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Record numbers take Polar Bear Plunge
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Katie Bartel The Progress Lance Marais was thankful for several things as he plunged into Cultus Lake on New Year’s Day. Notably, that there wasn’t snow on the ground for his already cold, wet feet to freeze in following the dip. But more importantly, the number of fellow plungers around him. This year’s Polar Bear Plunge at Cultus Lake had roughly 120 participants diving into the frigid waters, and between 300 and 400 total people at the event. It was the most the annual plunge has seen in six years. “People wise, we had definitely at least double, probably triple the number from previous years,” said Marais, network and provincial outreach coordinator for BC Teen Challenge, organizers of the Polar Bear Plunge. “It was fantastic, it was unbelievable, it was so overwhelming.” It was exactly what BC Teen Challenge had hoped for. Six months ago, when organizers started putting together the event, they wanted to make it bigger than previous years. They wanted to attract more participants in hopes of creating more awareness in the community for their programs. BC Teen Challenge is a 12-month, residential, outreach program, with a men’s centre in Yarrow, for adults trapped in addiction. This year’s plunge raised approximately $3,300, which will be shared between the men’s centre in Yarrow and the women’s centre in Abbotsford. Of that, 92 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to the centres. This was about growing the event and getting to know more people in the community. “I’d never seen half of the people who came out; they were strangers, people from our community,” said Marais. “I hope to see everyone again next year.” Participants were thanked with free parking, free bowls of chili, free hot dogs, and free mugs of coffee and hot chocolate.
JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Opposition continues over waste facility Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Opposition to a riverside waste recycling plant in Chilliwack continues in 2014, with an inaugural meeting of an ad hoc group set for Jan. 14. ACT Chilliwack will be a “platform for public engagement” on topics including the potentially toxic waste site, said organizers about plans for the meeting. Last month First Nations, environmental and sport fishing reps gathered near the Fraser River to express concerns about the proposal by Aevitas Inc. for a waste recycling and transfer station on Cannor Road to recycle hazardous materials like mercury and PCBs.
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A soldier prepares to rappel down a 100-foot rock face in the Chilliwack River Valley on Monday. The training was part of Exercise Paladin Response, an annual five-day military training event where soldiers learned to build and disassemble portable land bridges and rafts, plus small-arms training, and more. New this year was the rappelling. For more photos, go to theprogess.com.
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It was a unanimous decision by council on Dec. 3 to rezone property on the Cattermole Lands from its M4 heavy industrial designation, to M6 special industrial zone to allow the construction of a waste recycling plant. Mayor Sharon Gaetz stressed that Chilliwack specifically opted for the M6 ‘special industrial’ designation to give council the ability to introduce extra environmental restrictions and conditions they wouldn’t otherwise be able to impose. So far the ACT Chilliwack group has not publicized its meeting location, or invited local media or city officials, but the poster says they encourage “full transparency and thorough consultation.” They are still concerned about the
waste plant location, and the potential for toxic substances leaching into the river. “ACT Chilliwack is a citizens’ group in formation seeking people from the local community who want to do more than talk,” reads a poster that appeared on a Chilliwack-related Facebook page. “We are not a society or a club. We are individuals coming together, hoping to do more collaboratively than we can, individually,” it continues. Organizers say they will use a loose, informal and consensus-based approach. “We’re interested in creating a means for the people of this city to speak to issues which concern them in an organized, Continued: WASTE/ p4
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