March 4
See how Deep Runs the Canyon
Plunging down a fifteen-foot waterfall into the roiling rapids of a Kootenay creek is paddler and videographer Carl Jacks’ idea of a great time, and it shows. In fact, it’s showing in New Denver as part of the North Valley Mountain Film Festival.
“Deep Runs the Canyon,” 34-year-old Jack’s latest documentary film, mixes artistic visionary elements with stories of local whitewater kayaking adventure. Filmed throughout the West Kootenays, the film follows the Endangered Creeks Expedition, a collective of area paddlers concerned about the offsets of Run-of-River hydroelectric projects.
“Much of the footage is from around Nakusp,” Jacks told the Arrow Lakes News over the phone last week, “The Kuskanax is a hidden gem in the area.”
May 4
Wassabi Collective schools kids in rock
Classes were clapping along to Stevie Wonder and rocking out to Nirvana when Nelson’s Wassabi Collective came to town Wednesday, April 25. Finishing the last leg of their ankle-biter tour, the musical group brought a whole lot of sound to Nakusp’s two schools.
The group has been playing to a different, much shorter crowd than their usual for the last two weeks, touring schools throughout the Kootenays from Creston to Kaslo, to New Denver and Nakusp, and it sounded like a happy change.
“Usually we play at festivals and bars,” said singer-drummer Jimmy, “It’s really great to play for you kids.”
July 2
2012 Burton Beach Daze soggy but still fun
After what can only be described as a sodden start to summer, the forecast for Burton’s Beach Daze looked grim. Not only were there (more) rainfall warnings being issued by Weather Canada, but not a severe thunderstorm was being predicted.
Despite the doom and predicted gloom, Friday was one of the few really beautiful days of summer yet, even though a haze did overtake part of the afternoon. Still, the evening was lovely, and enthusiasm was undiminished even by thunder and lightning in the distance.
Saturday morning the ground was wet at Burton Beach, but no rain was falling, and the parade line up was a motley and merry crew of Burtonites dressed for anything. Togas, heels, horses; the variety from the hamlet was alarmingly funny.
July 6
Hooking show has punch
“My daughter tells people I teach punching to hookers,” joked artist Sara Judith, “and I sell drugs when I’m not hooking” (she’s also a pharmacist).
Sex? Drugs? Where’s the rock’n’roll? Actually, none of the three were the subject of the most recent show at the Hidden Garden Gallery.
Judith and her co-exhibitor Heather Fox are textile artists whose chosen medium is hooked and punched rugs, a kind of craft that utilizes traditional techniques of pulling or pushing different kinds of material through a grid backing to create beautifully designed rugs.
July 5
Nakusp 120th birthday a soggy celebration
Beautiful weather came and went the week before the July 1 long weekend, and the variable forecasts had everyone guessing whether they’d be dressing in their vintage bathing costume or antique wellingtons.
Saturday arrived at last with a good start: sun breaking through cottony clouds, but it didn’t last. By the time the dog contests were being held on Broadway, the sky had thickened with clouds and was dumping rain.
Aug. 4
Nakusp’s first rodeo gets town hootin’ and hollerin’
Over the past week, Nakusp seemed to have been filling up with people from out of town. New faces from new places populated the streets, and accommodations, many but not all of them here for the First Annual Nakusp Rodeo.
J.R. Bruvall, the rodeo organizer responsible for bringing C+ Rodeos to our town, had said he was a little concerned that he had hardly any ticket sales locally before the event. Taking a look at the crowd in the stands on Saturday, July 28, it looked as though there were quite a few locals who had decided last minute to see what all the commotion was about.
Scattered around the site were merch tents and games for kids, including a mechanical bull and two shooting areas. An inflatable “OK Corral” had a bucket filled with water guns that kids could use to reenact a much cooler and less fatal version of the legendary final shootout. Livestock were corralled, waiting for the main events, with bulls lying in the heat, conserving their strength.
Summer had arrived, including a late thunderstorm on Friday evening that put a bit of a damper on the Friday night events, namely the dance held out at the rodeo grounds. Other than that, it was hot and clear, with the biggest challenge for the folks sitting in the stands and not wrestling, roping or riding was keeping cool and shaded.
