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More highway woes, Transit responds, in praise of London Drugs, when garbage goes bad, feasting at the fest, and museum thanks

Let’s help as much as we can Further to Paul Mathews’s letter last week on the Dec. 14 highway closure, I too was on the highway that night. I had been to the city to drop my car off for repair work.

Let’s help as much as we can

Further to Paul Mathews’s letter last week on the Dec. 14 highway closure, I too was on the highway that night. I had been to the city to drop my car off for repair work. Before going to the city I had called to arrange a rental car. When I asked for a car with snow tires, I was told that no rental agencies in the city had cars with anything but all-season radials to rent. So I phoned other agencies with no luck. Avis here in Whistler told me the same thing with the comment that “in 17 years we have never experienced problems.”

I finally arranged to book an SUV with four-wheel drive and all-season radials as the best of a bad choice. Luckily, I was fine on the highway and only spent three hours waiting before backtracking to Pinecrest and kindly being taken in by friends.

But the point is — snow tires on rental cars — there are none, and unless the vehicle is four-wheel drive there are going to be problems and the problem affects everyone on the highway if one person has trouble. This has been brought up before and it was suggested that Tourism Whistler take the lead on asking rental agencies, particularly at the airport in Vancouver, to warn customers before they rent of the potential hazards of our highway in winter. I’m not sure that the connection is there. Or, if the conditions are bad, call the airport rentals and let them advise renters to stay the night in Vancouver.

If I were a tourist, I would want to know of potential hazards ahead of time. I would not like to get all the way to Alice Lake only to be told to turn around. And all because I had rented an inadequately equipped car for conditions I didn’t know about.

Holidays are supposed to be fun, not anxious, scary or inconvenient. Let’s help as much as we can.

Jinny Ladner

Whistler

Sober second thoughts

With respect to last week’s letter regarding First Night (The Mounties get their men), there are a number of facts regarding First Night that people should be aware of.

First Night is an alcohol FREE event. Whether the alcohol is being consumed in moderation or not is not the issue. Open alcohol does not belong in the village. As the manager of Whistler Transit/WAVE, I was in the Gondola Transit Exchange (GTE) from 7 p.m. to 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, coordinating the First Night Transit service, and I was in a position to observe the RCMP officer's interactions with many different people, in various states of intoxication, throughout the evening.

The only people the RCMP confronted about alcohol possession, were those individuals heading to the village with alcohol, or those individuals whose rowdy behaviour attracted their attention. I saw many examples of extremely rude and abusive behaviour directed at the officers, and many examples of individuals taunting the officers. The entire evening ALL the RCMP officers present in the GTE, showed tremendous patience and professionalism, at ALL times.

I am aware that the vast majority of the passengers using the WAVE are sober and well behaved. However, on New Year’s Eve there are enough trouble-causers that it is necessary for each WAVE driver to be accompanied by a security person. The ONLY time that the RCMP boarded a bus was when called to do so in response to a fight on the bus, abusive or threatening behaviour directed at another passenger or the driver, and/or vandalism. At least six bus windows were purposely damaged over the course of the evening.

Scott Pass

Manager

Whistler Transit Ltd.

Listen to what we need

I have learned that there is a new retail strategy for Whistler that would rule out the London Drugs store that everyone has been waiting for.

My husband and I are very price conscious. For many years we have had a drugstore monopoly and little choice in where to buy our pharmacy products. And many items we need aren’t even available here. Right now that means we have to go down to Vancouver frequently, wasting gas, increasing pollution and perhaps endangering our safety on the highway. London Drugs in Whistler would save all that.

We already shop in Whistler Village to support local merchants when we can. If there was a London Drugs with free parking we would certainly shop there more often for other products. Those Whistler stores that may be affected have already lost our business.

With a car, we can choose to shop in Vancouver or Squamish. What about the employees who live in Whistler who don’t have a car? They are the people who are the least able to afford Whistler prices. They are the backbone of the resort and they deserve reasonable prices, product selection, and knowledgeable assistance like you find at London Drugs.

London Drugs has said they won’t build a store in Function Junction, so the village is the only place left. And if I was a tourist, I would be happy to find a London Drugs store in the village where I could buy items at a reasonable price. If I was a tourist from Vancouver, as many are, I would know that the prices here are more costly.

That is why it makes no sense to us to have a retail strategy that would prevent London Drugs coming to Whistler Village. Please pay attention to the locals who vote in Whistler and listen to what we need here.

Echo-Marie Fawkes

Whistler

Reasons for rejection still valid

RE: No Incinerators in Brackendale or in the Sea to Sky.

“Garbage in, garbage out” is as true for incinerators as for computers. Hazardous emissions are released into the atmosphere and concentrated toxic ash is produced. Emissions such as dioxins fall out across nearby residences, schools and landscapes, and bio-accumulate in fish, bears, eagles, and people. This compromises the health of wildlife and people, leads to increasing levels of cancer, asthma, compromised immune systems, and reproductive problems. The concentration of heavy metals and other toxics in the residual ash results in a material that is much more poisonous than the original material, and one that doesn’t belong in our landfill to inevitably leach into soil and poison ground water no matter how well constructed the landfill.

A high tech incinerator, to be economically feasible, requires a constant, large volume of garbage. We would be the recipients of enormous quantities of other people’s toxic stuff, thereby increasing the toxic load of this valley. And imagine the pleasure of having many more garbage trucks on our highway and by-ways, adding their load of tail pipe emissions to an already compromised air shed, to say nothing of adding to traffic congestion and noise pollution.

The maw of the incineration machine must be fed, so our Reduce, Reuse and Recycling programs will be derailed, just when they should be beefed up with curb-side recycling, programs advocating responsible consumer spending, and thoughtful composting. Squamish, B.C., and Canada should set Zero Waste targets as is being done in much of Europe, not building incinerators and incentives to create more waste.

Frequently, incinerators don’t meet emission standards. They also break down. Currently governments (federal, provincial, and local) are rushing to get out of the regulation and monitoring business. Trusting industry to be self-regulating is about as sensible as asking prison inmates to be self-policing. Industry-generated science should always be questioned, too much of it is “tobacco science”, i.e. science designed to convince us that smoking is not harmful and incinerators are benign, neither of which is true.

During the middle ages, there was a belief in the Philosopher’s Stone (check out Harry Potter for a modern version), the alchemy of magically turning base metals into gold. Now, we are asked to believe that we can turn garbage (increasingly toxic garbage given the explosion of synthetic materials used today) into clean energy and heat. Four years ago, there was a proposal to build an incinerator in Brackendale. That proposal was turned down for very good reasons. Those reasons are still valid today.

Meg Fellowes

Director, Squamish Environmental Conservation Society

A timely reminder

With the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation's 15th TELUS Winter Classic coming up Jan. 26-27, it's timely to encourage folks to get out and support it.

Many local groups benefit from the proceeds of the Foundation's fund-raising, to the tune of over $500,000 each year.

Local soccer kids will be delighted (come spring) with our new soccer goals and nets, all courtesy of the Foundation's incredible generosity and community support.

Peter Shrimpton

Whistler Youth Soccer Club President

A night to remember

Thank you to our wonderful community of Whistler. This past Thursday at MY Place the Whistler Museum and Archives held an open house to inform and delight everyone with its plans for the future and the background upon which we based those plans. Congratulations to all the staff, board members, and RMOW whose support has been essential to making the evening possible. I laughed, hooted, got warm and fuzzy and just plain enjoyed being there to share the wonder of “Icon Gone”.

Three years of concentrated effort culminated in one very informative and fun evening. Three steps have been taken in what is hoped to be a journey of our lifetime. Step one, Market Analysis — who is coming and what do they want to see hear and learn about us and our mountain environment — is complete. Step two, the Master Plan — what kind of delivery system and what services will be needed to do the job and keep the thinking fresh — is in its last phase. Step three, the Open House — to let the community know what we have discovered — is now complete.

The Museum and its partner the RMOW did just that. “Icon Gone” was a great success. The plans were well received and the next steps that were laid out include a road map of where we hope to get to.

I think people understand that one of the museum’s jobs is to help preserve our stories and share them with the world that is coming to our door. Although our heritage is but a brief period in history’s march through time it is ours and it is full of humour, love, triumph and tragedy.

The WMAS needs you, your stories and your input to make the next steps work. Log onto our website, talk to the board members and find out what we are up to. Our future awaits, the present takes care of itself and the past is ours to cherish and preserve.

Alex Kleinman,

President, and proud member of the board of the Whistler Museum and Archives

Proof Whistler’s icons are not gone

The Whistler Museum & RMOW revealed the results of the Museum’s Master Plan for a new facility last Thursday night during the Museum’s Heritage Night Open House at MY Place. This informal gathering was followed by a rowdy event where Whistler’s favourite leaders and agitators took to the stage in a verbal gladiator match that pitted them against each other in a competition over Whistler’s greatest icon.  A near full house of icons-in-and-of-themselves gathered in Wilhelmsen Hall to watch them throw down the gauntlet.

After a brief introduction bringing to attention various indisputable icons who would not be dropped on the centre line that evening Grant Lamont put forth a case for Whistler Ski Bums as the greatest icons; Michele Bush expounded on the enduring impertinence of the Silver Streak and the Party Barge; Colin Pitt-Taylor filled us in on the undeniable contributions of the Cheakamus Inn and John Reynolds; Lisa Richardson, metamorphosing as Michel Beaudry, presented Beaudry’s choice of Jim McConkey and squeezed in a slapshot for the fascinating life of the Ski School Bell while she had the chance!

A very close contender receiving hundreds of claps, whoops and whistles was Isobel MacLaurin with her case for the Great Snow Earth Water Race.  Her 1973 home-video footage showed us exactly how it was done by team-mates Nancy Greene and David Murray, a priceless bit of irreverent history that moderator, Maureen Douglas wisely chose not to interrupt at the three-minute mark with the usual clang of the Swiss cowbell.

During the final debate-off, the ubiquitous G.D. Maxwell flaunted the Toad Hall poster — that epic snap of ski bums turned moguls — heckling his competitors and threatening to reveal more than we were prepared to know. Kirby Brown’s case for the Whistler Peak was well substantiated by pointing out other inspired offspring of the beloved rock (PIQUE Newsmagazine, the Peak Bros. comic strip, etc.). Flashing a photo of icon-in-his-own-right, John Colpitts atop the Peak in white short-shorts, Brown then headed for a breakaway with his assertion that it’s not the Toad Hall Poster that thousands drive up to Whistler to visit every weekend, nor is the poster why most of us live here full time (isn’t that not negative campaigning Kirby?).

In the end, after Rod Harman “streaked” across the stage with his surprise entry of the Roundhouse, audience applause proclaimed Stephen Vogler’s case for the Garibaldi Lift Co. “G” logo as the ultimate winner. Vogler put forth his theory that the “G” stands for GRAVITY revealing, for the first time ever, a shocking correlation between Einstein and Rabbit.

Douglas proved herself a master moderator of mad debaters with her quick wit, personal and impertinent introductions of each speaker (Pitt-Taylor was the only one spared of her cheekiness) and ingeniously managed to hold the event together. She delivered a final reminder that the Whistler Museum is ultimately our storyteller, the place-holder for our memories of the past and encouraged everyone in the audience to support a future facility that will continue to honour and preserve all the days of our lives.

Special thanks to David Buzzard Photography, George Beer, Shaw Whistler, Nesters Market, Province of BC and RMOW.

Jehanne Burns, Karen Overgaard for

The Staff and Board of the

Whistler Museum & Archives Society

Three cheers

Back in August and September of 2006, Garth Phare of the Pemberton Frontier Pharmacy came up with a school supplies promotion program to help benefit the Signal Hill PAC. An amount of $600 was generated through this program and Mr. Phare has agreed to donate a matching amount.

The Signal Hill PAC endeavors to enrich the school experience of our students through educational speakers/performers, playground/sports equipment, extra-curricular field trips etc, etc. Without support from businesses and people such as Mr. Phare, there would be fewer funds available to provide these types of experiences.

So… three cheers to you, Garth – RAH, RAH, RAH!

The Signal Hill PAC executive;

Cris Bentivogli – Co-Chair

John Burleson – Co-Chair

Jenna Markovic – Secretary

Lesley Clark – Treasurer