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Destination Steveston
Sweet victory
Entrepreneurs explain what has attracted them to set up shop in the small, historic village and why they say, they are there to stay.
RC Palmer’s Griffins edged out three Fraser Valley opponents on their way to the top. Their resilience came through to snatch the top B.C. prize.
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POLITICS
Trustee takes over Cummins Conservative seat Delta school board chair gets nod from riding association BY SANDOR GYARMATI
sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
CHUNG CHOW/RICHMOND NEWS
Dale Saip makes his acceptance speech with his family by his side. The Delta school board chair was chosen as the Conservative Party’s federal candidate in Delta-Richmond East. See related story, ‘Jampolsky strikes out’ page 7. More photos on line at www.richmond-news.com
Dale Saip has been chosen as the Conservative Party’s federal election candidate in Delta-Richmond East. The 51-year-old Delta school board chair beat four other candidates for the coveted nomination in a vote by riding association members Monday night at the Sundance Inn in East Ladner. Saip came out on top after four rounds of preferential voting, edging Kerry-Lynne Findlay 78 to 66. “For the people who came out and supported me, thank you very much. For the people who didn’t make me their second, third or even fourth choice, you know what, that’s great because that’s what this is all about,” said an emotional Saip, his family by his side, during his acceptance speech. “It’s about expressing our views and our
differences. No one will outwork me. It’s not about a job, it’s not about politics, it’s about public service,” he told a crowd that had thinned out considerably by 10 p.m. when the result was made public. John Cummins, the MP here since 1993, as well as two other longtime B.C. Conservative MPs, recently announced they won’t be running in the next federal election. Just a couple of days later, nomination meetings to find their replacements were announced. The rapid process is highly unusual because most political nominations give candidates more time to file and sign up new members before an actual vote. Only riding association members as of Feb. 25 were eligible to cast a ballot, which meant the usual controversies associated with mass membership sign-ups were avoided. It left only a relatively small number of party stalwarts to decide the next candidate. see Saip page 4
SPORTS
Palmer’s Griffins win coveted provincial championship Colourful basketball coach Paul Eberhardt waited 32 years for this dream to come true mbooth@richmond-news.com
It was a 32-year-old dream that at last became reality on Saturday night for Paul Eberhardt. The longtime high school boys basketball coach guided the RC Palmer Griffins to their first-ever provincial “AAA” title with a 71-63 victory over Vancouver College at the Langley Events Centre. It was also Eberhardt’s first time in the winner’s circle during a three decade coaching career that also included stops at $
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Magee and McNair. Many of his former players were among the 4,000 in attendance and rushed to court side to offer their congratulations. “It’s so really cool to see so many of them here,” said Eberhardt. “This feels unbelievable and it’s a victory for all of them. “I have pictured this moment since 1979, when I was a Grade 9 student and watched Magee play. I always imagined what would happen if it ever happened. I pictured myself being like (former
North Carolina State coach) Jim Valvano, running everywhere trying to find someone to hug. In the end, the emotion of it overcame me and I was more like Dick Vermiel. I started to cry.” The Griffins have been notorious for slow starts all season and it happened again, this time allowing the Irish to race out to a 19-2 first quarter lead. To become champions they would have to overcome the largest championship game deficit in the tournament’s 66year history. see Griffins page 3
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CHUNG CHOW/ RICHMOND NEWS
For the record... Bill Cheng records the historic moment as teammates celebrate winning the B.C. high school basketball championships Saturday. They beat Vancouver College’s Fighting Irish 71-63. For photos of the game and video, go to www.richmondnews.com.
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BY MARK BOOTH