Rossland kids learn what keeps the City going
By Sara Golling
Rossland’s Public Works department put on an entertaining and educational day for Grade Four classes in Rossland on Thursday, June 15, and the kids loved it. They had an opportunity to suggest names for the snowplow pictured above; they got to play with a heavy-duty leaf (and whatever else gets in its way) blower, and had fun blowing each other’s hats off; they learned about how the landscaping around town is planted and cared for.
They learned about Rossland’s water supply, and why water pressures differ from Upper Rossland to Lower Rossland, and how water hydrants work, and how powerful the blast of water from a hydrant is – of course, they had a chance to spray Rossland’s Manager of Public Works, Scott Lamont, who danced in the water, entertainingly feigning outrage.
Diggers, ride-on mowers, the Vactor truck, and various large yellow machines and their functions were explained to the willing audiences. Children learned about the sewer system – and what not to flush down the toilet (or other drains). Dear readers, do you all know that there is no such thing as “flushable” wipes, no matter what their labels may claim? For all of our sakes, please never flush anything down the toilet other than your body’s natural excretions and toilet paper.
(Why “for all of our sakes”? – because fowling up the sewer system and sewage treatment plant increases the expense of operating – and repairing – them, and we all have to pay for that by increases in our property taxes.)
As for storm drains — everything that goes down a storm drain ends up in fish habitat, so please don't dump any chemicals — paint thinner, oil, floor polish, or anything else that can harm fish — down storm drains.
According to an email from the Public Works Department, the snowplow name chosen from the many submissions was “Little Noacho” suggested by Ayla Rockafellow. When the snow flies in Rossland once again, watch for the plow with that name. (Your reporter was not very successful in finding definitions of “noacho” though the word did appear in online searches.)
Onward, citizens – we thank the Rossland Department of Public Works for showing the kids a good time while teaching them valuable information.
