Cache Creek celebration
Celebrate 50 years since the incorporation of the Village of Cache Creek at the 50th Anniversary Dance at the Cache Creek Community Hall on Saturday, November 25. There will be prize giveaways, music, snacks, an anniversary souvenir for everyone, and a fun evening with friends and neighbours. Music will be supplied by DJ Nick Carter. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Dress is semi-formal, and tickets are $10 each (must be 19 or older to attend). Tickets are available at the Cache Creek Village Office, Husky House, and the Cariboo Jade Shoppe.
Tech coaching at Ashcroft Library
A reminder that there are 30-minute one-on-one tech coaching sessions available at the Ashcroft Library on Saturday, November 25. The session will help you with your technology needs; please tell library staff what you would like to learn when you register.
Drop in at the branch during office hours to register, or call (250) 453-9042.
Christmas hampers
The Christmas Hamper committee is accepting applications for hampers at the South Cariboo Elizabeth Fry Society office on Bancroft Street in Ashcroft until December 6. Residents living in or around Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton, and Spences Bridge can apply at the E. Fry office every weekday until December 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (the exception is December 6, when applications will be taken between 12 and 2:30 p.m.). Please bring photo ID and proof of residency.
Volunteers are wanted to help sort goods from December 13 to 15 (9 a.m. to noon), and for delivery on December 16. If you can help, please call Esther Lang at (250) 453-9085.
Co-chairs for Board of Education elected
At the Board of Education for School District No. 74 (Gold Trail) meeting held on November 7, trustees Vicky Trill and Valerie Adrian were elected as co-chairs of the board.
Prior to electing the co-chairs, the board approved the use of the co-chair model during the term of November 2017 to November 2018. The co-chair model supports collaborative leadership in support of effective governance.
Other elected positions included trustee Carmen Ranta re-elected as the representative on the BC Public School Employers’ Association Representative Council and trustee Vicky Trill re-elected as the representative on the BC School Trustees’ Association Provincial Council.
Lytton K–12 consultation process
At their open board meeting on November 14, the Board of Education for School District No. 74 moved to extend the community consultation process to May 14, 2018 in order to fully explore the K–12 options at the Lytton Elementary School site. If, at that time, sufficient funds have not been found by the community partner groups to support a new K–12 school, the board will proceed with the renovation of Kumsheen Secondary School and the closure of Lytton Elementary effective the renovation at Kumsheen Secondary.
The board will also be providing $10,000 to a community partner group in Lytton, with representatives including local First Nations bands, parents, Nzen’man’ Daycare Society, the Village of Lytton, the school district, and other partners for the facilitation, and seeking of sufficient funds, to support the building of a new K–12 school at the Lytton Elementary School site. The results of the work of the group will be presented to the board prior to May 14, 2018.
School district enrolment
As of September 29, 2017, enrolment in School District No. 74 stood at 1,110 students, up by two students over the September 30, 2016 figures.
Cache Creek Elementary currently has 107 students (down one from the same time last year); David Stoddart School in Clinton has 75 students (down from 76); Desert Sands Community School has 262 (down from 281); Lytton Elementary has 89 (up from 75); and Kumsheen Secondary School has 70 (up from 64).
Rural Dividend intake now open
Applications for funding in the fourth intake of the BC Rural Dividend program will be accepted from November 15 to December 15, 2017, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Doug Donaldson announced last week.
Single applicants can apply for up to $100,000 for community-driven projects, and must contribute at least 20 per cent of the total project cost. Partnerships involving more than one eligible applicant can apply for up to $500,000 and must contribute 40% of the total project cost.
A project-development funding stream will provide up to $10,000 to help communities with limited capacity build the business cases and feasibility assessments needed to develop strong projects and support the development of future project applications.
Under the BC Rural Dividend program’s special circumstances allowance, which is used to help rural communities facing economic hardship, funding will also support those communities hard hit by wildfires in 2017.
Projects will be assessed and approved based on the following criteria:
• Rural communities most in need
• Improved community resiliency and economic strength
• Partnership building and enhanced shared prosperity
• Project feasibility and sustainability
• Economic impact on rural communities
• Attracting and retaining youth
• Innovation in economic development
An updated Program Guide with the necessary information to develop applications is now available at gov.bc.ca/ruraldividend
Program staff are available throughout the intake process to assist applicants in developing strong applications. Applicants are encouraged to contact the Program Office directly with their questions, by phone at (250) 356-7950) or by email at ruraldividend@gov.bc.ca.
Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura (www.atlasobscura.com) is a website that bills itself as showcasing “Curious and Wondrous Travel Destinations” from around the world. Now and then one of the sites is within striking distance of our region, so travellers might want to check them out next time they visit; or visit them online, in the case of remote locations such as this one.
A beaver dam in Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta is so large that it shows up on satellite images. First spotted in 2007 on Google Earth, it’s estimated that several generations of beavers have been working on it since the 1970s, making it the largest known beaver dam on earth.
The dam is about half-a-mile long, and since beavers are continuing to build new dams nearby, an additional 300 feet could soon be added to the existing dam.
Beavers are one of the few species capable of creating structures that are significant enough to be seen from space, and they are remarkable environmental engineers. Their dams re-route streams and even alter entire ecosystems. These creations, which are built to last, are barriers that form ponds, which act like defensive moats to protect them from predators like wolves and bears.
The hodgepodge of mud, branches, stones, and twigs is cloaked in a layer of grass, meaning it’s been there for a while. The dam stretches across a remote wetland area, which provides the creatures with both plenty of fresh water and bountiful building materials. The isolated location makes it difficult for any curious human to reach and disturb the site.
For more information, go to http://bit.ly/2hqTKAm.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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