Dale Cory calls the line during the B Event final Sunday at the International Curling Club in Osoyoos.
Wow! Three weeks into January already! Nice to know spring is just around the corner.
I’d like to touch on a few topics in this installment of Connected.
First, the sport of curling, a game I’ve been playing from the age of six.
New to town this past summer, I wanted to curl, and when there’s a will, there’s a way. So, a chance meeting with Oliver Curling Club President Dale Dodge resulted in a combining of talents.
I now throw skip rocks for the Dodge rink. Our Thursday men’s foursome, including Dale, who throws third rocks, Dave Arnold, who throws second, along with pick-up Fernando Anjos, competed in the Osoyoos Men’s Bonspiel last weekend at the International Curling Club.
I joked to Lyonel, our editor last week that he would be taking photos of us on the ice Sunday, and wouldn’t you know . . .
Taking into account our Thursday foursome had lost about three in a row dating back to early December heading into the weekend, and a Friday whipping at the hands of a good Summerland rink which made it into the prizes, I decided some changes were in order. Like – full scale alterations.
I changed everything – socks, pants, shirt, jacket and, considering pitchers and catchers report in less than a month, donned my prized Mets baseball cap. Well, it worked.
After getting our butts kicked Friday, we won three in a row to make it into the B event final, a game in which we, unfortunately, came in a close second.
To Dale, Dave and Fernando, the man who boldly climbed where no other man would go (the roof of the Oliver Multicultural Centre to unveil new signage this past October), thanks for the great weekend. I look forward to joining you at the spiel next year – and one more victory.
Three other Oliver rinks took part, with John Chapman and Bruce Ramsey each making it to within a victory of the A Event prizes.
Congrats to the organizers. It was a great weekend of curling, and camaraderie.
Looking forward to playing in the Oliver spiel in mid-February.
I’d like to thank everyone at the Painted Chair, especially Kyle.
Kyle Sanderson from The Painted Chair dropped by the Chronicle office to hand out a Christmas card and a handcrafted chair sporting the Chronicle logo stencilled on the front and back.
Kelly Hall Photo
We featured the Painted Chair here in the Chronicle last October. Kyle’s smile pretty much sums up what The Painted Chair is all about! Check out the photo on Page 24.
Oliver Mayor Ron Hovanes and his wife Tara run Hovanes Community Services Ltd. They receive funds through Community Living BC to act as the local service provider at The Painted Chair. Their vision is to provide positive, strong, accountable support and services to adults and children with special needs. They employ people with disabilities who learn skills, such as refurbishing and painting chairs.
Well, prior to Christmas, in walks Kyle one day with a beautiful historic chair. Stencilled on the seat, and on the back, is the Chronicle logo.
Thanks, Kyle.
I was so moved I asked The Painted Chair to build us three more chairs, which they stencilled with the Chronicle logo as well. If you get the chance, check out their vast array of refurbished and painted desks and chairs and tables, along with their boutique clothing store.
The Painted Chair is open to the public every Wednesday and Saturday from 9 am to noon. Call 250-485-2500 if you have furniture or clothing that can be picked up and up-cycled.
You can also check out: https://www.facebook.com/thepaintedchairBC.
And speaking of the world wide web…
One more topic this week.
I want to take up a few lines discussing what we do here at the Chronicle, Oliver’s official newspaper since 1937.
You know, we are entering our 80th year of providing you – the residents – with every bit of information that was available at the time the paper was sent off to the press, which, many years ago, was in use in our historic, and I do mean historic, building. Come for a visit, and we’ll show you the equipment people such as Rob Somerville, Dennis Martin, Frank Stariha and Ray Smith used way back. These days, of course, we run on computers.
Over the years, we have educated, enlightened, congratulated, promoted, encouraged, supported, sponsored, stimulated and endorsed many residents, businesses and community initiatives.
For a vast majority of those years, information was spread through one source – the Oliver Chronicle, the “newspaper edition.”
But we are no longer just a newspaper.
We have a website – www.oliverchronicle.com.
We have a facebook site – www.facebook.com/OliverChronicle/timeline.
We have a Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/OliverChronicle.
Everything we tell you about makes it into and onto all of our entities.
Why is our Facebook site, which is the fastest growing within Aberdeen Publishing, so popular?
It’s because we give you the opportunity to respond, to have your say, to be heard.
Lyonel’s story regarding the Jan. 12 council presentation by Don and Bonnie Thompson and their concerns over parking in a residential area was posted to our website last Thursday, Jan. 15, nearly a week before you would read it in the Jan. 21 edition of the paper. It was also posted onto our Facebook site, and proved to be a hot topic. We received many posts on the topic, some of which can be found in the updated story on Page 3 of this issue.
In fact, the story had reached more than 600 people prior to hitting the newspaper.
We are a weekly newspaper with an up-to-the-minute news source – up to the minute – considering our website and Facebook page, and our Twitter feed.
When we posted to Facebook the RCMP story regarding recent break-ins and ongoing investigations this past Monday morning, the story had reached more than 4,500 people within 24 hours.
We invite you to utilize all of our resources. We have the staff, Kelly designing ads, and the “look” of the paper, Lyonel, providing expert reporting through a strong desire to give people the news, and Anna, whose energy and smile greet those of you who visit our office.
And we do have a bit of a new look. Lyonel has his own office in the back room, and is now set up to discuss important news stories in private.
And, we are now operating with a new, state-of-the-art software system to automatically have your classified ads entered into our database, into the next edition of the Chronicle, and onto our website.
We have been your trusted news source for almost 80 years.
We look forward to the next 80, and finding out what new modes of communication will crop up for us to better utilize in promoting our community and its residents.
Dale Cory
Oliver Chronicle
