SYLVAN LAKE RINGS IN THE NEW YEAR
REBELS CONTINUE TO WHEEL AND DEAL
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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2016
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New Year’s Baby
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate Staff
Parents Leanne LaBrash, left, and Hushton Block sit with their newborn daughter, Cadence Block, who is the first baby of the new year in Red Deer, at their Glendale home on Saturday evening.
CADENCE BLOCK BORN AT 12:14 A.M. BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF A Red Deer family that anticipated a new baby at Christmas kicked off the new year in the delivery room instead. Cadence Tora Solvej Block was born at 12:14 a.m. on Jan. 1 at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. The healthy nine-pound, eight-ounce (4.31 kilograms) baby girl was 23.75 inches (60 centimetres) long. Her parents Hushton Block and Leanne LaBrash were expecting her to arrive closer to Christmas since her due date was Dec. 22. Medical staff decided to admit LaBrash to hospital the morning of Dec. 31 to induce her pregnancy because the baby was already eight days late. LaBrash said she was taken to the delivery room after 11 p.m. where staff broke her water, but she did not expect labour to progress so quickly. “The last time I remember looking at the clock, … , it said 11:46 p.m. I thought there was nooo way this baby was coming in the next 16 minutes,” LaBrash said. “I looked at the clock when she came out and it was 12:14 and I thought that was a fast half hour.” She said whether the birth happened in 2015 or 2016 wasn’t important, but it did feel “a little surreal” to discover their baby was the first to be born in the new year in Red Deer. Cadence has a big brother, Magnus, 7, and a big sister Kierce, 4. Their father said Kierce was awaiting the baby’s arrival. ”(Kierce) had been ready for some time. She told Santa for Christmas she wanted the baby out,” Hushton Block said. LaBrash is a program co-ordinator at Red Deer College and Block is a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lacombe. szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
CENTRAL ALBERTA REFUGEE EFFORT
CARE marks 35th anniversary with exhibit BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Central Alberta Refugee Effort capped off its 35th year by preparing for more newcomers as Red Deer got ready to welcome Syrian refugees last week. CARE evolved in response to the plight of Indo-Chinese refugees, known as ‘boat people,’ who left their homes in the late 1970s to escape the restrictive policies of the Communist regime after the Vietnam War. The exhibit, CARE — Welcoming Immigrants to Central Alberta for 35 Years, at Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery, runs until Jan. 24 and follows the journey of two women who fled Vietnam and eventually called Red Deer home. Muoi Ngo left Vietnam with her niece Tomy Huynh and survived seven harrowing encounters with pirates during her escape by boat in 1979. They spent nine months in a makeshift refugee camp in Indonesia before accepted as refugees in Canada. At 10-years old, Sherry Diep practically raised herself in the 1960s after six members of her immediate family were killed. She escaped Vietnam by boat to Hong Kong with her husband and three youngest children before they were accepted by Canada. Between 1975 and 1980, 56,000 Vietnamese people came to Canada. When the Red Deer Ministerial Association asked for assistance to help some of these refugees resettle in the region, CARE was born. The group became a registered non-profit society and continues to help refugees and immigrants adjust to life in Canada. Frank Bauer, CARE executive director, said CARE, in partnership with Catholic Social Services’ immigrant and settlement services, have about 1,500 active clients who regularly visit the immigrant centre for two or three years depending on how long they need English As A Second Language (ESL) classes. He said between 700 and 1,000 newcomers arrive in Central Alberta every year.
Please see CARE on Page A2
WEATHER A few clouds. High -6. Low -20
FORECAST ON A2
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Contributed photo
Red Deer’s Matthew Peavoy performed at the world famous Carnegie Hall as part of the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition 2015.
Red Deer pianist performs at Carnegie Hall BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer’s Matthew Peavoy can now add — Carnegie Hall recital — to his musical resume. The 22-year-old pianist, finishing up his bachelor degree in music and performance at Brandon University in Manitoba, was selected as one of several artists to play at Carnegie Hall in the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition 2015. Peavoy was among 16 pianists to win an honourable mention in the college students and professional musicians category. The prize for all winners was to perform at the famous and prestigious New York City venue. “It was a dream of mine,” said Peavoy about the opportunity to be on stage at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 28 where he performed Rachmaninoff Etude Tableaux op. 39, no. 9. He said it was an amazing experience knowing how many legendary performers walked through the same doors, and perhaps played the same instruments. Artists were judged solely on recordings they submitted to the competition. Peavoy’s video submission can be viewed at www. youtube.com/watch?v=Fc-QCSM4aAo. Applications came from musicians across the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Austria, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, China, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and South African Republic. Peavoy was also captivated by New York’s acclaimed theatre and music district. “Getting to see the musical environment. Seeing how close all these amazing facilities were like Juilliard, the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall — all within a couple blocks of each other. Radio City Music Hall. Broadway theatres. They are right there so if you ever needed inspiration, you could just go see a performance.” He said New York City has so much to give musicians. “It would be a place where I would want to live more than I’d want to travel to visit. It’s a place of so much opportunity and energy.” Peavoy, a graduate of Lindsay Thurber Composite High School and a Red Deer Royals alumnus, said he would like to continue his music studies in the U.S. and eventually join a university faculty. “Once I get my doctorate in music, I’d love to teach in university because there’s so much that goes into a role like that, not just teaching, but the research you get to perform. You get a wide diversity of experiences.” szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
More changes coming for Alberta Details of the government’s new climate change policy will be partly thrashed out in the coming months. Story on PAGE A8
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