LOCAL NDP POSITIVE ABOUT NEW LEADER
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PAYROLL CONTROL AND THE BCTF
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WEDNESDAY
MARCH 28 2012
EBO CHEF COOKING UP SUCCESS
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Project Soul is coming to Michael J. Fox Theatre, for a little Urban Alchemy 3. See Page A13
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New gym coming at STM Grace Escudero burnabynewsleader.com
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
Don Wrigley visits with “his” horse, Captain Julius, at the C.W. Parker carousel in Burnaby Village Museum.
All aboard the carousel 100-year-old Burnaby Village ride was saved by a ‘force of nature’ Mario Bartel photo@burnabynewsleader.com
Don Wrigley’s eyes still light up and his voice quickens whenever he visits the C.W. Parker carousel at Burnaby Village Museum. The colourful, ¿nely detailed wooden horses prancing to the organ music in the orange glow of the carousel’s lights have been a part of his life for 25 years. When he ¿rst got involved with the
Friends of the Carousel to save it from being sold off and dismantled from its former home at the PNE, he never imagined his efforts would allow the historic ride to reach its 100th birthday. Nor that he’d still be around to be a part of it. The Burnaby Village Museum will of¿cially celebrate the carousel’s ¿rst century on opening day, May 5. Wrigley, a spry and energetic 87, is already planning his speech for the event. He’s got a lot of material, and memories, to work with. The ¿rst indication the carousel was
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in trouble came from a waitress who overheard a group of executives from the PNE discussing getting rid of it. The venerable ride had been her joy growing up in East Vancouver and she didn’t want to see it go away. When Wrigley learned the carousel was in peril, he made a commitment to the Burnaby Village Museum Association to get it and then went to the PNE board to tell them he’d secured a new home for the horses. Well, that’s sort of how the order of events went, he says with a wink, but as Lisa Codd, the museum’s curator says, “Don is a force of nature.”
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Saving the carousel was only the beginning of the work. Wrigley then had to ¿nd money for the restoration and volunteers to do the work. He helped raise the $350,000 needed by securing corporate sponsorships and by trucking one of the wooden horses in the back of his car to shopping malls around the Lower Mainland to get pledges from the public. With an advance from the City of Burnaby so restoration could begin, Wrigley started recruiting volunteers. Please see SPONSORS SOUGHT, A3
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Despite being $800,000 short of the fundraising goal, Saint Thomas More Collegiate is proceeding with the construction of a new gym. “We’re still using the same gym from 1966,” said Jen Shelnutt-Jayme, director of community relations at STM. “Since then enrolment has increased by 600 per cent and we’re co-ed.” The gym will cost $7 million to replace, all funded by donors. It will be named the StanJean gym for the foundation that donated $2 million towards the project. Anyone who donated $3,000 or more will receive a commemorative piece of the old gym Àoor. The school hopes to get the demolition permit for May, and begin construction. Construction should be completed by next May. Until then, students will be either using a temporary structure located on the ¿eld or a nearby facility. There will be a farewell to the gym on April 20. “The 50-year-old gym is home to a lot of memories for people, we want to say goodbye,” said Shelnutt-Jayme.