It was such a busy weekend filled with so many tremendous accomplishments by so many residents, I’m looking forward to sharing some of the appreciation in this column. But, as with life with the bouquets also come brickbats, so I’m going to get mine out first.
I’d like to send a personal boo to the man who appears to have forgotten all his manners and common sense by deliberately bumping a traffic control worker, not once, but twice with his car last week.
The man was illegally talking on his cell phone while driving and the flag person directed him to get off his cell phone before resuming his travel. The man then apparently was so incensed that he not only hurled verbal abuse, but decided to use his car as a weapon. The worker ended up bruised, but otherwise physically unhurt. The RCMP were called in and Motor Vehicle Act charges are pending, but in my mind this man deserves a criminal charge. Pushing her with his car is just as bad as using his fists, which would be considered an assault.
Sometimes I wonder what it is about driving that can make so many people forget their common sense and simple good manners? It seems like people get in their cars and all that matters is getting where they need to go as fast as humanly possible and courtesy and even safety go out the window. So this construction season, try ensure you’re not one of those boneheads. Instead, take a deep breath and offer the flag person a wave or a smile. These people are there to do a job, they want to do it safely and ultimately they are there to help keep everyone safe.
Now on to the cheerful part of this column.
I’m probably preaching to the choir when I say how amazingly generous and caring the people of Salmon Arm can be.
This community has long been a huge supporter of the Relay For Life event, which benefits the Canadian Cancer Society. It is practically tradition that our small city bests our bigger neighbours including Kelowna and Kamloops in fundraising. This year was no exception. Even before our relay started Saturday evening, the money Salmon Arm raised exceeded the total of Kamloops’ event, which took place the weekend before.
Of course there are too many people to thank, but if you participated or donated, good on you.
Another event, now only in its second year also deserves a special mention in my mind. The iLearn Street event, hosted by the Shuswap Eagles Pathfinders Club, saw a huge and diverse range of organizations take part in educational and fun booths for kids. The event was designed to appeal to kids aged seven to 14, a group which often gets a bit overlooked. Kids had to complete learning stations on topics like nutrition, languages, fire safety, money management, and many more in order to earn their way to excellent prizes or the chance to bungee on a trampoline, climb a rock wall or take a hot air balloon ride. It was a class-A event, and completely free for participants. Huge kudos to all those involved in putting this on, it was terrific.
