So much swirling through our minds and hearts as another year ends and a new one begins. Counting blessings seems appropriate once again as we review, reflect and goal set.
This year has been quite the adjustment for me. I came out of semi-retirement to join the Black Press family of journalists, who I am proud to say are continuing to keep community news alive in a time that has been very challenging for media. As I am sure you’ve seen as readers, we’ve been determined to continue to do our very best to bring you local news online digitally and in print.
It’s an amazingly rewarding feeling to share your voices, stories, adventures, photos and heart-touching experiences with you weekly. It’s a true honour being trusted with your hearts, welcomed into your homes, lives, businesses and dreams for the future. We take our obligation and commitment to you very seriously. These rural communities are home and we are so proud to be part of the fabric of the community. By our communication and support we try to make a difference, and by telling your stories we assist in making positive and sustainable change in this incredibly beautiful North Thompson Valley, the place we call “home” and cherish as much as you do.
I regard this valley, including Barriere, Clearwater and beyond to Blue River, to truly be a legacy that carries the stories of our family’s history generations before, and on into the future.
Our great-aunt Grace McGaw and partner Dorothy Bell started Dutch Lake Resort from the homestead of our Uncle Bob Miller’s parents, Otto and Gertie Miller; “The Ranch” as some of us still refer to the resort. When we were little kids “The Ranch” was a summer place with Shetland ponies to ride, and an ice house where they stored chunks of ice that had been cut from the winter’s thick ice in Dutch Lake. These were kept all summer in sawdust and food and beverages were stored underneath, where the office building at the resort is now.
When we came to Clearwater — our paradise and sanctuary — each summer from California, we took swimming lessons in Dutch Lake, and often canoed across to the island. Powerboats were allowed on the lake when we moved up permanently in 1971, and many of us water-skied on the lake back then. Camp 2 Mill and the planer mill in the “flats” were running then also. We had two elementary schools, and our high school in the ’70s was in what is now Raft River Elementary.
There was a Fall Fair royalty competition for Queen and Princesses, and a May Day competition that was more of a talent show back then. Both Barriere Secondary and Clearwater Secondary often played inter-mural sports against each other and Kamloops was the “big city”, as I guess it is now.
Aunt Hettie and Uncle Bob Miller’s nursery was a gorgeous, lush and thriving place that attracted many in the valley to come for trees, plants, shrubs, fruit and flowers or watch the annual painted turtle migration. Visitors would often stay, lounging on the lawns near their little lake, learning about birds and butterflies from Aunt Het or hearing tall tales, nibbling Uncle Bob’s deluxe caramel, or wandering through the walls of flowers like his spectacular peonies, poppies, irises, and lovingly pruned trees. There was wood-stove black tea, with canned milk and honey or sometimes a splash of something extra added in on a cold day, next to the warmth of the fire.
The legacy of exploring the bush, learning about nature in every step and breath, continues today throughout the North Thompson. How fortunate we are to have these flowing waterfalls, rivers, streams and lakes to explore in any season.
It’s hard to imagine it the way it was sometimes. Everything and everyone seems to be in such a hurry these days. My Grandma Lillie would say “Take time to smell the roses” or “Give flowers to the living”.
From all of us working with dedication here in the North Thompson, throughout B.C., and across Canada and the U.S. to bring you news, thank you for continuing to support responsible journalism and community news. Wishing you a truly healthy and happy year ahead in 2024.