THURSDAY
S I N C E
AUGUST 7, 2014
1 8 9 5
Vol. 119, Issue 122
105
$
INCLUDING G.S.T.
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Warfield Hall unveils new look this weekend BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
The Warfield Community Hall is ready for a look-see after undergoing an extensive facelift. The facility has been under construction since last fall and closed since January for the $800,000 project that includes new amenities and building code upgrades. Public speculation and ongoing curiosity about what’s happening behind closed doors prompted village staff and council to host an open house Saturday from 2-4 p.m., although there’s still a few unfinished details. “People have been asking about what we are doing,” said Warfield Mayor Bert Crockett. “So this is an opportunity for the public to have a walk through and see what we’ve done with their tax dollars. And it’s important because our hall is the hub of community.” The most sizeable facet of the project was upgrading the hall’s aged bones to bring the building’s plumbing, structural components and electrical panels up to code. Guests may notice how cool the hall is this weekend, because for the first time, air conditioning was installed along with a modern heating system for the colder months of the year. “Air conditioning was added, which was what we needed most,” said Crockett. “The hall is well used in the summer and was hot as heck,” he continued. “And the old heater in the corner that used to rattle and bang is gone, with a brand new HVAC system in place.” The centrally located hall has an enclosed park-like area with BBQ amenities, which has made the site a well used venue for weddings, parties, and community functions throughout the year.
SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
Warfield Mayor Bert Crockett, along with village councillors and staff, is hosting an open house Saturday afternoon at the Warfield Community Hall. The event is being held to provide the public an opportunity to check out the facility’s $800,000 renovation project that includes some impressive modern amenities, including a spacious new kitchen. Now, with a spacious state-of-the art kitchen added to the rear of the building, people hoping to rent the facility may have to plan well in advance because the current wait list is about two-years. “It’s a perfect wedding or graduation venue,” said Crockett. “We were already
booked solid and with more people calling especially during the summer, we had to get this done.” The kitchen houses commercial grade appliances, including a large gas range, two convection ovens, a warming oven, a double-sized refrigerator and a stainless
steel dishwasher. “We started putting money away in 2007 after regional folded,” Crockett explained. “We knew we had to do the upgrades then and we decided to go the whole nine yards.” See RATES, Page 3
Basin culture tour in need of artists and visitors BY LIZ BEVAN Times Staff
This weekend, people living and visiting the Greater Trail area have the chance to visit artists in their studios in the Columbia Basin Culture Tour. The tour runs on Saturday and Sunday and is free of charge so anyone can grab a map and go to see painters, sculptors, galleries, and other artists.
Natasha Smith with the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance says the tour is a great way for people to discover something new or visit a place they have never been. “It's a great way, if you haven't been to some of these places before, to explore,” she said. “It's a really good way to see a showcase of what the artist does and how they do it.” The tour involves visi-
tors picking up a map and planning a route through the different areas, visiting artisans, artists and galleries. Most of the dots on the map show tour stops in the Nelson and Castlegar area, with only a few near Trail. There are four artists in the area on the tour: two in Salmo, one in Trail and the other - weaver, felter, spinner and soap maker, Trisha Rasku - in Rossland.
“Lots of people (artists) won’t do it because they don’t get enough foot traffic.” TRISHA RASKU
Rasku says she doesn't get very many visitors from the tour, and she
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thinks that is why there aren't more participants in the Trail area. “I have been a stop every time and I enjoy it. I don't get a lot of traffic and I would like a lot more,” she said. “Lots of people won't do it because they don't get enough foot traffic. I think the artists in this area are more in isolation.” Smith says it is hard sometimes to get artists to sign up, especially if they
don't have up-to-date contact information. “We've had more artists in those areas at different times,” she said. “We will get in touch with people that have participated before and sometimes it is just a life change or they have other things going on. Some are really proactive in signing up, but sometimes not. It just varies.” See PLAN, Page 2
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