LangleyAdvance
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Thursday, October 18, 2012
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Charity
On the first day of Christmas (Bureau)…
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The office ensures children don’t go without a Christmas.
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The Langley Christmas Bureau arrives about the same time as that chill in the air. On Tuesday the volunteers started setting up the annual Christmas charity in donated space in the former Coast Capital building on Fraser Highway. Come Nov. 1 in Langley and Nov. 7 in Aldergrove, the bureau will be open for another season, accepting donations of toys, gifts and money, and accepting applications from families who will struggle to provide a Christmas for their children. The Christmas Bureau remains an entirely volunteer-run endeavour. There are about 75 volunteers who have made this into a well-oiled machine. ily affair. Husband Don has for Castron said the volunteers years been a volunteer, following return year after year. “There are so many people that Colleen into the organization. He does pickups at various are so dedicated,” she said. schools, businesses and communFor Colleen Kelly, it’s all about ity sites as well as working the “the joy that you Christmas parade. feel when you’re Though he helping other doesn’t work people.” as directly with Part of the crew 793 families applied (up 40 recipients, he that looks after families from 2010) still loves being a gift certificates, 360 City families part of Christmas she said the com433 Township families Bureau. munity continues 227 were new clients in 2011 Each year brings to support the unique donors. bureau. A kindergarten class from “I’m just always encouraged Belmont Elementary visited the to have the community always office, touching the hearts of come forward, even in the tough many. times,” she said. “It was kids wanting to give to The Kellys make it a fam-
Christmas 2011
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Dylan Leifso often spends time with her grandmother when she volunteers at the Langley Christmas Bureau. Dylan, about to turn four, helped decorate a tree Tuesday. (Inset) Colleen and Don Kelly are longtime volunteers with the Langley Christmas Bureau and helped set up the office on Oct. 16. Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance
other kids,” Colleen commented. Last year a movie that was filming here brought a large load of high-end toys for the Christmas Bureau, once filming was wrapped up. The donations included pianos, doll houses and more, Castron explained. This year there will be Chairs for Charity on Oct. 25 at the Passionate Home store, a seniors home in Walnut Grove hosting a tea and craft sale next month, a tea hosted by the mayors’ wives and other fundraisers. Watch for details as the events draw near. The bureau gauges need after liaising with local social agencies and organizations.
“Our sponsorship was down last year. We would like to see more families being sponsored,” Caston said. Though the office doesn’t open for a few days, people can start donating online or find out more about helping. Her advice to anyone interested in finding out more about how the Christmas Bureau works is to check out www.langleychristmasbureau.com. “Have a look on our website, all information on sponsoring is there,” she said.
Justice system
SELLING LANGLEY ONE YARD AT A TIME
Septuagenarian gets punchy with police Stolen trucks led police to a physical confrontation with a 73-year-old, say Langley RCMP.
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A 73-year-old man punched a Langley RCMP officer in the face, faked a carjacking, and was involved in several car thefts, Mounties say. An investigation going back almost two years has led to two arrests and the seizure of a stolen trailer, trucks, and construction equipment, said Cpl. Holly Marks of the Langley RCMP.
In early 2011, a truck was reported stolen from a local property. The truck’s owner had left it with a friend for repairs, and the mechanic later said it had been stolen. Then in March 2012, an elderly man took a new Dodge pickup for a test drive. A short time later he called the police to report he had been carjacked and the truck was stolen. Later in the same month, the RCMP received a tip about a brand new Dodge truck parked in the trees on the same property associated with the mechanic. It was gone when an officer came by to check out the tip. Wrapping up the events of March, a Caterpillar loader and Komatsu bulldozer were stolen
from a local construction site. The Street Enforcement Unit investigated, and eventually got a search warrant for the property occupied by the 73-year-old and the 30-year-old mechanic, in the 6600 block of 256th Street, said Marks. On July 26 they arrived at the property. When police arrived and announced they were there to execute a search warrant, the older man allegedly punched an officer in the face, Marks said. The officer was not seriously hurt. The loader and bulldozer were both located on the suspects’ property, keys for the carjacked Dodge truck were found, and a large ICBC utility trailer, previ-
ously reported stolen, also turned up. The Dodge was found at the home of one of the older man’s relatives. The two men are both charged with theft of a motor vehicle and two counts of possession of stolen property. Roeloff Dendryver, 73, is also charged with public mischief, assaulting a peace officer, and possession of stolen property, and Derek Hall, 30, is charged with theft of a motor vehicle, two counts of possession of stolen property, and public mischief. The two men are not related, Marks said. The duo are scheduled to appear in Surrey Provincial Court on Oct. 29.