Ainslee Arthurs first Revelstoke acrobat in a decade at Canadian Gymnastics Championships – 16
R
E
V
E
L
S
T
O
K
E
78195
50 0 1 6 1
Weds., June 4, 2014 www.revelstoketimesreview.com Vol. 117, No. 23
7
TIMESReview
“Celebrity” race - 15
$1.25
PM40050491
Fans salute the Revelstoke Grizzlies at the end of the 2013-14 season. Revelstoke Times Review file photo
Sale of Revelstoke Grizzlies close
Happy retirement Nelli Richardson Nelli Richardson (right) receives a bouquet of flowers from Jill Zacharias at her retirement party on Wednesday. Alex Cooper/Revelstoke Times Review
Richardson leaves social sector legacy upon retirement Alex Cooper
editor@revelstoketimesreview.com
Nelli Richardson, who spearheaded the creation of the social development coordinator position in Revelstoke, was celebrated for her work with the social sector at a retirement party at the visual arts centre last Wednesday. “This is to honour Nelli in a casual way,” said Jill Zacharias, the person who was hired for the role Richardson fought hard to create. “There’s a lot of people here who have been here since the beginning and worked hard and went to the meetings to make it all happen.” Richardson is retiring as the director the Revelstoke Women’s Shelter and stepped down from her position as chair of the city’s social develop-
ment committee on Wednesday. She said she plans on taking a year off from all work before deciding what to do next. She has spent her life working in the social sector and served nine years on the school board and nine years on city council. It was on the latter where she oversaw the social portfolio and pushed to have the coordinator position created and funded by the city. “In my crazy wisdom, or lack of wisdom, I would go to all the social meetings and see if I could pull it all together,” she said. “It seemed that time and time again, nothing would get done on social. We all worked very hard, but it seemed like we were going nowhere. “Social issues were high priorities with no one working on them.”
It took three years for the position to actually make it into the final budget. Zacharias was hired for the role in September 2008. Richardson has defended the social development coordinator to council on several occasions since then, most recently ensuring full funding for the position stay in the budget for the next five years, after an initial draft proposed fazing out funding over a period of several years. “I understood that some people didn’t understand what the social coordinator would do in the long term,” she said. “Everyone who works in the social sector knows it will never all get done. It’s an ongoing process.”
see Richardson, page 15
Alex Cooper
editor@revelstoketimesreview.com
The Revelstoke Grizzlies are close to being sold to a new ownership group. “It’s close. We’re in the final negotiations,” said owner Lew Hendrickson. “The large hurdle is the league approving it and the other large hurdle is getting an offer to purchase and that agreed on and signed.” A sale has been in the works for months to a group of hockey people based out of the Okanagan. The team will stay in Revelstoke. The prospective owner declined to speak to the Times Review, saying he was advised by his lawyer not to talk until the sale was finalized. Hendrickson said he hopes the deal is completed before the KIJHL Board of Governors holds its meeting on June 21. “The other party has met with the league. We’ve done most everything that we need to do,” he said. “If we come to an agreement before then, it will be voted on at the league meeting at the 21st of June.” Hendrickson became a part-owner of the Grizzlies in the summer of 2009 when he joined up with Joe Kozek, Michael Roberts and Troy Mick to purchase the team. Mick left the team after a year and sold his shares to Roberts. In April 2012, Roberts attempted to sell the team to 100 Mile House, but the sale was blocked by the Revelstoke Grizzlies Society, who exercised a clause in a previous sale contract that allowed them to purchase the team for $1 if an attempt was made to sell the team before 2016. The result was that Hendrickson bought out Roberts, and assumed the team’s debts, which were reported to be about $60,000, including $23,000 to the City of Revelstoke for unpaid ice time fees. In two seasons under Hendrickson the team’s record plummeted, culminating in a last-place overall finish in the 2013-14 season. The team went through a rotating cast of coaches last summer, with three of them leaving before the season even started. Darren Naylor assumed the bench duties just before training camp, but he resigned midway through the season. Despite the team’s woes, which included a stretch of 27 losses in 28 games and a 9-39-0-4 record overall, fan support remained strong throughout the season.
"NOBODY WORKS HARDER FOR YOU THAN RE/MAX"
1982 Spruce Drive $319,000
310 Third Street East $299,000
603 MacKenzie Avenue $359,000
"Right Agents for Today's Market" Revelstoke Realty
1518 Nichol Road $409,000
3019 Laforme Boulevard $678,000
209 1st St. West, Revelstoke, BC V0E 2S0 250-837-5121/fax: 250-837-7020 revelstoke-realty.com
3646 Greely Road $869,000
OMREB
Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board