LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- October 9, 2007
To The Editor:
On September 16th the annual Terry Fox Run was held at the Trans-Canada Trailhead. Despite poor weather, approximately 50 people came out to show their support or to lend a hand in making the event a success. At this time the total amount of money is still unavailable however, from monies raised and turned in the day of the run we had raised more than $1,400!
This year we were very happy to have Mark Cimbaro and his family on hand to help us open the run with Mark giving us a speech and some inspiration that cancer can be beaten. We would like to thank the Cimbaro Family for joining us. In addition to the Cimbaro's support we would like to give a huge THANK YOU to each and every volunteer that lent a hand in making this a big success. We hope that you will all be back again next year.
Thank you to the Princeton Posse for coming out and participating and for collecting donations at both their home games on September 14th and 15th. We hope you will all be back next year too! Thanks to Princeton Overwaitea for their donation of hot dogs for everyone and last but definitely not least, thank you to all of you who came out, braving the rain and cold, to show your support to Terry's dream and the dreams of many other victims of this disease. Together maybe we can find the cure.
Thanks, Princeton, for once again proving that little communities do big things; see you all out at the run next year!
- Tammy Holland and Barb Gagnon, Princeton
To The Editor;
DON'T READ THIS !!! Part 2
First of all THANKS!! to all the people who told me in person that they liked some of my last week's input I have never done this before as you can probably tell by the quality of writing, etc. so if you don't mind send The Editor a word or two about your thoughts about our town!
Everyone's thoughts are important !
And even though I always think that I am right, (ha-ha). I of course know I am NOT! In some subjects I don't have the background information others do have here in town-BUT I usually think straight forward and like to get things done in a reasonable amount of time.
I am not a fan of meetings every three months because nothing gets done. Let's be honest it's like doing homework ... when did we do our homework? RIGHT - the last day or two before we really needed it! So meetings should be held every two weeks in my opinion, so decisions about projects can be made faster.
What I like to say is not all that difficult to understand!
Our fate in Princeton is more or less in our own hands.
Why is it that the condition of this town seems so 'poor' even though lots of people have good or decent paying jobs in town?
On top of that we live in one of the most scenic areas in BC there is no doubt about that at all! We have two famous rivers meeting here and canyons one kilometre from downtown that would take many people's breath away if we were located in the Whistler area.
We have the cleanest lakes around with prime fishing and hunting if you are into that, the Princeton municipal campground is beautiful for tourists and we have a new nice tourist center as well, to mention a few things.
So what the heck is wrong with this town? Would it be better if we all made $10,000 or more a month?
The answer is NO!
Why? - Because almost all of us - and that includes me would take the $10,000 and go to Kelowna, Kamloops and Penticton to be able to spend the money. Honestly what could you possibly buy in this town if you had the cash?
So at the end of the day the town LOOKS just as poor as it did yesterday.
I have to say this here once in a while so you don't get me wrong.
I LOVE THIS TOWN!!
The people here are certainly the best and friendliest someone could imagine and that is why we all hang in here.
What is happening to us and what is different here than in 'let's say' Whistler?
Now this part is important!
If 100 families in Whistler, take $5,000 drive to San Francisco and spend it all in doughnuts and clothingS..what damage does that do to Whistler??
The answer is NONE!
If we do the same here with 100 Princeton Families who spend the money elsewhere it is ruining our town!
And the reason is simple.
The same time 100 Whistler families go to San Francisco there is at least 100 other families from other places to spend the same money or more in Whistler!
Every dollar we spend anywhere else but Princeton is not coming back just for the lone reason that there is not enough people from out of town returning the $$$ we spend elsewhere. That's why we have 30 year old paint jobs on a lot of buildings in town. We have to find ways to attract people into town and make our people buy locally more and that is only possible if we have businesses that sell more unique items. Lot's of unique businesses will attract lots of people year round.
Look what we all do on a nice Sunday in September or October:
We get up and remember that there is all these great pumpkins in Keremeos...so we jump in our big car drive 50 kilometres, get out of the car to buy 10 apples and two pounds of cherries...then we take five pictures of our kids sitting on one of the 38 pumpkins piled up nicely.
After 15 minutes we drive 50 kilometres back home after we filled up at the Fas Gas. Damage is about $80 including gas, junk food, apples and cherries and all this because? Right we have not a single pile of pumpkins in this town. A tiny investment as a town to attract literally thousands of people.
Enough math for today! Enjoy your week and buy as much locally as you can!
One more thing and I have to admit that has been bugging me the most this past week.
I am sure that there may be a shortage of firefighters in this town but I can not imagine to see the kids faces if they go up to the fairgrounds and there will be NO spook house. We adults love the big fire but how much fun is that if the kids are bored standing beside us?
Someone should explain in detail why there is a problem and what it takes to get it done this year and in the future.
- Stefan Dietz, Princeton
Dear Editor;
I agree with virtually everything Mr. Dietz said in his letter to the editor on October 2nd, but he left out a couple of basics.
We need a massive education campaign to tell people that if they want better shopping in Princeton, they have to shop in Princeton.
Every shopping trip to Penticton, Kelowna, Merritt or Oroville decreases the availability of goods here in town. People have to understand that small businesspersons cannot afford to carry large inventories unless they have a reasonable expectation of moving them.
Also, we expect increased population due to retiring baby boomers attracted to our area by our climate, lifestyle and affordability. These future residents will require medical services, so we need a pipeline (or other probe) into IHA to get their attention focused outside of Greater Kelowna.
With visionaries like Mr. Dietz on hand, I have high hopes that this town will once again be the vibrant community that attracted us many years ago.
- Marg Beattie, Princeton
(Editor's Note: Stefan touches on part of your concern this week).
