Reved Quarterly Summer 2019 — Revy's Believe It Or Not!

Incredible Journey

Rev’d Quarterly SUMMER 2019 3

The Yellow Arrow of Life

Revelstoke woman walks Camino; finds meaning of life >>Michelle Cole

NEED A HELPING HAND

he Camino de Compostela Now in Madrid, bus ticket in hand, I ends in Galicia, overlooking was at a loss for what to do next. The bus would take the Atlantic me to Paris, Ocean. The village of O marking the Cebreiro lies at its height, end of one and it greets pilgrims who journey and enter the autonomous the start of community on the French anot her—t he route. I arrived amid the one home. mountaintops and flecks A beggar of cloud on an otherwise a p p r o a ched clear Sunday.

My me, his pilgrimage, which began disfigured in Lourdes, totaled 1,000 left hand kilometers or about 1.25 outstretched. million footsteps by the Being used to time I reached the sea. small-town life in Revelstoke, The Camino has been a Catholic tradition for 1,000 I always find years. It takes time, and it takes you to other times. it awkward responding The Camino has been a Catholic to begging. I am frustrated by how tradition for more than 1,000 years. It dire poverty is allowed to happen. I takes time, and it takes you to other struggled to understand him as he times. Each day is both mind-blowing spoke in Spanish of his family, children, and mind-calming. Thoughts slow and how he could not work because of with the repetitive act of walking—a his infirm hand. simple continuous motion of keeping A GIFT OF KINDNESS one’s balance. Step after laboured step, day after day, walking kept me I gazed into his brown eyes, then present in the moment. reached out and held his hand in

both of mine, closing my eyes. All LOVE IS THE WAY those hours reflecting on humanity, The walk was a healing retreat for morality, mortality and love, walking me, and a plan that had been delayed through the Pyrenees, the Meseta by two years due to my cancer and Galicia poured through me. diagnosis. Walking alone, I met with When I opened my eyes, the man many colourful and heartwarming reached beneath his collar and companions. What surprised me was removed a rosary from around his how generous every Spaniard I met neck. It had black beads with silver along the way was to us pilgrims. links, an engraving of Our Lady and ‘Donativo albergues’ or by-donation FATIMA stamped on the back of a hostels provided lodging, breakfast, crucifix. Rosaries were something my sometimes an evening meal, and most grandmother always cherished and excitingly, laundry—it’s basically an I had visited Fatima in Portugal. He all-inclusive walk! You don’t need pressed the necklace into my hands. to think; you just have to walk. Trail Tears came over me. My heart flooded markers guided us. A simple yellow with childhood memories and a arrow pointed the way every few profound belief in something bigger kilometers on stone markers or more than myself. This rosary and a yellow often spray-painted on curbs, roads arrow painted on a pebble were my and buildings. At the pilgrim’s mass talismans at the end of my journey. that evening in O Cebreiro, the priest The generosity of those I met will stay gifted us with small stones painted with me forever. As we parted, another with yellow arrows. He explained: The man came and gave him some money, without any words.  yellow arrow of life is love.

T

WORLD WALKER

Michelle Cole is a Revelstoke-based travel writer who loves to walk and camp. Trained as an elementary social studies school teacher, she seeks to connect with the spirit of the places she explores. Learn more about her journey and help her along her way at www.patreon.com/MichelleCole

The Editor’s Desk

STAY STRANGE, REVY.

R

evelstoke is pretty unbelievable.

This

summer, the city turns 120, and its history is full of tall tales, engineering accomplishments, business ingenuity and pluck. Today, locals and newcomers are equally as incredible as they are modest. If Revy is known for its wilderness and beauty, its people are known for their quiet daring, unassuming athletic prowess, everyday courage and kindness, and propensity for taking big risks both in life and business as a matter of necessity. While

van down by the river

this issue bears similarity to the Ripley’s franchise, in my defence of copyright PETER WORDEN—publisher infringement, Common Revelstoke Beach Sloth Revelstoke deserves its own Believe It Or Not publication on account of there’s just so much to cover here. (Plus, believe it or not, this paper has made it 14 and ¾ years without a lawsuit!)

Sure, there may not be anyone with a shrunken head collection or self-mutilated snake tongue, but you will find several inspiring and unbelievable “normies” who, as it turns out, are anything but usual.

SNIPPETS & SUCH

FROM AROUND BELIEVE IT WHY NOT!!

editor@reved.net

PRIZES! CONTESTS!

/RevedQuarterly

@RevedQ

.

Yea you do

would YOU LIKE THAT?

REV’D www.reved.net

ISSUE 53 Published by Reved Media © 2019 Reved Media est. 2005

Any reproduction or duplication is OK if you make it up to me with money or beer.

Send kind words to:

REVED MEDIA

"RICE-SULTS" ARE IN BELIEVE IT WHY NOT!!

Rev’d Quarterly SUMMER 2019 5

LOVE, HATE & IGNORE EXPERIMENT BE NICE TO RICE — Wellness Collective owner Anna Minten replicated Dr. Emoto’s famous rice experiment whereby three identically prepared jars of rice were loved, hated and ignored by people with surprising results.

BELIEVE IT WHY NOT!!

Box 57 Revelstoke, BC V0E 2S0 Tel: 867 222 4556 Fax: Please don’t fax me anything.

Email: editor@reved.net SPECIAL THANKS TO Michelle Cole, Rina Tjoa, James Crossman, Jen Walker-Larson, Suzanne and Rob Tippe, the Dam Survivors, staff at Three Valley Gap Chateau, and everyone who submitted Revy Believe It Why Nots.

EDITORIAL Reved wants you! If you have an idea, a story, a business, a product, a haiku, classified, catsified—anything!­—call or email meow.

The ‘Love’ or loved rice stayed white and clean through the experiment, while the ‘Hate’ or hated rice turned brown and gross. The Power of Eight, Minten says, provides an explanation of this phenomenon. (p12)

STAFF STUFF — “Ten-Foot Toby” is a cook at Halcyon Hotsprings’ Kingfisher restaurant. He finds everything always within arm’s reach in the kitchen, meanwhile “Miny Mylene” works behind the front desk where some guests completely overlook her. (Right) Back in the day, Jenny was a male mule and the old Halcyon Hotel’s famous bellhop. He used to go down to the lake (without a driver) as soon as he heard the steam ship whistle to pick up peoples’ luggage. Historically, the lithia in Halcyon waters was sought as a cure for dementia, so it was attributed to being beneficial to the super-intelligent Jenny. (Although smart, she was not always friendly— biting fingers if grumpy and not letting go.)

RHETORICAL QUESTION

DO YOU BELIEVE IN STOKEBUNNY?

Please support businessES THAT SUPPORT REVED Reved Quarterly is published quarterly (obviously) every season with a theme. It has been in proud existence for 13 years and counting. Its publisher reserves all rights to have fun with this newspaper and its miniature newspaper. Rev’d Quarterly and Rev’d ¼’ly are a published by Reved Media, a division of Reved Global Inc., which is a subsidiary of, oh who am I kidding, my office is a van down by the river ...

BELIEVE IT WHY NOT!!

BELIEVE IT WHY NOT!!

PARKING ASSWAYS — Believe it why not, it is impossible to get a parking ticket in Revelstoke. One simply gets a series of less and less friendly reminders for parking like an asshat. It’s one of the great Revelstoke traditions that no one ever receives a parking ticket no matter how assways they choose to park. They simply get designated an “Asshat Parker of Revelstoke.” It may not be a legal ticket that costs $, but being publicly shamed is a hefty social fine. The A.P.R. Facebook page attests to some hilariously poor parking jobs.

It’s important to check once in awhile to ensure you’re not on it, as is another ignomious local parking tradition: forgetting your car on the street downtown the night before Show n’ Shine.­(Been there!...)

ADVERTISING Looking to promote your business or event?

Contact me, Peter, to discuss creative ways to get your message out.

WORDS OF WABBIT WISDOM — Did you know, Revelstoke has its own Easter Rabbit the #StokeBunny, who, legend has it, visits with chocolate and words of advice, guidance and encouragement. On April 21, several residents woke to a sweet surprise, chocolate along with nuggets of another sort, stating: “Hustle in silence and let your success make the noise.” ...“Age is a case of mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter!” ... “Your problem isn’t a problem, your reaction is the problem.” ... and, “You’re off to great places, today is your day; your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” #PawProps.

DRINK FROM THE WINNING CUP Congrats to this year’s KIJHL champions, the

Revelstoke Grizzlies. After bringing home the cup, they (and the cup) toured town, stopping in at the local pubbery, where some of them were probably legal age. Nevertheless, staff and patrons got a taste of whatever winning juice these guys have been on — so, to coach and players, thanks for the drink!

Revy’s Wisest

Rev’d Quarterly SUMMER 2019 11

THE Barber of Reville Chef. Chessmaster. Barber. The unconventional, incomparable Frank Romeo

WHEREFORE ART THOU FRANK ROMEO? If you’ve ever wondered who this man is, then you are probably new to town. Frank gets around on his signature Giant cruiser, which you might spot on a street with its kickstand out like a motorcycle. Everyone knows him as the Party Barber, but he’s also a pasta chef and Hockey Hall of Famer, too.

>>PETER WORDEN Frank Romeo sits at his spot at the Last Drop, half working, half

keeping it real. The chalkboard on the wall to his right reads: Open Mic Tonight with Party Barber, and underneath his Clamato-and-beer, is a wooden coaster in the shape of a heart, carved for him by a friend. He comes and goes, taking care of tasks no one else thinks about such as bringing in patio gear from a growing storm outside or darting out to deliver a plate of hot pasta to an elderly lady. In a way, he’s Revelstoke’s Dude. Like Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski, he’s a long haired, super chill, non-working but always somehow busy, dart-smoking, bar-sitting, truth-speaker.

WORKAHOLIC

Believe it or not, despite much bartime, he’s as hard working paradoxically as he is unemployed, which is to say, exceptionally. He honestly hasn’t worked a day in the past 25 ... (26?...) years. He has to think about that. At the same time, he’s always on duty for someone. His formal work may be nonexistent, but being Frank Romeo is a busy 24-hour job.

He’s on-call much of the time with everyone in town, primarily elderly Italians, of whom he takes special care. Just catching Romeo, you’ll

more often than not find him on the way to bringing someone a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in a plate wrapped in celuphane. “That’s happiness, giving that old lady pasta,” he says. “Money can’t buy that.”

PASTAFARIAN

Romeo is a rare fourth-generation Revelstokian, and as he likes to point out, knows everybody. He is also a formidable pasta chef, proud Italian, and evidently the Italian community’s own Uber Eats. When we first met he was mid-delivery with fresh homemade fettuccine waiting at home on the stove, and insisted I stop by for a take-away container. And so, that was that. Later, he poured me a glass of red with the name on the bottle ‘Enigma,’ which seemed about right. The man is an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a cipher, he says, and, rightfully resists the notion that all his greatest of life’s wisdom can be quickly compiled in a single interview. “My life is a book, not a page,” he says matter of factly. So we would reconvene later at some point for a game of chess.

CHESS MASTER

Oh, I almost forgot, Romeo is a master chess player, which explains a little how his mind works. He doesn’t think like most, so what may seem like a non-conformist lifestyle is really an ingenius strategy in the game that is life. “Do you know what en pissant is?” he questions me. (No clue.) “Knighting?” Yes. But we have yet to have that match.

PARTY BARBER

HOCKEY HALL OF FAMER

Romeo isn’t even his coolest name.

He goes by something cooler: Party Barber. More know him by this moniker, which from what I can tell, he gets from cutting hair and putting on the party at the Last Drop pub. At home, is a barber pole and chair setup, and at the bar he helps set things up and get the party going, so, boom, Party Barber was born. Believe it why not, there’s a pretty catchy song about him in an 11:01-minutelong YouTube freestyle by the band members of Mendil Beach Markets:

And believe it why not, that’s not the only video on YouTube of him.

He was also the goaltender for the Richmond Sockeye, who won the Centennial Cup in 1987, and the only Revelstokian in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Later, he played in Asiago, Italy. But old-school goaltending equipment basically destroyed his knees, and now, he often straps on knee pads for comfort. Though his knees may be

You are smart, but Frank is smarter Party Barber, Party Party Barber...

shot, Romeo, the man, the Barber, the legend, is at heart a keeper of the peace, a nouveau public servant and a proud Revelstokian. 

It goes on ...

Lil’ Forestry History

Rev’d Quarterly SUMMER 2019 9½

Seven Forest “Curioddities”

The BC Interior Forestry Museum is full of weird shtuff.

(Like this thin g right here...) 

1

A useful piece of low-tech equipment, this Field Ranger 6000 was a convenient belt-mounted distance-finding tool. It used a futuristic device called a roll of white cotton, and a metric counter to measure out parcels of forest. (It was more advanced than the lousy Field Ranger 5000.)

@ Hwy 23 N. (RIGHT Before the dam)

2

3

What’s this, an old ski binding? Nope, this humble contraption is what's known in the forestry biz as a stereoscope – a device by which two photographs of the same object taken at slightly different angles are viewed together, creating an impression of depth and solidity. It was an important instrument that provided full binocular viewing and map enlargements.

Check out this little ditty—a BC Forestry Service-issued hand-warmer. Very chic!

4 Long before Google maps, infrared satellites and drones, there was this: The trusty old Fire Finder. Used in conjunction with a paper map, it allowed fire tower watchers to pinpoint wildfires to direct fire crews.

“H’lo govna!” This here governor was a critical mechanism used to regulate the speed of a steamdriven “donkey.” (Double factoid: A donkey is what we call the engine used to drag logs to a landing.)

6

5

Now this! A top-of-the-line AutoFYRStop is like a grenade, only instead of setting fire, it puts them out. Break off the tip or throw the whole thing in the fire, and boom, baby.

I mean, no boom … baby.

7 This is … a … uh … actually this one we have no idea what it is.

So, the BC Interior Forestry Museum is offering a prize if you can identify it and explain its proper use. Or just give Glenn your best guess!

BCinteriorforestrymuseum @yahoo.ca

Another Roadside Attraction BELIEVE IT WHY NOT!!

Tag your visit to #3VG @RevedQ /RevedQuarterly

Reved Quarterly SUMMER 2019 9¾

THREE VERY GOOD REASONS TO VISIT 3VG It’s got a little of everything. Seriously. EVERYTHING. (But we’ll keep it to three.)



ROMANCE

Spend an evening in one of the chateau’s special honeymoon suites—the “cave” or the “Eagle’s Nest.”

NOVELTY

Where else can you learn about Western history, play giant checkers and swim next to the Titanic?



 HORROR

T

his bird has flown. One of our Great Canadian-sized scandals happened just west of here in Salmon Arm in August 1982. Prime Minister Trudeau, the first one (Pierre), was on a holiday aboard the Governor General’s coach when picketers came out to protest. He wasn’t having it. As he walked down the aisle he lifted his middle finge­r to the protesters before pulling the blinds closed. Smell ya later. It would come to be known as the famous “Trudeau Salute.” Today, that very same coach is at Three Valley Gap Ghost Town .

Kids misbehaving in the backseat? Here’s an idea!—make a pitstop to visit the Three Valley Ghost Town’s haunted railcar. Thaaat ought to straighten them out...

NOW PLAYING: REVELSTOKE! BELIEVE IT WHY NOT!!



LSO A GE IS A THIS PASTCARD PO



No chickens were harmed on Thursday wing night.

Cauliflower Wings!

Mmm...

OLD SCHOOL EATERY

It’s A HELLUVA SHOW Over the past 120 years, Revelstoke has seen

/Reve

and done some things. Send your most unbelievable Revy factoids, tidbits, rumours and scoops to Reved for your chance to win a rafting trip for two with Wild Blue Yonder.

Dan Kennedy is taking this show on the road.

StokedAF is a 1989 tour bus People in glass converted into a travelling hotel bottle house should motelholidayinn.

“Believe it or not, I have no idea more house parties. Bott what I’m doing,” he jokes. The plan is to pick you up were once common in in Revelstoke or meet you at the airport. (Your chau pioneer towns. Saloons h ffeur AND hotel waiting for YOU at the airport?!?) Oh, bottles and “the masonry and looks like you have a dinner reservation in the bus’s required little skill and e kitchenette. Bike parks, trailheads, skihills, back money,” explains the sig country—you name it.

Skepticism is behind him now Valley Gap Ghost To on the road to business showmanship. where you can see for yourself.

Roll on, brother! r in has the oldest ca ins pk Ho e org Ge e it or does he? “Believ Revelstoke. Or “Some people are del-T] is 91-years Mo rd [Fo s thi t, no ’s the drawn to one stone—and it’s dging his bet: “It he , ys sa he ,” old … There usually something that they need tage car club oldest in the vin y not, in their life,” says Layla Rocher, es.” Believe it wh on er old Bun be y ma ome “S n. tow in rs owner of AlpenGem jewelry. er ca the there may be old d ke tuc rs ca old Believe it or not, there’s a crystal ve ado of these guys ha rhaps the keep Pe d an on ng rki for everything. “I always felt e wo er “bink away that they’r greatest misnom til the big day.” drawn to rocks and crystals. I get ke whiskey is quiet about it un in town: Revel Sto is dogtor rock climb a lot, and my last name The 2001, whi lly made here. In Little ol’ tua ac t no you. see to means rock, which is a wagging ra Company, all di problem in ts aren’t a Phillips Distilling funny coincidence.”

Brushy is Revelstoke Revy an the b l Stoke spiced giant mut introduced Reve ant rats ar ymore; learning s Secondary’ Bu distilled in e. Hardw stores se are ll m whisky, which is support dog in special + so p Some Rev ore traps each year the owners was y rats are Calgary. One of . . classrooms alternate-ed just resistant the harshe skiing here and to st poison And he has his own insta currently the marke liked the name. on t, warfari @padsbrushyanddana StokeFM n. One local rat m easured ov could have been er two feet long FarwellFM. .

Two orphaned moose Poppi oteliers calves, named Chocolate Local h r (Poppi's and Clover spent a week at Renne & Stephen e) ) a Revelstoke acreage this sthous e Society u G only y probabl are There plorer's June after their mother was ins (Ex images this k n n e sturgeo g J breedin 50 about g irror hit by a vehicle and had to were m parently, bein in the river between the Dragonboating has a proud be put down. They are now ng. "Ap a dangerous ri p s the and dam ke Revelsto reputation as the ‘breast cancer er is i. at a sanctuary in Golden.

Hume Do You Love? a hoteli s!" said Popp Hugh-Keenlyside Dam. sport’ since UBC research touted s It’s likely the sibs will be The ghost of one of the busine (See full story p 12.) its social, mental and physical released back into the wild Kootenays’ most famous health benefits. Appropo beating in the fall. merchants, C.B. Hume, lives on. f cancer, the Lake Revelstoke Hume was well known back 2 Dragonboat Society team The Dam 1892 his now, and day, in the Survivors have two innaugural Revelstoke general store is members who did just that. recreated in-replicate with original light and store fixtures at Three Valley Gap.

edQuarterly

@RevedQ

editor@reved.net

s throw tle houses western had tons of y involved even less gn at Three Town, one

nnies can accidentally break eir own back doing the most orable thing ever. It’s called a ky” (I know, right?) Bunnies t so excited that they binky, ich is a spontaneous jump in irections, and officially one of best bunny things in the world. ut because their hind legs are powerful, they sometimes hurt themselves.

Revy has seen its share of millionaires and billionaires over the years. The city’s most famous billionaire v isitor was Warren Buffet, who stopped at the Railway Museum for a private tour in July 2014. He and 20 family members were on a Western Canada trip on board the Royal Canadian Pacific luxury train which, in case you want to book it, is only $77,000 a day.

REV’D QUARTERLY

         

HOW-TO READ REVED 1/4’ly WITHOUT HURTING YOURSELF:

1

FIND10 DIFFERENCES!

chef’s hat; Greg is the now Snake Man; a Rev’d is on the table; Rajbinder lost her name tag; Henry’s hat is missing the logo; Josh’s beer is bigger; Katie’s sweater is better; the coffee cup on table is topped up (thanks Raj!); the blinds are longer; Denny’s sign is missing. PHOTO PETER WORDEN ... I SEEM TO DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE THESE DAYS

YOUR TABLE IS WAITING Wait ... you’re sure that’s my table? Believe it or not, Revelstoke Denny’s does half of its total annual sales in July and August. So, it can get a bit silly in the summertime. Luckily all you need to do is SPOT 10 DIFFERENCES! ANSWER KEY Manager Tushar has gotten a bit beefier; Abhijith is wearing his

Forest Fun

editor@reved.net

/RevedQuarterly

@RevedQ

Rev’d Quarterly 1/4’ly SUMMER 2019

Time to get woodsy! ++= #Woodstoke2019 ’all ready to get woodsy?

Y

cALLING! ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, VOLUNTEERS, CATERERS, STAGE TECHS CONTACT: info@ bcforestrymuseum.ca

2. AND HERE.

Finally, a festival for the forest! #Woodstoke2019 is an event this September 7 at the BC Interior Forestry Museum in honour of the Revelstoke-area’s great woods—one of the planet’s very few and inland temperate rainforests. Yes, our unbelievable forests are one of Revelstoke’s greatest assets. Do you like hiking? Biking?

Air? Do you like jobs?

Well good luck with any of that without these fabulously productive and biodiverse forests. # Wo o d s t o k e 2 0 1 9 celebrates this, bringing together local talent, and food along the Riverside Forest Walk, on Hwy. 23 N at 3km, just before the Forestry Museum.

Your children will ask you—where were you during Woodstoke2019

The Riverside Forest Walk is a 1.5 km lowimpact trail and living exhibition at the museum.

Carefully remove Reved Quarterly centerfold.

2 Fold on dotted lines— once, twice and thrice.

3 And voilá!—you have yourself a Reved 1/4’ly Quarterly.

1. FOLD HERE.

3. AN-N-D HERE.

Go rafting in Revelstoke. Go to #WoodStoke. Go to Three Valley Gap. Do everything.

You We should:

Bunny It, Or Not!

6 Rev’d Quarterly SUMMER 2019

A plague of bunnies WILL DEVOUR US ALL Local couple the only line of defence between us and total Bunnypocalypse

Y

or cleaning or building. She jokes about being the crazy bunny lady. They’re a full-time job.

Nails need clipping. Teeth need filing. Hutches tiny dark-brown bunny named “Puck” in need cleaning. “It’s a constant thing, you just a bunny-sized jersey, and who must be the gotta keep going around, around, around …” team’s goodluck bunny. If not out with one of she explains, as she gives a final comb through her bunnies, she’s more often than not in with Jackson, so named after his white glove-like her bunnies. She is both a bunny saviour and paws. “You talk about a learning curve, but at the same time held captive to her adorable there’s no curve, it’s just straight up. Thank God for Google.” Her husband Rob, nearby, is the hostage-taking BUNNIES. “hired muscle” or at least that’s what his T-shirt says. He’s as tender and devoted a caretaker THE TIPPE POINT as Suzanne. “We take in bunnies because It all started back in 2009 when Suzanne’s people who don’t have time want to get them husband Rob asked if they butchered or could take in three. The “A healthy rabbit they dump couple had dogs growing them,” he says. will eat your house.” up, so how bad could Bunnies three widdle wabbits be? aren’t like He laughs. “It’s been hard.” They started other pets. For one thing, they’re a prey species, multiplying (as they do) and soon “we got so they scare easily and primarily want to more and more bunnies.” It’s been 10 years avoid you. Most are as timid as birds, but fight now of “bunny mayhem” Suzanne says. like dogs, and want nothing to do with you like a cat. Once in a while, a bunny’s temperament DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE will be kind of like a lapdog. But mostly, they Now, there’s Mocha a long-term foster. want to elude people, nibble on everything and Roger, a special-needs blind bunny. Teddy, fornicate like, well, bunnies. “A healthy bunny on the “fix-it list.” Snowball, an all-white, non- will eat your house,” says Suzanne. adoptable “standoffish fellow,” and Snowbelle, a dog attack survivor and Snowball’s mother.

AWFUL, AWFUL THINGS Plus Alice and Mr. Bean and a fuzzy Angora- People don’t expect the workload that comes mix whose name I didn’t catch. The Tippe’s with a bunny, and they don’t expect the cost. usually care for about 15 to 20 rabbits at Their teeth overgrow, so you have to file them a given time in their backyard patchwork down; that’ll cost you $200. Vets in Revy will of hutches at the edge of the greenbelt. It’s trim teeth, but for anything special, owners common to see Suzanne outside grooming

ou may have met Suzanne Tippe at one of the Grizzly games, where she often brings a

have to take their bunny probs to a vet in the Okanagan. You better spay or neuter your bunny, too, which will set you back about $300.

Then, clean their pen every day or almost every day. They can be litter trained, but either way, their gut system is constantly working, so they’re poop machines. Also, you have to be careful what you feed them since their gut can shut down. And rabbits hide when they’re not feeling well, so, explains Suzanne, “you can go to bed in the evening with what you think is a perfectly healthy rabbit and wake up with a dead rabbit.” If that’s not enough, they have the potential to cause a serious bite wound and they’re territorial and prone to fighting.

Suzanne’s arms have the scratches and scars to prove it. Bunnies demand to be in just the right situation, and if not, it’s a bunnytastrophe.

SOOO, WANT ONE?

That said, the Tippe’s have some rather lovable little bundles of fur for adoptionwoption such as Moose, a Flemish Giant who was found at the ski hill and is fixed. Then there’s Angus and Bella, an adoptable pair. But. I wanted to go back to something Rob mentioned earlier about saving these creatures from the butcher’s block. It seems to me—not to be an insensitive meat-eater—but, if a prey species is becoming a nuissance, then instead of pouring money into them… how can I say this, why don’t we eat them?

“It has its place,” says Suzanne about the meat market for rabbits (who are technically considered livestock in BC—not pets.) She

grew up in a hunting family and was raised on wild meat, and says this is where the problem lies. A lot of people have rabbits as pets but they’re not recognized as a pet. Cats and dogs receive spay-neuter clinics.

They don’t proliferate and we don’t eat them.

The Tippes believe bunnies ought to get the same treatment: friends, not food.

WHAT DO WE DO WHAT DO WE DO!

Bunnies need money. “Dogs and cats have the humane society; rabbits don’t have anybody,” says Suzanne. She does her best to get out in the community, and the community has been good, too. The whole Tippe Warren is donated and recycled material. This summer, they’re building an interactive pen for kids, and looking for donations of material and cash and volunteer time.) 

Top: Mystic is a lionhead lop-mix with a cheek-beard.

Laid back and calm, he’s the therapy rabbit going to the cottages later. (L-R) Suzanne sports her ‘bunnearings.’

Moose is Revelstoke’s most eligible bunny bachelor.

Suzanne and Rob groom Michael Jackson.

IT E T!!

V O IE N EL Y B H W

12 Rev’d Quarterly SUMMER 2019

Time to Release The Feash

How biologists are bringing a prehistoric fish back from the brink of extinction >>PETER WORDEN

B

elieve it or not,

biologists have spent more than 15 years trying to recover wild white sturgeon stocks on the Columbia River in B.C.—all with little success.

That was until this spring.

They finally appear to have solved one of the most persistent problems plaguing sturgeon populations on the Columbia: “recruitment failure.” Recruitment failure is when insufficient numbers of young white sturgeon survive to an age where they can reproduce, thereby perpetuating the species.

But, the good news is this year’s recovery efforts should bring us hope (sturgeon and people) because it looks like they finally figured it out: bigger fish.

PREHISTORIC MONSTERS

Sturgeon are the dinosaurs of the Columbia. For one,

READ ONLINE @ REVED.NET they have changed little in about 700 million years, and they look it. They have five distinct lines of bony plates along their sides and bellies called “scoots.” (Unlike dinosaurs, they have no teeth, but they do have whiskers called barbels that look like an evolutionary feature that has seen and done some things.) Using barbels to find food, and scoots to prevent being food, sturgeon have spent the bulk of their long evolutionary existence in the

Incredible Cures!

Magic Crystals

dark depths of the river bed, quietly sniffing out organic matter, vacuuming up dead stuff, huffing it out, and getting so old and huge (100+ years and 20+ feet) that no one messes with them. It’s a good life.

STURGEON: GENERAL WARNING!

A BIT ABOUT BARBELS Sturgeon have been known to pick up litter, which lodges in their mouth. It’s one reason not to litter and reduce single-use plastics. For the past 15 years, juvenile sturgeon haven’t survived long enough to breed and procreate. This year, biologists hope the their size will help make them more likely to survive and breed. (L) A juvenile sturgeon is released this spring in Upper Arrow Lakes.

Below : FWCP’s Angus Glass explains the early stages of the sturgeon’s life.

But just like dinosaurs, sturgeon face an imminent extinction if biologists such as James Crossman, BC Hydro’s Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program sturgeon lead (and one of North America’s leading experts on all things sturgeon) can’t figure out what is plaguing their recruitment.

“We don’t have 20 years to learn why recruitment failure is happening and then solve it, because by then you’ve got a bunch of old fish that are potentially not reproducing,” he said. “The very things that make North America’s largest and oldest freshwater fish wonderfully unique pose enormous challenges for recovery initiatives. White sturgeon aren’t just giant fish that grow up to three metres or longer. They’ve been ‘around forever’ and act like they know it. A fish that can live 100 years, isn’t picky about what it eats, and is in no hurry to do anything, including spawning,” explains the FWCP site.

FISHY NUMBERS

On one hand, there is a large (32,000 hatchery-origin) population of fish from Hugh Keenleyside Dam at Castlegar down to Grand

Coulee Dam in the U.S. Put that way, it seems like the recovery effort is doing the trick, since there were just about 3,000 sturgeon in the Columbia River’s Upper Basin 15 years ago. But the mystery of recruitment failure remained. Sturgeon eggs and larvae, the FWCP found, had a 0% survival rate in the wild—like, zero.

And it’s not that endangered wild sturgeon don’t spawn. A couple hundred adults spawn each year. The problem is that their offspring don’t survive past the first year to reach maturity. The eggs survive to hatch. They hatch with a yolk-sac, which they use to hide and live off yolk reserves for a couple weeks. Then they disperse downstream to other rearing areas and feed.

That’s where their journey ends. “We see virtually no survival,” says Crossman.

ANOTHER BIG FISH STORY

The size of the team’s juvenile sturgeon is important because before they grow large enough and develop a hard spiny exterior, they are vulnerable. “A lot of that is due to the size the fish were released at,” says Crossman.

“In 2007, for example, fish released on the U.S. side were really large and those fish have done tremendously well—like 95 per cent survival.”

MIND THE GAP

Sturgeon take about 25 years to mature to spawning age, and even then, not that often (only once every two to seven years, depending on age and food abundance.) So, the program has been adjusting the sizes of hatchery fish released each year, hoping that does the trick, but there is still a 25-ish year gap in mature breeding sturgeon and juvenile non-breeding sturgeon.

99 PROBLEMS AND FISH AIN’T ONE Now, the only problem is lots of other things. Dams built for hydroelectricity and flood control in Canada and the U.S. have dramatically altered flows on the river, meaning less freshet, reduced murkiness, an increase of invasive species preying on young fish, a smaller genetic pool causing inbreeding, and a disrupted food supply—all still real reasons for concern. 

We are minerals and many of our medications are minerals. You can work with them, make elixirs, and if you’re Layla Rocher of Alpengem, craft them into exquisite ‘mindful jewels for bohemian souls.’ “It was perfect because I wanted another use for my jewelry. People could wear something calming or that helps them to sleep or open their intuition,” she says.

There seems a crystal for everything.

Amazonite for communication.

Labradorite, one of her favourites, is an intuitive stone. Zeolite, she just learned, mixed with silver creates light.

“They’re not an all encompassing cure,” says Anna Minten, owner of the Wellness Collective where you can find Layla’s gemstones. “Everyone’s body composition is different ... you will react differently to them.”

Dragonboating cureS cancer

What other team sport is for all people from age 20 to 80...?

Dragonboating! It has a reputation of being the ‘breast cancer sport’ for good reason — because of its social and health benefits—and believe it or not, B.C. is where that medical reputation began. Two of Revy’s own dragonboat team—the Dam Survivors—are survivors themselves.

But Revelstoke has so many other activities on any given day that coach Elmer Shoji reasons most people don’t have time to even give it a try. Do you?

If so, great!—meet at the Old Frontier at 6:15pm Mondays and Thursdays.

Q&A

Rev’d Quarterly SUMMER 2019 13

BC HYDRO ANSWERS ALL YOUR Dam Questions Everything you need to know about the Revelstoke Dam

T

he Columbia River is the most powerful river in North America.

(At least “powerful” in the sense that it generates the most hydroelectrical power.)

It is 2,000 kilometres long with 800km of that in Canada, and at approximately 500 kilometres downstream from its headwaters, the Columbia River passes through Revelstoke and five penstocks of BC Hydro’s Revelstoke Dam. Over the years, Rev’d has fielded various questions about the dam—and here now are answers to your dam questions: RQ Construction of the concrete portion of Revelstoke dam required 2,050,000 million cubic metres of concrete or 267,974 truckloads. Seriously, were there 267,974 separate truck loads?

BCH During construction, up to 6,900 cubic meters of concrete was placed each day.

Concrete for the dam and powerhouse was mixed at an on-site batch plant that produced about 370 cubic metres of concrete per hour.

Two cableways high above the dam site were used to place concrete in the dam.

RQ So it’s just a whole lot of concrete? (Remind me again why we trust engineers?)

BCH Revelstoke Dam is a 175- metre high

concrete dam with an earth-fill wing. The concrete dam (126 metres thick at its base, and 9 metres thick and 470 metres along its crest) is divided into 23 sections, called gravity blocks, ranging in width from 13 to 27 metres. These blocks are separated by watertight contraction joints, which absorb the contraction and expansion of the concrete blocks due to variations in temperature. There is an intricate internal drainage system in the dam to safely convey minor seepage. The earth-fill wing dam (122 metres high and 1160 metres along the crest) is made of 14 million cubic metres of fill. Its core of glacial till is founded on bedrock.

RQ Construction started in 1977 and was completed in 1984. I, too, was built in the 80’s and don’t know how well I’m holding up. How do you keep the dam in such good shape?

BCH Just like a house, a dam can last indefinitely if it is properly maintained. Our dam safety program is based on inspections, independent expert reviews and monitoring of instrumentation data from the dams.

Potential issues are identified for further study and when work is necessary, the projects are prioritized and planned accordingly.

RQ If it breaks, are we all a bunch of goners?

BCH The risk of sudden failure is extremely low even if a catastrophic earthquake occurs (and Revelstoke is in a very low earthquake hazard zone). Throughout the earth-fill wing and concrete dam there are embedded dam safety

instruments that constantly measure water pressure, temperatures, and movement. BC Hydro’s dam safety instrumentation and monitoring systems are designed to detect possible issues with the dam long before a failure is imminent. This advance warning would allow BC Hydro to take actions that would reduce the risk of failure (such as controlled releases of water) plus allow time for community notifications and evacuations.

RQ—How powerful is the Revelstoke Dam? BCH Revelstoke Generating Station is the third most powerful facility in the province (with 2,480 megawatts of capacity) after GM Shrum with 2,730 megawatts and Mica with 2,805 megawatts.

RQ—About how many toasters is that?

BCH At full bore, this is enough to power about 2.86 million toasters assuming each toaster uses 900 watts. (The energy consumption of most modern toasters ranges between 600 and 1200 watts.)

RQ And Mica, what’s it made of?

BCH Mica dam is an earth-fill dam made of 32.9 million cubic metres of gravel, sand, rock, and glacial till. This is more than 12 times the volume of BC Place Stadium. At its base Mica dam is nearly one kilometre thick.

RQ If it blew, would it set off of a catastrophic waterfall effect of dams busting all the way down the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean?

BCH It is extremely unlikely that Mica Dam would fail, we monitor it very closely as well.

There are embedded dam safety instruments that constantly measure water pressure, temperatures, stresses and movement.

RQ My friend Mark says if a fish get sucked through the dam’s turbines, it will it chop it into pieces. Is he drunk?

BCH Mark is talking about what we call “entrainment” whereby fish pass downstream through the dam. At Revelstoke Dam this happens mostly to kokanee and usually the small, young ones. But it is not like there is a strong current in the reservoir that “suck fish in”. It is more that at certain times of the day and year the behaviour of the fish puts them at greater risk and they have to be very close to the dam’s water intakes to be unable to avoid the flow. Fish are usually able to pass through and survive because the turbines at Revelstoke Dam are so huge (over seven metres in diameter).

RQ Do you call the foot of the dam and lip of the dam the “foot” and the “lip”?

BCH We do call the bottom of the dam its ‘foot’ and there is the ‘toe’ on the downstream side and its ‘heel’ on the upstream side. We call the front of the dam its ‘face.’ And you could call the top of the dam a ‘lip’ but we usually refer to it as the dam ‘crest’. Guess we are not too consistent with our terminology.

We should really put some more thought into that.

RQ I’ve seen photos of goats scaling dam walls, do goats ever scale your dams?

BCH No goats so far.

RQ Has anyone ever jumped off the dam like Harrison Ford in The Fugitive?

BCH. No.  —Interview condensed .

GOT ANY MORE DAM QUESTIONS? Visit the dam visitor centre! 

4 Rev’d Quarterly SUMMER 2019 CATSIFIEDS

CAT-T'S

 #CATSIFIEDS OFFICE FELINES

CAT BUSINESS

Rev’d Quarterly SUMMER 2019 14

CAT BUSINESS

PAWS OFF

STEVE GREEN CAT CONSTRUCTION The Revelstoke Humane Society has many kittywitties for adoptionwoption. To view animals, report a stray pet or if you’re looking for a lost pet, call (250) 837-4747 SEX AND THE KITTY DID’YA KNOW: A single unspayed cat can produce 470,000 offspring in just seven years. Don’t litter! Get your kitty spayed right meow. www.spca.bc.ca

KITTY PRINTS &

ethically-sourced clothing.

Next to Mountain Meals.

Scribbles

Seen here living his best life.

THIS IS CAILA.

She says she likes cats because they’re pur-r-r-fect.

Concatsulations!

Dana + Fred on the opening Rumpus Beer Co. Official beer of the #Catsifieds

PAWLINDROMES STOKE FM

Please play more Cat Stevens.

I mean, Yusuf Islam.

CHUBBY MEOWSTERS

OTHER CAT BUSINESS

FELINE PURDY INDEPENDENT If you see her, don’t say hello. She’s transitioning to an outdoor cat.

(As explained on StokeList.)

SYNCHRONIZED POOPIN’ @Ginger_cats

DISTRCATIONS

What d’Ya Call

Chubshire Cat Eva welcomes ChubbyFunster’s newest member of the patio.

#CATSIFIED

RUSTY THE THREE VALLEY ‘CHAT’

MOUNTAIN MIKE

#catsifieds

HOW REVY CATS ROLL

SALT & PAWPER

BONUS POINTS...

LOVE HU

The Revelstoke Humane Society has kittywitties for adoptionwoption. To view animals, report a stray pet or if you’re looking for a lost pet, call (250) 837-4747

PET PAINTER FOR HIRE

Paws up if you want to be painted like one of those French cats.

Contact: @aalya_hash

ALSO SHREDS CURTAINS

...if your cat reads Rev’d

Andrea ruvs her cutiewootiekittywitty, Hubert.

KITTY CASE

NEXT

SEX AND THE KITTY DID’YA KNOW: A single unspayed cat can produce 470,000 offspring in just seven years. Don’t litter! Get your kitty spayed right meow. www.spca.bc.ca

RINA

is “feline”purrty stylish.

MEERSED CATNECTIONS

Meet Jeanette and her Spanish hunter cat Cazador.

Find them on Facebook

@PawsitivelyStokedPetSpa Lar, came by but you weren’t home.

Cute door.

TRACTOR CAT (A kioti, naturally.)

Good little ad space here.

Just saying.

@lousae’s ...

and his mountain cat

#SHOTGUN KITTY

Book a massage at heliosphysio.com

Contact editor@reved.net

Joey-in-a-Box!

Milk acceptable as payment.

WORKIN' CATS

PET-TRAITS

A gang of kitties out for revenge?

—a ...wait for it ... “paws”y.

CAT NAPS PAWING AROUND

CAT-NOEING

PLACE YOUR

CULTURED CATS

DON’T BE A SCAREDY CAT SEND A #CATSIFIED