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◆ Volunteer appreciation P. 2 ◆ Community garden P. 7 ◆ Emergency room closure P. 12 ◆ Mother’s Day P. 6
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WEDNESDAY, May 13, 2015
VOL. 38 NO. 11 $1.30 inc. GST
NEWS BRIEFS Evacuation order issued for Little Bobtail Lake fire Vanderhoof – A fire burning three kilometres south of Norman Lake has initiated an evacuation of residents. The Ministry of Forests’ wildfire management branch issued the Little Bobtail Lake Fire Evacuation Order Sunday, May 10. The fire is estimated to be 2,500 hectares in size. Jill Kelsh, communications for wildfire management branch, said Monday the fire grew overnight. “It’s hard to say how long it might last but based on the sunny forecast we are expecting it will stay active and its about getting [residents out] and the resources there,” Kelsh said. The affected area starts at the intersection of the Bobtail Forest Service Road and Blackwater Road, south to the Bobtail Connector Forest Service Road, and includes all lands east of the Bobtail Forest Service Road and the Bobtail Connector Forest Service Road to the eastern boundary of the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako Electoral Area ‘F’ (Vanderhoof Rural), including the Little Bobtail Lake, Naltesby Lake, and Eulatazella Lake. Residents within the evacuation order area must leave immediately and register at the Reception Centre located at the Vanderhoof arena at 340 Columbia St. East. Fraser Fort George also has an evacuation order in place across the regional district boundary, Bill Miller, chair of the RDBN said. “It’s bigger than just our region. We also have an alert area be yond the evacuation area as well,” Miller Please see, page 3
photo courtesy of CTV
Fort St. James’ Cody Karey has moved into the next round of competition in Masterchef Canada. Karey is now competing as one of four contestants for the $100,000 prize.
Rising to the top Cody Karey looking to take home the prize on MasterChef Canada MICHELE TAYLOR Caledonia Courier
If you’re not from the Fort and didn’t grow up with Cody Karey, you might recognize him as one of the final contestants on Season 2 of CTV’s MasterChef Canada. Karey is one of four finalists now competing for top chef and $100,000 on MasterChef Canada. A boost of energy to speak with, Karey talks with a lot of passion about his hometown, his aspirations and his dreams; which says everything about what has brought this 24-year-old born-and-raised in Fort St. James - to where he is today. “I always look back at growing up in Fort St. James and I’m really thankful that I had the opportunity to grow up in a small community,” he said. Karey didn’t start out as a culinary aficionado though, his first love has always been music. He’s had quite a lot of fortune with his vocal skills, something he says
was always a part of his life growing up. Karey started performing at a young age around the Fort and as a teen progressed to competitions and performances on television. He was a finalist in David Foster’s talent competition and later signed with Verve records in 2013. “Music was always a thing I was pursuing growing up,” he said. “I was always taking part in local music festivals.” “I was fairly academic too … I was valedictorian along with my best buddy David Wagner.” Karey says the outdoors had a big part in his time growing up in the Fort such as fishing, hiking, hunting and getting out on the snowmobile in the winter. “I used to really love getting out on the lake with my dad on his boat and going fishing,” he said. “I feel like growing up in Fort St. James really instilled a love for the outdoors.” Living in a small community where there might not be a lot of variety at the super market presents
challenges in the home kitchen he said. Growing up, Karey said he often would watch the original Japanese Iron Chef show and said the show was something that provided partly to his love of cooking. “I’d find myself just going, ‘I wonder if I can do that?’” he said. “I guess it was fairly early actually, 12, 13, 14 when I really started to get curious about food … about food as an artform.” Karey said his mom’s cooking was also an inspiration to him for its nostalgic value and said her mushroom pork chops hold a special spot in his heart. “As far as inspirations go, it’s got to be my mom.” Although having a restaurant is one of Karey’s aspirations, he isn’t sure how that will fit into his plans quite yet. At 24, he said it’s a matter of being able to balance his music and his love of cooking. “At this point in time it’s figuring out the how and the when, but I definitely want to have my own place one day.” Local game and foraged wild ed-
ibles are things Karey said he would definitely use in his cooking. He added his increased understanding of what’s available locally has given him a greater range and appreciation for the art of cooking. “To me that connection to the Earth, the wild, that’s a powerful thing,” he said. It’s obvious in speaking with Karey - he loves his roots and appreciates where he comes from - you can feel it in how he talks about his community, what that has given him, and what Karey takes with him in all his passions such as cooking. That passion he said, is what brought him to try out as a contestant on MasterChef Canada. But what he’s experienced on stage as a musician doesn’t compare to being on the TV show, Karey said all the training through his whole life for music didn’t prepare him for the pressure of the clock ticking away in the kitchen. “It’s been the most presPlease see, Pressure, page 3