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NOVEMBER 6, 2014
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Two Sections, 40 pages
100milefreepress.net
Nov. 11 parade slated
SECOND WORLD WAR VETS REVERED B1
WRANGLERS REGROUP AFTER OT LOSS A19
INSIDE
opinion A8 letters A9 entertainment A24 sports A19 community B1 classifieds B3
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Royal Canadian Legion Branch #260100 Mile House members are busy organizing the annual Remembrance Day parade and ceremony for Nov. 11, which drew hundreds of attendees last fall. The parade route – starting from the north part of Birch Avenue behind the Red Coach Square to the 100 Mile House Community Hall – is the same as last year. Marchers are expected to gather at 9:30 a.m., while the parade starts at around 10:30 a.m. with a moment of silence to be observed at 11 a.m. inside the community hall. People and organizations are also welcome to lay wreaths at the ceremony and can contact the local veterans’ organization before the ceremony. Local veterans will be paying tribute to Gordon Thorsteinson at the ceremony. Thorsteinson, a Second World War veteran and founding member of Legion Branch #260, passed away at the age of 97 on Sept. 1. An open house will be held at Legion Branch #260 on Alder Avenue with food and refreshments following the ceremony. Minors accompanied by adults or parents are welcome. The annual Poppy Campaign, which raises funds for veteran support services, started on Oct. 31. Donation boxes and cadets will be stationed at businesses around 100 Mile House.
Chris Nickless photo
Royal Canadian Legion Branch #260-100 Mile House poppy chair Elsie Urquhart, left, shares a laugh with John Tomlinson, Ken Mills and Leo Holthuysen, prior to the Cenotaph Vigil ceremony on Oct. 25. Poppy sales are officially underway for the public, so please support the local Legion and proudly display your support for our veterans.
School use suspended Programs by volunteer group to costly too continue
Carole Rooney Free Press
The recent enforcement of a School District #27 (SD27) policy for after-hours facility use has effectively shut the doors on an area community group. Bridge Lake Community School Society president Chris Lange says her group can no longer afford to provide after-school programs, indoor sports or other activities. While she understands it is due to an existing policy that was not previously enforced, Lange notes her society has offered these programs for the Interlakes residents and their children for the past 15 years.
“Last year, we were told we had to pay rental charges, which we’ve never done before, and we had to pay our own liability insurance. So we’ve done that.” Then in mid-June, SD27 suspended all public use of schools during the teachers strike, she explains. Once facility maintenance was “caught up,” the community use of schools was restarted on Oct. 20, so Lange e-mailed the school district to ask if the terms of use were the same. “I was told ‘no’, this year they are going to require fees for custodians to be present any time an event is happening outside of school hours ... and that’s $30 an hour. In our case,
there are minimum call-out charges because we are a long way from 100 Mile House.” That callout is expected to be three-to-four hours – $90120 for each day the school is used – on top of the current rental fees and insurance, she notes. “You can’t expect people to be paying $10-15 to go for an evening to play volleyball or basketball or whatever. It just makes it impossible for us to do those things anymore.” Lange says the group attempted to establish a community use agreement to get around the policy, but was declined by SD27 in writing last month. The letter stated the rejection was because the
school district wanted to finish its work on the overall policy, she adds. “Well, they’ve been working on this policy for about the past three years. So it’s more or less saying ‘go away, don’t bother us’.” Lange notes there is a public library located in the same school wing that, after hours, is secured behind locked doors from classrooms and offices, where the public comes and goes with no custodian required on site. “When we have stuff going on, there is always somebody on site [from the society]. So there aren’t really any security issues.” Continued on A6