Sharp’s candidacy adds interest to B.C. Tory nomination

Busy times in River City these days. I stopped by Gaglardi Square today for Peter Sharp’s announcement of his candidacy for the B.C. Conservative nomination in Kamloops-South Thompson.

Peter is a former council colleague and a personal friend of mine, and I know his work ethic, but I’ve seen nothing from the B.C. Conservatives and leader John Cummins to get excited about. Should he get the nomination, though, it will add interest to next spring’s election campaign. The Tories will have some catching up to do, with the Liberals’ Todd Stone going so far as to put his campaign vehicle in Saturday’s Santa Parade.

Great parade, by the way. Syd and I were judges again this year, judging the elves category (photo above is a winning entry by the Horse Barn and donkey refuge). It was a fun bunch of entries to review because of all the kids and animals on the floats. The youngsters clearly had a hand in the decorating of some of them, and it was great to see.

Last Thursday, I was honoured to present a bursary to journalism student Paige Kimberley at TRU’s awards ceremony in the gym. The format for this event is fantastic — just a couple of speeches, and then the donors make their presentations to the winners in groups at tables. Short and sweet, and lots of good feelings.

The bursary I presented to Paige is named the Mel Rothenburger Journalism Bursary and comes from The Daily News and Glacier Media Group. I couldn’t have received a better retirement gift than that, and as I joked on Thursday, it’s especially gratifying to have an award named after me while I’m still living and breathing.

Saturday night, on Daily News publisher Tim Shoults’ request, I did the honours in introducing Master of Ceremonies Jack Knox at the Rotary West’s Manhattan Nights fundraiser at the Colombo Hall.

Jack, of course, writes the Slightly Skewed humour column for The News once a week, but also writes several columns a week for the Victoria Times-Colonist. He’s a home-grown Kamloops guy (he once worked for The News as city editor) and has a hilarious sense of humour.

Needless to say, he was a big hit, and so was the program of magic and dancing put together by the club.