Kingfisher Interpretive Centre still finding ways to save salmon – Think Local

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Sponsored Content – | Story: 344263

There are many ways to learn about the natural world and have fun at the Kingfisher Interpretive Centre, but helping salmon survive and thrive remains the top priority.

The salmon are starting to run in the Shuswap River, which means the centre will be buzzing for the next couple of months at its location 25 kilometres northeast of Enderby on the way to Mabel Lake. The Kingfisher Interpretive Centre is a volunteer-run, non-profit salmon hatchery and environmental education centre that has been around for nearly more than 40 years.

The most popular annual public event—the Salmon Egg Take—traditionally occurs during the Thanksgiving weekend and attracts hundreds of people eager for a hands-on experience with salmon, but high water and the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the event’s cancellation for the last two years. However, a small group of dedicated staff and volunteers were still able to collect the salmon eggs, ensuring that salmonid enhancement activities were still taking place.

“We raise and release about 60,000 fry each year,” Kingfisher administrative advisor Mika Puchinger says. “When salmon are raised in the hatchery instead of in the wild, their chances of survival and returning to spawn is double, so instead of two salmon returning to spawn, it becomes four. That’s pretty impressive.”

Salmon survival has never been more important than it is today. It is a keystone species, which means it has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance. More than 130 organisms rely on the fish for their nutrients—from orca whales and bears to insects and trees—so the rapidly declining salmon rates are a significant concern.

Since large, in-person events like the Salmon Egg Take still cannot be held, Kingfisher will conduct the Great Virtual Salmon Run this fall in an effort to educate people about just how far the fish must travel to get back to their home stream during their final migration. Anyone wishing to take part must register and purchase an entrance ticket, and then do their usual exercise like running, walking, cycling or swimming. The participants track how far they go during each workout and then compare it to the 640-kilometre journey the salmon make from the Pacific Ocean to the Lower Shuswap River.

As participants advance along the virtual route, they will reach milestones and unlock discounts from local businesses, and will also have a chance to win exciting door prizes. Participants have until Oct. 31 to complete the migration.

“Along the route are 30 educational milestones that relate to salmon, the environment, history, First Nation traditions and more,” Puchinger says.

KIC is also running the Stream to Sea Program, in which approximately 2,800 children from 45 area schools raise fish in their classroom tanks and then release them in what has become a rite of passage in many institutions.

Another way to support the centre is through the Sponsor a Salmon initiative. Anyone who serves as a sponsor will receive updates on their growing salmon as it progresses through its life stages. KIC is hoping sponsors will be able to release their own fry into the river next year.

The KIC is not only about only salmon. It is also serves as a great tourist attraction or day trip, offering hatchery tours during the summer months, interpretation walks, self-guided walks through the forest, and access to a beautiful beach and swimming hole on the Shuswap River.

The Centre also hosts a Learn to Fish Day each July. This is a free, family event that includes fly fishing instruction, aquatic invertebrate identification, fly tying, trout fishing in the pond and more.

For anyone interested in learning more about the Kingfisher Interpretive Centre, please visit the website at www.kingfishercentre.org.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Sponsored Content – Aug 28, 2021 / 12:01 am | Story: 344157

TD customers in the B.C. Interior who are experiencing financial hardship due to the wildfires are being encouraged to contact their local TD branch to learn more about support options available to them.

“The wildfires have caused major disruption and created financial burden on many people in the B.C. Interior, and we want them to know we are ready to help them with their financial matters,” says Andy Cribb, the senior vice-president of branch banking for the Pacific region at TD.

Customers looking for advice and support can contact a TD branch to explore financial solutions.

To find contact information for a nearby branch, click here.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Sponsored Content – Aug 27, 2021 / 12:01 am | Story: 344076

Dave Balfour has been part of Kelowna’s boutique-sized private school, Willowstone Academy, for five years—as a teacher, as the team lead of the school’s Middle Years program, and now he has stepped into the role of school principal.

We had a chance to ask him: “As the principal of Willowstone Academy, what do you love most?”

“Well. Everything.

Actually, in truth—there was a time where I never would have imagined I would teach at a private school. I grew up in the public school system with all of the opportunities and constraints embedded in that reality. As a teacher, I spent significant and important years in the public school system. I have two children who graduated from Kelowna Secondary School and two younger children who have both benefited from public education.

But then I started teaching at Willowstone Academy … and everything changed for me.

So, I think that what I love most about Willowstone Academy is that we … well, we are just such a unique learning community. It’s not just about personalizing learning, but it’s really about empowering each student to discover their path in learning, and in life.

When the bell rings at 8:40, our Before School Care has already been in full swing and the early childhood education programming is ramping up, our K-5 students are jostling their way up the stairs and into their classrooms to be greeted by the smiling faces and warm welcomes from their teachers and certified education assistants. In the meantime, our middle years students are meandering their way into Middle Years Lane, hiding their cellphones while they open lockers and stroll into their house classrooms—all rooted in an inclusive community where we cultivate strengths, embrace differences and encourage vulnerability.

It’s a school that spans toddlers to teenagers and all the spaces in between. And if you’ve been a parent in our community and seen your child move from pre-kindergarten and then graduate a decade later from Grade 9, you’ll fully understand the full spectrum of learning in both laughter and tears. Indeed, we all know each other pretty well by the end of that journey. We have hard conversations together. We celebrate every success together. We are overjoyed and broken-hearted … sometimes in the same day. Because sometimes that’s life.

And it’s a journey our community does together.

Why do I come to work every day? Well, not just because we’re a unique school. But because being a unique school means that it’s a place that honours a diverse community of faith. It’s a place where we are committed to learning that matters. It’s a place where everyone belongs. For the kids.

And, ultimately, that’s where I belong.

And I love every minute of it.

It’s going to be a great year.”

Willowstone Academy is located in the Lower Mission in Kelowna. To learn more about the school, or to book a tour, connect with its admissions advisor by clicking here.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Contributed – Aug 24, 2021 / 12:01 pm | Story: 343765

The new leaders of The Salvation Army in Kelowna have so much experience that this marks their third stint in B.C. alone.

Mark Wagner and his wife, Isobel, have also served in Burnaby and Victoria. Mark’s provincial history goes even deeper, as he was born in Dawson Creek and spent four years of his childhood in Penticton.

Mark has lived and served The Salvation Army in every Canadian province except for Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and P.E.I. His great-grandmother was an officer, his grandparents served for a few years, and his parents were officers for 42 years.

Therefore, Mark and Isobel are bringing more than enough experience to the Okanagan. They are taking over for Darryl and Kim Burry, who received a new appointment in Alberta earlier this year.

“I’ve grown up in it, so it’s the life that I know,” Mark says. “There’s lots of stuff I like about it. I like preaching. I enjoy studying the scriptures and trying to help people understand maybe what something complex says and help them understand what it really has to do with their life.

“And I enjoy the leadership side of leading a team. I just like people, which is a good thing if you’re a pastor.”

Mark and Isobel, who have been married since 1982, officially started on the job last Monday. They joined a team that had already been remarkably busy this summer working hand in hand with Emergency Support Services to help wildfire and crane collapse evacuees.

“While I’d never been involved with ESS duties before, these guys have been doing it for years,” Mark says of his organization’s Okanagan team. “So I feel very confident and pleased to have a team like that. You don’t come in to just do stuff yourself.

“You have a team of people, and I’m looking forward to working with them and developing that team out.”

Mark is a people person, so the lingering COVID-19 restrictions have prevented him from getting out and meeting community members. Isobel, meanwhile, works with smaller groups and enjoys leadership development. In other words, they will make a great team at Kelowna Community Church on Sutherland Avenue.

“She does a lot of those kinds of things, which may be a little bit more behind the scenes, but frankly they’re the backbone of any church,” Mark says. “She’s invaluable, I’ll tell you that.”

Mark spent a term as the dean of the School for Continuing Studies at Booth University College in Winnipeg and another at The Salvation Army headquarters in Toronto, resourcing churches across Canada and Bermuda. He was interim pastor at North Toronto Community Church before coming to Kelowna.

Isobel held an appointment in a field training role at The Salvation Army’s College for Office Training, and also served at the national headquarters as the learning development co-ordinator.

More information about The Salvation Army Kelowna can be found here.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

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