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â– NEWS:
Rolling into Spring Jumbo Glacier Resort Gets Approval ............................... 5
â– SPORTS:
Golden Curling Club hosts final Bonspiel .............................19
â– ARTS & CULTURE:
Sheldon Head takes flight at the Golden Freeride Skate Park. Head and two other friends cleared away some of the snow that was still on the surface at the park to enjoy the warmer weather and get in an early season ride. Darryl Crane/Star Photo
Pub gearing up for spring lineup ............................ 26
â– SPECIAL SECTION
Road rescue issues around Golden Darryl Crane editor@thegoldenstar.net
Women in Business Special Section ........................11-18
At an annual general meeting on Feb. 2, 2012 the membership of the Golden and District Search and Rescue unanimously passed a motion that as of May 1 the group will be unable to continue to be the sole provider of road rescue services to rural Golden. Officially, GADSAR took on the responsibilities of auto extrication in May 2001 and was committed to providing this service on the Trans Canada Highway, Highway 95 and secondary roads in the Golden area. However over the years the group has found it difficult to be at the forefront for both highway and mountain rescues. “We are just finding it is the sustainability of both programs. At this point we are sacrificing road rescue
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to try and sustain search and rescue. To try and do both with the same group of people is just too much,� said GADSAR President and SAR Manager Shauna Speers. She went on to explain the group has 25-30 members on paper with approximately 12 who look after administration, upkeep, and the equipment and fundraising. In a letter to the Regional Manager of PEP (Provincial Emergency Program) South East Region GADSAR explained why the decision was made to stop providing the service. The combination of lack of provincial support for rural road rescue, volunteer burn out, the overall cost of replacement of equipment and lack of a facility were all given as partial reasons for the choice the group has made. As for what is going to happen as of May 1 the future is still unclear. GADSAR representatives met with the local fire
chief, representatives from the Town of Golden, EMBC, BC Ambulance, Ministry Transportation, the local MLA’s assistant and the Columbia Shuswap Regional District Emergency Program Co-ordinator to explain their decision. “There are different options. We were hoping that maybe Golden Fire would take it over because that’s what the model looks like in other rural communities around British Columbia,� Speers said while acknowledging this could be difficult for the volunteer fire department in the town. According to a ministry spokesperson EMBC is fully engaged in helping the community and stakeholders find a solution to the issue and options for establishing local road rescue services, both for the short-term and longer term, are also being investigated. continued on page 4
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