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OPINION: The bright side of sad Squamish news

The act of two sets of big-hearted locals this past week reinforces that in life, sometimes it all depends on how you look at things. First, locals worked together to rescue an injured swan.
Squamish Skatepark.
The newly painted Squamish Skatepark.

The act of two sets of big-hearted locals this past week reinforces that in life, sometimes it all depends on how you look at things.

First, locals worked together to rescue an injured swan.

Squamish’s Tim Cyr spotted the swan in the estuary recently and knew that her presence in itself was odd. Swans should have migrated through to the Arctic in the spring.

injured swan
The injured swan in the Squamish Estuary. - Tim Cyr

He watched the animal from a distance for a bit and when it was clear the bird was suffering from a badly injured leg, he brought in folks with the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC, other local heroes and staff at Garibaldi Veterinary Clinic.

Together, they helped stabilize the swan so she could be transferred to the association’s hospital in Burnaby.

“It was a really good thing and a lot of people were involved,” Cyr  told The Chief Sunday evening after the bird was said to be successfully floating in a paddling pool of her own at the rescue hospital.

Tim added we could all use a good news story these days. Indeed. What a nice tale of people coming together and saving a beautiful and iconic creature.

But this is 2020, after all, and real life, not a Disney movie and so next came word Sunday night that the swan had been euthanized.

This humane but unfortunate fate was due to the extent of her leg injury, combined with major feather damage from a bad lice infestation, Cyr relayed. She was too far gone.

Sad news, to be sure, but on reflection, this story shows that in Squamish people still come together; that many value wildlife in town and that sometimes our best is just not good enough, but that doesn’t mean we don’t give it our best shot.

It all depends on how you look at the same facts.

Tim Cyr
Source: Tim Cyr

The second set of locals were artists Ben Mier and Kyle LeGrow, of  Sea to Sky Creative and their friend Dalton Crawford who donated three 12-hour days under the sun, to paint over offensive graffiti at the Squamish Skatepark.

Squamish Skatepark
Source: Ben Mier

“We moved to The Sea to Sky for a sense of community. When we saw hateful graffiti at the skatepark, we saw an opportunity to brighten the community,” Mier told The Chief. The District backed the idea and Home Depot threw in some paint, and the project was underway.

“We chose the design to embrace our fundamentals as artists. Mountains are around us constantly bringing inspiration, and the traditional graffiti and tattoo designs stand the test of time with bold lines.”

The best part was seeing the happy reaction of kids and their families, Mier added.

“It was such a fun, rewarding project to do.”

Again, turning what could have been a negative story — hateful graffiti at the beloved skatepark — into a positive: a now bright, popping park and smiling faces.

Well done, folks, well done.

And thank you.

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