Aldergrove Star, November 26, 2015

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Aldergrove Your Hometown Community Newspaper for over 56 Years

| Thursday, November 26, 2015

Celebrating B.C.’s Founding ‘Day’!

Check our website daily for updates, breaking news and more: www.aldergrovestar.com

Page 3: Township considers higher tax bills

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Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Seniors-only shuttle service needed here By MIRANDA GATHERCOLE Aldergrove Star

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Shoppers of all ages visited with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Christmas Craft Fair in Aldergrove on Saturday.

Santa’s busy season begins Aldergrove Star

Aldergrove’s annual Christmas Light Up Parade comes to Aldergrove on Saturday, December 12, starting at 6 p.m. in downtown Aldergrove. The parade follows the annual children’s Christmas party hosted by the Aldergrove Elks in the afternoon. See

more details on this in next week’s Star. The parade route runs along Fraser Highway through downtown Aldergrove and includes carol singing and free hot chocolate. The Walter Levy trophy will also be presented to the Christmas home decorating contest winners.

For those who wish to enter a parade float, the application deadline is Dec. 9. To enter a float register by completing a Christmas Light Up Parade form found on the website: http://aldergrovefair.ca/ parades/christmas-light-up-parade/ For more information, please email to parades@aldergrovefair.ca

A seniors-only shuttle may be the best option for solving seniors’ transportation issues in the Langleys, according to a study conducted by the Langley Seniors Community Action Table (LSCAT). The study gave a questionnaire to 250 local seniors between the ages of 60 and 96 to determine their transportation habits. Of the participants — including 83 who live in the City — the majority choose to drive themselves, or they rely on volunteer drivers, who may be family members, friends or affiliated with programs, Kathy Reddington, co-chair of LSCAT told City of Langley council on Nov. 9. “LSCAT has identified transportation as a priority for advocacy, because it really is critical to every senior support system if he or she is to age in place, remain independent and engage with the community, all which contribute significantly to ongoing good health and general well being,” she said. The study determined 71 per cent of respondents in the Township, and 49 per cent in the City, drive themselves, with many getting behind the wheel even when they do not want to. “We think that some of them — even if they have a licence — they don’t want to drive, they actually don’t think they should be driving, but they may not have other options,” Reddington said. Relying on others to transport them is also not viable, she said. In the City, 66 per cent use volunteer drivers and in the Township, 52 per cent. “This says to us, they depend heavily on a really unreliable form of transit, where they’re always asking for favours,” Reddington said. The study found that the majority of seniors are traveling to downtown Langley, Willowbrook Shopping Centre, Langley Memorial Hospital area and the Langley Senior Resources Centre for shopping, health services and community involvement. Many seniors also choose to walk to these locations, but public transit “does not serve the transportation needs,” Reddington said. That’s why LSCAT wants to create a designated shuttle service, which all but one of the respondents said they would pay a fee for. “We can see a real high density of seniors, both in the City and in the Township, and when you look at that high density it goes along with very low incomes and, at times, very bad access to transit,” Reddington said. “So that was the context for us to put the questionnaire together. We have people telling us they’d like a shuttle, so the question was, would you use one if it was available? “They see it being the thing that can take them from place

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