It’s good for the soul to see the farmers getting their hay cut and to see it laying in the field actually drying. Throughout our rural areas, and on both sides of the road, the fields are freshly mowed into their precise patterns. And at this writing there is no rain in the forecast.
As mentioned in last week’s column, Iris Mahood turned 100 on July 5. Our centenarian had her 100th birthday party at the Smithers Legion the following day. Counting the decades of years on my fingers Iris has been here for 78 years, and, for the most part, in Telkwa. She arrived in our valley in 1946.
Iris was a secretary for the army at a military base in Shilo, Manitoba when she met her soon-to-be husband David Mahood.
Through their marriage and raising their three children, Iris worked for the School District for 20 years.
Iris got congratulations, all very nicely framed, from Charlie and Camela and, as well, Mary Simon, the Governor General of Canada, Taylor Bachrach, and Justin Trudeau.
There is an out-of-control fire at Little Oliver Creek near Hwy 16 between Cedarvale and Terrace [ed. note: now being contained. At this writing water bombers are going overhead at a steady pace.
Their steadiness and the hum of their engines has renewed my need to keep my car full of gas on the motto; better be safe than sorry.
I talked with Matt Herzog ESS (Emergency Support Services) director and he said that if you get issued an alert there is a risk to life and safety. It means that it is time to prepare to go.
Make to-go-grab bags. He stressed to make sure that the grab-and-go bags are tailored to each person and include meds and important documents. For kids and pets too.
The Town of Smithers has an evacuation zone list. Make sure you know your zone.
An evacuation order rmeans it is now time to go! They are not issued lightly and mean there is a significant risk to life and safety if people stay behind.
The issue will be delivered door-to-door or announced over an intercom. The order will have on it, where to go and what direction to go and they ask everyone to report to the Emergency Support Services Reception Centre. Evacuees will receive the neccessities they require at the centre from volunteers.
Rural areas are handled exactly the same as urban areas.
In addition Herzog added we should to line up our BC Services Card with our banking information. That will ensure that the process at the reception centre will go much faster should we need emergency funds. They can be put directly into our bank accounts.
He encourages people to go to ess.gov.bc.ca and create a profile. We don’t have to be under an alert or evacuation order. It will be much quicker to get through the lineup if our profile is already made up.
If you have thoughts for this community column please contact sonja.lester.b.c@gmail.com or call 250-847-4414.
