With Canadians willing to sit in the US border line-up for hours to take advantage of the low Canadian dollar, it could be a tight season. With gas prices predicted to hit an all time high, it could be a tight season.
The tag line “Best little pit stop in B.C.’ was first floated by Blue Moose Coffee Shop owner, Wes Bergmann. After all, most gas stations, coffee shops, motels, and restaurants survive the toughest of times in Hope. And if that is who we are, then let’s be the best little pit stop we can be, added Hope Rotary president Hank DeMuelder, at a meeting on economic development. But the industry needs stronger support.
Partly due to the weather, Othello Tunnels is late in opening. The annual drama of getting the park rehabbed for Spring continues. Uncertainty over when the tunnels will open – and if the tunnels will open – is a breeding ground for disappointed guests. The Alexandra Bridge park unstable jewel. Should not the park, for that matter the entire Fraser Canyon, be granted federal heritage status, as is the dream of Hells Gate’s manager, Brian McKinney?
Our destination-class sites need solid advocates and watchdogs. Without input decisions it seems are made by the bureaucrats. An estimated $1.5 million was spent blasting away a mountain to make the Lake of the Woods rest stop safer for travellers. Would it not have been wiser for the province assist with concerns over the residential water supply, then make an offer on the nearby waterfront resort, and in partnership with Hope, create a stunning park instead of a cliffside semi-dangerous pullout?
– Simone Rolph (Black Press)
