Route 3 Fall 2013

P E O P L E A RTS H O M E S F O O D C U LT U R E R E C R E AT I O N H I S TO RY FALL/ WINTER 2013/14

Life in the West Kootenay/Boundary Region

SAFEST CITY IN THE WORLD

Trail held the record for safest driving city from 1954 to 1966

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL RIDE

KCTS manages 150 kilometres of trails to hurtle down or hike

Nature & Nurture Doulas provide physical, emotional and informational support to moms

BRILLIANT DAM + EXPANSION

Generating Positive Energy The Brilliant Dam located on the Kootenay River near Castlegar, BC was constructed during WWII when lead and zinc were in high demand for the war effort and all other generators on the Kootenay River were working to capacity.

The Brilliant Dam was purchased by Columbia Power and Columbia Basin Trust for $130 million in 1996 from Cominco (now Teck). Since the acquisition, $100 million has been invested in capital upgrade projects which include concrete rehabilitation, switch-yard replacement, spillway gate refurbishment, seismic stabilization, and a generation repowering life extension program.

The re-powering program increased powerhouse capacity from 125 megawatts to 140 megawatts which also resulted in positive environmental benefits. By directing more water through the powerhouse instead of spilling it, Total Gas Pressure (TGP) levels, which are harmful to fish, were reduced.

The Addition of the Brilliant Expansion The $205 million Brilliant Expansion Project saw the addition of a second powerhouse located immediately downstream of the Brilliant Dam. Construction of this facility was completed in 2007. The Brilliant Expansion shares the existing hydraulic head and generates power from water that would otherwise be spilled. During construction over $50 million was paid in wages and over $44 million was injected into the local economy through the purchase of goods and services.

Output from the Brilliant Dam and Expansion is linked to the Brilliant Terminal Station and later delivered to BC Hydro’s Selkirk Substation through a 34 km transmission line.

These facilities produce clean, renewable energy for all British Columbians.

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Generating Benefits for the Columbia Basin The Brilliant Dam and Expansion are owned by Columbia Power (50%) and Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) (50%).

Columbia Power’s role is to develop, build and operate these facilities on behalf of the partnership. Income from these facilities is distributed equally to Columbia Power and CBT. Columbia Power uses the income to reinvest in project development, including the Waneta Expansion Project (currently under construction) and pay dividends to the Province of BC. Columbia Power also uses the income to sponsor community groups and events, offer bursaries and scholarships to secondary schools and community colleges, and develop and deliver environmental stewardship programs.

CBT uses its income to support efforts by residents of the region to create social, economic and environmental wellbeing in the Basin.

Visit columbiapower.org to learn more about the Brilliant Dam and Expansion.

+

In 2006 the Brilliant Dam was named one of Canada’s most reliable facilities by Navigant Consulting.

columbiapower.org

contents

PUBLISHER Chuck Bennett publisher@ grandforksgazette.ca

Safest City in the World by Greg Nesteroff Trail held the record for safest driving city from 1954 to 1966, page 5

Nature and Nurture by Sam Van Schie

ACCOUNT MANAGER Chris Hammett route3@ grandforksgazette.ca EDITOR & ART DIRECTOR Shelley Ackerman sackerman@telus.net

Doulas provide physical, emotional and informational support to moms, page 8

ROUTE 3 is published by Black Press

Seed Savers by Marvin Beatty

Printed in Canada on recyclable paper.

Copyright 2013 by Black Press.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction of any article, photograph, or artwork without written permission of the publisher is strictly forbidden. The publisher can assume no responsibility for unsolicited material.

Looking for plants that grow well in our region?

Check out local seed companies! page 13

If You Build It... by Art Harrison ...they will ride, and hike, page 17

Q&A with Dani Collins by Craig Lindsay, page 22

250-442-2191 or 1-877-443-2191 Box 700, 7255 Riverside Dr. Grand Forks, B.C. V0H 1H0

Cover photo by David R. Gluns Doula Anna Colin with dad Blue Netherclift, mom Lucy Hellberg and baby Seth.

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Fall/Winter 2013/14 ROUTE 3

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TIDBITS – a taste of what’s happening in the West Kootenay/Boundary

Friendly. Healthy.

Community owned. organic produce hundreds of bulk items prepared foods fresh meat & seafood grocery vitamins & supplements

616 Vernon St, Nelson Saturday, Oct 19 Over 600 different bottles of wine to be tasted. www. newgrandhotel.ca RCAC CONCERT SERIES

Open 7 days a week Mon-Sat 8am-8pm Sun 10am-6pm

Kootenay Co-op 295 Baker St, Nelson t: 250 354 4077 tweet!

Grand Forks City Park To Tuesday, Oct 29 Certified organic produce, jams, fresh baking, local crafts and more.

GRAND FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL

healthy bodycare products

www.kootenay.coop

GRAND FORKS FARMERS' MARKET

f

Rossland Miners’ Hall Oct 26, 2013 – April 27, 2014 A wide variety of entertainment including excellent music, theatre and comedy. www.rosslandcac. com RAINBOW DERBY

Kaslo Nov 8-10 Heaviest fish wins!

Lots of prizes. http://kaslorainbowderby.weebly. com/ ROSSLAND FILM FESTIVAL

Nov 13–17 Miners’ Hall, Rossland This annual highenergy event brings together filmmakers, photographers, artists and multimedia talents. www.rosslandmountainfilmfestival.com/

CORRECTION

KBRH HEALTH FOUNDATION SNOWFLAKE GALA

Sat, Nov 16 Cominco Gymnasium, Trail Dinner, music, dancing, silent Auction. Music by Juno nominee, Melody Diachun.www.kbrhhealthfoundation.ca/ events.html GRAND FORKS ART GALLERY ANNUAL WINE TASTING

Gallery 2 Art & Heritage Centre Fri, Nov 22 Celebrate the holiday season whilst enjoying sips of fine B.C. wines, organic brews and spirits. Local food producers will present their chocolates, cheese and fine baked goods www.gallery2grandforks.ca CHRISTMAS LIGHT UP

Sun, Nov 24, 5pm Downtown Rock Creek BOUNDARY ARTISAN CHRISTMAS FAIRE

Gallery 2 Art & Heritage Centre Nov 29–30 Both floors will be filled with beautiful crafts, soft Christmas music and a place to sit and have something to eat. Open late Friday evening until 7 pm and Saturday until 4 pm.

CHRISTMAS

BY THE LAKE

Downtown Silverton Dec 6–8 The sparkling-lit Christmas Village and a collection of festively adorned wooden booths stands before the historic Silverton Gallery. www.christmasbythelake.ca REKINDLE THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

Downtown Rossland Saturday, Dec 7 Our boutique shops will have their doors open with fantastic deals, draws and ideas for that special someone on your Christmas list. www.rossland.com/ home ROSSLAND WINTER CARNIVAL

Jan 23–26, 2014 One of Canada's longest standing winter carnivals, the 116th winter carnival again will have a winter beer garden and entertainment stage in the newly renovated downtown core of Rossland. Renowned for homemade bob-sled races, a snowboarding competition and live music over the span of a weekend. www.rosslandwintercarnival.com

In the Summer issue of Route 3, the article on Wing Creek Resort stated that pricing starts at $600K. That figure should have been $399K. Our apologies for the error!

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HISTORY

June 6, 1960

SAFEST CITY IN THE WORLD Trail held the record for safest driving city from 1954 to 1966

STORY BY

Greg Nesteroff

B

efore mandatory seatbelts, airbags, and other measures, Trail boasted a remarkable title: safest driving city in B.C., Canada, North America, and/or the world.

The claim was based on the fact that between Dec. 15, 1954 and Feb. 25, 1966, no fatal crashes occurred within city limits, a record unmatched by any other place its size.

The streak, by its nature, began with tragedy when a 4½-year-old girl was struck and killed by a truck.

Ironically, on the same page that the Trail Daily Times reported the accident, a headline proclaimed “Safe Driving Day cuts traffic toll.”

After two years passed without any further fatalities, the city received commendations from the

Canadian Highway Safety Council, which tracked such things. Trail was the only B.C. municipality of 10,000 to 20,000 people with an unblemished record (in those days the city’s population was over 11,000, compared to about 7,300 today).

Seizing on this fact, in April 1957 Times editor Bruce Hogle launched a safety campaign. Taking his cue from workplace signs that recorded the number of days since a lost-time injury, he began printing a boxscore on the front page that read “Trail has now gone xxxx successive days without a traffic fatality.

Don’t be our first.”

Annual anniversaries were duly noted, as were milestones of 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 days — often accompanied by letters of congratulations from highways minister Phil Gaglardi, premier ➤

Fall/Winter 2013/14 ROUTE 3

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Dec. 15, 1964

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W.A.C. Bennett, prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson, and in one instance, the White House.

“I know I am expressing the president’s thoughts when I congratulate your fellow citizens for this splendid achievement,” wrote an aide to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Trail assumed the Canadian traffic safety record from Medicine Hat in May 1960 and the North American mark later that year. When ten fatality-free years passed, Cominco went a step further by stamping its outgoing mail: “Safest City in the World.”

Trail’s RCMP commander called the record all the more remarkable given the city’s steep hills, narrow streets, and winter weather.

Civic leaders admitted much of it had to do with luck — there were close calls, as well as one fatal crash just outside the city’s boundary — but they also thought local drivers were more conscientious because of the campaign and the fact Cominco was by then taking industrial safety seriously.

Other factors cited included the work of the local safety council, motor vehicle branch, school patrols, and teachers who offered driving instruction in their spare time.

In those pre-Ralph Nader days, however, there was no suggestion that automobile manufacturers could do anything to enhance safety, nor much talk about the link between alcohol and crashes.

Sadly, after 4,089 days — more than 11 years — a 63-year-old Fruitvale man fell into the path of an oncoming vehicle and died. The Times, loath to admit the streak had ended, hedged its bets with the headline “Trail’s safety record in jeopardy” and suggested the man might have suffered a heart attack.

Officials, however, acknowledged the run was over and said it paled in comparison to the loss of a man’s life. As if to emphasize

the fact, a second fatality occurred two days later when a 59-year-old man’s car went off Highway 3 and down an embankment.

While those involved always promised the safety campaign would begin anew whenever the streak was snapped, that doesn’t appear to have been the case.

These days, despite better roads and much-improved vehicle safety features, Trail hasn’t maintained its once enviable record: since 2004, there have been five traffic fatalities within city limits, the most recent in April 2012. Across Canada, over 2,200 people died in car accidents in 2010, a number that would be even more horrifying but for the fact it was down 40 per cent from 20 years earlier.

Although statistics are still kept, the sort of parlour game that once saw towns compete to be the safest is long gone. Indeed, whatever place holds the current title is probably unaware of it. Civic safety is more now commonly measured in crime rates than traffic fatalities.

Clockwise from top left: Nov. 27, 1965; Sept. 11, 1957; When Trail marked a decade without a traffic death, Cominco began stamping its outgoing mail "Safest City in the World – Ten Years Fatality Free; Feb. 24, 1966.

Fall/Winter 2013/14 ROUTE 3

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COMMUNITY

Nature & Nurture

W

STORY BY

Sam Van Schie

When Lucy Hellberg was pregnant for the first time, she and her partner Blue Netherclift had a lot of questions. The Nelson couple really wanted to have a natural birth at the hospital, but had heard a lot of scary stories about how things might not go as planned. Hiring a doula helped set their minds at ease.

“Talking to her made it seem more exciting than frightening,” Hellberg recalled, holding her eight-week old baby boy in her lap. She and her doula Anna Colin had three sessions together in the months leading up to her due date. They made a birth plan, practiced birthing positions and breathing, and discussed all the technical details of exactly what to expect.

When Hellberg went into labour, Colin met her at the hospital and was in the room with her the whole time to provide emotional support and reminders of what they’d practiced together. “It’s very difficult, when you’re in labour, to remember everything you’re supposed to be doing,” Hellberg said. “Having Anna there, it helped me keep calm and I was able have the birth I wanted.”

Like all doulas, Colin is careful not to overbook herself to assure she’s available when the baby comes. In the three years she’s been a doula, she’d rarely attended more than two births per month and has more demand for her services than she can meet. Fortunately, there’s a strong network of doulas across the West Kootenay, and especially in the Nelson area, that she can refer interested parents to when she’s fully booked.

Marty Sutmoller started the Kootenay Doula Group back in 1999, at a time when few people knew what a doula was. The group works together to promote public awareness of doulas and the work they do, while also providing an updated list of doulas practicing in the region. The group currently has 16 members with about half based out of Nelson. ➤

Doulas are a calming presence, helping parents have a safe, memorable and empowering birth experience Page 8

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➤

Doula Anna Colin works with Jodi and Tom Dool, who are expecting their third baby.

WHAT IS A DOULA? A DOULA...

Is a trusted woman providing continuous care from the prenatal through to the postpartum period.

Provides emotional support, reassurance and physical comfort measures to the labouring woman with no breaks.

Assists partners to participate at their own comfort level, in ways that help the labouring woman.

Provides information to aid decision making.

Facilitates communication between the women, her partner and health care providers. — kootenaydoulagroup.org

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Sutmoller said the focus on alternative and holistic health in this area makes doula services particularly popular. “There’s been a shift, just in the past three to five years, where more people are starting to hear about doulas and understand the importance of our work,” she said. Though some still confuse doulas with midwifes (the difference: “a doula works from the bellybutton up”) or think their husbands should be the one to support them, many mothers-to-be see the benefit or having another woman in the room who knows exactly what she’s going through.

“We’re there to normalize their experience and take away the fear,” Sutmoller said. “Usually when a woman can release that tension, mother nature takes over and everything goes well.”

Research shows that women assisted by a doula during labour require less medical intervention (such as a vacuum, forceps or cesarean surgery), have a slightly shorter labour and are happier with their childbirth experience, compared to those who had only the support of medical staff and a friend/family member. Yet, doula support isn’t covered by MSP. Couples will generally pay $500 to $700 for the service, depending on the doula and her level of experience.

For couples who can’t afford the fee, Meghan Paterson coordinates the Barrier Free Doula Project. All the doulas in the Kootenay Doula Group volunteer their time to provide at least one free birth per year to a couple who applied through the project. New doulas also volunteer with the project to gain experience. “We don’t want a woman’s financial situation to get in the way of her achieving the birth she wants,” Paterson explained. “Doula services should be available for

Far left: Doula Anna Colin holds baby Seth Netherclift while dad Blue Netherclift and mom Lucy Hellberg relax.

Left: Dixie Nicks and Colin Curtis with daughter Heidi, doula Hanne Smith, and Matt and Alison Tonner with daughter Carmen cuddling in the sling.

anyone who wants them.” Paterson assists about 11 births per year, and because she’s the one receiving the applications from the women in need, she often does more free births than paid ones. “I don’t want to turn anyone away. After I’ve heard their story, if I can’t find a doula that’s available for their due date, I’ll end up taking them on myself.”

Another place where the doulas find themselves doing a lot of work on a volunteer basis is in Grand Forks.

Tinaya Jorgensen became a doula in 2007, the same year the Grand Forks hospital lost its maternity services.

For the 50 or so women from that community who give birth each year, the nearest hospital is an hour and a half away, over the Paulson Summit. With the added stress of travel, and not knowing who your doctor will be in the delivery room, the need for doulas is that much more. But Jorgensen said the economy is such that few can afford to pay for her services and that the four certified and practicing doulas in the community, including herself, are “rarely paid enough to cover our costs.”

Jorgensen herself is 37 weeks pregnant with her third child and plans to give birth with the support of two of

her local doulas and a midwife based in Nelson (there are no midwives based in Grand Forks). She’s experiencing first hand the stress her clients face, as she makes weekly trips to Nelson for checkups. “You can’t help but become an advocate for better maternity care when you’ve been on the front lines as a doula, and now for me with this pregnancy,” Jorgensen said. “There’s a lot of risk, driving over the pass in all types of weather. It’s really hard on everyone.”

Though Grand Forks is an exception, many doulas in the region believe they are fortunate to work in this area and have nothing but praise for the medical care women receive in our local hospitals. Hanne Smith, a Rosslandbased doula, said in some of the larger, urban hospitals, birth is treated like a medical emergency that the mother has little part in. “It’s my great joy to be able to tell women that it’s not that way here,” she said. In the Nelson and Trail hospitals there is a more sensitive approach and the mother’s wishes are given more weight: “they are the main players in this drama — it’s their baby, their birth, they get to decide how they do it.”

For more information on the Kootenay Doula Group, see kootenaydoulagroup.org.

Fall/Winter 2013/14 ROUTE 3

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At the flashing light intersection, Rossland

651-18th St., CaStlegar • 250-365-7779 blackroosterbarandgrill.com • blackrooster@shaw.ca

1475 Cedar ave, trail Colander express – located in Waneta Plaza Mall

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Famous for serving OSO NEGRO coffee, Eva’s Cinnamon Buns and now…

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GARDENING

SEED SAVERS Looking for plants that grow well in our region? Check out local seed companies!

STORY BY

Marvin Beatty

Stellar Seeds farm apprentice Nikola Barsoum looks out over a Tatsoi seed crop being windrowed before threshing.

➤

COURTESY STELLAR SEEDS

B

efore the weeding, thinning and watering is done to see a successful garden grow, comes the planting. Before the planting though, comes the harvesting, organizing, and cleaning of seeds in order for anything at all to pop out of the soil.

Our region has many people passionate about ensuring the long-term viability of seed stocks — and they aren’t alone.

Seeds are small but make no mistake, they are a global concern. So much so the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was created deep inside permafrost in a disused mine in Norway. The multi-million dollar project has the capacity to store 1.5 million seed samples for countries, gene banks or other institutions.

“Preserving seed from food plants is an absolutely essential part of the work of preserving the world’s biodiversity, adapting to climate change and global warming and thereby ensuring food for the world’s population for the foreseeable future,” reads a statement from the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture ➤

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MARVIN BEATTY MARVIN BEATTY

Top: Blake Robbins, with the Foodtree Permaculture organization, with an extensive collection of seeds available at "Seedy Saturday" at the Castlegar & District Library last April.

Below: Kylie Lichty, of Mountain Seed Co. in the Slocan Valley. Lichty specializes in "heirloom open-pollinated" varieties.

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and Food on the Svalbard website.

“It’s a bit of a controversial thing,” said Patrick Steiner of Stellar Seeds in Johnsons Landing, north of Kaslo.

“Because they’re not saving small-scale farmer varieties from across the world, they’re saving large commercially important varieties. They work with large multinational corporations and governments, but a lot of the world’s seed diversity is held in the hands of small-scale farmers because they are the ones that have been growing and selecting and minting the varieties in their fields.”

Steiner and his wife Colleen O’Brien have been operating Stellar Seeds, a family-run farm with about two of four acres cultivated and certified organic, for the past two years.

“We chose this site because it’s good for seed growing,” said Steiner. “We have really great sun exposure here. It’s all south and west facing so it’s excellent for drying down and maturing seeds in the field.”

Though it’s rockier than the fertile topsoil they left in

ROUTE 3 Fall/WInter 2013/14

the Shuswap, Steiner said they were happy to be in the Kootenays and owners versus renters. With the farm being located on a slope, they also have a longer frost-free period, providing a better opportunity to grow crops with less problems.

Beyond seeds, they also sell fresh vegetables at the Kaslo farmers market.

But fall is their busy time. “We’re at the harvest phase,” Steiner said. “Come mid-August we start harvesting and it carries right through to mid-October.”

Because crops mature at different times, peas are already out of the ground, cleaned and hanging to dry.

Popular salad greens like tatsoi and mizuna have also been harvested, with lettuce, tomatoes, beans, carrots, leeks and onions next on the list.

One of the more unique vegetables they grow is Scorzonera, a European root vegetable.

“It isn’t grown as much in North America but it’s kind of catching on in foody circles,” said Steiner. “It’s a long root like a tap root — a bit like a long, skinny carrot — except that it’s not a sweet flavoured vegetable, it’s more of an earthy flavour. It has a brown skin and white flesh and often goes by the name of Oyster Plant because they say when you sauté it in butter it tastes like oysters.”

Because of last year’s devastating landslide at Johnsons Landing, their farm still doesn’t have a permanent source of water. Right now, it’s coming from a spring on a neighbour’s property and Steiner said he doesn’t anticipate getting a permanent source until next year.

“While we haven’t run short of water this year, its required quite a bit of maintenance work from us to keep it flowing,” said Steiner.

In Winlaw, another operation manages with an even smaller staff.

Kylie Lichty is the person behind Mountain Seed Co. and looks after everything to do with her three-acre farm in the Slocan Valley. (Well, almost. She said her husband does tend to tractor duties.)

“I just do a few hours a day and I manage,” she said.

“September is the big seed harvesting time. We have chickens and turkeys and ducks, too.”

Specializing in rare, northern acclimated, and shortgrowing season varieties of tomatoes — including many Russian Doukhobor and Heirloom Tomato varieties —Lichty enjoys the different colours, shapes and sizes produced.

Lichty said she has concerns about the rate certain varieties of seeds are being lost and the increasing regulations placed on the saving and selling of seeds.

“I isolate some of my varieties at different farms and because we live in the mountains, it’s good for things like cross-pollination,” she said. “Right now, I’m cutting all the seeds down and drying them. Throughout the fall and winter I clean all the seeds and package them in envelopes.”

Lichty said one of her favourite things this year is quinoa.

“There are all sorts of colours: purple, orange, yellow

and green,” she said. “I’ve grown it before but it can be difficult because it looks a lot like lambs quarters (a weed).”

Lichty said she does about 18 Seedy Saturdays and Sundays every year, and September is the busy time of year for her to sort and package her seeds.

“The Seeds of Diversity website (www.seeds.ca) is a really great place for seed growers like me to see where all the seed exchanges are.”

In the bedroom community of Tarrys, between Castlegar and Nelson, Annette Reed-Conant focuses much of her energy around supplying plants and seeds native to B.C. to her customers.

She said 70 per cent of her business is in growing tree seedlings that are sold for erosion control or landscaping.

Her small cottage nursery, Green By Nature, sits on 6.6 acres of farm, meadow, forest and mountain. Many seeds and cuttings are harvested onsite where a variety of species are readily available in the nursery and forest. These include beautiful evergreen ground-covers like wild ginger, pippsissewa and twinflower.

Tree seeds include hazelnut, Douglas maple, and several conifers. She also sells shrubs such as shepherdia, Saskatoon, and red osier dogwood.

When seeds are harvested in the wild, she said no more than 20 per cent are removed from an individual plant or area. This protects the biodiversity of the area, and leaves about 80 per cent for natural propagation and wildlife.

Most seeds are provided to plant nurseries, as many have very specific requirements for planting.

“With seeds that don’t come up, I always leave them an extra year and a lot of times, they come up the next spring,” she said. “Every one is different and you have to research every seed and plant.”

Some of her plants are edible but that’s not the main focus. At first, she said she collected lots of seeds but now tends to find out what her customers need and then goes out to find it. She said she has been working her current property for 10 years and has been a “B.C. native plant nut for decades.”

After studying horticulture through the University of Guelph online she decided to get some hands on experience.

“I started volunteering at the UBC Botanical Garden. I took people on tours of the food and native plant gardens and that really got me hooked,” she said.

She was good-natured about the often finicky work saying that sometimes you just don’t know what will come up.

“I spend a few weeks every fall collecting seed and then I have to get things planted before winter,” she said. “The seeds have to sit in the nursery in the snow for the winter or they won’t germinate.”

S

eed exchanges, commonly called Seedy Saturdays or Sundays, are organized by either gardeners or farmers who have an interest in trading or selling seeds. Most happen from February to April so that people have time to get them organized for planting.

Often, seed companies are invited, too, which brings a more diverse mix of seed varieties. The events also become opportunities for eduction regarding of seed saving, gardening, compositing or related issues.

Many plants have seeds that are easy to harvest and dry. Try it yourself this fall! From top: calendula flowers, columbine flowers, beans of all kinds, dill seeds, and sunflower seeds.

ALL PHOTOS: BACKYARDDIVA.COM

STELLAR SEEDS: 250-366-0061 or you can contact them through their website at www.stellarseeds.com MOUNTAIN SEED CO.: 250-355-2796 or www.mountainseedco.com GREEN BY NATURE is open by appointment at 250-3045802 or email nertt22@shaw.ca.

SEEDY SUNDAYS

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  

Golf Granite Pointe, minutes from downtown Nelson

Explore, Dine and Shop Historic Baker Street. A true adventure in itself

This Winter Ski Whitewater or Cat Ski at Baldface Lodge

Visit Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art & History

 Visitor Centre 225 Hall St. Nelson BC V1L 5X4 Ph: (250) 352-3433 Toll Free: 1-877-663-5706 Email: info@discoverNelson.com Web: www.discoverNelson.com

702 Baker St 250.354.4622 www.gericks.com

Photos by David Gluns

Sports Injury Rehab Massage Therapy Pain Management Scenar Therapy

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Email: krvintners@gmail.com

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1961 Georgia St Rossland, BC

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ART HARRISON

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE

If You Build It...

T

hroughout the region, dedicated hiking and mountain biking enthusiasts have explored the terrain and set their own trails across the landscape for years. Some old trails, wagon roads, and dirt tracks of forgotten purpose, many built in the distant past, have been coopted by those seeking recreation with fewer boundaries than one finds in a city gym or fitness centre. Up old game trails and down dry water courses, across fallen timbers, and over rock faces... there is little that discourages those who live to explore the wildlands, whether it be on foot, bike, or even horseback.

Yet there are potential pitfalls to these routes; trails deteriorate and get washed out by spring rains, hard winds blow and bring down deadfalls, and the brush always grows and grows.

But an organization has grown in the STORY BY Rossland/Trail area to answer the challenge of building and maintaining the network of trails that are becoming an ever more important part of the recreational life of the region; the Kootenay Columbia Trails Society.

Art Harrison

The KCTS crew, from left to right: Jacob Dueck, Brad Herman, Cam Spooner and trails manager, Stewart Spooner.

... they will ride, and hike The society arose out of the efforts of numerous mountain biking fanatics in the Rossland area who had been using the old mining roads and trails as their playground for years. The geography of the area and existing tracks seemed to naturally lend itself to the growing sport. Bike manufacturers and backyard enthusiasts were constantly modifying bikes to improve their performance and ability to take the punishment that the sport subjected bike and rider to, expanding the potential terrain accessible to the riders.

The community began hosting a variety of mountain bike events and promoting the activity in the area proclaiming itself “Canada’s Mountain Biking Capital.”

As is sometimes the case with those who seek the adrenaline rush of hurtling down a mountainside on a bike, they soon became bored with the existing tracks and set about building ➤

Fall/Winter 2013/14 ROUTE 3

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their own new trails to suit their needs.

However, cracks began to show in the local development of the trails as landowners became uncomfortable with growing unauthorized property use, increasing interest in real estate in the area led to land purchases and the closing of some trails, and others closed due to liability issues.

The possible loss of a recreational resource eventually led to the creation of the Trails for Rossland Society in 1999, which would eventually be renamed the Kootenay Columbia Trails Society in 2002 to better reflect the organization’s growing regional focus.

“They had a lot of good ideas, they just needed help implementing them,” said KCTS trails manager, Stewart Spooner. “I put my hand up.”

Spooner had had some training in mapping and was already involved in the biking scene in the community. Initially a volunteer, he says he was hired “in a modest capacity” in 2001 to continue handdrawing basic maps, and signing and maintaining the trails.

Today, the society manages a network of some 50 named trails, tracking almost 150 kilometres around Rossland and into the Columbia River valley around Trail and the Beaver Valley, including the increasingly popular 30 km-long Seven Summits Trail. And the network is growing continually.

With base funding from the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary and some additional support from municipalities covering the cost of maintenance and trail upgrades, Spooner works with the KCTS board of directors seeking out additional funding sources for new projects, securing property access, obtaining necessary insurance, managing paid and volunteer work crews, maintaining existing trails and planning and building new trails.

“Most of the new trail work we’re doing at this point is adding sections that work with existing trails,” said Spooner. “We’re working on extensions and expansions on the Upper Red trail, reservoir, and the upper Sunningdale extension, as well as work in Montrose.”

Currently in the early planning stages there is a new trail that, if successful, could prove to be enormously popular.

“It’s a 19 km trail running from the Nancy Greene pass to Red Resort,” Spooner said. “I think it would be as appealing as the Seven Summits trail but targeted at a more moderate level of fitness and ability.

“It’s just that a project of that scale, planning a trail that runs for almost 20 km through the forest, coming up with a budget, who’s going to build it... it’s almost like building a mini road.”

Not all new construction is quite as grand as the anticipated Nancy Greene to Red Resort trail but with only Stewart and a paid trail-building crew of three people on staff, there is only so much that KCTS can do. For any organization such as KCTS to be successful it also requires a base of dedicated volunteers to help out with basic maintenance, as well as new construction.

In addition to an annual “KCTS Trails Day” where a large group of volunteers go out into the forest to work on projects, there are also smaller volunteer groups who help out with some of the on-going maintenance and smaller new stretches of trail.

One such group is the self-proclaimed, “Church of Dirt,” a small drop-in group of five to seven volunteers who have been gathering Monday evenings to work on one of the many smaller tracks that Spooner has laid out through the bush near Rossland.

“There’s only one annual trail day, so we thought this would just be a way to see if there was interest in volunteer trail building in the community beyond that,” said “Deacon” Scott Forsyth. “We wanted ➤

KCTS/CAMPBELL SPOONER

The 30-km Seven Summits Trail outside Rossland, an International Mountain Biking Association "Epic"-rated trail, is the KCTS's crowning glory. But many of the society’s trails are quite moderate — great for hiking and horseback riding.

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KCTS trail crew members Cam Spooner (foreground) Brad Herman, and Jacob Dueck (background) build up a portion of the Miral Heights trail, in Trail.

to do it under the auspices of the KCTS, so we’re working on a trail Stewart has flagged paralleling the Centennial Trail. This is probably the easiest trail in Rossland but there isn’t much of that level here.”

In contrast to many of the advanced and double black diamond mountain biking trails surrounding Rossland, many of the new trails that make up the expanding network around Trail and the Beaver Valley are more moderate, targeted towards a slightly broader population interested in walking, hiking, and more of an intermediate biking experience.

“They’ve had the trail network in Rossland for years and I think many of us in Trail envied them for that,” said KCTS director, Hal Harrison. “This has been a passion of mine forever and I’m personally delighted to see this coming to fruition in Trail and the Beaver Valley.

There’s a strong rationale that this is preventative health care; being active helps keep people out of the hospital.”

Passion seems to be a common motivation for the staff and volunteers of the KCTS, from the trail crew who venture out with picks and shovels to dig and chop and haul rocks and dirt to build the trails, to the manager and board who spend hours planning and seeking funds to expand the network.

“I’m a bit of an evangelist when it comes to trails,” Spooner said. “It’s a healthy, fun, affordable form of recreation. I believe it works on the ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy.

“It worked in Rossland where people like to go outdoors for their recreation, it can work in other communities. I’d like to see more people out using the trails and we do that by providing all sorts of things, for everyone from the thrill seekers to the people who just want to get out there. Our organization is about all different types; cyclists, hikers, horsemen... it would be great if every community had this.”

Page 20

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Q&A with Dani Collins INTERVIEW BY Craig

Lindsay

Romancing the Novel

W

hen it comes to romance novels, you could say Harlequin wrote the book or at least published the book. For writer Dani Collins, who lives in Christina Lake, becoming published by Harlequin was a major milestone in her career, but she isn’t stopping there.

Collins wrote Proof of Their Sin – One Night with Consequences, which came out in July under the Harlequin Presents banner. She has another novel coming out, More Than a Convenient Marriage? coming out in December, also under the Harlequin Presents banner.

We chatted with Dani at Pedaller’s Place book store where she was signing books during the recent Back to the Wild West Day in downtown Grand Forks.

What brought you to Christina Lake?

I grew up in Maple Ridge. We moved out to Christina Lake about eight years ago. We joke that we got in the car and drove until we could afford the house we wanted. Mostly, we wanted what we’d had when we were growing up in Maple Ridge: small town life. The town (Maple Ridge) had grown so much it was a bit of culture shock for our kids moving from a school of 500 students to barely 100 at Christina Lake Elementary School, but that became a really fabulous experience for our kids and us.

What do you like about the area?

As soon as I’m home I jump into the lake and cool off. I love that. The community, both in Christina Lake and Grand Forks, are awesome – very supportive and very artsy. The community is always willing to help out artists, writers, anyone. It’s a beautiful place.

What kind of writing do you do?

It’s all romance. I’ve always wanted to publish with Harlequin Presents. I’ve also branched out into other things. I wrote Hustle to the Altar, which is a romantic comedy which I self-published. I also have a digital book with Champagne Books from Calgary.

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ROUTE 3 Fall/WInter 2013/14

Author Dani Collins poses with Pedaller’s Place co-owner Sandra Einarson. Collins was on hand at the book store signing autographs during Grand Forks’ Back to the Wild West Day on Aug. 9.

What are your inspirations?

Ideas come from absolutely everywhere. On a recent visit to Calgary, I stayed in a hotel in Olympic Village. This got me thinking about how athletes are pressed together in this intense time of competition. There must be hook-ups once that final event is over and they’re able to let off steam. So what happens when you meet that person five years later? Obviously, that’s not a whole story, but it’s a setup and you can build from there.

When did you first get published? How many books have you written and how many have been published?

I wrote for 25 years and probably had about that many full manuscripts before I sold one to Harlequin Mills and Boon London in May of 2012. It’s a little hard to answer the question of ‘How many have been published?’ Some books, The Healer, for instance, are only available digitally. Meanwhile, the Harlequin books have fabulous distribution, but are typically only available for one month. I’ve signed contracts for eight books and a ninth on the way. I tried for 25 years so I’m pretty happy to be here.

How did you get into writing?

That might be why it took 25 years. I went to high school and did well in English but I wouldn’t say I was the queen of writing well. It took a long time to figure out what publishers wanted. The market changed a lot over time. I wrote around having children. Those were some of my challenges. Mostly, I just took a lot of writing courses and workshops specifically geared to romance writing.

Are you able to make a living at writing?

I do have a day job which I keep private. But certainly the goal long-term is to write full-time. It’s hard though. If I was writing full-time I would get the books out faster and the income would come in to support it, but right now there’s this lag.

What do you have coming out soon?

There are several things that I’m excited for. I have another story coming out that’s part of a digital anthology called Shared Whispers. I’m part of 16 authors in the anthology. I have a December book coming out as a two for one. More than a Convenient Marriage? will be paired with an older book, No Longer Forbidden, which was released in England but not in North America. I’m excited because they’re also linked books. The hero from No Longer Forbidden is the brother of the heroine from More than a Convenient Marriage?. I’m currently working on two more brothers. So it’ll be a four book mini-series in the end. I then have a Harlequin hitting shelves in February – hello, a romance novel on Valentine’s Day? How awesome is that?

Check out danicollins.com or her Facebook page at facebook.com/danicollinsauthor.

Dani's books are available at Pedaller's Place in Grand Forks and at the Christina Living Arts Centre in Christina Lake.

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