EpiCentre kids
A reminder for parents of children in Grades One through Seven that EpiCentre Kids has started up again at the Ashcroft HUB. The program runs every Wednesday until November 29 from 3 to 5 p.m., and features group indoor and outdoor activities such as crafts, baking, and more.
Participants will be picked up at Desert Sands School and brought to the HUB. Registration is required, and the cost for the fall session is $100 (or $10 per day, with pre-registration required). For more information, or to register, call the HUB at (250) 453-9177, or email ashcrofthub@gmail.com.
Time change at The Equality Project
The Equality Project in Cache Creek has changed the hours at its Stage Road headquarters, and is now open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., with lunch served between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Ringers wanted
The Desert Bells Handbell Choir needs more ringers. No experience is necessary: just a willingness to listen, learn, and work hard.
The choir currently has 11 members of all ages from Cache Creek and Ashcroft. The group meets once a week from September to December, and from January to April, in the Cache Creek Community Hall for a practice, and gives at least two public performances per year.
The choir has three octaves of both bells and hand chimes, and plans to add a fourth octave this year, hence the need for more ringers. To be a part of this wonderful, unique local group, contact Carmen at (250) 457-1250 for more information.
Alpha sessions offered
The Cross Roads Pentecostal Church is offering a series of Alpha sessions from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday until November 23 at its location at 1535 Stage Road in Cache Creek.
Alpha is a series of interactive sessions that freely explore the basics of the Christian faith, and is for anyone who is curious about learning more. Each session looks at a different question, and is designed to create conversation. There is no pressure, no follow-up, and no charge; it is just an open, informal, and honest space to explore and discuss life’s big questions.
Dinner is included with each session. To find out more, call (250) 457-6463, email crpentecostal@gmail.com, or visit the church’s website at www.crpentecostal.org.
Tiny Tunes postponed
The Tiny Tunes program at the Ashcroft Library has been postponed, and will resume on Tuesday, October 3. The program will run every Tuesday from then until just before Christmas, from 10:30 to 11 a.m.
TNRD Library System
Anyone who uses either of the two public libraries in Kamloops can now find schedules and information for all the programs and activities happening there in the new TNRD Library Program & Activities Guide (http://bit.ly/2jALH8k). The guide is also available at both Kamloops library branches, and contains schedules and information for all the programs happening from September through December 2017. This includes all children’s, tween, teen, and adult programs, as well as all technology classes, book clubs, and special events.
Some of the highlights of this programming session include the second annual Yule Ball (a Harry Potter holiday celebration for teens); “Book Geeks” (a book club featuring fantasy and science fiction novels); and “Guerilla Storytime”, an impromptu-style workshop for those who work with young children. Registration for all programs is now underway, and patrons can register through www.tnrdlib.ca, by phone at (250) 376-3526, or at any TNRD Library System branch.
No change to FortisBC natural gas rates
FortisBC has received approval to maintain the cost of natural gas rates from the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC). As of October 1, 2017, FortisBC customers will see no change to the cost of gas on their billing statement.
Every three months, FortisBC reviews the cost of gas rates with the BCUC to make sure rates passed on to customers cover the cost of purchasing the natural gas on their behalf. FortisBC does not mark up the cost of gas; customers pay what they pay.
July drug deaths
Although numbers have been decreasing each month since April 2017, preliminary data shows that there were 91 suspected drug overdose deaths throughout the province in July 2017; almost three per day, which is a 30 per cent increase over July 2016. The suspected number of drug-related deaths from January to July 2017 is at 876, up from 482 over the same time period in 2016. Kamloops has recorded 27 drug-overdose deaths over the same period.
Fentanyl has been detected in more than four out of five of all drug-related deaths this year. Almost three out of every four deaths involved persons aged between 30 and 59, and four out of five of those who died were male. No deaths have occurred at any supervised consumption site or any drug overdose prevention sites.
Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura (www.atlasobscura.com) is a website that bills itself as showcasing “Curious and Wondrous Travel Destinations” from around the world. Now and then one of the sites is within striking distance of our region, so travellers might want to check them out next time they visit.
John Anderson has been beachcombing along the Pacific Northwest coast since the 1970s. He was initially looking for glass buoys or floats, but soon began collecting other items he came across, such as Raggedy Ann dolls and the tooth of a mammoth; he even has a book of letters that he has found in bottles.
In 2015 he opened a museum in Forks, in northwestern Washington State, where the items he has found over the years are on display. He provides short tours of the highlights of the museum, and there is a fun scavenger hunt for children. For more information, go to http://bit.ly/2hadlIi.
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