Changes at the mill
I worked at the Catalyst Paper Corporation Powell River mill from 1973 to 2008. I can hardly believe how many changes there have been since that time. The pulp and paper industry has changed into a power industry; it is no wonder Powell River people are confused—the whole company has changed [“Energy interest in play,” May 23].
The mill was the largest mill in the world of its kind at one time. The tours through the mill were fun. Now you will get as far as the front gate.
I loved walking up and down the hill for different reasons, not to mention I loved working with my brother and sisters down there in the mill.
It was good I retired when I did. I wish everyone well in the years to come. Let’s see where this company will go and in what direction the City of Powell River will go. Our children are leaving the community now, retirees are buying property and they are settling in. Cutbacks, no jobs and a retirement town, that’s the way it will be.
My opinion is you will maybe see four years of the machines left, then they will be gone. Then power will be put in their place and Powell River will be a city for the elderly and a lot of scooters. Well, folks, we are truly going for a ride now.
Clifford Lang
Squamish, BC
Petition scrutiny
My teenaged son and his friend were approached by a gentleman in the Save Willingdon truck and asked to sign a petition to save the beach [“Outsider viewpoint,” May 9]. My son said they were underage and couldn’t sign petitions. The man told them it didn’t matter how old they were, they should just sign it. They didn’t, but perhaps the names on the Save Willingdon petition are going to need to be scrutinized pretty closely to see which ones are actually valid.
Natasha Blanchette
Michigan Avenue
Tourist attraction?
There have been so many letters from people insisting that a new library built at Willingdon Beach would be such a great tourist attraction [“Architects unveil library design,” March 28].
Tourists and visitors coming into our city can enjoy the ocean on one side of Marine Avenue and the beautiful homes on the other side, and then come to our first “tourist attraction,” the viewpoint.
Anyone who has been there lately will have to make their way through all the cigarette butts, face an overgrowth of weeds growing up through the cement floor and wall, and view planters now unkempt and overgrown. Before seeing the ocean and mountain view, they will first have to look at a line of trees covered in cocoons and infested with gypsy moth larvae.
With the budget cuts, our parks, beaches and “tourism attractions” will not be maintained the way they have been in the past.
If we cannot afford to take care of what we already have, how can we afford to build and maintain a new one?
Carol Bannerman
Alberni Street
Rules of the road
Promotion of bicycle riding in Powell River is an excellent idea [“Two wheels instead of four,” May 23]. This would be a good time for coming to an agreement on the rules of the road.
We have bicycles, skateboards and mobility scooters all in the mix.
Some travel with the traffic and others against the traffic. Some stick to the roads and others to the sidewalks.
For myself, I have been nearly run over by a bicycle on the sidewalk while coming out of a Marine Avenue business and, believe it or not, I was nearly flattened in a crosswalk by a skateboarder traversing a local supermarket parking lot.
On the other side of the ledger, while driving I nearly collected a skateboarder at the juncture of Westview and Marine avenues. In another instance, waiting to turn right onto Joyce Avenue I checked the vehicle traffic to the left and, by the grace of God, I hesitated. Then from the right a cyclist travelling fast shot out from the sidewalk right in front of me—it could have been really messy. I had to restart my heart.
We need consistency in obeying the rules of the road. Decades ago when I was young, before I was allowed to ride on the streets, I had to qualify for a bicycle licence plate which hangs on my den wall these days: “No. 323 CAMAS WASH.”
Ted Cooper
Massett Court
