In Pictures: Day 2 of the Glacier Challenge Slow Pitch Tournament
By David F. Rooney
The Glacier Challenge Slow Pitch Tournament powered through a Saturday morning dampened by overnight heavy rains and while there were distant rumbles of thunder off and on during the day there was no rain here.
“That rain was something,” said Scott Duke. “It was up above the wheels on my barbeque.”
He said the first heavy downpour swiftly drove dancers and others back to their tents or vehicles at about 12:45 am.
By morning, though things were damp people attached to the 87 teams in town were ready to enjoy the Farmers’ Market and everything else Revelstoke has to offer.
Farmers’ Market President Tamaralea Nelles said the visitors were a welcome infusion of cash for the mid-summer market vendors.
She said some Revelstokians really “don’t get it” when she and other businesspeople welcome visitors to town.
If they have a good time here, they’ll come back. And, she said, they’ll tell their families and friends who will likely come here to test the tourism waters. If theyhave a good time,too, a lot of the people trying to benefit from the tourists will make a few bucks. These are local people — not the out-of-town investors who own RMR and some of the other companies and hotels in Revelstoke.
Registration for the annual tournament is 87 this year, down from last year’s total registration of 93 and thatwas a deep decline from the pre-recession years when as many as 120 teams arrived here each summer. Because the tournament has traditionally drawn as many as 2,000 people here for the long weekend we should be working hard to impress the visitors who have come because we want them to return next year and help us build the tournament back up.
It’s also a moneymaker for local groups like the Rotary Club, the Ski Club (which is managing the campsites) and, this year, Crime Stoppers (see below).
In the meantime, here are a few of the photos we took during the day:
The Saturday morning Farmers’ Market was a bustling centre for commerce this weekend as visitors, many of them here for the Glacier Challenge Slow Pitch Tournament, trawled for fruit, vegetables and what not. Farmers’ market President Tamaralea Nelles (background right talking with Cheryl Fry [in pink]), said the visitors are a mid-summer godsend for market vendors. There are people in town who disagree and wish the tournament would dry up and blow away but they are short-sighted. Revelstoke’s success as a tourist destination relies just as much on the friendliness of local people and the interesting goods they have to sell, whether they are works of art or ingenious crafts or the produce of our fruit trees and garden as it might rely on the success of RMR, APEX Rafting or other adventure tourism products. People who have a good time here in the summer go back home and tell their family and friends they had a good time and that is likely to encourage others to visit here. David F. Rooney photoI don’t know everybody in town but I have been here long enough and met enough local people to make a guess that at least 20 per cent of the people in this photo are probably visitors. The point is that the more visitors we encourage to come here and experience Revelstoke’s honest charm — and we are honestly charming — the better off our local economy will be. David F. Rooney photoLocal artists Tanis Rebbetoy (left) and Eve Fisher enjoy part of Saturday morning hanging out with mutual friend Susan Teuton, co-owner of the Inn on the River. Staying at a small local inn like the one owned by Susan and her husband or purchasing a local craft or work of art such as one of Tanis’ ceramics or Eve’s watercolours is a great way to fondly remember an authentic Revelstoke experience. Don David F. Rooney photoMarla Bugge’s Eye Candy Gallery has for years been a fixture of the summer Farmers’ Market. She offers her own fine jewellery hand-made from fossils. See those small stone faces? Those are door knobs and other useful and unusual objects. She’s in the market most weekends. David F. Rooney photoJanet Pearson (right) talks with Rena Wasylnka and Euna McInnes as they browse through some her latest ceramic creations. David F. Rooney photoDown at the Centennial Park ball fields there was plenty of slow-pitch ball being played. This game features two local teams: Here for Beer, whose members were all tutu-ed up for the match against Two Balls, One Bat and a Canoe. You might have expected them to be wearing canoes but they weren’t wearing anything unusual. David F. Rooney photoRoberta Ciolli (left) of Revelstoke Crime Stoppers brought lunch for Betty Nelson and Meg Rose of the Kamloops Crime Stoppers who were doing an excellent job flogging $5 tickets for their Car Raffle. The prize is a Ford Mustang convertible and these ball players from Red Deer were eager to corner the market on tickets. The table was in the parking lot on the west side of the Community Centre. David F. Rooney photoLocal Mounties were out in force on Saturday and, by 8:30 had already had a few cars impounded and towed away. The RCMP detachment’s determination to enforce the driving laws was absolute. David F. Rooney photoEarly evening was fair and comfortable on Saturday. A few far-off thunder claps might have jolted the area during the day, but there was no rain that evening. David F. Rooney photoBall player Ashley Hlina of Vernon never met a friendly dog she didn’t like. David F. Rooney photoMaritime Kitchen Party played the Glacier Challenge beer garden on Saturday. Okay, two of the band’s members — Shannon Sternloff and Trevor Wallach — were out-of-town, but Steve Smith (right) brought in bassist Dave Tataryn and drummer Andrew Payne to ensure that the band delighted the evening crowd. David F. Rooney photo
![The Saturday morning Farmers' Market was a bustling centre for commerce this weekend as visitors, many of them here for the Glacier Challenge Slow Pitch Tournament, trawled for fruit, vegetables and what not. Farmers' market President Tamaralea Nelles (background right talking with Cheryl Fry [in pink]), said the visitors are a mid-summer godsend for market vendors. There are people in town who disagree and wish the tournament would dry up and blow away but they are short-sighted. Revelstoke's success as a tourist destination relies just as much on the friendliness of local people and the interesting goods they have to sell, whether they are works of art or ingenious crafts or the produce of our fruit trees and garden as it might rely on the success of RMR, APEX Rafting or other adventure tourism products. People who have a good time here in the summer go back home and tell their family and friends they had a good time and that is likely to encourage others to visit here. David F. Rooney photo](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2013/08/online-glacier-chall-2013-Sat-01.jpg)
