The Review, Thursday, June 26, 2014 — Page 3
news
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An 84 year old male driver from Burnaby crossed the centre line of Highway 3 near the Elks Motel on Friday, June 20 around 2:30 p.m. driving across the oncoming lane and into the Elks parking lot, where part of the Elks sign and planter was destroyed. Police say speed and alcohol were not factors in the accident. The motorist has been charged under the motor vehicle act for failure to keep right. There were no injuries to the driver or passenger.
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Village receives results of April business walk Survey reveals nine out of 10 Lower Similkameen business owners are satisfied - or better - with business activity By Steve Arstad news@keremeosreview.com The Village of Keremeos recently received the results of the April 29 business walk in the Lower Similkameen. The walk involved a short, questionaire posed to nearly 50 businesses in the area, asking three things: - How is business? - What is the greatest challenge your business faces today? - What can be done to help your business thrive? “What stood out for me, was that a lot of the comments we received have already or are being addressed by the local government and the chamber (Similkameen Country),
said Keremeos Mayor Manfred Bauer. “What’s missing is this information hasn’t been communicated. “Communication is a big issue, we need to communicate to business owners where to go to find business information and incentives,” he added. Bauer was asked if any themes were discovered regarding local business during the business walk. He referred to a pie chart in the report outlining business responses to the question, “How is business? “Roughly half (45 per cent) of local business is saying economic conditions are okay, while roughly half (42 per cent) are saying economic conditions are better than that,” Bauer responded. Noting the 13 per cent who said business was slow or poor, he said those respondents indicated such things as marketing, the type of business, and global competition as the most common issues interfering with their ability to increase their business success. “Overall, I think we uncovered a
fairly good picture,” Bauer concluded. The report listed 16 improvements that respondents would like to see take place in the region to increase the opportunities for successful businesses to grow and thrive. Bauer said the village would be working with Similkameen Country in the near future to address the results of the survey and follow up on other commitments. “We need to increase awareness,” Bauer said, regarding what has been done, and what is being done,” noting copies of the report from the business walk would be made available to business and the public through the village office. Those businesses that requested a follow up to the visit will be sent one as well. An electronic version of the report will also be posted to the both village and Similkameen Country websites. Bauer promised to continue working with Similkameen Country and the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training to implement the results of the survey on the coming months.
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Similkameen’s first cidery / continued from page 1 Initial production includes three varieties of cider at 6.6 per cent alcohol. There’s Pippin, an extra dry version, Kingston, a semi-sweet rendition and Santa Rosa, a blush cider that has been blended with Santa Rosa plums from the Schneider orchard. “We use all certified organic fruit,” said Madeira, who said she and Joe are fifth generation farmers. Kaylan, who is originally from Oliver, said the name of the company came from the well-travelled route she and Jo used to take to see each other when they first met in 2009. “We crossed Fairview Mountain many times,” she laughed.
Jo and Kaylan’s certified organic orchard comprises 6 -1/2 acres that were planted between four and six years ago. Their farm is known as “Back Achers ” a whimsical name that compliments the name of father in law Schneider’s “Heart Achers Farm”. The two farms are the only acreages involved in the cider making venture. Madeira said their market research defined a demographic in the 20 to 70 year old range. “We think a lot of people will enjoy our product,” she said, adding they plan to sell at farmgate and locally to restaurants and cold beer and wine stores.
“We’re pretty thrilled to be the Similkameen’s first cidermakers,” Madeira said. “It’s exciting to add another stop for tourists and locals as they visit the great wineries around the area.” Fairview Cider’s initial production consisted of 4,500 litres of cider. They will be marketing it in 750ml bottles, at $14 for cider and $16 for the blush version. They expect to open their facility, located at 2080 Ritchie Drive in Cawston, on the Canada Day weekend and henceforth, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.
SPECIES
group of living organisms capable of exchanging genes
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