LOCAL FLAVOUR | Funtastic brews up Okanagan Spring as beverage sponsor for slo-pitch fest [A6]
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Friday, Feb. 22, 2013
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Scott salvages his heart ROGER KNOX Morning Star Staff
Somebody with a heart has given Scott Fochler back his. The same day Fochler’s story appeared in The Morning Star Wednesday about his repeatedly denied requests to retrieve a heartshaped piece of graffiti he wrote 30 years ago on the walls of the soonto-be-razed old Vernon Secondary School, Fochler was in possession of that piece of wall. “I feel elation and satisfaction,” said Fochler Thursday morning. “I can pat on my own back and express my gratitude towards so many people who were instrumental in making this happen.” Fochler wrote “Scott + Doreen” in an enclosed heart with red stage makeup in November 1981 on the walls of the VSS drama department’s green room when he and then-girlfriend Doreen Markson had started dating again after breaking up. The pair married when they were 19 and will celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary May 19. The Fochlers saw the graffiti during a tour of the school in the summer of 2012, part of their class’ 30-year reunion festivities. Fochler then started making
requests to the school district in hopes of retrieving the art to give to Doreen as an anniversary present. All of his requests were denied, mainly because of what the school district called contractual obligations with the construction company, who sub-contracted the salvage rights. His children took up his cause, starting a “Heart of VSS” campaign on Facebook to try and get the piece of wall. Fochler said he found out through his own digging the name of the construction company in charge of the demolition and, through his sources, was given names and phone numbers. He made some phone calls and was originally told that the piece had been cut out and removed from the wall, leaving Fochler devastated. On Wednesday afternoon, an unnamed person called Fochler to say they had his art piece. “They got wind of the story before the story came out in the paper,” said Fochler. “From what I was told by my benefactor, they said there were no villains or heroes, they just hoped they had been able to be of help.
LISA VANDERVELDE/MORNING STAR
Scott Fochler finally got his heart back Wednesday, following an article in The Morning Star about his plea to get a piece of the green room wall from the old Vernon Secondary School before it is torn down. “They could not say where they got the information from, just that they received it and that they wished to help.” The construction company and
the Vernon School District did not return phone calls Thursday for comment. Fochler will frame his art work and give it to Doreen on May 19.
It was originally supposed to be a surprise for his bride, but Fochler laughed when he said, “there’s not a chance of that now in you know where.”
Legal halt puts horses back on track at Kin
RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff
A fight over horse racing has gone off course and headed back to the stalls. Legal action over the future of Kin Race Track has been placed on hold indefinitely. “It can be resurrected at any time by any of the parties,” said Trafford Hall, Regional District of North Okanagan administrator. The suspension in proceedings was agreed to by RDNO, the City of Vernon and the Okanagan Equestrian Society. Hall says the regional district decided to back off the Kin track issue because it’s preoccupied with other matters. “We are in a rush to resolve Antwerp Springs (alleged contamination case) and
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Legal action over Kin Race Track has been put on hold, allowing horse races to resume. recreation restructuring,” he said. “There is not high pressure to resolve
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Kin but it’s a huge consumer of (staff) resources.” RDNO and the city, which both own the track, have been involved in legal action with the Okanagan Equestrian Society since the society was evicted from the property in 2010. The society, which organizes Vernon Racing Days, claims equestrian activities were guaranteed when most of the track was turned over to the city in 1964 for free. The society also alleges the regional district ignored an agreement for lease renewals. Those involved admit the fate of the Kin track will ultimately have to be resolved either through litigation or negotiation. “We have some tentative solutions to
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the dispute and the solutions require more fact-finding,” said Ed Woolley, society president. “We will see if we can resolve this in a non-litigious way.” Woolley says his group has not set a deadline as to when court action could proceed again. “Whether it’s another year or a couple of years to exhaust these possibilities, that remains to be seen,” he said. In the interim, the society can hold races at the track and RDNO can not proceed with redevelopment for other community activities. RDNO has proposed using the site for sports fields, a farmers market, two arenas, a BMX track and trails.
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