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Letters to the Editor for the week of Feb 9th, 2012

Ways to give
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As Whistler Community Services Society's (WCSS) Re-Use-It Centre continues to work towards providing support for programs like the Food Bank and Outreach Services, we're taking some time to broaden our fund-raising initiatives. There are plenty of ways to support your Whistler community, keeping it strong, happy and healthy.

1) Donate — The Re-Use-It Centre: we currently have a huge need of everything from house wares to clothing, sports equipment, shoes, movies, electronics. The Re-Build-It Centre will happily take used furniture in good condition and larger appliances in working order. Are you a local business? Ask for a tax receipt for new or lightly damaged items donated.

2) Recycle: The Re-Use-It Centre is now home to three different recycling programs: Return-It, for computers and TVs, stereo and computer equipment, Unplugged, for house-hold electronics such as microwaves, hairdryers, blenders and toasters, and our newest initiative, a can and bottle collection. Local users of the waste facility at Function Junction (on site for the store) will have noticed the addition of two new bins, put together by Regional Recycling, for bottle collection. This exciting new recycling program enables The Re-Use-It Centre to collect the bottles and convert them into funds to support WCSS.

3) Volunteer: The Re-Use-It Centre is happy to involve you, the community, in the day-to-day life of our awesome store. Lend a hand for a few hours a week to make a visible difference to the store and to our community. Every hour you give is rewarded, and you get to meet our great team as well as be a part of WCSS's greatest fund-raising program.

4) Shop: Shopping thrift is always an adventure, but The Re-Use-It Centre is a unique thrift store in that all the funds raised stay local, to help people you know and love.

5) We were voted "Best Place for a Deal," in 2011 in Pique... and who doesn't love a deal in this town?

Thank you for your ongoing support! We couldn't do all the amazing things we do in the community without your help. Here's looking forward to another year of sustainable living, good karma and showing a little love for your Whistler community!

Helen Taylor

Re-Use-It Centre

I knew it was love when...

Buying lottery tickets in our household does not happen very often, especially if my husband Doug has his way. He does not believe spending money on lottery tickets is a good investment. Doug is a sensible guy.

However, one Saturday, Doug and I were walking through a shopping mall in Vancouver. My eyes suddenly caught a lotto kiosk sign: Jackpot 649 $$$$$$$$$$. Forgetting about Doug and his skepticism, I wandered over, wallet in hand, ready to ask for my lucky quick-pick ticket. I joined the line as any well-mannered lady would, and looked back at my husband, watching his facial expression change from, "I don't really want to be in the mall," to "oh no, she is buying lottery tickets."

I usually don't make a fuss when Doug does his silent protesting, but I couldn't resist asking, "Don't you want to win the jackpot?" Doug replied, without missing a beat, "I did when I met you. And it didn't cost me a thing."

Karin Wylie

Whistler

Put on your dancing shoes

At Dance Whistler we are very excited to finally be getting our groove on with helping to make dance happen in our community! In December we produced our very first show, hopefully the first of many, "A Wacky Winter Tale," with Whistler's own super talented Vibe Tribe Dance Team of the Vibe Dance Centre; the show was a sell-out success, and we would like to thank these groups and individuals for helping make it a reality: Heather and Jeremy Thom of Vibe, and all their wonderful dancers; Watermark Communications Inc; Jane Roberts and Incognito Event Décor; Purebread; Sugar Momma Pastries, Sabrina Perfitt; Fruv Freedomwear; Pique Newsmagazine; MountainFM; Whistler Happy Pets; Coast Mountain Veterinary Services; Rachael Lythe, Sea to Sky Celebrations and Nesters.

So put on your dancing shoes Whistler, because this is only the beginning.

Linda McGaw

Whistler

With appreciation

Our family recently suffered a traumatic event. We would like to thank all our friends for the calls, emails, hospital/house visits and offers of support.

Thank you to Paula for taking our new puppy to your house (and training him). Thank you to my co-workers at Whistler Blackcomb who have been wonderful and full of concern, and for organizing the many meals that have been dropped off to us. Thank you to those who have prepared those home cooked meals, left goodies on our doorstop, for the offers of lifts and for just being there for us.

Thank you to my "coffee posse" for keeping me laughing and finding humour in lots.

We appreciate it all and thank-you from the bottom of our hearts.

Karen, Tuck and Jaden Devine

Whistler

Familes no longer welcome?

What has happened to Whistler? Are families no longer welcome?

We come to Whistler to snowboard with our two children ages 14 and 11 from Washington State. We learned to snowboard here and have been coming to Whistler one to two times per year for over six years because we love the mountain.

We have put up with the yelling of those leaving the bars at night for a number of years now, but this has become intolerable. We have been surrounded by rowdy neighbors that party late into the night. Last year in the nearby rooms there was loud music; disorderly conduct and someone pulled the fire alarm at 2 a.m.

It was awful to be awoken at this time of night by loud alarms and have to gather the family quickly to vacate the room. The other families that met us in the lobby were certainly not happy either. As a solution the staff at the hotel offered us earplugs for the noise.

We thought this was a one-time occurrence but this year again we have had a similar experience. We always choose our accommodations carefully, staying away from the Village Stroll and bars and restaurants. This year, our neighbors were particularly loud and were partying at the hot tub in the early afternoon and again late into the night. Because of all the alcohol and the college party atmosphere, we were unable to take our children to the hot tub to soothe our sore muscles after a day of snowboarding.

We called the management multiple times and even requested another room. We were told that the college students were all over the village and moving to another location wouldn't help the noise level.

It is worthy to note that these two incidences occurred during different times of year.

We are sad about it because we love the mountain but are unable to tolerate the noise and unruliness as well as being unable to sleep or use the hotel facilities. It is disappointing and we think that it is shortsighted of Whistler to cater to the young college crowds when families with children will spend much more and be better guests of your community.

Due to the general noise in the village after the bars close it appears there is little to no law enforcement to handle the situation.

Needless to say we will no longer be spending our vacation dollars in Whistler, and will recommend to our friends they go somewhere else as well.

Annie and Michael Griff

Kirkland, WA

Highway needs dividers

Last week was busy so I didn't get to the Pique until yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night with one line from Max's column up in lights. "Sadly, there is no solution." He was talking about a head-on collision on the Sea to Sky. There may not be a perfect solution but there is an answer that will eliminate the vast majority.

During the rebuild of the highway a number of us, led by Ross Walker, lobbied fiercely in favour of median barriers the full length of the highway. They did add some in a few sections but by and large we failed to overcome the objections to placing median barriers on sections where there are less than four lanes. We did propose a number of potential solutions but eventually the additional costs and the arguments about access for emergency vehicles won the day.

Sadly, the driver who falls asleep, the intoxicated one or one who is inattentive will frequently cross the median and the results are almost always fatal. I think the rebuild of the highway is indeed an engineering triumph. The reduction of accidents by something in the order of 60 per cent is a tribute to designers and builders. That triumph should serve, not to make us relax and declare that the job is done, but to spur us on to find ways to finish the job. I'm delighted to know that when my children and grand children leave Whistler for the city on Sunday nights that they are much safer than they were prior to the rebuild. On the other hand, the certain knowledge that if a sleepy, drunk or inattentive driver crosses the median near them the consequences will be tragic does occasionally ruin my sleep.

Human ingenuity and determination can overcome many obstacles. Just in the safety area alone we can think of hard-hats, steel-toed boots, life jackets and fall protection. The ingenuity and determination that went into trying to defeat the introduction of these life saving measures would fill volumes. Fortunately, good sense triumphed.

I submit that it is time to revisit the issue of median barriers on heavily travelled sections even though there may by less than four lanes. Failure to do so ensures that you will periodically have to dust off the headline about head on collisions that is now still required too often.

Eric Mitterndorfer

Whistler

Time to switch to cloth bags

(Recently) you received a great justification for why plastic bag users should not get the evil eye from other shoppers.

The premise was that grocery stores provide biodegradable shopping bags so handy for garbage. This is correct. But they are still made of a non-renewable resource, oil.

When a community commits to reusables instead of plastic it can have consequences that reach beyond personal inconvenience to a greater good. The whole Sea to Sky corridor is an eco-tourism destination. If we work together to "green" our communities, they become more unique to visitors. It's a "marketable" attribute.

I manufacture reusables locally, sold across the country with special orders from as far away as Scotland, Spain, Ukraine, New Zealand and Australia.

The movement is about reducing waste through responsible living. There is no doubt that reusables are work, whether it's your shopping bag, or picking up Take Out food in your own containers. You've got to remember them, and they need to be washed. Our great grandparents took this for granted when they shopped. Surely we can meet that standard without feeling terribly inconvenienced. Sometimes we'll forget, but with intention and practice it's doable.

Diana Conway

Vancouver