SUMMERLAND REVIEW THE VOICE OF OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1908
VOLUME
66
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ISSUE
WHAT’S INSIDE:
WWW.SUMMERLANDREVIEW.COM
Girl injured at rodeo NO.
34
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S U M M E R L A N D,
B.C.
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T H U R S D AY,
AUGUST
22,
2013
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20
PA G E S
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$1.15
INCLUDING
GST
Stray pellet fired during intermission
by John Arendt
Courtyard concert
The courtyard at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church was the location for an evening of musical entertainment on Saturday.
Page 10
Roundabout done
Summerland’s third roundabout was officially opened on Thursday.
Page 8
Off to Toyokoro
A delegation from Summerland will visit the community’s sister city of Toyokoro, Japan in September.
Page 13
Swimming
Local swimmers excelled in recent competitions.
Page 14
Golf tourney
Golfers competed for the Summerland Senior Men’s Open Championship in a tournament last week.
Page 15
YOUR SMILE A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk I have a work station.
An 11-year-old girl at the Summerland Pro Bullriding Stampede on Saturday evening was injured in a pellet gun mishap during the intermission. A woman on horseback was shooting at balloons when Calista Stafford, who was sitting on a fence at the grounds, felt a sudden pain in her right hip. When she looked down and saw the blood from the wound, she realized she had been shot. “I felt really, really scared,” she said. “I thought I was going to bleed so much. I was shaking.” Her father, Gene Stafford, carried her to the St. John Ambulance station on site where the pellet was removed and she was cleaned up. He then took his daughter to the Penticton Regional Hospital where she was treated and then released. Gene Stafford said the pellets should not have been used and the gun should not have been fired at the crowd. “I can’t believe the stupidity,” he said. “They were firing at a crowd with a projectile. If you’re going to shoot at a target, use something else.” The pellets used are designed for hunting small game. The container in which they are packaged contains a warning label. “Air guns are not toys.
Pellet shot
Calista Stafford, 11 years old, shows an air gun pellet of the same size as the one which injured her during the bull riding competition at the Summerland Rodeo Grounds on Saturday evening. The lead pellet, designed for hunting, did not damage internal organs but left Stafford in a lot of pain.
May cause serious injury or death. Be careful — shoot safely!” The lead pellets can also cause serious health problems. Gene Stafford said the pellet could have resulted in significant damage to internal organs if it had
followed a slightly different path. The injury did not require stitches, but Calista Stafford is in pain and moving slowly as she recovers from the shot. Sgt. Stephane Lacroix of the Summerland RCMP detachment said
police are investigating the incident. He said the rider appears to have fallen when the shot occurred. “It appears to be accidental,” he said. “It’s just an unfortunate incident.” The shot was reported
to police by the Stafford family the day after the rodeo. Police are continuing to talk to witnesses. Matt Darmody, organizer of the Summerland Pro Bullriding Stampede, could not be reached for comment by press time.
Wharton Street project delayed by John Arendt
A year has passed since the papers were signed for the multistorey Wharton Street development but construction has not yet started. The documents for the multistorey development were signed
a year ago, on Aug. 16, 2012. At the time, Randy Gibson, one of the developers, said the target for groundbreaking was February, 2013 with the completion of the first building expected early in 2014. The project’s value was estimated at between $90 and $120
million. Municipal planner Ian McIntosh said the proponent of the project, Danny Nonis, had serious health problems in early spring and as a result, the entire project was put on hold. Nonis is now recovering and the municipality will soon learn
the status of the project. “They’re very keen about this project,” McIntosh said of Nonis and the other developers. Because of the scale of the project and because it involves municipal land the time frame is lengthy. See DEVELOPMENT Page 3