So you want to be cool? Come over to the Community Complex and step inside the somewhat chilly Johnny Bucyk Arena as the ice is in place, ready to go for another season. There are some exhibition games the last week of August – check the Thundercats webpage or other advertising to make sure you get accurate info as those games are usually pretty exciting. Overall, this hockey season will be a thriller as it culminates in April with the Cyclone Taylor Cup: the BC Provincial Jr. B Hockey Championship. As we get closer to that date, you will see more information on the positive impact that it will have for our area.

In the meantime, we have lots of warm weather left and, as the summer vacation winds down, so does the time left to swim before our annual pool shutdown Aug 27^th to Sep 9^th. As you may know, this is the opportunity we get to inspect and work on items that we can’t efficiently service during operational time. One of the big ones is the draining and inspection of the pool basins to see if there are any issues with tiles or grout as well as doing a pretty intensive scrubbing and disinfection of all surfaces. You may remember that this time last year we were in a pretty dire situation with the Creston water supply and, because of that, we never did drain them; we just lowered the water level a few inches to access and scrub edges. This year we are in a better H20 position and hope to do the complete makeover. In the back, sight unseen, the maintenance crew will be opening up and inspecting as well as servicing our five big sand filters which clean all the water before it hits the basins. They also open up and service the ultraviolet filter units for each pool and make any necessary repairs or adjustments to other disinfection or testing equipment.

We also do a pile of cleaning, including all the windows that face the fitness centre, even more scrubbing of stainless steel that you see us do all the time and painting touchups. There are over 160 items that we identify, assign, follow-up and mark off our list and we usually get through most of them.

Fear not – those that might suffer from antiaquaphobia, or the fear of no water, the Leisure Guide will be in your mailbox next week and in fact may be online at RDCK.ca as we speak so the choices provided in our Shutdown Showcase will help with your water withdrawal. In fact, we see more crossovers each year as some regular swimmers try a dryland program to keep their fitness regime active and continue to keep up with it in some manner after the pool reopens. It’s kind of like being bilingual; you are equally as comfortable doing dryland fitness or aquatic workouts (although it probably doesn’t carry as much weight on a Federal Government job application).

Finally, don’t forget that the deadline for Creston Valley Fall Fair entries is Monday September 5^th as the Fair is on Sept. 9^th and 10^th. It’s pretty neat to see your own corn, squash, woodworking or rare chickens (unless the pups got them) on display, especially if there is a red or blue ribbon attached! Look for the Fall Fair entry booklets around town.

Creston Valley Advance