Elk Valley & Fernie Community Updates

While Emily Brydon is omnipresent in Fernie conversation of late, her mother - the pillar of strength supporting this resilient Olympian – remains far from the forefront, hard to believe when you meet her. Taller than Emily with a witty sense of humour that takes you by surprise and a personality that fills the largest of rooms, Rosemary is hard to miss.

“That’s the real work: to make the world as real as it is, and to find ourselves as real as we are within it.” Gary Snyder, interview summer of 1977

Maybe you’ve seen the posters around town regarding the possibility of a French school in Fernie. You may have noticed Isabel’s name and number at the bottom? Isabel is part of a group of Francophone parents looking to start this French school. She came to Fernie several years ago for a winter of skiing and a summer of paddling and as they say, one thing led to another. With the birth of her son two years ago, the idea of having his education be primarily in French became a priority for her and her partner and she found several other like-minded families here in our community.

It looks absolutely gorgeous outside. The snow is sparkling, the sun is shining and it’s a blue bird day, yet I’m afraid to walk out the door. The temperature gauge says its -24. It’s freezing! While I’m debating whether or not to even go outside Nate is already at work on the hill. Making snow. Outside. Nate Trueman has been working the hill for the last seven years. He spent a year in the mechanics shed before getting into snowmaking and has worked his way up to supervisor.

Each year the grade five students at Isabella Dicken are put through the D.A.R.E. program to learn about making decisions when it comes to alcohol, drugs and peer pressure. When they have finished this ten week program each student must write a letter to themselves upon graduating from High School. Here are two letters from this year’s D.A.R.E. class. Congratulations from the Fernie Fix! Dear 17 year old self,

There are so many individuals donating their time, energy, funds, food, creativity and more to help those in need have a merrier Christmas in the Elk Valley. From the Ice Gala, which raises money for the Salvation Army, to the various Christmas Campaigns the Salvation holds itself, to Parkplace Lodge’s Charity Tree Fundraiser, to a gift wrapping duo, the Christmas Spirit is in the air. Salvation Army

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday before 10am the Fernie Family Centre is a tranquil environment, but that changes rapidly. By 10am parents and their children fill the wide space of the gym and tranquility is transformed into the sounds of laughter and play. These amusing and popular hour-long...

A question I often hear asked is how the Fernie Fix originated. Well, it was a fast and furious beginning for me, and an exciting and busy time for my creators Vanessa and Krista. In October of 2006 the duo was working at Savage Marketing, a local marketing and publishing company in Fernie. When...

It’s 11pm at night and as I am getting ready to go check out Fernie’s bar scene Blair Craig is hitting the snooze button on his alarm clock. Walking into town the snow is falling and I can see a sprinkling of lights dotted around the ski hill, as snow cats crawl through the night sculpting the mountain so we can rip it up in the morning. By the time I get to the bar and order a drink Blair has made his ‘lunch’, picked up his 7-11 coffee and is driving up to the ski hill to start his 8-hour shift. It’s midnight.

Let me tell a story. A couple weeks ago while getting ready to take a vacation, a friend decided to bleach his well. The once every six months or so cleansing of the water. He dosed it good, waited and started the well back up. Nothing. He reset the motor. Nothing. He heard the solenoid click, but no motor, no water.