Kyle Thomas

The Website of Kyle Thomas (KyleWith)

View of Fort St John from up top

I had the chance this past Friday to go up top of one of the hotels in Fort St John and take some pictures. I’m use to Yellowknife, where there are large 14 story building and getting to see the sky scape. I think seeing a city from a high up angle can give you a better appreciation of it, unfortunately Fort St John doesn’t have many of those building. The hotel I got to up actually only had 6 stories, which is not much at all

There is no real reason why I took these photos. I’m sure they will be used frequently in the future for various projects though. My view feature Fort St John busiest road in town, 100 Ave, which runs through the heart of town. The reason I went and took the photos on Friday because clouds were presented perfectly. Having nothing but blue sky is beautiful as well, but the clouds add a whole new dimension to the photos, which is what I wanted.  I was shooting in RAW and for the most part in Aperture Priority mode with an f/stop of 11 and ISO of 100-325. Once on the computer I did Tone Map them to bring out shadows and colour.

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fortstjohn_roof_17Enjoy and leave your feedback.

Fort St John Garage Sales July 30

I know many of you are not in Fort St John, but if you are and are into Garage Saling, this map is for you. It shows all the Garage Sale for the morning of July 30. Some start at 8am, others at 9am.

You can go to Google Maps and print it off there if you wish:

[iframe width=”100%” height=”480″ src=”http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msid=217412500277958804346.0004a93ac22644e7d598b&msa=0″]

New Fort St John Skatepark Scene (Part 2)

This is the second Fort St John Skatepark Committee meeting I have attended, they happen every two weeks at the moment. If you look back two weeks ago [HERE], I introduce what is all going on with getting a new, much-needed, skatepark in Fort St John. I also mention why I am involved, even though I don’t actual skate very well.

The meeting tonight covered three main points, presenting to City Council, ideas for the website and the mission statement of the committee.

Presenting to City Council

The presentation will be happening at the August 8th council meeting, which will take place at 3pm at City Hall (everyone should come). The premiss of this presentation will be to ask the City for land for the new skatepark. The committee is able to fundraise to DSC_0230have the new park built, but we need the land to do it. We will be presenting with an ideal space in mind, one that is not only accessible to everyone, but also in a high visibility area. Have it in a high visibility area is one of the key factors we want to see with the new park. By doing this we are hoping it will deter any mischief and mayhem, which isn’t even caused by those who use the current park for what it is intended for.

Bottom line is we want to show City Council and the community as a whole that we are a group of positive, honest people who want to help build a recreational area the community can be proud of (and is comparable to parks like Dawson Creek, Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd).

Ideas for the Website

This is more my fortay, which I need to deal with, but there is a lot a website can be for a small group. Essentially it can be the face of the group and where all important information is stored.

Some of the ideas we talked about included, have a full on media section where we can showcase the local talent that Fort St John possesses, an area to show all those who have supported the park and group, our mission statement, the latest news, contact info and how anyone can donate.

A few more ideas rolled around for the website and I have a few I want to maul over for a couple of days, then I will begin putting them into action.

Mission Statement

There is not much to say in this area, but we have started to form an official mission statement. The normal stuff, who we are, what we stand for, what we want to accomplish, etc. When it is done it will be displayed on the website like I mentioned.

That pretty much wraps up that meeting. One thing I would like to point out, from a tourism aspect, is that Fort St John is the only community in the Peace Region that doesn’t have a “recently” redeveloped skatepark. The idea we flowed, form the tourism aspect, is if this park is built it will complete a circuit that will draw southern skaters and riders to the area. The speed skating track in the Pomeroy Sport Centre brought skaters from Calgary and Vancouver, why can’t a new skatepark work the same way.

As always “Like” the page on Facebook to follow what is happening and consider attending the August 8th City Council Meeting.

It is Meat for $10! PriceSmart Deal

A friend of mine informed me that PriceSmart was having $10 deals on different type of meats, but I didn’t think I wanted to get any at the time, until I went there myself.  I also just want to give him credit becuase it was him who told me about them.

Anyways, I did go to the store last night and ended up getting steaks, ground beef and chicken.

Four steaks, packages in two.

2kg of ground beef for, you guessed it, $10.

5 pieces of Chicken (marinated or not)

Of course I just froze most of it, but not before packing stuff into individual packaging. Go out and get some for yourself.

New Fort St John Skateboard Park Scene

Wednesday evening I attended what I’m going to call a Fort St. John Skateboard Park Committee meeting at the Fort St John City Hall. The reason for this committee is because there is a group of people in this town that are advocating for a new skateboard park, as the old one is now 10 years old and has several issues.

Hails Elizabeth Photography

The group is being headed up by Adam Kirschner, a veteran skater and life long Fort St Johner. He has rallied together not only many of the local skaters and bikers, but also community members and business owners like Brent, Andrew and myself.

Adam hopes that by building up this group, getting charitable status and collecting donations from local businesses, the group will be able to approach the City about getting the proposed new land and some money to help fund the project. So currently the group is meeting every two weeks to get details figured out. Details like a website, communications, design ideas, statements etc. Below I mention some of the topics brought up during this past meeting.

The Old Park Problems

What I gather about the current park in Fort St John is it is to small for the number of people who use it on a daily basis. It also is becoming a safety hazard as it has many cracks in the concrete.

Potentially from the communities view point the skatepark is a place where mischief happens, which is true, but it is not done by those who actually bike or skateboard at the park. This is being done by lowlifes, who want to do nothing but smoke, drink and cause havac.

Potential Solutions

Although in the early stages, many solutions were talked about for the new park. As it will be a new park the issue of the cracks in the concrete will be taken care. Design is also a big factor in making sure the park can accommodate all those who wish to use it. Size is one aspect but making sure the park flows properly for all who use it is also a big part of the how it should be designed, which is why a company like NEWLINE Skateparks will be consulted to design the new park.

The location is proposed to be in a very central area of town with high visibly from all angles to detour any riff raff from hanging out at the park and causing problems.

From this Point

At this point there is still a lot of little details that need to be ironed out before a big push can happen. Specifically a charitable status so the group can accept donations. Proper brand also needs to be done, this includes building the website, get flyers out, developing the mission/vision statement and so on.

Finally I will leave you with why I am taking part in this group even though I don’t use the park. There are a few reasons actually. The first is because I want to be more of a contributor to the community and help in the ways I can. I’m particularly interested in helping out in this group because I have somewhat of a background in this area, which leads me to my second reason. In Yellowknife, because I have a brother passionate about skateboarding, I briefly helped out with a skateboarding movement there. It is actually a skateboarding ministry that helps show the community that skateboarding can be positive and they are also hoping to build a new park for Yellowknife in the future.

I will leave you with that. If you think you can help or have a question for me, hit me up through my Contact Page and be sure to “Like” the page on Facebook.