FRIDAY
S I N C E
APRIL 5, 2013
1 8 9 5
Golf courses in fine form
Vol. 118, Issue 54
105
$
Page 10
INCLUDING G.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Outdoor pools Disease remains difficult to diagnose get early start on recruiting PARKINSON’S AWARENESS MONTH
BY CHRIS STEDILE Times Staff
The tulip, for many people, is just another flower to be seen in the garden or in a floral arrangement; nice to look at and not much more. But for 77-year-old Fruitvale resident George Walter Leggett, along with 11,000 others in British Columbia suffering with Parkinson’s disease, it’s a symbol of hope, for a cure and a better future. April has been designated as Parkinson’s Awareness Month. The disease is the second most common degenerative neurological disorder, next to Alzheimer’s. And, like Alzheimer’s, it has no known cure. It causes the dopamine producing cells in the brain to die, which in turn results in an onslaught of various symptoms that range from daytime sleepiness, aches and pains, muscle weakness and the most common, tremors and shaking. The vast number of symptoms associated with Parkinson’s can make it difficult to diagnose and such was the case with George Leggett who finally after years of searching, was recently diagnosed. Back in 2007, Leggett went in for a usual checkup at the clinic, where he told his doctor he had been experiencing numbness and tingling in his extremities.
Support for Koshey earns GTMHA $20,000
CHRIS STEDILE PHOTO
George Leggett with his wife and caretaker Patti Leggett at their home in Fruitvale. George went through exhaustive tests before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. “I kept telling the doctor peripheral neuropathy, a my feet are cold all of the condition typical of diabettime,” Leggett recalled. ics. The doctor then referred “I don’t have diabetes him to a specialist in Nelson and I got (peripheral neurwho diagnosed him with opathy),” he said. BY JIM BAILEY
total cash prizes to 25 minor hockey associations across Canada for recognizing important volunteers in their community. Trail’s Alison Morrison nominated her son’s Atom coach Ken Koshey in the contest and this humble beginning resulted in the mobilization of a whole community, a frenzied
Times Sports Editor
What started as a single nomination for an Atom coach from a Trail hockey mom grew into a substantial boon for Greater Trail Minor Hockey (GTMHA). Greater Trail minor hockey is the recipient of a $20,000 cash prize awarded by the Kraft Hockey Goes On promotion. Kraft awarded $1 million in
After being diagnosed George began experiencing muscle weakness and his wife and caretaker Patti Leggett couldn’t understand where this was coming from. This lead to another visit to the doctor who suggested physiotherapy. The therapy went on for quite some time and the weakness kept progressing. The Leggetts eventually had to sell their home because there were too many stairs for George. But their home wasn’t the only change caused by the weakness. “George used to go out for hours and clean up around the community. Picking up bottles, trash, anything he could find,” Patti said. “Then one day it got too difficult and I said ‘I’m not going out anymore,’” George added. George was also forced to cut back on more activities he enjoyed, including curling, camping and even travelling the province which he and Patti would engage in frequently. Then while he was visiting the physiotherapist again they noticed something they hadn’t quite picked up on earlier. “One day at physio, George was sitting there and his hands were just shaking uncontrollably,” his wife said. See SUPPORT, Page 3
KEN KOSHEY
Rossland, Warfield hope to avoid staff shortages from last year BY ART HARRISON Times Staff
Recreation staff at the Rossland and Warfield swimming pools learned a hard lesson last summer as they struggled to hire sufficient staff to maintain aquatic programs. This year both communities are getting an early start in its recruitment campaign for the coming outdoor swimming season. While indoor pools, like the Trail Aquatic Centre, maintain staff year-round, seasonal outdoor pools have to deal with the challenges of laying off staff in the fall and then recruiting in the spring. In Rossland, recreation programmer Robyn Hethey cast a wide net to try to bring in the experienced staff to run the various pool programs. “Things are looking a lot better this year. We put out province-wide ads to try to bring some people in,” Hethey said. “We've already hired a pool manager and have picked up some senior staff with two or three coming back from last year. We've also got a number of students who were taking courses last year who finished their training and they're banging on our doors.” Hethey predicts a full range of aquatic programs this year with a possibility of new additions to enhance opportunities for competitive swimmers in Rossland. “We're working with the Stingrays in Trail to try to create a feeder club in Rossland,” said Hethey. “We'd like to have programs in Rossland in June and July and then they could transfer to Trail after. We're just working on schedules right now.” Teresa Mandoli, Village of Warfield recreational coordinator, said they have had job postings in the local papers and on the village website since the end See COMMITMENT , Page 3
two days of voting, and the subsequent $20,000 award. Glenn and Debbie Wallace got the ball rolling on behalf of GTMHA, spreading the word through the media, Internet, flyers, and setting up shop in the Waneta Mall to encourage residents to vote in the online Mar. 23-24 poll. “The most important thing to me that I learned as we went along is getting out what Ken Koshey means to Greater Trail minor hockey,” said Wallace. “It was more
important than winning for me. He is the epitome of what I think a coach should be, and I wish we had more of them in Greater Trail minor hockey.” It was only fitting that Koshey learned of the news when it was announced at the GTMHA Atom and Pee Wee hockey banquet Wednesday. “It was a really nice response at the banquet last night,” said Koshey from his home Thursday. See COLLECTIVE, Page 10
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