SUPERSTARS
Castle Park elementary teacher Lana Henley and her Grade 3 students collected more than $4,800 to help make a wish come true for sick kids. The Port Coquitlam school raised the second highest amount this year for the Kids Change Star Bank Program, a student fundraising initiative under Make-A-Wish BC. Every year, Make-A-Wish BC grants about 100 wishes to terminally ill children, aged three to 17. The Castle Park cash will help grant 14-year-old Ashleigh's dream of flying to Hawaii next month.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
An annual food drive challenge, headed up by city councillors in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, resulted in more than 13,000 pounds for the Share food bank. The campaign happened from June 1 to 20.
CLOSE SHAVE
Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore last week shaved Minnekhada middle principal Darren MacMillan's head after the students raised more than $2,400 for the Terry Fox Foundation. A number of staff and students at the PoCo school have been affected by the disease this past year and, at an assembly attended by Fox's brother, Fred, the student body showed support for those individuals.
YEE-HA!
Students at Coquitlam's Ranch Park elementary had fun at the school's Home on the Ranch festivities earlier this month. Kids rode ponies, sung campfire songs, line danced, took part in a lasso challenge and other activities at the June 8 event, said principal Don Hutchinson.
WELL-Y GOOD
Hyde Creek Watershed Society members Nigel Butterfield and Shane Peachman thanked Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore after the city donated $7,000 to help the hatchery with a new well. The old well didn't provide enough reliable water to operate the salmon hatchery. The city money brings the centre's fundraising efforts to nearly three-quarters complete, said spokesperson Jean Peachman.
KICK UP
Several Tri-City dancers with the Penk O'Donnell School of Irish Dance will be in the Windy City next week to compete in the North American Irish Dancing Championships. Off to Chicago are Megan Butzelaar, Meikaela Tumber, Eilidh Morrice Ashdown and Jaclyn Rainbow, Megan Findlay, Hannah Pruner, Olivia Butzelaar, Marika Butzelaar and Kassidy Phelan.
BEAN COUNTER
A Riverside secondary student in Port Coquitlam will have part of her post-secondary tuition paid for by the Certified General Accountants Association of BC, the organization announced this week. Jade Wong was one of 10 graduating students across the province to collect a $750 scholarship from the group.
LIFESAVERS
Four Tri-City residents with St. John Ambulance were recognized for their work by BC Lt.-Gov. Steven Point this month. Mary Loblaw, Travis Philips and Curtis Woodworth received the St. John lifesaving award for performing CPR at a public event while Marion MacKenzie was presented with a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for her 55 years and 29,000 recorded volunteer hours with the organization.
SCOTTISH WINS
A total of 25 dancers with a Coquitlam company kicked up awards at last Saturday's Highland Games and Scottish Festival, held at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam. Fiona Lee of the Heather Jolley Highland Dancers was named the Dancer of the Day and the winner of the Adult BC Championship. She will represent the province at the Canadian Championships in Edmonton next month. Accolades also went to Emma Forsberg, Kalicia Bateman, Caite Miller, Malcolm Cameron, Catie Cameron, Kaitlyn Lye, Eli Panagiotou, Geo Panagiotou, Isobel Raynes, Ava Taylor, Kate Askew, Cameron Bonar, Kate Bonar, Misha Masek, Julia Rutherford, Megan Forsberg, Kalicia Bateman, Elise Svangtun, Erin Miller, Tasha Ghent, Laura Stacey, Alex Lye, Heather Fox and Jenna Fox.
GOLDEN APPLE
A clinical nurse specialist working on the End of Life program in the Tri-Cities was handed a "golden apple" this month for her care. Fraser Health's Barbara McLeod was named a healthcare hero at the sixth annual Excellence in BC Health Care Awards, presented by the Health Employers' Association of BC.
GOOD TUNES
SkyTrain commuters will be hearing a Coquitlam singer and guitarist busk at rapid transit stations over the next year. Dustin Hauschild was one of 11 people this month to win a licence under TransLink's musicians program, which runs until June 30, 2013. The performers will be put on a rotation around six locations: Waterfront Station (Howe Street entrance, near Canada Place); SkyWalk (the overhead walkway to the south SeaBus terminal); Vancouver City Centre Station; Burrard Station; Granville Station and Commercial-Broadway Station.
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