Editor,
It is sad that so many pedestrians get injured on our roads. Nobody wants to suffer any type of injury. But, after watching a fellow in downtown Squamish on Tuesday, I must say that there is obviously something wrong with how people think about crossing the roads and streets. This fellow walked across the street and then directly behind a car that was in the process of backing up while parking. And guess what? The crosswalk that is clearly marked was 20 feet away. If this fellow had been hit by the car, guess who is going to be suing whom and looking for compensation for injuries? We pay taxes, we rant and rave about safety features on our roads, then we set about to be 100 per cent oblivious to them. I've seen mothers with toddlers in hand and pushing a baby buggy with the other hand run across the street in front of cars and again the crosswalk was 20 feet away. What is that teaching the young ones? What is wrong here? Do we need to close off the downtown area completely to vehicles so some people who have the urge to run across streets have their way? On the other side of the coin, what about the drivers who, when they got their drivers license, were never told about the signs that indicate there is a crosswalk and they still haven't figured out what those signs mean. Maybe ICBC and the Health Insurance should just cancel the policies when you disobey the law and get injured. When you are faced with that possibility, maybe people will think first before they act stupidly. While I'm on the subject of road safety, does the District have any plans for the problems when you come out of Extra Foods? There is traffic coming from multiple directions and this area is a disaster waiting to happen. We do not need another death here before action is taken. I'm assuming our local politicians are planning something. Those new apartments will be opening soon and there will be more traffic. To close, is it possible for one of the members of the RCMP to write a column on traffic safety, crosswalks, pedestrian rules etc. and the consequences that you will suffer when you disobey? Have a great day and all you jaywalkers keep it up, when you get run over you ensure that our doctors and nurses are busy and it keeps them employed for a while longer.
Larry Law
Brackendale
Director thinks play got short shrift
Editor,
As a director of one of Between Shifts Theatre's four one-act plays in the production of All 4 One, which just concluded at the Brackendale Art Gallery, I am writing to express my disappointment at the lack of coverage we received from your newspaper for our shows.
Your reporter, Sylvie Paillard, came to the May 21 presentation, stayed for the first two shows, took some photographs - one of which ran in your May 27 issue - and left early, citing another engagement. She did not review the play, nor conduct any interviews with any of the producers, directors or cast, to my knowledge. Now I know that Ms. Paillard has a lot on her plate, given the number of subjects she is obliged to cover for The Chief, but I thought we deserved better. All 4 One involved 17 actors and directors, ranging in age from 13 to 64, all of whom worked very hard to produce our final product, 18 if you include BAG owner, Thor Froslev, who went out of his way to make our stay at his facility a memorable one. Some recognition of that effort would have been appreciated by us, especially those that were in their first play. However, upon reading the May 27 Chief, I became even more dismayed and annoyed to find that Ms. Paillard had found the time to conduct yet another interview with fellow director, Ryan Mooney. Now I'm not one to slam someone in the same line of art as Between Shifts, but Mr. Mooney's own play, Little Shop of Horrors, was previewed and/or reviewed a total of four times when it appeared back in April, and this latest interview, which amounted to a lengthy promotion of his August drama school, could easily have run in a later issue. In fact, the interview was the sixth one with him by Ms. Paillard since early March, according to your own archives. On the other hand, Between Shifts last three productions, Love and Lust Monologues, Monty Python and All 4 One received one preview each, no reviews, and one photo for the latter two.
In a given year, as many as six groups may be developing and presenting plays in Squamish. All of them deserve to be covered to the same extent to promote a decent level of community support. As new editors beginning to put your own stamp on The Chief, I would ask you keep that in mind in the future. We would all appreciate it.
Paul Fletcher
Garibaldi Highlands
Editor's note: All 4 One received several preview mentions in The Chief in its May 13 and May 20 editions in addition to the photo in the May 27 edition mentioned by the writer.
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