Special Features - Our Community Our People 2018

OCOP MAPLE RIDGE & PITT MEADOWS

OUR COMMUNITY. OUR PEOPLE. Every year the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News profiles people in our communities that are making a difference.

From a new chief of police to a first time author, these are their stories. Read about them here in our eighth annual

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Community

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Mike Serr Together we are stronger Page 4

B2 Wednesday, September 19, 2018

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Wednesday, September 19, 2018 B3

Hard to retire when you love your job Maple Ridge psychiatrist fulfilling long-held goal of helping kids Phil Melnychuk pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com

D

r. Britt Bright is doing a bad job of retiring.

At 72, after 39 years in the psychiatric profession, she’s trying to wind down her practice on Selkirk Avenue, but still finds herself seeing a list of her adult clients, requiring one day a week treatment, while also achieving a goal that she set when she started her practice.

When Bright was trying to establish psychiatric care for adults decades ago in Maple Ridge, she made a promise that before she retired, she’d also ensure the youth would be taken care of, as well.

She started her practice in 1979, and was Maple Ridge’s first and only psychiatrist.

“I’m fulfilling a promise made over 30 years ago to make sure the youth were looked after,” she said. “I love working with all people who are wanting help.

“So basically, the youth portion of my work has been growing at the same time as I’m working on retiring from my private office practice.”

Bright is on the committee that opened the Youth Wellness Centre a few years ago. The centre is now part of the province’s Foundry program and provides one-stop help for kids and teens, with medical or psychological problems.

The theory is, you give kids some counselling early, before small problems become big ones, and they get on their way in life, with less chance of life-limiting, ongoing issues.

Bright works at the centre, now part of the

(Phil Melnychuk/THE NEWS)

Dr. Britt Bright is helping out at Youth Wellness Centre.

Greg Moore Youth Centre near Haney Place Mall, two days a week. She is one of two psychiatrists at the centre.

There’s no single issue that troubles kids these days, Bright says.

But she has noticed “a massive increase in anxiety and anxiety disorders in youth, which I have never seen before. It’s way up.”

Instances of depression are about the same, “but anxiety, it’s massive.”

Sometimes that can be dealt with by some basic advice or techniques, while other times the degree of anxiety can be much greater, requiring more therapy.

Drugs are also an issue for the younger set.

“They’re using them very carelessly and having psychotic episodes or life-threatening episodes,

huge problems,” she says.

When it comes to marijuana, “There’s a difference between use and misuse, and misuse is a huge concern,” Bright says.

“Misuse of marijuana worsens anxiety.”

That can lead to a risk of psychosis in some patients who have a predisposition to that, she adds.

“Misuse. It’s a huge problem. As far as use, that’s another story.”

Bright, along with colleague Dr. Matthew Chow at the Youth Wellness Centre, share the same common sense, everyday approach to the practice.

A diagnosis of mental illness doesn’t mean a lifelong disability. It’s just an opportunity to get a diagnosis, then get help and go on and live a normal life, she adds.

When Bright first arrived in Maple Ridge, after completing her education in Ireland and Canada after leaving her native Norway, psychiatric help was basically non-existent.

To fill the need, she led the campaign to get a psychiatric unit opened in Ridge Meadows Hospital. It took her three attempts to get the provincial dollars to establish a 16-bed in-patient psychiatric unit in 1993.

At one point, that required two weeks of nonstop phoning to Victoria, she recalls.

Those achievements have improved psychiatric care in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, but the region has also faced a setback in such services.

The closing of the Iron Horse Youth Safe House in 2015, which offered kids a safe place to stay when they were in trouble, was a major setback.

“I’m extremely upset that Iron Horse lost their funding.”

She added that she’s seen “significant and horrible homelessness and what that does to youth.”

Without such a service, homeless kids have no way of getting back on their feet by getting access to basic services.

“There needs to be something like Iron Horse again. There are literally starving youth who are homeless.”

Though she comes from the medical profession, she keeps up with the day-to-day events. She connects with a variety of people from all walks of life and political persuasion. She adopted Roman Catholicism when she was studying in Ireland after leaving her native Norway.

Bright is now a devout Catholic, attending daily mass when possible. Her faith gives her perspective on her profession, but never dictates how she practises.

As well, “The big risk is to not say enough about their lifestyle … that they themselves might know that their lifestyle is a contributing factor to their poor functioning in life.”

Still, she loves helping kids.

“I guess I’m sort of everybody’s grandma.”

While the debate about housing and homelessness continues to divide Maple Ridge, Bright isn’t afraid to weigh in.

People need housing, but not on an anything-goes-basis.

There also has to be support and supervision to ensure people improve and deal with their personal issues and make progress.

Bright said she’s working towards retirement, “but I possibly love my work too much to be able to retire anyways, so I might be continuing for quite some time because I just love seeing people get up on their feet.”

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B4 Wednesday, September 19, 2018

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‘Together we are stronger’ Mike Serr is taking part in the national Canadian Police Memorial Ride to Remember Michael Hall editor@mapleridgenews.com

M

ike Serr is bent, but not broken.

So he pedals

on.

Serr will take part in the Canadian Police Memorial Ride to Remember at the end of September, just after he officially becomes chief of the Abbotsford Police Department.

The ride takes place the last Sunday of every September, to honour those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their community. B.C. has a ride. The national one is four days, 800 kilometres, from the Toronto region to Ottawa.

The Abbotsford Police Department was asked to enter a team in the latter.

Serr in one of 10 members taking part.

They had team jerseys made. On the front is a tribute to fallen Abbotsford Const. John Davidson, who was shot and killed in the line of duty last November.

“We remember,” reads the front of the jersey,” with Davidson’s badge numbers from Abbotsford and North Umbria – his department in the U.K. – below the letters.

Then just days before Davidson’s funeral, Serr lost his son Aiden, 19, who died in a single-vehicle crash along Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge.

“Which was just an unbelievably horrible moment in my life.”

Serr still struggles every day with the loss of his son.

But he was buoyed by the support of family, friends and police.

“When we lost Aiden, our house was never empty.

For the first two weeks, we had people, 50 people – I mean, there were days we had 70 people in our house, because we kept the door open, and the community came in droves to support Kirsten and I,” Serr said of he and his wife.

“Everyone was so compassionate. I will never forget that.”

Within a week, Serr was out running. It helped clear his head.

Mike Serr after training for the Canadian Police Memorial Ride to Remember, which takes place in Ontario.

That time alone helped him reflect, to manage his emotions.

Cycling does the same.

“It helps me re-centre.”

He had to find his own pathway, something he tries to help others do, and which makes up a lot of his police work.

Serr’s career in policing began in Vancouver after he earned a criminology degree from SFU. He has seen much in his time, including the Stanley Cup riot in 1994.

“I was on the ground when the riot erupted, in ’94, at the corner of Robson and Thurlow.”

He’ll never forget that moment.

“The energy of the crowd was just building and building and building,” he said.

“You could just feel it was going to go, and finally, when that switch flipped – and I remember specifically, someone fell off a power line (someone climbed up on a power line and fell) – we knew that was it. We were in trouble. Then it was literally three hours, four hours of complete mayhem.”

But what amazed him was the teamwork, to be working alongside his “brothers and sisters” – through all the tear gas – to bring civility back to the city.

“Everyone had bangs and bruises, but it was quite an experience.”

While in Vancouver, he worked extensively on the Downtown Eastside.

“It really gave me an understanding of people who are struggling with substance abuse and addiction, just to hear their stories, for me was really interesting. I used to love walking the beat, meeting people and talking to them.

I loved to hear their stories and their pathway to how they got to the Downtown Eastside.”

They were all different.

People were struggling for various reasons.

“It’s a health issue, and we really need to treat it that way.”

He learned that arresting people for their drug abuse was not making them better.

Serr worked for the VPD for 25 and a half years, much of the latter part on various task forces and teams dealing with organized crime. He developed the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and was the sergeant in charge of the B.C. municipal undercover program, working major crime files, such as a series of arsons related to the Bacon brothers.

He worked undercover in Abbotsford for a year,

when he got to meet dedicated members of that police department.

Then a recruiter told him about a deputy chief position opening with Abby police.

Initially, Serr declined to apply. He loved working in Vancouver.

But he was approached again, and after some thought, did apply.

He liked the forward-thinking approach to policing in Abbotsford.

He liked the community.

Serr also loves a challenge.

“I love the chase.”

And he’s willing to try new approaches, or develop them.

“What I really like about Abbotsford is the community really wants to work together to solve problems.”

In Abbotsford, he helped form a collaborative opioid working group, with representatives from first responders, the city and Fraser Health, as well as community groups.

Overdoses fell from 52 in 2017 to 18 so far this year.

“So we have seen a decrease because of a bunch of different strategies.”

And now Serr is part of new pilot program, Project Angel. It involves volunteers with life experience or who understands paths to

(Alex Lemmon photo)

recovery to meet with people who have overdosed.

“It’s about making connections and identifying pathways.”

Fraser Health will try to help people get into detox or treat them with methadone or suboxone.

“So there’s not one right tool for every person – multiple tools.”

He recognizes that Maple Ridge has some of the same challenges as Vancouver and Abbotsford, struggling with homelessness and drug addiction.

“We will not solve this problem by ourselves.

The police department is not going to solve drug addiction by itself. It needs to be a collaborative effort.”

Serr is also chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Drug Advisory Committee, and has presented to the Senate about marijuana legalization, about organized crime, about giving police tools to do their jobs and keep youth safe.

“We all understand, as police chiefs, it’s going to be legalized, and I think, if we do it right, with smart and measured approaches, we can actually make a difference.”

The new tool that is being proposed, an oral screening device, doesn’t give quantitative results.

It only says you have marijuana, or other drugs, in your system. But not how much, said Serr.

“It’s only a small piece of a bigger picture.”

It’s not going to end drug use.

Serr said communities aren’t going to police or treat themselves out of the opioid epidemic.

“You can’t just take someone to a bed.”

Serr said relationships need to be built with those needing help, to assist them in finding a pathway to better health, to support them.

Serr was amazed at how Abbotsford residents supported the police department following Davidson’s death. Calls came in nonstop. “‘What do you need?’’

People brought the officers food and flowers.

“The community of Abbotsford was unbelievable.

When we needed them the most, they were absolutely there for us.”

On the day of Davidson’s funeral, other departments policed Abbotsford, and didn’t bill the city.

Davidson used to cycle, taking part in the annual Cops for Cancer ride. Serr remembers Davidson telling him, a month before he was killed, how excited he was about the ride, to help young cancer patients, how much he enjoyed the camaraderie of being part of a team and going to the different events.

“I remember feeling the passion and energy he felt when he spoke of the ride, so when I’m out taking part in this event, with all the other officers, I’ll remember those pictures of John in his riding gear and how much that meant to him, to have that opportunity to give back to the community, and to do something as part of a team,” Serr said of the Ride to Remember.

In May, Serr was named the new chief of the Abbotsford Police Department, as of Oct. 1. Chief Const. Bob Rich retires on Sept. 30 after 10 years with the APD. The department has more than 215 officers, over 100 civilian staff and 80-plus volunteers.

Serr said it’s a strong department with good

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people and a supportive community.

He will continue to focus on reducing gang violence and helping end drug overdose deaths.

He is excited about the challenge, one he feels equipped for.

Last year, when Const.

Davidson died, then his son, Serr’s life changed.

“You never heal from this. You are changed forever.”

He coped by going for a run, or a ride. Sports and fitness have always been part of his life, from playing soccer and football as a youth, and still hockey and lacrosse today, to going on hikes or trail runs. Being physically active helps him manage his feelings.

Still, when he has a difficult time, when he’s thinking of Aiden, he goes for a hard bike ride.

It helps him refocus, on himself and what he needs to be right.

He always tells people, traumatic things happen, they always do, and it’s better to be prepared, to have tools to cope.

“For me, I have those tools – physical fitness and health …

When Const. Davidson passed away, at his funeral, the chief said, in his speech, when members are struggling, to take a knee.

“If you’re hurting, you’ve got to take a knee,” Serr said.

But, he added, that’s half the story.

“You do have to take a knee; you’ve gotta say, ‘I need help.’ But you also need people to help you stand back up, and when you’re knees wobble a bit, to hold you steady.”

For him, those people are fellow police officers, friends and family.

At Christmas, his daughter Kiana gave him a medallion.

Inscribed on it: “Flecti non frangi.”

It means bent, not broken.

That same Latin phrase is on the back of the Abbotsford team’s riding jerseys.

“It means a lot to me,” Serr said.

And to the other members.

“We’ve been through a very, very, very difficult time.”

But they are strong, and together, even stronger.

“I really do believe, when you come together, you are stronger.”

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(Contributed)

Street artist Ken Foster has collaborated on a book with Sean Nosek.

Producing Coolest Coffee Table Book Ever Sean Nosek writes about friendship with Ken Foster Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com

S

ean Nosek had been cruising the streets of Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside looking for the street artist, but with no luck.

Then, while looking for parking to go see a Vancouver Canucks game, on a rainy night, he saw an obvious painter who looked like he must be the guy.

With some fast moves and a bit of determination, he quickly tracked Ken Foster down, and introduced himself.

“He looked very disheveled, and splattered with paint,” remembers Nosek.

“He was like a human Jackson Pollock painting.”

The former principal of Thomas Haney secondary said he wanted to commission a painting by the man who was gaining some local fame for painting on found materials, and gave Foster $50, with the promise of another $50 when it was done. He slipped the artist a piece of paper with his phone number on it.

He thought he would never see him again.

They weren’t friends, yet.

Two weeks later, he got that phone call he hadn’t really expected. Soon, an “unlikely friendship” was forged.

Foster is a Vancouver celebrity people hope to encounter, explained Nosek. He is homeless, he suffers a serious drug addiction and probably mental illness. His paintings, though, have brought him notice in a world that most people turn away from.

His work is in the Jackie Chan movie Rumble in Bronx. He also painted the graffiti and religious iconography for a video produced by the Rolling Stones.

“It’s got an edge, and an anti-establishment quality that is informed by some real talent,” said Nosek.

“Collectors recognize it as pretty impressive stuff.”

Nosek met Foster four years ago, and as they talked, the two men found they have a lot in common.

They are about the same age, graduated in the late 1980s, and are educated. Foster attended college and did a year at Emily Carr.

Nosek taught literature, and his blog Zen

for a Crazy World has attracted international attention. Both men are by their nature creative spirits, with a rebellious nature – “his a little more obvious,” said Nosek.

But one man lives in the suburbs of Maple Ridge, as a respected educator. Nosek was well known in Maple Ridge as the popular principal of Thomas Haney secondary, a school that offers student-directed learning, and has been toured by educators from around the world.

In 2014, he was chosen for Canada’s Outstanding Principals Award from the Learning Partnership. He was one of 40 people across Canada to receive the honour. For the past four years, he has worked as associate superintendent with West Vancouver Schools.

The other lives on the streets, hanging out in Canada’s most notorious neighbourhood, for two decades eking out an existence by painting.

He hangs out in places with names like Blood Alley, but produces art every day, not letting anything go for less than $20.

“There was an appeal for both of us in bringing together two worlds that couldn’t be more disparate,” said Nosek.

Foster does not want anyone trying to save him. There is no rehab in the immediate future.

“Ken is, at this point, not interested in what others might perceive as a Hollywood ending.”

But Nosek pitched to Foster that he would write his story, and Foster could illustrate it.

The book was published on Sept. 1, by Granville Island Publishers, and there was a launch event on Sept. 11. Indigo, Chapters and Amazon have all agreed to carry it.

“We’re super excited to see this book, which is part biography, part ‘Adventures on the Downtown Eastside in the SRO World’, and part art project.”

He called it a legacy piece, and Foster’s paintings for the book nothing short of stunning.

His work is all over Vancouver on walls and pieces of cardboard, but now it’s someplace anyone can find it.

“It’s something that puts his work on record.”

Nosek says in promoting the book: “We believe that people crave something real, something with a story, and not something cookie cutter. Although Ken has trained formally, this man has honed his craft on the mean streets, painting to survive. What is more, his paintings are gritty and powerful and depict the city like no one else can. When you see a Ken Foster alleyway painting, you know it’s coming from someone who has been there. It doesn’t get much more real than that.”

It’s called: Ken Foster’s Vancouver: The Coolest Coffee Table Book Ever.

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Wednesday, September 19, 2018 B7

‘A moment for herself and others’ Chelsea Keenan knew she needed to talk about mental health Michael Hall editor@mapleridgenews.com

C

helsea Keenan has her own way of helping others, and it’s how she helped herself.

Keenan, 28, is from Maple Ridge and recently relocated to Vancouver, where she works in corporate communications and teaches yoga.

Getting there, however, wasn’t as simple as taking the highway.

Keenan grew up in Maple Ridge, where she started playing hockey with the Meadow Ridge Barracudas. She moved on to play in Langley, and finished her final years in the B.C. Major Midget league with the Fraser Valley Phantom, as a defender. She graduated from Pitt Meadows secondary, where she attended the hockey academy, then went to the University of Victoria, where she started doing yoga.

But she only stayed at UVic one year.

The following summer, she worked at Meadow Gardens Golf Club in Pitt Meadows, driving carts and serving. She also started golfing and enjoyed it so much she enrolled in a twoyear golf management program at Camosun College in Invermere, B.C. After finishing that, she took a half year off and worked in a leadership position with Lululemon. Then she enrolled at Simon Fraser University and finished her undergraduate degree in communications.

After that, she moved to Calgary for a job in that field, developing corporate culture and

employee engagement.

But then Keenan decided she needed to travel.

“I was hoping to find purpose and ease some of the big emotions I was experiencing at that time in my life.”

She first moved back to Maple Ridge and worked at the Greg Moore Youth Centre, as a summer camp support worker.

Then she left.

She went to Australia, Southeast Asia, then New Zealand.

She stayed in Bali for a month, during which time she became certified as a yoga instructor.

It took 200 hours.

She was ready to go back home, but needed to find a purpose, a way to bring communities together, to create an aura for mental health.

“That was a big thing for me,” she said.

“I am aware of mental health.”

Anxiety, in particular, she added.

And she wanted tools to help people.

Yoga helped her. It helped her relax.

“I relied on yoga a lot in Calgary.”

When she left for her trip, she booked a oneway ticket.

“I had no idea when I was going home.”

Her journey was unknown, and she wanted it that way. To prove to herself that it’s OK to not have a plan, to adjust when things go awry.

Now her journey is more clear.

She’s bringing people together, to help them and others, through yoga.

Keenan returned to Maple Ridge after her trip, to reconnect with family and friends, es-

(Contributed)

Chelsea Keenan teaches yoga classes in Maple Ridge by donation, all of which goes to local charities.

pecially her sister Carisa and two nephews, Lochlan and Finn.

Keenan also started teaching yoga classes, first in various parks around Maple Ridge – using mats purchased by her mom – then, when the weather got colder and wetter, in the gym at Pitt Meadows secondary.

Then she moved her classes inside Silver Valley Brewery on 224th Street. The classes are by donation, $20 per class, which are limited to 18 participants. At the brewery, donations include a pint of craft beer. The classes are once a month on a Monday. All the money donated goes towards charitable organizations.

So far, Keenan’s classes have made contributions to no less than 10 charitable organizations, including the Tyler Lewis Clean Energy Research Foundation, Youth Wellness Centre in Maple Ridge, Alisa’s Wish and Katie’s Place animal shelter.

For her efforts, Keenan was nominated for citizen of the year in the under-40 category by the Maple Ridge Community Foundation, which also received donations from her.

Recently, Keenan moved to Vancouver to be closer to her new job, again doing corporate communications, developing culture and engagement.

She still returns to Maple Ridge once a month to teach the yoga class.

She also teaches in Vancouver and started a yoga and wellness retreat at Loon Lake in the Malcolm Knapp UBC Research Forest for groups, promoting such practitioners in Maple Ridge.

“When I moved home, I knew I needed to talk about mental health, specifically anxiety, and be open and transparent about my own experience with it. I wanted to help others and provide tools to help deal with mental health issues, all while trying to bring the community together with yoga.”

For her, yoga is about being present, and mindful, a moment to take a breath, to focus on how the body is feeling.

“The body can hold a lot of stress and pain.”

Yoga, she said, helps people to take a moment for themselves.

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B8 Wednesday, September 19, 2018

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Bringing Broadway to schools Carole Dagenais plans to keep up theatre into retirement Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com

Y

ou look at a great painting, see what it’s saying, and wonder about the artist who created it.

Similarly, watching a bunch of kids put on a musical play, with sets that have a professional attention to detail, fantastic costumes, and children who dance without missing a step and deliver their lines without stopping to remember them, and think, ‘Who was the director who pulled that off?’

Carole Dagenais fell in love with theatre when she was a young girl, and as she enters retirement from her career as a teacher with School District No. 42, she can look back at thousands of kids who she inspired on the stage.

Dagenais’ last play was the Lion King Junior, put on at Eric Langton elementary, but with a polish that one doesn’t generally see on a school stage.

The sets were ambitious, with a big mockup of Pride Rock for the young thespians to walk up and give a soliloquy, painted African designs on the walls, and jungle scenes and other settings projected onto the back wall.

The kids were talented and clearly had a great time, as they hit the right notes of Elton John songs that have become classics. Watching the little girls dressed in their hyena costumes, dancing like nobody was watching, it’s easy to see how theatre gets in your blood.

She starts auditions about five months out, and stays late after school – sometimes five hours after closing.

It’s so much work that Dagenais only puts on a play every two school years.

“I like to put on Broadway quality shows, and it’s a huge commitment for everyone,” she said.

“You get out of it what you put into it. All great things take time.”

On the off years, when there is no play, she dedicates about six weeks to auditioning and presenting a school talent show, which is also a big hit with students and parents, and often the singers and standup comics identify themselves as her future actors.

Life on the stage started for Dagenais when she was young, growing up in Ottawa. She had been a dancer, and a director approached her group, needed dancers for a theatre show. Her first plays were The Boyfriend and Bye Bye Birdie.

She fell in love not only with the stage, but also an actor – her husband, Jeffrey.

“We met backstage when we were very young,” and she was smitten with the “triple threat” who could sing, dance and act.

She was raised by a father who is

(Contributed)

Carole Dagenais and a student work on Pride Rock for the set of the Lion King.

Quebecois, and spent a year attending university in Paris, France.

When Carole came to UBC in 1984, Jeffrey followed her to B.C. They married in 1987.

Locally, they have been involved with Emerald Pig and Specc-tacular Productions theatre groups, both on stage or as stage managers. And they have also put on productions with other theatre groups in the Lower Mainland.

But the school plays bring a particular sense of pride.

“The most joy I’ve gotten from theatre is working with the kids,” she said.

At the start, some kids are literally petrified: “hiding in the wings.”

But by show day “they are owning the stage.

“Some kids are just total naturals, and they love the stage,” she said. “And they discover lots of things about themselves.”

Over the years, many of her students have gone on to the local theatre groups.

It’s no exaggeration to say she has worked with thousands of kids. Dagenais has been a teacher for 33 years, starting in Vancouver and spending the last 23 in Maple Ridge. She works in French Immersion and is a support teacher who oversees special education staff working with special needs children.

Over those 33 years, she puts on plays that involve numerous kids.

Some are backstage, some are danc-

ing, cackling hyenas, some are stampeding buffalo, and some are in the spotlight. All told, there were about 80 kids in the cast of the Lion King.

“Every child who auditioned was given a part in the show.”

Including pre-show singing and entertainment, there were more than 200 kids involved.

Jeffrey hasn’t been on the stage in about five years, but remains Carole’s “partner in crime,” He designed the set of the Lion King, and they worked on it over weekends for about two months, building and painting the African scenes.

The Lion King Junior wowed a lot of parents.

“It’s such powerful music, and it drew so many people in,” said Dagenais. “It was a very moving play for everybody.”

She has strong support of the parents and the school Parent Advisory Council, who really appreciate her work.

She may come back to Eric Langton to put on more productions even in retirement.

“It’s an amazing school to be at,” she said.

The school community sees the value in theatre.

“It’s drawing everyone’s talents together, building community in the school, and watching them flourish,” said Dagenais.

“It’s a seed that when it’s planted will grow.”

Carole Dagenais with student Aiden Evans, who played Scar in Lion King Junior.

(Contributed)

Come to our

Seniors Resource Fair

The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News

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Wednesday, September 19, 2018 B9

Wed., March 28th • 1-3 pm ‘Finding comfort through animals’ Pitt Meadows Rec C one horse now that’s a bit taller than me so I can use a stool. If I fall off, it’s also safer for me since she’s a bit smaller.”

English-style riding is what Carson prefers, and she has ridden in competitions for the last three years.

A longstanding goal of Carson’s is to compete in the Paralympics for dressage. At 16, Carson will have to continue training until she’s 18 in order to qualify for the Paralympics.

Carson’s education goals also include furry friends and creatures. She plans on going to college to become a veterinary assistant, with future plans to own a business as an animal educator.

As an animal educator, Carson wants to travel to schools to teach kids how to interact with animals.

“It started a couple years ago,” Carson said about her career aspirations. “I really like to teach people about animals and I’m in 4-H, as well, so I have the public speaking ability. Now through 4-H and riding I’m able to talk to people comfortably. I love working with animals, especially exotic animals.”

Carson said the best part of being upon her horse is feeling free.

“The freedom, being able to do something by myself and just being around the animals.”

entre ris Road

Hannah Carson found passion at North Fraser Therapeutic Riding Association in Maple Ridge 12027 Har Miranda Fatur miranda.fatur@mapleridgenews.com

R

(Contributed)

Hannah Carson rides a pony because it’s easier for her to tack up. ed to dwarfism by using stools and getting help from family members. She has a variety of pets, including a gecko, birds and a dog.

An animal-lover at heart, Carson began horseback rid-

ing lessons when she was young.

The North Fraser Therapeutic Riding Association is where Carson said she feels best. She’s been riding with the NFTRA since she was four, and plans to continue into her adulthood.

“It lets me forget that I’m different, which is nice. The horses don’t care about my size. They can definitely tell how your feeling that day since they can read your emotions, which can be a bad thing.”

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Carson currently rides a pony named Joy. She said Joy is a suitable horse for her to ride since she can easily put tack on her by using a stool.

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iding a horse is where Hannah Carson feels the most normal.

That’s because once she’s back on flat ground, Carson stands significantly shorter than other 16-year-old girls.

Hannah has a condition called dwarfism, meaning she will always be considerably shorter than her peers.

“In public school, kids would notice. At home, it’s fine and I don’t really notice. I do feel a bit weird in the public, especially with younger kids because they tend to notice a lot so it’s hard to interact with them,” Carson said about growing up with the genetic condition.

Carson’s dwarfism is genetic and is easily diagnosed in utero through an ultrasound. Due to referral wait-lists for a geneticist, Carson was officially diagnosed when she was nine months old.

The form of dwarfism that affects Carson is called achondroplasia, which, in her case, was a random spontaneous mutation.

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The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News

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Helping grandmas in far-off lands AIDS still taking toll on parents in central Africa Phil Melnychuk pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com

W

hen Maria Raynolds takes up a cause, it’s with 100 per cent commitment and a determination to see that what she would like to get done actually gets done.

Her latest cause, one that’s she’s pursued for eight years, is raising cash to give to thousands of grandmothers who find themselves the sole caretakers of their grandchildren as the ravages of AIDS continue to decimate the population in sub-Saharan African countries, such as Zambia or Uganda or Somalia.

“We give them money to help themselves,” said Raynolds.

“So our goal is mostly to empower them.”

That empowerment takes place thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Golden Ears Gogos, one of several groups of grandmas in Metro Vancouver that raise money to support the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.

Gogo is a common word for grandma in Africa. Raynolds helped form Golden Ears Gogos in 2010.

The Stephen Lewis Foundation provides money to support grandmothers to keep the families together, where the young parents have died of AIDS, leaving their children orphans and dependent on whoever can care for them.

In addition to simply helping put food on the table, the money allows grandmothers to fight for property rights and access to pensions.

For example, if a son or husband dies, leaving the grandmother alone, the grandmothers can often lose their homes to a male member of the family.

“These grandmothers are so incredibly strong. We can all learn from them,” Raynolds said.

The grandmothers in Africa have strength in numbers because they advocate for themselves as a group, she adds.

In Maple Ridge alone, the Golden Ears Gogos have raised more than $100,000 in the last eight years through sales of their homemade arts and crafts.

And there seems to be no stopping the local grandmothers, or people of any kind, from helping out.

Every monthly meeting draws about 20 participants.

“It’s a super group of women,” said Raynolds.

Last spring, Gogos from around Metro Vancouver met in Maple Ridge for a region-wide spring celebration.

One fundraising product that’s

(THE NEWS/files)

Maria Raynolds is helping orphans in Africa live normal lives.

Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign is part of Stephen Lewis Foundation. worked particularly well is crocheting necklaces. Now, about 30 Gogos create that handicraft, maximizing the production of a profitable product.

Homemade cards, book markers, plants and lavender products sold at the Haney Farmer’s Market are other means of raising funds, along with an annual Christmas dinner and silent auction, catered by cook-

ing students at Samuel Robertson Technical secondary.

One of Raynolds’ major motivations in helping families to escape the cycle of dysfunction that can come from losing parents. Children raised without families, themselves, don’t know how to be parents.

“They’re the grandchildren left, that have to be taken care of. They’re put into an orphanage. The fami-

(Contributed)

ly falls apart, the community falls apart.”

It will take generations to recover from that, Raynolds adds.

She sees a parallel in Canada’s indigenous communities, where trauma from the residential school experience is felt for generations.

Maybe that’s a way of learning from the past to ensure it’s not happening again, she added.

“I think that’s why it’s so important to me.”

And there are actually double the numbers of grandmas in Africa who need the help, compared to those who actually get it, she added.

Prior to joining the Golden Ears Gogos, Raynolds was active at the Community Education on Environment and Development Centre, where she’s still a member, and formerly served with the now-defunct Pitt Polder Preservation Society.

She also led the cause with the Campaign for Pesticide Reduction, which led to the restriction of cosmetic pesticides for households in Maple Ridge in 2007.

Under Maple Ridge’s bylaw, championed by Raynolds, anyone who wants to use pesticides or herbicides has to apply for a permit.

While that bylaw remains in place, it’s often ignored and the city isn’t creating awareness of the bylaw, she said.

“So many newcomers don’t know we have a pesticide bylaw,” Raynolds said.

“It’s a bylaw on the books and the stores are carrying it again.”

To keep her spirits up, Raynolds has a magnet on her fridge, which reads: “Volunteers are our biggest resource.”

“At a time when there is so much strife, poverty, degradation and sheer evil in our world, I look to my fridge magnet and it gives me hope,” she said in a letter earlier this year.

The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News

Wednesday, September 19, 2018 B11

heels Ro ll’ ur W Yo

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h wit

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www.mapleridgenews.com

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Michael Buckingham wants to keep KEEPS running.

(THE NEWS/files)

Keeping KEEPs running his mission

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ichael Buckingham admits, he’s more of a technical “screwdriver and hammers” kind of guy, who just buckles down to fix things or get things done, rather than having a way with words.

Which probably is just the approach you need when you’re running a volunteer organization that plays a key role in what’s Metro Vancouver’s crown jewel of its parks system.

Buckingham, 80, has just been named chair of the board of the Kanaka Education and Environmental Part-

nership Society, a non-profit entity that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and operates the Kanaka Watershed Stewardship Centre in conjunction with Metro Vancouver parks.

The centre is located in the middle of Kanaka Creek Regional Park, the emerald green jewel of Metro Vancouver parks system that holds a myriad of public and educational events and serves as a showcase for streams and forests in an urban environment.

He joined the society about 10 years ago because he “saw value in looking after Kanaka Creek and the watershed and I saw value in environ-

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mental maintenance of that,” Buckingham said.

In years past, the creek didn’t get the care it needed, he pointed out.

“So that was what drew me into it. I find value in trying to maintain something, which human beings in a way, are desperately trying to fish everything out of the ocean.”

Buckingham just took on the top spot four months ago and is still learning on the job.

As chair of KEEPS, the odd jobs, and big and small tasks, all fall on to his desk, including the task of keeping the finances in good order.

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Wanstalls owner turns hobby into business ‘Our gun laws are universal’ Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com

S

hooting is fun for Craig Jones, and for a lot of people, asserts the owner of Wanstalls.

He is unapologetic about his passion for shooting sports, and for his opinions that Canada should consider relaxing some of its gun laws, instead of contemplating bans on handguns and assault-style rifles.

Jones was that little boy who turned every banana and stick into a gun. He became a cadet in North Delta, where he grew up, and looked forward to his time on the shooting range, firing military rifles.

He wasn’t a crack shot.

“I was okay. But every time I was on the range, I had a good time.”

Later, he went into

Wanstalls owner Craig Jones has turned his hobbies, firearms and hunting, into a business. the army reserves, an infantryman with the Seaforth Highlanders in the late 1980s, and the lifestyle fed into this love of camping and the outdoors. Hunting was a natural progression.

“I also like to eat,” he smiles. “It’s camping, and you’re bringing something home.

Hopefully.”

He has always enjoyed buying, selling and trading guns as a hobbyist.

Jones began a career working at Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, but the mental health facility had its services scaled back and then ultimately closed.

Losing his career in health care, Jones started to look for opportunities, and that led him to Wanstalls. Tony Wanstall had taken over a sporting good store known as E&D Sports in 1973. There

was lots of fishing and camping gear, and it was a Boy Scouts depot, with sashes, badges and other paraphernalia of the Scouting movement.

Sadly lacking, from Jones’ perspective, were the guns, and he purchased the store in 2007.

“I think we had 17 firearms in inventory,” he recalled.

And now?

“Hundreds.”

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He had a licence to pursue his hobbies as a business. The trick was to make enough to support a wife and two young children. He was 39 when he bought it.

“It was scary, it was exciting and it was awesome,” he remembered.

“You’re leaving a government job, and security, and a pension, and taking a leap of faith into the unknown.”

Buying and selling guns – new, used or on consignment – became a huge part of the

business. People would approach him to buy a rusty rifle they found in a grandpa’s basement, or to use his networks to sell collectables, such as a pair of mirror image Cabot Colt 1911.

They went for $36,000, and were the most expensive guns in the store.

His own firearms interests have been cyclical. He will go from using ultra-precise rifles that make shots at extreme ranges, to shooting indoors with a tactical rifle, to antique muzzleloaders and then to handguns.

Since he took over the business, he has seen an evolution in the interest of shooters.

“There has definitely been a change,” he said.

“People are spending more on their hobby than they used to, and there’s a trend to handguns and the black guns [tactical rifles].

He does not call them assault rifles, even though that’s what many of them appear to be, because those sold in Canada cannot fire on

full automatic, and can only have a magazine limit of five cartridges.

He hears people say “we don’t want to become ‘The States,’” but Jones said Canada has far more restrictions.

“Our laws are universal, coast to coast, where they have 50 different sets of laws [for each state].”

In the U.S., there are laws that allow concealed carry, fully automatic weapons and high capacity magazines, depending on the state.

There are also varying laws about background checks, and most states do not require them for purchase at gun shows from private individuals.

In Canada, purchasers must pass the Canadian Firearms Safety Course and mail away for a Possession and Acquisition Licence.

To buy a handgun or restricted firearm, there is an additional safety course. Licencing involves background checks, and the RCMP requires a minimum of 45 days to process the application.

So everyone must pass a safety exam, and everyone is vetted, he said.

“In a free society, the onus is on you to say why it should be restricted.”

In fact, he said, there are good reasons for Canadians to look at relaxing some gun laws. For example, a wilderness carry law would allow approved gun owners working in the backcountry to protect themselves from predators.

Silencers should be considered for recreational shooters, so he wouldn’t have to yell around some customers.

“A lot of people come in here with hearing loss.”

He knows there are a lot of people in Maple Ridge who share his viewpoints. This is a good community to own a gun store in.

“There’s still a rural, close-knit feel to the town, and a lot of people are still enjoying the things they did when they were young – hunting and shooting.”

Looking to keep things going Continued from B11 “It involves a fair bit of homework and a fair bit of diligence because there are contracts which have to be met,” Buckingham explained recently.

“You have to spend a fair bit of time, at least in the beginning. Maybe next year it will be easier, I don’t know.

I hope so.”

His words a year ago in a letter to the editor evinces his commitment.

“The directors and members of Kanaka Education Environmental Partnership Society recognize that the value of maintaining good, clear water in all the creeks that feed into the Kanaka is of the utmost importance and is a strong measure of how society regards the land that they live on.”

As chair, Buckingham not only has to run board meetings, but gets tasked with the adminstrative chores that all seem to land in his lap.

Whether it be organizing

another Rivers Day or Goodbye Chums event, filling out grant applications or balancing the books, Buckingham seems to take on the task.

“It’s all good. It’s all to do with the forest and watershed.”

In addition to ensuring the finances run smoothly, he also wants the future to run smoothly, as well.

Buckingham says that a new generation of volunteers are needed at all levels to ensure the longevity of the society.

“You have to look to the future to keep the thing going.”

Currently, there are about 10 people on this list while another two at the hatchery volunteer an “enormous” amount of time.

“There are dedicated volunteers and there are volunteers who are just on the list.”

In addition to keeping KEEPs running, Buckingham’s also involved in a totally different project.

He and another group of

volunteers are compiling a history of the Ridge Meadows Seniors Society.

“However, there is no detailed record of the society’s creation or its forebears.

Until now.”

The group is currently waiting to see if it will receive a grant to allow the publication of an 80-page history of the society.

Buckingham though limits his volunteer posts to the two organizations.

“When you get to 80 years old, you only have so much energy left,” he said.

Ross Davies, who the delivers KEEPs’ educational workshops in schools, said Buckingham is humble, but he gets things done.

But Buckingham is always probing to find different, and better, ways of doing things, Davies added.

“He was a reluctant chairman of the group, but he’s taken it, and run with it. Just a real, strong asset for the organization,” Davies said.

The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News

www.mapleridgenews.com

Wednesday, September 19, 2018 B13

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The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News

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‘Hiring without boundaries’ Brody McDearmid is putting a focus on hiring people with disabilities at Meridian Meats Miranda Fatur miranda.fatur@mapleridgenews.com

M

ost shoppers at Meridian Meats never notice anything unusual about the employees who help them.

Besides a few small signs posted around the store stating the business is an inclusive employer, shoppers would never suspect the diverse abilities of the workers.

A year and a half ago, Brody McDearmid, Meridian chief financial officer, hired three people with disabilities to work at the Maple Ridge store.

“We just said, ‘When we’re hiring, we’ll consider anyone who applies.’

We’re open to hiring anyone with diverse abilities.”

Shortly after hiring the three individuals with disabilities, McDearmid received feedback from the store managers.

“The answer unanimously was that the impact had been so great and they were so glad they hired these individuals. They felt it brought their team closer together. Everyone suddenly felt really great about what was happening in the store. That was a unique side effect of hiring these individuals.”

McDearmid took an interest specifically in the autism community when his own nine-year-old son David was

Brody McDearmid has a nine-year-old son with autism who he believes will have a meaningful career one day. diagnosed with the disorder.

A concern for McDearmid and his family had always been, what would David do in the future as an adult?

Like any other child, many questions about David’s future will remain unanswered until he sets a path of his own.

However, McDearmid is confident David will be able to have a meaningful career.

“The big concern we’ve always had with David is, ‘What’s he going to do in 20 years,’ recognizing that his potential to have a career where he contributes in 100 per cent possible. That’s where I feel the most pressure as a parent is pointing him in the right direction,” said McDearmid.

After only three years from the start dates of the first Meridian employees

(Miranda Fatur/THE NEWS)

with known disabilities, McDearmid has been invited to speak on multiple panels, including WorkBC in Maple Ridge and the Canucks Autism Network.

From the success of hiring people with diverse abilities, McDearmid wants to see these individuals succeed in finding a sense of purpose and fulfillment with their careers.

‘Bringing life into the world’ Nicole Chambers provides information so mothers don’t have to ‘just Google it’ Michael Hall editor@mapleridgenews.com

N

icole Chambers helps expectant mothers bring life into the world.

She is there for them before birth, during and after.

Chambers runs Ridge Meadows Doula Services, providing birth and postpartum doula support for women entering motherhood.

She is also a la leche league leader and holds free, safe-space meetings for postpartum women.

As well, she holds, by donation, workshops to educate people on many perinatal topics.

And she is a women’s and youth counselor.

Chambers, a Maple Ridge resident, was initially a preschool teacher, then taught parenting classes for Abbotsford community services, and currently works five hours a week at Cythera Transition House Society.

But it was when she first became pregnant that she knew she wanted to be a doula, to provide mothers-to-be with information to make their own decisions.

Her own doula took time to get to know her, learn her values as a person. She encouraged her to ask questions – what is an epidural, an

(Russ Brummer photo)

Nicole Chambers with mother Leah and baby Scarlett.

episiotomy.

Chambers said the science around births is evolving, from breach deliveries to cesarean sections. And she wants expectant mothers to have as much information as possible, to make their own choices about the type of births they want to have.

Chambers deals with a lot of first-time parents. She has assisted in more than 200 births.

She recalls one. The mother has previously had a C-section and wanted, for her second

child, to have a vaginal birth. She was worried it would work out.

Chambers met her at her home. They discussed the emotions she was feeling, the fear.

Chambers went with her to the hospital, and she had a vaginal birth.

“She looked at me and was so proud she did it,” Chamber said. “This time her body did when she felt it was meant to.”

Chambers offers birth and postpartum doula support, as well as childbirth education and placenta encapsulation.

“We all strongly believe that families should experience birth feeling educated and informed.”

When visiting homes, a doula will assist with breastfeeding, offer education, companionship and support, offer baby-wearing and cloth-diapering support, as well as information on infant feeding and soothing, emotional and physical recovery from birth and coping skills for new parents.

Breastfeeding, in particular, can be troubling for new mothers. Chambers will help teach new mothers about latching, and how to deal with discomfort, self-care, as well as provide emotional support.

“Sometimes it hurts and when it does that’s when you know you need additional support.”

“What we’ve been working on is how we can develop and help these people progress with their career at Meridian.

We don’t want these people to come and be dishwashers forever, we want them to find greater fulfillment. That can be challenging because these individuals have varying abilities.”

At Meridian Meats, McDearmid and his team of managers brainstorm ways to help employees progress. McDearmid explained during the hiring process, the most important thing to do is not assume anyone’s abilities or disabilities.

It’s up to the individual to explain what they’re capable of and to disclose their disability if they wish.

McDearmid said employees with disabilities are able to bring the same skills as typical employees. Often an employee with a disability will be referred from various agencies and may be accompanied by a job coach.

“They bring everything a typical employee brings and a little bit more.

They’re more reliable, punctual and more committed. They show up for shifts on time, every time and are committed to the company.”

McDearmid’s inspiration came from a Walgreens store in the United States.

He recalled hearing a story about a Walgreens distribution centre where 30 per cent of its staff was working with a disability, and it was proven to be the most productive and efficient of all centres.

At Meridian Meats, there is no mandate or set in stone rules about hiring people with or without disabilities.

“We don’t have a mandate. If you apply, and you fit, then we’ll hire,” said McDearmid.

She also lets new mothers know how often babies need to feed – sometimes ever two hours for the first three to six months.

A doula will also help with sibling care and make referrals.

This year, Chambers took her pre- and post-natal yoga training.

When she’s not working as a doula, she works one day a week at a non-profit agency teaching parenting classes and has a private counseling practice that focuses on perinatal mental health, birth trauma and loss.

As well, Chambers is a trained placenta encapsulation specialist.

Placenta encapsulation is dehydrating and blending the placenta prior to putting it into pill capsules. It is meant to help balances hormones during the postpartum time, reduce postpartum depression, increase energy levels, as well as help the uterus go back to pre-pregnancy size, increase milk supply, shorten postpartum bleeding and increase postpartum iron levels.

It is inspired by traditional Chinese medicine.

As a la leche league leader, Chambers is looking for a free space to host monthly meetings on breastfeeding, where parents can meet, have conversations and share experiences.

“We are connecting mothers.”

So they don’t just Google information.

“We are also giving mothers community support.”

Chambers said mothers have been giving birth since the beginning of time, but that sometimes the medical system doesn’t allow them to follow their intuition.

“Birth is not something scary,” she said.

“Birth is normal.”

The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News

www.mapleridgenews.com

Wednesday, September 19, 2018 B15

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The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News

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‘Groceries from the backyard’ A retired teacher, Zdena Novy, lives every day as sustainably as possible Miranda Fatur miranda.fatur@mapleridgenews.com

S

ome would call her an artist, others a teacher, a student, a gardener, a farmer, an environmentalist or a writer.

But a single word summary of her is near impossible.

But whatever the label, Zdena Novy is more than happy to share her knowledge of many subjects with the residents of Maple Ridge.

Novy is the face behind the Novy Organics booth at the Haney Farmers Market. She wakes up early every Saturday morning around 5 a.m. to sell her products, share opinions, and talk gardening.

She started a small garden on her halfacre property in a few square feet in her

(Miranda Fatur/THE NEWS)

Zdena Novy grows her own organic produce and educates the community about where food comes from. backyard 39 years ago.

After moving to her current two-acre property, Novy spends endless hours growing an all-organic garden that’s allowed her to live sustainably, help

bees, teach others the art of gardening, and sell her excess produce at the local market.

The love of the outdoors and gardening came as a small child.

Novy reminiscences of

her aunt and uncle’s family farm in the Czech Republic countryside, where she used to play as a child.

“It was large with fruit trees and orchids.

This was paradise. It

was where we could learn about fruit just by eating it,” said Novy.

The fascination with nature and fresh air followed Novy into her adulthood, where

she grows her own organic produce and focuses on being as self-sufficient and sustainable as possible.

“If you have a background as a child, it sticks with you. Whatever adults give to you, it sits and it surfaces.”

Novy said organic farming is not as simple as harvesting and eating.

“People in the city have no idea how hard farmers work. Sometimes it’s all day long, sometimes it’s two hours. It’s not just about growing, it’s the whole process to make it self-sustainable year-round.”

As a career, Novy taught at Whonnock elementary for 25 years. Between educating and gardening, Novy herself is also dedicated to lifelong learning.

She’s passionate about learning why other farmers do the

things they do and how they do it. Another interest is in arts and ecology, both subjects that Novy studied at post-secondary.

“Before I do anything I want to know everything about anything. I want to read about other people who do things organically, I want to read controversial stories.

Anything that can help me with my farming. If it doesn’t work, I never give up. I will try and try again until I almost perfect it.”

Despite being a retired teacher, Novy’s life lessons haven’t stopped. Novy has many friends, families and students who continue to visit her organic farm to see the garden, sample produce, hear advice, or just sit, chat and enjoy Novy’s company in nature.

“I’m well-rounded,” said Novy. “Being

a mentor to a lot of people, I don’t care if you’re three years old or 80 years old.”

Novy also uses the market to educate the public about environmental and sustainability topics. She uses a variety of presentation boards that she hand-writes on and are accompanied by photographs and pictures.

“My booth isn’t just products. I want you to be informed and I want you to be well-informed.”

One board reads, “food is power, are you in control of yours?”

Novy hopes the boards inspire others to ask questions, such as where their food comes from, who grows it, and what was used in the process.

“It’s important for people to know because this knowledge is being hidden.”

Novy invites everyone to see her at the farmer’s market and aims to educate whoever she crosses paths with.

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‘A lifetime of bowling’ A youth bowling sportsmanship award has been created in Jennifer Guitard’s name Michael Hall editor@mapleridgenews.com

J

ennifer Guitard grew up in a bowling family and newer grew out of it.

Guitard is the longest severing employee at the bowling alley Rev’s, on 119th Avenue in downtown Maple Ridge. She been there 21 years, starting as a server, while in high school, and now, as a mother of three girls, doing a bit of everything.

But a large part of what she does is take care of the youth bowling league, and much on her own time, from entering scores and taking care of all the milestone awards.

For her efforts, a youth bowling sportsmanship award has been created in her name and will be given out for the first time this season.

The plaque will be displayed at the bowling alley.

Guitard is modest about the award. But it embodies much of who she is.

She grew up in Burnaby and started bowling when she five years old, along with her sister,

sport and enjoyed the camaraderie. She had great coaches, who she said were “very encouraging.”

She loved most going to tournaments, the atmosphere, all the cheering.

“You meet new people, go to banquets, there are dances and games.”

While she was a good bowler who competed at provincials, she enjoyed the social aspect of the game as much or more.

Her sister was more driven to succeed.

Guitard’s high score is 386.

Her sister has a couple of 400 games to her credit, and two provincial singles titles.

“My sister was the all-star bowler.”

Guitard loved that at provincials she got to be billeted.

Once she stayed with a fam(Michael Hall/THE NEWS) ily in Kelowna who she knew Jennifer Guitard runs the youth bowling league at Rev’s, on 119th Avenue from Varsity Lanes before they in downtown Maple Ridge. moved.

“So it was like catch-up.” two years her junior. Their par- Lanes.

Guitard has boxes of trophies ents bowled in mixed leagues.

“I loved bowling,” Guitard and programs from all of her The sisters mostly bowled at said. tournaments. She moved to Varsity Ridge in Vancouver, beShe appreciated how it was Maple Ridge in 1993 and won fore it closed, then at Grandview both an individual and team

Wednesday, September 19, 2018 B17

two provincial high school fivepin team titles while competing for Thomas Haney secondary.

“That was really fun.”

All five of the girls on that team competed with and against each other at the lanes in Maple Ridge.

Guitard got a job at the local bowling alley in 1997.

She is 38 now. All three of her daughters – Kaylee, 16, Sydney, 11, and Taylor, 9 – grew up around the bowling alley. She would bring them to the office if she had more work to do.

Bowlers in the various leagues know them. One of the ladies in the Club 55 program, which Guitard also runs, always asks about them.

All of her girls dance and two still compete in the youth league.

The eldest also now works at the alley.

Guitard took over the Youth Bowling Canada program at Rev’s in 2001, and it takes up so much of her time that she stopped competing herself eight years ago.

“I would love to get back into it, but for now I’m just happy working here,” she said.

“I am here a lot.”

She’s there five to six days a week, running the leagues and keeping records, doing inventory, bartending.

For the youth league, she tracks all the scores and makes sure all the bowlers get recognition for

their progress and achievements, creating the “swag tags.”

She used to have to glue all their milestones on banners that are handed out at the year-end banquet: “Bowler of the year”; “High single”; “I beat my average”: “I beat my coach.”

But now the tags are just fixed to lanyards.

Guitard also runs the YBC four-step program, making sure all the information and registrations are taken care of for the various tournaments, from zones to provincials.

She is also a proponent of fair and team play.

She does it all because she loves bowling.

And because she loves watching young bowlers grow.

“To see the joy on their faces when they achieve something now – a personal best, their first strike.”

Many start out throwing gutter balls. But that’s OK, Guitard said.

“I’ve thrown a few in my lifetime.”

Bowling can be difficult and discouraging for children, she added. But after about three months, with some coaching and encouragement, Guitard said most start to figure things out.

And maybe they will grow to love bowling as much as she does.

“After all these years, I still love the game,” Guitard said.

JOIN US

at Greystone Manor UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS Wednesday October 3, 2018 PINK RIBBON TEA 1:30pm | Breast Cancer Fundraiser Minimum donation $5 cash will go to Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation All guests must register by Monday, September 24th Sunday October 7 THANKSGIVING BUFFET DINNER 5:30pm | Seniors (65+) $18 | Adults $22 Kids 4-12 $1 /year (cash only) All guests must register by Monday, October 1st Wednesday October 31 SPECIAL HALLOWEEN LUNCHEON 12:00pm | Entertainment by Phil Vanloo Door Prizes for these who come in costume.

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B18 Wednesday, September 19, 2018

The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News

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Andre is Maple Ridge’s ‘Mr. Lacrosse’ Burrards GM has done everything in the sport Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com

“There are guys who play lacrosse, and there are lacrosse players” – Brendan Mundorf.

L

ance Andre believes lacrosse has given him everything, and he gives everything to lacrosse.

The president/governor/general manager of the Maple Ridge Burrards has been through everything and done everything in the sport.

What’s left for him are dreams that only occur late in the game – like being GM of a team that wins the Mann Cup, or drafting his son into the Western Lacrosse Association.

Andre was himself a first-round draft choice.

He played lacrosse his entire life as a goaltender, all of his minor

(THE NEWS/files)

Lance Andre is the GM of the Maple Ridge Burrards WLA team. days in Coquitlam, then moving up to junior A with the Adanacs, then being drafted by the Adanacs of the WLA. His career went from 1982 with the Coquitlam Adanacs and ended 1998 with the Burnaby Lakers. He played 101 games, faced

3,135 shots and posted a .771 save percentage.

He had another 23 playoff games, faced another 799 shots and upped it to a .791 save percentage.

He got in the WLA record books for scoring a goal on July 24, 1985 – one of only a

dozen goaltenders to accomplish the feat.

And he played for the Adanacs when they hosted the Brampton Excelsiors in the 1992 Mann Cup. Andre said he was traded from Coquitlam to the Burnaby Lakers, and the lifelong Adanac lost some of his passion for the sport.

“It was a different culture to where I had played, and I lost my love for the game.”

Guys missed practice.

There wasn’t a high level of commitment on those teams. He eventually hung up his pads and started raising a family.

For four or five years, he didn’t even watch lacrosse.

Andre hadn’t played in years, when his good friend and Burrards coach/GM Daren Fridge needed a backup goaltender, and asked Andre to come out of retirement.

It was a kneejerk

“no.”

Then his wife said his sons, two and five, would love to see their dad play.

The game went through some amazing changes. He stood in a bigger net in warmups, and the balls whipped past him.

“And they were all athletes,” he said.

When he played, a chubby guy could be a star. Great hands were more noticeable than a bit of a beer gut during his playing days.

“There was no pro league, it [the WLA] was the highest level you could play. But it was never where guys would train every day.

Now you walk into the room, and the guys all have six packs.”

Then he got his son into the sport. He scored a hat-trick in sons: Dale, 17, Drew, 13 and Dylan, 10. Dale had obvious talent and loved the sport.

Andre sat in the

stands and grumbled.

“My wife said, ‘If you’re going to sit here and critique, then why don’t you coach.’”

That sentiment touched off a 16-year coaching career with the Burrards.

He has eight silver medals from the provincials. His hometown was his nemesis.

“We always lost to Coquitlam.”

But just giving the kids a chance to play for a championship is a great experience, he said.

“The highlights are being able to run into boys who are now 21 and 22, and have a conversation with them, and see how well these boys are doing,” he said. “I always took it that I was a mentor.

“You see how they develop, and the great young men they become.”

In addition to coaching, he served seven years as the president

of Ridge Meadows Minor Lacrosse. Teams were called the Rams when he started, but he led the name change to the same as the WLA team – Burrards.

“The kids feel like they’re a Burrard. The whole Burrards organization [went] to the Mann Cup this year,” he said.

From his playing career, Andre knew the many great players who had moved to Maple Ridge to buy a house and raise a family.

“It was like a reunion.”

He, Fridge, Chris Gill, Curt Malawsky and other great players came to coach, and they created a culture of excellence in Maple Ridge.

He was back to loving the game, and looks back now at everything he has gotten from lacrosse.

“It kept me out of trouble, and made me lifelong friends.”

This was his first season not coaching in a long time, and Andre admits, “I 100 per cent miss it.”

But he is at the top of the Burrards WLA organization, which has now been to two Mann Cups in the past three years.

“Things are going great. Guys love playing here, and we’re getting a bigger and bigger fan base.”

Andre has been successful in business with his company, Alpha Drywall.

But he has a lot more to say about how Drew is playing junior A in New Westminster, and is on the verge of a U.S. scholarship to play field lacrosse in the NCAA. A bunch of schools have been in touch.

“Nobody is going to get rich playing lacrosse, but if you can get a $100,000 scholarship, that’s as good as it gets.

He plans to stick with the Burrards executive for about five years.

“I want to keep at it until we can draft my son.”

EMERALD PIG THEATRICAL SOCIETY AND THE CITY OF PITT MEADOWS PRESENT

From left to right: Jan Hickman, Clive Williams, Shelley Lycan, Deborah Paddon, Ron Wallsmith, Glenn Campbell. (missing from photo Sarah Nelson, Danielle Pope, Haydn Colley)

comservice.bc.ca

Wisdom, guidance, strategic direction, leadership and a good sense of humour are but a few of the skills and attributes of the Community Services Board of Directors. Stewarding an Organization that serves over 12,000 people with a variety of programs that range from, our widely popular Senior’s Party Bus to family counselling and mental health support groups; the Board of Directors serve a critical role in the Organization’s success. With a mission of support and empowerment, Community Services helps individuals and families realize their potential and self-reliance. The Board of Directors inspire organizational excellence by focusing on collaboration, addressing community needs, treating everyone with respect and dignity, valuing staff and volunteers all while fostering an innovative and safe work environment. In response to aging and inadequate infrastructure, the Board of Directors led the Organization’s work towards securing a BC Housing partnership that allows for the construction of a new and expanded facility plus 94-units of affordable rental housing. The board of Directors would like to express their sincere appreciation to staff as well as community members who volunteer their kindness and time, for those who donate, to partnering organizations and most importantly for those who continue to put their trust in us.

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604-785-1405 | www.EmeraldPig.ca

The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News

www.mapleridgenews.com

Wednesday, September 19, 2018 B19

Little Garden Montessori Center

Preschool & Afternoon Preschool Enhanced Daycare 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Carla Reed said volunteering is a great way to make friends.

(Miranda Fatur/THE NEWS)

‘The benefits of volunteering’

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Carla Reed has spent the majority of her life helping others Miranda Fatur miranda.fatur@mapleridgenews.com

B

etween putting in hours with elementary schools at the intergenerational garden, welcoming new residents at the immigration services society, Carla Reed is a senior who doesn’t stop.

Reed lives alone with her cat, Maisy, but spends much of her time in the community.

“Since I live alone, I like getting out of my apartment and being with people. It’s the chance to see people from all over the place and of all ages.”

Reed has lived in Maple Ridge for 13 years, when she took up her first local volunteer position caring for cats at Katie’s Place, followed by volunteering at the Friends in Need food bank and helping with Earth Days and the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society. She also is on her apartment building’s strata council.

“You get involved with so many events and get to see familiar faces,” said Reed.

Currently, she continues to volunteer with the Ridge

Meadows Seniors Society intergenerational garden, which started in Maple Ridge approximately five years ago.

Reed has volunteered there since the beginning, working with schools.

“We meet with a class once a week. They come with their teacher to see what food is all about and learn how things grow. Kids need to know where food comes from, and how to use it.”

Seniors and students work together to grow and harvest produce at the garden. Some plots at the intergenerational garden are also for the food bank.

Another priority for Reed is volunteering with the immigration services society, where she’s met people who have become lifelong friends.

“They have to adapt to a whole different way of life. I end up becoming friends with them even after the mentoring period is over.”

Reed helps immigrants with finding housing, having conversations, and providing advice.

She knows what it’s like to move to a new country, as she came from China when she

was a teenager.

During her post-secondary education, Reed realized she had a knack for social justice and a desire to help people.

For the majority of her life, Reed worked as a social worker in Vancouver.

Volunteering with many organizations has given her a better understanding of different lifestyles and people. Reed has also learned an important life lesson from volunteering.

“Personally, for me, because I depend on friendships made while volunteering, is that you realize often you get close to people, but they’re going to move on. I think I’ve learned to make friends, but also realize to let go. It’s the same thing that happens with your kids,” explained Reed.

She believes volunteering is something everybody can and should do.

“For older people, it’s easy to become lonely and feel as if you’re not needed anymore.

People think they don’t have specific skills, but everyone has the skill of talking to other people. Volunteering will give you a new lease on life.”

Window Drawing

Hide and Seek

Kids Club House Ages 5-12 Before and After School Care Available from: Alexander Robinson Elementary & Golden Ears Elementary

Tubing at Seymour

A bunch of monkeys at the Vancouver Zoo

Call for information or to book a tour tour.

604.466.5728

littlegardenmontessori.com

22299 Dewdney Trunk Rd (on the corner of 223rd & Dewdney) PROUDLY WATCHING CHILDREN GROW SINCE 2004

B20 Wednesday, September 19, 2018

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