Dear Editor,
Andy and I are pleased, honoured, and humbled to accept the award for the 2017 Clinton Citizen of the Year, and to join past recipients who we have long admired and respected, and who have made incredible contributions to the Village of Clinton and the community.
Thank you to those who nominated us. And of course, thank you to our extended family and friends for always supporting us and being there.
A very special thanks to the Spirit of Clinton COTY Committee for their dedication and teamwork putting on such a fantastic and rewarding evening for everyone who attended, and those who couldn’t be there.
Even before we moved here we had the opportunity to get to know the people, organizations, and groups: incredibly smart, thoughtful people who cared deeply about their community as a whole. What was so quickly noticeable after we moved were the volunteers who gave of their time and skills, which contributed to hugely successful long-running events. This is the reason why we enjoy volunteering, and couldn’t do it without you!
Saw these words in a book a while back, and they fit the Community of Clinton:
“Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. Volunteers do it for free. You’ve shown these qualities and so much more, so thank you (volunteers) for all that you do.”
Our regards to all,
Yvette and Andy May
Clinton, B.C.
Dear Editor,
As the president of the Gold Trail Teachers’ Association (GTTA), I wish to express that the teachers of School District No. 74 are committed in their effort to eliminate racism within our schools and communities.
We support and are involved in a number of anti-racism issues through our participation in the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF). For example, the BCTF has recently released an updated version of “Show Racism the Red Card”, an art poster campaign. We have also called on the provincial government to provide more resources to support the new curriculum, including resources to ensure that we are meaningfully including the First Peoples Principles of Learning in all courses at all grades.
The teachers of School District No. 74 were not involved in the creation of the recent poster campaign initiated by District management. In the future, the Association looks forward to any opportunity to collaborate with any and all partner groups in the District on resources aimed at fighting racism, and believes that as professionals who work with students, families, and communities on a daily basis we have much to contribute to the creation of any resource in the District.
T. Greenfield
President, GTTA
Ashcroft, B.C.
Dear Editor,
Just a reminder that Ashcroft has been gutted of a number of valuable assets over the past 25 years or so: the courthouse, the hospital, a whole network of shops on either side of Railway Avenue.
There are also a number of early buildings falling into ruin; buildings that played a vital part in the life of our community, such as the Opera House, the Masonic Lodge (formerly the Painted Ladies Gallery), and Bundus’s blacksmithy (formerly Bryson’s).
There is vital need of a vision for the future. We have not been negligent in the area of the Chinese contribution to our history. The restoration of the Chinese cemetery and the pictorial information there is outstanding. Let us now turn our attention to the challenging issue of the buildings that are abandoned and mouldering into ruin.
This area of the Village has attracted the movie industry on a number of occasions; an industry that brought revenue and interest to the Village. We have two historic churches in Ashcroft, built in 1891 and 1892. There are cottages and buildings that date from the early 1900s. Isn’t it about time to seriously consider the potential of what we have left in the downtown core?
There have been some notable cosmetic improvements in signage, both street signage and in our Heritage Park. We have very attractively-printed brochures in our info booth in the park. As welcome as these things are, they are not nearly enough. In a word, let’s stop playing around with our history, and really come to grips with the challenge of restoration of the buildings mentioned.
Esther Darlington
Ashcroft, B.C.
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