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Gratitude for search efforts

The Bagnall family would like to express our sincerest thanks to numerous people in the search for our Rachael.

 

The Bagnall family would like to express our sincerest thanks to
numerous people in the search for our Rachael. We are especially
grateful to Pemberton and Whistler Search and Rescue for their
thousands of hours of dedicated searching, for their expertise and
knowledge of this vast terrain, and for their kindness, compassion and
patience in explaining every step of the search to the family. We are
thankful for the three helicopters that flew hundreds of flights that were
plotted on maps and analyzed to direct each day's search. Our
heartfelt thanks goes to the many highly specialized SAR volunteers
who came from all over B.C. to take part in this exhaustive search
- volunteers who gave up their weekends and days off to assist in this
effort. We are very grateful for your generosity of spirit.

We also want to thank Staff Sergeant Steve LeClair and the Whistler
and Pemberton RCMP for their sensitivity, professionalism and
thoroughness in their search for Rachael and Jonathan. We are
appreciative of our daily briefings with the RCMP and Search and
Rescue where our suggestions were listened to and acted upon and we
were kept up to speed on the daily searches.

Finally, it is important for us to thank our family, friends and
people from around the world that joined us in praying, hoping and
sending messages of encouragement. We continue to gain strength and
comfort from your prayers.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can send it to:

Pemberton Search and Rescue,

PO Box 911

Pemberton, B.C.

V0N 2L0

The Bagnall family

 

Terry Fox run hits home

One morning, 30 years ago, I was waiting for a school bus. Another student told me and the other people waiting for the bus that a guy was running from the east coast to the west coast because he had cancer and hoped to raise money to help cure cancer.

I tried to follow Terry's story as much as possible, I cried when I heard he had to stop running marathons every day with one false leg regardless of the weather.

When the very sad story came that Terry had died I, along with millions of other people, cried.

Since then I have taken part in as many Terry Fox fundraising events as possible. Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Terry Fox's Fundraising Events Sunday, Sept. 19th was extra special.

The only way to say thanks to all of the event's volunteers, to all of the participants, adults, kids and dogs, runners, cyclists and walkers, The Four Seasons Hotel, Splitz Grill and all of the businesses that added fab draw prizes, Matt the cool guitar player, Mountain FM, all of the photographers and anyone else involved that I may have missed is to let you know in the 2011 spring I will be brain cancer-free for 10 years, and last spring I was breast cancer free for five years.

I do not know why I got those cancers, but I know I am winning the battle because of Terry Fox and people like you. Cancer will be conquered, and we will be here to celebrate.

Peace out.

Leslie Weir

Whistler

 

Terry Fox 30 th a community success

The 30 th Anniversary of the Terry Fox Run kicked off this past Sunday, on a wet and chilly morning. Despite the rain, we saw our largest turnout to date - 314 runners in all! It goes without saying this was a beautiful event; a gathering of people with one common goal: to bring an end to cancer.

I would like to thank all those who made it possible. Doug Hart, Director of Engineering at Four Seasons Resort Whistler, chaired the event this year and should be commended for the long hours spent preparing for this event.

Owner of Splitz Grill, Paul McGeogh, donated the food and his time cooking at the barbecue. Whistler Brewing Company donated the refreshments. Jesse Lavendel, host on Mountain FM, provided the voice and Bob McGill, Terry Fox's high school coach provided the inspiration. Mayor Ken Melamed of RMOW and Fiona Famulak of Whistler Chamber of Commerce were just a few of the faces to represent the community at our event. And we owe our live sounds to Matt King, Papa Josh and PSAV.

A special thanks to the Whistler Fire Department, the RCMP, Sabre Rentals and RMOW for helping to create the run route around Lost Lake and keeping everyone safe. Always great to see so many firemen come out and show their support as well, running in all their gear! To all the staff at Four Seasons Resort Whistler, thank you for your time volunteering to make this event a success. Our spa therapists seemed to be an especially big hit, providing free massages to runners following the race!

A warm appreciation for the team at Buffalo Bill's who donated a party worth $2,000 for the team that won the Corporate Challenge. Special thanks to Gescan, Cows and Whistler Question for participating in the challenge and congratulations to the Delta Dynamos for taking the prize! Lastly, my gratitude to the team at Pique Newsmagazine for sponsoring our ads and raising money for the cause, and to Ally Macaulay and the team at Cutting Edge Signs for designing and printing our promotional materials.

We were fortunate to have so many great prizes donated by companies in this community. Together, we raised $15,843.88 which went to the Terry Fox Foundation.

Elena Beveridge

Marketing & Public Relations Manager

Four Seasons Resort Whistler

 

Enough already

I have watched with some frustration and not a small amount of horror the continued saga of the asphalt plant. I can't take it anymore. I have empathy for those frustrated few who feel their lives are under threat from this industrial facility.

"But enough," I say. The facts as I understand them.

1. Anyone who has lived here in the last say five to 30 years has known that the Function area had always been an industrial designation. In addition, we all knew that there was a quarry and asphalt plant there. If you didn't know, you weren't paying attention.

2. The plant and its environs was part of the disclosure statement. If you didn't read it... that is your mistake.

3. It is not yet proven that emissions from this plant are at levels that could cause health concerns; people that worked for two years on the athletes village said they never smelled anything or even knew the plant was there. So, let's see what the monitoring says.

4. If you are so convinced that the health issues are real, then don't move in. I wouldn't.

5. As a taxpayer, both business and personal, I'm done. I have no more money. I supported and contributed to creating a spectacular housing development that most people would be incredibly happy to be fortunate to have won in a lottery. I am super pleased that the majority of my local friends have been so lucky. But, I have no money to buy out, fix, solve, move or remove, the perceived threat to health, safety and welfare of a few people who have elevated this issue to the realm of outrageous hyperbole.

6. These people have hijacked the agenda of this community to the point of dominating the editorial pages of our papers, the agenda of our municipal government, etc. for months and months. They have raised(?) the level of debate to the point that they are now making accusations against individuals in this community that border on libel. Vicious and unsubstantiated personal attacks on anyone who disagrees with their position in what is starting to sound like histrionics. Other individuals wanting to make cheap political points have jumped into the fray to point fingers of shame at anyone who would dare to disagree with this crusade.

Should a development like this have been put between a quarry, asphalt plant, sewage treatment plant etc. ...err... perhaps not, but the land was cheap which allowed the buildings to be built to a high standard (can you say nice buildings, nice place?), thus, affordable cost for employee housing. High standard/quality, but cheap price.

In conclusion, if you want the problem solved, then you put up the money and fight it in court. If you win... well, you win. If you don't, well, you don't. Me and my fellow beleaguered and beaten down taxpayers... we can't help you right now and we shouldn't be expected to bail you out. We have our own problems just trying to pay our taxes.

Now how about that logging issue?

Jayson Faulkner

Whistler

 

University could be win/win

I have been reading about the proposed University for Whistler over the last few years and find it hard to believe that council is not 100 per cent in favour of having this project go ahead. "I" must be missing something?

When faced with a situation like this it is always best to take personal feelings out of the equation and instead look at the pros and cons. Once these are listed, each should be weighed carefully and then an informed decision can be made. This decision should be based on what is best for the town of Whistler and surrounding area.

What are the pros and cons of a Whistler University?

The only con that I can see is the fact that part of this area is designated as "wetland."

Pros: 1) Whistler, at this point, needs other industries and ideas to boost the economy. 2) A university would bring many much-needed jobs to the valley, both during the building and afterwards. 3) Proposed degrees in Tourism and Resort management would fit with what we do here. 4) The MBA program that they are proposing would bring in International Students. 5) International Students would mean that their parents, grandparents and friends would visit Whistler as "tourists." 6) A university would attract educational conventions and seminars and help draw attention to Whistler. 7) The resort and tourism students could end up working part time within Whistler. 8) Many local high school students could attend at a much lower cost than if they attended UBC or UVic. 9) Most of the students would be living in "on-campus residences" and therefore not taking up the housing of our workers. 10) Many of the staff might become property owners. 11) The students and faculty would be spending money in restaurants, stores and on the ski hills.

Look at what the Banff School of Fine Arts has done for that community.

Wetlands are important, and I understand those who want to retain them. We have an abundance of them in the Whistler area, but if we don't plan properly they could slowly disappear.

I believe that the university could come up with a design that would allow for plenty of space for the university and at the same time retain and enhance much of the wetlands. This has been done before with surprising results.

This could become a real win/win for everyone.

Noel Villard

Whistler

 

There's a better way

Hey, we're back in town and glad to see our bit of YouTube theatre
helped keep the old-growth logging issue from disappearing into the
fumes of the asphalt plant.

Also interesting to note that local media haven't hesitated to parrot
the opinion of the logging advocates that our video (see "Whistler Old Growth" on YouTube) is full of "misinformation".

Yet none of them bothered to contact us for our viewpoint. Hmmm...
journalism, is it?

They also quote Mr. Ackhurst as saying he doesn't know where the $30,000
figure came from as Whistler's share of the spoils from the logging.

But it was Mr. Ackhurst himself who stated in an article in the Whistler Question (June 16) that Whistler was only going to realize about $20,000 from the logging. Jeez, we thought we were being generous to increase the figure by 50 per cent!

Now we read that Mr. Ackhurst says logging old-growth trees in Whistler will probably continue for another 15 years. (Hey, Whistler kids, how do you feel about that?) So exactly what percentage of local old-growth will be cut?

Well, a little birdie tells us the community forest folks are talking about
30 per cent being left. And another little birdie tells us Victoria will be satisfied if 20 per cent old growth is left uncut in the province. Meaning 70-80 per cent of local old growth has been, or will be cut.

What's the figure in our video? Eighty per cent. Seems we weren't far from the mark, huh?

But to be fair, Mr. Ackhurst states the forest inventory hasn't even been completed yet. So the figure could be lower, right? Or it could be higher, right? (Cough.)

Anyway, as we stated in our original letter, we realize this community forest issue has been very cleverly constructed (Hello Victoria!) so that everyone can cut 400-year-old trees without feeling guilty:

Victoria says, "Hey, we gave control to the communities. Talk to them."

The community says, "Yeah, but Victoria gave us this minimal cut requirement, so what can we do?"

The forest contractor says, "Hey, I was just hired to cut trees. If I don't, they'll fire me."

First Nations say, "About time we got a little piece of the action. You've been logging our land for years."

And the chain saws come out.

But take a walk through a local old-growth forest. (Hell, take a walk through the second -growth they're going to cut at Runaway Train!) How many resorts in the world have this stuff? How many will have it in 50 years? Imagine how much more valuable it will be then... if we don't cut it now.

Old-growth forests are living jewels - gardens that Nature has been nurturing for hundreds, thousands of years. Some of the plants don't even start to grow until the forest has been undisturbed for a couple hundred years. And families of animals have been calling these forests home for countless generations.

Then along come we humans with our short-sighted, narrow-minded brains and what do we see when we look at these priceless gardens? Just so many board-feet of lumber; a forest that needs to be "man-aged" (i.e. Destroyed.)

For what? A few bucks. Talk about a legacy for future generations.

There's a better way. But we'll only find it when enough people are willing
to take a stand.

Oly And The Fat Cats & Van Clayton Powel

Whistler

 

Safer in Manhattan

As snowbirds wintering in Hawaii, my spouse and I have been nesting in Whistler during the spring-summer season since 2006.

Since then, we have observed a significant degradation of the social tissue and the late night stabbings of Aug. 14 do not surprise us, as they are consistent with this unfortunate by-product of the "Pub Crawling" approach to marketing in Whistler.

Whistlerites should know we feel safer in Manhattan than Whistler, where we avoid going out at night as we feel unsafe because of the substance abuse practiced openly by a crowd we don't want to have anything to do with.

This degradation has reached a point where it is spilling over in the Upper Village after bar closing.

I do not wish to argue with Brenton Smith, but Whistlerites should know that, like many other tourist and summer residents who have come to Whistler, been alienated and gone, we have come to Whistler and are now making plans to move to Vancouver's West End in an attempt to bring back sanity to our lives.

In our view, Whistlerites really need to look at reality straight in its face; the village is becoming a ghetto and "Pub Crawling" is very much part of the problem.

We praise A.R. Symons for speaking out on this issue.

Bernard Cloutier

Whistler

 

Opportunity knocking; let's open the door

Just finishing up a whirlwind European vacation in Barcelona. What an unbelievable eye opener. London, Paris, Tangier, Barcelona... sold out and humming, buzzing and tripping the light fantastic. Six words... The Russians, The Russians, The Russians (and the Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Bulgarians and Slovaks.)

On our last extended Euro tour, there were next to zero tourists from the former East Block. I don't know the percentage today but every other voice now roaming the palaces, waterways and cafes of Europe seems to be from the east.

Let´s go get them!

Brian Buchholz

In Barcelona

 

A future without Live Nation

I can't understand why "the future of the Pemberton Festival hinges entirely on the wishes of Live Nation."

I also call bull that it wasn't economically feasible. With 40,000 people at over $250 a ticket that's $10 million, and that's without camping and concessions.

Considering no one was allowed to bring even water in, I also find it hard to believe that much of that money stays in the community. Like big businesses do, they just want to make more. Now with Live Nation in kahoots with greedy TicketMaster and their online scalping schemes it can only get worse.

Why are hotels offering them free rooms and local officials flying to London to beg the president to have them come back? Why don't we say screw corporate mega promoters and have our own  affordable, family oriented grass roots festival?

We have the venue, and tons of qualified local promoters, and there's no shortage of willing entertainers. There are hundreds if not thousands of  affordable small to medium-sized festivals in almost every major community in North America.

A headline in the same paper states "LIVE at Squamish rocks cash registers". If they can pull it off so can we. My experience has been the smaller, more intimate festivals, logistically are much better. Why don't we shoot for 10,000 at say $150 per ticket? If we keep it local that could result in more economic stimulus without the headaches.

It's obvious by the five-hour traffic jam, the parking and shuttle bus fiasco, that 40,000 people is just too many for Pemberton. Something of that size would be better suited in Whistler. The Callaghan and its new infrastructure would be a suitable place for a concert facility for larger shows, and I hope to see many smaller shows at the Celebration Plaza.

My vision is the entire Sea to Sky corridor could become an entertainment destination, diversifying our tourist base and filling hotel rooms and restaurants, like New Orleans, or Nashville. Lets get on it at a community level instead of pleading with big organizers to take the money and run.

Mike Roger

Birken/Whistler

 

Building hope

Children impacted by war gain from Nesters Customer Appreciation Day!

Playground Builders wishes to thank Nesters and its customers for the donations received on Saturday. The funds raised will support workers in war ravaged Afghanistan to construct a playground for children near Kabul.

We are currently raising funds for Playground  #61. We build play, we create hope.

Thank you Nesters, thank you Whistler.

Keith Reynolds

Playground Builders

 

Welcome from PAC

We would like to express our thanks for another successful PAC Welcome Night Barbeque at Whistler Secondary. First of all thank you to the teachers and admin staff for supporting the program and giving parents a chance to walk in their children's shoes.

Our community businesses supported this evening as well, thank you to: Four Seasons, Rainbow Electric, Slopeside Supply, the Brew House, Senka Florist, Sabre and Nesters Market.

Returning parents pitched in to ensure that new parents had a chance to meet the teachers and get to know their way around the school. Thank you to our parent bakers, kitchen helpers and BBQ'ers. We had really great Grad student helpers this year - Maddi, Alix, Molly and Shannon - they will go far! Three Grade 9 students also pitched in: Abigail, Megan and Rachael and so did Nicholas, who is one of our Grade 11 foreign students from Germany.

Just like our kids, parents graduate from school too. Thank you to Cathy Jewett, who has organized this event these past few years. Additional thanks to Chris Vernon-Jarvis who began the Welcome Night tradition and mans the BBQ every year. Margot Murdoch will be donning the Welcome Night apron to take the place of our graduating parents.

The village raises the child so please stay involved during the secondary years. Come to our Parent Advisory Council meetings, it is the easiest way to be involved. The first Whistler Secondary PAC gathering is at a new time 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at WSS. So if you drive your WSS student to school, join us for coffee and find out what is going on at Whistler Secondary. Come as you are and bring your mug!

Your PAC Executive:

Karen, Stephanie, Jen and Cathy

 

Support for our communities

A huge thank you to all the corporate sponsors, local supporters and volunteers for making the TELUS Mountain Classic a wonderful day of fun!

Over $90,000 was raised for the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation this past Friday; the support was incredible. I would like to add a special thanks to TELUS, our title sponsor, for their unwavering commitment to our community, to the Fairmont Chateau for their hosting and generosity and to our three local caddies: Mayor Ken Melamed, Alan Kristmanson and Steve Podborski for adding to the fun! Pod was a caddie, MC, auctioneer AND rode in the GranFondo the next morning... that is commitment!

A very special shout out to the Foundation team led amazingly by Mei McCurdy and Sandra McKenzie. And finally, to all the friends of the foundation... you rock!

Dave Brownlie

President, Whistler Blackcomb Foundation

 

Pay parking a pain

I know that I should be warming up to pay parking by now, but like riding my bike up Kadenwood, it's still hard to take.

I like the brilliance of the pedestrian design of Whistler Village. I like the parking on the perimeter of the village. I like working and shopping in the village. I like being in the village. I'm in favour of commuting to work in an environmentally friendly way.

I HATE paying for parking when I'm there to support local businesses, going out to eat, visiting shops or just to meet friends.

I would like to suggest to the RMOW that all local car owners receive approximately 12 hours of free parking a week to get the things done that make Whistler a wonderful place for them.  I realize free parking is a privilege and I'll even volunteer time to keep my neighbourhood cleaner, sit on a committee, man an info booth or maintain mountain bike trails to get some free time in the parking lots.

I know that parking in lots 4 and 5 is free (for now), but it doesn't always make sense to park there.

John Blok

Whistler