Friday, April 1, 2011 Dancer Jennifer Suttis is nervous about her second professional musical, Will Rogers Follies, opening next week
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Community event
Teens revving up interest in soapbox derby A group of students from Maple Ridge Secondary are encouraging young racers to sign up for a day of downhill races in June.
by Troy Landreville tlandreville@mrtimes.com
The promotional push for the Ka-Vroom Soapbox Derby in June is underway, and all involved are hoping the excitement gains steam as the event draws near. The derby, for children between the ages of five and 14 in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, is the brainchild of a class from Maple Ridge Secondary School. Last January, students from MRSS’s FACTS (For Academically Creative and Talented Students) class organized a community event. According to the FACTS students, the 2010 event was the first soapbox derby held here in more than 40 years and “was a community success.” This year, MRSS staff and students are organizing a second derby, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, June 18 along a yet-to-be-confirmed street. The Ka-Vroom team’s goal is to make this year’s derby even better than the inaugural year. Grade 9 student Nicholas Renaud is among the FACTS students from Grades 8-12 organizing the derby, and says it’s a way of supporting the community. “It’s getting families in the community to come together to build a cart and then have a nice, fun, day with us,” he said. The MRSS group has been touring local elementaries, recruiting students to sign up and possibly build their own carts. While last year’s derby drew 15 “drivers,” they had to share two carts. “We’re hoping to get a few more carts this year,” said Renaud, who estimates it takes about 60 man hours to build one.
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Troy Landreville/TIMES
Maple Ridge Secondary students are organizing and promoting a soapbox derby on June 18, and currently visiting and recruiting at elementaries.
Development
New Albion plan draws criticism Residents from all over Maple Ridge came out to provide opinions on a new plan for the Albion Flats. by Amy Judd ajudd@mrtimes.com
It took Mayor Ernie Daykin almost two hours to make his way inside the lobby of the Maple Ridge council chambers on Wednesday evening. He was standing outside answering questions and getting feedback from resi-
dents who had come to the open house to look at a draft land use concept plan for development of the Albion Flats. “This is exactly what we need,” he said. “A broad range of comments from the community.” Lots of people filtered through the lobby during the evening, with some finding the plan likeable, while others were not impressed by what they saw. “I’m actually a little confused,” said Kanaka resident Bruce Mastin. “I thought they were planning to do a village-style [development], but this looks like big-box.” “It looks like MeadowTown Centre,” he
added. Mastin doesn’t think this current plan is going to be pedestrian-friendly, and said it seemed like a waste of an opportunity. “It doesn’t look like this would be an interesting place to go,” he added. Long-time resident Don Hincks said he doesn’t dislike the plan, and he thinks something needs to be done to make the area better. “I think if the development is well done, then it could be good for the community… You could argue anything is better than what there is right now.” His wife Linda is eager to see what can
be done with the land, and said she and her husband checked out Morgan Crossing in Surrey, which this development has been compared to. She said Morgan Crossing wasn’t crowded and had a nice layout, but she was concerned that there is no place to walk dogs in the winter in this new plan. “I was thinking we could have some paths or trails here,” she said. Linda also suggested that some coffee shops set up around the sports fields would be a good addition for people watching their kids play.
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