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PAGE 26
2015
INSIDE on Informati ce & Resour for Directoryrs Senio o in Nanaim
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DIRECTORY
URCE SENIORS RESO
ent A Special Supplem
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015
What you need to knowSPR to mak INGe 2015 good decisions for your greatest asset. s Bulletin to the Nanaimo New
Buying, Selling, Mortgages, Realtors, Decorating, Landscaping, Home Improvement
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VOL. 26, NO. 83
Paddle fest
Jacinthe Brouard, left, and Holly Wylie get in a practice paddle aboard an outrigger kayak in Nanaimo Harbour last week. The women are dragon boaters who supplement their training with time on the water in the kayak. Both women are training for the Club Crew World Championships in Italy in September. Wylie is also training for the World Nations Championships, which will be hosted in Welland, Ont., in August. CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Lantzville reviews options for fire service coverage
I
COUNCIL ORDERS governance report on how to replace outgoing chief Tom Whipps. BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
Students kick off their shoes for anti-bullying awareness BY NICHOLAS PESCOD THE NEWS BULLETIN
When the school bell rings tomorrow morning students from coast to coast will take a unified stand against bullying by wearing pink shirts. However, one Nanaimo school has decided to go a step further and will rock their socks off for the day. On Wednesday (Feb. 25) Woodlands Secondary School will be celebrating Safe Open Caring Day in conjunction with Pink Shirt Day. Woodlands principal Dave Street said that while Pink Shirt Day reminds students about bullying, SOC Day celebrations focus on inclusion and helps keep the overall anti-bullying message fresh. “We are dealing with adolescents
and you have to keep things fresh and something like this [SOC Day] breathes some life into the idea of anti-bullying and the importance of taking a stand and saying no,” Street said. As soon as students enter Woodlands on Wednesday, they will be asked to remove their shoes. The day will also be filled with activities including a free lunchtime barbecue, a sock hop and a day-long sock donation drive. A closing-day assembly will feature a TED Talks-style forum, which will be hosted by Street and touch on the idea of attitude. “We tie in the idea of attitude and the greatest thing you have any control over is your own personal attitude,” Street said. In addition to the festivities at
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Woodlands Secondary, the City of Nanaimo along with Mayor Bill McKay and other dignitaries will officially kick off Pink Shirt Day at Maffeo Sutton Park with a number of student representatives. Pink Shirt Day began nearly a decade ago in Nova Scotia when a couple of students purchased pink shirts in support of a fellow student who was harassed for wearing pink. The goal for this year’s campaign is to raise more than $300,000 for various anti-bullying programs. Street, who has spent nearly two decades as an administrator in the Nanaimo school district, said he has seen a shift from administration to students leading anti-bullying awareness campaigns.
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With Lantzville’s long-time volunteer fire chief set to retire, changes could be in store for the community department, from a new fulltime chief to contracting out fire protection. Lantzville politicians ordered a $5,000 governance review of its fire department to explore options on how to replace outgoing fire chief Tom Whipps, who plans to retire at the end of June after 37 years with Lantzville Fire Rescue and about 13 as its senior officer. No one within the local service wants to fill Whipps’s boots – at least not the way the position stands today. The vacancy has the district considering whether to stay with the status quo – a $12,000 a year volunteer fire chief position – hire a fulltime or part-time senior officer, or contract out fire protection for up to $800,000. “The members of the fire department are drawn from our existing community and if there is no individual within the community who is willing and able to fulfill the role in a fashion as has been done in the past, we certainly have to look at changes,” said Mayor Colin Haime. “That could include a part-time to full-time chief’s position ... or maybe a shared position depending what comes out of a review.” Coun. Jennifer Millbank, whose husband previously volunteered for Lantzville Fire Rescue, said she’d like to see the district explore a senior officer role that combines duties currently contracted out, including emergency preparedness and bylaw enforcement. news@nanaimobulletin.com
For an expanded version of this article, please visit www.nanaimobulletin.com.
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