The Columbia Valley detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is getting ready to invite the community in for an open house to be held on May 11. With the assistance of the Lake Windermere Lions Club, the detachment will open its doors between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. to parents, grandparents and children to come in and take a tour.
Staff Sergeant Marko Shehovac has held events like this before when he was in Golden and sees it as a way for people to see the detachment as not just a negative place in the community. Over the three years people came to events in Golden, the number of people coming grew substantially and people had a lot of fun.
“We let the families come in and take pictures. This is in conjunction with police week in Canada and we wanted to do a full deal for the first time in this detachment,” said Shehovac. It was this hope of having an event with more than just the RCMP involved that led the Staff Sergeant to approach the Lions Club. When he approached the Lions Club they were happy to step in and sponsor the event while helping out with a tour of the facility.
“The Lions Club stepped in and will have Anne Riches catering the beef on a bun. We are going to gear for 150 people. We will have our boat, ATV and police cars out. This will happen rain or shine,” Shehovac said.
He went on to say that after approaching Tim Hortons to be another sponsor, there will also be coffee and snacks for the kids as well at the event. He said that the support that he has been shown by the Lions and Tim Hortons will help make the event a success the first time out at the CV detachment.
“The whole thing is to show the community that this is your detachment. It should not be a strange place. It is your place,” Shehovac said.
Shehovac added that children seem to enjoy this type of event because they get to see the jail cells and jump up and down on some of the toys at the detachment. If you cannot make it on the day of the event but would like to bring your child by for a tour, Shehovac said that he was willing to arrange a time for a tour but he is hopeful that many people will drop by for the open house.