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YEAR IN REVIEW: Looking back at June headlines

Gardens and farmer’s market bring in the summer season
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Archbishop Melissa Skelton blesses Hope’s new scattering garden at the Anglican Christ Church alongside her warden. (Sarah Gawdin/Hope Standard)

June 2019

• It’s been years that locals had been working towards creating a scattering garden in Hope, and after nearly a decade of dedicated effort, the finished garden was blessed in June by the B.C. and Yukon Anglican Archbishop, Melissa Skelton. Later in the year, the garden would receive accolades from the Communities in Bloom judges.

Tucked in next to the Anglican Christ Church on Fraser Avenue is the culminated effort of dozens of volunteers — three raised gardens in decorative, manmade rock beds full of colourful foliage that’s been designed to accept the scattering of ashes.

• In June, the District of Hope and the local Chamber of Commerce kicked off the sunny season with the launch of their new Farmer’s Market summer series.

“It’s a partnership (between the two organizations) to get more people out of their cars and into downtown Hope,” said Coun. Victor Smith at the time. “We’ve never done anything like this—shutting down a downtown street—so we’re excited to see how it turns out.”

• Pregnant woman all around the Hope and Chilliwack area were worried when they heard the maternity ward at Chilliwack General Hospital would have to be shut down temporarily, due to a shortage of obstetricians.

The community responded swiftly upon learning that the Chilliwack General Hospital’s maternity ward could be closed for up to 13 weeks beginning June 24, with politicians, midwives, and expectant mothers all weighing in on the matter. On June 20, Fraser Health Authority announced via a press release that the closure had been slimmed down to just two weeks.

The closure highlighted the precarious situation this region is in, with such a small number of obstetricians available to handle deliveries.

• A Hope woman was sent to hospital with injuries after being hit by a train at Fort Street and Sixth Avenue.

And although the RCMP were unable to confirm the person’s identity due to it being an on-going investigations, several members of the community have identified the woman as Valinda “Puffy” Inyallie.


 

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Councillor Victor Smith was excited for the start of a new Farmer’s Market in downtown Hope that began in June. Sarah Gawdin/Hope Standard


Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
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