GOLD MEDALS
Port Moody-Coquitlam MLA Joe Trasolini joined PoMo Mayor Mike Clay and RBC rep Janet Phillips this month to hand out nearly 500 gold medals to young readers who took part in this summer's 50 days of reading at the Port Moody library. RBC supplied the accolades.
COLLEGE CASH
Ten Tri-City teens who graduated from high school in June recently won Robert Simms Memorial Scholarships from the Coquitlam Optimist Club. The recipients are: Arturo Bustillos and Ho Yi Kwan (Pinetree secondary); Erina Cho, Tiffanni Hernandez, Maana Javadi and Zoya Jiwa (Dr. Charles Best secondary); Nicole Leung (Terry Fox secondary); Juhae Oh (Centennial secondary); and Sachin Phadkar and Romina Qurban (Port Moody secondary). The $500 awards for post-secondary tuition are given out for community service and grades. Simms was a School District 43 teacher and a charter club member.
NEW ROOM
The Coquitlam Public Library checked in $36,000 from a philanthropic organization this month. The library will use the cash from the Coquitlam Foundation for a multipurpose room in the new City Centre branch, which is due to open on Pinetree Way this fall, about a block from its current location at city hall. The room will be named in honour of the group. About $25,000 of the donation will go towards outfitting the room with equipment, including an LCD projector, an interactive whiteboard and a portable speaker system; the remaining funds will help offset construction costs. Meanwhile, the foundation will mark its 20th year at a gala at the Red Robinson Show Theatre on Nov. 15. For more information on the event or to donate, visit www.coquitlamfoundation.com.
AMEN!
The new minister for the Ioco United Heritage Church was introduced to parishioners on Sunday. Rev. Dr. Warren McKinnon was welcomed to the church by the Rev. Brian Burke, minister at Trinity United in Port Coquitlam and acting chair of the Westminster Presbytery of the United Church of Canada. The Rev. Leanne Shiels of Golden Ears United in Maple Ridge preached the sermon. The service included a scripted reading of the parable of the Prodigal Son presented by Ioco members. It was accompanied by two musical selections composed by McKinnon: Goin' To Have A Party Tonight and The Elder Brother Blues.
SHAD 7
Seven Tri-City students are back in school after a transformational summer with the Shad Valley program. Lauren Wilson, Steven Bae, and Liam St. Louis (Gleneagle secondary); Gen Tsutsumi (Port Moody secondary); Alok Valdi (Riverside secondary); and Oliver Zhang and Philip Zhang (Dr. Charles Best secondary) spent a month living in residence at host universities, working in teams on projects that combined innovation, entrepreneurship, science and technology. "Shad was indescribable," said Bae, who attended University of New Brunswick. "The labs and lectures opened my eyes to new career fields, and in just a month Shad gave me lifelong connections with some of the most amazing people that I have met in my life."
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