Editor:
I’m one of many who are sadly perplexed by both the Telkwa and Smithers main streets renovations.
Here in Telkwa, what was once an extraordinarily beautiful walkway along the river has now become a bad Fred Flintstone-esque acid flashback.
A once dazzling nature display of the well-kept grassy meandering old brick path past huge beautiful trees, views of distant Hudson’s Bay Mountain, the southern snow-capped Telkwa mountains, and especially the Bulkley and Telkwa Rivers majestic conjunction with its two iconic bridges (once three), now appears to be modelled after a Neil Armstrong photo taken in a far-off place many years ago, minus the Stars and Stripes.
And a walk down Smither’s Main Street now makes what was once a picturesque and inviting street into any one of the many lacklustre hick main streets that lacklustre hick towns specialize in.
The vibrant colours of the flowering shrubs and sweet shady trees are, which contrasted so pleasingly against the grey of the asphalt, non-descript modern cars, the occasional stench of diesel, and fraying international flags that shabbily adorned the town’s pseudo-Alpine main thoroughfare are gone.
Since when was the “post-apocalypse look” the latest village and small-town fashion?
Keith Cummings
Telkwa