People are a curious bunch of creatures.

Sunday, 23 August 2009 19:05 |

Editorial

Have you ever been past an accident, a fire, some type of traffic problem? Then you have probably been a "looky-loo" as most people are wanton to be. I know having put 3 million miles on behind the wheel of a semi truck, I have done my share of looky-looing. I have also seen thousands of others who almost always lose their concentration on what they are doing (driving).

We can't help ourselves, we are curious about what goes on around us.

It was this feature of human nature that I found myself experiencing during the Poplar Glade fire a couple of years ago. It was not just a driving need to see the fire, it was also watching our firefighters in action. They were doing what they could to try to save the school or at least control the fire to protect other structures nearby. It was also the people we knew who lived nearby, but were stuck at work unable to see if their homes and friend’s homes were safe. Still others had children or friends with children in that school had no idea what the status was regarding the kids and teachers. I realized we live in an almost instant information society, but Williams Lake had no source for news and information that people could access anytime from wherever they were.

My kids are adults now, but I still sympathized with the parents not knowing what the situation was developing like at the school. Having moved here from Kelowna in 04 and being there for the fires in 2003, we saw the value in an online news source. They were able to have updates online as soon as they received them from the RCMP or the fire command post. The radio only gave updates on their schedule. so if you missed one you had to wait for the next one 30 minutes later. The newspaper was a daily, but still you were getting news well after the fact. The online news source was far and away the best way to keep abreast of the breaking news. It was faster than the radio and newspapers and you could look back and see if you missed anything. It was an ideal way to keep up to date on the fires.

During the Poplar Glade fire, we realized that our previous experience with websites would allow us to put together an online news source for Williams Lake. It would keep people up to date on breaking news, allow them to look back at previous stories and even let them submit breaking news stories and pictures as it happens. Williams Lake has been hungry for this for a couple of years, but not quite ready for it, we were still very much a small country town in our feelings and attitude. We had been resisting change and the push to step into the 21st century. Over the last year or so, it became obvious that our attitude had changed and the people were indeed ready for the 21st century. Don't get me wrong, that small town attitude along with our heritage is what attracted us to Williams Lake in the first place. But we do believe that even small heritage towns can find a happy existence in the 21st century.

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