Teddy Bear Daycare to Stay for Another Year!

Well, whaddaya know! Amazing what happens when the community of Whistler, in British Columbia, Canada, stands together, isn't it.

The good news is an announcement was made this week to state that the Teddy Bear Daycare Centre will remain open until 2009.

Well done Whistlerites, Whistler Blackcomb CEO Dave Brownlie and Whistler Municipalities' Bill Barret! This is what is known as Affirmative Action.

I see that Councillor Tim Wake is quoted in the Whistler Question for the second week running with a quote stating that "The municipaility is really trying to pay a supportive role here..."

Well Councillor, why all the Hoopla in the first place? Many parents had to consider an alternative with the threat of Teddy Bear Daycare's closure, and now, at the last moment, suddenly everybody has to do a double-take as the MY Space Society and the Municipality concede to allow the Centre to operate through a third party.

Was all of this nonsense necessary in the first place? I doubt it. After all, as Councillor Ralph Forsyth so eloquently put it - neither the Society nor the Municipality had a plan for the space that was supposed to be vacated on June 30th other than to suggest a "cultural experience". Like that reigns supreme over our children's education and welfare!

MYMPS "kicking out kids to pay for artists" in Whistler

...those were the words uttered by Councillor Ralph Forsyth at Tuesday's council meeting in Whistler, regarding the decision by the Maurice Young Millenium Place Society to close the Teddy Bear Daycare at the end of June.

Councillor Forsyth pointed out that Millenium Place was built with funds donated by the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation.

Dave Brownlie, CEO for Whistler-Blackcomb reminded us that the original $400,000 investment made by the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation was intended specifically for a daycare facility.

"...the key donations have been for daycare because of the needs of the community."

What an absolute shame that among the other councillors: Eckhard Zeidler, Bob Lorriman and Nancy Wilhelm-Morden, none had the wisdom to stand with Ralph Forsyth in his suggestion to accept assistance and funding from Whistler-Blackcomb to continue operating the Teddy Bear Daycare.

Essentially, the Maurice Young Millenium Place Society has chosen to boot out the little tots between 3 and 5 years of age who were so very happy in the village daycare, just so that the daycare space can become a "functional hub and physical home of Whistler's emerging cultural precinct".

Boy, have they got their priorities upside down!

Who can blame Whistler Blackcomb for expressing "real disappointment" at this ridiculous decision.

Baby Bear Cub Shot in Whistler.

Shame, shame, shame on the ignorant fool who felt compelled to blast a baby black bear to its death with his shotgun just outside Whistler Secondary School on Thursday last week.
Well done, Ace! Did you feel almighty, strong and powerful after shooting a bear cub not larger than a poodle? What the hell were you doing with a SHOTGUN AND AMMO in your car in Whistler anyway?
We are proud of our peaceful community and we do not enjoy the thought of the likes of you travelling up to our mountain resort armed with lethal weapons. I trust that our local Mounties made that very clear.
Good on the Whistler RCMP for nailing the perpetrator just 15 minutes after the incident was called in.
Perhaps part of this perp's sentence could be an education in common sense.

Anyway, a Gold Star for Otto at Whistler Secondary for his comment on the article in The Province.
Otto, dearest, gotta love ya for your willingness to consider that this perp might have mistaken the bear for a bigger bear. Even if it was a large bear, which we Whistlerites see almost everyday during the summer season, this dude had no right to stop and kill it. This isn't some Arnie Schwarznegger movie. According to local sources, the dude was travelling in his car, stopped on the highway, got out of his vehicle and blasted away as if he was being charged by a bull elephant. RCMP officers reported on Global TV that the cub wasn't bigger than a purse doggie.

Bear cub shot dead near Whistler high school
Staff Reporter, The Province
Published: Friday, May 09, 2008
Police in Whistler are trying to determine why someone shot a young bear cub near a high school.
A 24-year-old West Vancouver man is under arrest on suspicion of cutting the infant bruin's life short around 8:30 a.m. Thursday on a trail near Whistler Senior Secondary School, just as students were arriving for class.
Whistler RCMP said a citizen who saw the cub just before it was shot thought she heard two gunshots, then saw a man getting into a vehicle with what she believed was a shot gun.
She wrote down the license number and phoned police, who pulled the suspect over and arrested him about 15 minutes later.
Inside his car they found ammunition but no gun, that latter of which they are still searching for.
The motive of the bear's killer is not known and police continue to investigate with Conservation Services. No charges have yet been laid.
© The Vancouver Province 2008

???Fri, May 9, 08 at 02:04 PMha! I am a student of WSS and it was pretty horrible for all us to be crowding around it all dead and like.... I just waisted my morning looking for the shotgun in the school forrest until I read this, thought he was some whack job on foot not in a car... I couldn't understand why he would do this, I called the animal shelter almost a week ago because the same baby bear was pretty much abandoned actually, my friends and I were feeding it apples cause we felt sorry for it. The stupid shelter did nothing and just told us not to feed it cause the mom is still "sleeping" apparantly. Anyway we all just tryed to assume that the man who shot it was scared it was a real big bear in the bushes rather than a cub, it would feel more comforting to assume that rather than a crazy phyco killer at our school! lol anyway e-mail otto333@hotmail.com if you have any questions

Whistler Extends Ski Season Until June 2008

Photo Courtesy of Whistler.com - your best choice for Accommodation in Whistler!

Wow, as if we didn't get enough skiing/snowboarding so far this season!
The rest of the world's resorts are closing their terrain, but good ol' Whistler Blackcomb keep delivering the goods.
This is one of the best seasons I remember in the history of Whistler, although the last few days have been more than a little wierd - just yesterday it snowed, rained and then the sun shone in a matter of 30 minutes. I, like most Whistlerites, was a little confused, but not phased, we've come to expect crazy days like these.

When we first came to live in Whistler in 2003, my hubby and I changed clothes or added or removed layers of clothing several times a day. After a year, we got the hang of it and finally had a Whistler wardrobe which is what you'll need to get through comfortably.

Anyway, back to the ski season: Whistler mountain remains open until April 20th. Spring skiing is open on Blackcomb from April 21 until June 8th.
Right now the approximate snow base is around 265cm and there are an estimated 3,000 acres waiting for ya until the first week of June.
So to all of you ski and snowboard bunnies out there, if you haven't got your fill yet, grab your bikinis and get out onto the sunny slopes!
Wishing ya all a good ride...

WB Sells Gravity Logic Inc. Mountain Biking Company to Employees

Image Source: Lucas Kane

Whistler Blackcomb recently gave over ownership of one of its mountain biking operations to the employees, Tom Prochazka, Dave Kelly and Rob Cocquyt.
The above Gents will run Gravity Logic Inc, aka GLI, as an indepedent operation, as well as supplying trail design to the Whistler Mountain Bike Park.
Word has it that the Whistler bike park receives in excess of 100,000 paid visits a year, the highest visitor rate at any bike park in the world.

"Our biggest challenge is convincing ski resorts there's a viable market and that the investment's worth it. And it's not cheap to develop [bike parks]. The price for a kilometre of trail for a bike park is $30,000. And they typically need a minimum of 20 kilometres for a reasonably good product." Gravity is partnering with Kona Mountain bike parks (a division of Kona Mountain Bikes).

Thank God for The Pique News Mag in Whistler

What would life be without The Pique? I for one would be bored to tears.
Despite how much technology I use on a daily basis to satisfy my craving for learning and information, I still wait with eager anticipation for each and every Thursday so that I can sit down with my coffee or a glass of good wine and devour every page.

I know The Pique is available online, but it isn't as fun and it doesn't satisfy the ritual that I and so many other Whistlerites have adopted.

Thank you again and again to Bob Burnett and his amazing team for this outstanding publication in Whistler.

PEMBERTON FESTIVAL - 21ST CENTURY WOODSTOCK

Okay Guyz and Dollz:

It's more than official - it's like OFFICIAL!

THE PEMBERTON FESTIVAL IS ON - or should that be - THE PEMBERTON VERSION OF WOODSTOCK IS ON FOR JULY 2008!

Live Nation, the World's coolest and most SMASHING company is bringing TOM PETTY, COLDPLAY, JAY-Z, INTERPOL, TRAGICALLY HIP and many other hot numbers to one of the most beautiful spots in the world: Pemberton, British Columbia, Canada.

Guys and Dollz are already bitching about tickets and everything to do with the festival in anticipation of the action on forums and Facebook, and not since the KISS concert was announced in Whistler last year has there been such pandemonium.

Nevertheless, for those of us who prefer the quiet life here in Whistler, we are grateful that Pemberton will have to deal with all the Tragic Hippies who will invade the campgrounds from late July.

BUY TICKETS FOR THE PEMBERTON FESTIVAL!

Whistler's Unique Culture

Shucks, I just had to blog this one, Dollz!

For those of you who don't already know, I work at this incredibly colourful "boutique" in Whistler's Function Junction where we "recycle" anything and everything. It's called the Re-Use-It-Centre. We were recently featured on Global's "Destination Whistler" for the countdown to the Winter Games in 2010.

Anyway, we're hip, we're cool and we see EVERYTHING!

Two days ago, two Dudes are standing outside our receiving area, hoping to unload their mattress. I've seen better beds in Africa, so we politely informed them that they would have to take their hokey mattress to the local dumpyard.

A few minutes later, I am called by a fellow employee to witness this abomination: these two laddies trying to squeeze their beloved mattress into the dumpster!

So, with hands on hips, like any old Mama, I shouted in my most ladylike voice:

"Hey Dudes, please don't do that, you''ll get an awful fine and we'll get into big trouble."

And one of the lads, the one with the Afro yells in a scene straight out of a movie,

"So where're we supposed to take it, BITCH!"

I just stood there with my mouth open - he hadn't said it in a derogatory way - more like Eddy Murphy or Will Smith in an action movie - and then I cracked up. I have never been spoken to in that fashion.

Everybody else who was witness to this cracked up as well and one commented,
"Some people's children, eh!"

The funniest thing is that the guy who shouted this profanity, also cracked up laughing at my reaction.

A couple of saucy responses raced through my mind, like:

"Why don't ya take it to yo Mama's house, Dog!" or better still,

"Yo, you can jus' shove that mattress where the sun don' shine Sugar!", but my strict upbringing got the better of me and I just reminded them that the Waste Transfer station was only 7 minutes down on Highway 99.

So we all giggled for the rest of the day and when I told my hubbie that evening he said he just might have tossed the lads into the garbage dumpster, but he couldn't help giggling himself when I reenacted the scene.

What would we do without our sense of humour here in Whistler?

Whistler will miss Kathy Barnett

It was a shock to read this morning about the passing of cherished community member, Kathy Barnett, wife of Bob Barnett and co-founder of our favourite newspaper, THE PIQUE Newsmagazine.

Since first visiting Whistler as a tourist from Europe, and now settled here in this gorgeous town with my family, I have loved THE PIQUE for its universal appeal, its diversity of content and its cover presentation every Thursday.
In fact, I recently became addicted to reading it online as well, but I still wait with anticipation for each Thursday when the new edition appears FREE in local groceries stores and all over Whistler Village.
I know for a fact that THE PIQUE is a hit with tourists as it presents information that is essential to being "in the know" about Whistler, and providing insight into the various forms of entertainment that abounds in Whistler.

So we are joined by those in Whistler who knew and loved Kathy in wishing comfort and peace to her family and friends all over. She truly left behind a wonderful legacy and we are assured that her husband, Bob, will receive all the support and affection he needs in the coming days and years ahead.


OBITUARY: CO-FOUNDER OF PIQUE DEAD AT 49

Death of newspaper publisher rattles Whistler community
CATHRYN ATKINSON

Special to The Globe and Mail

February 4, 2008

The death of the co-founder and publisher of Whistler's largest weekly newspaper in an accident while on holiday in New Zealand has sent shockwaves around the resort.

Kathy Barnett, who along with her husband, Bob Barnett, began Pique newsmagazine 13 years ago, was cycling with an organized bike tour when she was struck from behind by a car on Jan. 30. Her husband, Pique's editor and co-owner, was not injured in the accident, which occurred on the State Highway 1 near Lake Taupo, on New Zealand's North Island.

The couple had taken most of January off to travel in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, and had been due back at the end of this week, said Darren Roberts, the Pique's executive director. Mr. Barnett returned to Canada over the weekend, but was not speaking about his loss.

Mr. Roberts said he had broken the news of Ms. Barnett's death to the Pique staff while they were in the middle of putting the weekly together late on Tuesday.

"The paper came out on time. Everyone worked together and we got it done," he said.

Ms. Barnett, 49, started the magazine with her husband in 1994 after several years at the Question, the other weekly in Whistler.

Mr. Roberts said that in the high-pressured world of local press publishing, where new newspapers rarely survive longer than a year, Pique stood out because it had grown consistently and now stood at 100 pages an issue, with a circulation of about 15,600. This, he said, was due to the combination of Ms. Barnett's business abilities and Mr. Barnett's editorial vision.

"I know the first four years were very challenging for them. They pushed and pushed," said Mr. Roberts, who joined the Pique 2½ years ago.

"I would sit with Kathy and talk about the big picture and she was always willing to make things better and push forward. She was unafraid to take a risk."

GD Maxwell, a Pique columnist, knew the Barnetts for 13 years. He said the news of Ms. Barnett's death was like "getting hit really hard with a hammer and walking around in a daze."

He described the Pique as "an incubator in this town for talented people."

"They wanted the Pique to be a literate and literary news magazine, and I think maybe it was Kathy who came up with that concept. They wanted it to be of the community, but not a community newspaper because she didn't like that model."

Ms. Barnett was heavily involved in the wider business community and belonged to Whistler's Chamber of Commerce for eight years, acting as its chairperson in 2004.

Louise Lundy, the chamber's current president, said Ms. Barnett would have been familiar to most Whistlerites.

"It's a horrible shock. I don't think there are too many people here who didn't know Kathy, and who weren't affected by knowing her personally or affected by the work they do at the Pique," she said.

"She was provocative but fair, and always willing to print the good and the bad," she said. "The first thing many Whistlerites do on Thursdays is grab their Piques, grab their coffees and go to the letters pages to see what is going on in the town."

Mario Enero, who owns two Whistler restaurants, La Rua Restaurante and Caramba, first met Ms. Barnett when she was a university student in Vancouver 24 years ago, and had remained her close friend ever since.

"I cannot walk down the street because everybody stops me to talk about it. [Losing her] is so new, it's hard. People are phoning me from Victoria, from everywhere," he said.

READ THE ARTICLE IN THE GLOBE AND MAIL:
And here are some comments to THE PROVINCE Newspaper:

COMMENTS ON THIS STORY

Sonya McCarthy
Thu, Jan 31, 08 at 12:37 PM
If you are a Whistlerite ( a local community member of Whistler) and you hear the name Kathy Barnett you would think, That she is a community professional and a hard working womenwith a large heart. Kathy is and always will be a great rock in the history of our town. Sorry for the loss to her family and the community she loved .

Maggs
Thu, Jan 31, 08 at 01:26 PM
She will be missed. My thoughts are with her family.

Eric JohanssonThu,
Jan 31, 08 at 06:58 PM
I am a cycle tourist from Vancouver currently on Holiday riding in New Zealand and am terribly sorry to hear about this accident. Many other cyclists have been hit down here and I am thinking of cutting my trip short because of the apaullingly impatient and discourteous drivers down here. I have nearly been hit several times including along the section of road where Kathy was hit. Young drivers and commercial vehicle drivers are particularly bad. A huge number of drivers still drink while driving as cans and bottles fill the road margins and are seen flying from vehilcle windows daily. There is also a tendency for drivers to drive along the sholder and tail gate which seems to be the cause of this latest accident. Taupo was also the scene of a brutal murder of a young scottish girl (tourist) 2 weeks ago. Not the safe south pacific paridise that one imagines.

Linda Price (West)Fri, Feb 1, 08 at 01:33 PM
I am so sad for her husband and family. She was a beautiful lady with such spirit and always the wonderful smile. I am thinking of all the Whistler friends who will be suffering at the loss of Kathy.

Peter McKellarSun,
Feb 3, 08 at 04:27 PM
I am a resident of Rotorua, New Zealand, not far from Taupo and wish to respond to Eric Johansson. Firstly my sympathy to the people of Whistler for the loss of one of your outstanding citizens. My response to Eric is that I broadly agree. New Zealand is a great place but the roads are generally not as good as those in Canada and for some odd reason our drivers do not seem to have the courtesy and patience that I noticed when I was in Canada. I am a cyclist myself but cycling on the open roads here is something that I would hesitate to do, especially on the section of Highway One south of Taupo which is narrow, windy and very busy. I guess the message from me to any visitors from overseas is please do come and visit our country, it is a lovely place and you will be made most welcome. But don't let your guard down, we aren't a perfect paradise and we have problems down here too. The various misfortunes that befallen some of our visitors recently are causing New Zealanders the utmost distress and concern as well. We feel our counry is a safe place and want everyone to feel the same.

READ THE ARTICLE IN THE PROVINCE