OCTOBER
• School District 83 received two donated automatic external defibrillators (AED) from Rosemary Foster whose grandson, Jeremy Stoelting, died in his sleep in February 2018. It was later learned Stoelting suffered heart problems. “If it can help save somebody else that would be absolutely amazing and wonderful for us,” Foster said. “I hope they’re there for quite a few years and they’re never going to have to be used; that would be ideal.”
• The Shannon Sharp Learning Circle was officially opened at Salmon Arm West Elementary. Sharp was a well-loved School District 83 teacher who spent more than 30 years in the North Okanagan-Shuswap School District and died due to cancer on Jan. 8 at 56 years of age. The circle reflects her love of the outdoors and her dream of providing an outdoor space where students and teachers could gather to share knowledge, stories and meals.
• It was an evening of tears and joy on Sept. 20 for Freedom’s Gate Equine Rescue Society owner Carly Marchand-Jones, who received $4,960 from the Shuswap Women Who Wine during the group’s community giving event.
• The driver of a vehicle that was struck by a train at the 50th Street NE crossing in Canoe last Sunday exited the vehicle and fled on foot, with the CP Rail Police and the Salmon Arm RCMP now searching for them. According to the railway, the collision happened at 8:20 a.m. One witness told an Observer reporter that a white SUV was hit at the crossing and was pushed about 100 metres down the track at the front of the engine.
• Hockey Canada recognized Salmon Arm’s Roy Sakaki as a Hockey Canada Ambassador. “I’m still playing hockey, can you believe it? I don’t think I’ve missed a year of hockey for 60-plus years.”
• A memorial bench celebrating former Salmon Arm Fire Chief Pat Shirley’s contributions to the department’s excellent reputation now sits outside Salmon Arm’s Fire Hall No. 3 located downtown.
• Despite support from local businesses, community organizations, city council and hockey enthusiasts, Salmon Arm’s bid to host the Junior A Hockey Championship tournament in 2021 has fallen short.
• Salmon Arm Roots and Blues has received $121,250 to spend directly on marketing the 2020 festival.
• Preliminary election results showed incumbent Mel Arnold handily won the riding with 35,753 votes, 48.8 per cent of the popular vote. Arnold was followed by Liberal Cindy Derkaz who won 22.7 per cent of the popular vote, followed by New Democrat Harwinder Sandhu with 15.3 per cent. Green Party candidate Marc Reinarz finished fourth with 10.5 per cent, while People’s Party of Canada candidate Kyle Delfing earned 2.7 per cent.
• The ammonia leak at the Fernie Memorial Arena that killed three workers in October 2017 has prompted a $20,000 design plan to upgrade the Shaw Centre in 2020. Darby Boyd, general manager with Salmon Arm Recreation, told city council during the ice plant shutdown this year, Technical Safety B.C. (TSBC) required a test of the ammonia chillers, after being in use for 20 years.
