SUMMERLAND REVIEW THE VOICE OF OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1908
VOLUME
66
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ISSUE
WHAT’S INSIDE:
NO.
41
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S U M M E R L A N D,
WWW.SUMMERLANDREVIEW.COM
B.C.
• T H U R S D AY,
OC TOBER
10,
2013
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16
PA G E S
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$1.15
INCLUDING
GST
Japan trip tops $8,000 Travel costs paid for three municipal representatives by John Arendt Summerland’s recent Sister City delegation to Toyokoro, Japan cost the municipality more than
$8,000 as the municipality picked up the tab for two members of council and one staff member. Mayor Janice Perrino, Coun. Orv Robson and municipal planner Ian McIntosh were among the 19 people who participated in the Sister City visit.
The cost for each of the municipality’s representatives was $2,750, including flights and accommodations while in Japan. The total for these three people came to $8,250. The municipality did not pay for a spouse’s travel costs.
McIntosh said the municipality did not pay for the members of Summerland’s Sister City Committee, five students including members of Summerland’s royalty or members of the public who were part of the delegation.
“Of the 19 who went, three were paid,” McIntosh said. He added that the visit was a chance for Summerland delegates to learn about Japan and to examine ideas which may be possible here.
See CULTURE Page 7
75th anniversary
A Summerland couple recently celebrated their 75th anniversary.
Page 8
Fundraising tour
Three Summerlanders are cycling to Mexico to raise money for youth sports.
Page 3
Small Business
The Summerland Chamber of Commerce has special events planned to mark Small Business Week later this month.
Page 6
Job search help
A new online service will help employers and job seekers.
Page 7
Dancing
The Summerland Dance Club has resumed its monthly dances for the season.
Page 15
Winning hockey
The Summerland Steam enjoyed a winning weekend of Junior B hockey action.
Page 11
YOUR SMILE What do you give a seasick elephant? Lots of room.
Grape harvest
Carla McLeod Special to the Summerland Review
Whether a commercial operation, or that of the back yard variety, the grape harvest is underway in Summerland. Pictured are Ervin and LeEtta Felker, using a family relic, an old apple mill, to crush their grapes.
Bears observed near town core by John Arendt
When Melissa Campbell noticed a mother bear and two cubs in a pine tree in front of her Steven Avenue house last week, she and her husband contacted provincial conservation officials. “I’ve been watching them from the house,” she said. “It’s pretty close to town from Steven Avenue.” However, even though
the bears were near the house and on a street just two blocks from Summerland’s downtown, they were not removed. Barb Leslie, inspector with the provincial conservation service for the Okanagan region, said attempting to remove a mother bear and cubs can be dangerous. “Dealing with a sow and cubs is very difficult,” she said. She explained that if
one of the cubs is captured before the mother is captured, the result is an angry and aggressive mother bear. She said residents need to take measures to ensure bears will not want to spend time on their properties. Zoe Kirk, WildSafeBC community coordinator with the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen, said the public needs to be alerted when
a bear is in the area, until the bear leaves. She added that relocating a bear or a family of bears often results in a slow death for the animals which have been removed. Bears, especially those with cubs, will often take refuge in a tree, Kirk said. The mother ensures the cubs are in the higher branches before she climbs to a lower branch until night.
Summerland has had a number of bear incidents this year. Kirk said throughout the province, the number of calls about bears in inhabited areas was down by about 20 per cent. Then, three to four weeks ago, the trend changed and many more bear sightings were reported. One-quarter of all black bears in Canada, or around 120,000 bears, live in British Columbia.