MARCH
• The proposed supportive housing and shelter project, for the homeless, on 7th Avenue was still a topic of interest in early March. A few Hope residents expressed concerns about property values, paramountcy, and the proposed building being a ‘wet building.’ Advocates for the project meanwhile argued that need for supportive housing in Hope.
• In early March, the District of Hope council voted to support an application to the 2022 Union of BC Municipalities Community Emergency Preparedness Fund. The target $25,000 grant would go towards getting a $125,000 generator to provide power during another emergency in Hope.
• The District of Hope council moved ahead with a 2.63 per cent property tax increase. With the increase, someone with a property around the average assessment would pay an extra $34 on their property taxes.
• On March 14, the District of Hope Council voted to deliver $450,00 from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure towards saving the Hope Station House. Now having the District’s support, advocates for the station house said they could begin pursuing matching grants to move the project ahead.
• The first bears of 2022 were spotted in Hope on March 15.
• The owners of Hope’s Ma and Pa’s Memory Lane officially announced they would be closing their store in May. The couple were unable to find a new home for their store.
• In March, registration opened up again for the return of the B.C. Canoe Festival at Kawkawa Lake. The festival, which was scheduled for April 29 to May 1, was cancelled the last two years due to COVID-19.
• Likewise, after a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) returned to Hope on March 16.
• In March, people began feeling the rise in gas prices as it sat around town at $1.95 a litre, which was well above normal for Hope at the time. Prices began to rise around this time due to the war between Russia and the Ukraine.
• Anishinaabe artist Tanya Zalinski, who grew up in Hope, revealed the book cover they designed for the 30th anniversary edition of ‘My Name is Seepeetza’ by Shirley Sterling — a book about residential schools. Zalinski was commissioned to design this cover in Sterling’s memory who died in 2005.
• During this month, Hope Secondary School was recognized for raising $6,100 in 2021 for the Terry Fox Foundation; they had the fifth highest fundraising total amount out of all high schools in B.C. according to Kirsten Fox, the Terry Fox Foundation School Development Officer for B.C. and Yukon.
• During this month, Dee Eashappie talked about the disappearance of her cousin April Parisian, who lived in Spuzzum, who disappeared two years ago without a trace. Eashappie said she feels that not enough was done to find Parisian; she, and the rest of Parisian’s family, said they will continue to search for her.
• In March, a GoFundMe was started by Riley Forman in order to honour Ron Westerlund, otherwise known as ‘Cookie Monster’, who worked at Boston Bar elementary-second school. Money raised would go towards installing a giant Cookie Monster carving at the school. Westerlund died on March 5, and was a beloved member of the Boston Bar community.