The Castlegar Sun

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this early stage, there is a heated rivalry developing between the two countries. Female hockey certainly has gotten better and

a hocke: Gyer for some time, but —_ will continue to get better with ongoing pro- esas pre poner levels. The sport will be an official Olympic event in 1998 and there are a lot of coun- tries in the world trying to prepare for it, Japan and China have launched a major program and the USA

by offering a lot of incen-

is step up its progr tives for players. Recent information has shown that

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there are some 40 universities and colleges in-the United States and Canada offering some kind of pro- gram for Female Hockey. Canada has also escalated its program and has initiated a six year program to establish a Minor Hockey Associa- tion for Females.

Right now most of the girls who play hockey in Canada are on boys’ teams and at times that can be very awkward. However, “All Female” hockey programs are springing up all over Canada. Unfortunately, B.C. has been slow to follow and

the West Kootenays has the lowest Senior Female registration and the second lowest Minor Female — registration in BC and ranks among the lowest in Canada. These are bad stats for an area rich in hock-

ey tradition.

Even still, there have been some ¢:

aE He hy

A golf tournament with real heart

JEFF GABERT Sun rts

Many people are entirely sure that the world is going down the drain. People aren't as nice any more and they don’t seem to care

what happens to their fellow man or woman. It’s a dog cat dog world fit only for the people with the biggest teeth.

Well, there’s a group of friends that are looking to prove these people wrong and they

have been doing it every year for the last five. They are friends of Dan Marken and Mark Lightle both of whom were swept away by the hand of death early in their lives.

The Dan Marken Memorial

Golf Tournament was started five years ago by friends and family who hoped to keep his: memory alive after he lost his hard-fought battle with cancer. One of the original organizers was Mark Lightle, who died a victim of a year later in

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Calgary. His name was then the toumament.

the way their friends hope to remember them by holding this

Manitoba taking part. These people aren't professional

Aaron Stoushnow. “It's just a great for us friends to get together, have fun and remember the

Castlegar lot of long lasting friendships. ‘The tournament was not designed to be a somber event, but a con- tinuation of a long and happy frie:

awhile just by had,” said Stoushnow. “We could’ve had 200 golfers this year if we could haye got the time out on the golf course. I don’t forsee it dying out in the future at all.”

This group of golfers has

_ The first records at the Ministry of Transportation & Highways

The Castlegar Sur INESDAY, July 27, 1994

The Train Bridge offers travellers on foot a nostalgic link to the past, and possible link for the future - but whose footing the bill?

train bridge three generations of people, and good Some d: i

"s history is closely tied to that of the rail bridge on which it is built. The rail bridge was

built in a time when steamships traversed the Arrow Lakes, and when the railway was the major form of bringing people to the town centre at Robson. First announced

was completed January 18,

Estimated at a cost of $800,000 dollars, the construction of the Ammstrong of the C.PR. and J. Murray. Built at what was then

said SOPC member, Harry Killough, who has been offe:

it to travellers i

The original construction of the footbridge has a more mysterious history than the rail bridge. In 1902 the Trail Creek News noted a i i with “small p and planks thrown across, so that the pedestrian finds no difficulty in crossirig from bank to bank.” The idge, speci iigned for pedestrians, was probably constructed between 1912 - 1914. Bill Waldic (b. 1903) an older resident who has used the footbridge for many years, estimates the con- struction was between these dates. His father owned Edgewood Lumber , which was located at ‘Sproat's Landing and employed 30 to 40 people in 1910. “People who worked at the mill, and lived near it used to use the bridge to and from Castlegar,” he said.

Byng Girand, another SOFC member with an interest in

walked - winter, summer, rain, shine or snow [to school]. They had to wes th the brick Brilliant School until 1951 when the new Stanley Humphries High School

1943. “That bridge went in 1943, said District Manager John Bodnarchuk.” “We had a board order from 1943 allowing us to put in that bridge.” The footbridge’s maintenance has been the responsibility of the Min- istry ever since its first board order.

The decision to close the footbridge was based on the exp of maintaining two footp crossings. Highways District Manager John Bodnarchuk has stated that expenses are estimated at $10,000 a year, which includes such work as snow sanding, lighting costs, path clearing and the replacement of timber. And without closure, the government will need to spend $300,000 within five years to meet CPRail standards.

According to Fran O’Genski, Nelson and Trail Representative for the United Transportation Union, a walkway is necessary for CPRail workers repairing and maintaining the trains. Workers used to walk along the top of the trains, leaping from car to car to reach the end of the train to do maintenance work. With high- er safety standards, they now require a footpath parallel to the track. O”Genski explained that workers “have te cross the bridge to get to the cars on our train. When we heard they were going to take it off [the foot- bridge) four or five days before we were quite taken aback that no ome had contacted us.” He said that if CPRail takes over the ship and liability i with the fidge, it would not be for public use. “We will post signs not to use it. We won't give permission because we don’t want to be liable.”

The footbridge used by CPRail workers would look quite different from the timber footbridge now in place, O”Genski stated that the walkway would be similar to one at Shoreacres - a galvanized steel, graded walkway which would be built closer to the tracks, and without a covered railing.

The idge ittee see this ive as ii Stated that “if they take it down some- one will use it anyway, they can't stop that. It’s a public safety matter.” Killough thinks that high school stu- dents from Raspberry will choose the old footbridge because it is a faster route to school. He has stated that the SOFC’s “main effort is to preserve the right of passage.”

An alternative they suggest is finding another government agency that will take on the responsibilities neither CPRail or MOTH want. “We were disappointed with City Council, they haven’t replied at all,” Killough. He hopes better results will come through Ken Wyllie, Director of Area J for the Regional Dis- trict of Central Kootenay. MLA Ed Conroy has indicated his support for the project, stating that he “would like to see it maintained for its uni and historical value. It has more value for longterm future of the community.”

Not everyone wants the footbridge to stay. Members of the SOPC met with residents who live near the trail leading to the bridge. Killough stated that “their problems had to do with the swearing, vandalism, and

ional break-ins.” Resid have also stated that the bridge is frequently a meeting for partying imistic. He feels that the 2000 signatures on a petition to “oppose

Lions Cen-

down to community

afford not to? —Story by Seanagh Sloan —Phote by Donna Dunlop