Thursday, May 16, 2024

Rest in Peace, Wally Day


Wallace Arthur (Wally) Day
January 9, 1931 – May 10, 2024


Wally passed away peacefully, after a remarkable 93 years on this earth. He skied 81 of those years and was married to Mary Anne for almost 67 years. Wally is survived by Mary Anne, son, Aaron, daughters, Shannon, and Shelley, and grandchildren: Liam, Sam, Richard, and Lola. Wally and Mary Anne were true partners in life, sharing everything from building boats to being active and supportive in the lives of their children and grandchildren.

Wally was born in Kelowna to Dr. Lloyd and Lola Day, members of a Pioneer family. Wally spent most of his life in the Okanagan. He had a long career with Okanagan Tel and BC Tel, retiring early enough to get lots of extra skiing and boating in.

Wally and Mary Anne shared their passion for skiing, teaching at Mt. Baker and Apex Mountain prior to forming the ski school at Baldy in 1969. Wally also served on the board of the community association. Wally had fond memories of his time at Baldy, and his cabin. Those thoughts were never far from his mind.

In his later years, Wally regularly skied Big White, golfed at Shannon Lake, and in recent times, continued to ride his e-bike.

Wally was gentle, kind, and a true friend.

No service by request.

Condolences and memories can be shared with the family by visiting www.everdenrust.com. 

When I was 12 years old, Mom invited Days for supper at the cabin, to cure my reluctance to take lessons from the new instructors. When I was 19 or 20, Mary Anne encouraged me to become a ski instructor.

In those days, instructors wanted to ski as much as possible. We had a meeting place and times, but skied together the rest of the time. There are definitely elements of Wally's style in my skiing.

Wally and I served on the Leaseholders/Community association boards, Wally was President. During our time, the village was one parcel of land, and we had leases from the original ownership group. When a developer wannabe commented that he would bulldoze down those cabins, we worked with the owners to separate the village property from the ski area holdings.

Lots of stories and memories in the last 55 years. A blog post can't capture how great a guy he was, and how much he will be missed.




Wally, Mary Anne, Todd, Sam, space for absent Sylvia, Nanno







Thursday

Jeep still hanging on to the bank near North Canyon Ranch. (police tape)

First cat in the shop for annual maintenance. 

Monday, May 13, 2024

Are you on Facebook?

I suggest you follow B.C. Wildfire on Facebook. Their communications have improved tremendously. Last night there was video from Senior personnel updating on the fire near Fort Nelson. The wildfire behaviour specialist outlined the current and forecast conditions. If the forecast holds, the fire may hit Fort Nelson today.

It was a comprehensive presentation by senior people. The Mayor of Fort Nelson told the media a few days ago that the fire started from a tree hitting a power line in a wind storm.

Sunday, May 12, 2024

Saturday, May 11, 2024

A look at Initial Attack

 

Osoyoos Fire Rescue douses fire, urges residents to FireSmart their properties - Oliver/Osoyoos News

Osoyoos Fire Rescue douses fire, urges residents to FireSmart their properties - Oliver/Osoyoos News: Heavy smoke is filling the air in Osoyoos on Friday evening at the south east end of town. 

Early Start to Wildfire Season

BC Wildfire App has been updated.

Fort Nelson and Fort Nelson First Nation evacuated.

Fort McMurray on alert.

Yes the north is drier, but as we watch the snow melt, make plans for your FireSmart activities when the snow has gone.


Friday, May 10, 2024

South Okanagan General Hospital emergency department to reopen at midnight - Oliver/Osoyoos News

South Okanagan General Hospital emergency department to reopen at midnight - Oliver/Osoyoos News: The emergency department at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver will be temporarily closed over Friday night due to limited physician availability.

BCWF Improved Communications

Fort Nelson is under evacuation order - 800 hectares. extreme fire behaviour, Rank 4 and 5.

A couple of clicks on their social media, and there is a lot of information there about the fire, and what residents need to know.

Way more information in a timely fashion than what we dealt with in 2021.

South Okanagan General Hospital emergency department to close overnight due to short staffing - Oliver/Osoyoos News

South Okanagan General Hospital emergency department to close overnight due to short staffing - Oliver/Osoyoos News: The emergency department at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver will be temporarily closed over Friday night due to limited physician availability.

Out of sight, locked up, day time cruisers................

The investigators in the theft of a quad from the village believe that it was not a random drive by. They suspect that someone had been looking around, and watching.

Never hurts to ask strangers if the are looking for someone, or jotting down a license plate.

I just noticed this afternoon............


Well I know this didn't happen overnight, but I noticed this afternoon that the Western Larch are pushing green, and the forest looks great again.

Fortis Tree Assessor

The fellow with the orange spray paint has been around in the last day or two, and marked dead trees that could be a hazard for the power lines. Happy for my neighbour who has been trying to find someone to take down two whopper trees. Also marked are two trees that would be a problem for newer owners on Whiskey Jack.

Not sure when, but Fortis will send a contractor up to take those trees down at no cost to the owner. 




Top Photo

I update the top photo frequently as it reduces the number of inquiries I get - How much snow is left?

I've had a couple of comments about the winter staff camp. It is getting cleaned up. It is great to have good returning staff, but the end of season is soured when someone else has to clean up the mess left behind.

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Emergency Preparedness Week

At a press conference this morning, there was an announcement of a new website for drought information.

 https://droughtportal.gov.bc.ca/

Link in side bar - I will sort the links in the coming days.

May 1st Snow Basin Indices


 
Full report here:

Also link in sidebar - Snow Survey Bulletin

In your inbox..........

 

"The FireSmart Board has received notice that our application for a grant for training has been accepted. 
 

The basic Fire Fighting course is the S100 and this will be offered free of charge to Baldy folks on Saturday May 18 for the theory portion, and Sunday May 19th for the practical. Doug MacLeod is the Instructor. We encourage as many folks as possible to respond and sign up for this course as it will improve our chances in the event of a fire starting in the Village, or one approaching the Village or even responding to something like what took place last summer with the gender reveal party that got away. 

 

With this important event scheduled by others we are postponing the FS Information session to later, now for June 29th, the start of the July long weekend. 

 

Thanks for your ongoing support of this important work, Mount Baldy FireSmart Board. "


 

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Avalanche Canada warns of high avalanche danger as temperatures rise through weekend - BC News

Avalanche Canada warns of high avalanche danger as temperatures rise through weekend - BC News: Avalanche Canada says the mountains across much of the Southern Interior are entering a period of “all melt, no freeze,” with temperatures not dropping significantly overnight.

AIM

Two trucks and and excavator on a ditching project today. New to me was the fairly large excavator on wheels, not tracks. It did have stabilizing legs on it, but it sure moved along nicely headed down the hill.




The pile down the road...........



I don't have time to organize a work party in the next couple of weeks, but there are options for a few people to make a difference on their way by. (Just below 30km, McKinney Road)

The stuff doesn't have to come up the bank - can go to the side for loading.

Let the depot know you are cleaning up a mess in the bush.

Iron or Steel:

 https://rcbc.ca/recyclepedia/?searched_area=Rock%20Creek&material_id=k-274%4067&search_term=Scrap%20metal%20(steel%20or%20iron)

Tires:

https://tsbc.ca/recycle-your-tires/

Call ahead to a retailer to make sure they have room.

Household ish stuff:

Can be brought up to our transfer station.

FireSmart meeting this morning, Info coming to you shortly..........Training and Date Change for FS Event

FireSmart event has been postponed to Saturday June 29th. Details to follow.

We have bare patches, but we also have a metre of snow in other areas. It won't all be gone by next weekend.

The fully funded  S100 Wildfire Course will be on Saturday and Sunday, May 18th and 19th.

8:00am start time, Saturday will be about 7 hours of theory. Sunday will be about 7 hours practical.

Instructor is Doug MacLeod. If you don't know him, he has decades of wildfire experience, and played a key role in the fight when the Nk'Mip Fire threatened our community in 2021.

Once you register online for the S100, you will be sent information on 3 online courses. Please e-mail the community association address you were given, or unbaldy@gmail.com so we can add you to the list.

We encourage members of the Baldy Community to consider this free training opportunity. Taking the course does not commit you to fighting fire, but provides a tremendous amount of information.  We are not forming any kind of fire department. The more trained people we have, the better prepared we are if a fire should start in the village, or nearby. For all the "flip-flop" firefighters who tackled the gender reveal party fire down the road last summer -  consider some formal training, to add to your skill set.


https://forms.office.com/r/EYXW7yA4SX

Put Baldy Mountain Community Association in the organization spot.

Time flies...............


World's best nephews - Jeff is 39 today, Paul will be 37 at the end of the month.

 
The boys are skiers, but did try snowboards on McKinney one day. The World's Best Niece is in the middle of the photo, and in the middle of their ages.

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Province publishes interactive map of timber harvesting proposals - BC News

Province publishes interactive map of timber harvesting proposals - BC News: The Forest Operations Map online portal introduced in B.C. will allow the public to review plans and submit comments online about forestry

Tuesday

 A few flakes, some sun. I saw the guys working on the Eagle today.

Sunday, May 5, 2024

AMFD - Preparedness Day and Wawanesa Grant for sprinkler line

 If you are on Facebook, check out Anarchist Mountain Fire Department


During the 2021 fire, wildfire personnel constructed a sprinkler line along the edge of the village on the Fuel Mod area. The Anarchist Mountain Fire Department was awarded a grant from Wawanesa, which helped them purchase a kit for quick set up of a long sprinkler line. On their Preparedness Day, they demonstrated a one kilometre  set up of the sprinkler system.

The Baldy Mountain Community Association applied for a Wawanesa grant, but were unsuccessful this time around.

We did however get funded Wildfire Training through another route, and a two day course will be taught by Doug MacLeod May 18 & 19. Participating in this free training will provide you with a lot of knowledge about fire,  and the safety procedures for those fighting fires. If you take this course, and the three online courses, you could potentially work under the direction of BCWF personnel in lower risk situations like mop up and patrol. There is no obligation to fight fire if you take this course.

If you are interested, sign up ASAP. All strata members and homeowners in Wapiti should have received the training information. If  you don't have it, e-mail me unbaldy@gmail.com  , and I will send it along.

Also please watch your inbox for info on a community FireSmart Event on the May long weekend. The FireSmart board meets in a couple of days, and details will come out shortly after.

A hunch?


 Maybe more than a few people filled out the quality of service questionnaire from YRB.

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Baldy Dummy Race 1997


A look back thanks to Ron Hiller. I believe I have the first Dummy Race on VHS, have been intending to contact "Chaos" to see if he is still in the business of converting old footage.

Lots of memories in this one. People who have moved on , people who have passed on, and little kids who are all grown up now.


Friday, May 3, 2024

Wildfire Training

The tentative dates for a 2 day Wildfire course at Baldy  are May 18 & 19. No cost to participants. Doug MacLeod is scheduled to teach the course. A great advantage for us to have the local knowledge, and his decades of experience.

Registrations are low - if you have been thinking about it, please register ASAP.

https://forms.office.com/r/EYXW7yA4SX

More people in our community with more knowledge is a good thing. 

If you are hesitating because you are one of the ones who prefer not to be in the same space as me - sign up, I will not be there.


Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Children in your household?

The Osoyoos Osprey Cam is live   (link in sidebar)

First egg laid yesterday.

 https://www.osoyoos.ca/community/osprey-nest-live-webcam