Community Futures Greater Trail in partnership with the Trail & District Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to announce the Beyond the River campaign and Stick-It! Contest. The Stick-It! Contest officially kicks off on April 1.
“This initiative is our way of celebrating the Columbia River,” said Ron Perepolkin, Community Economic Development Coordinator at Community Futures Greater Trail. “When SKPs (South Kootenay People -pronounced “escapees”) enter to win the grand prize they do so by providing us with photos and/or an itinerary of amazing things to do Beyond the River. These entries may be used as content for our WeSportFish.com tourism initiative that promotes our world class rainbow trout sport fishery to the world, and also provides information on when, where, and how to fish for SKPs. When asked where the term SKPs came from, the response was “this is what I like to call people that escaped the urban madness”.
“Our visitors are mainly catch and release fly fishers,” he added. “They stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, hire our fishing guides, and inject new money into our local economy. This is new money that circulates in our economy, not just recirculating of our current paychecks. After a great day on the river, we want our community to suggest memorable things to do Beyond the River. We want these visitors to come visit again and recommend us to their friends.”
Erika Krest, Executive Director of the Trail & District Chamber of Commerce added “the value of tourism is often overlooked by our local merchants, and the Chamber of Commerce is currently looking into formation of a regional tourism society and drafting a regional tourism management strategy”.
Evan Johnston of Island Toys & Hobbies shares these sentiments. He is one of 12 participating merchants where SKPs can find a unique Merchant Code Word to enter for the 12 merchant prizes draws. This is all that is needed to enter, but to win the Grand Prize, contestants need to include an itinerary of a perfect day Beyond the River, or grab the official WeSportFish.com sticker from the in-store displays and Grab-it, Stick-it, Photograph-it, and Submit-it. That’s-it.
Johnston said when he opened his storefront, his customers were excited to finally have a Kootenay-based toy and hobby shop, but were confused by the name. He said the business is actually named after the Island of Misfit Toys from the classic 1964 movie Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. In the movie, Santa promises Rudolph he will find homes for imperfect toys. Evan said he did the same when he was under contract with The Source to refurbish and recycle toys so they, too may be loved again. Hence, Island Toys & Hobbies!
Evan has a great selection of RC parts and vehicles, rocketry, model trains, scale models, paints, toys, games, and much more in his bricks and mortar store at 1020 Farwell Street in Trail and also on his comprehensive online shop, Islandtoys.ca His focus is on customer service and strengthening the hobby community. On April 22 he will celebrate Kootenay RC Day with fellow enthusiasts at Castlegar’s Spring Fling. He invites anyone interested in RC (remote control) to come check out the exciting hobby of RC racing and rough terrain rock crawling, and maybe even partake in some BBQ.
Starting April 1, you can get your code word from any of the following merchants and enter it online at WeSportFish.com: Island Toys & Hobby, Barks & Recreation, Kootenay Life & Leisure, Colander Restaurant, Valley Firearms, Trail Beer Refinery, Bear Country Kitchen, Country Roads, Kootenay Made Co., Glenmerry Bowl, Trail Coffee Co, and Gerick Sports.
Feature Staff Member