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ALDERGROVE Your Hometown Community Newspaper for over 56 Years
| Th Thursday, August 27, 2015
20 Year 2 SService Award to Dan Harder! PAGE 9 D
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Page 9: Kodiaks Set For Hockey Season Wasteful Ways in our Waterways
Site work starts for Aldergrove Rec Centre By KURT LANGMANN Aldergrove Star
DAN FERGUSON PHOTO
Bertrand Creek cleanup volunteer Kathy Halinen holds up a discarded oil can Saturday. In her first 20 minutes, she also found two different shoes, about 50 beer cans and a toy truck. It was the annual one-day all-volunteer clean-up of the waterway that runs through Aldergrove, organized by the Bertrand Creek Enhancement Society and Langley Environmental Partners Society.
A ceremony to celebrate the beginning of site work for the new Aldergrove Recreation Centre will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Members of the public are invited to join Township of Langley Mayor Jack Froese and members of Township Council for the event. The ceremony will take place at the former Aldergrove Elementary School site, 27032 Fraser Highway, on the gravel playing field on the south side. The 100 year old two-story school, gymnasium and other additions built there will be torn down in coming weeks, although portions of the original school will be salvaged and used in the new structure. In related news, the Alder Grove Heritage Society is seeking information on any time capsules which may have been buried at the school. AGHS spokesman Erik Simonsen told The Star that one such time capsule buried there in 1985 has been located and will be recovered before demolition commences on the site. He said that if any other similar items are known to exist details should be called to the society at 604-857-0555. The Aldergrove Recreation Centre is a Township of Langley recreation complex and outdoor aquatic facility that will feature a two-level, 550-seat arena and events space, a fitness centre, walking surface, and multi-purpose rooms. It will also have a six-lane 25 metre pool, waterslides, a tidal pool, current channel, childrens’ aqua structure, picnic areas, and large playground. The centre is scheduled to open in May of 2018. For more information on the Aldergrove Recreation Centre, visit tol.ca/ARC.
Rare Red Panda dies in quarantine at zoo here Aldergrove Star
The Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove announced on Aug. 22 that Rakesh, a recently arrived male red panda, has died. It happened on Aug. 17, the zoo statement said. A necropsy found the cause was pulmonary Blastomycosis, a lung infection caused by a fungus found
in decaying organic matter like wood and leaves. Most cases are caused by inhalation of spores from a soil source. Rakesh and his sibling Arun arrived from the Assiniboine Zoo in Winnipeg two months ago as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival program (SSP).
“The care of Arun is our top priority right now and as a precaution, he is treated by our veterinarian with medication while further tests are conducted,” the zoo statement said. Rakesh and Arun were immediately quarantined upon their arrival as required under AZA and CAZA protocols, the zoo said, adding neither panda was exposed to soil at the
zoo quarantine facility, which indicates the infection likely occurred before they left Manitoba. The Greater Vancouver Zoo has alerted the Assiniboine Zoo, the SSP veterinary advisor, and all other zoos in Canada and U.S. that currently have red pandas. Red Pandas are listed as endangered. Population is estimated at less
Red Pandas are listed as endangered. than 10,000, with continuing decline due to poaching and habitat loss.
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