SUMMERLAND REVIEW THE VOICE OF OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1908
VOLUME
65
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ISSUE
WHAT’S INSIDE:
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10
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S U M M E R L A N D,
B.C.
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WWW.SUMMERLANDREVIEW.COM
T H U R S D AY,
MARCH
8,
2012
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20
PA G E S
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$1.15
INCLUDING
HST
Teachers out for 3 days by John Arendt
Optometry equipment A Summerland optometrist has moved into a larger facility on Victoria Road North.
Page 14 Museum lifetime memberships Four longtime supporters were awarded lifetime memberships at the Summerland Museum and Heritage Society’s Annual General Meeting.
Page 15 Water metering Summerland is moving from the existing flat rate system to metering, although the details have yet to be put in place.
Page 7 Snowpack up The latest snow measurements show Summerland’s reservoirs are expected to fill this spring.
Page 10 Time change Daylight Savings Time takes effect this weekend. Please remember to set all clocks ahead one hour before going to bed on Saturday night.
YOUR SMILE If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably a good investment.
Out of the classroom Teachers across the province were off the job on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during a three-day job action. From left are Deirdre McDowall, Sue Richert and Cathy Addison who were at the roundabout at Prairie Valley Road and Rosedale Avenue.
Classes were cancelled as teachers were off the job Monday to Wednesday during an ongoing labour dispute. The provincial Labour Relations Board has given the teachers the go-ahead to withdraw their services for three days. Because of the job action, the school district cancelled bus service during the action and urged parents not to send their children to school. Wendy Hyer, superintendent of the Okanagan Skaha School District, said at some schools, only one administrator was on duty for the three days. While the three-day closure is shorter than the two-week job action in 2005, Hyer said there are concerns about the effects of the job action on the students. “They’re not in class,” she said. “Every instructional moment with kids is valuable.” Kevin Epp, president of the Okanagan Skaha Teachers’ Union, said the teachers had tried to avoid a disruption of service during the ongoing labour dispute, but felt it necessary as the discussions had not brought about a resolution. “Teachers are really united about having to take a stand,” he said. “We are standing up for all students and for our education system.” See FINANCE Page 2
Denesiuk honoured for service by Barbara Manning Grimm
Long-time school board chair Connie Denesiuk of Summerland won the Workplace – Community Contribution Award at the Women Front and Centre Dinner in Penticton on Saturday night. It was the seventh annual dinner and dance sponsored by the South Okanagan Women in Need Society to raise funds and to honour women for their work in the community.
“It was pretty exciting,” said Denesiuk. “I was surprised. It’s exciting to hear your name called.” Of her many accomplishments in community service, she says she is most proud of leading the school district through the process of amalgamation that resulted in Okanagan Skaha School District 67. Because of that process, “we have a cohesive education community.” She was a school board member representing Summerland for 19 years. During that time she
was instrumental in the amalgamation of Summerland and Penticton school districts, restructuring the Okanagan school system into a middle school model, building Summerland Middle School, reconstruction of Summerland Secondary science wing, reconstruction of entrance to Summerland Secondary School and reconstruction of Penticton Secondary School. Denesiuk was raised in Penticton and continues to support the secondary school from which she
graduated by serving on the planning committee for Penticton Secondary School’s 100th anniversary celebration Connie this spring. She and Denesiuk her husband Bob have been partners and owners of a local residential construction business since 1980 and have a family of four children who were born and raised in this area. Her career of commun-
ity service started with serving on the Parents Advisory Committees of her children’s schools. In later years these paths lead her to be elected chair of the Okanagan Skaha Board of Education and president of the British Columbia School Trustees Association. She is also a founding member of the Summerland Asset Development Initiative, and served for years on the Advisory Planning Commission for the District of Summerland. See DENESIUK Page 11