LOCAL NEWS: RUGBY SPARTANS START STRONG ▼ A16
Times
Thursday, April 21, 2016 ▼ Volume 52 No. 16 ▼ www.clearwatertimes.com ▼ $1.35 Includes GST
THE
NORTH THOMPSON
RETURN TO EUROPE:
2014
CCNA BLUE RIBBON
CSS Grad gets UN internship. See A10 inside.
First Place Best All Round Newspaper & Best Editorial Page Second Place Best Front Page All of Canada <1,250 circulation 2014 First Place General Excellence B.C. and Yukon <2,000 circulation 2014
A tiny wooden boat found near Oak Bay on Vancouver Island bears the names of a Clearwater couple. Photo by Christine Van Reeuwyk – Oak Bay News
Memorial vessel found Sweet and charming – but dangerous? Joanna Hurst plays the role of Felicity Cunningham as she takes part in “The Real Inspector Hound” - one of two short plays presented by After Hours Theatre Company last week. For more photos of the two productions, see pages A12 and A13 inside or go to www.clearwatertimes.com. Photo by Keith McNeill
Upper Clearwater residents choose petition to end hall's grant-in-aid Times Staff Property owners in Upper Clearwater have indicated by a narrow majority that they would like the question of a grant-in-aid being collected to support the Upper Clearwater Hall to be taken to a public assent process. According to a media release from ThompsonNicola Regional District, the results from a survey distributed in Upper Clearwater earlier this year show that a majority of property owners would like the TNRD to conduct a public assent process that could see the elimination of the grant-
in-aid service that provides $5,000 per year to the Upper Clearwater Farmers Institute for the operation of the Upper Clearwater Community Hall. A total of 77 surveys were sent out and 57 were returned before the April 15 deadline, making a response rate of 74 per cent. The survey contained only one question: Would you like the Upper Clearwater Community Hall grant-in-aid service to be eliminated? In response, 30 answered YES while 27 answered NO. Based on the survey results, Electoral Area “A” director Carol Schaffer will make a
request to the TNRD board at its April 28 regular meeting, asking that the board authorize staff to carry out a public assent process through formal petition. If authorized by the board, every property in the Upper Clearwater Community Hall grant-in-aid service area would then receive a petition in the mail for return to the TNRD by the deadline. In order for the tax for the grant-in-aid to end, a majority of property holders would need to submit a petition, as well as a majority of property holders by assessed value within the service area – a so-called “double majority.”
Christine van Reeuwyk – Oak Bay News
A blue-hulled wooden boat beached at Willows Beach heads east while the sailor of said vessel remains a mystery. Oak Bay resident and regular walker Alan Gregory discovered the small boat bearing the black marker inscription – Iris McKinley 19272013 and Gerald McKinley 19262015 "together again" – snugged up against the retaining wall of the popular Oak Bay beach last month. A regular walker of “three to five miles a day,” Gregory said Willows Beach is usually besieged by walkers during his 7 a.m. walk. With a storm brewing on March 13, Gregory found it unusually quiet. A spot of bright blue butted against the cement wall that barricades the park from the beach captured his attention. Gregory picked it up and discovered it was a small wooden boat. Inside, black marker noted two names and dates: Iris McKinley 1927-2013 and Gerald McKinley 1926-2015 “together again.” It made for a bit of a moment. “I thought, ‘This is sad,’” Gregory said. “I thought, ‘This has got to go back to somebody.’” Turns out Gerald, or Jerry as
Highway 5 Little Fort, BC 250-677-4441
Highway 5 Clearwater, BC 250-674-3148
Located on Highway 5
he’s referred in his Clearwater Times obituary, found through a quick internet search, “loved to fish, hunt and travel the back roads.” An email to our fellow Black Press paper, the Clearwater Times, made its way to Lloyd and Doreen Romeo. Doreen is the daughter of Iris and Gerald, explained Lloyd in a phone call from Penticton. “I really don’t know who made the boat or anything,” Lloyd said. “There are only a couple people in my mind who would be involved in this.” The couple hasn’t yet attempted to solve the mystery, as they now live in Penticton. “We were there (in Clearwater) all the time, we just moved down here after they passed away. We were there looking after them,” Lloyd said. He suspects the wee craft could have set sail from the North Thompson River, making its way through to the Fraser and across to the Island. Gregory figured someone set it adrift in James Bay. Both now prefer Lloyd’s version of events. Gregory called the couple and sorted out where to send the vessel, because despite not yet knowing the builder, Doreen would love to have the memento.