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Wednesday, November 7, 2012
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Derrick earns Jubilee Medal
By Jerome Turner Smithers/Interior News
RCMP Const. Troy Derrick is one of the latest recipients of the Diamond Jubilee medal, which is given to 60,000 Canadians for community service. Const. Derrick has been working out of the South Surrey detachment for over six years and is currently the First Nations liason officer in the area. “I never really wanted to be a police officer,” Const. Derrick said, laughing. “I was a chef and chef instructor for three years and I just kind of made it happen.” Derrick was working in the area and teaching an adult education cooking course when one of the students challenged him to become part of the RCMP. “I always told them they could be anything they wanted to be,” he said. “One of them said if they could do it I could too and a bit later I
decided to accept the objective.” He admits that he followed through partly to prove that anyone can do anything providing a will and a predetermined goal. The challenge came in 2003 and in 18 months he was done training, but he made sure to prepare to succeed. Having no idea what else he was getting in to he made sure that he took care of something he could control, his body. “I knew very little about the police,” Const. Derrick recalls. “As soon as I signed up I knew I had to be in shape and I trained on my own constantly.” He found that the training in Regina, Saskatchewan, where all RCMP get put through the paces, was much easier than if he had done no training back home. The ability to relate past experiences to questions posed was also key to Derrick’s successful application with the RCMP. “Either you’ve been through something or you haven’t,” he said. See RCMP on p. A3
Constable Troy Derrick (left) has been working with at-risk youth for over six years and has been awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee award joining thousands of Canadians in the honour of serving their community to the highest degree he was the subject of a Reginald Argue (right) interview regarding his community service.
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Downtown legacy project moving forward By Dan Mesec Smithers / Interior News
Smithers’ centennial legacy project is moving ahead after council approved a recommendation to select one of two concept drawings for the new town square, due to begin construction in the spring. Council met with the legacy committee last week
in a Committee of the Whole to discuss the finer details of the project including site layout as well as design and construction of the stage. After months of compiling information gathered at public input sessions adopted one of the concepts to be submitted for construction drawings this winter. Mayor Taylor
Bachrach said he was pleased with the way the process was handled and is excited to move to the next stage. “I think this is exactly the kind of process council wanted to see out of this” Bachrach said. “I’m really pleased with the designs and the process that led to those designs.” “It’s been really thoughtful, we heard
a lot of feedback from the community. The square will serve as a gathering space with conceptual landscaping and art installations. There was also discussion of incorporating carvings throughout the stage design to reflect Smithers past, present and future. Although the idea of erecting a totem may have fallen short
of expectations, Bachrach is still hopeful to incorporate First Nations artwork into the plans. “We have an opportunity to reflect the First Nations culture of our area, it’s one of the things that makes this part of the world so unique,” Bachrach said. “Using First Nations art has the potential to be
a celebration of the work we have done together as neighbors.” “We got some great feedback from council and the committee appreciates the support from staff and council.” Currently the committee is still working towards their fundraising goal of $240,000 with almost half the finds confirmed.
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