Latest news with #Smithers
National Post
2 days ago
- General
- National Post
Tony Hawk, Mark McMorris help open skateboard park expansion in Smithers, B.C.
Tony Hawk and Mark McMorris wanted their presence at the Smithers Skate Park expansion unveiling to amplify skateboarding's importance in the remote, northern B.C. community. Article content Article content Skateboarding icon Hawk and Canadian snowboarding star McMorris travelled to the town of 5,000 people for Thursday's opening. They lauded the community's pluck in raising $1.8 million to increase the size of the street park and build a bowl for skateboarders next to the Yellowhead Highway that runs from Winnipeg to the West Coast. Article content 'I don't go to many grand openings, to be honest, but this seemed like a really unique situation,' Hawk said. 'I don't want to say it's the most remote area, but in remote areas, skateboarding is still a valid option for kids to choose, and they want to do it. We need to provide facilities for them.' Article content McMorris, a three-time Olympic slopestyle bronze medallist whose 24 X Games medals is the most among snowboarders, has a special place in his heart for skateboarding. Article content 'The first board I ever got on was a skateboard,' McMorris said. 'It's been so important in my life. That's how I made a lot of friends. It's where I spent a lot of time at the skate park in Regina. Article content 'I can just only imagine what it would be like if Tony Hawk came to Regina to open a skate park when I was a kid. Some kids' minds are going to be blown, and some new skateboarders are going to be born from this event.' Article content Article content The expanded street park cost $1.2 million and the bowl another $600,000 to build, said Smithers Skate Park Society vice-chair Christy Sawchuck, who is also known around town as 'Rad-Mom' because of her love of skateboarding. Article content Article content 'We don't have the municipalities that can fund something like this. We're doing it all on our own,' Sawchuck said. Article content 'We had local non-profits and foundations that got us started with large donations. We had many local companies that gave us discounted materials and services.' Article content The Power To Give Foundation contacted McMorris, who in turn reached out to Hawk. The two men have crossed paths in the action sport community and in Encinitas, Calif., where both have homes. Article content 'He is an extremely large figure. Larger than life, larger than the sport itself, so for him to agree to do this is very special,' McMorris said. Article content Hawk's Skateboard Project in the United States helps build parks for underserved communities, so what Smithers has done aligns with his beliefs.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Tony Hawk, Mark McMorris help open skateboard park expansion in Smithers, B.C.
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk high-fives young fans during the grand opening of the expanded Smithers Skate Park in Smithers, B.C., in this Thursday, May 29, 2025 handout photo. (Erica Chan) Tony Hawk and Mark McMorris wanted their presence at the Smithers Skate Park expansion unveiling to amplify skateboarding's importance in the remote, northern B.C. community. Skateboarding icon Hawk and Canadian snowboarding star McMorris travelled to the town of 5,000 people for Thursday's opening. They lauded the community's pluck in raising $1.8 million to increase the size of the street park and build a bowl for skateboarders next to the Yellowhead Highway that runs from Winnipeg to the West Coast. 'I don't go to many grand openings, to be honest, but this seemed like a really unique situation,' Hawk said. 'I don't want to say it's the most remote area, but in remote areas, skateboarding is still a valid option for kids to choose, and they want to do it. We need to provide facilities for them.' McMorris, a three-time Olympic slopestyle bronze medallist whose 24 X Games medals is the most among snowboarders, has a special place in his heart for skateboarding. 'The first board I ever got on was a skateboard,' McMorris said. 'It's been so important in my life. That's how I made a lot of friends. It's where I spent a lot of time at the skate park in Regina. 'I can just only imagine what it would be like if Tony Hawk came to Regina to open a skate park when I was a kid. Some kids' minds are going to be blown, and some new skateboarders are going to be born from this event.' The expanded street park cost $1.2 million and the bowl another $600,000 to build, said Smithers Skate Park Society vice-chair Christy Sawchuck, who is also known around town as 'Rad-Mom' because of her love of skateboarding. 'We don't have the municipalities that can fund something like this. We're doing it all on our own,' Sawchuck said. 'We had local non-profits and foundations that got us started with large donations. We had many local companies that gave us discounted materials and services.' The Power To Give Foundation contacted McMorris, who in turn reached out to Hawk. The two men have crossed paths in the action sport community and in Encinitas, Calif., where both have homes. 'He is an extremely large figure. Larger than life, larger than the sport itself, so for him to agree to do this is very special,' McMorris said. Hawk's Skateboard Project in the United States helps build parks for underserved communities, so what Smithers has done aligns with his beliefs. 'To see this in Canada makes me feel inspired. I hope that the city takes pride in a project like this,' Hawk said. 'A lot of times facilities like these are uphill battles and there are tired stigmas that are associated with our sport, skateboarding especially. 'I feel like skate parks can save lives and they can enhance a community beyond anything that they might imagine. I feel like Smithers will be an example of that.' More improvements are in the works for the Smithers' park including a pump track that's easier for beginners, lighting and accessible washrooms. Admission to the skate park is free. 'For free unstructured play that reaches everybody and every demographic, I think it's imperative to have,' Sawkchuck said. 'Not everybody can afford to do huge recreational sports and have parents that can travel.' Sawchuck also believes travelling families will see the park from the highway and make it a stop for rest and recreation. 'It runs right along Highway 16. We have a lot of people that travel the North, anywhere from the Lower Mainland, from the United States, travelling up to Alaska,' she said. 'It ends up being like a rest-stop station and a central hub for people to let their dogs out, grab something to eat, go to the skate park, chill out for a little bit and carry on on their travels.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2025. Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
CBC
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
#TheMoment Tony Hawk made a surprise visit to a B.C. skatepark
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk talks about going to Smithers, B.C., to celebrate the opening of its expanded skate park.
CBC
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Tony Hawk, pro skater, pays surprise visit to Smithers, B.C.
One of the world's most recognizable athletes has paid a surprise visit to a small B.C. mountain town, population 5,000. Tony Hawk, who revolutionized skateboarding with several new tricks and helped popularize the sport through his athletic performances and a line of video games, is in Smithers, B.C., in the province's northwest, to help celebrate the expansion of the community's skate park. "Hey, what's up Smithers? It's Tony Hawk. Someone told me there's a skate demo happening at your new park?" he said in a video posted to social media. "That's pretty cool, I may have to check it out." The Smithers Skate Park Society has been advertising a "pro skater demonstration" to celebrate the completion of the park's expansion but had not previously revealed who would be involved. According to the society, Smithers — located 661 kilometers northwest of Vancouver — was the first community in B.C. north of Kamloops to have a dedicated skate park, first opening in 1996, and has been working over the past several years on a major expansion, at a cost of nearly $1 million. The expansion includes new features for skaters, such as an eight-foot bowl, as well as lighting, benches and signage. The celebration, which includes a demonstration by Hawk, as well as learn to skate events, will be underway all afternoon Thursday.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
7-Eleven ordered to pay B.C. woman $907K for pothole injury
The exterior of a 7-Eleven store is shown in an undated file photo. A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has ordered 7-Eleven Canada to pay a woman more than $900,000 in damages after she tripped on a pothole and broke her ankle in the parking lot of a convenience store. Crystal Tommy's fall in May of 2018 led to a cascading series of injuries from which she is yet to fully recover, according to the decision of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Emily Burke. The judge heard that Tommy stopped to get a coffee at the 7-Eleven in Smithers before work. As she left the store that morning, she tripped on a divot in the park lot and broke her ankle in three places. The injury forced the woman, who is now 37 years old, to miss several months of work at a local plant nursery while she used crutches and a wheelchair. Injuries continue By December of that year, she was walking again, albeit with a limp and pain in her hip. But on Christmas Day 2018, she fell down a set of stairs and injured her back. While she testified that there was fresh snow on the stairs where she fell, she argued it was her lingering limp and hip pain that caused the fall. Tommy's medical complications continued in 2021, when she was driving her dog to the veterinarian and her vehicle slid on some black ice. The car came to a violent stop in the ditch. Tommy testified that she had gained weight around her stomach due to her inactivity after the 2018 fall. 'Her stomach hit the steering wheel, leading to a hernia,' the judge wrote in her decision last week. 'This required an operation in 2023. In addition, she had another surgery in 2023 to deal with an ovarian cyst, all of which created healing complications.' Depression, financial struggles By the end of 2022, Tommy had stopped working and had lost many of her social connections, leading to deteriorating mental health and financial struggles, according to the ruling. 'Tommy continues to experience a limp, pain in her ankle and mobility issues,' the judge found, noting friends and family corroborated the change in Tommy's personality since 2018 'from a happy person to one who is sad and depressed.' Her lawsuit against 7-Elevent Canada claimed damages and lost future earnings arguing she will not he healed enough to return to work until the spring of 2026, and will likely need to retire by age 50, losing out on an estimated 20 years of income. 7-Eleven denies liability 7-Eleven Canada denied all liability for Tommy's injuries, arguing photos showed the parking lot was reasonably safe with only a very small depression in the pavement. Evidence showed the store manager filled in the pothole on the day Tommy was injured, according to the ruling. A 7-Eleven asset protection supervisor testified that its B.C. store employees were required to take an online safety course and complete a questionnaire about workplace hazards when they were hired. Since Tommy's injury, employee safety training is now requested annually, according to her testimony. 'The evidence is that while employees are now 'asked' to undertake the course annually, at the time of the accident, this was not the case,' the judge found. 'An employee could be asked to take the online course, without consequence for non-compliance. Furthermore, the employee is only asked to answer five multiple choice questions as part of a 'knowledge check' at the end of the course, which appears to be a somewhat limited method to ascertain whether an employee has some understanding of the safety issues in the workplace.' The judge ordered 7-Eleven Canada to pay Tommy $907,363 for her claim, including $175,000 in non-pecuniary damages, $494,000 in future loss of income, $10,000 in past loss of income, $171,863 in future loss of housekeeping, $39,000 in past loss of housekeeping, $17,000 in future cost of care and $500 in special damages.
