A small sheet of ice brought great joy to a young Salmon Arm resident recently.
Jackson Mint, who is six, moved to Salmon Arm from Chilliwack with his family in June. This is their first winter in the Shuswap.
With a portion of Shuswap Lake frozen with all the recent low temperatures, last weekend Jackson’s dad Britt grabbed a snow shovel and the family headed to Salmon Arm Bay. There he shovelled off a little rink.
Jackson was so pleased and excited at being able to play hockey on the frozen lake that Jackson’s mom Marika took his photo and sent it to the newspaper.
She said their family also walked the trail around the frozen bay. Both their children, Jackson and Jana who’s nine, loved it.
“It was really special for the kids,” Marika said.
She said their family lived in Chilliwack for the past 10 years. There, snow and ice were pretty rare.
They lived in a small home so needed something bigger. The kids were begging for their own rooms, she said.
Salmon Arm looked like a place where they could get good value for their money, along with it being a safe place, Marika explained. Their home in Chilliwack was on a dangerous street, she said.
“We’re just loving it so far, definitely. It’s different but they (the kids) really like it. We’re really happy with everything here.”
She said she even likes the weather, despite it being colder than Chilliwack.
“I love the winter. I love shovelling…”
But what she also likes is the pace in Salmon Arm, and the people.
“I notice the quiet. Everything where we were was fast and crazy. It’s a slower pace of life altogether; I think we needed that. We can go to school and not go bonkers getting home. It’s really a slow-paced setting.”
Britt is an iron worker. Marika works at home, looking after the house and the children.
She gushes about how wonderful her neighbours are.
“Where we used to live, if you’d say hello to someone they’d think you were on drugs. ‘Why are you saying hello to me?’” she quipped. “Here the neighbours are really nice. Everybody is so welcoming and kind.”
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martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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