The plan to establish a life jacket and boating safety station on Osoyoos Lake has been given a nudge with donations from first responders who opted to use the money awarded to them by the Rotary Club of Osoyoos.
Both the Osoyoos Fire Rescue and the Osoyoos RCMP have each donated their $1,100 cheques from Rotary to Osoyoos’ first water safety station – the brainchild of Osoyoos RCMP Commander Sgt. Jason Bayda – with a target of being operational by July 1.
Cheque presentation – (left to right) Elliott Friedrich, President Rotary Club of Osoyoos, Deputy Chief Rob Huttema, Firefighter Gurvir Gill, and Larry Stone, President-Elect Rotary Club of Osoyoos.
Each year the Rotary Club holds a gala dinner to honour first responders with the the most recent 4th Annual First Responders Awards Gala Dinner & Dance held at Spirit Ridge Resort on Jan. 25, 2024.
The dinner is not a fundraising event, but instead aimed at thanking the four first responder groups – Osoyoos Fire Rescue, Osoyoos RCMP, BC Ambulance Service, Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue and for the first time this year, the Anarchist Mountain Fire Department.
But due to generous donations by individuals and businesses in the community, there is typically a surplus which is then split between the groups for them to decide what they wish to do with it – whether it be new equipment or simply a summer BBQ.
Bayda thanked Rotary for putting on the annual gala in honour of all the first responders in the community. “It’s truly appreciated, not only by police, but I’m sure I can speak on behalf of all first responders. We don’t always hear or get praise or thanks for the job we do.”
And while he appreciates the financial donation Bayda says that being fully government funded they have access to the resources they need to do their jobs and he would rather see the money returned to the community.
“I’d rather see the funds go back into the community and the safe boating station is a project that I started a number of years ago and we’ve finally got the ball rolling and Rotary’s taken that on with us and so giving that money back to them to help with the safe boating station was just a no brainer in my opinion.”
Cheque presentation – (left to right) Elliott Friedrich, President Rotary Club of Osoyoos, Mike Arychuk of the Oliver Osoyoos Search and Rescue (OOSAR), and Larry Stone, President-Elect Rotary Club of Osoyoos.
The idea for the safe boating station is to make life jackets freely available for loan along with other important safety information on safe boating, and local water conditions and hazards. This is especially important given the large number of out of town boaters in the summer.
Bayda acknowledges that the July 1 target may be a little optimistic saying: “It’s a little ambitious, but we’re doing what we can to get it done.”
Every summer seemingly without fail, someone tragically and unnecessarily drowns in Osoyoos Lake, Bayda noted in his successful pitch to Rotary last May. In over 14 years of living and working in Osoyoos Bayda has seen at least one or two drownings, and even as high as three or four in one year. The particular impetus for Bayda was the tragic circumstances around “Sam” who drowned in Osoyoos Lake in August of 2015.
Most of these deaths could have been prevented if boaters had the right equipment on board, were wearing life jackets, and actually knew of the local hazards. The Town of Osoyoos has also jumped on board and the location will likely be the Osoyoos Boat Launch and Marina off of Spartan Drive. The idea is to possibly expand to other locations around the lake, like sẁiẁs Provincial Park and the Osoyoos Indian Band’s Nk’mip Campgrounds.
Cheque presentation – (left to right) Elliott Friedrich, President Rotary Club of Osoyoos, Martin Johnson of the BC Ambulance Service, and Larry Stone, President-Elect Rotary Club of Osoyoos.
The decision to donate their portion of the Rotary gala windfall was also an easy decision according to firefighter Gurvir Gill, President of the Osoyoos Firefighters Charitable Society. He notes that when Bayda made a brief presentation at the gala about the safe boating station the firefighters in attendance “really took that to heart, and it resonated with us.”
This led to discussions with the society membership who agreed this was a worthy use of the money. “It’s a great initiative, I’ve lived here all my life and everyone at the fire department understands the need for water safety and water rescue,” given the “sad statistic” of how many people we lose on our lake each year.
He too says it was a “no-brainer” to donate the money to this cause and Gill highlights it’s also an initiative that “we can help support our neighbouring agencies,” and he adds is something that will benefit all first responders, “because hopefully, that’s one less person we will have to rescue”.
Cheque presentation – (left to right) Elliott Friedrich, President Rotary Club of Osoyoos, Anarchist Mountain Fire Department (AMFD) Chief Urs Grob, AMFD Deputy Chief Wayne Jasper, and Larry Stone, President-Elect Rotary Club of Osoyoos.
