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Judging by the covers…

My family and I waited in anticipation for the opening of the new library in Whistler. For more than four years, we have been members of the Whistler and Pemberton libraries.

My family and I waited in anticipation for the opening of the new library in Whistler. For more than four years, we have been members of the Whistler and Pemberton libraries. All of the press releases and the information that it took approximately $11 million to build the new library led us to believe that it would offer enough books to cater to the needs of our children, teenagers, students, our senior citizens and all ages.

We were in the library the other day with my family and friends from Vancouver who used to live here. All the kids were asking, "Where are all the books, mommy?" In fact, we offered to donate some books as the shelves were so bare. Several rows of shelves are empty! One would think that with a budget exceeding $10 million, books would have been a priority on the agenda!

When we finally decided to check out, we were told that the computer system was "down". The librarians had to write down all the serial numbers of the books by hand. Surely, with a budget in excess of $10 million, we could expect an operational system.

Given that Whistler is an international destination for working students from Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, China and Japan, there should be books for them in foreign languages. My husband and I are speechless, but that is nothing in comparison to how our children and teenagers feel when looking for books that are suitable.

Lisa Haeck

Whistler

Big ski boots to fill

As we approach the craziest week of junior ski racing, if not in the world then at least in our valley — Whistler Cup — I feel I must recognize the efforts of someone who has poured his heart and soul into ski racing for our kids. Nigel Cooper is stepping down from his position as Program Director for the Whistler Mountain Ski Club at the end of this ski season.

The athletes — and this is always what Nigel calls our kids — have had his unwavering support. Nigel lives, breathes, eats and sleeps junior ski racing, and is completely and passionately involved.

As the parent of two kids, I mean athletes, involved in ski racing I think that we have one of the best programs in the country, and we are watching kids develop into athletes who will represent Canada beyond 2010. The athletes that don’t make it that far are learning life lessons along the way: hard work, preparation, dedication, independence, teamwork (yes, ski racing has that component), not to mention technical skiing ability.

Whether it means driving our kids to the airport at 4 a.m. or making a mean Americano for Ladies Day, Nigel is there. He is a hard ass, but if you don’t expect the best you don’t get the best. He leaves some big ski boots to fill. You can be sure that Nigel will be counting the hours he sleeps each night this week on one hand.

On behalf of the athletes in our family, Max and Bryn Horner, thank you Nigel and best wishes in your future endeavours!

Cathy Jewett

Whistler

P.S. Come out and watch the best young ski racing athletes in the world Friday, Saturday, Sunday on the Upper Dave Murray and Raven/Ptarmigan.

‘The People’s Games’ …a bad landlord?

In watching the Olympics as a child, the glory of competition, the pride of accomplishment, simply put “The best of the best”, I never dreamed that one day the Olympics would come to my hometown. Our town that seems so small will host events of the grandest scale during the most publicized sports event in the world.

I have seen our community rise and fall to this occasion with burgeoning excitement, disappointment or indifference. Now with the Olympics fast approaching, I’ve noticed a different kind of mood descending upon the hard-working heart of our community, our locals.

It broke my heart to hear that two of my closest friends, tenants in their home for six years, are going to be kicked out for Olympic rentals. Just today another friend, a great tenant of three years who works two jobs, is getting kicked out to accommodate over-priced Olympic rentals. Whistler will face a local housing crisis like no other!

So in other words some Whistler landlords have been opening their arms to the short-term Olympic crowd, yet giving the cold shoulder to the support that holds our community together when the high seasons are over, just to make a quick buck!

And I speak generally of course; kudos to those homeowners who realize the value of investing in their long-term tenants.

It is a sad thing to think that so many year-round local residents will be put out of not only a house but their home, with no other options available.

I had dollar signs in my eyes when the Olympic rental buzz started. Being a homeowner, I thought, “Hey why not rent it out to pay off a chunk of mortgage?” After a little research and the growing sea of soon to be Olympic rental cast-outs, I realized that the buzz is just that… buzz. And that some things are more important than dollars: people.

Natalie MacDonald

Pemberton

Practice what you profess

I have addressed this subject previously. For all the rhetoric coming from the RMOW regarding the environment and sustainability, the extent to which fossil fuels continue to be consumed by heavy equipment performing the now totally unnecessary exercise of moving melting snow about is hypocritical in the extreme.

Over the past two weeks, plow vehicles have been scraping the asphalt in the vain hope of catching a few flakes before they melt. Yesterday, a heavy front-end loader burned a few gallons of diesel unnecessarily heaping snow onto our property — and indeed using our limited parking area to manoeuvre — without even the courtesy to either ask permission or to volunteer one bucket-load to clear the parking area.

I would greatly appreciate it if the RMOW would practice what it professes to preach and cease contributing to global warming through such useless and annoying make-work projects. I don't want to see another piece of diesel-guzzling heavy equipment moving water in our neighbourhood this year, thank you very much.

Christopher Shackleton

Whistler

Shame on us

I was visiting Whistler last week and picked up a copy of your paper. I can only use the words shocked and embarrassed at your racist, simplistic cartoon regarding the complex issues of First Nations Land Claims and the economic options available to Reserve communities.

You are sitting on top of some of the most expensive real estate in Canada and you are there because our country stole it from the people who used it before you. How are we ever going to resolve racism, land claims and 500 years of not getting it right on this continent when a paper distributed to people from all over the globe thinks that Aboriginals just beg money and put up road signs.

Shame on you. Shame on me.

Marie Symes Grehan

Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

p class=Style1>This bear daycare feels just right

As a 10-year local resident and parent of a child at Teddy Bear Daycare, I am disappointed by the decision but more importantly I am offended and insulted by the decision process to close this valuable facility.

I returned to work in September and struggled weekly with daycare until Feb. 14, 2008 when my daughter reached 30 months of age and began attending Teddy Bear. I live in Pemberton and work for the Ski & Snowboard School in Whistler Village and the location of this facility is perfect for us. My daughter loves her “new school” and the staff. I was thrilled she was so happy and that I was no longer scrambling to find someone to mind my child while I go to work to try and make a living.

When I received the news from Kelly Foran on March 18th, that Teddy Bear would be closing, my heart sank. I hadn’t had to stress about daycare for all of 1 month and now, back to the drawing board!

When I attended the Parents Forum with Dennis Marriot & Julia Black on March 26, I no longer felt saddened and disappointed, I felt mad! For starters, there was a reporter there who was asked by Mr. Marriot to leave, which she did. The crock of political crap this duo fed us was insulting and should have been recorded. The fact that this decision was made behind closed doors, with no input from the parents of Teddy Bear children or the parents of the community is outrageous.

When Mr. Marriot was asked if our comments and concerns would make any difference and if there was any chance the fate of Teddy Bear and its children could be changed, his response was, “Unlikely”.

The real reason for this closure seems clear to me: The Whistler Children’s Centre made a poor business decision by opening the Spring Creek facility. The location and hours of the centre do not work for the majority of the families requiring daycare and as a result it is not operating at capacity and is failing. If they think that forcing a successful daycare to close will help bring this failing centre’s books back into the black they are sadly mistaken. The parents that attended this meeting were quite clear about that. There are families with children at Teddy Bear that live in Spring Creek and won’t use that centre!

There is a group of parents that are working together to try to reverse this decision and I hope that the community will rally together and support us. Please visit the daycare and sign the petition, voice your opinion and let this so-called community centre know that the community and the resort needs Teddy Bear Daycare.

Kathie Watters

Pemberton

Look long term

My home is at 1865 Portage Road which borders the property proposed for the Ravenscrest Development. The beautiful mountain and valley views are what drew me to the Pemberton Valley and the land on which I live, work and play.

I have concerns about the proposed Ravenscrest Development. The Pemberton Festival this July has been planned in this great location because of the dramatic natural beauty of the setting. It frightens me to think that in the near future, the Ravenscrest site could look like the eyesore of Sabre’s mountainside property, which looks like a combination between mining and logging both done wrong. Or the look of the Plateau, which proves you can’t do higher density on rocky ground. I understand you can’t stop development but you can keep the density low.

The higher density creates hundreds of building sites and driveways that will eliminate most of the trees regardless how good your intentions are, destroying more habitat for native flora and fauna on a unique geographical and climatic hillside. The higher density also creates erosion problems and increases the water running into the flood-prone Pemberton Valley.

Most forward thinking communities are working hard to infill housing, creating higher density in urban areas. This reduces infrastructure costs for the local governments as services such as sewer, water lines and roadways, are already in place. It also reduces greenhouse gas emissions as they aim to provide walking distance shopping, community activities, recreation facilities etc.

My question is: knowing all this, as I’m sure the Village of Pemberton have educated people in the planning department to advise on this, why would you consider creating the 1950s model of suburbs? Remote and disconnected from the main village, they require considerable infrastructure, take vibrancy away from the town as they are not walking distance to community amenities such as shopping, health care, recreation etc., they create vast road ways and large parking lots in the village.

The Ravenscrest proposed rec. centre (12 acres donated in exchange for higher density) is over 3 km from town, requiring Pembertonians and their children to drive to the facility. Public trails and public transportation are both almost non-existent. Wouldn’t it be wiser to have these facilities close to our schools and to have swimming and skating as part of the P.E. program?

Removing the power lines from any and all of the village areas would be smart for many reasons. And infilling the many acres the power lines now occupy would provide plenty of housing opportunities and development space for a rec. centre, also helping Pemberton meet the criteria for a healthy town.

B.C. Hydro may not be eager to relocate their lines, but the Village of Pemberton has the ability to rezone those lands to create single family and multi-family sites, which when sold by B.C. Hydro, will no doubt pay for the relocation of those power lines, which could easily be doubled up on the existing lines to the east of Pemberton.

The young community that lives here would benefit from a thriving village centre. The businesses would prosper. The town and the tax base would grow. Let’s make the right decisions now and create a community for this Millennium.

Randall West

Pemberton