Human Interest
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By Wally Hild
After 25 years of service as a volunteer firefighter, a well known Wildwood resident has earned his Fire Chief stripes.
Randy Worsley says with his experience, it’s like stepping from one role to another. He was named to head the local fire department a month ago after long-time Chief Bawnie Ward recently moved on to further her career.
“I think I was drafted,” he says with a laugh. However, it was no laughing matter when a local store burned down in 1985 and there were little resources to fight the blaze at that time.
(Photo: Taken in 2011 during the Wildwood Volunteer Fire Department's open house which highlighted opportunities for the community to get involved with the department, and celebrated 25 years in operation.)
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As winter approaches, highway conditions worsen and reaction times are reduced, it is the perfect opportunity to remind the motoring public to slow down and move over when approaching and passing emergency vehicles.
In 2009, a new law came into effect designed to help protect emergency services personnel on or next to roadways in British Columbia. Dubbed the 'Slow Down and Move Over' law for obvious reasons, drivers must decrease their speed when approaching a stopped emergency vehicle when it is on or beside a roadway and has its lights flashing. Further, if there are two lanes going in the same direction, drivers must move into the inside lane to pass, if it is safe to do so and a police officer has not directed them to do otherwise. This gives emergency workers as much space as possible to complete their duties.
Scouts Canada Apple Day(s) in Williams Lake
5th Williams Lake Beavers, Cubs and Scouts are at Canadian Tire today until 2:00pm giving away apples by donation.
According to Scouts Canada National website, Apple Day started in St. John, New Brunswick in 1932 as a thank-you for supporting scouting activities. At first, apples were given out as a thank-you for the support that various scouting groups had received.
Hard at work at the Memory Garden
Cody Slinn, Food Action Coordinator with the Food Policy Council (FPC) and his brother Daniel didn’t let a little rain and cool temperatures deter them from working on the fence at the Memory Garden at the bottom of Carson Hill this afternoon.
According to Cody, the first piece of the fence is being built this year. “There are a couple of reasons not to do the whole thing at once. One reason is simply logistics and the other is that a lot of people may make the assumption that this isn’t public space – which it is.”
“Fencing it bit-by-bit ensures that the kids will continue to use the walkway ,” explains Cody. The fence project will continue in the spring of 2013.
$4,000 donation made to KidSport in Williams Lake
(Photo: MLA Donna Barnett presented a $4,000 donation to the Williams Lake and District KidSport™ chapter on behalf of the provincial government at 11:30 this morning. L-R: Denise Skarra, Donna Barnett and Deb Radola.)
KidSport™ Canada pays the SportsBC registration fees for children whose family are challenged by these costs. Local sports include swimming and swimming lessons, hockey, gymnastics, wrestling, lacrosse, soccer, softball, fencing, rugby, Little League fastball, figure skating, riding, curling, Tae Kwan Do, and karate.
Local award-winning filmmaker to debut new movie next spring
By Bev Boyle
Trevor Mack of Williams Lake is a young man with big dreams. His latest venture is a short film called ‘The Blanketing’ and the movie is written, directed and produced by the Tsilqot’in (Chilcotin) filmmaker. The film takes place in the mid 1800’s “and is a metaphorical non-linear story about a confrontation between a tribe of First Nations in Northwest America and several road builders. The short film delves into the controversial subject of the smallpox outbreak that nearly exterminated the entire Tsilhqot'in people as well as the infamous Chilcotin War.”
DriveABLE assessment service available in Williams Lake
In order to drive safely, no matter what our age, we need to be able to think and react quickly. DriveABLE assessments are distinct from the driver medical fitness assessments that all drivers must complete with their medical practitioner at age 80 and every two years thereafter, however, the requirement to undertake a DriveABLE assessment is not always related to the age of a driver.
Having the DriveABLE assessments available in Williams Lake reduces travel for drivers who are referred to take the cognitive assessment.
Homestead Sapper moved on, Exercise Rough Rider moved in
While the area has largely been unused since 1997, the Canadian Military has recently resumed training exercises at their facility at Drummond Lake, near the community Riske Creek in the Chilcotin.
On September 30, Warrant Officer Van Den Broek provided Got News Network Inc. with a guided tour of ‘Homestead Sapper’, the 1 Combat Engineer Regiment’s training camp at the Chilcotin training area. Warrant Officer Van Den Broek, whose military career spans over 26 years, is generally a Troop Warrant for an 'improvised explosive disposal troop', but he was needed in the Command Post during this training exercise.
(Photo: Warrant Officer Van Den Broek hosts a very thorough tour of military training facility near Riske Creek, BC in the Chilcotin region.)
Dry Grad Committee looking to fill some executive positions
Even though school has been in session for just over a month and next year's graduation is months away, a group of parents and community members have already started the planning and preparation needed to ensure that the 2013 graduating classes of Williams Lake will have another successful event.
"It takes hundreds of combined volunteer hours to organize and put on this event," stated Orlena McColl, Communications Coodinator. "A volunteer recruitment meeting held a few weeks ago and many people attended to sign up as volunteers. However, there were a few executive committee positions that were not filled at that meeting."
Williams Lake SPCA reopens for adoptions
The BC SPCA Williams Lake Branch is once again fully open for adoptions.
The shelter, which had been opened only for dog adoptions in recent weeks while treating cases of ringworm in cats, is now open regular hours for all adoptions.
(Photo: 'Baron' is a three month old, domestic short hair cross. He has already been neutered and is ready for his new home. Call the Williams Lake SPCA Branch today to learn more.)
Multi-agency training at the 150 Mile House Volunteer Fire Department
“This is a training exercise, not an evaluation or demonstration,” Chief Paul McCarthy recently explained to a group of more than 25 emergency responders from the 150 Mile House Volunteer Fire Department, Miocene Volunteer Fire Department and Central Cariboo Search and Rescue highway rescue team.
It is relatively rare to get that many emergency service individuals in one spot for a practise. One member called it the ‘organized ballet’, saying a multi-agency practise allows everyone to do their job faster and more efficiently because they’ve worked with each other before and know what the other agency is there to do. He explained that knowing what the other emergency responders capabilities are, makes everyone’s task easier and, ultimately, benefits the victims.
While all responders were off-site, Incident Commanders from each emergency group staged the scene; a three-vehicle crash involving two mid-sized cars and a motorbike, complete with five live victims sporting realistic wounds that would be indicative of the actual scenario. Door handles on the cars were smashed so the doors couldn’t be opened quickly or simply – a very real scenario faced by emergency responders. The group of responders then arrived at the scene and began to treat it as if it was an actual motor vehicle incident.
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