Ice skates a luxury family can’t afford

OK, Kelowna, if ever there was an opportunity for good, redblooded Canadians to help a family this Christmas season, this would be it.

Poor Drake’s little feet need your help.

When the seven-year-old boy’s mom took him skating with his class to Stuart Park before the holidays, they arrived on a day with fast ice and slow lineups at the skate rental trailer.

Deborah waited her turn and rented the skates. There were two problems, though, once she got back to the bench where Drake was waiting, impatiently: the skates were at least one size too big and he somehow ended up with two left skates.

She looked back at that long lineup and down at her bouncing little boy. Forget it, she decided. They would make do with what they had.

“He got on the ice and he just went,” Deborah says, laughing now. “No one would have ever known he had two left skates and they were too big.”

Drake doesn’t have his own skates because money is tight at home.

Deborah and Drake are one family you can help this year by donating to Be an Angel.

Deborah says donations to the Central Okanagan Community Food Bank help in ways some people can’t imagine.

Clerke, and eventually Jackson, didn’t mind the winter blast Thursday.

“It’s not too cold if you dress for it,” she said.

“And if it’s shovelled, which it mostly is by now, then it’s OK. It’s when it’s just left that it’s a real slog.”

Kelsey Duncan was digging out of her Richmond Street townhouse first thing Thursday morning.

“Sure, it’s more snow than they told us we were going to get,” she said.

“But I’m originally from Revelstoke, where this is just another winter day.”

Michael Stamper was part of a crew from Yard by Yard Landscaping that descended on St. Paul Street downtown first thing Thursday to clear snow in front of office buildings and FSH restaurant.

“We have a lot of clients along here, so we come with a lot of guys and get it done quickly,” he said.

Surprisingly, Thursday’s snow resulted in only one flight cancellation at Kelowna’s airport.

The inbound Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle due at 11 a.m. never left the ground in Washington state after word was received that visibility in Kelowna had dipped below 800 metres.

The cancellation of the 6 a.m. flight to Vancouver on Air Canada was due to a mechanical issue.

However, the amount of white stuff did contribute to numerous inbound and outbound delays, ranging from a half-hour to 90 minutes.

“We have crews clearing snow around the clock and de-icing every aircraft, but it’s not enough to prevent delays in this kind of weather,” said airport director Sam Samaddar.

The snow accumulation, and threat of more, has led the City of Kelowna to declare a “snow event.”

What that means is you can’t park your car along designated so-called snow routes in the Wilden, Ponds, Magic Estates and Dilworth Mountain neighbourhoods.

Vehicles parked on snow routes during the ban could be towed at the owner’s expense, and the owner may be fined $50.

Motorists not living on snow routes also are encouraged not to park on the street so snowplows can do a better job clearing streets.

To find out when snow route parking bans are enacted and lifted, you can sign up for email notices from the City at Kelowna.ca/GetConnected.