It seems summer weather has finally arrived, so that’s put me in the mood to make some toasts to things that make Shuswap summers such a pleasure.
Cheers: A shout out for the organizers and volunteers from the Salmon Arm Children’s Festival, who work so diligently to put on a first-class event that is accessible to families of all income levels. While there are some 50-cent games (And a child can get one free game ticket by wearing red), the remainder of the event is no charge. This includes access to wonderful musical acts, dance performances and bouncy play houses.
I find it wonderful that some of the most popular activities at the event are inexpensive, but incredibly engaging.
My children loved crawling through a maze made from large appliance boxes, where some enterprising volunteer cut interesting, shaped “windows” for the kids to peek out. Another hit was the doll clothes washing station. Using some plastic wash tubs, the kids spent tons of time cleaning the dollies and their clothes and hanging them on the line to dry. They were so good at it, I’m actually considering letting them do the laundry at my house.
The sand pit was a messy pile of fun and the opportunity for my son to sit in the driver’s seat of a real fire truck put a smile on his face so bright it would rival any Shuswap summer day.
Bravo to Karen Bubola, Kari Wilkinson, the co-chairs of the event and the entire team. My kids are already looking forward to next year.
Cheers: In another vein, kudos needs to go out to the parents and teachers who made the Salmon Arm Secondary graduation a success. It is one of the true pleasures of living in the small town that grads are treated like superstars for a day.
Another cheer must go out to the grads themselves. At least from our information, none of our young people were killed or seriously injured during the grad festivities. Let’s hope these young graduates are smarter than many of their elders and simply refuse to run the risk of drinking and driving.
Cheers: As I watched a police car zip past me with lights blazing to stop the driver who had just flown past me at speeds that were obviously illegal, I want to say a public thank you to that officer — and all the others who work for the local RCMP detachment or the region’s traffic services — for helping to keep our roads, homes, businesses and citizens safe.
Their job only gets more difficult as we see the influx of tourists into the Shuswap. The advent of the first Sturgis North event in our community next week will bring even more visitors, many of whom will be in the mood to ride their motorcycles and party hard. We hope those attending the event will not get out-of-hand and put further strain on those trying to uphold the law in our community.
-Tracy Hughes is the editor of the Salmon Arm Observer
