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Tour of Honour reaches Nelson Friday

A provincial tour to raise money for Honour House reaches Nelson on Friday.
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The Tour of Honour visited Cranbrook Wednesday evening and will arrive in Nelson today.

A provincial tour to raise money for Honour House reaches Nelson on Friday.

Honour House is a place for active and retired military and emergency services personnel and their families to stay for free when receiving medical care and treatment in Vancouver.

Nelson paramedic Corey Viala is leading the Tour of Honour for two weeks, driving a 23-foot RV from community to community. His leg of the tour started in Kamloops on June 13, and continued through the Okanagan and East Kootenay.

“I believe Honour House is an incredible service,” he said. “I knew someone from the fire department whose mother was in the hospital. When his family from out of the country needed a place to stay, I set them up at Honour House. She passed on a month later, but in her obituary, it said ‘in lieu of flowers, send donations to Honour House.’ That’s the effect of individuals staying there.”

Viala has been stopping at police, fire, and ambulance stations and also visited the future site of Honour Ranch, north of Kamloops, where first responders and military personnel with post traumatic stress disorder will be able to go.

The itinerary for the stop in Nelson includes a burger and beer night Friday evening at the Legion from 4 to 8 p.m. and a brunch Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Also on Saturday, the Nelson ambulance station will host an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. Local fire departments, police, and other agencies have been invited to bring their vehicles.

A second burger and beer night will then be held at Finley’s from 6 to 8 p.m. All the events are open to the public.

Honour House’s founder and president and other executives are expected to attend the events.