Editor:
The slogan “Republic of Life” has strayed away from our roots.
This is one of the last frontiers where country meets urban.
Agriculture, mining, or forestry has made our community.
Many people in our region have been fed, clothed, housed and educated from one of the three legs on our economic stool.
While those industries are our economic base, we also offer unlimited other interests, back-country adventure (a shutterbugs delight), trail biking, quad trails, skiing, a raceway, gun club, even three golf courses, curling, skating, swimming, fishing and hunting, hiking anywhere from downtown to the river trail to parts uninhabited, a heritage village and a Powwow ground.
I can’t imagine someone from Antwerp, Aberdeen or Alabama saying let’s go explore the “Republic Life.”
Ours is a different persona, mind you we are one of very few communities on a lake that does nothing to celebrate the fact.
We have no marina, yet we have champion water-skiers in our community.
We could be hosting Dragon boat races, a mini regatta, parasailing, winter ice boat races, snowmobile races, and have our own version of Cariboo Olympics.
Our Cowboy Museum should be down at the Stampede grounds, where everyone would visit.
We have a natural amphitheater that is often vacant.
Every week available something should be going on there, anywhere from cutting horse competitions, heavy horse events, chariot races, show jumping, bullarama, and jackpot rodeos.
In Cody, Wyoming there’s a museum dedicated to Wild Bill Cody, an early frontier showman.
A wing is dedicated to his exploits, another wing celebrates the culture of the Plains Indians, and there’s a huge gallery of western art.
If we are going to capitalize on the world-wide advertising done by our province on Super Natural British Columbia, we should be highlighting what makes us unique in what we have to offer, more than just a “Stampede.”
Our slogan, logo, whatever, should be something like “Destination Recreation.”
We are but a few hours away from any major centre, yet offer all the modern (or rustic) conveniences of a year-long recreation area.
Thus making our three legged stool a chair by the other leg “recreation” as another part of our economic base.
This is a western town, with western values and western heritage, carved out of a wilderness by people with a vision of what could be.
Diane Walters
Williams Lake
