JANUARY
19 - Climbing to new heights at PSO
Peter Skene Ogden Secondary’s climbing club students practiced climbing the school’s 15-foot climbing wall at lunchtime.
The wall has been in the school for 15 years and had become popular again, thanks to the efforts of teachers Ken MacKenzie and Rob Cook.
“Rob and I have both done a lot of climbing and we’re really interested in it so we just redid all the routes up the wall and just spread the news of the club by word of mouth,” MacKenzie said.
Student Wyatt Hollett shared his enthusiasm about climbing, as he has been doing it casually for years. “I find there are very few other sports where mentally you need to push yourself to hold onto the wall. If you fall off you have to restart so it really pushes you to go as far as you can push yourself,” Hollett said.
19 - Fire rescue honours long service members
100 Mile Fire Rescue honoured its volunteers with a volunteer appreciation awards dinner.
Then fire chief Roger Hollander said it was important to recognize the hard work of his team, which responded to 505 calls in 2022.
Awards were given out to several firefighters for years of service including for five, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years.
“It feels fantastic (to reward them),” Hollander said. “What makes me proud is to see the hard work and dedication they give to their community.”
Bob Sparreboom received an award for 25 years of service, while Ryan Dugaro and Cole Sparreboom were honoured for five years.
Dave Bissat, Jake Felce and Chris Watkins received awards for 10 years of service.
Mackenzie Smith, meanwhile, received Rookie of the Year award, Curtis Rhodes Firefighter of the Year, Cole Sparreboom Officer of the Year and Mike Brassnet the Top Gun award.
FEBRUARY
2 - Physical literacy fun for families at Winterfest
Winterfest, hosted by School District 27, is a free family event that promotes physical literacy for families, according to Beulah Munson, SD 27’s early learning coordinator. The event gives service providers the opportunity to connect with families outside of their regular agencies and is funded by the Ministry of Education and Childcare through Ready, Set, Learn.
There were a variety of activities, including skating, cookie decorating, snowball toss and snowman bowling. Munson said. They also had a mitten hunt in which each child gets one mitten and has to go out into the arena and find its match to keep them plus a free storybook.
In keeping with the theme of the morning, Frosty the Snowman was on hand to skate with families and talk with the children.
16 - Bowling lesson a real eye-opener
Free Press reporter Fiona Grisswell went bowling with the 100 Mile House and District Blind and Visually Impaired White Cane Club.
Part of the event involved wearing various pairs of glasses that help people understand what it is like to be vision impaired.
The first pair simulated having tunnel vision or Retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
They changed everything as my sight narrowed down to a tiny pinhole in the centre of each lens.
As I walked to my bowling lane, I had no depth perception, no peripheral vision. I had to use my toes to feel the floor - was it raised? I couldn’t tell. It was unnerving.
Some, like Katelyn Seiler, live with this condition every day.
Although she takes her white cane with her when she goes out, it’s not easy. “I walk into things a lot. I trip a lot,” she said. “I get lost.”
MARCH
23 - Worms create compost
Cindy Faulkner was at Seedy Saturday on March 18 talking about the benefits of using worms to supply fertilizer for the garden.
She uses hundreds of little red wrigglers to break down her organic kitchen waste and vegetable greens into organic fertilizer, saying the earthworms aren’t fast enough at breaking down the food.
Red wrigglers multiply fast and break down the scraps quickly so there’s no smell, she said.
No matter your living situation a person can have a worm composter in your home.
Faulkner said it’s very easy to do, you just need enough worms to get started. Kids love to do it so it’s something the entire family can be involved in.
30 - Thousands attend March Into Spring
Around 3,500 people took part in 100 Mile House’s March Into Spring event.
Mayor Maureen Pinkney said it was hard to express how proud she was of the community, particularly all the volunteers who made the event happen.
The events were all packed, and the Canucks alumni game and variety show were super fantastic she said.
Pinkney said the district was already considering how they could make the event an annual one although the format might change in the future as it won’t have access to the same grant funding. However, she was committed to making it a spectacular weekend event.
APRIL
6 - Lucky the Owl released back into wild
Lucky the Great Horned Owl was released back into the wild in mid-March after being injured in December when it was hit by a car.
Wildlife photographer and Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society volunteer Murray Zelt rescued Lucky in late 2022 after his nephew, Matt Pistell accidentally hit the owl while driving back from Lac La Hache one evening.
The owl went to the Rehabilitation Society for three months to recover from its injuries.
Watching Lucky fly away was emotional but rewarding, said Zelt.
20 - Exquisite Florals closing after 20 years
Exquisite Florals closed its doors for the final time in April after 20 years of serving the community.
Owner Eddie Bjornson worked at the shop first as a florist and later as its owner. The shop was originally founded by her childhood friend, Colette Vincent, who originally convinced Bjornson to come help out part-time at the front counter.
When Vincent retired 12 years ago, Bjornson bought the floral shop and kept it running with her mom, Dot Verboom who worked as the shop delivery driver.
When Bjornson made the decision to move away from the area, she tried to find a successor to take over the business. When none materialized she made the bittersweet decision to hand in the keys at the end of April.
MAY
4 - Jailbirds raise $9,000 for 2023 PSO Dry Grad
With a mixture of cajoling, bribery and humour, 23 imprisoned jailbirds raised $9,000 at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School’s Grad Jail and Bail fundraiser on April 28.
The imprisoned included several prominent members of the community, who were “arrested” by the grads and RCMP officers on charges that included being “social butterflies” or “man-cave dwellers”, “having a really big hose”, and for “growing old but not growing up”. They all dangled their arms out the windows of an SD27 school bus begging for change to make the minimum bail of $200.
PSO grad fundraising coordinator Gwen Scott said the event went better than she had expected. Several of those imprisoned had been nominated by the grads, who delighted in cuffing them.
11 - PSO marches and paints for Red Dress Day
Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School marked Red Dress Day with a march around the 100 Mile Marsh last Friday.
Several cars honked for the students as they carried a banner reading ‘No More Stolen Sisters’. The march was organized by PSO’s indigenous support workers Sharmaine Grimes and Angel Smith.
“Our big goal is to educate students and staff because not a whole lot of adults know about this day,” said Smith.
Red Dress Day was first held in 2010 and was started to raise awareness about the thousands of indigenous women and two-spirited people who have gone missing or been murdered over the last few decades. Red dresses were chosen to represent their absence as according to some indigenous traditions, red is the only colour spirits can see.
Leading up to the march, Grimes and Smith led several painting workshops where students were educated about the day. They were tasked with recreating a painting of several women wearing red dresses which were later displayed in the school.
JUNE
1 - B.C. Drag-It Challenge coming to the Cariboo
The B.C. Drag-It Challenge saw dozens of racers from across the province take part in the race from June 15 to the 19th. Organizers Mark and Dianne Boutilier said they were proud to be organizing the event, the first of its kind in BC.
Competitors started in Cache Creek before travelling to Prince George, 100 Mile House Lillooet and then back to Cache Creek again.
The twist was that racers had to drive their dragster from venue to venue with only their race cars and a small trailer. No support vehicles were allowed and racers had to stop at mandatory checkpoints across the route.
Winners were crowned in several categories based on racers best time at each race.
29-Dugout canoes successfully launched
Students from Eliza Archie Memorial School and Horse Lake Elementary School successfully, launched a pair of dugout canoes in June.
This was after carving them by hand from cottonwood logs over the previous two months.
Watching them not only float, but glide through the water filled every student with pride.
Horse Lake Grade 7 teacher Lisa Pugh was also elated to see the results of her students’ hard work. In addition to the canoes, she said her students built some good relationships with their Eliza Archie counterparts.
Eliza Archie’s Grade 6/7 teacher Andrea Silani concurred, noting that it’s been an amazing journey for her class. Silani brought in elders to help teach the students about the history of the canoe, including John Archie.
