National Park would be a gift

Editor:rn National Park would be a gift.
I am writing on behalf of the Oliver-Osoyoos Naturalist Club to share some of our reasons for supporting Parks Canada's 'feasibility study' of suitable public lands with the goal of creating a National Park Reserve in the South Okanagan and Lower Similkameen. We cherish the Natural History of this area and would feel privileged to have a National Park Reserve here in the future.
On a recent car trip, several members of our club visited 'Kilpoola', 'Chopaka East' and 'Chopaka West' “ three sites that are protected areas at present. These grasslands are spectacularly beautiful and provide grand vistas of the Similkameen River and Snowy and Chopaka Mountains. If these sites are made part of a National Park Reserve, they will be protected in perpetuity.
The Parks Canada study is also evaluating other fragile ecosystems in the South Okanagan. Their vision is to protect lands, which represent ecosystems from the valley bottoms to the mountain tops, thus preserving a portion of our unique flora, fauna and topography.
We understand that a National Park Reserve would provide employment for15 to 20 year-round qualified staff. Several benefits of adequate staffing would be educational programs for visitors and residents, well-maintained park facilities that are safe and attractive for all of us, and extensive invasive-weed control programs which would complement the many programs presently being employed by ranchers, First Nations people and scientists in our area.
The Oliver-Osoyoos Naturalists believe that National Park Reserve personnel would have the money and expertise to restore some of our altered landscapes to a more pristine condition and provide the highest level of protection to these areas. Perhaps we will have the opportunity to experience the habitat enjoyed by early inhabitants of our area. Certainly the Federal Government's possible gift of a National Park Reserve would be a priceless legacy to entrust to our children and grandchildren!
Please show your support by attending the last of the Osoyoos Desert Centre's Winter Lecture Series presented by biologist John Woods on Wed. May 25 at 7 p.m. in the Sonora Centre (east of Osoyoos Elementary School.) John Woods will provide us with up-to-date information about the Parks Canada study of the endangered ecosystem where we live.
Vivienne Calder
Past President, Oliver-Osoyoos Naturalist Club

Editor:rnRe: South Okanagan Concrete ProductsrnI am not a resident of Osoyoos so I am not aware of how much notice this company has received – I hope a lot.
Those individuals are perhaps the kindest and most trustworthy individuals I have met in a long time. Their product is wonderful, their service is incomparable and their attitude is one of love and acceptance.
If you are not in the underground service industry – that is catch basins, septic fields and the like, you may not have heard of them. In a time of large corporations and impersonal service South Okanagan Concrete is none of that. Just good, personal home town support, coupled with a great product.
Clayton TrumanrnPenticton

Editor:rnIt is with great regret that after nine years of driving the medical bus out of Osoyoos that I am turning in the keys.
I would like to at this time thank all the people that have rode on the bus. Over the years I got to know a lot of people and most have got to be like family and I will miss them all.
I would like to thank Lionel Dallas and Marlene Lipps for the opportunity they gave me to drive the bus, and the friendship we have had over the past years.
Ray Goodrum

Editor's note: The following story was submitted by Art and Annie Molenkamp. Here they share their memories and give thanks to the Canadian troops who liberated Holland on May 6, 1945.
To all Dutch Canadians, May 6th, 1945 was a hugely important day in their lives. It was the day when in Holland the sun came out and life resumed its beauty.
On that day, as a 13-year-old boy, I remember standing in the centre square of Haarlem, a city west of Amsterdam near the shores of the North Sea.
Together with thousands of its citizens, I watched the hated Nazi hordes retreat hurriedly northward while escaping the wrath of the closely following Canadian troops.
Thousands of the Dutch red, white and blue coloured flags welcomed their entrance on the city square, a sight repeated in every town and city of Holland.
My wife Annie experienced this in the fishing town of IJmuiden.
After five years of repression, hunger, death and destruction young Canadians fought their way up from places like Normandy, the Ardennes, Nijmegen and many other famous places to liberate the French, the Belgians, and then finally in May of 1945, the Dutch people in the northern part of the country.
During that lasting effort, many young Canadians lost their lives or were terribly maimed. And it is for that reason that our respect always goes out to men like Dr. Bob Ritchie, Ralph Cohn, Bob Traquar and many others who did their share in an immense effort, so that our families and so many others could live.
Forever thankful!rnArt and Annie Molenkamp, Osoyoos

Editor:rnThe following statement I received in a letter from my surgeon,
This letter is to inform you that the situation at Penticton Regional Hospital has reached crisis proportions.
I have been on a waiting list for several months awaiting surgery in the Penticton Regional Hospital. On Friday, April 15 I received a call informing me that my surgery was booked to take place on Friday morning, April 22.
I was also asked to arrive at the hospital on Wednesday, April 20 so pre-operative tests could be completed and to then make a visit to my doctor for a final consultation prior to surgery.
All preparations were in place for me to proceed with surgery including the cancellation of a trip to Saskatchewan to take part in a 40th family celebration.
On the afternoon of Thursday, April 21, I received a call from Penticton Regional Hospital informing me that my surgery had been cancelled because there was no bed for me following surgery.
Our Liberal government has made decisions that are not for the benefit of the people of B.C. regarding healthcare, long term care for the elderly nor education. The Liberal government has closed so many long term beds for the elderly that the Penticton Regional Hospital is full of patients awaiting placement in a nursing home. They are tying up acute care hospital beds. Admitted sick, medical patients are tying up the Emergency Department as there is no in-patient bed available. They then overflow into surgical beds and surgeries get cancelled.
I believe we need to voice our concerns about the length of time one spends on the surgical wait list, protest the frequent cancellations and demand that there be beds for the care of the elderly.
There is an upcoming election in May and I invite you to give these facts your consideration before going to the polls. This crisis may touch your life or your loved ones next.
Joanne LairdrnOsoyoosrn