Dallon and Layton Obleman, along with Jonas Edstrom, get an eyeful of Kamloops sports history during a visit to the Tournament
Capital Centre. Kamloops Sports Hall of fame memorabilia lines the walls of the TCC for all to see on their way to and from exercising at the busy venue.
Allen Douglas/KTW

There is plenty to do this weekend. Here are a few ideas:

A date on ice

Feb. 12: Kamloops Storm host  Revelstoke at McArthur Island Sport and Event Centre.

Game starts at 7 p.m. Call 250-828-3492 for tickets.

A musical romance 

Feb. 12: Saskia and Darrel, The Great Plains at North Shore Community Centre.

A folk, Celtic, country, bluegrass, old tyme concert with B.C.’s favorite touring duo — Saskia and Darrel, The Great Plains.

Advance tickets are $10 per person and are available at North Shore Community Centre, 730 Cottonwood Ave. (250-376-4777) Tickets are $12 at the door.

A Blue and Orange courtship

Feb. 13: Kamloops Blazers host the Vancouver Giants at Sandman Centre.

Game starts at 7 p.m. Call 250-828-3492 for tickets.

Love in the Loops

Feb. 13: Love in the Loops at the Kamloops Convention Centre, 1250 Rogers Way.

The Breakfast Club is hosting a dinner/dance fundraiser.

The club is a small group that comes together with the aim to raise a minimum of $15,000 in three months for The Boys and Girls Club of Kamloops Power Start Program.

There will be a silent auction,   a photo booth and a DJ, along with draws for prizes, including a trip voucher.

The event starts at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $60 and can be purchased at Bold Pizzaria and Taco Del Mar.

Night out with the KSO

Feb. 13: The Kamloops Symphony Orchestra presents The Genius of Ravel at Sagebrush Theatre.

The teacher, the composer, the orchestrator — Ravel was a brilliant influence.

The program starts in the rough and tumble streets of Paris and ends in a St. Petersburg gallery. Join the orchestra in a stroll through Pictures at an Exhibition, a colourful depiction of 10 paintings in crisp, musical detail. For more information, call 250-374-5483.

Ink your love

February 14: 4th Annual Valentine’s Day Event at Sakred Skin, 320 Victoria St.

Must be a Valentine/friendship/love-themed tattoo no bigger then palm size.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the SPCA.

Fo\r more information, call 250-828-1313.

Matinée concert for you

Feb. 14: Animal Teeth, Daydreams and No Spectrum at Barnacle Records, 290 Third Ave.

The all-ages starts at 4 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door .

Call 250-372-1963 for more information.

Catch a Northern Pike

Feb. 14: Jay Semko at The Art We Are, 246 Victoria St.

Live music performed by the guitarist from Saskatchewan-based band The Northern Pikes.

Show starts at 7 p.m. For more information, call 250-828-7998.

IN THE PHOTO: James Cruickshank was known as Bishop Jim to those in the church. He paved the way to hearing stories and apologizing to people in the Lytton area after sexual and physical abuse at the former St. George’s residential school. Cruickshank died on Dec. 30, 2015, at age 79. Anglican Journal photo

Kamloops’ Anglican community will come together tomorrow to celebrate the life of the last bishop to lead a diocese that once stretched from Lytton to Valemount.

James Cruickshank — Bishop Jim to those in the church — died on Dec. 30, 2015 at the age of 79.

Elected bishop of Cariboo in 1992, Cruickshank was the last to hold the post before the diocese shut down in 2001 after lawsuits over sexual and physical abuses at the former St. George’s residential school in Lytton left it bankrupt. He’d previously served as Canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Kamloops.

Bishop of the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior Barbara Andrews said while coming to the decision to close the diocese was “a huge thing for us,” Cruickshank chose to focus his work on healing and reconciliation with First Nations, who made up about one-fifth of the Cariboo’s congregants, according to media reports of the day.

One year into his term as bishop, he apologized for abuse at the school, which closed in 1972, on behalf of the diocese.

“Somewhere along the line, the government of Canada established a policy to assimilate native people,” he told a Washington Post reporter not long before the diocese closed. “That was tragic. We bought into it. They were told Christianity was superior to native spirituality. They were told not to speak their language. A huge destruction came from it and we can’t deny that.”

Andrews said that attitude has become Cruickshank’s legacy in the Interior.

“Jim led the beginning of hearing the stories and finding a way to move forward, just in the way that the Truth and Reconciliation commissions are now suggesting we do as a country,” she said. “Bishop Jim was the first to begin to hear those stories and make apology to our own people in the Lytton area.”

Once the Cariboo diocese ceased to exist, Cruickshank returned to Vancouver, where he had served as the Dean and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral, to become a professor at the Vancouver School of Theology.

Tomorrow’s service will begin at 11 a.m. at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 360 Nicola St.

Instructor Dave Kehler (left) teaches Marjorie Crossley how to navigate her android tablet and
smartphone during a class at the North Kamloops Library.
Dave Eagles/KTW

IN THE PHOTO: Teresa Cline (above) found a detour while visiting the North Shuswap for the annual salmon run.  Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park boasts 26 kilometres of trails used for hiking and mountain biking, including Devil’s Gorge, a four-kilometre trip that brings you to a rocky lookout over the river. KTW file photo

It’s been close to 10 years since Teresa Cline published her first travel book and the hobby is still the best strategy for keeping her sane.

“I do not believe in running away from my problems,” she once wrote.

“But I do believe in flying away because I can get a lot farther in a shorter period of time.”

That’s exactly what the local travel writer did when the boredom in her life became too much to bear.

She left her job teaching trades at Thompson Rivers University, sold her house, packed her bags and took off to backpack around Europe and Egypt for three months.

She continued this pattern for a while — at one time spending 10 months in Afghanistan working as an electrician for the U.S. military and then exploring Berlin and Bethlehem.

It was her cure for depression.

Cline speaks openly about her struggle with bipolar disorder as it was the driving force behind her travels and writing.

“I think it’s just a means of expressing myself,” she said. “It does ease that depression to let the inner voice speak.

“Part of my whole journey has been embracing bipolar, so rather than trying to solve it or fix it, just embrace it and use it because a lot of people who are creative and do the sort of thing I do, do suffer mental illness.”

A recent push for book sales is to fund her upcoming trip to Nicaragua with Jess Rothenburger and Warren FitzGerald, filmmakers behind the documentary Gringos and The Garbage about the village of El Limonal that survives by “scavenging from the garbage dump they live beside.”

The film, released earlier this month and featured in KTW and online at kamloopsthisweek.com/elementary-schools-team-up-to-help-families-in-nicaragua/,
is also part of a humanitarian effort that sees all proceeds going back to the community.

Cline visited the dump two years ago with Operation Nicaragua when she was introduced to the effort. The group is headed back to do further humanitarian work in the dump this spring.

It’s not the first time she has used book sales to fundraise.

In 2009, sales helped fund the construction of an orphanage in Egypt.

Cline self-published an eight-book series based on her international travel journals — On a Tall Budget and Short Attention Span, Love and Rocket Attacks, Single White Female Backpacker, Soul Searching in South America and more.

She describes some of those early books as a “journal on speed.”

Four years ago, settled back in Kamloops, Cline started writing local guidebooks, though she said she’s never been much of a hiker.

“I guess I’ve always enjoyed skiing and different stuff, but I can’t say that hiking was my passion until just the last couple years — and then I just hiked bipolar-like. I just went manic and hiked everything.”

She started exploring the Interior with a friend who was visiting from the Czech Republic. Cline acted on suggestions from friends and family on where to take him and the adventure took off from there.

After a while, she had accumulated various stories and pictures and decided to write a book — Where to Go and How to Get There. Since then, she’s published five books based on local destinations.

Her newest works include a paddling guide and a yet unpublished book on historical sightseeing in B.C.

There’s no secret to her madness — most of the places Cline writes about are suggested by followers of her blog, her Facebook page or her YouTube channel and many are word-of-mouth recommendations.

A walking encyclopedia on local trails, Cline keeps the gems to herself.

They are included in her books, of course, but she has decided not to highlight her top choices.

Last year Johnson Lake was overrun by tourists after is was dubbed “the Caribbean of the north” and made headlines on several blogs — Cline’s being one of them.

Her biweekly column in KTW also added to the sudden popularity of the lake near Barriere.

“Before you know it, everyone is there all at the same time, kayaking on top of each other and desecrating the lake,” Cline said.

Instead, she is focusing on encouraging people to “head out and spread out,” listing up to 50 destinations in each of her guidebooks and teaching people to respect nature.

Through her social-media channels and blog, she has introduced the #plusonechallange, asking people to return from a hike with all the garbage they took in, as well as one piece they found along the way.

Documenting their find and posting the photos to social media using the hashtag enters hikers into a contest to win copies of Teresa the Traveller’s guidebooks.

Professor Emeritus David Williams will be the guest speaker of the Kamloops Naturalist Club on Thursday, Feb. 18.

His topic is An Itinerant Botanist in Australia and New Zealand.

“We will relive a portion of our great adventure in Western Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand . . . everything marsupial, big trees, fern trees, cabbage trees and trees that walk,” Williams said.

The meeting is at 7 p.m. at Heritage House in Riverside Park and is open to the general public. Refreshments will follow the presentation.

For more information, call 250-554-1285.

What better way to discuss your favourite book than over a pint?

Later this month, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District will host its first meeting of Books and Brews, a non-traditional adult book club meeting at locations outside the library to discuss books and enjoy food and drinks.

The club will discuss a different topic or genre every month, rather than a specific book. Attendees are asked to read a book related to the monthly theme ahead of time and come prepared to discuss it.

The first meeting of Books and Brews will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the Noble Pig, downtown at Victoria Street and Seventh Avenue. In honour of Freedom to Read Week, the theme will be banned books.

On Tuesday, March 29, the meeting will be held at Red Beard Cafe, in North Kamloops at Tranquille Road and Yew Street/

The theme of the meeting will be female authors, in honour of International Women’s Day.

Both meetings will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Registration is required for each individual meeting of Books and Brews, though there is no obligation to attend all meetings. To register, contact the TNRD Library at 250-372-5145.

A quartet of Kamloops Symphony Orchestra players headed for breakfast at Hello Toast. French horn players Holly Bryan (left) and Nick Anderson, along with flute player Heather Beaty, joined cello-packing Shinjung Nam for some growlies at the popular eatery before Saturday’s evening performance of the works of Gershwin and Ravel at Sagebrush Theatre.
Dave Eagles/KTW

While mom waited for her turn to be inked during the annual Valentine’s Day fundraising special at Sakred Skin in downtown Kamloops, three-year-old Aubrey Halvorson found a colourful way to kill some time.
Allen Douglas/KTW

Five-year-old Tessa Coughlan had an electrifying time while visiting the Big Little Science Centre on the weekend and taking part in the popular static-electricity show. Featured this Saturday is The Beautiful Light and Colour Show, with presentations at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The science centre is located at 655 Holt St. on the North Shore.
Allen Douglas/KTW

Westsyde secondary French students Leanna Stutt (left) Maya Aird, Laine Gillies and Rachel Robinson show Quebec exchange students how to have fun curling at the Kamloops Curling Centre yesterday during a two-day trip around the Tournament Capital to show off the city to the 18 students from Ecole Paul Le-Jeune in La Belle Province. The group is here to practise English and learn about Kamloops and the region. The Westsyde students will then visit Quebec in March to practise their French and explore part of the province’s Mauricie region.
Dave Eagles/KTW

Cooper Smith, 3, manouvres his way along the rope-climbing structure in Riverside Park under the watchful eye of mom Becky.
Dave Eagles/KTW

With his sister in swimming lessons and the fieldhouse busy with track and field events, two-year-old London Rollo had the hallways at the Tournament Capital Centre all to himself during a weekend visit.
Allen Douglas/KTW

Twin Rivers Education Centre student Tristen August (left) passes coloured balls, representing different stresses students find in life, to classmates Sienna Peters and Alana Dick, as students learned strategies for coping with stress during one of three 30-minute workshops students rotated through during the annual Wellness Fair on Wednesday. The fair included an expo with local agencies passing out information to students.
Dave Eagles/KTW

Three-year-old Corbin Blyth looks back to see if mom Erin is watching as he runs along the footpath in Riverside Park. This week’s glorious sunshine has drawn many people outside, but the forecast for the weekend is not as promising, with Environment Canada calling for showers on Saturday and Sunday.
Dave Eagles/KTW

Thompson Rivers University English student Jana Chouinard has the first floor of The Brown House of Learning all to herself during the final days of Reading Week. The hustle and bustle of campus life resumed this week.
Dave Eagles/KTW

The Kamloops TeenFest will take place on Saturday, March 12, at the Tournament Capital Centre.

This free event is designed to engage, educate, entertain and empower the teens of Kamloops.

TeenFest gives teens and their parents the opportunity to connect with each other, their peers and their community.

The focus will be on creating opportunities for interaction, education and enjoyment with exhibitors, activities, workshops and performances.

Venues will be divided into six primary areas:  Health & Wellness, Fashion & Beauty, Life & Education, Careers, Technology & Gaming and Cool Stuff.

For more information, go online to teenfest.ca.

To view video of previous Teenfest events in other communities, go online here.

In celebration of Thompson Rivers University’s Aboriginal Days, the university hosted an Elder Luncheon on Tuesday in the Grand Hall at the Campus Activity Centre. Elders from throughout the Kamloops region attended the event, which sought to
connect learners with elders’ knowledge. Estella Patrick Moller (left) Mike Arnouse and Jim Jack were recognized during the luncheon.
Dave Eagles/KTW

Mayor Peter Milobar and Kamloops Food Bank warehouse manager Wes Graham auction off the Johnny Depp bowl, which fetched $1,800.
Dave Eagles/KTW

The first of what will be an annual fundraising event for the Kamloops Food Bank saw $17,000 raised.

The Empty Bowls lunch, held last Friday at Hotel 540, benefitted from a $10,000 donation from the B.C. Lottery Corporation, said food bank executive director Bernadette Siracky.

The rest was raised through silent and public auctions that included 14 bowl-centred packages and 11 bowls autographed by famous people, including the prime minister and actor Johnny Depp.

The Depp bowl brought in the largest donation — $1,800.

Taking part in the event were seven restaurants and one bakery.

Third-year TRU nursing students Talia Ollek and Brie Fehr are helping to organize a free health fair in recognition of World Kidney Day on Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Northills Centre. Among many health booths, volunteers will be taking blood pressures and doing blood sugar and cholesterol checks. “We’re going out into the community and saying, ‘Here’s how to take care of your health,’ before they end up in the hospital in acute care or with kidney disease as one of my patients,” said Fehr. “It’s giving us a different lens for nursing.”
Andrea Klassen/KTW

Thompson Rivers University nursing students are reaching out to the local school district to help spread this year’s World Kidney Day message  — act early to prevent disease.

“Kids think they’re invincible,” said third-year nursing student Taryn Christian.

On Thursday, Christian and three other students, in partnership with the Kidney Foundation of Canada, are organizing a free health and wellness fair at Northills Centre in recognition of  World Kidney Day.

Linda Bonner-Brown has been with the foundation for 20 years and has helped organize this event for the last nine years. Three years ago, the TRU School of Nursing came on board and, with it, brought fresh-faced students with a roster of new ideas for raising awareness, she said.

“I think people think kidney disease and only think it affects an older population, but there are a lot of young people who are suffering from it, kids who are suffering from it,” student Talia Ollek said.

“None of us necessarily want to work in a dialysis unit, but no matter where we are, we’re going to see people who have problems with their kidneys. I think it’s kind of opened our eyes to what that looks like and what they’re dealing with.”

There are 1,253 people suffering from kidney disease in the Kamloops area. Last year, 271 British Columbians underwent kidney transplants, according to BC Transplant.

By leading a healthy lifestyle and addressing smoking, alcohol consumption and unhealthy body weight, Christian said people can reduce the risk factor for not only kidney disease, but heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.

“Everything goes along with kidneys,” she said.

Patients from the community dialysis unit will be speaking about their experiences at the fair, which will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nursing students will be on hand to check blood pressure and blood sugars. Pharmacists will also be available for cholesterol checks.

Several community groups will join them, including the Canadian Diabetes Association, Canadian Celiac Association, BC Transplant, Canadian Blood Services, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Kamloops Brain Injury Association and the Kamloops Hearing Aid Centre.

The Big Little Science Centre and School District 73 will are also planning programs directed at youth.