THREE MORE ZEROS
Coquitlam's Joanna Szpakowski is now $1 million richer after winning a Maxmillion prize last month.
The hockey mom checked her LottoMax ticket with a machine and when she saw she won $1,000, Szpakowski texted her husband who then joked back, "Are you sure there aren't more zeros in that amount? Maybe you made a mistake."
Indeed, when Szpakowski handed the ticket to the retailer to validate it, she was told it was worth $1 million.Szpakowski plans to pay off her mortgage and save the rest, according to a BCLC release.
FILL 'EM UP
Coquitlam is one of four Metro Vancouver school districts to be included in the expanded Chevron's Fuel Your School program this year.
The company announced this week that Coquitlam, Burnaby, North Vancouver and West Vancouver will join Surrey to receive up to $565,000 combined for science, technology, engineering and math programs.
Last year, 105 Surrey schools got more than $200,000 from Chevron and My Class Needs, a Canadian charity.
The money is raised in November, when Chevron donates $1 per 30 litres or more from customer sales at the gasoline pump.
CREDIT UNION CASH
Three Tri-City high school graduates are among 35 B.C. students who have won accolades from Coast Capital Savings credit union for their post-secondary studies.
And Coquitlam's Courtney Bains, who has a hearing challenge, earned the Standing Tall Award worth $5,000 along with another local, unidentified student. Bains plans to study business at Douglas College this fall, with the aim to work in public relations.
Coquitlam resident Zaki Jiwa, who took the $2,000 Citizenship Award, plans to study marketing management at BCIT.
GREEN THUMBS
A bit of beauty has been created next to the Port Moody Station Museum.
This summer a group of volunteers - including Linda Moncur, Peter Hiebert and Port Moody Station Museum curator Jim Millar - created a meditation garden. The garden is on the west end of the property, next to a WW-1 era trench that is being dug as part of an educational exhibit for students about Canada's involvement in the First World War.
ARTS GRANTS
BC Arts Council grants totalling nearly $30,000 were handed out last month to five talented Tri-City residents.
Gleneagle secondary graduate Jennifer Gillis, and Kitsum Cheng, Nicole Ward, Paige M Smith and Cierra Munro each received $5,900 from the provincial organization. They are among 257 artists and art groups who won the funding.
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