DONUTS ON ICE
The Port Moody Peewee A1 team donated $2,302 from its Krispy Kreme fundraiser this month to the Share food bank. “We are very happy to give back to our community,” said the team managers.
SAR, POITRAS BACK
Coquitlam dog walker Annette Poitras was reunited last week with two pets she was caring for when she got injured in the Coquitlam watershed last November. Poitras also thanked Coquitlam Search and Rescue.
NOD TO THE RINGS
The 754 Phoenix Squadron air cadets in Port Moody were busy on the biathlon circuit in Whistler recently, and stopped by the Olympic rings to honour the winter games now being held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
THEATRE TOUR
Place des Arts’ Coquitlam Youth Theatre Company took its show on the road last month, presenting Gale: The Yellow Bricks of Oz and James and the Giant Peach Jr. at eight Tri-City schools.
GAZE FELLOW
Douglas College, which has campuses in Coquitlam and New Westminster, named Bard on the Beach founder Christopher Gaze an honorary fellow on Valentine’s Day. Gaze was awarded the 2018 distinction — the highest for a college to bestow — on Wednesday to pay tribute to his contributions in the performing arts, his youth outreach and his arts education advocacy. Started in 1990, Bard on the Beach is now the largest Shakespeare festival in western Canada, delivering 200 performances a year to some 100,000 guests. Its Young Shakespeareans acting program trains 250 youth each summer and its Bard in the Classroom workshops offer learning experiences in the art of playing Shakespeare. As well, Gaze has helped Douglas College’s theatre program by running workshops. “Christopher has been a vocal advocate of actor and technician training and of the experiential nature of the work we do at Douglas College,” said Allan Lysell, a retired college theatre co-ordinator who nominated Gaze.
DANCERS DOC
A Coquitlam director and producer scored multiple prizes last month with her first feature documentary. Nancy J. Lilley, who filmed 4 Dancers’ Dreams over a two-year period in Port Moody and other sites, scooped awards of merit and recognition in the categories of documentary feature, editing (Mauri Bernstein), narration/voice-over talent, direction, ensemble cast and cinematography (Greg Bartels) at the Impact DOCs Awards. The 70-minute flick follows dance students — including Port Coquitlam’s Hailey Rekunyk, and Tiana Pazdirek and Lauren Phillips of Port Moody — as they train and compete. 4 Dancers’ Dreams will also be shown in Los Angeles in April at the Artemis Women In Action Film Festival. Visit 4dancersdreams.com.
NATIONAL AWARD
The Blakeburn Lagoons Park project — which has yet to officially open — won the city of Port Coquitlam a Sustainable Communities 2018 award last month from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
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