IN THE NEWS

 
New Condor Fire Hall/Community Services Building
The main outside structure of the new fire hall/community services building at Condor is complete and looking great. The facility can be seen from Highway 11 and is located just south of Condor on the east side of the road. Special kudos to everyone involved in the decision making and construction. It will be exciting to see the finished project.

Broadband Info
The development of improved internet/broadband service for our county residents continues to be a large, difficult issue/decision. There are so many unknowns with the rapidly changing world of technology and our councillors are dedicated to proceeding in the most responsible, efficient manner. They continue to gather vital information and evaluate various possibilities. The fact remains that rural Canadians are all facing the same reduced quality of service. It’s definitely time for the federal and provincial governments to anti-up with more than just talk. Perhaps we all need to promote the cause in the up-coming election!!

TV Star Councillor
 On Friday, August 16th our very own Clearwater County Division 7 Councillor, Michelle Swanson, was a guest on Calgary’s Global TV Morning News. She was promoting the special events coming to Rocky Mtn. House and Clearwater County, most notably the Alberta Masters Games, but she also mentioned the World Professional Chuck Wagon Races going on. Kudos for your excellent, enthusiastic, and well-spoken interview, Michelle. You represented our area very well.

Events to be proud of
It was great to see the two afore-mentioned major events in our area recently. Huge congratulations to all the organizers and volunteers who made these events such a success and put both the town and county “on the map”.

This brings forward a recently rumored issue that the WPCA races may not be coming here next year----definitely a sad situation if that were to become reality. There are hundreds of visitors/pro chuck wagon enthusiasts who have enjoyed coming here these past few years and they have brought with them very positive financial benefits to Rocky for the week-end.

 We do understand the huge financial commitment needed to bring the races here, along with the dedicated efforts of the Board of Directors and volunteers. As well, we recognize the desire/need for the WPCA drivers/organizers to access the most financially beneficial location for their events. As such it is very tough for our area to compete with Century Downs Race Track and Casino on the financial level. We CAN COMPETE, however, on the facility and hospitality level.

 I had the good fortune to attend the WPCA finals at Century Downs and must say our location is much better. There was less available seating (on portable bleachers, with no covered grandstand), very limited parking (so shuttles ran from Cross Iron Mills Mall), and NO RV CAMPING!! We would outshine in each of those areas, especially with our proposed (hopefully soon to be completed) covered grandstand.

While we may not be able to host the WPCA finals, we could continue to host a very successful Battle of the Rockies. I believe it is a worthy benefit to our community to continue discussion with the WPCA so we might continue to enjoy watching and cheering on world class chuckwagon drivers while also providing an economic boost to our area---even if it’s for just a week-end. Let’s keep the Battle going.


 Coming Events
 1. Tuesday, September 17, 2019, 7:30PM, Arbutus Community Hall, Regular monthly meeting

 2. Tuesday, October 15, 2019, 7:30PM, Arbutus Community Hall, Regular monthly meeting.