Vernon angler setting up fishing line recycling stations at select North Okanagan lakes – Vernon News

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Anyone who has visited a fishing lake in BC has probably come across a tangled mass of fishing line at some point.

All that plastic is dangerous to wildlife and can take hundreds of years to break down.

And responsible anglers who do not toss their line into the water, have had no choice but to throw unwanted line in the garbage.

Until now, that is.

Ron Reitsma, a member of the Kalamalka Fly Fishing Club, is spearheading a program to recycle used fishing line.

“In the States, fishing line recycling is a very big thing,” said Reitsma who spent 33 years in the Canadian military and spend time deployed in America.

“When I came back to Canada, I was bit surprised we did not have anything here.”

In 2016, clearyourgear.ca began operating in Winnipeg.

“Since then they have gone into all 10 provinces and the Yukon Territories,” said Reitsma. “I thought for the Kalamalka Fly Fishers, it would be an excellent project for us. One of our founding pillars is conservation.”

Fishing line recycling depots will be set up at a variety of lakes around the region where anglers can leave their unwanted fishing line.

“They will be put at the major fishing lakes,” he said.

It is then collected by club members and sent out for recycling.

“It takes hundreds of years to degrade. Bears get tangled in it, turtles, birds, fish all get tangled in it,” he said. The line can also get caught up boat propellors and he even knows of cases where dogs get tangled up while swimming in a lake.

“Even if we throw it in the garbage and it goes to the dump, it is still in the environment,” said Reitsma.

The collected plastic fishing line is sent to a facility in the US where it is melted down and turned into pellets, which are then used to make tackle boxes, fish habitats, toys and a variety of other items.

Reitsma is in the process of getting permission to set up the collection tubes at area lakes.

For more information, visit the Kalamalka Fly Fishers website or Facebook page.

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It is one of the most historic sites in Vernon, and once again people will be able to tour the Caetani Centre.

The centre opened to the public for the first time in its history last year for a series of sold-out tours.

With interest in the Caetani story growing, the centre will reopen the 126-year-old heritage home, now a museum, for a new series of guided and self-guided tours starting April 28.

“There will be a lot of new things for visitors to see and experience,” says Susan Brandoli, Caetani Centre executive director. “We have an incredible collection of Caetani family heirlooms that our volunteers have been accessioning and getting ready for display. We will be showing more of these one-of-a-kind artifacts, including 1920s’ haute couture designs by the likes of Coco Chanel, Madeleine Vionnet, and Jeanne Lanvin.”

Visitors will learn about the historical significance of the Caetani family, whose lineage dates back to 8th Century Italy and includes popes, scholars, artists, politicians and aristocrats.

“We have an incredible collection of family home movies that the patriarch, Leone Caetani, filmed before he died in 1935. The clips show the family’s life here in the Okanagan as well as extravagant trips they took to Europe in the 1920s,” says Kristin Froneman, Caetani tours and communications coordinator.

Visitors will also be able to view more of Sveva Caetani’s artwork from her Recapitulation Series in the gallery.

“We will be showing the next chapter of works that have not been viewed in Vernon since the series was returned to us by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts in March 2021. We are currently having custom walls built so that we can show more of the paintings from the series at one time,” said Brandoli.

The Caetani Cultural Centre Society has been raising funds through its Bringing Sveva Home sponsorship campaign to expand its gallery with the intent to eventually exhibit the entire series of 47 paintings, several of which consist of several panels and one spectacular work, Makimono of the Ninth, which measures 20 feet in width and has been sponsored by Silver Star Mountain Resort.

The spring session of guided tours can now be booked for Thursday nights at 6 p.m., Friday afternoons at 1 p.m. and Saturdays at 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. until June 18 at the Ticker Seller, or by calling 250-549-7469.

Each tour can be booked for a maximum 10 people.

Guided tours take approximately 90 minutes with time to look around.

Self-guided tours are also available for scheduled drop-in times, Tuesday to Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Fridays 10 a.m. to noon, with admission at the door.

For more information, visit the Caetani Centre website or call 250-275-1525.

A new way to do school is coming to the Vernon school district.

In the fall of 2022, vLearn Online Learning will be both a virtual and physical school that will operate out of Fulton secondary.

vLearn holds an online learning agreement with the Ministry of Education, which allows the school to operate as a public online learning school.

Students choose vLearn for flexible, personalized pathways to earning their BC Dogwood or to upgrade in preparation for post-secondary school. vLearn offers a variety of courses to youth and adult learners within School District 22.

The school offers elementary programming from Kindergarten through Grade 7, and courses from grades eight through 12 in English and French eight, nine, and 10 and intro-Spanish 11.

Grades eight and nine students can choose from the four core academics and physical health education, as well as, an elective rotation of foods, applied design, skills and technologies, and careers.

Grad program students (Grades 10-12), can choose from 64 courses at the grade 10-12 level, all of which align with the BC curriculum.

Currently, vLearn enrols 230 full-time students and serves an additional 692 part-time students who are actively participating in their learning under the guidance of 13 teachers, for a full-time equivalent of approximately 9.1 teachers.

A school-based resource teacher, a North Okanagan Youth & Family Services Society counsellor and an Indigenous support worker, will help support students’ academic and social and emotional needs.

vLearn Online also offers 10 academies such as golf, dance, soccer, volleyball, baseball, hockey, Quest, nordic skiing, freestyle skiing and Alpine skiing.

Open Door is the only school that provides continuous education and adult graduation options.

vLearn Online is continuous entry – students can enrol at any time during the school year and have one calendar year to complete a course. This ‘anywhere, anytime’ asynchronous instructional model allows students to combine online courses with in-person courses, providing flexibility for students to take additional courses or design their schedules to meet the demands of athletic and arts programs and work schedules.

vLearn provides engaging, and interactive learning experiences for students in a blended model of online and in-person learning with the option for students to study entirely remotely online.

All instruction is delivered through the Moodle Learning Management System platform, which is accessible via the Internet. In the fall, local students will have the option of visiting the vLearn Centre at Fulton Secondary School. There are also online mentors and support teachers at each secondary school.

vLearn offers students access to in-person opportunities to engage in support from a network of vLearn teachers. However, students are not required to attend the vLearn Fulton Centre in person for any part of their learning. Everything teachers offer in-person is also offered vLearn online through Microsoft Teams, Google or Zoom.

Teachers use Microsoft Teams or Zoom to engage in video conferencing with students during which time teachers provide learning and technological support, invigilate tests and conduct live one-on-one dynamic assessments with students.

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A group of Vernon Secondary School students stepped out of class for a good cause Friday.

To commemorate Earth Day, some 100 students from VSS walked three kilometres from their East Hill school to Kal Beach Friday morning before walking back to school, carrying water they had taken from the lake.

“It’s not just a stroll to the beach,” said teacher Sue Egan, who teaches Social Justice classes. “It represents the daily walking of 200 million people who must walk up to six kilometres a day to gather water. Most of the walking is done by girls, who might make the trip five times a day, so they are not able to attend school.”

The Walk for Water was organized by students who were joined by students in Leon Kopy’s Social Studies classes, Gresham Smith’s and Jacquie Nuyens’ science classes and along with some careers students.

In addition to participating in the event, the students raised more $4372.95.

Egan said half of the funds raised will go to the Okanagan Indian Band to help with clean water restoration after last summer’s fires and other water quality issues.

The other half will be donated to clean water projects in the developing world.

– with files from Wayne Emde

Today’s vintage video is a ‘reel’ mystery.

Vernon historian and videographer Francois Arseneault said the footage was “found in a cabin purchased by one of our regular viewers.

“This 1977 reel depicts an adventurous trip possibly on the Kechika and Turnagain Rivers in the far north of British Columbia some 1,200 kilometres northwest of the Okanagan.”

And it is that remoteness that attracts certain people to the area which is rarely visited even today.

Just getting to the Stikine region from Vancouver is a 21-hour drive on today’s roads.

“In 1977, the trip would have been longer and dustier with the Alaska highway still gravel,” said Arseneault.

The footage contains a shot of several men aboard the boat who may be identified.

“Look for a moose crossing the river and a small, abandoned boat on shore that may be the point of their trip,” said Arseneault. “With drums of fuel and plenty of supplies, this would have been a well-planned undertaking on this remote river.”

A small as-of-yet unidentified settlement appears towards the end of the footage that Arseneault would like more information on.

There are few clues to help identify the precise locations, except perhaps by someone intimately familiar with the region.

“Bringing a Super8 film camera onboard a river boat in rough waters required a certain confidence in their combined skill sets,” said Arseneault, himself a skilled and experienced camera operator.

The four men on the boat are likely in their late 70s or 80s by now.

“Perhaps they will be recognized,” said Arseneault. “Thank you to Jim Henderson for generously donating this reel.”

Arseneault is always looking for more information on the vintage footage he digs up, and he encourages people to add their input in the comments section on his Youtube page.

Arseneault has an extensive collection of vintage footage, and he is always looking for more.

He currently has more than 1,000 episodes from 54 countries dating back to 1917.

Anyone who may have old 16 mm or 8 mm film footage is invited to email Arseneault at [email protected].

A first quarter economic development report to council shows a “strong start to the year” in Vernon.

The indicators update building activity, values, employment factors and tourism volumes.

“Overall, Q1 development activity shows a very strong start for the year in regards to (building) permit value, and residential units created,” the report states.

Building permit value was $58.7 million in the quarter, up 48.6% over 2021.

The increase is attributable to a combination of industrial, commercial, and multi-family project approvals.

A total of 172 residential units were approved for construction in Q1, up 192% over last year.

However, building permit applications are down.

Real estate transactions dropped to 122 in January, down compared to the 2021 peak volume in October of 242.

“This follows similar seasonal patterns in previous years where transaction volumes generally peaked in the fall,” the report adds.

Monitoring of online job postings to better understand the local labour market shows the volume of postings in Q1 continues to average about 600 in the city.

Job postings have tripled from January 2016 (185) to January 2022 (637), the report notes.

Full-time posting growth continues to exceed that of part-time positions, and nearly half of the posted jobs identify a need for post-secondary training.

Meanwhile, tourism visitation as measured by hotel tax revenue show a “near average” start to the year when compared to the 2017-2021 monthly average.

The most recent data is from January.

Feedback indicates reservations for the spring and summer are “off to a good start, with many of the properties reporting earlier and more reservation activity than in previous years.”

As the City of Vernon prepares to launch its organic waste collection program, the regional district is also encouraging businesses to “ReTHINK” what they do with food waste.

While the city program begins the first week of May, and the RDNO wants food businesses keep waste out of the garbage with changes to regulations around disposal of large food quantities at RDNO diversion and disposal facilities.

Beginning July 1, RDNO bylaws will be amended to add “commercial food waste” to its list of regulated materials.

Loads containing regulated materials can be assessed a higher disposal fee than general refuse, which is intended to encourage businesses to prevent food waste, distribute or donate surplus food and compost remaining food scraps.

The first six months of implementation will be an education period. Enforcement is planned to commence starting Jan. 1, 2023, and will focus on loads found to contain primarily food waste from large grocers and food processors.

After July 1, 2023, further enforcement to other sectors of the food service industry will be considered.

Though the initial focus will be on large potential generators of food waste, the ultimate goal is to have all businesses keep food waste out of the garbage.

The RDNO offers guides and resources to help businesses implement diversion plans that works for them. Some key suggestions for businesses are:

  • Prevent food waste and reduce the cost of collection service

  • Donate safe and healthy food through food recovery organizations

  • Compost separated food scraps

“More than half of all food produced in Canada is wasted,” says Jim Schubert, environmental services manager with the RDNO. “If all food wasted in the world was produced by a single country, it would be the third largest carbon emitter, after China and the U.S. When edible food is wasted, all resources from producing that food, including water, land cleared, fertilizer, labour and fuel, are also wasted. Wasting food is also expensive. Retail food stores and food service in B.C. lose an estimated $1.3 billion worth of food per year. This is 57 per cent more than the estimated profit in those sectors.”

Resources including comprehensive and condensed guides developed from industry-tested ideas and solutions, and food donation guidelines can be found on the RDNO website.

Members of the Falkland Fire Department are being hailed for their dedication in the face of the largest wildfire to hit the region in years.

And for their actions during the White Rock Lake wild fire last summer, they have been named the region’s Fire Department of the Year.

When the White Rock Lake Wildfire threatened Falkland last summer, the volunteer firefighters stayed behind and were a driving force in helping to patrol and protect the community.

Their actions not only ensured the safety of the community during the evacuation, but they saved a home from catching fire and potentially igniting others.

While patrolling the area, firefighters heard a smoke alarm coming from a home. Upon entering, they discovered a cooler had been left on a stovetop that had been left on.

Firefighters entered the house just as the cooler burst into flames. They quickly extinguished the fire, saving the home.

The efforts of the Falkland Fire Department were acknowledged at the April 21 Columbia Shuswap Regional District board meeting with the presentation of the Fire Department of the Year honours.

But, the award acknowledges more than the department’s efforts during the wildfire season.

Their focus on in-house training resulted in 14 members moving up from the recruit level to exterior operations firefighter or better.

The department also went from 11 trained members in January to a CSRD-high of 25 trained members by the end of the year.

“This sets the record for the most members to complete their training in a single year among our fire departments, a record that will likely stand for some time,” says Sean Coubrough, CSRD fire services co-ordinator.

Coubrough also recognized the work of Fire Chief Troy Ricard in helping to keep community members informed and calm during stressful wildfire evacuations.

CSRD director Rene Talbot thanked Ricard and the volunteer firefighters for their efforts.

“I am extremely proud of our firefighters. When their families were evacuated, they stayed behind to keep our community safe,” Talbot said. “There’s a great fire chief and a really good crew of volunteers and their efforts this year have been above and beyond.”

Don’t be fooled by a text message refund – it’s a scam.

Vernon RCMP are warning the public not to fall for the scam that’s circulating in the community.

The scam is initiated when the victim receives a text message indicating they are eligible for a refund or rebate.

The message contains a link the person must follow to claim their money.

It redirects the victim to a website that prompts them to enter personal and/or banking information, giving fraudsters full access to the victim’s finances – which can have devastating consequences.

“Never click on an unsolicited text message offering money,” says Vernon RCMP spokesperson Const. Chris Terleski

“This is a good reminder that ICBC, BC Hydro, utility companies, Revenue Canada, and any legitimate business or government agency will not issue any rebates via text messages.”

Police are warning residents to be suspicious of any unsolicited emails or text messages.

  • Never click on a text message offering a refund, rebate or free money

  • Avoid providing sensitive email through email or text

  • Notify your financial institution immediately if you sense anything fraudulent about a transaction

  • If you’ve shared banking information with a scammer, contact your financial institution to place alerts on your accounts

  • If you’ve shared personal information, contact Equifax and Trans Union to place fraud alerts on your account

“These links aren’t going to lead to money, they’re only going to lead to trouble,” says Terleski.

Report money lost to fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or call 1-888-495-8501.

Ninety new long-term care beds are coming to Vernon.

Construction is underway at Creekside Landing on Okanagan Landing Road.

The expansion is expected to be ready for residents by June 2023.

The three-storey project will include a large outdoor garden and bridge running over Vernon Creek to connect the two wings of the facility.

The beds are part of the province’s investment to create 495 new long-term care beds in the Interior Health region. The remaining 405 beds will be in Kamloops, Kelowna, Nelson and Penticton.

The facility will be operated by Kaigo Senior Living.

“We are thrilled to be under construction … adding to our already vibrant services for people living in long-term care. We are proud to be a part of the Vernon community and look forward to opening more spaces for seniors living in the area,” said Kaigo CEO Kevin Svoboda.

Creekside provides long-term care, assisted living and independent living services.

Vernon-Monashee MLA Harwinder Sandhu said: “This investment in long-term care will ensure that seniors and elders can get the care they need to age with dignity for years to come, as well as help recruit a new generation of health-care professionals to the Interior region.”

Creekside resident Sandra Ohlemann added: “We need more spaces for seniors to live, so watching the progress on the expansion every day is exciting. This next phase will provide a beautiful and supportive environment for seniors living in Vernon.”

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