Changing the Columbia and Western Rail Trail
I am writing to you in reference to the administration change on the Columbia and Western Rail Trail. Our family has extensive history on the Columbia and Western, my brother Dave was the only person ever born at Coykendalh, to my father Joe Senior, who was the telegraph operator, and my mother who was an English war bride.
Recently, my brother Dave and myself were able to drive up and visit Coykendalh late in our lives. Both of us now suffer from the ill-fated effects of old age that we all face later in life. We are only able to go and do this only by getting help to drive up the Rail Trail in a pick-up truck. We are not alone with this at all. There are many “children of the C.P.R.” who also do the same thing, and drive up, reminisce, and think about our parents from a bygone era.
I know there are many cycling lobby groups in the news, including the Trans Canada Trail people in Quebec, who either don’t know who we all are as Canadians and where we came from, or simply pretend not to know, because some foreign group is promising them money if they quietly do the ugly to a bunch of old people in society in the name of greenway progress. I also believe these are the same people who try to tell an old disabled person in a pick-up truck to get off their non-motorized greenway, simply because some propaganda machine on the media and internet told them too.
On behalf of these retired C.P.R. workers, families and children who cannot speak for themselves, please count them in as important in any decision-making process on any of the Rail Trails. Please always keep the Rail Trails open for the elderly and disabled whose only means is to drive up. It does mean the world to many of us, and it is really important.
We adamantly endorse the change in administration, so the infrastructure can be property maintained, and the rail grade can be protected for the elderly who cannot speak for themselves, and get to drive up from Fife to Castlegar and at least remember what it was like to be a Canadian a long time ago.
Joe and Dave Potoski,
Robson, B.C. and Vancouver B.C.
Enter the fall fair
The 26th annual Pass Creek Fall Fair will be held Sept. 20 and 21 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Pass Creek Exhibition Grounds on Relkoff Road in Robson.
The objective of the B.C. Association of Agricultural Fairs and Exhibitions is to educate the public about the importance of agriculture, where their food comes from and the value agriculture adds to the economy of British Columbia.
Pass Creek Fall Fair has been a member of B.C. Fairs for 26 years and we strive to host an Old Fashion Fall Fair. Exhibits and education is the difference between a fall fair and otherfestivals.
Entering your exhibits is a huge part of what make Pass Creek Fall Fair an award-winning fall fair, which has been voted Best Small Fair in B.C. We are very proud of our fall fair and what it offers to all the residents in the West Kootenay.
Please participate in this year’s fair by entering one or more exhibits on Sept. 18, 19, and 20. Exhibits can be picked up Sunday after 4 p.m. or all day Monday the 22nd.
Fall Fair booklets are at local businesses and our website is passcreekfair.com for more information.
See you at the fair!
Donna Smith
President
PCRES/Pass Creek Fall Fair
Stories of a difficult time
My thanks to the Castlegar News for elaborating on Irene Kelleher’s memories of teaching Doukhobor children during the tumultuous 1930s. There are many stories to tell, and I am hopeful Irene’s and the Castlegar News doing so will invite others also to help us better to understand this difficult time in our history.
Jean Barman
Vancouver
Live simply and toil peacefully
I’ve read the science on climate change, melting ice caps; rising acidifying seas; more frequent, more destructive storms; erosion of irreplaceable agricultural soil; dead zones caused by fertilizer and manure washing into the oceans. On the news, I see the wretched existence of fellow humans escaping wars, droughts, wildfires, crop failures, and poverty.
I understand that climate change spreads disease, accelerates species extinction, destroys habitat. I’m aware of the two million combined air pollution-related deaths annually in China and India, and millions of child deaths in developing countries caused by curable dirty water diseases. I see the stats on TB, diabetes, poor housing, and poverty in Canadian Indigenous communities.
I understand the War on Drugs is a disaster. Greed, fear, ignorance, selfishness, and denial disguised as entitlement are suffocating. I pray I’m not making things worse and laud those who live simply and toil peacefully for improvement.
Robert M. Macrae
Environmental technology instructor
Castlegar
