March 11
The Company of Selkirk Vintners’ Master Vintager, Dr.
Peter Wood (left), and Master Vintner, Ben Thor-Larsen (right), recently
met at Selkirk College’s Castlegar Campus to prune the grapevines. The
Company has been growing grapes at the campus and producing wine for
over 35 years and is actively seeking new members.
A little taste of history continues to be harvested annually at Selkirk
College’s Castlegar Campus through the work and dedication of a small
group of aging members of the Selkirk Vintners. The Company has been
growing grapes at the campus and producing wine for over 35 years.
However, things may start to ‘wilt’ if more members are not
recruited to help continue this longstanding tradition.
The Worshipful Company of Selkirk Vintners started in 1972 with a group
that took a Continuing Education course from George Dubokovic. At the
time, Dubokovic was a language instructor at the college. Besides his
language degrees, he also had a degree in Agriculture and a family
history of growing grapes and wine-making in Dalmatia, a historical
region of Croatia.
The course he taught was called “Oenology and The History of Wine
Making”. From this enjoyable beginning, the students (about 25) and
their instructor, decided (with permission from College Administration)
to plant grapes in the then rather unfinished college courtyards and in
other areas around the Castlegar Campus. George had already planted
three trial Seibel vines against the wall by the Staff Lounge patio in
about 1970. Two of these still produced grapes in 2009.
“We tried to grow grapes on the north facing slope behind the
maintenance building,” explains Master Vintager (in charge of the
vineyards and vines), retired Biology Instructor and Distinguished
Educator of Selkirk College, Dr. Peter Wood. “But it became too much
work for our membership and it was very difficult to keep out the
animals (bears, deer and migrating bird flocks) before harvest time.
Controlling weeds without herbicides was also too labour intensive for
us, so today the majority of the grapes are grown in the protected areas
of the Castlegar Campus courtyards.”
On an annual basis, the Vintners harvest approximately 30 cases, or two
small pick-up trucks loads of grapes of the Marechal Foch, Pinot Noir,
Seibel and Riesling varieties. The Company owns all of the equipment
necessary to make the wine, including a grape crusher, primary
fermenters, an oak barrel and several large glass carboys for the
secondary fermentation.
Master Vintner, Ben Thor-Larsen, is in charge of the care of the
developing wines and their quality. “We have been donating bottles of
wine to college and community functions for over 35 years,” says Ben.
“This has included the Selkirk College Gala’s Silent Auction and
gifting the Governor General of Canada, among many other distinguished
visitors to Selkirk over the years…the list is big. The wine is of good
quality and everyone seems to enjoy it.”
While the Company of Selkirk Vintners continues to do the work
necessary to make the wine, its numbers are dwindling. The original
group of 25 members is now down to an actively- participating group of
about eight. The Company is seeking new members to join in and help
continue the Selkirk tradition of cooperative grape growing and wine
making. One which has provided an ongoing opportunity for people from
all walks of life from the college region to work together and share an
agricultural experience indoors and out. The Company considers itself to
be among the friends of the Castlegar Campus grounds and environment.
Care for the courtyards has been largely their responsibility since the
1970s.
“Among the perks of being a Vintner of course, is that we each get to
take home about three gallons of wine at the completion of a given
year’s cycle and we have many very enjoyable times together
throughout the entire process,” says Dr. Wood.
Over the course of a year, members of the Vintners each need to
contribute about the equivalent of ten days of their time and energy for
work in the vineyards. This is spent pruning, tying, training and
spraying in the spring and summer, and netting, picking and processing
the grapes and wine in the fall. Bottling and distribution of the wines
takes place in late spring of the year following the harvest. The whole
activity is a great opportunity to learn, create life-long contacts and
friends and be a part of local history and help continue what is now
almost a forty-year tradition in viticulture and oenology at Selkirk
College.
For those interested in becoming a member of the Selkirk Vintners,
please contact Dr. Peter Wood at 250.359.7107 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and
he’ll be happy to include you in the “call out” list for
upcoming work-bees.
March 10
Win Cat Skiing, Skis and More with Your Best Kootenay Winter Photo
RED Mountain Resort is celebrating winter culture by hosting an incredible weekend called The Gathering, a convergence of images, stories and legends. Presented by POWDER Magazine and RED, The Gathering features two nights of photo and film presentations by some of the world’s best photographers, parties and of course…lots of turns at RED.
Enter the Photo Contest by submitting your single best winter image taken in the Kootenays by March 20th and become eligible to win some superb prizes. The top 3 winners will be picked by the celebrity photographers and be shown on the big screen during the Gathering’s In the Crosshairs presentation!
Get your photo loaded here by March 20th 2010.
Prizes
Grand Prize: 2 days cat skiing for you and a friend at Valhalla Powdercats!
2nd Prize: Elan skis
3rd Prize: Winter gear prize package
Click here for more info and to enter!
Sponsored by: Valhalla Powdercats and Red Mountain Resort
March 9
Photo credit: LeRoi Community Foundation website
Recently, Ron Clarke, Trail & District Chamber President, has informed the chamber board that he would be stepping down as Chamber President on March 27, at the Annual General Meeting, after a number of dedicated years as chamber president. Even though Ron is stepping down as president, the board and chamber staff are pleased that he has chosen to continue serving on the board as Past President. His valued expertise is very much appreciated, and his dedication to serve will continue to be at the chamber’s grasp at any time during the next year, for the board, staff, members and the new president.
So the Trail & District Chamber of Commerce is looking for a number of new dedicated individuals from our membership to serve on the chamber volunteer board of directors.
Also, at this time, our current Chamber President, Ron Clarke has asked that someone on the board to step up to the plate and volunteer to become chamber President for 2010/2011.
March 8
District changes out 20,000 lights with help from FortisBC PowerSense
Up until nine months ago, the lighting in schools across School District No. 20 (Kootenay-Columbia) was old and inefficient. Many of the fixtures dated back more than 40 years. So the district embarked on a retrofit project to replace all of the lighting in its 13 schools and maintenance building and install occupancy sensors in each gymnasium. Nine months later, the district has replaced more than 20,000 lights and earned a FortisBC PowerSense rebate of $24,000.
“As an educational institution, we need to show leadership in these initiatives and work together to reach our goal of being carbon neutral in 2010. This is a big step in that direction,” says Steve Morissette, Director of Operations for School District No. 20.
The project started two years ago with a lighting audit that helped the district identify the potential for energy savings and provide the information needed for grants. With funding in hand, they replaced the first light last July and will install the last one this March. The district switched out older T-12 lamps with more efficient T-8s and T-5s. The bulbs last three times longer and use 30 per cent less power. As a result of its efforts, the district will save more than 430,000 kWh per year, or enough electricity to power about 35 homes for a year.
The total cost of the project is $600,000 and was funded by the provincial government’s Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement grant, Natural Resources Canada and FortisBC.
“It’s impressive to see what a school district can achieve through a lighting retrofit. By modernizing its light fixtures and incorporating natural light, the district will see substantial energy savings, as well as a healthier, more comfortable learning environment for students and staff,” says Michael Mulcahy, FortisBC’s Vice President of Customer and Corporate Services, recently toured Fruitvale Elementary.
School District No. 20 was also recognized with a 2009 FortisBC PowerSense Conservation Excellence Award for its lighting retrofit.
For more information on FortisBC’s PowerSense program, visit” http://www.fortisbc.com( http://www.fortisbc.com)”:http://www.fortisbc.com or call FortisBC PowerSense at 1-866-4FORTIS (1-866-436-7847).
March 5
Photo credit: KR Tourism
One definite marketing success at the recently completed Vancouver 2010 Olympics was BC Street at Richmond’s O Zone. Volunteers who manned the Kootenay Rockies display booth estimate that over 2,000 visitors a day came by and many picked up brochures and marketing material. As one excited volunteer said, “Prepare for the visitors, Kootenay folks.”
The $70,000 – $80,000 budget for the display was shared by the various regional districts, municipalities, Columbia Basin Trust and Kootenay Rockies Tourism. Courtney Magro, a BC Street Volunteer and one of the co-ordinators added, “BC Street has been amazing success, just like the Olympics themselves. I’ve met so many interesting people. It’s been such fun promoting the fabulous Kootenay region I proudly call home. Bravo Canada for all we’ve achieved! Here’s to living in the Best Place on Earth and here’s to winning Olympic Gold—14 times.”
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Keith Powell is the publisher and founder of Kootenay Business magazine which is part of the Koocanusa Publications family. He has written a regular sales and marketing column, called Ad Talk, in Kootenay Business magazine for over 20 years. He also writes a daily business blog about business developments in the Kootenays. He is a director of Kootenay Rockies Tourism and the Kootenay Rockies Regional Economic Alliance (KRREA).
E-mail Keith if you have a business story idea.
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