• After finding out they need to be out of the Maple Park Mall — the home of their monthly garage sales for more than a decade — by the end of the month, the Quesnel Lions Club was appealing to the community for help finding a new location. The garage sales are a major fundraiser for the club, bringing in about $2,000 to $3,000 a month, which the club uses to support the community in a wide variety of ways.
• The City’s Policy and Bylaw Committee is working on a bylaw to address “Nuisance Behaviour on Downtown Streets,” which includes panhandling, loitering, smoking (cigarette and cannabis) and vaping. Council approved the 100-400 blocks of St. Laurent Avenue, the 100-400 blocks of Barlow Avenue and the 200-400 blocks of Reid Street as restricted zones for lying, sitting and loitering on downtown sidewalks.
• After hearing from the community that the longer break is their preference, the Quesnel School District decided to keep a two-week spring break. The school district agreed to trial a two-week break for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school year and collected feedback from staff, parents, CUPE staff and community partners after the first year of the trial.
• Members of the ?Esdilagh First Nation took part in their first annual horseback and horse and wagon ride to the Williams Lake Stampede. Jeremy Kishkan of Narcosli Cattle Company and Jeff Taylor of Flying O Ranch provided wagon and some horses for the ride.
• Hailey Murray, Nalyssa Runge and Sydney Williams were crowned the 2019 Quesnel Ambassadors July 5. The three young women were corned during Pageant Night, the second of two nights that celebrated the end of the six-month Quesnel Ambassador Leadership Program.
• The Quesnel Terrors U14C girls softball team went 9-1 to win the provincial championships.
• Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. (BGM) hosted a community update meeting July 9 at the Wells Community Hall to provide an update on the proposed Cariboo Gold Project, an underground gold mine near the village of Wells. There, about 40 people heard the company is getting close to being able to submit a detailed project description for the proposed mine, which would trigger the formal environmental review process.
• This year’s Toni Onley Artists’ Project run by Island Mountain Arts in Wells was the biggest yet, with 24 professional and emerging artists from as far as Ontario and the Northwest Territories working under the guidance of mentorship of Diana Thorneycroft and Peter von Tiesenhausen.
• The Quesnel Strikers U16 soccer team won the B.C. Soccer Youth Provincial B Cup Championships after going undefeated in the Burnaby tournament.
• Swimmer Hannah Trimble won four gold medals and two silvers in the Paralympic category at the 2019 B.C. Summer Provincial Championships.
• The Quesnel Terrors hosted the Softball B.C. U16C Provincial Championships at West Fraser Timber Park and won a silver medial in the Silver Division.
• Construction began on a new 32-unit supportive housing project on Elliott Street.
• Convicted animal abuser Catherine Jessica Adams was found guilty of breaching her probation conditions in relation to animal cruelty charges. She appeared in Quesnel Law Courts July 16.
• B.C. Education Minister Rob Fleming announced the Province is investing up to $52.2 million to replace Quesnel Junior School with a new facility at the Maple Drive Junior Secondary School site. Fleming made the announcement during the Billy Barker Days Festival’s Kids’ Day in the Park on July 19 and said the new school is expected to be finished in time for students to start there in September 2022.
• The 45th Billy Barker Days Festival was considered a great success this year. Because admission is free and people come and go, it is hard to keep track of attendance, but organizers felt it was well-attended this year. The festival was also a success from a policing perspective, with calls for service and the prison count both down from previous years.
• The 54th annual Quesnel Rodeo was a great success this year as well, and the addition of the Ram CPRA Saddle Bronc Showdown this year was considered a real highlight, with pro riders earning high scores of 87.5, 84 and 82, to the delight of the crowds. And speaking of crowds, attendance Friday night and Saturday were record highs, and overall attendance was expected to be a new record.
• Jinny Sims, the provincial minister of Citizens’ Services, announced the provincial government’s Connecting British Columbia program is providing $298,406 to Quesnel’s ABC Communications to help fund wireless network upgrades in several communities, including Bouchie Lake, Ten Mile Lake and rural Quesnel.
• This year’s Sixth Annual Indigenous Celebration at Barkerville Historic Town and Park marked the launch of a full-time Indigenous interpretive program at Barkerville.
• Two new affordable housing projects celebrated their official grand openings July 25 in Quesnel. The Dakelh and Quesnel Community Housing Society’s new 38-unit building, Kikina, includes 11 accessible units, while the Quesnel Lions Housing Society’s Silver Manor provides 30 one-building units aimed at seniors and is built to adaptable and accessible standards.
• Justin Price won the main event at the Billy Barker Days Crash to Pass, dedicating his win to his good friend Riley Nault, who passed away.
This year’s Crash to Pass attracted a crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 and featured a record 50/50 of more than $10,000.
• Quesnel high jumper Bazil Spencer won a gold medal at the Under-20 Canadian Track and Field Championships in Montreal, clearing 2.03 metres on his first try.
• Provincial Agriculture Minister Lana Popham announced the Province is committing up to $500,000 for Quesnel to develop a regional food hub, the second in a provincial network that is being established.
