Revelstoke's road ahead in the COVID-19 era. p

REVELSTOKE'S ROAD TO RECOVERY IN THE COVID-19 ERA

One of the defining characteristics of the COVID-19 era is uncertainty about the future, be it next week, next month, or next the next quarter — let alone the years to come. This uncertainty means making predictions about the future, always fraught with error, is even more challenging now. For our Revelstoke Recovers theme issue, we sought out leadership voices in Revelstoke for their thoughts on our path ahead to meaningful recovery for Revelstoke. Our hope is their words and information will help connect readers with meaningful responses to the crisis, empowering community members to get involved on the road to recovery.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: SOCIAL SERVICE RESPONSE IN A PANDEMIC

REVELSTOKE SOCIAL SERVICES ORGANIZATION FOCUSES ON RESPONSIVENESS, CONNECTION, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE TO ADAPT TO CHALLENGES CREATED BY COVID-19.

By Sheena Bell, CEO of Community Connections Revelstoke.

On March 13 I found myself texting my friend and colleague: “Are you sure you want to get on a plane to Mexico with your family today? I think this is the real deal and you will have to quarantine for 14 days when you get back,” I wrote. I don’t remember specifics after that date, other than looking at the management team and saying, “It’s time to lock the doors to the office."

Staff shared huge concerns about what the shutdown and isolation would mean for the mental health of the community and what we should do with no clear path to follow. What I have seen and come to know for sure, is that the capacity we have to adapt and connect with each other through struggle is fundamental to who we all are as people. When it comes down to it, we know how to step into what is needed, and when we see ourselves as a part of the story being told (from a responsibility mindset), we join in and invest in the outcome of the whole.

All the way along, the 67 employees and our many volunteers have shown their investment and willingness to stay connected to removing obstacles to the preferred lives of the individuals, groups, and families that continue to consult with us as a part of their story. The other thing that became very clear, is how systemic oppression actively constrains peoples preferred ways of being, and how institutional systems and their internal processes move MUCH slower than the evolving needs of people. As a large (for the size of our community) non-profit organization, we were in a good spot to be able to adapt. We saw demands for services triple, and we shifted our delivery models to allow us to never stop connecting with the community we are committed to serving. The relational context is key — we see ourselves as an important part of the stories in people's lives in our community; ALL people here in Revelstoke, and beyond, belong and are valued, and we are honoured to consult in the development, coauthoring, and re-authoring of the stories of their lives through responsive service delivery. We listen to people’s stories and believe they are the experts in their lives, they will tell us what they need and how they would like us to help; it’s our job to hear them and respond, even in a pandemic.

I was constantly impressed by how fast staff adapted services and joined forces to address the pandemic increases to obstacles, marginalizations, and oppressions imposed in people’s lives. We saw the barriers amplified; there was more disconnection, loneliness, fear, and worry taking up space than ever before, and at a rate that was growing faster than we normally see. If someone’s access to power, resources, healthy relationships, and capital became limited or was taken away, there was an almost immediate disconnection from a way of life that brought safety, certainty, and belonging. Many of the people we serve faced, and continue to face, systemic oppression that has imposed further obstacles to the kind of relationships, connections, and contributions they would prefer to make to their community.

For us as an organization, the needs to change, adapt, grow, and connect in more accessible ways (expanded hours, virtual access, home deliveries, and outreach services) with the people we serve and community partners became ESSENTIAL. We moved all of the food and outreach services to our parking lot (thanks for the tent, Rotary) so we could be safe, thoughtful, and open up services, resources, and connections for people on a bigger scale, basically overnight. Another huge shout out to the amazing work of the Community Living Services team who really came together to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the adults with diverse abilities that we care for in residential and community settings!

In social services, we are always trying to promote social change and the redistribution of access to power and resources in a more equitable way (work ourselves out of a job). It’s hard for us to see the obstacles grow and become more complex in people's lives through this pandemic. We are grateful to get the opportunity to learn about the stories, lived experiences, and hard earned skills of living and resiliency that the people we support invite us to witness and support. We know that justice doing is not a one-off. It's a contract that gets renewed every morning, up for review every time we see each other and at the end of every day when we go over our best efforts, and then is re-written and built into the next one-day contract. So if you miss something or learn something new, you get to start again the next day to do your best.

As an agency, we are committed to honouring the responses to injustices by doing what we can to address our own barriers to adapting and offering a better, more responsive, and just service delivery process. The adjustments would not have been possible or sustainable without the rapid response funds (Columbia Basin Trust, United Way, Revelstoke Credit Union, Revelstoke Community Foundation, Food Banks BC and Food Banks Canada, Community Food Centre’s Canada, BC Housing) or without YOUR donations and support.

Something to leave you with are some reflective questions: locating ourselves in relationships with the issues brought about or highlighted through the pandemic brings us closer to them, and locating ourselves in relationships with everyone impacted, makes these issues personally relatable. A couple questions to ask might be: What do I need to open myself up to in order to hear or feel this in a meaningful way? If I saw myself as personally affected by this (or the broader issues), how would it change my participation today … and beyond? If I believed that everyone is doing the best they can with what they have, would that change how I see the problem? What beliefs might I be holding that are getting in the way of me being a part of a solution?

Keep connecting, Revelstoke. We all have valuable places in the unique and collective stories being written in our community, families, and our individual lives.

LEADERSHIP SERIES: WOMEN'S SHELTER READY TO HELP

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LYNN LOEPPKY DISCUSSES THE CHANGES AT THE WOMEN'S SHELTER DUE TO COVID-19.

By Lynn Loeppky.

During the coronavirus pandemic, we saw a reduction in the number of women staying at the women's shelter. Whether this is directly related to the pandemic or it is just one of the fluctuations we see, we don't know. Our stats throughout the years don't reflect any trend from one season to another.

Another factor for this reduction might be the ease in getting shelter in Revelstoke at this time. Shelter is a crucial service we offer and in our normally tight market, women typically stay longer at our shelter.

We are operating and we are an essential service. We have implemented precautions to keep women at the shelter safe from exposure to the virus. For example, if a woman wants to stay but needs to self-isolate, we can place her in external accommodation for 14 days. At the shelter, women have their own bedroom and bathroom. Shared spaces are cleaned regularly and the shelter has an outdoor space to enjoy.

What we have seen is an increase in calls to and from our clients in the community. Our separate women and men's programs are still running, which ensure people still have access to local services they need and social time. During the

lockdown, these programs went online through and we saw varying degrees of success with this. We found that some people preferred this method of connecting, as they weren't required to be anywhere. So we will likely continue that as well as bringing back scheduled activities to our space at the Revelstoke United Church. We lease a big space there where social distancing is possible, and we have decorated and repainted to make it a comfortable space.

We've had positive feedback on our Uplift magazine, which we have distributed around Revelstoke this summer to raise awareness for everyone on what abuse is, so we'll be working on creating the next edition.

We’re available 24/7 and despite these times, I hope women feel comfortable in reaching out, whatever their situation, to know they are not alone.

REVCU FOCUSES ON COMMUNITY CONNECTION, AND ADAPTS WITH REMOTE TECH

By Roberta Bobicki, Revelstoke Credit Union CEO. As we walk through Phase 3 of Covid19, Revelstoke Credit Union intends to play an active role in supporting our members and small-business community. From the on-set, we made a decision to be in front of the challenges facing our borrowing members and business owners. We have, and will continue to provide relief, support and advice as the needs arise. We will do all that we can to ensure that our businesses survive, and people remain in their homes. We are a credit union, and as such have internal flexibility to be creative in finding ways to get people through. We don’t want people to feel they have to do this all on their own, but to feel comfortable reaching out to us.

We are very optimistic about Revelstoke’s future. All that has attracted the world to Revelstoke is still here. Eventually the world will find its way back. The next one to three years are critical, and we intend to do everything possible to help the community weather the storm. It will be a bumpy road for a while, but recovery is our primary goal.

In addition to the measures taken to make daily financial life as smooth as possible for members, RevCU continued to play a role in this community in areas which will help on the road to recovery as restrictions lift and the pandemic passes.

RevCU has always played a role with community financial literacy and member education. On the road ahead, RevCU will continue to lead in financial

planning and education for its members. Whether that looks like a database of recorded information on financial topics within revcu.com or, if we resume financial education in classroom style settings, we will take a creative approach to providing solid advice for our members.

Also, our ability to provide remote service increased rapidly with social distancing measures and office closures. RevCU adapted technology already in place and brought on other capabilities so that banking could be done from isolation. Secure remote work capabilities and digital signing with file storage were some of the first steps in adapting to Revelstoke’s world of virtual commerce.

RevCU had already planned a complete upgrade of its digital banking platform but the outbreak of COVID-19 in March refocused these plans to ensure that upgrades and changes will satisfy in a new world where face to face service will atrophy and digital service grow. RevCU will always be proud of the customer service offered in an easy to access bricks and mortar location but will strive to grow the same space in a digital realm. A new public website is being designed for an improved customer experience, a mobile App for iPhone and Android will be in place, a business banking suite of applications to streamline commercial operations, and a new and improved digital banking platform will all make this transition smooth and easy over the next year.

RevCU will continue to lead through change over the next few years and always remain Revelstoke’s

Community Partner.

REVELSTOKE’S ROAD TO RECOVERY

TOGETHER WE CAN CLOSE THE GAPS THAT THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED IN OUR COMMUNITY.

By Dylan Hardy, Chair of the Recovery Task Force.

As Revelstoke enters Phase 3 of reopening, it is the natural time to assess the economic and social disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and launch our recovery effort.

Flattening the curve in our community worked because we all contributed to the cause.

Now, with hundreds out of work and 22% of local employers worried about their ability to survive, we need to rally together and support a community recovery effort.

Revelstoke’s unofficial population of 13,000 residents (7,500 full time and 5,500 seasonal) supports a diverse local economy. Most of our employers (96% in 2017) are small businesses with fewer than 50 staff. Approximately a third are service businesses in the tourism and hospitality sectors, which have been hit hard by the pandemic. Our largest employers — social, health, and public sectors — have had to change how they operate, but have experienced less disruption.

Between May 2018 and April 2019 we welcomed over 2.9 million same-day and overnight visitors from across Canada, the US, and the world. Hundreds of businesses and more than a thousand employees helped these visitors explore the magic that is Revelstoke. While our town provides unforgettable memories to our visitors, tourism makes it possible for our community to enjoy recreational and cultural benefits that we would not be able to provide on our own. For example, the bike trails, snowmobile clubhouse, the Nordic Centre, splash pad, LUNA Art Fest and more).

Tourism is a big part of our community.

Things changed this year. In April, May and June, travel restrictions kept us safe by keeping everyone close to home. Overnight visitors to Revelstoke were down about 80% in this period.

The drop in visitors resulted in lost work for hundreds employed by hotels, restaurants, bars, tour operators, and retail shops. This put increased demand on our social service organizations, such as the food bank, where demand is up about three times over last year).

In Phase 3 we can expect to see visitors from B.C. and neighbouring provinces. The thousands of international visitors we normally welcome may not be coming this year. Our future will be different than our past. If we want to close the gaps caused by the pandemic, we need to reopen safely, welcome back the visitors who can get here, and bolster our community’s capacity to support those in need.

Staying safe is the best way to stay open. Staying open is how we close the gaps.

The Recovery Task Force is a team of mostly volunteers — people who care deeply about this community and want to help it survive this pandemic and thrive afterwards. Our efforts are focused in three areas: immediate actions that can accelerate business recovery, supporting the community’s social needs in coordination with the social development committee, and planning our long term recovery and resiliency. This journey will not be fast or direct — it will take time and include setbacks.

Each of us has an opportunity to contribute to this recovery effort.

Residents can help by staying safe and following the ‘Revy Rules’ on COVID-19 safety (see the poster in this magazine). Looking for work? Check out the jobs listed at WorkBC. Have time? Lean in and help those who could use a hand (see communityfuturesrevelstoke.com for volunteer opportunities). Summer is the perfect time to deepen neighbourly relationships and welcome visitors. Get out there and enjoy our community.

Employers can keep up the great work in protecting staff and customers. Now is the time to double down on COVID-19 safety and let folks know that we are open for business. Staying safe is how we stay open. If you see barriers in your path let us know how we can help by contacting ced@revelstoke.ca.

A warm welcome to our visitors. The best way to enjoy Revelstoke is to follow the Revy Rules. These will guide you to experience Revelstoke safely and help ensure our community stays healthy so we can host you again in the future. Have fun.

Photos below: Jesse Johnston-Hill tends to the crops at First Light Farms, a new farm that sprang up after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It's one of many new gardening initiatives underway in response to heightened concerns about food security during the pandemic and beyond. Photos: contributed.

GREEN THUMBS UP

GARDENING IS REVY’S NEW FAVORITE SUMMER PASTIME, BUT THERE’S MORE TO IT THAN JUST PASSING THE TIME.

By Bryce Borlick.

There's an old saying about lemons and lemonade. You know the one. It's such a tired cliché that I'll spare you from having to hear it yet again. But the simple lesson behind it — making the best out of a bad situation — seemed to be occurring as Revelstoke, like the rest of the world, had a gardening renaissance during the coronavirus lockdown this past spring. It isn’t a huge surprise since gardening can be productive and therapeutic in many ways while still meeting guidelines for social distancing. But what is a surprise, is how much gardening and growing was motivated by people’s concern over access to fresh healthy food. The campaign to produce more food locally has long been spearheaded by the Local Food Initiative, and it seems that the seeds they’ve sown have sprouted this year in a variety of ways.

“When the pandemic first became serious, initially my biggest concern was food supply. Not that there would be a lack of food, but potentially fewer options,” says Huw Saunders, citing just how many of our fruits and vegetables come from countries to our south that have struggled to manage the spread of the coronavirus.

Huw’s way of tackling this was to use his newfound free time to build the garden that he’d always had in mind, and build it well. But as with any new project, there are myriad details to consider and skills to hone.

“The Revelstoke Growing Community (RCG) page has definitely been helpful,” continues Huw. “It’s a great group of people who all want to help each other out in some fashion.”

Greg Hill’s way of contributing to food security was to create the Facebook page, which now boasts 1,362 members, with the encouragement of like-minded friends and family. Greg recognized that increasing our food production, especially in residential plots, would require a support network through which gardeners and growers could exchange ideas, solutions, and even supplies. As new gardeners emerged from their shells, the page became a hotbed of good advice and community cohesion.

“COVID flipped my life upside down and I began to worry about the food security, yet there is so much to growing well that I lacked," says Greg who expanded his own garden this year. “By harnessing the strength of our community I figured we could all grow more food and learn from those that know.”

But some gardeners found additional hurdles when trying to get new and existing gardens going in April. Gardening supplies sell like hotcakes every spring, even when there isn’t a sudden spike in demand, and the closure of one of our few garden centres only intensified local shortages. Seeds, soil, sprinklers, and spades barely touched shelves before being cleared out, and it wasn’t uncommon to overhear gardeners compare notes on where they were able to find critical supplies. In particular, seedlings, or starts, were in very high demand this year.

“We sold more starts then we ever have, as a direct result of COVID unfolding and creating greater interest in local food production,” confirms Stu Smith who runs Track Street Growers with his partner Sarah Harper. Other local growers like Terra Firma and Bird Tree Farms have echoed a similar uptick in demand.

“Our priorities changed to providing more staple crops and starts for others," continues Stu. “We had actually planned to scale back on the starts and focus more on the value added products that we do — our hot sauce, garlic syrup, and powders — but we realized that was not the responsible thing to do.”

Of course, not everyone who supports more local food production has the time, interest, ability, or space to grow their own vegetables. Those people will be happy to hear that a new source of local veggies has emerged in the form of First Light Farm. A project brought to light by partners Jesse Johnston-Hill and Chris Rubens, First Light has been a whirlwind endeavour. In mere months the duo sourced, tilled, fertilized, and planted a plot of land just on the outskirts of town, and even added a greenhouse.

“We’ve been talking about farming for a long time. Revelstoke is very food insecure,” explains Chris as we chat about the accelerated timeline for their new project. “This started with the pandemic, pulling the pin and doing it. It‘s been beyond full-time.”

First Light Farm is already offering fresh greens on a bi-weekly basis and will expand into zucchini, squash, onions, sweet corn, potatoes, radishes, carrots, beets and more as the crops grow and ripen.

When you really think about that old saying about lemons, it isn’t true at all. Life doesn’t just simply give you lemons — they take a lot of hard work to grow. And if we don’t actively support local production of nutritious food, one day we may find ourselves missing a lot more than just lemonade.

WEAR GRATITUDE LIKE A CLOAK AND IT WILL FEED EVERY CORNER OF YOUR LIFE ~INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE PAINTED ON A SMALL ROCK

By Aaron Orlando

Like mushrooms on the moist forest floor, small rocks painted with inspiring messages started popping up all over Revelstoke in the weeks and months after the COVID-19 shutdown in mid-March.

The brightly painted rocks featured short, inspiring messages of gratitude and could be found next to forest trails, riverside walks, and even in floral planter boxes downtown.

But what spores created these little messages of hope? There's a backstory that started with giving back.

After schools shut due to COVID-19, some students were stranded at home without any books to read, something that didn't sit well with retired librarian Diana Wood. She set out to find out about students' interests, getting people together to buy books suited for each individual reader.

As a gesture of thanks, Begbie View Elementary (BVE) grade 5/6 students decided to pay it forward, creating an inspirational forest walk trail nearby the school, lining it with the little painted rocks coloured with inspiring messages. When they were done, they shared their work. Then the craze caught on. "After the lesson, my students took each class for their first look at the trail. And the students were absolutely 100% ecstatic," said BVE teacher Sarah Newton. "A lot of the classes were surprised that this trail was built right underneath their noses, and they had no idea what was going on."

In a time of uncertainty and loss, the message of gratitude hand-painted on the rocks were inspiring messages from a mysterious source, paying it forward to passers-by all around town. "Diana, thank you for giving my students an opportunity to see how gratitude can be expressed and how giving can be a very powerful experience," said Newton.

Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine.

SUMMER & FALL ARTS PREVIEW

Worried about the post-Covid arts scene in Revelstoke? Well, don’t. Just like the rest of the world, Arts Revelstoke, Revelstoke’s arts and culture decision makers, are coming out of it just fine — and we dare say it, with even brighter ideas than before. Arts Revelstoke had more than a handful of events lined up for summer and fall 2020, including Summer Street Fest, LUNA Art Festival, and its share of Welcome Week. These events are local favourites that we as a town certainly look forward to. However, given the province’s 50-person limit at events, most have been cancelled.

This hasn’t stop Miriam Manley, Arts Revelstoke Artistic and Executive Director, and Nik Winnitowy, Guerilla Gigs Production Manager, from coming up with a killer events line-up, starting with Guerrilla Gigs, a series of weekly live music performances in iconic locations around Revelstoke. Now that they’re fully consumed by their preparations, Manley and Winnitowy are even noticing something positive coming out of these forced adaptations: more than ever, our community — not wanting to stray too far from home — is gravitating towards and showing their gratitude for local artists and venues, a huge feat for an emerging small town. “By doing this guerrilla series we’re proving that there’s more to live music than the band at the Drop or the band at Traverse. We can make live music happen everywhere,” adds Winnitowy. Plus, Manley jokes, artists have a summer schedule that’s unprecedentedly slim, which has made the booking process incredibly simple for her. Guerrilla Gigs will also be filmed as a means to be more inclusive. In so many words, Covid has provided the arts council with the push they needed to catch up with the 21st century. (Past arts events were seldom filmed.)

Check out what you have to look forward to in the next few months.

Carleigh Cardinal is the Juno Music Awards Indigenous Artist of the Year and she's coming to Revy!

Guerrilla Gigs: Outdoor music in iconic locations

Every Wednesday in July & August, from 7-8 p.m.

In lieu of the Summer Street Fest, which was cancelled due to Covid restrictions (a maximum of 50 guests are permitted and the Street Fest regularly welcomes up to 500 people), Manley was inspired by a meeting with other Kootenay business folks to organize a series of “guerrilla” music performances. There will be a live music performance every Wednesday evening throughout the summer. Local artists include Maggie ‘May’ Davis and Amy Burton, Al Lee, and Denis Severino (July 22); away bands will stay under wraps, but we will say this: expect to see Celeigh Cardinal, who was recently awarded Indigenous Artist of the Year at the Juno Music Awards. The fun part? Locations are in top secret iconic locations (think mountain tops and riversides!) set to be revealed the day before each show. Crowds won’t exceed 30 people. Rain or shine — it’s all part of the guerrilla/do-itwith-or-without-permission experience.

WHAT THE REVELSTOKE ARTS COMMUNITY HAS IN STORE FOR SUMMER AND FALL 2020—AND WHAT’S CHANGING FOR THE BETTER BECAUSE OF COVID.

By Amaris Bourdeau.

Canadian-Chilean guitarist Oscar Lopez

Oscar Lopez: Beloved Canadian-Chilean guitarist

Friday, October 23

Oscar Lopez is a finger-picking Latin guitar player from Calgary with multiple Juno Awards to his name. Known for his Latin grooves and flawless assimilation of jazz, blues, and roots, Lopez has always been a hit when coming through town. He will be playing as part of a trio.

Curcus Luminus rides through in November.

Circus Luminus by CircusWest: Defying gravity one tight-rope at a time

Saturday, November 7

CircusWest is a Vancouver-based circus troop showing us all the classics with a west coast flair. We’re talking trapeze, contortion, and tight-rope. You may know them from the summer camps they ran for six years in a row in which they taught children acrobatics, barrel walking, juggling, and ribbons. To accommodate more people, Manley hopes to run three performances throughout the day (to be confirmed).

Lucas Myers performs the Revelstoke Project

The Revelstoke Project by Lucas Myers: Making a comeback with the rural rhythm we’ve loved since 2016

Thursday, November 26 (part of Welcome Week)

What happens when you get a rural (Nelson-based) artist to participate in a two week-long residency in Revelstoke? A hilarious theatre performance centered on a newcomer’s first time experiencing all things Revelstoke. We mean all things, from visiting the railway to witnessing the construction of a new roundabout to good ol’ fashioned sledding. The show was first created in 2016 and re-performed in 2017 at Welcome Week. It’s a town favourite and just as relevant today as it was four years ago. Plus, as Manley points out, a lot of art is created in urban settings, subconsciously giving it a metropolitan flavour that’s harder to relate to. “I want to see work that’s actually made in Revelstoke. Artists, especially performance artists, tend to move to the city, but then we’re presenting work that’s coming out of an urban space, where as we in Revelstoke have a different cultural experience of life.” Might that explain our love for the Revelstoke Project?

This page is my invitation for you to

To create this page, first I needed to slow down. Here were the inspirations I needed through my mindful creation process: Listening to two TED Talks and reading In Praise of Slow by Carl Honoré. 3 bike rides. 2 cups of coffee. 3 glasses of ice water. 3 hours of work. 2 team reviews.

Names of chefs left to right: Simon Paterson, Big Eddy Pub; Charlotte Sit, Mountain Standard Catering; Heidi Schaffer, Blanket Glacier Chalet; Glen Cherlet, Big Mountain Catering; Calvin, taste tester; Erica German, Monashee Distillery; Austin Luciow, Big Eddy Pub.

REVELSTOKE CHEFS CONNECT WITH THE COMMUNITY

IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS, A COLLECTIVE OF LOCAL CHEFS COME TOGETHER TO CREATE MEALS FROM SCRATCH FOR DISTRIBUTION THROUGH THE REVELSTOKE FOOD BANK.

By Charlotte Sit

My line of work as a backcountry lodge chef has never been predictable, from grocery orders being delayed due to bad weather, questionable kitchen appliances, and the classic “a pine marten stole the ground beef." But sudden unemployment due to a global pandemic turned out to be the biggest surprise of my career. Shifting from the routine of a winter work season in full swing to a complete shutdown of the tourism industry left myself, along with many others, wondering what was going to happen next.

Meanwhile, already tenuous access to affordable groceries along with an uncertain economic outlook lead to concerns of food security for many others in the community. With the economic effects of the pandemic reaching far and wide, demand at the Revelstoke Food bank increased substantially, and providing vulnerable community members with access to healthy foods gained a new level of urgency.

The Chef Meal Program was created in response to these unique circumstances. Building off an existing network of local chefs, known informally as the Chef-to-Chef Collective, the program was quickly launched into operation through funding from the Columbia Basin Trust and Community Food Centres of Canada. Melissa Hemphill, the Food Security Coordinator at Community Connections, took the lead in getting the program up and running by the start of May.

To date, there have been six chefs involved in the program, who have created over 3,500 portions of high-quality, nutritious meals made from scratch. Along with myself, chefs Austin Luciow, Erica German, Glen Cherlet, Heidi Shaffer, and Simon Paterson are each assigned one day of the week to prepare approximately 100 portions of a meal of their choice, in the community centre kitchen. The meals are then frozen as either individual or family-size portions, and distributed at the food bank as well as through a handful of other programs.

Chefs are free to use their own sense of creativity to prepare meals from their own recipe collection, adjusting their offerings in response to feedback from food bank users. A few of the chefs looked to the concept of “comfort food” as a starting point for their meals, while others chose to draw inspiration from the availability of seasonal ingredients, while adding some global flavours into the mix. Jalapeño mac 'n’ cheese, Thai coconut chicken soup, butter chicken curry, roasted vegetable pot pie, mushroom ragu, and minestrone soup are just some of the meals that have been created by the chefs. Freshly made sandwiches, granola, and assorted baked goods have also been added to the program’s menu, for distribution through other community programs in town. The Taco Club restaurant has also contributed

Charlotte Sit is a backcountry chef with a boundless enthusiasm for sharing the joy of eating well. She has cooked for hundreds of hungry adventurers at over a dozen backcountry lodges throughout B.C. and Alberta and is the owner of Mountain Standard Catering.

Portions out family-size and individual servings of squash and carrot soup.

Homemade granola, banana bread, and frozen soups for pick up at the Revelstoke Community Connections Food Bank.

meals from their kitchen to help top up the amounts.

Luciow, Co-Chef at the Big Eddy Pub, took the lead in the program’s food sourcing and inventory coordination. Through his connections at the Big Eddy Pub, the program was able to order some ingredients from a wholesale supplier. Doing so allowed more of the budget to be allocated to sourcing higher quality, specialty ingredients through local businesses and farms, which was a priority for all of the chefs involved.

While much of the cooking is done solo, the chefs communicate regularly to exchange recipe ideas, coordinate inventory, and collaborate on how to implement new ideas to the program. Chef Heidi Schaffer, who cooks at Blanket Glacier Chalet in the winter and travels to different lodges throughout the summer, found the program “opened up doors to communication and support within the Revelstoke community." Schaffer describes the program as a “gamechanger," which gave her a unique opportunity to work with chefs from across a range of food industry backgrounds.

The Chef Meal Program is expected to continue throughout the remainder of the summer, pending its funding status and availability of the community kitchen. As businesses are opening up, chefs are also beginning to return to their regular workplaces, and the program will be operating at different capacity. However, all the chefs in the program agree that they are keen to continue fostering connections through the Chef-to-Chef Collective, and see this as just the start of a greater vision to engage with the community through their skills, knowledge, and passion for food.

The Chef Meal Program would like to additionally thank John Ferguson at the Big Eddy Pub, seasonal volunteer Laurent Saulnier, Hannah Whitney from Community Connections, the Revelstoke Community Centre for use of the community kitchen, and Carol and the janitorial staff at the community centre.

TOURISM TALKS

Revelstoke, we commend you. This community has shown itself to be resilient and adaptable. Our local businesses fi gured out a way to operate safely under new guidelines, our restaurants continued to produce tasty food for us all to eat at home, and there have been many unique business innovations since March. Despite staying home, it seems that our community spirit is stronger than ever.

As BC moves into Phase 3 of our Restart Plan, we are cognizant that safety for both our residents and visitors is essential to the recovery of our tourism industry. Revelstoke’s tourism industry and local businesses are looking forward to seeing out of town traffi c again. Tourism Revelstoke has launched a recovery marketing campaign to encourage visitation in order to bolster and support our local businesses; however, we want to ensure that we do so in a safe way that aligns with provincial guidelines.

As part of our safety efforts, we have collaborated to create The Revy Rules, which will be displayed in businesses throughout town on a poster and promoted online through a blog. A cornerstone of our marketing strategy this summer will be around visitor education on how to travel safely and responsibly in Revelstoke. We hope that by reinforcing safe social interactions and Dr. Bonnie Henry’s travel manners, we can encourage individuals to hold themselves accountable for their own safety and remind them to do their part.

We have created a “What’s Open” page to help visitors plan their visit ahead of time. By encouraging visitors to plan ahead, we hope that we can create some predictability and limit chance encounters in the visitor experience. To be listed on our “What’s Open” page, businesses must have their COVID-19 safety measures clearly displayed on their website.

We are also encouraging visitors to be prepared. Where possible, visitors should have their own hand sanitizer, masks, water and other essential supplies to minimize social interactions and limit the spread of Covid-19.

Tourism Revelstoke’s summer marketing campaign focuses on “What You’ve Been Missing” to appeal to both our existing and new audiences.

Revelstoke is well positioned to attract regional visitation given our proximity to National Parks and abundance of open spaces. Tourism Revelstoke has recently launched a marketing campaign targeting domestic vistors. The campaign focuses on the tagline “What You’ve Been Missing,” which aims to connect with both previous guests and new visitors this summer.

We welcome your feedback on our efforts, and encourage the residents of Revelstoke to engage with us. Look for us at your local farmers market this summer.

To read previous Tourism Talks columns, check out https://seerevelstoke.com/tourism -talks/