The following are just some of the many highlights in the community in 2023.
Horsefly’s Romeros win Juno with newest album
Published April
For the fourth time in their history as a music duo, Pharis and Jason Romero had their name called out as winners of a Juno Award.
Their latest album, Tell ‘em You Were Gold, took home Traditional Roots Album of the Year.
The Romeros noted the project would not have been possible without Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, musicians Patrick Metzger, John Reischman, Grace Forest, Trent Freeman and Marc Jenkins, engineer John Raham at Afterlife Studios, and D. James Goodwin, who did the mastering.
Previously the Romeros have taken home Juno Awards in 2021 for Bet on Love, in 2019 for Sweet Old Religion and in 106 for A Wanderer I’ll Stay - all in the category of Traditional Album of the Year.
A double vinyl version of the album was released on Jan. 27.
Cariboo youth, musicians, to release music video with positive message around climate change
Published Feb. 25
Cariboo musicians and youth combined forces on a song and video project to share a “hopeful and inclusive message” to raise awareness and encourage action around climate change, to be released Feb. 28.
Shannon O’Donovan-Zirnhelt, a singer-songwriter who lives in Beaver Valley, led the project, along with Pharis Romero, a Juno-award-winning musician based in Horsefly, and Dena Baumann, music teacher and singer-songwriter. O’Donovan had led a previous video project with local youth focusing on climate change for a song she wrote called A Mother’s Plea.
This time, the youth were to be engaged with the songwriting process itself and the message was meant to be a bit gentler.
The three women mentored the group of nine students, leading them through a series of five workshops over the course of a few months to write the song titled We Can Think it Out.
Students Julia Zirnhelt, Raven Shepherd, Bodhi Elwick, Seamus Zirnhelt, Finn Zirnhelt, Ella Kruus, Scarlett Johnston, Lucia Johnston and Eileen McIntyre all participated and helped write the song and create the video.
Cariboo woman delivers baby in minivan en route to hospital
Published March 9
A Likely woman delivered her baby in the front seat of a minivan while a BCEHS dispatch operator in Vancouver provided childbirth directions over speaker phone to her and her mom.
“Luckily we pulled over in a spot on the Likely Road that had cell phone coverage and called,” said the newborn’s mom, Brittany Lee of Likely, B.C.
“We put the phone on the dash and the guy on the phone walked us through it.”
Brittany was expecting her baby on March 16, but on the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 28, she started getting contractions.
“It happened really fast. I thought I had more time. But probably from the first time I felt a contraction-contraction they were 20 minutes apart.”
By the time she and her mom, Angie Lee, set out to make the one-hour drive to Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH) in Williams Lake, the contractions were coming every five minutes.
Soon after they passed the Big Lake store, Brittany told her mom to pull over because she felt the urge to push.
Her mom pulled over, they called 9-1-1, and within minutes the baby was born, weighing five pounds, nine ounces.
Producers, buyers, ranchers network at 86th Annual Williams Lake Bull Show and Sale
Published Apr. 19
The 86th Annual Williams Lake Bull Show and Sale went well.
Williams Lake Bull Sale Association chair Bob Gowans said the event is one of the few consignment sales around.
“We’d like to keep this thing going,” he told the Tribune. “It’s an all-breed sale. We just think there’s a place where people can bring different breeds and get them sold.”
Gowans has horned Herefords and has been attending the show and sale consistently for 30 years.
“We used to have more numbers, but that’s a sign of the times with breeders aging and with some other changes. Our numbers are down but we always hope the quality of the bulls is up and we can keep this sale going.”
Every year the show is held on the Thursday, a dinner in the evening, followed by the sale on Friday.
Guru Nanak Sikh Temple gathers for Vaisakhi in Williams Lake
Published May 5
Under a hot sun and clear blue sky, the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple Society hosted a Vaisakhi celebration on Saturday, April 29, in Williams Lake.
Temple members, visiting family members and guests gathered for a meal in the basement, beginning at 4 p.m. that included food both savoury and sweet.
After the meal, people went upstairs into the temple area where someone had been reading out loud the Sikh Holy Book, Guru Granth Sahib, all week.
Led by five Sikh leaders representing the five beloved ones, the group then proceeded outside, where they sang prayers as women, men, and children prepared the flag pole.
They first stripped the flag pole of its old coverings, washed it and then wrapped it with new orange cloth and ribbons, and this year wound a strip of colourful lights around the pole.
Once the flag was ready to be raised, the five Sikh leaders took turns praying.
Two general surgeons enjoying jobs at Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake
Published June 2
Cariboo Memorial Hospital has two new general surgeons who are loving their jobs and the community of Williams Lake.
Amandeep Bajwa, 35, and Bianka Saravana-Bawan, 34, are also friends - they met when they were doing their residencies.
Born and raised in Surrey, Amandeep knew she wanted to be a doctor at the age of five. She attended the University of British Columbia medical program and did her residency in Edmonton.
She did locums before accepting a job at CMH and arrived in July 2022.
Bianka arrived at the end of September 2022.
Growing up in Victoria, Bianka attended McMaster University and then Calgary for medical school. She did her fellowship in Toronto and her residency in Edmonton.
The two work at the same time, and Dr. Jean Oosthuizen, the hospital’s third general surgeon who has been there since 2005, also works full-time.
Both women credit surgeon Dr. Ashley Shaw, who they knew from their residencies, for enticing them to come to Williams Lake. Shaw was working at CMH but has since left and gone to work in Powell River.
2023 Indigenous Role Models crowned for SD 27
Published June 6
The 20th Indigenous Role Models for School District 27 were crowned in a ceremony at the Lake City Secondary School on June 1.
Ten candidates applied for the two roles, one male and one female, and many community leaders spoke, including Joan Gentles, who helped create the role model system 20 years ago.
Gentles encouraged the youth to stay strong.
“I have been a role model and it’s a tough job,” she said, noting jealousy is something they will have to contend with, but told them not to let it deter them in their important work.
This year’s candidates at the ceremony were Sky Johnson, Seth Chelsea-Montgomery, November-reign Bowe, Treval LaRue, Parker-Barbie Testawich, Macie Yanko, Brianna Pope, Finley Testawich, and Tyson Michel. Emma Penner was also a candidate but was unable to attend the ceremony.
The job of Indigenous Role Models for School District 27 includes a one-year role doing appearances at cultural and community events and the benefits include a $500 bursary.
The 2022 role models Paige Romaniuk and Angus Paul spoke before the new role models were revealed.
This year’s role models are Sky Johnson of Esket and Tyson Michel, whose father is from Nak’azdli (near Fort St. James).
Many attendees got up to speak and congratulate the new role models, including area chiefs.
Vibe City club offers safe space for students
Published June 8
Vibe City may be a catchy name, but the high-school group at Lake City Secondary School (LCSS) is so much more than that.
“It’s a safe space for LGBTQ+ kids to come,” said David Julius, one of the school counsellors.
“A lot of it is just that, hanging out and eating lunch together in a room where no one’s going to judge.”
The group has been active for a number of years, although it’s mostly student-led, said Julius, with two students, in particular, who have taken it upon themselves to lead the group, Gosmer Redford in Grade 11 and West Brooks in Grade 12.
When asked what being part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community means to each of them, Redford said, “It’s all about self-expression and safety. As a trans person it is sometimes difficult to connect with people outside of the communities because of current stigma, so just knowing that there are people out there like me brings me a lot of confidence and comfort. Without the community, all the negative things in the world would get the better of me.”
For Brooks, they moved to Williams Lake summer of 2022 and being in a new school for their final year, Vibe City was a great place for them to meet like-minded people and make new friends.
“The club has benefited the school both by providing a safe space for any student who may need it, but also by providing visibility so that even the students who may not wish to join Vibe City still feel welcomed in the school,” said Brooks.
Williams Lake 95th Annual Stampede Saturday performance sold out
Published July 2
The Saturday performance of the 95th Annual Williams Lake Stampede attracted a sold-out crowd, with many donning red to celebrate Canada Day.
“All of us here know that Canada is a country that is welcoming to people from all over the world,” said hometown hero Rick Hansen as he addressed the crowd from the VIP seating.
Hansen noted, “It is the sense of community that makes this country proud. What better way to celebrate than to be here for the Stampede.”
This year’s recipients of lifetime passes Bruce Lennox and Cindy Brady were honoured in a short statement that was read out about each of them. Lennox has moved away and was unable to attend the Stampede this year, but Brady rode a horse-pulled wagon.
Families of long-time Stampede volunteers, the late Willie Crosina and Wilf Smith, were presented with a Stampede poster. Crosina and Smith are both depicted in the poster, which was created by local artist Tiffany Jorgensen, who was also presented a poster.
The 2023 inductees to the B.C. Cowboy Hall of Fame were also announced and acknowledged and included John Young, working cowboy, Allan Macdonnell, horseman, Bill Pulver, pioneer and Reg Steward, builder of western culture.
Rick Hansen, supporters, celebrate opening of canada’s Man in Motion museum exhibit
Published July 5
Rick Hansen himself was on hand to open the Canada’s Man in Motion exhibition at the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin on Thursday, June 29.
The museum was packed with supporters, including Hansen’s past coaches and teachers Charlie Wyse, and Jack Burgar.
Rick Hansen gave a heartfelt talk, thanking the community for their support in his recovery and during his Man in Motion World Tour. Hansen then asked all the teachers in the crowd from when he was in school to raise their hands, and then thanked them all for their role in helping him in finding a new path forward.
Williams Lake Stampede parade organizer Willie Dye presented both Rick Hansen and Don Alder with framed 2023 Stampede posters.
It was just two days past the 50-year anniversary of the day Hansen was injured in the crash on his way back from a fishing trip in Bella Coola with his high school teammates and friends Alder and Brink.
Wendy’s opens with ribbon-cutting ceremony
Published Oct. 16
Wendy’s Restaurant officially opened in Williams Lake on Tuesday, Oct. 17.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at 10:30 a.m. with over 30 people attending — staff, corporate, customers and Williams Lake representatives.
Williams Lake First Nations Culture and Language Coordinator David Archie opened the ceremony with a prayer of gratitude, protection and well-wishes and followed with an elders’ honour song.
Williams Lake Mayor Surinderpal Rathor welcomed the restaurant and staff, grateful for the years of excellent food that will come to the city.
Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the restaurant opened for lunch at 11 a.m., greeting customers with red and blue cupcakes. Every seat was quickly filled, and a line of cars patiently waited in the drive-through line, extending all the way onto the street.
So far about 30 people have been hired from Williams Lake and two people have been brought in for the management side.
Take Back the Night event attracts 100 in Williams Lake
Published Oct. 27
Colder temperatures did not deter 100 people from participating in a Take Back the Night walk in Williams Lake on Thursday, Oct. 26.
It was -5.8 C as walkers and cyclists prepared to depart from Spirit Square on Oliver Street at 6:30 p.m.
From Oliver Street the group rode and strolled along Oliver Street up to Seventh Avenue.
Participants were encouraged to dress for a witch theme, which some did. Bicycles and people were also decorated with lights or carried glow sticks.
A sign held by one walker read “Stop Violence Against Women.”
The walk ended in Boitanio Park, where Cariboo Chilcotin’s Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) branch had a table set up with hot chocolate and treats, as well as information on help for people who have been victims of violence.
There was also hot food sold on site and some live music.
A story of struggle — from Vanderhoof to unhoused in Williams Lake
Published Oct. 27
A phone call from a concerned citizen was the first we heard of Josh Rogers and his dog Turbo.
Carrie Harlow-edey said she knows Rogers from when they both lived in Likely, and she said he was a person who got along with everyone.
Harlow-edey said Rogers was being evicted from the Hamilton Hotel, where he has been living for nearly a year, which opened as a low-barrier shelter in December 2021.
Rogers said he originally came to the Cariboo because of family, but he had been back and forth to the area a ton because he worked hauling livestock and things out of the evacuation zones during the 2017 wildfires.
A survivor of five different vehicle crashes, the first crash broke every bone in his face, recalled Rogers, who looks younger than his 30 years, despite it all. The last crash was the one which he said led to his dependency on drugs.
Distraught, having lost his phone and unable to contact anyone, he had chickens, dogs and a horse at home, he said and he worried no one was going to be looking after them. Rogers left the hospital in Prince George to return home to Vanderhoof without the doctor’s okay, and said he was denied painkillers. He had broken his back in the crash. His friend brought him fentanyl to help him with the pain. He has relied on some combination of drugs ever since, he said, noting he usually takes a mix of meth, a powerful stimulant, and fentanyl, a powerful “down” drug which causes drowsiness.
“It takes the pain away from my back and keeps me awake for the day,” he explained.
