By David F. Rooney
Just imagine you’re new to Revelstoke from a big city perhaps some place like Vancouver or Calgary where talking to strangers is… unusual. What would you make of Revelstoke and its inhabitants?
You walk down the street and people actually smile and say hello to complete strangers. Amble down Third Street West and you might see two vehicles travelling in opposite directions stop as the drivers have a quick chat. You overhear a conversation at the Modern about redfish and wonder what they’re talking about.
Little things like those are such integral pieces of local life that most of us never give them a second thought. But to newcomers they are little mysteries — mysteries that Mary Kline at Okanagan College and Revelstoke’s Social Development Coordinator Jill Zacharias hope to shed light on in the new Welcome to Revelstoke Guide that is scheduled for publication next year.
“The guide will be a tool to help newcomers better understand our community and how it works,” Kline said in an interview. “One of the things we’d like to include is information about the little things we’re all familiar with but that newcomers won’t understand. You know how cook books sometimes have little one-liners at the bottom of the page? Well, we’re hoping to include something like that in the guide, too.”
She said she hopes people who read this story will post their own little informative one-liners about our unique local customs and habits using the comment section below.
It could be something like: You know it’s spring in Revelstoke when people start shovelling snow off their yards onto the street.
Or: In Revelstoke it’s perfectly normal to smile and say hello to strangers in the street.
What do you think?
Do you have a one-liner that accurately describes a local habit, custom, food or place that might be a complete mystery to a newcomer?
If you do please post it in the comment section!
