New West Record - July 24, 2010

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N E W

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010

W E S T M I N S T E R

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◗ A CLOSER LOOK

NWSS plans unveiled

BY ALFIE LAU REPORTER alau@royalcityrecord.com

For an event called the New Westminster police 30th annual soccer camp, it’s surprising to hear Const. Bruce Ballingall describe what the week-long activities at Queen’s Park are all about. “It’s not about soccer if you think about it,” he said. “It’s about fun, it’s about making connections with the community and seeing these kids have fun. … If they learn a little about playing soccer, that’s almost like a bonus.” To illustrate his point, Ballingall tells the story of skiing at Big White in the Interior when a young man approached him. “It was a kid who had attended soccer camp, and he just wanted to thank me for treating him so great and making the week so fun,” said Ballingall. That young man had gone through Visit www.royalcityrecord.com for a photo gallery and video a tough childhood, and the soccer camp showed him that there was good in the world, said Ballingall. “He became a ski patroller at Big White, and I think he’s married with kids now,” said the officer known to kids as Chicken Legs and to colleagues as the Legend. “When you hear stories about how this camp has really affected kids, you realize that soccer is only a very small part of what this camp is all about.” Ballingall has participated in every camp since 1986 – he joined the New Westminster force after a stint in Winnipeg – and the only person who has more camps to his credit is deputy police chief Dave Jones. “I’ve been to 24 of these, and I don’t see the day when I won’t be here,” said Jones. “It’s weird looking around and seeing that everybody is relatively new compared to Bruce and myself.” Jones has seen a lot in 30 years, and he loves the look on the faces of the

Massey Theatre will be demolished and replaced with a new 1,000-seat performing arts centre BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com

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EXTRA

Larry Wright/THE RECORD

Stylish moves: Nick Saadatmandi, 10, from Kitchener Elementary School in Burnaby, practises his soccer skills at the 30th annual New Westminster police soccer camp, which ran this past week at Queen’s Park. younger officers when he tells them what the soccer camp was like in the early days. “When we had the camps at Mercer Stadium, they were three weeks long, and it was five-hour days (from 9 a.m. to

3 p.m. with a lunch break),” said Jones. “The first week, everybody was full of enthusiasm, the second, it was still OK, but by the last week, everybody’s feeling like the camp’s never going to end.” ◗Soccer camp Page 3

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A long-awaited plan to build three new schools in New Westminster would see Massey Theatre demolished and a new 1,000-seat performing arts centre built in a new secondary school. After much behind-the-scenes negotiating, the New Westminster board of education and the City of New Westminster have agreed on a framework document aimed at ◗REACTION building a new What are they saying? high school for Read more about the grades 9 to 12 community’s response on the New to this plan with our Westminster in-depth look on pages Secondary 4, 5 and 8. School site, a new middle school at the John Robson site and a new John Robson Elementary School at the former St. Mary’s Hospital site. The proposal would see retention of Mercer Stadium and sports fields, relocation of the skate park to another location in the city and construction of a new Massey performing arts centre. The school district would own the theatre but would lease it to the city. The city’s preference is that the Massey Theatre Society run the facility. “That becomes part of a larger program that the ministry offers – the Neighbourhoods of Learning program,” ◗High school Page 4

CINDY GERING 604.779.1292

New Westminster Specialist

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