Editorial

School’s in

Kids go trooping back to school this week, whether they like it or not. Most parents, it’s probably safe to say, do like it. Their kids, if they know what is good for them, will make the best of it.
Whether you’re interested in a career in the trades, or in a university education or yet some other path, a secondary education makes all the sense in the world. Even if you don’t have a clue what you want to do with your life, a solid education puts you in a better position to understand and appreciate and deal with life and the world.
In Slave Lake, there are six schools operating – four public, one Catholic and one private Christian. Plus the college! Let’s not forget about that.
The total student numbers from K – 12 somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1,800 or 1,900. That’s a lot of kids crossing streets in the morning and afternoon. They aren’t always as attentive to safety as they ought to be, so drivers have to be especially careful.
So good luck to all those fresh-faced students in the new school year, and to the teachers and support staff who have their work cut out for them for the next 10 months.

Downtown hurting
The health of downtown Slave Lake has been in question ever since the news of Wal-Mart coming to town surfaced three or four years ago. So far, it seems to have done rather better than some other communities in the same situation, but there has been a cost.
It’s hard to ascribe a precise cause, but there has been an exodus of businesses out of downtown. Boisvert’s Super ‘A’ was first. Then Home Hardware called it quits. IGA and The Source moved across the highway. So did the Honda dealership.
Lakeside Office Supplies closed up shop recently and now we hear that Nordic Sales, the furniture and appliance company is pulling up stakes after about 15 years in business at the north end of Main St.
Moving against that trend have been The Brick, Rexall and Common Wealth Credit Union. Having the new town and provincial building will certainly help keep the place lively.
Town council has been discussing the viability of downtown. There’s only so much a council can do, because it always comes down to business people being willing to set up shop. There are examples in Alberta of downtowns that survive and flourish despite most of the traditional stores having long since moved out to the ‘power centres’ where there’s more parking. What Slave Lake’s prospects are in this regard is hard to say. We don’t have buildings of much historical value or interest as a starting point, as many older communities do.
No doubt there are alternatives. The folks who do business and who like shopping in downtown Slave Lake should work with town council and the chamber of commerce to see what can be done.
For starters, one thing that would be very welcome in downtown Slave Lake, in our opinion, would be a take-out coffee and pastry shop.