Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905 MERRITT HERALD merrittherald.com bcclassified.com THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS IN THE SPIRIT OF GIVING PAGE 2 POZZOBON IN LAND OF OZ PAGE 19 TWO TONS OF FOOD PAGE 8 1701 Voght St., Merritt, B.C. (250) 378-4215 www.merritthomehardware.ca Decorate your tree this year with RIBBON & TUBE LIGHTING from Home Hardware We have everything you need to make the holidays extra special this year HAPPY HOLIDAYS Exclusively Home Hardware Independently owned and operated MERRITT Ph: 250-378-6181 1988 Quilchena Ave. REAL ESTATE LISTINGS INSIDE FREE LIGHT UP THE NIGHT The Country Christmas parade overtook downtown Merritt on Nov. 29. Merrittonians lined the streets by the hundreds to catch a glimpse of the lit-up floats as they made their way through town. For more pictures of Christmas-themed activities in the Nicola Valley, turn to page 10 or pick up a copy of the Tuesday, Dec. 3 edition of the Merritt Herald. Michael Potestio/Herald Cinema Society seeking funds for land The countdown is on for the Merritt Community Cinema Society to raise $275,000 to pay for the piece of property it wants to build a four-bay, first-run movie theatre on. The society has until Dec. 19 to pay for the property it secured in early November. So far, the group has about $30,000 in the bank and about $70,000 promised to them, but Cinema Society member Kurt Christopher- son said now is the time for community members to show their support for the project. The society is looking at the local business com- munity to help cover the remaining cost as the project is intended to help revitalize Merritt’s downtown core, Christopherson said. “We think this is our kick at the can but we need your help,” he told about 30 people from the local busi- ness community at Brambles on Tuesday evening. “You need a firm founda- tion to start with. I think the business community is the firm foundation,” he said. Christopherson said while the group has a contingency plan if it doesn’t get the full amount from locals, the idea is to show enough commu- nity support for the project for it to go ahead and for the society to seek larger corpo- rate sponsors. “I don’t want to say we have all the money. We’ve got some guarantees that we can get it, but that won’t solve the problem. It has to come from the grassroots, otherwise nobody else will buy into it,” he said. He said the group won’t be going after any tax dol- lars in Merritt, although it considers provincial and fed- eral grants fair game. “It’s not going to be a drain on public coffers,” he said. “It’s kind of a philo- sophical thing, but we think Merritt taxpayers should be paying for the roads, sew- ers, and water and stuff like that.” He said federal and pro- vincial grants tend to favour grassroots movements, and that’s what the society sees this project as. Throughout the meeting, he reiterated the society needs to be able to show other potential sponsors that community members support the proj- ect. By Emily Wessel THE HERALD [email protected]See ‘Dec. 19’ Page 9
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Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905
MERRITT HERALDmerrittherald.com bcclassified.com
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
IN THE SPIRIT OF GIVINGPAGE 2
POZZOBON IN LAND OF OZPAGE 19
TWO TONS OF FOODPAGE 8
1701 Voght St., Merritt, B.C.(250) 378-4215
www.merritthomehardware.ca
Decorateyour tree this year with
RIBBON & TUBE LIGHTINGfrom Home Hardware
We have everything you need to make the holidays extra special this year
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Exclusively Home Hardware
Independently owned and operatedM E R R I T T
Ph: 250-378-6181
1988 Quilchena Ave.
REAL ESTATE
LISTINGS INSIDE
FREE
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT The Country Christmas parade overtook downtown Merritt on Nov. 29. Merrittonians lined the streets by the hundreds to catch a glimpse of the lit-up floats as they made their way through town. For more pictures of Christmas-themed activities in the Nicola Valley, turn to page 10 or pick up a copy of the Tuesday, Dec. 3 edition of the Merritt Herald. Michael Potestio/Herald
Cinema Society seeking funds for land The countdown is on
for the Merritt Community Cinema Society to raise $275,000 to pay for the piece of property it wants to build a four-bay, first-run movie theatre on.
The society has until Dec. 19 to pay for the property it secured in early November.
So far, the group has about $30,000 in the bank and about $70,000 promised to them, but Cinema Society member Kurt Christopher-son said now is the time for community members to show their support for the project.
The society is looking at the local business com-munity to help cover the remaining cost as the project is intended to help revitalize
Merritt’s downtown core, Christopherson said.
“We think this is our kick at the can but we need your help,” he told about 30 people from the local busi-ness community at Brambles on Tuesday evening.
“You need a firm founda-tion to start with. I think the business community is the firm foundation,” he said.
Christopherson said while the group has a contingency
plan if it doesn’t get the full amount from locals, the idea is to show enough commu-nity support for the project for it to go ahead and for the society to seek larger corpo-rate sponsors.
“I don’t want to say we have all the money. We’ve got some guarantees that we can get it, but that won’t solve the problem. It has to come from the grassroots, otherwise nobody else will
buy into it,” he said. He said the group won’t
be going after any tax dol-lars in Merritt, although it considers provincial and fed-eral grants fair game.
“It’s not going to be a drain on public coffers,” he said. “It’s kind of a philo-sophical thing, but we think Merritt taxpayers should be paying for the roads, sew-ers, and water and stuff like that.”
He said federal and pro-vincial grants tend to favour grassroots movements, and that’s what the society sees this project as. Throughout the meeting, he reiterated the society needs to be able to show other potential sponsors that community members support the proj-ect.
www.merrittherald.com 2 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
Some items may not be available in all stores. We reserve the right to limit quantities. Where photo and text differ, text is correct. We redeem major competitors’ store coupons on items we carry. Quantity purchases represent additional savings on specifi c products throughout the store. These savings are available on identifi ed items. Deposits and/or environmental charges extra where applicable. President’s Choice Financial MasterCard is provided by President’s Choice Bank. Prices effective one day only Friday, December 6, 2013 at our Merritt location only.
Prices effective one day only Friday, December 6, 2013 at our Merritt location only.
we accept &
no nameno name®®
vegetablesvegetablesParkayParkay
margarinemargarine
PCPC®® BBQ BBQchickenchicken
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Limit 6, after limit 1.00 ea.Limit 6, after limit 1.00 ea. Limit 4, after limit 4.97 ea.Limit 4, after limit 4.97 ea.
selected varieties, selected varieties, canned, 341-398 mLcanned, 341-398 mL
soft or brick,soft or brick,1.28-1.36 kg1.28-1.36 kg
1 kg excludes1 kg excludeshabanero &habanero &
smoking stampedesmoking stampede
eacheach eacheach
eacheach
on artificial Christmas trees, all ornaments &
all outdoor lights
Old MillOld Millbagelsbagels
fresh seedlessfresh seedlessmandarin mandarin
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50%off
Limit 4, after limit 2.98 ea.Limit 4, after limit 2.98 ea.
Let’s meet! Friday 12-9 pm,
& stay for a hot chocolate!We will be collecting donations
for the local food bank.
Keith WalliserKeith Walliserstore ownerstore owner
Gifts of the Spirit art show opening todayIt has one name,
but the art show open-ing tonight at the Courthouse Art Gallery will exhibit a revolving collection of artwork.
Gifts of the Spirit is a cash-and-carry show, which means anyone who pays cash for a piece of art will walk out of the building that day with it.
As pieces sell, fea-tured artists Cassandra Dolen and Meriel Barber will replenish the art gallery’s walls with new pieces.
The show could fea-ture completely different artwork in its last week than in its first, Dolen said.
“It’s an opportu-nity to get to see a lot of great original artwork in a short period of time,” she said. “If you go once, you might not see the same things that you will see the next time.”
Though never for-mally trained, Dolen has been painting all her life. But it was only after the success of her sold-out show Breaching Boundaries at the Courthouse in 2011 that she realized she could work as a painter full time.
Dolen’s pieces are done with walnut oil, the original type of oil used for oil painting, she explained.
Dolen said using walnut oil is trickier than other oils because it takes even longer to dry, but said she prefers it because of the vibrancy of its colours.
“It’s really good for me because I’m a shameless colour queen. I’m just mesmerized by colour,” she said.
Indeed, her central piece in the show, titled The Message, is com-prised of brilliant hues of green arbutus trees in stark contrast with two white ravens passing a scroll in the foreground.
Both the trees and white ravens are native to Vancouver Island — and Dolen is as well.
Another of Dolen’s pieces, The Blue Breath of Spring, features roll-ing hills and bright blue birds in the foreground.
“This is from a place where we go up on Lindley Creek Road,” Dolen said. “That’s Hamilton Hill in the background. In the springtime, we have mountain bluebirds here which are a real
treat because they’re so incredibly beautiful.”
Barber, who’s also the volunteer curator of the gallery, said there really is no main piece for her part of the show.
The multimedia art-ist said her pieces reflect
her eclectic nature as an artist as they range from collage to water colour.
“In my media, I tend to play with colours and shapes. If it’s acrylic or if it’s water colour, I will do completely different kinds of work,” Barber said.
As the curator, Barber said she wanted to name the show Gifts of the Spirit to tie into the season.
“We don’t decide if one gift is more impor-tant than another for an individual; what’s impor-tant is whether or not they magnify those gifts and use them to benefit themselves and others in positive ways,” Barber said. “That’s what a gift of the spirit is; it’s some-thing like love or hope or passion or constancy. It could be an appre-ciation of nature and a connection to it through the work that we create.”
It’s a rare move to open the gallery in December when the
volunteer-run space usu-ally breaks for holidays and reopens in the new year.
However, Barber took the unusual step of opening the gallery for a December show after Dolen’s show, which was originally scheduled for the fall, had to be bumped back.
On short notice, Dolen said she “power-painted” for a month to get ready.
“It means being up all night long. I’m good under pressure. I just start neglecting food and sleep and start painting and painting and paint-ing,” she laughed.
Gifts of the Spirit opens today and runs until Dec. 21. The art gallery is open Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m.
Both artists will be at the gallery this Saturday for a public reception for the show from 4 to 6 p.m.
Cassandra Dolen, one of two local painters featured in the Courthouse Art Gallery’s current show. Dolen will be at the gallery Saturday for the reception for the show. Emily Wessel/Herald
www.merrittherald.com
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
THURSDAY, December 5, 2013 • 3
PRICE3673 DeWolf Way., Merritt BC • 250-378-5030 Valid December 01 - 31, 2013
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Home HardwareExtra Foods*FieldsStaples*Canadian Tire*Canadian Tire*Source*Royal LepagePharmasaveCity Furniture
• MSS holds Movember fundraiserMerritt Secondary School looked a little hairy last week.
DID YOU PICK UP TUESDAY’S HERALD?
• Merritt postcards go to Ottawa
MOVEMBER AT MSSPAGE 3
CITY GYMNASTICS ROLLS ALONGPAGE 9
POSTCARDS FOR POST OFFICEPAGE 3Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905MERRITT HERALD
merrittherald.com
bcclassified.comTUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Decorateyour tree this year withRIBBON & TUBE LIGHTING
from Home HardwareWe have everything you need
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WISH LIST Three-year-old Aeryn smiled for the camera at Santa’s village for her photo with Old St. Nick on Saturday. The village was set up at the Culture Club on Granite
Avenue and was one of many events that were part of the Merritt Country Christmas festivities that took place from
Wednesday to Sunday. For more photos, see page 8. Emily Wessel/Herald
City won’t rezone for asphalt plantTwo motions to amend the
Official Community Plan and a rezoning bylaw on a piece of property at Midday Valley Road and Houston Street died at the regular council meeting last Tues-day.
Essentially, they met the same fate as defeated or abandoned motions, and council will not act on them.
The motions died for lack of a second, meaning they didn’t make it to the table for council to discuss
and vote on them. Coun. Goetz made both motions and neither got a second from a council that was short two members. Councillors Dave Baker and
Clara Norgaard declared a per-ceived conflict of interest as they work at Tolko and Norgaard Ready-Mix, respectively. The two were not at the public hearing or present for the discussion of the rezoning at the council meeting.
Merritt Mayor Susan Roline made a motion to defer the motions until the city got legal advice on the process of removing asphalt production as one of the
four heavy industrial land uses. “The majority of the concerns
seem to be not so much with if this is a suitable piece of land for an M2 zoning, but more about one of the uses permitted under that M2 zoning,” Roline said. “What I’d like to propose is that we defer both of these items until we can seek legal opinion on what the consequences are of not allow-ing a permitted use under an M2 zoning, because even if we do not allow this rezoning to take place, there’s still another piece of land that is already zoned for the cor-rect use.”
That motion also died for lack of a second. “I’d like to see it go back to
square one,” Coun. Harry Kroek-er said. “I would like to see it not deferred, but cancelled and to start from scratch. That would give all of us an opportunity to have our questions answered.”“We are voted in to make these
decisions, so I think it’s time to put the big boy pants on and do it now,” Coun. Mike Goetz said. “I don’t think it’s fair to anybody involved to now defer it for legal opinion.”
Goetz then made the motion
on the Official Community Plan amendment, which died after some discussion about the proce-dure to deal with it. He made the motion on the rezoning, which also died after some discussion.
He then asked deputy clerk Carole Fraser to explain what had just happened to the 20 or so people in the gallery. “In a nutshell, there are no
more bylaw amendments — they’ve been abandoned, defeated. Council has not taken it to third reading,” Fraser said.
Two motions to amend the Official Community Plan and a rezoning bylaw on a piece of prop-erty at Midday Valley Road and Houston Street died at the regular council meeting.
A total of 1,276 signatures from residents of Merritt who are opposed to potential downsiz-ing of the city’s post office are being sent to Ottawa.
For long-time Merritt residents Jeff and Gail Bloom, it’s been less than two weeks since they received every parent’s, every grandparent’s worst nightmare — a phone call telling them that suddenly, violently they had lost a loved one, a child. Their pain is still overwhelming and their emotions raw.
The Blooms’ world was irre-vocably turned upside down, and their lives forever changed on Friday, Nov. 22 when they received the heart-wrenching news that their two-year-old grandson, Riddick Servio, had been hit and killed by a motor vehicle while walking hand in hand with his mom near the Meadowtown Shopping Mall in Pitt Meadows, and that their daughter, Rowena, had a seriously broken leg.
“They were going to Tim Hortons to get my grandson a drink — one of his favourite things to do — when they were hit,” said Jeff in a prepared statement released to the media last week. “It has ripped our lives apart. None of us will ever be the same.”
The Blooms have decided to go public with their intensely personal family tragedy and share their story with Herald readers. Jeff and Gail want to get the facts out there for the many, many local citizens of the Nicola Valley who have heard about their misfortune and have been asking questions and seeking information.
“We’ve been here in Merritt for almost 40 years. So many people know us, and want to know what happened but perhaps are reluctant or scared to ask,” said Gail.
“The accident took place at an extremely busy intersection com-ing off Lougheed Highway to the Meadowtown Mall,” explained Jeff last Thursday. “There are four lanes, multiple stop signs and quite a long crosswalk.
“At 9:45 that Friday morning, Rowena, with Riddick in hand, came to the crosswalk and stopped. The vehicle in question (a Honda Odyssey), was across the intersec-tion, 80 feet away, stopped at a stop sign. At that moment, it was the only vehicle at the intersection.
“Rowena made sure that the vehicle was stopped before she and Riddick stepped off the sidewalk and onto the marked crosswalk. As
they were making their way across the intersection, she heard the van accelerate. Rowena turned and the van and woman driver were right there, right on them. The driver wasn’t even looking at them as she hit them.
“The van struck Rowena and Riddick so hard that Rowena was thrown 20 feet, while Riddick was caught under the van,” said Jeff.
Help for the victims came quickly, according to Jeff, but there was really very little that could be done. Rowena’s shattered leg was formally diagnosed as a complex tibial plateau fracture. Her surgery on Monday of this week was exten-sive — lasting just over three hours — and involved two metal plates and about 13 screws. She’s going to be out of commission for at least six months to a year.”
In the family’s press release, the wonderful onsite care and assistance was acknowledged.
“We wish to thank so many peo-ple, but particularly those who were so directly involved,” the Blooms wrote, “the first responders, the RCMP, the healthcare professionals at Ridge Meadows Hospital, even reporters. They were unbelievably caring and respectful.”
News of the Bloom family tragedy was extensively reported by media outlets throughout the Lower Mainland, including The Province and The Vancouver Sun. It has resulted in an outpouring of sup-port and offers of help from around the province.
The many acts of kindness and generosity are another reason the Blooms wanted to go public with their story.
“The community of Maple Ridge has been absolutely unbe-lievable and we can’t thank them enough,” said Gail. “Their out-pouring of kindness has been truly
amazing. There’s been food orga-nized for us every day by different groups. There have been people over to Rowena’s house doing cleaning. A woman down the street who knew that gluten-free food was required for some family members even took it upon herself to provide all those necessary meals.”
An online campaign to raise funds to help the Servio family was started by family friend Laura Gondos, whose daughter went to daycare with Riddick. At closing of donations, $10,100 had been raised.
“We were hoping for $500 for a few meals for the family,” Gondos told CBC News, “and it just kind of exploded from there. I’m so shocked and in total awe of how willing people have been to step up and help someone in need — espe-cially during such a tough time of year.”
On the Tuesday following the tragic accident, hundreds of people attended an evening candlelight vigil for Riddick held at Memorial Peace Park in Maple Ridge. The numbers included the kindergarten class of Riddick’s five-year-old sister, Temperance. They lit special lan-terns and released them into the sky.
At the funeral service, Riddick’s favourite bedtime story — Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site — was published and read aloud by everyone in attendance.
“He was a really good little boy,” said Gail. “He was always happy.”
Many people from numer-ous communities have expressed a desire to make a donation of some sort in memory of Riddick.
“Rowena has asked that any donations be made to the B.C. Children’s Hospital,” said Gail. “Donations of toys will also be gratefully accepted. The toys will be
distributed locally in the communi-ties in which they were collected.”
In Merritt, toys can be dropped off at Q101 on Quilchena Ave.
Jeff and Gail also want people to know that their family has made a commitment to work for changes in shopping mall safety — in terms of parking, traffic patterns, entrance ways and access points.
“They simply have not been designed for safety in the 21st cen-tury,” said Jeff. “There are no rules. Everybody thinks that because it’s a parking lot, it’s safer because vehi-cles aren’t moving at a fast speed. But when it comes to a child, you don’t need to be moving very fast to kill them.
“If people really want to help, they can watch for the informa-tion we’re going to be circulating,” added Bloom. “We’re going to need a lot of help to put pressure on. And the first place we’re going to start is at the Meadowtown Mall.”
The Vancouver Sun reported that there were 156 recorded accidents at the Meadowtown Mall between 2008 and 2012, with 50 people injured, including four pedestrians. The paper also stated that ICBC statistics show 15 people killed in parking lots and adjacent areas across B.C. during the same time period.
The Sun story quotes Jeffrey Witten, a personal injury lawyer at Vancouver law firm McComb Witten as saying, “On the street, it’s simply much more regulated in terms of the rights of motorists and the rights of pedestrians. But (rules) are not adhered to (in parking lots). The parking lot is much more like the Wild West.”
RCMP spokesperson Dan Herbanson said investigators are speaking to the driver (a local 42-year-old woman) and witnesses, and that charges have not been ruled out. A re-enactment of the accident scene took place the day after the accident.
In the meantime, the Blooms want people of Merritt to know that they appreciate all their acts of kindness and expressions of sympa-thy, and that people should not be afraid to approach them.
“When they see us, they can come up to us and talk,” said Gail. “We don’t mind. And if they’re not sure what to say, they can just give us a hug. We’re going to need lots of hugs.”
Grieving grandparents share their story
‘‘‘He was a really good little boy. He was always happy.’
— JEFF AND GAIL BLOOM
www.merrittherald.com 4 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
Next council meeting: Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013Council agendas and minutes at www.merritt.ca
City of Merritt ★ 2185 Voght Street, Box 189Merritt, BC V1K 1B8 ★ Phone: 250-378-4224
Elections for one (1) Councillor for the City of Merritt will take place on Saturday, February 22, 2014 For those who may be considering running in the upcoming election, it is important to acknowledge the time commitment that is required by elected officials. Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month for their regularly scheduled Council meeting. As well, Council usually meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month for informal Committee of the Whole meetings and there are quarterly scheduled workshops. The expectation of Council members is their involvement in Strategic Planning sessions, budget discussions, roles & responsibility workshops etc. Some of these sessions/workshops are day long events held on a Saturday. Councillors also serve on various committees that meet on a regular basis on other evenings of the week. Weekends are usually spent reading Council Agenda packages which consist of staff reports and correspondence from other government agencies and the public. Prospective candidates should give serious consideration to the time commitment that is expected when holding elected office. It is recommended that prospective candidates speak to a current or former member of Council to discover just how much of their time and energy Council members devote to the community.
IMPORTANT ELECTION
DATES
November 29th: Nomination
Packages will be available from
City Hall
January 07th to January 17th:
Nomination Period
January 24th: First Day for
displaying Election Signs
February 12th & February 19th : Advance Voting
Days
Saturday
February 22nd:
General Voting
Day
COMMON ELECTION QUESTIONS
Who may run? You may run for elected office if you: � are a Canadian citizen; � are at least 18 years old on February 22, 2014; � have lived in British Columbia since August 22, 2013 or longer; � have not been disqualified from voting in an election. � residency or land ownership within the City of Merritt is not a requirement for candidates Who may nominate? Candidates must be nominated by two (2) City of Merritt electors (either resident or non-resident).
Who may vote? Persons who live in the City of Merritt (owners and tenants) may vote as a “resident elector” if they: � are a Canadian citizen; � are at least 18 years old on February 22, 2014; � have lived in British Columbia since August 22, 2013 or longer; � have lived in the City of Merritt since January 22, 2014 or longer; � have not been disqualified from voting in an election. Persons who own property in the City of Merritt but live elsewhere may vote as a “non-resident elector” provided they: � are a Canadian citizen; � are at least 18 years old on February 22, 2014; � have lived in British Columbia since August 22, 2013 or longer; � have been an owner of property within Merritt since January 22, 2014 or longer; � do not live within the City of Merritt; � only register in relation to one (1) piece of property; � and, if more than one (1) person owns the property, only one (1)owner may register and that person must have the written consent of a majority of the others owners.
VVOTER REGISTRATION -- IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED In order to vote, all electors must register and provide 2 pieces of
identification AT THE TIME OF VOTING.
2014 BY-ELECTION GUIDE
March 12, 2012
Candidate packages for the 2014 byelection are available for pick up at city hall.
City hall is open from Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The office will be open for its regular hours on Dec. 23 and 24. The office will be closed from Dec. 25 until Jan. 2, when it will re-open at 8:30 a.m.
Canadian citizens at least 18 years old by the byelection voting date (Feb. 22, 2014) who have lived in B.C. since at least Aug. 22, 2013 are eli-gible to run in the byelection. Candidates must not have been disqualified from voting in an election.
The byelection is for one city councillor.
Byelection candidate packages available now
Council accepts tourism plan as guiding document
At its regular coun-cil meeting on Nov. 26, council adopted the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association’s Destination British Columbia tourism plan as a guiding document.
The plan was adopted unanimously after some discussion of whether or not it was a set-in-stone plan or a more general doc-ument to guide tourism initiatives.
Mayor Roline con-firmed the tourism
plan was a guide only, and doesn’t commit council to any particu-lar projects.
“If there’s individu-al things in there, those will come to council at different intervals down the road,” Roline said.
Coun. Mike Goetz told council he had some concerns regard-ing the tourism plan.
“There’s a couple things in there that I’m not excited about,” Goetz said.
www.merrittherald.com
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
THURSDAY, December 5, 2013 • 5
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
PROPOSED CITY OF MERRITTZONING BYLAW NO. 2134, 2013
The City of Merritt Council will be holding a Public Hearing pursuant to Section 892 of the Local Government Act, to consider updating the City of Merritt Zoning Bylaw.
This is a full re-write of the bylaw. The full zoning bylaw is available to review on the City’s website at www.merritt.ca. If you do not have access to the internet and wish to have an alternative method to review the new bylaw please make arrangements with the undersigned.
If you feel your property interests may be affected by the proposed bylaw amendment and you wish to address City Council on any matters pertaining to this bylaw, please attend the Public Hearing at City Hall on:
Tuesday, December 10th, 2013 at 7:00 pm
Your comments/concerns may also be presented in writing, in advance of the meeting by addressing them to the undersigned, or at the public hearing in person, by petition or by attorney. No letter, report or representation from the public will be received by Council after the conclusion of the Public Hearing.
Sean O’Flaherty, RPPPlanning & Development Services Manager
Note: This is the fi rst of two consecutive Public Notices. Dated this 5th day of December, 2013 at Merritt, BC
OPEN FOR CHRISTMASTuesday, Dec. 10 - Friday, Dec. 20, 2013
Mon. to Fri.: 10 am - 2 pm / Sat.: 12 - 2 pm / Closed Sun.
2014 SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP RATES FOR CHRISTMAS FAMILY
MEMBERSHIP
$1550Includes: 2 Adult & 2 Children
$100 per additional child
All prices include GSTLocker & Trail Fees can be paid at Christmas
MEMBERSHIPS: PAY 1/2 NOW & 1/2 IN MARCH 2014
We would like to continue to extend our appreciation to our OUT OF TOWN MEMBERS (existing and NEW) by offering them a 10% membership discount. This discount will apply to all members who live 60 kilometres or more outside of Merritt.
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The brass of the Interior Health Authority was in Merritt this week to take a pulse on its operations.
Interior Health board of directors chair Norman Embree and CEO Dr. Robert Halpenny were in Merritt on Monday as part of their annual meetings throughout the Interior to meet with groups such as their medical staff, foundations, auxiliaries, and local elected offi-cials, Halpenny said.
He said the visit is primarily an effort to understand what the issues are in the local area from the local per-spective.
Halpenny said they met with a number of different groups and had a number of discussions, including ways to recruit more auxiliaries as well as recruiting new doctors to the area.
There is a shortage of clinicians who want to work in rural com-
munities, Halpenny said.
IH plans to recruit three more doctors to serve Merritt, but Halpenny said they still don’t have any appli-cants for the position.
“There are some people who say we have enough doctors in Canada, there are other people who say that we don’t,” Halpenny said.
He said IH wants the doctors in place as
soon as possible, but because physicians are independent contrac-tors and decide where to set up their practices, all IH and the com-munity can do is “put our best foot forward to try to attract the people to come to this com-munity.”
At the end of February, Logan Lake will lose its only doc-tor as he will be going back to his native South
Africa for personal reasons.
Halpenny said he doesn’t know how long it will take to fill that vacated position.
“I could go through a list of places where we’ve been struggling for years. Clearwater is still a dilemma for us in recruitment and reten-tion,” Halpenny said.
Halpenny said he thinks there might be enough doctors in
Canada, but thinks they should start looking at different models of service.
“We’re looking at new models of primary care where we involve what we call physician extenders so that the clinicians are freed up to do what they’re trained to do, which is make diagnosis and prescribe treatment,” Halpenny said. “We’re looking at physician extenders like nurse practitioners and the potential for physician assistants.”
Halpenny also said he thinks telehealth is the way of the future.
“There’s so much potential for telehealth for rural communities and tele-specialties,” Halpenny said.
Halpenny also said he thought speaking with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District was important as well given the poten-tial influx of industry and people as a result of the BC Hydro expansion project in Merritt.
“We have to be aware of that as we do
our planning so some-day we don’t wake up and say, ‘Oh geez, the
population has grown because of such and such,” Halpenny said.
Interior Health visits Merritt, talks doctorsBy Michael Potestio
(From left) Interior Health’s Community Area Director Bryan Redford, Community Integration Health Services administrator Berni Easson, CEO Dr. Robert Halpenny and board chair Norman Embree.
Michael Potestio/Herald
www.merrittherald.com 6 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
HERALD OPINION
2090 GRANITE AVE., PO BOX 9, MERRITT, B.C. PHONE (250) 378-4241 FAX (250) 378-6818MERRITT HERALDCopyright subsists in all display advertising in this edition of the Merritt Herald. Permission to reproduce in any form, must be obtained in writing from the publisher. We acknowledge the fi nancial support of the Government of Canada, through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.
This Merritt Herald is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. Directors oversee the mediation of complaints, with input from both the newspaper and the complaint holder. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2. For information, phone 888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org
In the Thursday, Nov. 28 edition of the Merritt Herald, we ran a story about a book with a local connec-tion.
Although it’s a children’s book, I think we could all benefit from its mes-sage once in a while — or maybe more often.
In the book I Don’t Like My Grumpy Face, a child picks his face for the day from a closet full of emoticons. He chooses the grumpy one and his face
gets stuck, as does his atti-tude meter. It takes some adjusting on his behalf to change that meter’s read-ing.
The message is clear: we choose how we feel and we can control how we feel — which can change how we act and think. In a world where so much is out of our control — such as black ice on the highways or how ethical senators’ expense claims are — we can always change how we interpret and react to situ-ations.
For some people, real-izing they’re in charge of how they feel is a harder concept to grasp than for others. So, for the purposes of this column, I took a few online personality tests to see how adaptable my atti-tudes are.
One questionnaire found I’m a “laugh it off ” type, who is optimistic and
“never [has] a worry in life.”
I appreciate that cat-egorizing any one complex human being into a person-ality type is “diffucult,” as the (reputable, I’m sure) site spelled it, but that one was just too simplistic for me. I am definitely (or decidedly) not worry-free.
On to the next test, which found my political values are mostly progres-sive, with smaller but equal tendencies toward social-ism and tenderness. Taken together, this supposedly means I’m open-minded and have a “generally optimistic attitude towards humanity.”
Another general test found I’m an “individual-istic doer.” What a phrase! But what does it mean?
It means I’m more intro-verted than extroverted; more inclined to make deci-sions by what I think than
what I feel; that I’m more perceptive than judge-mental; and that I’m nearly smack-dab in the middle of the sensitive-intuitive scale.
This website even gave me a list of “renowned persons with similar per-sonality types.” Apparently, I share a personality type with John Malkovich (yes!) and Tom Cruise (no!) among others.
All of these personal-ity test findings could vary quite easily if I took them on a different day when I’m feeling less than agreeable, or if I went into them with the attitude that their find-ings would be stupid and useless. If my attitude was that I would have to live my life according to these seemingly arbitrary Inter-net prescriptions, I would probably answer the ques-tions differently as well.
In the past year, I heard some people say they were
unhappy to live in Mer-ritt or that they were sick of it. I maintained that while it does matter who you connect with, how your job’s going and your ultimate goals, I think your attitude comes into play sig-nificantly more than people might realize. If you move to Merritt anticipating how lonely you’ll feel, there is a good chance you’ll end up lonely. If you are deter-mined to be bored, you’ll find a way to be bored.
But it works the other way around. While it might feel impossible at first, changing your atti-tude can be a heck of a lot easier than changing your address, your job and your friends.
That is a lesson that, no matter how old a person is, one needs to keep learning. And the earlier it’s learned, the more effective the les-son.
Greenhouse gas trial balloon leaks
VICTORIA – Last week I described the inevitable demise of B.C.’s “carbon neutral government” scheme, which continues to take mil-lions from hospitals and schools to fund greenhouse gas reduction proj-ects of questionable value.
It’s like the AirCare program, a pollution solution that sounded great at the time. AirCare soon found itself chasing diminishing environmental returns, made redundant by new vehicle technology and the financial need to save fuel. Public sector car-bon offsets will suffer the same fate, growing as a political liability as their effectiveness declines.
All this is separate from B.C.’s car-bon tax and greenhouse gas reduction program, another environmental trial balloon that is sinking back to Earth.
Former premier Gordon Campbell’s climate goals officially remain in place: 33 per cent green-house gas reduction by 2020 and a whopping 80 per cent by 2050. If the gas boom proceeds as planned, B.C. domestic emissions will not be down, but up substantially by 2020.
New liquefied natural gas export proposals continue to pop up, the latest ones on former industrial sites near Squamish and Campbell River. And with the surge of LNG activity around Kitimat and Prince Rupert already changing the landscape, ques-tions linger about the pollution and greenhouse gas impacts.
As she left for the government’s largest ever trade mission to Asia, Premier Christy Clark dismissed a study that estimated the impact of three LNG plants. That study, done by Kitimat environment group Skeena Wild, assumed “direct drive” technology to chill and compress gas for export.
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It concluded that three plants would burn two and a half times the amount of natural gas currently used in Metro Vancouver.
Clark and Environment Minister Mary Polak relied on the same talking point to reject the study. The technol-ogy of powering LNG is still being negotiated, as produc-ers work towards environ-mental permits, so the total can’t be calculated yet.
BC Hydro is predicting little electricity demand for
LNG until after 2020, which suggests the early develop-ment will either be direct drive, the industry standard and simplest method, or building one or more gas-fired power plants in north-west B.C. Even if gas usage is only equivalent to one Lower Mainland, it’s plain to see greenhouse gas emissions are going up.
Clark has repeat-edly argued that B.C. LNG should get credit for displac-ing coal in China and else-where.
I asked Polak if the inter-
national community would accept B.C.’s assertion that emissions from our LNG production shouldn’t count.
“We haven’t said we won’t count them,” Polak replied. “What the premier’s talked about and I’ve talked about is that this whole issue of how one accounts for greenhouse gases in a particular region is one that is constantly evolving. There are regularly changes to the international standards for accounting for these things and report-ing them. And certainly the ability for one jurisdic-
tion to impact positively on the GHG emissions of another, we think is appropri-ately considered in how one accounts for these things.”
Clark visited the Jiangsu LNG import facility in China that could be a key export destination.
Globe and Mail China correspondent Nathan Vanderklippe covered the premier’s visit. He reports that the gas being imported at Jiangsu isn’t replacing coal. It’s being used in addi-tion to coal in peak demand periods.
Clark also visited Japan, another key customer for LNG. The whole world knows why Japan needs new energy sources. It needs to replace production from its disaster-tainted nuclear facili-ties.
Will B.C. LNG be part of the solution to human-induced climate change? On the evidence so far, the answer is no.
Tom Fletcher is legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press and BCLocalNews.comTwitter:@tomfletcherbc
From Page 6
LNG not likely to replace other power sources
Dear Editor,
We would like to thank Councillors Christopherson, Norgaard, and Goetz (who phoned us), along with Mayor Roline for taking time to contact us and address our concerns about a new Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame building.
According to them, the City of Mer-ritt will not be financing the new build-ing and if there is a new building, that initiative will be led by the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Mayor Roline wrote saying, “There are no immediate or even near future plans to build a new Hall of Fame that council is aware of, so therefore no commitment by the City of Merritt financially for that organization’s initia-tive or for maintenance on the current Hall of Fame building.”
According to Mr. Christopherson, “Not sure that TOTA is quite on the same wavelength yet as most of Mer-ritt.”
We appreciate everyone for reassur-ing us on this matter as we both feel there are more important considerations for the City of Merritt’s monies.
Peter and Rachelle VogtMerritt
Councillors commended for clarifying
Dear Editor,
Re: Frustrated with smart meter oppo-nents, Thursday, Nov. 28 edition of the Merritt Herald by Darrel Brooks
This is not the first time you have rudely and argumentatively interrupted one of our meet-ings. Did you not notice that Brian Thiesen asked the crowd for approval of your stay and we unanimously said goodbye? You are not ever there to debate, but rather to interrupt and bluster.
I am frustrated by your remarks. They shows you do not have knowledge about smart meters. Therefore, you should do some homework instead of promoting ignorance about smart meters.
1. Bullied “trained” install-ers? Corix used ads in local newspapers to recruit two-week wonders who could have no electrical training to install (some-times incorrectly) an electrical appliance. By the way, some installations were accomplished by stealth, deceit and bullying, even with posters that say not to exchange the meters. They were paid by the install, so some were installed at night or when prop-erty owners were absent.
2. As we in the no-smart meter group know, nothing is using the ZigBee chip in the
smart meter at present as BC Hydro and the Liberals have not built the towers or the computer banks to gather this data. When this is accomplished, then the smart meter will emit electrical magnetic frequencies — but not before. If you did not have an agenda and actually watched the documentary Take Back Your Power, you would have seen plants around an emitting smart meter in Ontario that were dead. I have seen pictures of operating smart meters that have killed beehives and caused bats to relocate. I have read of the agony that can-cer chemotherapy recipients have endured when they return home and are further bombarded by an operating smart meter.
3. The story that BC Hydro wants us to believe is that the meters only pulse once a day. When operating, the ZigBee chip will monitor power, water, and gas. The information gathered will be stored not in the meter as you suggest, but in the com-puter banks. Since the ZigBee chip does not store, it operates when any of the four functions are being operated. It may be the case that the ZigBee chip in the smart meter communicates with the Hydro data banks two to three times a day. But the gather-ing by this chip in the meter on the residence is 24/7. We will
be bombarded constantly in our own homes with electric mag-netic frequencies. Your retained private information could be made available and sold to third parties if not at a corporation’s request than by hacking. Can you imagine the confusion that would ensue if the power grid was hacked and traffic lights were out in any large city? Think oppor-tunity for terrorism. Regarding our ‘Privacy Act’ — when we used this act for our protection, BC Liberals quietly changed this act to enable the smart meter install. That was devious, but also proved that B.C. residents opposed to this whole install were on the right track.
4. Information gathered by the utility company could be used to present “time of use” — that means the price of electricity depends on when it’s used.
Don’t believe me? Check out what happened at Hydro One in Ontario.
The dream of a worldwide grid is exactly that. It will never happen because too many coun-tries are opposed to smart meter-ing.
Are you employed as an antagonist by BC Hydro? That would explain your bluster.
Mo TomchukMerritt
In defence of smart meter criticism
www.merrittherald.com 8 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
Royal LePage Merritt thanks the com-munity for supporting their Hands of Hope Christmas Drive. It was a tremendous success, securing over 4,470 pounds of non-perish-able items and new toys for the local food bank.
The community-wide event was born in the early fall following a conversation between Claudette Edenoste and Rae Robinson about a Christmas food drive he had been a part of for many years in Quesnel. The focus of this drive was to arrive at every home in one afternoon to collect non-perishable items and new toys for those
community members in need during this holiday season. It seemed like an overwhelming task at the time, but Claudette and Rae embraced the challenge!
The Royal LePage staff met and expressed their enthusiasm to participate. This sup-port garnered making a phone call to the Merritt Centennials to team together to make the drive a reality. From day one, it felt like a natural partnership.
In the ensuing months, weekly meet-ings took place between the Royal LePage Merritt Realtors and staff, Lawrence (Sach) Sacharuk from the
Centennials, Rae Robinson and Marlene Fenton from the Nicola Valley and District Food Bank. Countless hours
were put in to the prep-aration, planning and organization to execute this event. A “Name that drive” contest was
put out to the commu-nity and the The Hands of Hope Christmas Drive was born!
Royal LePage’s Hands of Hope Christmas Drive went much smoother than anyone could have hoped for. It was a fan-tastic day full of positive attitudes, hard work, fresh air and many laughs.
We were so pleased to see many unexpected volunteers come out of the woodwork.
Trucks showed up decorated with lights, trees, snowmen and holiday music. The Centennials also showed up wearing their jerseys and best smiles. It was
great to see community members opening their doors with generous donations and greetings of holiday wishes.
We understand that some residences were missed and we extend our heartfelt apologies if you were one of them. If you would like to give a donation, we would be grateful to have you drop it off at either Royal LePage Merritt or the food bank, both located on Quilchena Avenue.
Royal LePage Merritt would like to take this opportunity to extend a special thank you to the Merritt Centennials, Cadets, friends and volunteers
that provided a help-ing hand on this day. We would also like to express our appreciation to local businesses for helping out.
Royal LePage Merritt’s Hands of Hope Christmas Drive plans to continue the event next year and will be looking for vol-unteers, which is vital to the event’s success. Happy holidays and thank you again for the generous support and contributions benefitting your local food bank. You have made a differ-ence in giving to many families this holiday season.
Submitted
Weekend food drive collects 4,470 pounds of food
City council plans MP, MLA meeting over Last Post Fund
City council plans to have a discussion regard-ing the Last Post Fund for veterans with the federal and provincial representatives of the Merritt area sometime in the near future.
At the Nov. 26 regular council meeting, council voted unani-mously to meet with member of Parliament for Okanagan-Coquihalla Dan Albas and Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart regarding
the issue after Coun. Mike Goetz brought the motion forward.
Goetz told the Herald that under the current rules, only veterans from the Second World War and the Korean War receive funds for burial or a disability fund if injured.
“People who are serv-ing today are not quali-fied for that, yet there’s enough money there,” Goetz said.
He said there’s enough money to cover all veterans for things such as burials through
Last Post, rehabilitation and pensions, but not all veterans are being covered.
“There’s money there, it’s just we’ve got to make it known we’d like to see the people who deserve it get it,” Goetz said.
Goetz also said he plans to bring the issue to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities as a resolution as well to attract the attention of other municipalities.
He said council wants to know what the gov-ernment’s plans are in
regards to the Last Post Fund issue and voice their concern for veter-ans.
“We need to find out the answers to why the fund has so much money in it, but so little is being paid out,” Goetz told council.
The initiative is for the sake of awareness at this point, Goetz told the Herald.
Goetz also said the correct answers aren’t coming from Ottawa and if communities like Merritt start asking those questions, they will get
answers.“But if we don’t ask
any questions, it’ll simply just vaporize and we’ll never know,” Goetz said.
The Last Post Fund is
a federal fund that helps eligible veterans afford a dignified funeral, burial and headstone as well as supports other com-memorative projects in
Canada.The Royal Canadian
Legion has lobbied to have the fund made available to modern-day veterans.
(From left) Shelly Moorhead makes a donation to Centennials players Adam Tracey and Tyler Martin for the Hands of Hope Food Drive this past Sunday. Michael Potestio/Herald
“Either we’ve got a community that wants to build it or we don’t. I think we’ve come as far as we can as a committee before we take that next leap of faith,” he said.
The group got the main piece of land and another piece of property about half a block away for $275,000. Originally, the group of for-mer owners wanted $475,000 for the prop-erty and $175,000 for the associated piece of land.
Christopherson said those owners went for the deal after the real-tor told them what it would be used for.
The associ-ated property is on Quilchena Avenue near the train tracks and was one caveat of the deal as it can be used for additional reciprocal parking.
Paying for the land is the first step in the roughly $5-million project. The society
has put a thermometer on the sold sign at the property on the corner of Coutlee Avenue
and Garcia Street that will gauge their fund-raising.
If the society
doesn’t get the money in time, it forfeits the property and its deposit.
BUSINESS
THURSDAY, December 5, 2013 • 9
Come down and meet the Mayor. This is your opportunity to bring forth ideas on how we
can make Merritt a better place to live and do business, ask questions about something you don’t understand or if
something has transpired that you have not received a proper resolution with.
Mayor’s DROP IN SESSION
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 1111 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Community Room Downstairs at City Hall.
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Donations desperately needed for spay and neuter services. Donations can be to made to The Angel’s Animal Rescue Society at The Interior Savings Credit Union, Account #1193739.
When we look at what is going on with our money, with our debt rising and rising. This can not go on forever. There will come a day of reckoning that will cause a lot of problems.
To spread the Word through missions all over the world while they feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and heal the sick is what we have been told to do. We must go on and tell the world about Jesus.
It is not cheap to carry out this work. The Bible instructs us to bring all the tithe (one tenth of your earnings), besides other offerings, and God will pour you out a blessing. He says that you will have more than you need.
How can that be? One solution is that we stop spending so much on the things that we don’t need. The things that are not healthy. That way we can afford to bring this money into God’s works. He has promised a blessing to go with that
and that could be happiness, good health, and less medicine.
The whole thing is based on faithfulness. God doesn’t say that if it rains too much that you don’t need to give tithes. He just says, “Just be faithful, and leave the rest to Me.”
The church operates big and small hospitals to help the sick. They also get big and small schools up and running to teach people how to take care of themselves by earning a living. In places where people are in need, the church digs wells for clean drinking water.
How is it all funded? Look at the mighty Fraser River. How does it become so big? Just by little streams here and there, fed by the snow and the glaciers in the mountains. Who created the snow? That is how the church functions. Everyone doing his or her small part, and God adds His blessings.
God the Word, the World
By Herman Kneller
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It’s Christmas time (and shopping time) once again. But before you head out on what is the most expensive shopping expedition of the year for most peo-ple – and potentially harm your creditwor-thiness – it might be a very good idea to take a critical look at your Beacon Score.
A Beacon Score results from a set of complex algorithms used to establish a person’s credit rating. It takes into account your payment history, current debt load, and number of new credit
applications. Final cal-culations range from 300 to 900 and tell a financial institution how likely it is that a customer will repay the loan within 24 months.
Beacon Scores are typically used by lend-ers to determine the level of interest to charge a borrower and, in the case of very low scores, whether to extend a loan at all.
Most lending institutions use credit scores from Equifax Credit Bureau or Transunion. These credit bureaus assess five areas of your personal finance, with each given a different weighting:
Past payment history • (weighting: approxi-mately 35 per cent) – a calculation that considers bankrupt-cies, late payments, past due accounts, and wage attach-ments.
Credit owing • (weighting: approxi-mately 30 per cent) – an amount that looks at how much you owe as a proportion of total credit limits.Length of time • to establish credit (weighting: approxi-mately 15 per cent) – how much time has elapsed since your accounts have been open and active.New credit (weight-• ing: approximately 10 per cent) – a calculation of recent credit inquiries and recently-opened accounts.Type of credit • (weighting: approxi-mately 10 per cent) – assesses the different types of credit used, such as credit cards, retail accounts, mortgage, and line of credit.
According to Canadian Mortgage
Trends, the aver-age Canadian adult’s Beacon Score is around 700. A score of 750 or higher puts you in a great position to receive extended credit but if you’re on the low end and hoping to get a mortgage or a large loan for some other reason, you may be able to improve your Beacon Score by:
Establishing a credit • history as soon as possible – lenders like to see a payment history of at least two years on at least two accounts, such as a car loan and a credit card.Making all your pay-• ments on time – the cleaner your credit history, the better your chances of being approved.
It’s good to know how lenders use your Beacon Score – but it’s even better to know
your score is good because your financial life is in order and on track. That’s where a professional advisor comes in. Talk to one today.
This column, written and published by Investors Group Financial Services Inc. (in Québec – a Financial Services Firm), and Investors Group Securities Inc. (in Québec, a firm in Financial Planning) presents general information only and is not a solicitation to buy or sell any investments. Contact your own advi-sor for specific advice about your circumstances. For more information on this topic please contact your Investors Group Consultant.
Contact David Brown at 250-315-0241 or at [email protected] to book your appointment.
DAVID L. BROWNManagingYOUR MONEY
Dec. 19 deadline to pay for movie theatre landFrom Page 1
Credit score indicative of fi nancial health
www.merrittherald.com 10 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
Christmas Events 2013Christmas Events 2013
HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS Five days of holiday events brought thou-
sands of people from the Nicola Valley and surrounding areas to downtown Merritt.
Country Christmas included the annual com-munity concert, a dance recital, pictures with Santa at Santa’s village, breakfast with Santa, and of course, Friday night’s light-up parade.
Photos by Herald staff
www.merrittherald.com
Christmas Events 2013Christmas Events 2013THURSDAY, December 5, 2013 • 11
Enjoy Christmas on us
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A SNOWY SCENE Merrittonian Marguerite Kempin has set up her annual Christmas village display in the storefront of Vision Quest on Quilchena Avenue. Kempin has set up the mini village for people in Merritt to enjoy for several years. Michael Potestio/Herald
GRAB HOLD! (From left) Merritt Centennials Payton Schaefer and Tyler Martin link up to take a lap around the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena during the Centennials Skate with Santa night on Monday. Proceeds from the event went to Merritt’s soup kitchen. Michael Potestio/Herald
www.merrittherald.com www.merrittherald.com THURSDAY, December 5, 2013 • 1712 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
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2014 CALENDARS
SHOP LOCAL & WIN BIG!
Food BankLocate this weeks smiley faces.
Bring a non-perishable food item into participating merchants and receive double stamps.From Thurs, Dec 5th - Wed, Dec 11th
121-1700 Garcia, Merritt, BC
250-378-9004
WINTER 2013MilwaukeeHeated Jacket & Hoodie
Prices Good until Dec. 31, 2013
• Adjustable heat settings
• Washer & dryer safe
• Up to 6 hours of
continuous heat
DOUBLE STAMP WEEK!
rural living
#1922 $260,000
Great retreat on 1.99 acres just 15 mins. from Merritt. Treed site with room for your toys & close to crown land. Home features 3 bedrms, 2.5 baths, fully finished bsmt & double garage.
Exquisite 3 bedrm bungalow in prime location, completely redone inside and out including wiring, plumbing, furnace HW tank and all new windows. Superior quality finishing & crown molding throughout. Custom kitchen with granite countertops & stainless steel appliances.
#2140 $324,900
PrivaTE YarD
#2013 $319,000
Fantastic home with 2 bedrms, laundry, family rm and new kitchen w/eating area, dining & living rm on main plus huge hobby rm down. Nice sundeck off kitchen. Backyard has pond.
ExEcuTivE bEnch homE
#2141 $399,900
Quality executive 3 BR family home with HW & cork flooring with spacious rooms, vaulted ceilings & Mill Creek cabinets with granite top on kitchen island. U/G sprinklers, 2 sundecks, private yard.
bEnch ranchEr
#2113 $229,000
Quaint 2 bedroom rancher in popular Bench area on large lot. Features pine kitchen cabinets, roomy living room with gas F/P. Large sundeck in private backyard with mature trees. Single car garage.
gooD familY homE
#2116 $279,000
Spacious 4 bedroom family home with an additional 2 bedroom inlaw suite on ground level. Bright kitchen with lots of cabinets, has den, play room and 3 pce ensuite. Nice fenced backyard.
PrivaTE ranch
#1663 $539,000
brEaThTaking viEws
#2051 $370,000
4 bedrm home on the Bench with fantastic views of the valley & parks. Complete reno including new Mill Creek kitchen, flooring throughout, 2 new baths, furnace, HW tank & large back deck & much more.
157 acrEs
#2119 $849,900
Wonderful acres only 15 mins. from Merritt. 2 bedrm modular, huge ensuite, family rm, open living & dining area. Large covered deck. Includes 2 shops for storage. Close to lakes for fishing.
spius creek estates
Country living at its best! These 9 properties are located approx. 15 mins. from Merritt in the beautiful Sunshine Valley. A Phase 1 has been completed and a water report is available. 4 lots are waterfront, all have stunning views of the valley. Area offers swimming, biking, canoeing, horseback riding,motorcycling & more.
GST is applicable #2000
firsT TimE buYEr
#2138 $199,900
Beautifully renovated inside & out. Spacious 4 bedrm home on 0.25 acres, fully manicured lawn & UG sprinklers. Has new bathrm, new flooring and paint throughout, new windows, siding & more.
Incredible year round off the grid home or a recreational retreat of 133 acres almost surrounds entire lake. 2 main cabins plus 3 additional guest cabins. Extensive snowmobiling, fishing, hunting, horsebacking riding in area.
From 9.8 to 17 Acres
Prices starting at $199,000
MOVING REAL ESTATE BC LTD.#102, 2840 Voght Street, Box 236
Prices starting at $85,000 + gsTFully serviced residential lots with fantastic views of the Nicola Valley and surrounding mountains. Close to shopping and college.
Start building your dream home today!
limiTED TimE PricE incEnTivE
largE shoP
#2099 $169,000
Excellent 2 bedrm starter home of 1152 sq.ft. in Lower Nicola on 0.72 acres with 48 x 48 detached shop & drilled well. A work in progress but the end result could be fantastic.
manicurED YarD
#1759 $455,000
Gorgeous 5 bedrm, 3.5 bath home with ceramic tile in kitchen & baths, extra large kitchen opens to dining rm. Fully fin. bsmt with separate entrance, wet barn & extra large rec.rm. 2 covered decks.
cusTom homE
#1837 $749,900
Gorgeous 3 bedrm home on 51.99 acres with million dollar views! Open design with custom wood timber frame beams, HW flooring, granite counters in kitchen, huge wrap around deck. Garage with guest suite.
19.77 acrEs
#2092 $159,000
Private acreage at end of cul de sac, located west of Merritt off Petit Creek Road. Great place to build your home with spectacular views of valley and mountains. Power on road.
#1928
This premier subdivision offers a rural living experience with expansive views of the Nicola Valley. Minimum lot size of 0.5 acre up to 0.96 acre. Offers privacy and room to landscape. The cul de sac design guarantees no thru traffic and crown land surround entire property. The road is paved with city services in place.
Prices starting at $109,000 + gsT
NeW
commErcial
Great opportunity for automotive repair shop. Zoned C-2 with 3 lots of 17,625 sq.ft. Building has 3163 sq.ft. with 3 bays, parts room & comes with assorted tools & hoist. Don’t miss this!#2056 $465,000
Century 21 Moving Real Estate BC Ltd.250-378-6166 • Fax: 378-4344
or Toll Free: 1-877-841-2100
#102 - 2840 Voght St., Merritt, BC • www.movingrealestate.ca
Brad Yakimchuk
Personal Real Estate Corporation
315-3043
DonWard
315-3503
#2138 $199,900
FIRST TIME BUYERS
Beautifully renovated inside & out. Spacious 4 bedrm home on 0.25 acres, fully manicured lawn & UG sprinklers. Has new bathrm, new fl ooring and paint throughout, new windows, siding & more.
#2089 $65,000
INVESTORS
Great opportunity to own a one bedroom apartment in Merritt. Why rent when you can own. Very affordable unit. BONUS of $3,000 paid to Buyer upon completion! Includes appliances.
Moving Real Estate BC Ltd.
14 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013 THURSDAY, December 5, 2013 • 15
NEW
CHECK OUT OURWEBSITES FOR MORE
DETAILS & COLOUR PHOTOSwww.movingrealestate.ca
www.century21.ca
#2043 $97,900
WHY RENT
This 3 bedrm home has had some updates, laminate fl ooring, double glazed windows, electrical upgrade, newer roof. 2 levels, 3 bedrms, 2 baths. Strata fees include heat and hot water.
#2090 $71,900
NICE MOBILE
2009 mobile in Lower Nicola MHP with 2 bedrooms, open design kitchen/living room. Hardi plank siding, 2 x 6 construction, large lot. Great home for retirees or fi rst time buyers
#2010 $289,000
CLOSE TO SCHOOLS
Great 4 bedrm home with HW fl oors, open concept with big kitchen & comes with appl. Some reno’s have been done like new roof, windows & exterior doors. Main bath has jetted soaker tub.
#2139 $389,900
EXTRA HALF LOT
Perfect for large family with 4 bedrms, 2.5 baths, stainless steel appliances, BI vac, A/C. Great yard with patio gazebo, UG & drip irrigation, double garage and extra parking on 1.5 lots.
#1963 $299,900
QUIET CUL DE SAC
West Coast contemporary home on quiet street. 3 bedrms, den, 2.5 baths, elegant fl ooring. 13x18 living rm with 17 ft vaulted ceilings. Kitchen with wrap around counters. 3 pce ensuite. Private backyard.
#1884 $359,900
NEW RANCHER
Great views from this Bench rancher with full walkout basement. HW, porcelain & carpet fl ooring. Vaulted ceilings, open design kitchen, 2 bedrms up, 2 baths. Bsmt roughed in inlaw suite.
#1967 $74,500
SPACIOUS MOBILE
2 bedrm mobile in one of the nicest parks. 1 bedrm on each end with an open concept kitchen eating area & living rm in the center. The addition has a large enclosed porch & family rm.
#2022 $439,000
RIVERFRONT PROPERTY
Executive 3 bedrm rancher on immaculate ½ acre lot backing onto Nicola River. Features 3 bedrms, 2 baths, 1900+ sq.ft. with maple HW, ceramic tile & large 475 sq.ft. covered deck.
#2105 $289,900
HERITAGE HOME
In downtown core, close to all amenities, lane access & private yard. Features 3 bedrms, 4 pce ensuite, Victorian classic kitchen with all appl., HW fl ooring in many rooms, 9 ft ceilings & large family rm.
#2052 $329,000
CLOSE TO SCHOOLS
Large family home in good area, close to schools with 3 bedrms up and 2 bedrm inlaw suite on ground level. New paint & fl ooring on main. HW radiant heat with new boiler in 2009. Large fenced backyard.
#2096 $419,000
DESIGN & QUALITY
In upscale neighbourhood with views of the valley. 3 bedrms on main with 4 pce ensuite, bright kitchen, sunken living rm with vaulted ceilings & gas F/P. Has 2 bedrm suite with sep. entrance.
#1957 $199,900
INCREDIBLE VALUE
3 bedrms up plus 2 bedrm legal suite down, on 0.19 acre corner lot. Perfect for young family looking for a mortgage helper or an investor. Easy walk to bus and school. Fenced backyard with mature cedars.
#2120 $239,000
ADULT ORIENTED STRATA
One of the nicest gated communities in Merritt with views of the Nicola River. Has 3 bedrms, 2 baths, open design living, gas F/P, galley kitchen with nook, laundry on main, hobby & rec.rm down.
#2049 $298,500
IMMACULATE DUPLEX
Immaculate side by side duplex with approx. 960 sq.ft. & 2 bedrms per side. Reno’s in 2004 & 2007 include fl ooring, plumbing, electrical, furnaces, HW tanks & Mill Creek kitchen & both baths. Has detached 16x24 shop.garage.
#2108 $165,000
CUTE & COZY
Charming 2 bedrm home with fresh paint, roof, updated windows & kitchen. 12x12 patio off sundeck. Quiet neighbourd, centrally location with lane access, RV parking & insulated shop.
#1759 $455,000
MANICURED CORNER LOT
Gorgeous 5 bedrm, 3.5 bath home with HW fl ooring, ceramic tile in kitchen & baths, 5 pce ensuite & W/I closet. Fully fi n. bsmt with separate entrance, extra large rec.rm. 2 covered decks.
#2099 $169,000
HUGE SHOP
Excellent starter home in Lower Nicola on 0.72 acre lot with 48x48 shop. Home has 2 bedrms, 1152 sq.ft. gas fi replace. A work in progress but the neighbourhood but the results can be fantastic.
#1998 $469,900
LOTS OF PARKING
Gorgeous view home, gourmet kitchen with S/S appl., dining & living rm with walkout balcony, 3 bedrms up, 1 down, fantastic Man Cave in bsmt. Low mtnce yard is prof. landscaped.
#2027 $509,900
EXECUTIVE HOME
Executive 5 bedrm, 3 bath home the HW fl oors, slate tile, gourmet chef’s kitchen with Maple shaker cabinets. Large living rm, den & family rm with sliding doors to deck. Fully fi nished basement.
#2110 $127,500
GREAT STARTER
Very clean home with 3 bedroom up, 2 bathrooms, new tile & newer fl ooring in living room. Close to schools. Has a carport in back with lane access and fenced yard.
#2097 $279,000
BACKYARD OASIS
Totally renovated home, tastefully decorated, 4 bedrms, 2 baths plus sunroom, custom kitchen with granite counters, fantastic bathrm with high end fi xtures. Incredible backyard with water features.
#2101 $99,500
SPENCES BRIDGE
3 bedrm, 2 bath double wide on its own 0.17 acre lot with fruit trees & garden area. Great retreat close to the famous Thompson River known for salmon & steelhead fi shing.
#2051 $370,000
FANTASTIC VIEWS
4 bedrm home, completely renovated with open concept living, Mill Creek kitchen, new fl ooring throughout, 2 new baths, furnace & HW tank plus new large back deck to enjoy the views.
#2140 $324,900
COMPLETELY RENOVATED
Exquisite 3 bedrm bungalow in prime location, completely redone inside & out. New wiring, plumbing, furnace, HW tanks, all windows, S/S appliance pkg, stacking washer/dryer plus a fully fi n. bsmt.
#2122 $165,000
NEWER APARTMENT
Newer 2 bedrm apartment in a great neighbourhood. Features granite counters, S/S appliances. This home has an open modern design, great for entertaining & built-in A/C.
#2126 $329,900
DESIRABLE AREA
Immaculate 4 bedrm home with fantastic views., 3 pce ensuite with soaker tub & sitting rm. Living rm with gas F/P. Main level has family rm, offi ce, laundry. Double garage. Near college.
#2124 $224,900
STRATA END UNIT
Nice newer end unit with good sized totally fenced yard. Bright open fl oor plan, kitchen has large island & big pantry. 3 bedrms, open rec.rm & laundry up. 3 pce ensuite, central A/C & double garage.
#2121 $385,000
THREE LEVEL SPLIT
Executive 3 level split family home with stunning view of the valley. Has a grand living rm and dining rm with large vaulted ceilings, open kitchen concept with sunken family rm. 3 bedrms up, large master suite. Upgrades include new bathrm, windows & more.
#2111 $325,000
18,000 SQ.FT. LOT
Very private yard with fruit trees, amazing patio, fi sh pond & garden area. Home custom 3 level split home has 4 bedrms, large windows, 12x13 sunroom accessible from master bedrm. The basement has large rec.rm and 2 bedrms.
#2013 $319,000
DESIRABLE AREA
Fantastic 3 bedrm home with amazing private yard. 2 bedrms, laundry, family rm, new kitchen with eating area, dining & living rm on main. Large games rm & hobby rm downstairs.
#2113 $229,000
BENCH RANCHER
Nice 2 bedrm rancher on popular Bench area. Pine kitchen cabinets, roomy living room with gas F/P. Fairly large sundeck, private backyard, single garage. Great for retirees or fi rst time buyer.
#2080 $229,900
BIG DETACHED SHOP
3 bedrm family home, close to schools with 24x24 shop/garage in backyard with large garden & fruit trees. Home has large living rm & kitchen, 2.5 baths, large rec.rm with dry bar. Priced below assessed value for 2013 of $256,300.
#2125 $149,000
WALK TO AMENITIES
3 bedrrom home in downtown core. Great for home-based business. Has a detached garage 21x23 with lane access. Fenced backyard with sundeck and lane access.
#2103 $298,000
REVENUE FOURPLEX
Side by side fourplex on a 1/3 of an acre. Has been renovated inside & out including roof & septic system. Monthly rental revenue is currently $2670. Cooperative water. Desirable location
#2141 $399,900
EXECUTIVE BENCH HOME
Quality executive 3 BR family home with HW & cork fl ooring with spacious rooms, vaulted ceilings & Mill Creek cabinets with granite top on kitchen island. U/G sprinklers, 2 sundecks, private yard.
#2050 $334,900
IN QUIET CUL DE SAC
Spacious 4 bedrm home with open design, 3 pce ensuite, large back porch, huge backyard with nice sundeck and a garden area. Inlcudes 2 bedrm bsmt suite. 26x24 double garage.
#2081 $224,900
DESIRABLE AREA
This rancher features 3 bedrms, private yard with garden, 2 car garage & room for RV parking. Includes appliances & gas fi replace. Easy access and quality built home.
#1863 $549,900
SENSATIONAL
Quality built view home offers approx. 4000 sq.ft. on 3 levels. Large chef’s kitchen with all appliances, family rm open to large balcony, 4 bedrms, 3 baths. Fully fi nished basement. Triple garage.
#1923 $259,900
CLOSE TO SCHOOL
Very nice 4 bedroom home with open fl oor plan and high cathedral ceilings. Has 1 bedrm and laundry on main, 3 bedrms up and ensuite with jetted tub. Has fenced backyard. Includes 3 appliances.
#1988 $246,300
SPOTLESS RANCHER
One level home with 2 master bedrms + den & offi ce (or 3rd bedrm). Each bedrm has its own ensuite. Has 536 sq.ft. covered deck and 20x16 detached shop with concrete fl oors.
#1982 $169,900
INVESTMENT
Side by side uplex with 100 amp service. Each side has 2 bedrms, 1 bath and approx 432 sq.ft. Easy walk to shopping & schools. Has had some renovations. Adjacent duplex also for sale.
#2035 $169,900
GREAT LOCATION
3 bedrms on the main, possible 4th down. Kitchen is bright & cheery with new counters & cabinets. Laminate & tile fl oors. Fully fi n. bsmt with big family rm, offi ce & storage.
#2116 $279,000
HAVE A BIG FAMILY?
Perfect for large family with 4 bedroom plus an additional 2 bedrm inlaw suite, den & play roo. Nice fenced yard for children or pets. Lane access. Community parks are close by.
#2115 $149,900
COZY RANCHER
Beautiful 2 bedroom home plus den/hobby room completely updated including all fl ooring, paint & most fi xtures. Lane access for extra parking in rear. Centrally located in downtown core.
#2038 $329,000
GREAT BENCH HOME
Completely renovated 4 bedrm home with new kitchen, fl ooring, new bathrms up & down, extra spacious fl oor plan with open concept living. Large lot, covered carport, RV parking.
#2130 $225,000
GARDENERS PARADISE
19,500 sq.ft. lot with fruit trees & vegetable gardens. Home has 2 bdrms up & 2 down. Nicely manicured lawn, has cold storage for canning. Has new siding, windows & furnace
#2133 $149,999
HUGE LOT
An older 2 bedroom home in nice neighbourhood, close to the downtown on an extra large 13,780 sq.ft. lot that may have subdivision potential. Lane access to a well maintained backyard with a single garage
#2044 $527,400
INVESTORS
Great opportunity of 6 strata title townhomes, all within walking distance to downtown & close to all amenities. Being sold below assessed value at $87,900 per unit. Call for more details.
#2098 $99,900
OPPORTUNITY
Great corner lot on a quiet street with plenty of room to build a shop. Home has 2 bedrooms and in need of some TLC, but is priced accordingly. Call for a showing today.
BONUS
#2129 $144,900
CENTRAL LOCATION
Clean 4 bedrm rancher, close to shopping, transit & schools. Reno’s include fl ooring, siding & complete main bathrm. Large fenced yard, nicely landscaped with storage shed & workshop.
#2088 $269,900
LOWER NICOLA
Great home in Lower Nicola on 0.35 acres with creek. 2 bedrms up, 1 down in renovated bsmt with new carpets, paint & HW tank. Large living room and a galley kitchen. 24x28 shop.
#2128 $330,999
GREAT SETTING
Beautifully renovated 3 level split with open concept design, large windows, vaulted ceilings & central A/C. Has new kitchen with S/S appliances, new bathrm fl ooring & paint. Huge double garage.
DESIRABLE AREA
#2132 $389,900
Beautiful 4 bedrm family home with Home Warranty in newer Bench location. Tastefully fi nished home with top quality products, open concept living, large kitchen with island, maple HW fl ooring, central A/C.
NEW
#2135 $179,900
COZY BUNGALOW
Great home in the downtown area, close to shopping & amenities. Flat, fenced lot with mature landscaping & RV parking. Home has open oak kitchen/dining rm, 3 bedrms, private patio with hot tub.
CENTURY 21 MOVING REAL ESTATE BC LTD.IC & ILAKEHOMES ON ACREAGE LAND
LARGE VIEW LOT
#1900 $83,000
Large estate size on with beautiful panoramic views of the Nicola River and bordering ranch lands. All this within the city limits and walking distance to shopping
BREATHTAKING VIEWS
#1866 $799,995
Exceptionally well built 5 bedrm home on 20 acres, with 4 baths & inlaw suite in fully fi n. bsmt. Large windows to enjoy the panoramic views. Reinforced foundation & external walls. 26x37 shop & garage.
REDUCED
COUNTRY GETAWAY
#1961 $398,800
This spacious 3 bedrm, 2 bath home has open design with huge 48 ft deck to enjoy the sunsets & good times. 24x24 detached shop/garage. Land is fenced & would be great for horses.
ON 4.64 ACRES
#1916 $474,900
Country living on 4.64 acres with beautiful 4 bedrm log home. Spacious loft master suite, newer kitchen & appliances, new electric furnace & heat pump, pellet stove. Great views
103 ACRES
#1890 $549,000
Approx. 103 acres overlooking Nicola River. Double wide, 4 bedrm, 2 bath home with partially fi nished bsmt. Numerous outbldgs, hay storage, tack shed. Fenced property.
PRIVATE 160 ACRES
#2119 $849,900
Fantastic acreage just 15 mins. from Merritt by Aspen Grove. Has 1500 sq.ft. modular with large covered deck. Includes 2 shops, corrals with heated automatic watering for livestock & more.
KANE VALLEY
#2021 $599,000
Enjoy the peace & privacy from this 10 acre parcel that backs onto Crown Land. Beautiful log home with open concept, kitchen area overlooks gardens. Has several outbldgs. Great rec. area.
Check out our website for
more colour photos & details.
PRESTIGIOUS HOME
#1837 $749,900
Custom home on 51.99 acres with panoramic views. This private home has open design with custom cut timbers frame beams, HW fl ooring, 3 bedrms, 2.5 baths & wrap around deck
PRIVATE RANCH
#1663 $539,000
In Savona, incredible 133 acres almost surrounds lake. Has 2 main cabins & 3 additional cabins, off the grid. Great area for all rec. activities- hiking, snowmobiling, fi shing, hunting & more
ON NICOLA LAKE
#1842 $998,000
Magnifi cent lakefront home with vaulted ceilings, 5 bedrms, 4.5 baths, 2 large sundecks overlooking the lake, fully fi nished basement, low E windows & UG boathouse.
WATERFRONT ACREAGE
#2025 $359,900
Live the dream on Nicola Lake in Quilchena on the Lake development. Waterfront 1.855 acres, close to golf course, fi shing & all outdoor water & recreation activities.
19.77 ACRES
#2092 $159,000
Private 19.77 acres with spectacular view of the valley & mountains. Located off Petit Creek Rd at end of quiet cul de sac. Property is treed with creek running through it.
20 ACRES
#1713 $2,000,000
Great development property, for sale or lease, with utilities at lot line. Golf course and resort planned just up Midday Valley Road. Two parcels, two titles but being sold together
INDUSTRIAL BUILDING
#1913 $890,000
Immaculate 8000 sq.ft. precast tilt-up building on corner lot with excellent exposure. Easy access to truck route. Adjoining warehouse has bay door, loading deck offi ce & messanine space.
HUGE SHOP
#2056 $465,000
Zoned C-2, has 3164 sq.ft. building with 3 bays, parts room and comes with assorted tools & hoist. Has 3 separately titled lots of 18000 sq.ft. in total.
INVESTORS
#2136 $750,000
Approx. 12,000 sq.ft. building with offi ce space with one long term tenant. Great for professional offi ces, retail, lawyers, doctors, government agency, etc. Has approval for residential units upstairs.
REDUCED
COUNTRY LIVING
#1922 $260,000
Nice country retreat on 1.99 acres just 15 minutes from Merritt with fl at levels & drilled well. Close to crown land. 3 bedrms, 2.5 baths, huge rec.rm down, A/C & double garage. Nice views.
2 ACRES
#1914 $139,000
Great rec. property is build your home in the country. Drilled well with 15 gpm, septic approval, power at lot line and driveway are all in. Nice views & close to crown land access
INCREDIBLE INVESTMENT
#2114 $399,000
Fantastic investment with 6 revenue streams – 3 residential suites and 3 commercial units at ground level. Highway frontage for excellent exposure for commercial & centrally located. Call for details.
6 ACRES
#1915 $189,000
Waterfront acreage for rec. property of build your home in the country. Mostly fl at with many building sites. Has shallow well, septic approval, hydro on land & driveway in. Easy access with crown land nearby.
12.63 ACRES
#2047 $209,000
12.63 acre lot with great access to Spius Creek. Several good building sites. Drilled well. Hydro to lot line. Located in Sunshine Valley on Cleasby Road.
#2094 $449,000
12.16 ACRES
#2048 $219,000
1.216 acre treed lot waiting for you to develop it. Many building site and with great views plus shallow well in place. Hydro to lot line.
COMMERCIAL
#2054 $345,000
Great building of 1680 sq.ft., corner lot, high traffi c area. Previously used as showroom for car dealership. Zoned C-2. 2 separate titles.
COMMERCIAL BUILDING
#2019 $595,000
Great location on a corner lot on main street coming into Merritt. This 7300 sq.ft. building is zoned C-4 with a site specifi c zoning for prof. offi ces, doctors, lawyers etc. Lots of parking.
16 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
RIVERFRONT LOT
#2082 $109,900
Last bare land parcel fronting Nicola River in the city limits. 0.91 acres, completely fl at. Unlimited possibilities to build your dream home. Call for more details.
HORSE LOVERS
#2095 $849,000
Lush 48.46 acres in Sunshine Valley, over 1 km bordering the Nicola River - watering rights. Quality home featuring spacious kitchen, 5 bedrms, 4 baths, in-law suite. 2nd farmhand residence, 55 acres organic hayfi elds, irrigation & farm equipment, hayshed, 4-stall barn w/ tack room & riding arena.
1 ACRE LOT
#2107 $112,500
Enjoy the great outdoors on this 1 acre lot on Iron Mountain, close to fi shing, hunting, cross country skiing & all outdoor activities. Only 10 mins. from Merritt. Perfect for a hobby farm.
Prices Starting at $129,000 + GST
Beautiful 10 +/- acre parcel with gorgeous views of the Coldwater River, just 10 minutes from Merritt. Power at lot line & many lots have pre-approved building & septic sites. Some
lots have wells, but all have a gov’t required hydrology study to assure Buyers of ample domestic water. #1442.
COLDWATER HILLSAPPROX. 10 ACRE LOTS
OPPORTUNITY
#2137 $350,000
Good commercial building in downtown core. Approx. 5000 sq.ft. of commercial space on the main with 1100 sq.ft. up with a 3 bedrm suite, currently rented. Zoned C-2. Run your business and live upstairs.
SOLD
Residential Lots
Prices starting at
$65,000 + GST
Very nice lots in newly developed subdivision of high end rancher style homes. Zoned R-2, has city services. Several lots to choose from to build your dream home. Call for more details
#1973
NICOLA WYND
HORSE PROPERTY
#1992 $519,900
Great horse property with riding arena on 9.91 acres & backs onto crown land. 4 bedrm home with huge country kitchen, large wrap around covered deck. Has double garage & detached shop.
Spotless 4 bedrm home with master & ensuite on the main, ground level entry, modern kitchen design, exquisite HW fl oors, spacious deck w/hot tub & full daylight bsmt. 50x30 quonset.
LUXURIOUS WATERFRONT
#2131 $2,755,000
Lavish oasis on 1.05 acres at Nicola Lake. This custom home has 4 bedrms, 5 baths, over 6000 sq.ft. with open concept design, gourmet kitchen, large living areas, 2 master suites & gorgeous infi nity pool.
AT NICOLA LAKE
#1918 $190,000
Spectacular 1 acre view lot at Nicola Lake, just 15 minutes from Merritt. Fantastic property to build your home and overlook the lake. Only short walk to the waters edge.
TO MONCK PARK, NICOLA LAKE,QUILCHENA, DOUGLAS LAKE AND KAMLOOPS.HWY #5A TO KAMLOOPS 95 km
HWY #5 TO KAMLOOPS 87 km
Tourist InformationCenter
To Merritt Mountain Music
Festival Site
To Merritt Mountain Music
Festival Site
Tourist Information Centre 378-2281
City of Merrittwww.city.merritt.bc.ca
Chamber of Commercewww.merritt-chamber.bc.ca
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Merritt bull rider Ty Pozzobon didn’t let a broken right hand — the result of being stepped on by a 2,000-pound mountain of beef at the end of October — spoil his recent three-week trip to the Land of Oz to compete in the country’s Australian Cup.
Fresh off a 15th-place finish at the Built Ford Tough World Championships in Las Vegas (Oct. 23-27), Pozzobon travelled to Australia on Nov. 6 to take part in three major PBR bull riding events — in Wollongong and Tamworth, New South Wales, and in the north-ern Queensland com-munity of Townsville.
The 22-year-old Pozzobon even managed to get in some snorkeling and deep-sea fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, pet a koala bear and celebrate his birthday to boot.
“It was my second trip to Australia,” said Pozzobon. “I went in 2011, but this time was so much better. I had my girlfriend (Jayd Davis from Texas) along to enjoy everything with me.”
Pozzobon got things rolling with two solid rides (79 and 84 points) in Wollongong, good for a fifth-place finish on the average.
Neither Pozzobon’s broken hand nor his surgically-repaired right knee — which had kept him out of action for two months prior to Las Vegas — gave him any trouble.
“My knee was really good,’ he said, “and the broken hand is my free hand (the one in the air)
so it didn’t affect me at all.”
Pozzobon went the full eight seconds on both his bulls in Townsville (81 and 84 points) to finish third overall and pick up more valuable points to start the new PBR season.
The young Nicola Valley cowboy saved the best for last, how-ever, as he scored an 88 on Navaho at the Tamworth Invitational to win the first round.
Despite being bucked off on his second ride, he still finished third again in the overall standings.
“Tamworth was quite an experience,” said Pozzobon. “I had quite a few rerides that night. In the first round, Navaho hit his head in the chute and fouled me, so I brought him back. Then in the championship round, on a bull called Sports Machine, they opened the gate before I even nodded my head, so I got to ride him again. Unfortunately, he
bucked me off the sec-ond time round. It was a lot of bulls to get one score.”
Fearless on the back of a bull, Pozzobon was more than a little appre-hensive about his first few forays underwater on his days off.
“I did not want to be in the water with sharks,” Pozzobon told reporter Justin Felisko for a story published on the PBR website. “It took a lot to get me snorkeling around, but Jayd and my good buddy Luke Snyder talked me into it, and I’m sure glad they did.”
Ty and Jayd saw a wide variety of tropi-cal creatures that they’d never seen before. The twosome and some other rodeo buddies also got to take in some offshore fishing 60 miles out to sea.
“We didn’t catch any marlins,” said Pozzobon, “but we caught a lot of other big stuff.”
The big stuff includ-ed an eight-foot bull
shark that hooked on to their drumline over-night. It eventually broke free in the morning and swam away.
“It was wild,” Pozzobon told Felisko for his article. “Oh man, I never thought I would ever see a real shark, and to see it that close was pretty cool.”
Ty and Jayd also visited historic Magnetic Island, located in Cleveland Bay just off the coast near Townsville. The island got its name because of the apparent ‘magnetic’ effect it had on ship’s compasses as they passed close by. One of its early visitors was the famous Captain James Cook.
Maggie Isle, as the locals call it, also includes a 27-square-kilometre national park. It is home to over 800 koala bears. Pozzobon actually got to touch one.
“We saw a wild one and kind of crawled up a tree and were petting it and stuff,” he said in the
PBR story. “We didn’t think we would get any-where near it. He was just sitting there liking it. It was crazy.”
Pozzobon is back in the Nicola Valley now, resting up and preparing for the 2014 bull riding season, which begins in earnest right after Christmas. He’s in Fort
Worth on Dec. 27 for a PBR event, followed shortly thereafter by the Monster Energy Buck Off at Madison Square Gardens in New York, Jan. 3-5.
Pozzobon finished his shortened 2013 Built Ford Tough sea-son in 30th place with $102,000 in earnings.
In 2011, he placed 20th overall with prize money totalling $106,000.
Going into the new season, the young gun from Merritt has landed an other major sponsor. Jack Daniels has joined Smithbilt Hats in back-ing the rising star on the world’s top bull riding circuit.
Ty’s excellent adventure in the Land Down Under Nicola Valley bull rider travels to Australia to compete, do some deep-sea fishing and even come face-to-face with a koala bear
WIZARD OF OZ (Left) With his right hand in a cast, Merritt bull rider Ty Pozzobon rides Navaho to a score of 88 and first place in round one at the Tamworh Invitational in Australia on Nov. 23. (Above) Pozzobon and one of his catches off the Queensland coast. (Below) a map of Australia showing the location of Pozzobon’s three competitive stops — Wollongong and Tamworth, New South Wales, and Townsville, Queensland. Photos submitted and Google Maps
Wollongong *
Tamworth *
Townsville *
www.merrittherald.com 20 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
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Oh, the sidewalks outside are icy
During these winter months, the sidewalks and roads are generally very icy. This makes people, particularly the elderly, vulnerable to slipping and falling. I have had numerous patients in my office already this winter with injuries from slipping on icy winter sidewalks. I would like to share what some of those injuries are and then give a few ideas to prevent them from happening in the first place.
One of the easiest ways to knock some teeth out, fracture your jaw, give yourself a concussion, and top it off with some quality road rash (scrapes/cuts) on your face is to walk on icy surfaces with your hands deep in your pockets. Whenever you lose your balance, you have an inherent reflex to extend out your hands in order to catch yourself. If you cannot get your hands out of your pockets in
time, one of the first things to hit the ground could be your shoul-ders, face, or head.
When venturing outside in these winter months, wear shoes that have a good tread on the bottom.
If you are wearing smooth-surfaced shoes, you are asking for trouble.
As an example, I will tell you about a particular business-person in Merritt. He did not see the need to change out of his per-fectly smooth-bottomed dress shoes before going outside onto the icy conditions.
He is presently walk-ing with extreme pain and can only sit if he uses a not-so-trendy donut-shaped pillow. The suffering he will endure for the next month from a fractured tailbone may have been prevented if he had proper footwear.
If you require a cane when walking, it may be prone to sliding out from under you on icy surfaces. Particularly in the elderly, this unex-pected shift in your balance may make you fall. Purchasing a small metal item that clamps onto the end of your cane can prevent this. It has a set of sharp teeth that flip over the rubber knob at the
end of the cane. Then, when you put your weight on it, the teeth bite securely into any icy surface.
Recently, I had a patient in my office whose cane slipped out from under her. She fell and attempted to catch herself with her free hand. It was quite obvi-ous when she saw me that she had fractured her wrist.
Many elderly people or those with bal-ance disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease or vertigo may require the use of a walker on slippery or uneven surfaces.
This gives them the security of being able to lean on a stable structure if they slip or lose their balance slightly.
Only last week, I spoke to an elderly man in my office who has balance problems due to Alzheimer’s disease. He slipped on an icy sidewalk and the bridge of his nose struck one
of the wooden benches located on our main street. Although he said it was not a big deal, I believe he had a broken nose and I am confident he should have had the laceration stitched.
In addition to taking the necessary precau-tions for yourself when walking on icy surfaces, there are things you can do for other people as well.
First and foremost, shovel the snow off the sidewalk in front of your home or business. You could also spread sand or salt on the icy sections to prevent oth-ers from slipping on your section of side-walk.
If you are unfortu-nate enough to have a fall or even to just slip without actually hitting the ground, it is likely that you have jarred or strained your neck, back, or shoulders. The discomfort may show up immediately or pos-sibly not for a few days.
If one or more of the joints in your spine or neighbouring mus-cles remain restricted in their movement, then that area will be vulner-able to becoming sore at a later date. Thus, if you do slip, even with-out completely falling, see your chiropractor for a complete exami-nation.
DR. COLIN GAGESpinal COLUMN
Dealing constructively with arguments
It is unrealistic to expect that differ-ences will not come up when you are liv-ing with a partner or
children. Sometimes things become heated, and words are said in anger. Hurt feelings and distancing can result, sometimes lasting for days. When communi-cation does resume, it may result in another argument about the first argument.
If this process is repeated time and again, the relationship will begin to suffer. An ongoing argument about what the other
person did wrong rarely gets anywhere. If you are angry because you feel you have been wronged, there is a good chance the other
person feels the same way. Rather than mak-ing the other wrong, it is enough to state simply what you do not like: being yelled at,
sworn at, put down or ignored.
The other person will likely counter with what he or she does not like about what you did or said. Allow this without defensiveness. Then suggest since you have both expressed what was important to each, that you strive to remember that in the future and then let the original argument go. Forget it. Do not file it in your memory bank
to dredge up the next time there is a problem.
It is the argument you are letting go, not necessarily the issue. There still may be some work to do on it, but having let the argument go, you may both be able to approach the issue with more objec-tivity and less emotion.
Replaying the argu-ment and analyzing it to pieces is like stepping into emotional quick-sand. The more the two
of you struggle with the issue, the deeper and more stuck you become.
Practice letting some things go without being a martyr about your hurt feelings. This allows you to get back to being happy more quickly instead of stay-ing in the ring, arguing about who is right.
Gwen Randall-Young is an author and award-winning psychotherapist.
GWEN RANDALL-YOUNGPsychologyFOR LIVING
‘‘‘Replaying the argument and analyzing it to pieces is like stepping into emotional quicksand.’
— HERALD COLUMNIST
GWEN RANDALL-YOUNG
www.merrittherald.com THURSDAY, December 5, 2013 • 21
HERALD SPORTSmerrittherald.com bcclassified.com
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vsMerritt Centennials
The longest continuously run franchise in the BCHL
All games scheduled to play at NICOLA VALLEY MEMORIAL ARENA 2075 Mamette Ave., Merritt
vs. Penticton Vees Friday, December 6 - 7:30 pm
Cents manage a point from a yin yang weekend Cents get shut out by the Vipers in Vernon; respond with a tie on home ice against Powell River - the BCHL’s very best
As the Merritt Centennials headed to Penticton last night for an important showdown with the much-hated Vees, coaches Luke Pierce and Joe Martin had to be wondering which one of their teams would be show-ing up for the front half of the home-and-home series between the two teams.
Would it be the one that failed to make an appearance in Vernon last Friday, and lost 4-0 to the Snakes in a much-hyped showdown for first place in the BCHL’s Interior Division?
Or would it be the one that, 24 hours later, battled the league-lead-ing Powell River Kings to a 1-1 draw at home in a thrilling contest that the Cents thoroughly deserved to win?
“I don’t think we started the game (in Vernon) terribly, and being down only a goal going into the second period wasn’t too bad,” said Pierce, “but when we needed to show some life and some com-
pete, it just wasn’t there. We just didn’t have any intensity.”
Pierce was especially upset by the series of penalties his team took early in the second period that, in his words, killed their flow and gave the Vipers momen-tum.
“There are times when a good penalty kill or two can provide a real spark, but it didn’t
happen on that night.”Vernon scored three
times in the first 10 min-utes of the middle stan-za to essentially put the game away on a night when the Centennials were anything but their best. A few players were even benched for length-ly periods of time.
“Joe and I wanted to get the message across that if you’re not going to compete with the level of intensity that we expect, then you’re not going to play,” said Pierce.
The coaches’ icy epistle appeared to work the next night. Against the BCHL-leading Powell River Kings, the Centennials put in a stellar home-ice performance, tying the league’s best 1-1.
“I knew that we’d get
a much better effort,” said Pierce. “Even after we gave up the first goal (at 15:16 of the opening period), I thought that we were playing hard.”
The Cents outshot the Kings 17-10 in the first 20 minutes (and 54-41 on the night). Had it not been for the goaltending of PR’s Jeff Smith, Merritt could easily have been ahead by two to three goals.
After a scoreless sec-ond period, Merritt was finally rewarded at 4:40 of the third when Jeff Wight netted his 12th of the season with assists going to Diego Cuglietta and Tyler Martin.
The real hero on the night was Merritt netminder Devin Kero, who also earned the nod as the game’s first star. The rookie puckstopper
held the powerhouse Kings to just one goal while dealing with an upper body injury sus-tained at the beginning of the second period.
“We were ready to pull [Devin],” said Pierce, “but he was pret-ty determined to stay in and play. In the third period, he was doing things a little unconven-tional but hanging in there.”
On Monday of this week, Pierce was hop-ing that Merritt’s poor performance against Vernon was a bit of an anomaly, and that his team’s effort versus the Kings was more indica-tive of things to come.
“Our consistency was good for the most part in the month of November,” said Pierce. “That said, there’s been
a lot going on — with the injuries and illness, and me being away (at the World Junior Challenge). I think the players might have been a little bit drained, men-tally.
“Having Powell River come in (on Saturday) was ideal for us,” added the coach. “You either show up to play or you get buried. They come at your hard and fast.”
The Centennials can expect a not-too-dissim-ilar style of play in their two-game series with the Vees, who currently hold down second place in the Interior. Following last night’s encounter in Penticton, the teams hook up on Friday at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.
Pierce is looking for-ward to seeing the Vees
on home ice for the first time this season.
“It’ll be fun. I’m really hoping that the way we played against Powell River will be how we show up on Friday. Regardless of our oppo-nent, that’s the way we need to be. It brings the best out in us.”
In the absence of Kero, Russell Sanderson was slated to start in the Merritt net on Wednesday, and be backed up by Nathan Alalouf, an AP from the KIJHL’s Osoyoos Coyotes.
Expected to still be out of the Cents’ lineup for this week are forwards Adam Tracey and James Neil, both of whom are nursing lower body injuries.
FOR THE BIRDS The Merritt Centennials fell 4-0 in Vernon on Friday. (Above) The Vipers’ Jason Bird (21) plays the puck through the legs of Cents’ defenceman Shane Poulsen. Photo courtesoy of Lisa Vandervelde/Vernon Morning Star
e on hoommmmmmeeeeee iicce aga
SPARKLING TWINE The Cents rebounded to tie the league-leading Powell River Kings 1-1 on Saturday. (Above) Merritt netminder Devin Kero was hroic in stopping 40 of 41 Kings’ shots. Ian Webster/Herald
www.merrittherald.com 22 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
SPORTS
The Merritt Foun-tain Tire atom devel-opment team gave an older, more experienced Quesnel Thunder squad all it could han-dle on the weekend but, in the end, the locals had to settle for second place in their own six-team tournament.
The Fountain Tire Jr. Cents could not hold onto an early two-goal lead and were struck down by the Thunder 5-3 in the gold medal game on Sunday.
The Merritt atoms qualified for the cham-pionship game thanks to a thrilling 4-3 victory over their arch-rivals, the North Okanagan Knights. Caleb Brackett netted the game win-ner in overtime to send the host team to the A final.
In round robin play, the Jr. Cents opened the tournament with a pair of 6-4 wins, over South Okanagan and the Blue Admirals from Seattle, Wash. Merritt’s only loss in round robin play was to Quesnel, 5-2.
Tournament scorers
for the Fountain Tire team over the weekend were Max Graham, Breanna Ouellet, Matthew Newman, Chase Cooke, Robert Sterling, Divaan Sahota and Brackett. Sajjin Lali chipped in with a couple of assists.
Outstanding in net for the Merritt team was the goaltend-ing tandem of Bryce Garcia and Carson
Lang.
Atom House
The LNB atom house travelled to Clearwater on the weekend for a doubleheader against the first-place Raiders.
After losing 12-6 in Saturday’s opening tilt, the Merritt squad bounced back magnifi-cently with a 10-8 win on Sunday, handing
Clearwater their first loss of the season.
“It was probably the best game the kids have played all year,” said coach Shane Jarvie. “They did everything right. It was a great team effort.”
Peewee Girls
The Joco Transport peewee girls battled Penticton to a 2-2 tie on
Sunday in the Lakeside City. Merritt goals were scored by Jenna Kane, from Reese Patterson, and Jorja Thormoset. Janelle Gage was once again stellar in net for the Joco girls.
Bantam Girls
The McDonald’s bantam girls finished second at a three-day tournament in
Kamloops on the Nov. 23 weekend.
The Merritt lasses picked up a pair of wins over the host team (10-1 and 5-1). Their third victory, 4-0 over Surrey, was a shutout effort by McDonald’s netminder Emma Ferch.
Both of Merritt’s tournament losses were to the eventual cham-pions from Abbotsford, by scores of 4-0 and 3-0.
Midget Rep
The Tracker Sports-wear midgets have been busy recently.
On Nov. 24, the team travelled to Vernon for an exhibi-tion game against the city’s tier two team and lost 5-0.
In a pair of league games played on the weekend, the local midget reps battled hard and played well defensively to defeated Kelowna 4-2 on Saturday. The next day, Sam Suzuki earned the shutout in a 5-0
win for Merritt against Summerland.
Merritt scorers on the weekend were Tyler Edward, Jessie Cunningham, Grady Musgrave, Bradley Colter, Jesse Kane, Marcelo Bose and Grayson McMaster.
Home Games This Weekend
Saturday
10:45 Atom House vs. Ashcroft (Shulus)
11:00 Novice Red vs. Salmon Arm (Merritt)
12:30 Bantam Rep vs. W. Kelowna (Shulus)
2:30 Novice Red vs Salmon Arm (Merritt)
2:45 Midget Rep vs. W. Kelowna (Shulus)
Sunday
12:00 Novice Red exhi-bition game (Merritt)
1:45 Atom Dev. vs. Salmon Arm (Shulus)
3:30 Jr. Girls vs. Kamloops (Shulus)
MINOR HOCKEY REPORT
MERRITT’S BEST The Merritt Fountain Tire atom development team placed second in their own tournament on the weekend. The Quesnel Thunder were the overall winners. Ian Webster/Herald
NET RESULT
(Left) Collettville Grade 6 student Sheyla Rodie spikes the ball past the outstretched arms of a Diamond Vale blocker during elementary volleyball action last Friday at Nicola Canford School. A total of seven area schools took part in the all-day event.
(Right) Diamond Vale Cougar shows great form in execut-ing a forearm pass during his team’s championship game against the Bench #2 team.
MERRITT BOWLING CENTRE TOP 10 AVERAGES(to Sunday, November 31)
MEN WOMEN Bill Campbell 246 Helen Campbell 209 Jerrid Chandler 238 Crystal Chandler 186 Jordan Pinto 228 Sam Chandler 184 Mark Pattison 226 Deb Tancsa 182 Harold Aljam 219 Dianne Walker 181 Stuart Cornies 216 Lori Walker 177 Bill McNeil 215 Cindy Marshall 176 Derek Cornies 211 Doreen Nikkel 176 Tom Walker 194 Lorna Valois 165 Felix Moses 180 A. Hostrawser 164
The Inter-City Roll-off will take place on Sunday, Dec. 8 at the Merritt Bowling Centre to determine who will compete at the B.C. Interior 5-Pin Championships in early 2014.
Fountain Tire atoms edged out by Quesnel in championship game
Phone 250-378-4241 with any events that you may be hosting or email: [email protected]
BrowniesMondays 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Central School - 250-315-7410Canadian Diabetes AssociationOnce a month, 7 - 9 p.m.Trinity United Church Hall. Call Eva 250-378-2897 or Gerry at 250-378-3716CMHA - Merritt ClubhouseFireside Center 2026 Granite Ave.Wed/Fri 9 am - 2:30 pmShirley 250-378-5660Central School PacFirst Tuesday 7 p.m. Lunchroom - 250-378-4892Celebrate RecoveryMondays 7 p.m. New Life Fellowship, 1938 Quilchena Ave. 250-378-4534Community ChoirMondays 7 p.m. - Fall to SpringCollettville Elementary - 250-378-9899Court Whist - Fun GameWednesdays 7 p.m.at the Seniors Centre250-378-2776Drop-In SoccerTuesdays & Thursdays: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Girls & Boys 16+ welcome 250-378-2530Drop-In VolleyballMondays 7 - 9 p.m. CMS. 250-378-6212.Girl GuidesWednesdays 5:30 -7:00 p.m. Central School - 250-936-8298Ladies’ Curling LeagueWednesdays 6 & 8 p.m.Call 250-378- 8175 or 250-378-4917Living With Loss Support GroupWednesdays 7 to 8:45 p.m. 2025 Granite Ave.250-280-4040Merritt Curling ClubFor League Information 250-378-4423Merritt Dance SocietyLinda Sanford: 250-378-6109Merritt Duplicate Bridge ClubTuesdays 7 p.m. Seniors’ Centre 250-378-5550 Merritt Elks Lodge ClubsSecond & Fourth Wednes-day 8 p.m. Elks Hall 250-378-9788Merritt Lawn BowlingSun., Tues., & Thurs. at 7 p.m. 250-378-2950
Merritt Lions ClubFirst & Third Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Best Western - Han’s Golden Wok 250-378-9509Merritt Moms PrenatalPost Natal Support group. Monday - Friday - 8:30 a.m. 250-378-2252Merritt Mountain Biking Assoc. Wednesdays 6 p.m. - rideE: [email protected]: #merrittbikingNavy League Cadets of CanadaWednesdays 6 - 9 p.m. Cadet Hall - Ages 9-13 welcome 250-280-6944Merritt Snowmobile ClubSecond Tuesday 7 p.m.Civic Centre 250-315-1082Merritt’s Women in Busi-nessSecond Wednesday 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Merritt Desert Inn 250-315-5851Nicola Naturalist SocietyThird Thursday - 7:00 p.m.NVIT. www.nicolanatural-ists.caN.V. 4-H ClubSecond Tuesday - 6:30 p.m.Central School - 250-378-5028
Nicola Valley Better BreathersThird Wednesdays 1 p.m.Trinity United - 250-378-6266
N.V. Community Band Tuesdays 7 p.m - MSS Music Room 250-378-5031 or 250-378-9894NVCACMeets the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 7:00 pm at The Art Gallery. 250-378-6515 www.nvartscouncil.comN.V. Dirt Riders Associa-tionLast Wednesday 7 p.m. Gar-den Sushi - Scott: 250-378-3502 www.nvdra.comN.V. Fall Fair Third Monday 7 p.m.2145 Quilchena Ave.250-378-5925N.V. Fish & Game (except July and Aug.)Third Wednesday 7 p.m.2236 Jackson Ave. 250-378-4572 or 250-378-4904N.V. Heritage Society Last Wednesday - Baillie House250-378-0349
N.V. Quilters GuildFirst & Third Thursdays Civic Centre 7 p.m. 250-378-4172N.V. Search & RescueSecond Monday 7 p.m. at the airport - 250-378-6769 N.V. Thrift StoreFirst Tuesday - NVGH basement 250-378-9100N.V. Women’s Institute Second Wednesday 1:30 p.m. For locations, 250-378-2536
One Way Krew Youth GroupTuesdays 7 - 8:30 p.m. Crossroads Community Church - 250-378-2911
Pathfi ndersMondays 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Central School - 250-936-8298
Patricia Rebekah LodgeSecond & Fourth Mondays at 7 p.m. Lawn Bowling Club Rocky Mnt. Rangers CadetsTuesdays 6 p.m. 250-378-1302 or 250-572-3775
Royal Canadian Legion #96Executive Mtg. Second Thursday 6 p.m. - Regular Mtg. Fourth Thursday 7 p.m. 1940 Quilchena - 250-378-5631Royal PurpleFirst & Third Mondays 1:00 p.m. - Downstairs @ Elks Hall 250-378-6788Rotary Club of MerrittEvery Thursday - NoonBrambles Bakery Cafe.250-378-5535Sagebrush Spinners and Weavers GuildAre you a spinner or weaver or are you interested in learning? Come join us at Tamarack Gardens every other Thursday at 11:00 AM for about two hours. For more information, please call Bev at 250-378-2787. Rotary Club of Merritt - SunriseEvery Tuesday - 7 a.m.Brambles BakerySeniors’ Mixed CurlingMondays & Tuesdays 1 - 3 p.m. 250-378-5539
Soup BowlTuesdays 11:30 - 1:00 p.m. Anglican Church Hall
Sparks Mondays 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Central School - 250-315-7410Teen CentreMondays & Fridays 3:30 - 7:30 p.m. 250-378-48782 4 UFirst & Third Tuesdays 2 p.m. at the HospiceSociety - Sue 250-378-2717or Bonnie 250-315-0179Valley Scrapbooking250-936-8298Valley Visual Artists General club informationFran McMurchy - 250-378-4230Vintage Car Club - MerrittSecond Wednesday 7:30 p.m. Ska-Lu-La WorkshopAl - 250-378-7402 Ted - 250-378-4195
THURSDAY, December 5, 2013 • 23merrittherald.com
CLUBS & ORGANIZATIONS
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE NICOLA VALLEY
Have an event we should know about? Tell us by calling 250-378-4241 or emailing [email protected]
Approved mini-storage
On-site rentals
Secured
Sale of New and Used storage containers
CONTAIN-ITSTORAGESTORAGE
1750 Hill Street Phone: 250-315-3000111717
Contents are
insurable
THE CHURCHES OFMERRITT WELCOME YOU
Crossroads Community Church2990 Voght St. • 250-378-2911
Service Time: Sundays 10:30 a.m.
Merritt Baptist Church2499 Coutlee Ave. (Corner of Coutlee and Orme) • 250-378-2464
Service Time/ Sunday School: Sunday 10:30 a.m.
Merritt Lutheran Fellowshipin St. Michael's Church • 250-378-9899
Service Time: 3rd Sunday each month 1:00 p.m.
Nicola Valley Evangelical Free Church1950 Maxwell St. • 250-378-9502Service Time: Sundays 10:00 a.m.
Sacred Heart Catholic ChurchCorner of Jackson & Blair • 250-378-2919
St. Michael’s Anglican Church1990 Chapman St. • 250-378-3772Service Time: Sundays 10:00 a.m.
Trinity United ChurchCorner of Quilchena & Chapman • 250-378-5735
Service Time: Sundays 10:00 a.m.
CADETS SHOPPING SPREE RAFFLE Nov 12 - Dec. 17 - Army, tickets available through any Army Cadet. Win one of three shop-ping sprees. contact us @ 250-378-9485 or any Army Cadet
ARMY CADET CRAFT FAIR Dec. 7, 2013, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Contact Tracy for more informa-tion @ 250-378-4722 There are tables avail-able
KNITWITS Love to knit or cro-chet? Or are you a novice interested in learning more about knitting or crocheting in a friendly and wel-coming setting? Come on down to Brambles Bakery Thursday even-ings. Bring your yarn and needles and join in the fun.
CHRISTMAS LUNCH AT BAILLIE HOUSE Saturday Dec. 7
from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Come down and enjoy a hot lunch in a heritage setting. For more info call 378-0349
ELKS AND ROYAL PURPLE Christmas Craft and Bake Sale at the Elks Hall. Saturday, Dec. 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch available. To book a table, call Mollie 250-378-9788
CELEBRATE-A-LIFE TREE Merritt Hospice will once again offer the opportunity for people to hang a tag in mem-ory of a loved one on the Celebrate-A-Life Tree at Extra Foods. Remembering a loved one with a tag on the Tree is often helpful at this difficult time of the year. Volunteers will be at the Tree December 13, 14, 20 and 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a supply of tags and Hospice information. For more information con-tact the Hospice Office at 250-280-1701
CHRISTMAS LUNCH, BAKE AND CRAFT SALE Saturday Dec. 14th at Trinity United Church. Enjoy homemade soup, sandwich, sweets and beverage for $6. Lunch served from 11a.m-1p.m.. Bake and craft sale run from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 1899 Quilchena Ave.
MERRITT OLD TIME FIDDLERS Will be having a Christmas dinner and dance at the Senior Center on Saturday Dec. 14. Dinner at 6pm. Door prizes and snacks. FMI and tickets phone Dave 378-3578 or Del 378-9849
COMMUNITY CAROLING Sunday Dec. 22 6 p.m.-9 p.m. This is a free event to help spread Christmas Cheer. Open to all ages. We will meet at Spirit Square. We are asking participants to bring an item for the N.V. & Dist. Food Bank to help restock shelves for the
lean times in Jan. FMI contact Teresa 315-4866
ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION #96 Darts at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays; Frosty Fridays at 5 p.m.; Meat Draw at 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED The Navy League is in need of officer’s and volunteers to help out with our growing Cadet Corps. Our children are age 9 to 13 and we meet every Wednesday night from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. If you have past experience or are inter-ested in becoming a part of our Corps please contact us. Ellen 250-280-6944, Debra 250-280-4086 or email at [email protected]
NEWBARK RESCUE Newbark Rescue & Rehoming Merritt Branch, are always look-ing for foster families.
If you would like to help by fostering a fur-kid, until they find a fur-ever home, please contact Margie at [email protected].
NV REMOTE CONTROL FLY-ERS We are starting a new club in town for fly-ing model aircraft. We fly at various locations around town. New mem-bers welcome. For more info, call Jack 250-378-4371.
FREE - Just write to DISCOVERP.O. Box 550 Merritt, BC V1K 1B8
Phone 250-378-4061www.vop.com
7 Day Weather Forecast for Merritt, BC - Thursday, Nov. 28- Wednesday, Dec 4 , 2013
Thurs. Nov 28 Fri. Nov 29 Sat. Nov 30 Sun. Dec. 1 Mon. Dec. 2 Tues. Dec. 3 Wed. Dec. 4
VariableCloudines
Cloudy with Sunny Breaks
Mixed Precipitation
Scattered Flurries Cloudy Periods Vaiable Cloudiness
High: 3˚CLow: -2˚C
High: 0˚CLow: -3˚C
High-14˚CLow: -17˚C
High: 2˚CLow: -1˚C
High: 2˚CLow: -5˚C
High: -8˚CLow: -14˚C
High-13˚CLow: -19˚C
VariableCloudiness
www.merrittherald.com 24 • THURSDAY, December 5, 2013
Riddick Servio Stirling
It is with heavy hearts we announce the tragic death of our little buddy, Riddick, on Friday, November 22, 2013 in Pitt Meadows, B.C., at the tender age of 2 1/2 years. Riddick is survived by his parents, Mike and Rowena, loving sister, Temperance, grandparents, Joe and Fernanda Servio of Osoyoos, Jeff and Gail Bloom of Merritt, Uncle Phillip, Auntie Milene and Aidan of Montreal, Uncle Craig, Auntie Kathleen, Scarlet and Roman of Summerland and numerous extended family and friends who all loved him dearly.Mass was held Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at 10:30 am at St. Luke’s Catholic Church, Maple Ridge. In lieu of owers donations to B.C. Children's Hospital would be greatly appreciated.
Condolences may be sent to: www.mapleridgefuneral.ca
MERRITT FUNERAL CHAPELCelebrating lives with dignity
• Funeral Services• Cremation
•Burial•Monuments
250-378-2141 or 1-800-668-3379
2113 Granite Ave.Merritt, BC
REGULAR OFFICE HOURS
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.Mon., Tues., Thurs. & Fri.
1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Wednesday
On Call 24 Hours A Day
www.MerrittFuneralChapel.com
BEEF PROCESSINGHigh River Alberta
Interviewing in Cranbrook, Kamloops, and Prince George in December
CranbrookDecember 10, 2013From 9:00am to 3:00pm:at Best Western1019 Cranbrook Street North
KamloopsDecember 11, 2013From 9:30am to 3:00pmat Holiday INN1550 Versatile Drive
Prince GeorgeDecember 12, 2013From 10:00am to 4:00pmat Travel Lodge1458 7th Avenue
BUTCHERS/MEAT CUTTERSExperience preferred, but not essential.
Base Pay $17.00 - $18.70/hrSuccessful applicants with 12 months experience will start at $18.70 hr.
Experienced Maintenance Staff-All Trades
Opportunities For Advancement
High River is Located Outside Calgary (approx 30 mins South)Relocation assistance available to successful applicants
(Please Send Resumes For Maintenance Positions)
MILLWRIGHT ELECTRICIAN WELDER POWER ENGINEER CLASS 1 + 2
Cargill Facts and Bene ts Full Company Benefits After 6 Months Employment 2013 Top Employer For Young People 2013 Canada's Best Diversity Employers Award 2007 High River Chamber of Commerce Community Builder Award Winner 2007 Calgary Chamber of Commerce Healthy Workplace Award Winner 92% Of Our Management Staff Started As Hourly Production Workers Award Winning Health and Wellness Program
To arrange an appointment please contact:Laszlo Bodor - Phone: 1 + (403) 652 - 8404
Fa : 1 + (403) 601 - 8885 mail: laszlo bodor cargill com
INTERIOR HEAVY EQUIP-MENT OPERATOR SCHOOL.NO Simulators. In-the-seat training. Real world tasks.Weekly start dates. Job board! Funding options.SignUp online! iheschool.com 1-866-399-3853
Help WantedA.R.T ENTERPRISES Ltd o/a Subway at A-2190 Vought St, Merritt, BC, V1K-1B8 is hiring fi ve F/T Permanent Kitchen Helpers. $10.29-$11.50/hour. High School graduate. Duties: Wash & Peel vegetables & fruit. Receive, unpack & store supplies. Remove garbage. Drop-off or email resume: [email protected]
GENERAL LABOURERSOIL & GAS INDUSTRY
GUARANTEED Job Placement
• Labourers • Tradesmen• Class 1 Drivers
Call 24Hr. Free Recorded Message 1-888-213-2854
Services
Financial ServicesGET BACK ON TRACK! Bad credit? Bills? Unemployed? Need Money? We Lend! If you own your own home - you qualify. Pioneer Acceptance Corp. Member BBB.
1-877-987-1420 www.pioneerwest.com
Merchandise for Sale
Misc. for SaleHOT TUB (SPA) COVERS. Best price. Best quality. All shapes & colours available. 1-866-652-6837 www.thecoverguy.com/newspaper?
MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE
3 yrs old 14” Stilt chopsaw, 2 triangle road slayer and 2 tie down straps like new. Asking 1/2 price for all. 250-378-2889
Apt/Condo for RentCompletely reno’d 3 bdrm condo, with 2 bath, lg laundry room with w/d like new, all new curtains, fully furnished, all new beds, avail Dec. 1st. 250-378-7279 or 378-5915One bdrm for one adult only. N/S, N/P, heat & cable incl. $550/mon. Ref’s. 250-378-2954
www.merrittherald.com THURSDAY, December 5, 2013• 25
HOMEMAKER POSITION AVAILABLE
The Homemaker position is to provide a safe and supportive home environment to enhance the dignity and independence of physically/mentally disabled and elderly adults, and to assist them in remaining in their own community and home. Homemaking services will include cleaning, laundry, personal care and by exception, transportation, banking and/or shopping.
POSITION QUALIFICATIONS:Grade 12 with minimum Grade 10; WCB First Aid-Level 1; Food Safe -Level 1; Current immunization and TB Test; Home Care Attendant Certifi cate would be an asset; Access to a reliable vehicle and current driver’s licence; Criminal Record Check .
This is a 25 hour work week.
Please forward resume and cover letter to Glenis Holmes, Social Development Coordinator
Hand deliver: 2249 Quilchena Avenue, Merritt BC 301-230th Street Coldwater Reserve.
Nooaitch Band requires two new Receptionists with responsibilities covering a wide variety of clerical office duties in support of company administration. Other responsibilities will include coordinating and communicating office activities, greeting and screening visitors, answering and referring inbound telephone calls, and scheduling appointments. The Receptionist will also be responsible for administrating company correspondence.
Nooaitch offers competitive salary packages, an incredible work environment, and career advancement opportunities. A full Job Description is offered on request. Only those applicants who meet the qualifi cations will be contacted. Deadline for applying is December 6, 2013 @ 4:00 p.m.
Qualifi ed applicants should send resumes and a cover letter to:
Attention:Arlene Johnston, Administrator
2954 Shackelly Road, Merritt, BC V1K 1N9Fax: 250-378-3699
School District No. 58 (Nicola-Similkameen) is accepting applications for a First Nations Support Worker at elementary schools in Princeton. This is a 25-hour per week, temporary position to June 27, 2014.
The successful applicant will be responsible for providing counseling support, communicating with students and parents/guardians, tutoring, and cultural education.
Application forms are available at the School Board Offi ce, 1550 Chapman Street, Merritt, BC, Princeton Secondary School, 201 Old Merritt Road, Princeton, BC or on-line at www.sd58.bc.ca, click on Jobs/Support Positions/Job Postings, listed under Job Code #573786, and follow the prompts. Applications, including a detailed resume with a minimum of three references, will be accepted until December 13, 2013. Please forward to:
Attn: Secretary TreasurerSchool District #58 (Nicola-Similkameen)
Only those applicants being interviewed will be contacted.
SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 58(NICOLA-SIMILKAMEEN)
MERRITT POLICE-BASED VICTIM SERVICES PROGRAM CO-ORDINATOR
Nicola Valley Women In Action is seeking a quali ed, experienced and highly motivated individual to coordinate services to victims of crime and other traumas in Merritt and the Nicola Valley. This 35 hour/per week full-time permanent position is based in the Merritt RCMP Detachment and the successful candidate must be able to work a exible schedule and carry a cell phone as part of after hours on-call service.
The Program Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the daily operations and a number of other administrative duties such as supervising staff and volunteers, compiling statistics and writing monthly and annual reports. The program coordinator also offers crisis intervention, information, and support to victims of crime and liaises with RCMP, Crown Counsel and other community agencies. For a detailed list of responsibilities and quali cations please contact Shannon Daw at 250-378-9222.
The successful candidate must have related post-secondary education; and/or the equivalent combination of training, education and experience. A working knowledge of the Criminal Justice System and the dynamics of abusive relationships is an asset and prior victim service experience is preferred. The successful candidate must possess a valid BC Driver’s license and have access to a vehicle. In addition, the successful candidate will have to obtain and maintain an RCMP enhanced reliability and security clearance.
*Start date to commence and upon candidate obtaining RCMP Enhanced Security Clearance. Please forward a covering letter and resume with 3 references, by December 19, 2013 before 3:00 pm to:
Nicola Family Therapy, Box 968, Merritt, BC V1K 1B8
Thank you to all applicants in advance; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Apply Today!www.tolko.com
Produc on Posi ons Nicola Valley Division, Merri , BCDo you thrive in a dynamic and challenging environment with opportuni es for con nuous growth and development? Tolko Industries Ltd. is currently seeking General Labour Employees to join our team at our Nicola Valley Division in Merri . Tolko is a forest products company with marke ng, resource management and manufacturing opera ons throughout Western Canada. QUALIFICATIONS: • Flexible to work weekend hours and shi work. • Interpersonal Skills – able to work both independently and in a
team environment. • Ability to analyze and troubleshoot. • Strong organiza onal skills. • Enthusias c, posi ve a tude.
We o er a workplace where everyone plays an essen al role in the success of our Company and where individual e orts are acknowledged. Our tradi on of excellence is built on strong company values, a challenging environment, and con nuous improvement philosophy.
Tolko o ers an uncompromising focus on safety performance, compe ve compensa on packages, sustainable business prac ces, a progressive environment and we are an industry leader in world markets.
Build Your Career With Us
EDUCATION ASSISTANT
School District No. 58 is accepting applications for an Education Assistant for the following school:
Diamond Vale Elementary School5 hrs/day – school days onlyTemporary: December 9, 2013 to February 14, 2014
Preferred or required training:EA CertificationPOPARD 5 Day – Autism TrainingFASD – Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
TrainingPBS – Positive Behavior Support TrainingCPI – Non Violent Crisis Prevention
Intervention Training
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:Primary and Intermediate supportAdapted AquaticsOT/PT SupportSLP SupportSelf-regulation and positive behavior supportTechnology, SET BC
Applicant must have a valid BC Driver’s licence and be willing to transport students to community activities in their own vehicle. Qualifications and salary will be in accordance with the C.U.P.E. Local 847 Collective Agreement.
The district has a high percentage of First Nations and other multicultural students and so being sensitive to cultural diversities would be an asset.
Application forms are available at the School Board office, 1550 Chapman Street, or on-line at www.sd58.bc.ca, click on Jobs/Support Positions/Job Postings listed under Job Code # 575075 and follow the prompts provided. Applications will be accepted until December 6, 2013. Please forward to:
Attn: Secretary TreasurerSchool District No. 58 (Nicola-Similkameen)
P.O. Box 4100, 1550 Chapman St. Merritt, BC V1K 1B8Fax: (250) 378-6263
Only those applicants being interviewed will be contacted.
SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 58(NICOLA-SIMILKAMEEN)
Now Hiring
COMPANY DRIVERS
Kelowna BC & Surrounding Area
Flexible Open Board Schedules Running BC/AB/SK!
Daily Departures Now Available
If you are a Professional Class 1 Driver please contact one of our Recruiters to hear more!
The application process will help us identify quali ed candidates to take part in NCCP Gymnastics Coach Training. A total of 4 applicants will be selected to participate in the training process (all expenses paid). Once trained, each leader will be required to deliver three 8 week sessions over a year. Each session will include 1 day per week. This is a paid position.
Ideal candidates do not need prior gymnastic coaching certi ca-tion, but will have a background in gymnastics. Must be available to coach evenings.
Highly Recommended, but not required – Standard First Aid w/CPRC and AED. Experience working with children.
Campbell and Co. Chartered Accountants Over 40 Years Experience in providing professional service to all of our clients.We are currently acccepting new clients and look forward to meeting with you about any of your accounting & taxation needs.We are confident our team will add value to your business by providing reliable and timely accounting services, allowing you more time to grow your business.