• The Sicamous and District Rec Centre Society wanted to rename the rink in honour of Wayne and Lorraine March: the March Memorial Arena. Wayne March remains the facilities manager for the SDRC and has been the general manager of the Eagles since their inception. Lorraine March lost her battle with cancer in September 2018. “It’s more-so for Lorraine than for me,” said Wayne. “She did leave a legacy here. It would be awesome.”
• When deciding on their strategic priorities for the coming term at their Jan. 30 meeting, Sicamous council made securing a pedestrian bridge at Main Street a top priority. Council also approved a resolution requesting Splatsin support for a suspension pedestrian bridge at Main Street, and that they work with the district to ensure the sensitive traditional fish wier located near the proposed bridge location is protected.
• The District of Sicamous proceeded to establish a ban on the sale, transportation, storage and discharge of fireworks. The ban would pertain only to commercial/public sales, storage and use of fireworks, and not the Canada Day and Christmas tree light-up fireworks shows.
• The first month of 2019 may not have been kind to the Sicamous Eagles, but they turned things around with a pair of wins, 4-1 over the 100 Mile House Wranglers on Feb. 1, and 5-3 against the Grand Forks Border Bruins on Feb. 2.
• Sicamous council ended the district’s prohibition on the sale of cannabis and enacted a policy with rules for cannabis retailers. The prohibition was put in place in May 2018 so the district would have time to draft a policy giving to deal with retail applications referred by the province’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch.
• Sicamous firefighters staged a response to an ammonia leak at the rec centre in a training exercise held on Feb. 5. “We’ve discovered some weaknesses in our own training and we can always improve and get better. It’s getting better and better,” said Sicamous Fire Chief Brett Ogino to the firefighters gathered for a debrief after the training exercise. Although preparation for a leak is essential to saving lives should one happen, Rec Centre facilities manager Wayne March said the rink at the Sicamous Rec Centre is one of the safest in the province.
• Shuswap martial artist Chris Evans, who is the Provincial Martial Arts instructor in Malakwa and trains at the Sicamous club with Sensei Holly Raczynski, travelled with his three daughters to Calgary to compete at the Rocky Mountain Martial Art Championships. Chris won gold in both of his sparring divisions: men’s black belt 40+ in point fighting, and kickboxing. His daughters, Ella Suk, Natalia Suk, and Austyn Evans also all competed in forms and point sparring.
• After Dark Distillery’s Monashee Mountain Vodka was awarded a silver medal at the 2019 Canadian Artisan Spirit of the Year Awards, while their Copper Island Gin picked up a bronze.
• Sicamous farmer Nic Dewitt introduced an A2 milk product for people who have trouble digesting milk. “We actually read an article about a company doing it in Australia, and it’s the fastest-growing fluid milk product in the world,” Dewitt said “The big thing that caught our attention was they claim 50 per cent of people that are diagnosed lactose intolerant are actually sensitive to the protein in the milk.”
• The Columbia Shuswap Regional District board resolved to apply for the $13 million in federal funding for construction of the Sicamous to Armstrong rail trail project.
• The smiling face of Sicamous toddler Britton Hutchinson could be seen on billboards in Vancouver promoting the David Foster Foundation and its work supporting organ donations. Britton received a life-saving heart transplant in 2015.
