NEWS Mother and son honoured for saving life Page 3
EVENTS College basketball comes to Princeton Secondary Page 6
SPORTS
Posse starts season off with strong September Page 9
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The Similkameen
Volume 65 Issue 40
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Proudly serving the community since 1948 • www.similkameenspotlight.com We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.
Miners Climb opened Steve Kidd Similkameen Spotlight
Steve Kidd/Spotlight
The ceremonies over, Princeton Mayor Frank Armitage shows off the sign dedicating the new stairs as the Miners Climb.
It’s taken more than two years, but the trail linking Princeton’s downtown with the upper benches is finally open to the public again. The new stairs replacing the zigzag trail were officially opened last Thursday with community officials and supporters taking part in a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, with an official new name, the Miner’s Climb. “It left such a void in the community, it’s been a main transportation route for walking, it connects all our three benches with downtown,” said Mayor Frank Armitage. “We knew we wanted to do something. There was no way we weren’t going to have a walkway or stairway.” The new concrete stairs making up the Miner’s Climb stretch up the hillside, with five rest stops along the way to make the climb a little easier, as well as providing viewpoints overlooking the town. The opening of the new stairs is the end of a long process that started in 2010, when a pickup truck parked at the top rolled free and took the old zig zag trail out.
“There were some technical challenges but we overcame them and here we are today,” said Armitage. Some of those challenges included tying the stairs into the steep slope and making sure the railings were up to code to avoid potential liabilities for falls. “But here it is today and it’s great,” he said. “The actual construction, it was about a nine month total. The last month and a half was getting over those technical challenges and our contractor and our architect were having differences of opinion.” Armitage said the building of the Miners’ Climb wouldn’t have happened without a grant from the province that covered almost 80 per cent of the costs. “We just didn’t have the funding,” said Armitage. “The whole thing was $225, 000. It went out to tender and the provincial government paid $180,000 of that.” There are other ways to walk from the bench to the downtown, but the people wanted the trail access back, according to the mayor. “People were so used to this,” he said. “At the back end of the second bench is a wooden stairway to get up to the third bench, so now we are connected to all levels of community.”
PXA receives grant to upgrade exhibition grounds Lisa Carleton lisa@similkameenspotlight.com
Last fall the Princeton Exhibition Association (PXA) with the guidance of town liaison Councillor Jason Earle, created and presented a five-year plan for the Princeton Exhibition Grounds to the Council of the Town of Princeton. The Princeton Exhibition Grounds are a town-owned facility leased to the PXA. The plan consists of regular maintenance duties as well as dedicated improvement plans over the next five years. Over the past year, the grounds have received many improvements. With thanks to the efforts of Area H director Brad Hope, the PXA received grant funding to improve the lighting on
the grounds, making it more energy efficient and lighter on the PXA pocket book. Hayes Creek Electric performed the replacements and upgrades. Grandstand work is underway via Mike Grgich Contracting and the board is hopeful it will be completed soon. Jody Woodford has done barn repair, All Purpose Roofing has replaced two roofs and members of Princeton Rodeo, Princeton Racing Days and the Agricultural Fair boards have spent numerous hours on smaller projects throughout the grounds. Special mention must be made of the Bernard and Crucil families as well as of Walt Halipchuck, Paul Bedard and Danny Kastor—these folks have truly dedicated themselves to the improvements of the
Weather Watch Wednesday
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grounds over the past year. Most recently, two new young and fresh faces have joined the PXA. Chloe Littlejohn and her friend Melissa Birchard share common interests and when they met, became “instant besties,” they said. The two young ladies are horse people, they ride and compete in various events like team roping, cutting and team penning. Littlejohn also served as Princeton’s Rodeo Queen in 2006/07. Both use the PXA grounds for riding and boarding their beloved horses. PXA president, Paul Bedard hired Littlejohn, who included her bestie in the package to work on the grounds performing basic clean-up duties. The girls got
into doing much more. They are currently putting a face-lift on the American Barns, scraping, cleaning and painting. “We want to see it used and enjoyed more,” said Littlejohn. “Its a nice facility.” The pair is excited and working hard, planning to continue with indoor projects throughout the winter. They would like to see Princeton host more events: like cutting, bull-o-rama, horse shows and gymkhana just to name a few. When extended the invitation to join the PXA, the girls were, “totally in.” “Someone needs to represent the younger generation,” said Littlejohn. “Getting involved also means meeting more good people,” said Birchard, “and there are some really good people here too.”
Sweet Sensations Grand Opening October 5th
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Gifts for all your Senses
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