Community: Maple Ridge Museum’s past, present and future. 12
Arts&life: Artist presents 40-year retrospective. 14
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Fourth Duck Race a success But there might not be a fifth one By Ph i l M e lnych uk pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
One little rubber duck, then two little rubber ducks hit the water Sunday, followed by another 8,300 of them. And after the few minutes it took them to make it to the collection point in the South Alouette River by Maple Ridge Park, one lucky participant, Roanne Viveiros, won a new car. “It was a pretty good turnout for a rainy day,” said Meadow Ridge Rotary Duck Race volunteer Irena Shantz. “We were hoping to hit $100,000 this year.” That didn’t happen, though, as proceeds dropped from last year, when $89,555 was raised for 27 local nonprofit organizations and Rotary youth projects.
Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Windy day
Members of Windy Hill, from California, perform during the True North Fraser Bluegrass Festival on Sunday at the Albion Fairgrounds in Maple Ridge. 13
See Rotary, 11
Parents protest school closures MLA Doug Bing’s office locks out protesters By Nei l Corbe tt ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
It was a day when they should have been stocking their new desks with duo tangs and pencil crayons, meeting their new teachers and showing off new shoes to their friends. Instead, five young girls spent their “first day of school” on Tues-
day sitting in a circle in front of the door to Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Doug Bing’s office, playing with toy horses. Their parents were there with homemade signs, protesting the labour deadlock between the provincial government and the B.C. Teachers’ Federation that cut short the last school year, and continues to pare down another . “We’re very, very frustrated – extremely frustrated,” said Karen Learmonth, who was part of the group of about 12 adults and an
equal number of students at the rally. Parents are frustrated with the government, she added, and the fact members won’t even talk to them. “They shut the doors, and locked us out,” she said of MLA office staff. “We expected we’d be able to voice our concerns, talk about some of the issues and ask some questions. Now I’m really upset that they’re not here. Now I’m really angry.”
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The group met online, on a B.C. Parent Support Group website, and arranged the rally. “I think what they’re trying to do is break the union – they’re not interested in negotiating at all,” said Learmonth. “They’re more interested in saving money.” She added that the real issue for her is class size and composition. “I want my kid, who has special needs, to be taken care of. And I see there’s less and less support for those teachers to help those kids.” See Teachers, 9
Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Ryley Green, 6, protests with his mother and other parents on Tuesday.
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