MAY
New federal riding proposed for Interior
Possible changes to the federal electoral boundaries in B.C. could see the province gain one additional seat, and undergo a shift in boundaries that would see Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton, and Lytton as part of a newly-created riding called Kamloops-Thompson-Lytton, which would also include most of the City of Kamloops. Clinton is currently part of the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding, which extends north to include 100 Mile House and east to include all of the City of Kamloops. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3Q6j9yO.
Lions mobile kitchen back in business
After nearly three years of being sidelined because of the pandemic, the Ashcroft and District Lions Club’s mobile kitchen was back on the road over the Mother’s Day weekend, serving up the Lions’ traditional Mother’s Day pancake breakfast at Desert Hills Ranch. Club president Sue Peters says that club members used the “down time” to update the trailer, so that it can provide many more years of service. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3CgAzU1.
Ashcroft guide wins award
The Village of Ashcroft’s “Experience Ashcroft” Pocket Guide received an Economic Development Marketing Innovation Award from the BC Economic Development Association (BCEDA). “We wanted to produce a visitor’s guide for Ashcroft because we’ve never had one,” explained Ashcroft’s Economic Development and Tourism Coordinator Margaret Moreira. “There was a lot of work involved in this and it was a labour of love. It was wonderful to see it win an award, it was quite exciting.” Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3IkJ7wL.
Commercial shot in Lytton and Ashcroft sparks outrage
A construction commercial filmed partly in Ashcroft and partly in fire-ravaged Lytton sparked outrage, with many wondering why filming could happen in the Interior town as longtime residents were still waiting to gain access back to their home – nearly a year after the historic wildfire. The two-minute-long commercial was shot for Calgary-based construction company ATCO. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3CfKQzE.
Royal Purple gets new lease on life
Ashcroft-Cache Creek Royal Purple Lodge #263, which has been in existence for 60 years, was on the verge of closing due to the effects of the COVID pandemic, but got a new lease on life just in time for Royal Purple week in May. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3IiVQAg.
Clinton Annual Ball returns
Clinton’s 155th May Ball went off without a hitch, with about 150 people enjoying the first full annual ball since 2019. Smaller events were held in 2020 and 2021 to preserve the event’s title as the longest-running event of its kind in Canada. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3WEZDvM.
Love Cache Creek program on hold
Only two weeks after it was announced that Cache Creek would be moving ahead as part of the Northern Development Initiative Trust’s “Love Northern B.C.” program, the move was put on hold following NDIT’s announcement that it would not be accepting new applications. The village’s initial decision to join the program was made in spring 2019, but the program was halted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3IlWg93.
JUNE
Rotary Citizens of the Year
More than 60 people gathered at the Ashcroft HUB on June 2 to honour the Rotary Club of Ashcroft/Cache Creek Citizens of the Year. Due to the pandemic, the banquets in 2020 (recognizing the 2019 recipients) and 2021 (recognizing the 2020 recipients) had to be cancelled, so the June 2 dinner celebrated all those who have been honoured over the past three years: Esther Lang (Ashcroft), Shelley Magwood (Cache Creek), Carol Madden (TNRD Area “I”), and Vivian McLean (youth) in 2019; frontline workers and first responders (2020); and Al and Marijke Stott (Ashcroft), Pay Moyer (Cache Creek), Paulet Rice (TNRD Area “I”), and Jacob and Michaela Aie (youth) in 2021. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3i04ybX.
Loon Lake Citizens of the Year
Doug and Susanne Kavalec were presented with the Loon Lake Citizen of the Year Award 2021 for their outstanding community service. The couple spent countless hours volunteering and helping out in the community, and were congratulated and thanked for all their efforts. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3WWdjST.
Cache Creek firefighters heading to FireFit Championships
Four Cache Creek firefighters were heading to the FireFit Championships on June 17-18, competing against other firefighters from around B.C. and Alberta for a chance to take part in the nationals in September. Alana Peters, 2nd Assistant Chief of the Cache Creek Fire Department, says that she and Chief Tom Moe, 1st Assistant Chief Al Wiens, and firefighter Adam Newman were off to Spruce Meadows, where all four would compete in the team event. Peters, Moe, and Wiens were also taking part in the individual events. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3WF3clU.
Drummers from Desert Sands School make international mark
On June 21, a group of Desert Sands Community School students were set to be a part of the Drum Across North & South America event, which featured students, elders, and drum and dance groups from two continents. The Huleme Rams Drummers, made up of nearly 30 students from Grades 1 to 6, planned to perform the Secwepemc Welcome Song, which is also known by the St’at’imc as the Women’s Warrior Song. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3IlcnDA.
Clinton volunteers honoured with Queen’s Jubilee pins
Nine South Cariboo residents were recognized with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee pins, which honour those who have provided a service to the community. Those recognized included three Clinton residents: Zelia Chevalier, Judy Hampton, and Nor Parke. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3Gy37ec.
Clinton school reverses plan to cut division
The principal of David Stoddart School in Clinton reversed a decision to cut one of its divisions in fall 2022 after parents turned out en masse to oppose the move. About 25 parents attended a Parents’ Advisory Council meeting to protest the restructuring of the K-12 school into just four divisions: K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8 and Grades 9-12. The school currently has five divisions split into K-1, Grades 2-4, Grades 5-7, Grades 8-10 and Grades 11-12. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3WUyJ2S.
Bannock makers compete for bragging rights
“May your oil stay hot and your pan not stick!” With that saying, Yvonne Smith kicked off the annual bannock-making competition Tuesday at the High Bar First Nation’s first annual Aboriginal Day in Clinton. Four women – including two from Clinton – competed to collect the most votes for their bannock, the traditional frybread staple in First Nations communities. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3CjKZC7.
Cache Creek U13 girls’ softball team brings home gold
The Cache Creek Thrashers girls’ softball team ended their season on a high note by earning the gold medal in the U13 C regional tournament in Enderby on the weekend of June 24. Sixteen teams competed in Enderby to determine the top squads in the region, which stretches from Penticton to Quesnel. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3jFgmAG.
16 Mile volunteers keep community safe
On June 29, members of the 16 Mile Community Society got a demonstration of two items that they hope will be able to assist them as they tackle fires in the area. 16 Mile has no formal fire department, but over the years the society has received donations of cash and equipment to help volunteers respond quickly to fires in the area, which is outside the firefighting boundaries of the Cache Creek and Loon Lake departments. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3G1cYYo.
One year on from fire, progress in Lytton has been slow and painful
A year after 90 per cent of the Village of Lytton was destroyed by fire, residents were still waiting to find out when they can return and start to rebuild. While there are a lot of questions, there are few answers, and lack of communication was still a frustration. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3vxEwzC.
JULY
Ashcroft and District Health Care Auxiliary thrift store busier than ever
Donations to the store show no signs of slowing down, keeping volunteers busy sorting through the items. Despite only being open one day a week, the store is never short of customers, and in 2021 disbursed $60,000 to organizations that support the health care needs of people in and around Ashcroft, Cache Creek, and the surrounding area. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3GwN28o.
Equality Project starts gleaning program
The Equality Project in Cache Creek was hoping to make use of some of the excess produce that might otherwise go to waste by starting a gleaning program. Every year the Project receives inquiries from Cache Creek residents — many of them seniors — who are looking for someone to glean their gardens when they are unable to. The program would be a win-win, with gleaners leaving some of the produce with the homeowner and taking the balance back to The Equality Project for use and distribution there. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3WJauVF.
Piece of Cariboo Waggon Road north of Clinton being restored
Piece by piece, the New Pathways to Gold Society (NPTGS) has been on a mission to map and restore the historic Cariboo Waggon Road, the engineering marvel that was built in the 1860s to provide a route to the goldfields of interior and northern B.C., and in 2022 was concentrating on an area near 51 Mile north of Clinton. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3IhU5TN.
Last outdoor public payphone leaving Ashcroft
They were once ubiquitous, but payphones have largely been made redundant in a world of personal smartphones, and in July the last outdoor public one remaining in Ashcroft was to be removed. WiMacTel Canada Inc., acting on behalf of TELUS, sent notice that the payphone — located at One Easy Stop on Brink Street — would be removed due to “a decline in usage”. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3jI3NET.
No ambulance or ER available for Ashcroft resident in distress
The alarm was being raised about a lack of ambulances and medical care in Ashcroft after a person went into cardiac arrest on Sunday, July 17 and no ambulance was available. The hospital emergency department was also closed on the weekend due to “limited physician availability,” according to a public service announcement sent by Interior Health on Friday, July 15. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3CgS4mT.
Nohomin Creek wildfire near Lytton grows to 2,000 hectares
The Nohomin Creek wildfire, which started near Lytton on July 14, had grown to 2,058 hectares as of Tuesday, July 19. The fire started on the west side of the Fraser River approximately 1.7km northwest of the village, which was almost completely destroyed by fire on June 30, 2021. It had been moving in a northwesterly direction along the Fraser River, fuelled by heavy winds of up to 60 km/hr in the area. Steep terrain, heavy smoke, and accessibility all presented challenges for crew working at the site. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3GvcY4e.
Ashcroft man injured protecting dog from bobcat attack
An Ashcroft man and his dog suffered minor injuries after what appeared to have been a bobcat attack in the back yard of their home near Desert Sands Community School. Both owner and dog were doing well after the attack. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3Z5hVYY.
Puppies delight Lytton fire crews
Some very special guests made a surprise appearance at the BC Wildfire Service camp in Lytton on July 23, to the delight of wildland firefighters battling the Nohomin Creek wildfire. The six-week-old litter of 10 pups arrived courtesy of owners Tricia Thorpe and Don Glasgow, whose home just outside Lytton was destroyed in the Lytton Creek fire in June 2021. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3GzSnMs.
New TNRD film commissioner eager to learn about the region
Thanks to geocaching, the Thompson-Nicola Film Commission’s (TNFC) new film commissioner, Terri Hadwin, is no stranger to a large part of the region, and she said she was looking forward to getting to know the rest of the area. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3vvVK0l.
AUGUST
Vintage highway video logs a trip back in time
Despite its popularity in movies, television, and fiction, time travel is not yet a reality, but an unlikely source has made possible the next best thing. B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation TranBC website features a page called the “BC Road Trip Time Machine”, with links to a number of home movies that were created in 1966. The photologs were used to capture road condition information from more than 8,000 kilometres of highway across the province. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3WF8jlQ.
Reprieve for concession building in Cache Creek park
At their meeting on Aug. 2, Cache Creek council discussed what to do about repairing the concession/washroom building at the rear of the Cache Creek park. A staff report on the issue noted that flooding in recent years has damaged the interior, that there was an issue with the sewer lines, and that future flooding could undo any repairs that were carried out. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3X1ly0f.
2022 fire season well behind 2021 in terms of hectares burned
On Aug. 4, the province announced that to that point in 2022, 528 wildfires had burned a total of 22,000 hectares in B.C. In comparison, by early August 2021 there had been 1,530 wildfires throughout the province, which had burned a total of 858,292 hectares. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3jNOWbG.
Clinton Museum offering literal taste of history
All summer long, the Clinton Museum offered a literal “taste of the past”, with events that gave participants a chance to sample authentic recipes from different eras. The final event featured eight different dishes from the lunch menu of the Clinton Hotel around 1958, shortly before the historic building — which had been serving travellers since 1860 — was destroyed by fire. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3Q5a9tX.
No ambulance in town for Ashcroft man in medical distress
An Ashcroft resident died within half-a-block of the ambulance station, after an ambulance took nearly half-an-hour to reach him. It was the second time in less than a month that an Ashcroft resident in severe medical distress had to wait nearly 30 minutes for an ambulance, despite the community having a 24/7 Alpha ambulance station. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3jJd67s.
“Super Dave” Hodgson giving back to others at Honour Ranch
At the Honour Ranch near Ashcroft, he’s known as “Super Dave”. And at an age when most people would be happy to slow down, Dave Hodgson — who turned 80 in July 2022 — spends his retirement as a volunteer at the ranch, where he is the property manager for the site. “My daughter Beverley is a paramedic and knew about the Honour House, and she said I’d worked there and volunteered me. I came up with them, and they asked me if I’d stay on board to look after things.” That was four years ago, and now he is a fixture at the site. Read the full story at https://bit.ly/3G9tK7R.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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