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LETTERS to the editor Thank you, to all who protected Brookmere

Editor,

To the firestorm crew, the structure protection crew, the ground crew, the helicopter crew, and all that worked on the Brook Creek Wildfire in August of 2021.

The Community of Brookmere would like to express our heartfelt gratitude and thanks for a job well done.

It is with the direction of first Tyler and Bob(?) and then Trevor Kranenburg from Squamish Fire and Rescue that these individuals did such an amazing job of protecting our little town from the raging forest fire that came at us. Their professionalism and dedication is definitely noted. The time and effort they put forth was incredible. The crew worked non-stop daily to make sure all of our structures were as protected as could be and that everything was wet as possibly could be. Any time there was a flare up nearby, they radioed the helicopters and they addressed it ASAP. After long shifts they repeatedly stopped to put out flare-ups by the road side on their way out of town each night. There really are no words to truly express how much we thank you.

We managed to get some of the names of the people that were stationed here, and we are hoping that this thank you will get passed along to those we missed. Unfortunately, we did not get the names of the firestorm crew, the Nanaimo crew, or the Hope crew.

1st crew ( The set-up crew) under the direction of Trevor Kranenburg, Squamish Fire and Rescue: - Mark Hall – Pritchard V Fire Department - Jamie Yeomms – Pritchard V Fire Department - Gavin Kennedy - Squamish Fire and Rescue - Mike Brew - Whistler Fire Department - Michael Kennedy - Whistler Fire Department - Colin Wingrove- Big White Fire Department - Matin Schrama - Big White Fire Department - Patrick Shier - Big white Fire Department - Mike Avychuck - Anarchist Mountain Fire Department - Reg Forster - Anarchist Mountain Fire Department.

2nd Crew ( the takedown Crew) Under the direction of Alana Parno, Squamish Fire and Rescue: - Jeff Kilvert - Squamish Fire and Rescue - Jeremy King - Squamish Fire and Rescue - Pascal Lafreniere - Comox Fire and Rescue - Elsa Gilroy - Comox Fire and Rescue - Gareth Brunt - Big White Fire Department - Jasper Jellett - Big White Fire Department - John Ford - Whistler Fire and Rescue - Dave Eaton - Whistler Fire and Rescue.

We would like each and every one of you to know that you will be forever remembered and respected in the hearts of all that call Brookmere home.

Thank you.

The Community of Brookmere

Publisher Theresa Arnold publisher@merrittherald.com 250-378-4241

MERRITT HERALD

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LETTERS to the editor A kind gesture from some Merritt ladies

Editor,

On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, we stopped at the Kamloops Costco Store on our way home to Williams Lake. My husband left the store ahead of me with a loaded buggy. When I came out, he was pacing back and forth with two women, with all eyes searching the ground. Apparently, when he was removing his mask in the parking lot, he launched one of his hearing aids near the car where the two ladies were about to drive away. He was rather surprised to have two total strangers volunteer to help him search! One of the ladies even took the time to report the lost hearing aid to someone in the store. I joined the search, to no avail, and we were thinking perhaps the hearing aid had been run over, when suddenly, one of the women spotted it in a traffic area. Needless to say, my husband was extremely appreciative and impressed! We didn’t find out their names, but they did say they were from Merritt.

So…a BIG thank you is going out to the two kind, caring ladies in the black car! Both of you deserve a huge bouquet of roses! We hope you see this.

Doug and Hilda Hopp Williams Lake, BC

MITRA: Being and living thankful

A phrase from psychology, “hostile dependence,” describes a state which must depend on someone else, but is not appreciated. That means being in a state of tension. One may not like the person, the nature of their gifts, not the fact of his dependence on them, but there’s no option. Atheists feel the problem acutely in the spiritual realm. While feeling pleased, they dislike their dependence and reject the Giver. Many missionaries dislike fundraising for the same reason. Though they appreciate the donation, they dislike their dependence on the donors to carry on their religious outreach. The only alternative to hostile dependence, especially toward a loving benefactor, is grateful dependence. It is the essence of thanksgiving. Unfortunately, many believers in God try to walk the fine line between hostile dependence and grateful dependence, being convinced that that non-hostility toward God is the same as gratitude. Nothing could be more antithetical to the spirit of thanksgiving. We need to develop thanksgiving into a wholesome and active philosophy of living.

Defining thanksgiving

The general definition of “thanksgiving” is “a conscious joyful emotion toward unearned blessing.” Christian thanksgiving would extend that into “an awareness and expression of personal dependence on the ultimate Giver of all good things.” Thanksgiving, then, would be intentional, not a default stance in Christian living. A grateful person is aware of joyful emotion in receiving unearned favour. The more unearned your gift is, the more thankful you are! It is expressed by:

Thanksfeeling

“A happy emotion, a gladness to have what is given,” says one dictionary in describing thanksgiving. You must experience a glad feeling of thanks to a giver. A critical or complaining spirit would hardly accompany feelings of gratitude. Remember the ‘thankful’ Pharisee in the New Testament (Luke 18:11) who used the right verbal formula for having done the right thing? His feelings of self-righteous self-congratulation were not those of thanks at all. There was pride rather than gladness in his heart for his abilities.

Thankssaying

Feelings of thanks are better expressed by saying and ‘doing’ thanks. The Old Testament book of Psalms contains many genres of thanksgiving. “It is good to give thanks to the Lord,” opens Psalm 92. It’s really by thankssaying that the Psalmist clarifies the virtue of public thanksgiving. We say thanks to God in public because God is good, but also because thanksgiving in itself is good.

Thanksdoing

Gratitude not only identifies the donor as giver and generates the appropriate attitude, but also motivates actions that will please the giver. There is grateful conduct toward the donor and the grateful use of the gift. Conduct motivated by thanks is easier to execute than those motivated by rewards. God uses both kinds of motivations in our obedience. Since we are clearer about

blessings already received, we can be better motivated by God’s grace than by future rewards to be obtained by our good works yet.

Thanksliving

Year-round, lifelong thanksgiving then is thanksliving. “Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for NARAYAN MITRA all he has done” (Colossians 2:7). You Gotta Have Thanksliving comprises thanksFAITH feeling, thankssaying, and thanksdoing 24/7/365. Indeed, all eternity will resound with your thanksgiving as you understand the “of course” of all circumstances and experiences in your life and in all reality. We have a choice between hostile or grateful dependence on God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. After Thanksgiving is not Christmas. That’s a calendar view of existence. After Thanksgiving comes…Thanksgiving…and that precedes Thanksgiving. Let’s thank God for all we have by thanksgiving; and trust Him for all we need by thanksliving.

Narayan Mitra is pastor of Merritt Baptist Church located at 2499 Coutlee, Merritt, BC. merrittbaptist@gmail.com

From the Herald archives: October, 2015

5-YEAR LOW IN MERRITT CRIME

Statistics Canada’s crime stats show a five year low in reported criminal incidents in Merritt for 2014.

There were 1,218 reported crimes in Merritt last year, which is 16,535.43 per 100,000 people.

That’s down 8.94 percent from 2013 numbers of 1,322 incidents and 18,159.34 per 100,000 people.

In 2014 police charged 294 people, down from the 351 charged in 2013 — a five year low from the 359 people charged in 2010.

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