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2022 Year in Review: April

The Standard looks back at the stories of April 2022

APRIL

• Chawathil First Nation received two new playgrounds. The project, which was led by Chawathil councillor Kelsey John, became a necessity for the community after their existing playgrounds fell into disrepair.

• The District of Hope hired their new director of finance, Mike Olson. Olson, who has more than 20 years of accounting and financial reporting experience, said he is excited to work in Hope. The position was previously held by Dale Courtice who passed away last year.

• Hope’s Secondary school’s Spring Market made its comeback on April 9. Hosted for the third time, the event was cancelled the past two years due to COVID-19.

• Likewise, the Hope Lion Club’s annual Easter egg hunt returned to Silver Creek Elementary school on April 17. Like the Spring Market, the event was cancelled the past two years due to COVID-19.

• Hope firefighters found themselves busy early April after a home in Silver Creek, in the 2000 block of Flood Road, was destroyed by fire. No injuries or deaths were reported. The fire, whose cause is unknown, started in the garage and took 17 firefighters to fight.

• District of Hope’s Chief Administrative Officer, John Fortoloczky, was recognized for his 32 years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces. Major General Rob Roy Mackenzie, Chief of Reserves and Employer Support for Canadian Armed Forces, and Colonel Mike McGinty, presented Fortoloczky with a second clasp to his Canadian Forces Decoration.

• The elected director for the Fraser Valley Regional District’s Electoral Area A, Terry Raymond, passed away on Apri l 7. He was a longtime resident of Boston Bar and was first elected in 1996 and again in 2014.

• Burnaby RCMP turned to Hope in April for help with a case from 1990; they were looking for new information regarding the disappearance of Alim Feasal Hasan, who disappeared on April 12, 1990, and believe that people living in Hope at that time may have vital information.

• Concern arose among many groups, including Indigenous harvesters — who turn many forest resources such as wild berries, flowers, plants, and bark into food and medicine — after learning that plans were in place for herbicide glyphosate to be sprayed in the forests, from Squamish to Hope, over the next five years. Forestry minister Kartine Conroy did not respond to two requests to comment on the plan.

• An Atmospheric River Event After-Action Review was presented to the District of Hope council, on April 11, on how to improve preparations for future emergencies. A list of recommendations were provided to council.

• Staff Sergeant Dwayne Farlin returned to Hope, on April 19, as the new RCMP detachment commander in the District of Hope. Farlin, who was born in Hope, said he was excited and full of pride to be working with the community of Hope.

• Trail builder Jay Hoots, who built the local Hope bike park in 2015, returned to Hope to give the park some much-needed TLC. Hoots, with his group, spent most of the week cleaning up the park and restoring it back to it’s former state.

• The community of Sunshine Valley received a government grant to help them build ‘Celebration Park’, a new outdoor recreational space. The space includes a playground, ice rink, gazebos, splash pad, and other amenities. The projected included $125,712 in federal funding, $78,570 in provincial funding, and $109,999 from the Fraser Valley Regional District.



Kemone Moodley

About the Author: Kemone Moodley

I began working with the Hope Standard on August 2022.
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