There may be more than a foot of snow still on the ground, but there’s still one sure sign of spring in Nakusp.
The Hut is re-opening.
“The kids are really excited- especially for the ice cream,” jokes Chris White, who’s run the drive-through burger shack with his family for the last 25 years.
He spoke to Arrow Lakes News the day before opening, while he was busy making the restaurant operational again.
“It’s a time when we get things put back together,” he says. “In the fall everything gets emptied out and put away for winter. Now we get the food orders starting to come in, we get the freezers running again. We’re busy today.”
While he’s going to be busy for the next six months, working seven days a week until the fall, he can’t help be excited.
“It’s nice to get back to work, get going,” he says.
Waiting for green
Across Nakusp, businesses and organizations are coming out of winter hibernation and preparing for the busy season.
“It’s magical this time of year,” says Bill Poulin, who operates Nakusp Heritage Nurseries with his wife. “Right now we’re digging up the plants left over from last year from under the snow.
They’ve been covered by mulch to winterize. Now we start taking them out, pruning them. When you see the buds already forming on them- it’s miraculous.”
The Poulins too are busy getting their inventory ready for the spring, even though the late spring has delayed work a bit.
“We’ll be opening in mid-April,” he says. “That’s a bit later than usual. It might be a bit earlier than that, weather permitting. But we’ll likely be postponing our deliveries, hoping for a warmer spell.
It’s a lot of work this time of year, but Poulin says spring is still special.
“It is really fun, kind of like Christmas, taking the waappring off the present, taking the mulch off the plants,” he says. “And then you’re welcomed with a nice surprise.”
Draining work for village
It’s surprises that the Village of Nakusp is trying to avoid, as land begins to shed tens of millions of litres of water.
“We spend a significant amount of time making sure catchment basins are clear and unfrozen, to make sure we can avoid flooding,” says Recreation and Parks Director Terry Welsh.
Then there’s pothole patrol- two village workers patrol the streets, looking for newly-born holes created as frost comes out of the soil.
“The next thing we do is, the streets look like they are made of gravel,” says Welsh. “So we bring in a street sweeper to clear the streets.”
It’s a busy time for other village staff. Ice in the arenas is taken out, and maintenance, including painting and patching, begins. Landscaping crews are also setting up for the growing season.
“The equipment is getting prepared- blades are being sharpened on mowers, and we convert the Kubota from winter sidewalk clearing to grass cutting,” he says.
After a winter’s muck and damage caused by snow and wind, the big city parks facilities- the beach, campground, and cemetery and park- undergo checks and maintenace cleaning as well.
Delays, delays
Summer job postings are also a little behind, says WorkBC’s Margaret Driscoll. Students returning from college will have to wait a while longer to see if there’s employment for them this summer.
“This is still definitely the shoulder season,” she says. “We’re not seeing any posts for summer student work yet, though that is really not unusual. Many organizations are still waiting for word on their funding for summer hires.”
With snow still falling pretty regularly, there’s no doubt long-term forecasts that the La Nina would mean a slow spring are coming true.
The mountains of snow still on the ground are putting a damper on all sorts of events.
The annual spring ritual, the Easter egg hunt sponsored by Save-On-Foods, will be held inside this year, at the arena, on April 1.
