box until probate has been completed.

If there are two named executors, both will need to be present to open the safety deposit box.