FRIDAY
S I N C E
1 8 9 5
SEPTEMBER 28, 2012
Busy weekend for Smokies
Vol. 117, Issue 188
110
$
Page 13
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF
ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALM SALMO
SCHOOL DISTRICT 20
Enrolment numbers point to downward trend enrolment situation is not improving and could force the school district to Enrolment is down across the consider further budget cuts. school district and it is projected to The numbers grow bleaker with get worse before it gets better. 303 Grade 9 students and 312 stuPreliminary numbers for School dents in Grade 8, and all seven eleDistrict 20 (Kootenay Columbia) mentary grade classes are well below are showing enrolment from kin- the 300 mark, the lowest total being dergarten to Grade 12 and alternate 234 Grade 5 students. education programs could be down People need to know SD20 enrolas many as 87 students from initial ments are going down in the future, school year projections. said school trustee Toni Driutti. The total numbers are also down “It looks like we are going to enter from this time one year ago by 140 into crisis here ... that means those students, from 3,969 to are the total graduates 3,829. for the whole of the dis“At this point in Although J.L Crowe trict,� she said. time we know Secondary School rose Ford said the disby 18 students to 756 trict was “happy� with our secondary this year, Rossland the kindergarten numschools are still Secondary School bers they are showing, loading kids in.� but the discrepancy dropped by 35 students to 209, and the alterbetween graduating BILL FORD nate education program and lower primary had a 42-student drop grades will sort itself to 112. out in the next few years. SD20 director of instruction Bill “That number is actually expected Ford cautioned reading too much to grow,� he said. into the enrolment figures since Classroom sizes the numbers are always fluid until Although figures on class sizes and Sept. 31 when the final, full-time- teacher numbers won’t be available equivalent enrolment numbers are until next month, classroom sizes tabulated. in the last year increased, accord“So we’re not too panicked about ing to results from a B.C. Ministry the numbers on the page,� he told of Education Foundational Skills the SD20 board of trustees at its first Assessment (FSA). meeting of the new school year in In July the report reviewed classBlueberry on Monday night. “At this room sizes within SD20 and found point in time we know our secondary averages for kindergarten, grades schools are still loading kids in.� 1-3, grades 4-7 and grades 8-12 in But looking further down the list their analysis. of grade-by-grade total enrolments Schools like J.L Crowe (Trail), across the district the numbers do Rossland Secondary School, become disconcerting, particularly Glenmerry Elementary (Trail), in light of the district’s budget being Webster Elementary (Warfield), directly influenced by actual num- MacLean Elementary (Rossland) and bers of students. Fruitvale Elementary were studied. According to figures released by Class sizes increased as the grade SD20 administration, 340 students levels progressed in SD20, with the are set to graduate this year, com- highest average recorded at 27.7 pared to only 319 Grade 11s, and grade 4-7 students per class in RSS. 312 Grade 10s. To make matters In kindergarten, Fruitvale ranked worse, there were only 272 students the lowest in the Greater Trail region enrolled in kindergarten this year— for class size—with 16 students per down nine from the year before. class—while MacLean and Webster With the district losing 50 stu- both had 19 students on average. dents from its graduating classes Glenmerry led the way with 19.7 stuwithin the next three years—and dents on average for kindergarten. See CLASS, Page 3 over 60 in the next decade—the
BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
BREANNE MASSEY PHOTO
Star Grocery owner Pasquale Amantea (right) and longtime customer Angelo Pellizzari welcomed a load of California grapes and juice this week at the store’s location in the Gulch.
Grapes abound in the Gulch BY BREANNE MASSEY Times Staff
If you love wine, you’ve probably been waiting for the annual grape sale at the Star Grocery. Wait no longer; Pasquale Amantea says the grapes are in. The shop-owner of Star Grocery began stacking up an order of grapes on Tuesday for longtime customers such as Angelo Pellizzari, reminiscing about the annual grape sale that has become something of an institution in the community. The ongoing sale brings hundreds of pounds of Californian grapes into the waiting kitchens and caskets for connoisseurs and vintners of the Italian infused Gulch area. Not only is Pellizarri a dedicated customer and friend of
over 40 years, he is as nostalgic and passionate about the sale as Amantea describes it. His eyes softened after hearing Amantea discussing the next shipment of grapes due for arrival, and remembered the countless hours he spent helping Amantea unload grape shipments. “That was before they had machines,� Pellizarri added with a chuckle. “Now they have forklifts and don’t need any help.� A chilled warehouse a few yards down from Star Grocery is filled to the brim with viticulture gadgets and supplies for the popular event. Several glass carboys are propped up against the walls, and boxes of Californian grapes are stacked up in the cooler in
groups of 10, while several pails of juice are strategically placed on the opposite side of the overgrown refrigerator. Although Amantea added that grape sales have steadily been declining, largely due to the aging demographic he caters to, many customers are opting to make wine from juice instead of grapes. “It’s easier with juice because all you need are glass carboys, or demi-john’s, and that’s it,� he said. “When you make it from grapes, you have to have the crusher, the destemmer and the press—it takes up a lot of room but the end result is much better with grapes, of course, you get a much heavier, full bodied wine.�
See ORDERS, Page 3
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