WEDNESDAY
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FEBRUARY 19, 2014 Vol. 119, Issue 28
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
City and library at odds over this year’s budget allocation
SALMO
Dolls bring nature to life BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
As the season changes so will the face of a local artist’s work titled “Nature as a Doll.” Ursula Raney, an Erie-based artisan, is a recipient of the 2014 Columbia Basin Trust grant for arts and is sculpting her $1,530 award into four unique dolls that will reflect the magic of winter, spring, summer and fall in the West Kootenay. “I really like fashion and design, and the spirit of nature and fairy tales,” she explained. “Through exploring different forms of doll making, I have a really clear idea of who my old man winter will be, but I am still thinking about my summer garden thief.” Raney has been an artist with a needle since she first laid eyes on her grandmother’s exquisitely stitched dolls at the tender age of eight. After refining her own sewing skills over the years, the needlecrafter weaved her fibre-based abilities into making dolls using needle felt sculpture. Needle felting is a practice that uses notched needles to sculpt unspun wool into threedimensional objects through the process of “jabbing” fibres into a densely matted shape or form. Raney combines needle felting with her talent to anthropomorphize, or “see” faces and human forms in
BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
Ursula Raney demonstrated the art of needle felt sculpture in the reading room of the Salmo Public Library Monday afternoon. The artisan is currently working on a collection of seasonal dolls using natural wool fibres and bits of foliage as inspiration. nature and develops the dolls using natural wool fibres and foliage from the woods around her rural home. “I use materials from nature and blends of wool in the process to form the dolls,” explained Raney. “Sometimes I will see a piece of root or stick that reminds me of some-
thing and I work with that along with coloured thread and yarns” she said. “I also like to use fragrant herbs like orris root, to capture the different scents of each season.” As the weather warms, Raney will complete the seasonal doll collection and plans to share her exhibit with the
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community in the reading room of the Salmo Public Library. “A lot of people are curious about what I have been working on,” she said. “Some of the dolls are fragile with tiny bits of seasonal ephemera so I am hoping to start there and then we’ll see where they can go.” See ART, Page 3
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There are two sides to every story, but in the end the City of Trail gets to write the last chapter and say if the library will continue to operate status quo. How much money the city is willing to contribute to the Trail and District Public Library this year will impact the level of service, which was the hot topic between a trio representing the facility, and council members during Monday’s governance meeting. Citing a 200 per cent growth in usership last year, the library board requested $470,000 from the city’s 2014 budget to maintain 62.5 weekly library hours, retain two part-time staff and fund community initiatives, including popular children’s programming. However, the city agreed to allot a lesser sum, $408,250 this year, which means cuts to an already shoe string staff and well attended programs because the library’s well has run dry, according to board chair, Barbara Gibson. “It has been the City of Trail’s practice to set the amount of the requisition (budget) each year regardless of the amount requested by the library board,” said Gibson. “It was then necessary for the
library board to pay the city from cash expenditures over and above the requisition amount for the last three years,” she continued. “Now, our reserves are completely depleted.” In December, the library’s cash assets were about $265,000, but with $260,000 owed to the city, the account is drained and means no further funds are available to augment the city’s contribution this year. Any decrease to the budget will be offset by either cutting hours or cutting programs, Gibson added, “at a time when our patrons are asking for more or both.” Council countered with questions regarding specific data about peak hours of use, programs offered, and the increasing use of BC OneCards (free use of any public library in
the province regardless of residence) over membership cards. “What would be most helpful, regardless of where the person comes from, would be which programs are utilized the most?” Coun. Kevin Jolly asked. “We provide a service to the community, it’s not really about programs,” said Belinda Wilkinson, library director. “Our service is really about the collection that the library has to offer,” she continued. “And the fact that we are open six days a week when people are able to come in and borrow materials. “That is really what the library does,” Wilkinson added. “Everything else, in terms of programming, is about getting people into the library.” See CUT, Page 3
Police recover body from Columbia River
BY TIMES STAFF A body of a 58-year-old local woman was discovered on the bank of the Columbia River near the Old Bridge in Trail on Monday. Trail and Greater District RCMP were called to the location around 5 p.m. after reports of a body in a shallow area of the river. In a press release, the local detachment said an investigation is being conducted, in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Coroner, but the incident is not believed to be suspicious. No other details were released.
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