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The Rossland Light Opera Players (RLOP) was founded on November 1, 1951, by Rossland teachers Bill and Kathleen Baldry, Gordon Griffin, and Margery Littley. The organisation’s purpose was to encourage music, drama, and associated arts in the area. Initial funds for starting the group were supplied by a Victory Bond from the defunct Rossland Amateur Operatic Society.

For their inaugural performance - Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance - the RLOP chose Gordon Griffin as the music director and Bill Baldry as the stage director. The cast, reportedly chosen without seeing any of the actors perform on stage, consisted of Jean Ellison as Mabel, Larry Gasen as Frederick, Stan Fisher as the Pirate King, Eric Bourchier as the Sergeant of Police, Bill Baldry as Major-General Stanley, and Kathleen Baldry and Margery Littely as supporting characters. Stan Fischer, the industrial education teacher at the Rossland high school, recruited his students to help in designing the production, which included lighting, staging, flats, and music stands.

The production of Pirates of Penzance opened in the Rossland high school auditorium in March 1952, performing two shows to enthusiastic audiences. The group then travelled for a show in the Trail Junior High auditorium (now called the Charles Bailey Theatre) and the Capitol Theatre in Nelson. All four shows were a success, generating a great deal of excitement about the RLOP and creating a lineup of talented individuals eager to be involved in future productions.

For their first eight seasons, the RLOP performed Gilbert & Sullivan productions, but in 1959, they branched out to other playwrights and eventually started writing their own productions. Performances have been held in various local venues, such as Rossland’s Miners’ Union Hall and Trail’s Charles Bailey Theatre.

In 1966, the RLOP negotiated a $1/year lease with the United Steelworkers Local 480 to rent Rossland's Miners' Union Hall (1899 Columbia Avenue). In 1976, the RLOP was forced to leave the Miners' Union Hall and ended up renting the two rooms in the Bank of Montreal to house their costumes. Their sets were stored in a shed behind the Rossland Credit Union, while their piano and lighting system were stored in the Junior High School in Trail. They were also forced to rent temporary locations in order to build sets and rehearse for upcoming productions. In 1983, the RLOP purchased the historic Bodega Hotel (2054 Washington Street) from the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

The RLOP has performed almost every year since their inception. The 2021 season was cancelled due to the global pandemic.

Some notable members include: Babs and George Bourchier, Jack Fisher, and Charles Bailey.

The Rossland Amateur Operatic Society began in 1937 as the Orpheus Male Choir (Trail). In 1939, the Orpheus Male Choir relocated to Rossland, changing their name to the Rossland Amateur Operatic Society. The Society performed a variety of productions, notably Trial by Jury and Dominoes in Rossland’s Capitol Theatre in May 1940. The group disbanded after a final performance of H.M.S. Pinafore in April 1941 due to failing membership during WWII. The group’s remaining assets were used to buy a $50.00 Victory Bond (approximately $950.00 in 2022). The Victory Bond would later be acquired by the Rossland Light Opera Players.

The Salmon Arm Community Co-operative Sports Center Association met October 1st, 1946. The first order of business was the consideration of the name change to Salmon Arm Community Cooperative Association.

Directors elected were S.C. Elliot, F. Marshall, P.E. Pike, N.S. Minion, A.A. Robinson, F. Ibbotson, C.C. Barker, J.E. Campbell, and Ken Hunter. The directors were authorized to purchase the Rex Theatre at the same meeting.

The group was formed to consider the creation of a memorial to those who had served in the Second World War. The decision was made to build a memorial arena that also met the community’s needs for skating and ice hockey facilities.

The Association investigated sources of financing for this project and it was decided to purchase the existing Rex Theatre by the sale of debentures and non-interest bearing shares. It soon became apparent that the Rex Theatre building and equipment were outdated and it was decided that a new theatre should be built and officially opened for business.

In the meantime, a separate organization was formed to secure funds for the construction of the proposed arena. Construction was commenced in 1956 and the Salmon Arm Memorial Arena was ready for use on July 1, 1958. Surplus revenues from the operation of the Salmar were directed to the arena until responsibility for the operation of the arena was assumed by local government.

With the future of the arena assured, the objectives of the Association were expanded to include many other worthwhile community endeavors including sport and recreation, healthcare and the arts. Theatre revenues were also used to upgrade and enhance the Salmar. In the mid-1970s, the Salmar was renovated and new projection equipment purchased. In 1984, further renovations, including reconstruction of the lobby, enlargement of the stage and installation of special lighting to encourage live performances, were completed. In 1990 the Alexander Street façade of the Salmar, including signage, was upgraded. Technical improvements to projection and sound equipment continued to be made on an ongoing basis.

In 1978 the Association purchased the Starlite Drive-In Theatre and operated that facility in conjunction with the Salmar for many years. The Starlite was sold in September of 1990 to make way for the planned expansion of the junction of Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 97B.

In November of 1987, the name of the Association was changed to Salmar Community Association with the intent of making the community ownership of the Salmar more obvious to the many new residents of the Salmon Arm area.

By 1992 it became apparent that the operations of the Association needed to be expanded both to service the entertainment needs of a rapidly growing community and to ensure that the operations of the Association would remain commercially viable. After considerable discussion it was determined that the Association would build a new theatre complex.

Many issues, including the location and design of the new complex were considered and dealt with over the next several years. A suitable site was located on a portion of an undeveloped public parking lot on Hudson Avenue. It was then determined that a multiplex facility would be built, with four separate movie screens sharing a common projection room, lobby and other facilities. Financing was secured and construction commenced in October of 1996. The new complex was officially opened to the public as Salmar Grand Cinemas May 16, 1997.

The theatre capacity created by Salmar Grand Cinemas allows the Association to offer a wide variety of movies, often on the same date they are released in larger centres. The Association continues to operate the Salmar Theatre as a movie theatre and as a venue for live performances.

Salmar Community Association continues, in accordance with the vision of its founding members, to operate its community owned facilities for the benefit of the residents of Salmon Arm and Shuswap.

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992) was, at the time of its release, the first and only documentary film that explored the political life and ideas of Noam Chomsky, world renowned linguist, intellectual, political activist and the most-cited living author. Created by two Canadian independent filmmakers, Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick, it expanded on the ideas of Chomsky's book, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, which he co-wrote with Edward S. Herman. The film features Mark Achbar, Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman. Mark Achbar would later collaborate to co-direct The Corporation along with Jennifer Abott and Joel Bakan.
Noam Chomsky was born on December 7, 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended the University of Pennsylvania where he received his PhD in linguistics in 1955. Chomsky would later become a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society as well as other learned and professional societies both in the United States and abroad. He received the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association, the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences, the Helmholtz Medal, the Dorothy Eldridge Peacemaker Award, the 1999 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science and many others. He is the twice winner of the Orwell Award and is the recipient of over 29 honorary degrees from universities around the world.
Chomsky established himself as a prominent critic of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. He is a self-declared anarcho-syndicalist, a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement, and a libertarian socialist. Since his first publication titled Syntactic Structures, Noam Chomsky has gone on to write hundreds of books and articles and lectures tirelessly all over the world.
Mark Achbar is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Fine Arts Film Program. After interning in Hollywood he moved to Toronto to work on the documentary series Spread Your Wings and the CBC/Disney series Danger Bay. He received a Gemini nomination for Best Writer on The Canadian Conspiracy which won a Gemini for Best Entertainment Special and was nominated for an International Emmy.
Mark Achbar was first drawn to Noam Chomsky in 1985 when he heard Chomsky’s talk titled “The Drift Toward Global War”. Achbar began his correspondence with Noam Chomsky, regarding his documentary project, in 1987 and he releases his first formal proposal to produce Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media in 1990.
Peter Wintonick was born in Trenton, Canada in 1953. An independent documentary filmmaker, Wintonick would receive the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2006.
In 1986 Wintonick would propose a film on Chomsky to a senior bureaucrat at the National Film Board of Canada which was rejected. A year later, Achbar began to develop a film on Chomsky with friends but, due to philosophical differences, the collaborators parted ways. In 1988 Achbar and Wintonick recognized their common interests and began to develop the project together. They established a production company, Necessary Illusions, and begin soliciting support. Finally, in 1989, Francis Miquet joined Necessary Illusions as a general manager and they begin developing their first formal proposal together.
The filmmakers traveled to seven countries and twenty three cities collecting over 120 hours of original footage. Combining archival footage with their original footage, the filmmakers created a documentary around 165 minutes long that would garner over 350 pages of press.
The film presents and illustrates Chomsky's and Herman's propaganda model which alleges systematic biases in the mass media and seeks to explain them in terms of structural economic causes. A portion of the film is a long examination of the history of The New York Times' coverage of Indonesia's invasion and occupation of East Timor, which Chomsky claims exemplifies the media's unwillingness to criticize an ally.
According to the filmmakers, during the preparation and filmmaking of Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media they strove to democratize the production process and make it inclusive. This would entail extensive consultative screenings with audiences and resulted in over 600 individuals helping guide them to the film in its final form. Another unique aspect to Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media was the goal to create a film metanarrative. This required the filmmakers to film the filming process and resulted in a mix of mediums to create the final film.
Until the release of The Corporation in 2003, Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media was the most successful documentary in Canadian history. The film played theatrically in over 300 cities around the world; winning over 22 awards; appeared in more than 50 international film festivals and was broadcast in over 30 markets. It has also been translated into over a dozen languages.
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media received numerous awards including: Silver Conch (1994) for best non-fiction film above 40 minutes as the Bombay International Documentary Short and Animation Film Festival, Gold Hugo (1992) for Best Social/Political Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival, Best Canadian Feature Film-Special Jury Citation (1992) at the Toronto International Film Festival and Most Popular Canadian Film (1992) at the Vancouver International Film Festival as well as others.
Mark Achbar edited a companion book of the same name. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media Companion book, which includes a complete transcript of the film including excerpts from the writings, interviews and correspondence of Chomsky and Edward S. Herman. Also included are further exchanges between Chomsky and his critics, additional historical and biographical material, filmmakers' notes, 300 stills from the film and 18 philosopher trading cards. While Chomsky had concerns about the book, as evidenced in the correspondence between Achbar and himself, the book made the national bestseller list in Canada.

The Salmon Arm Grebe Festival functioned under the umbrella of the Salmon Arm Bay Nature Enhancement Society (SABNES) which was formed in 1988 to lead the effort to protect the local marshlands and enhance the nesting areas of Grebes and other species in the area.

In 1994, SABNES commissioned a study to determine the feasibility of staging a festival centred around Grebes to draw attention to the species and Salmon Arm’s unique location in providing habitat for the largest nesting colony of Grebes in Western Canada. In 1995, prominent festival organizer Dick Finkle was commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce to make recommendations about holding a Grebe festival. In 1996, SABNES organized a “Celebration of the Grebe” day and the success of the event resulted in consideration of a multi-day festival moving forward. In October 1996, the Salmon Arm Grebe Festival was officially announced and a committee was formed comprised of SABNES members, local business owners and citizens who were tasked with planning and coordinating a three-day festival in 1997. The first Salmon Arm Grebe Festival was held May 16 – 19, 1997.