The Old West
Posted by Kristin Butcher
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Back on the road shortly after 8 am—destination Hazelton, BC. Who knew writers could be such a rowdy group?!! That van rocked with laughter the whole trip. We arrived with time to spare, so Bryan took us on a little driving tour through Hazelton proper (there’s Old, New, North, and South). It’s so quaint—set up like an old western town. There’s even a restaurant in the guise of a paddle wheel boat. Then it was off to New Hazelton, where—after stopping in at a great little bakery for some sustenance—Kari and I were dropped at New Hazelton Elementary School to visit with the students there. Then Bryan whisked Cathleen and Michael to the secondary school. For some reason time seems to get away on us, and Kari and I don’t finish our presentations until 12:15. There’s no time for lunch, so we head to our next stop at South Hazelton Elementary. What a gorgeous school! It’s all sunlight and brightness—the building and the people. I met with the intermediate students, and they were such a treat. What a nice bunch of kids!
We were done by 2:30, which meant we had 4 1/2 hours until our evening presentation. So we went to Ksan Heritage Park to stroll through a recreation of an early native village. Unfortunately we couldn’t get into the buildings, but they were still pretty impressive from the outside with their many totem poles. It was such a gorgeous day, we were happy just to laze in the the sunshine. Then it was dinner at Rob’s Restaurant. I highly recommend it. I had a caesar salad and the lasagna. Both were excellent.
And then we headed over to the Learning Shop, a wonderful community-centred facility, bent on improving the connection between the community and the people in it. We had a fabulous time. The crowd may not have been huge, but it was certainly enthusiastic.
Thanks, Hazelton. It was great to meet you.
