Retired but still very, very busy

Here and Now column by Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published May 3, 2003

The good folks at the Community-Centred College for the Retired held their 30th annual general meeting in their new home at the Alan Emmott Centre last month, and they got right down to business.
Over the sound of distant train whistles, the group elected Ray Mckay as its new president, Sid Cumbers as vice-president, Pat Agabob as secretary and Peggy McClean as treasurer.
The new board members are Agabob, Rosemary Cooke, Rosemary Grant, Mike Raynor, Joyce Slaney and Rhoda Stein. They join a long list of 18 volunteers who help keep this valuable service running.
Hearty thanks were offered to retiring directors Andy Chiang and Jesse Childe, who both cited too many commitments to be able to devote as much time as they'd like to the college.
The CCCR is a unique Burnaby service which offers low-cost (and sometimes free!) programs to senior citizens in Burnaby. The group is sponsoring a new writing class featuring local author Basil Jackson as teacher.
As usual, the group continues to offer low-cost computer courses for the elderly, with additional classes in Windows, advanced word processing and advanced graphics starting up later this spring.
Early this summer, the college will also say goodbye to its one and only employee, Shila Ram, who has answered phones and registered students at the college for the past 24 years.
For more information on volunteering with the college, taking classes, or saying goodbye to Shila, call the Community-Centred College for the Retired at 604-517-8732.

Geography whiz kid

Burnaby North Grade 8 student Daniel Saricusa is turning heads after he finished in fourth place among 20,000 students who took part in the B.C. playoffs for the Great Canadian Geography Challenge.
Saricusa, who was the youngest finalist to emerge from B.C., will now participate in the national championships, which will be done over the Internet on May 24.
The Great Canadian Geography Challenge pits students in Grades 4 to 9 against each other, asking multiple choice questions such as where the largest ports in the world are and what currencies are used in which countries.
Other Burnaby students who qualified for the B.C. finals were Mitchell Bowman of Burnaby Mountain secondary and L.J. Brassington, a city resident who attends Notre Dame.
Across Canada, more than 150,000 students from 967 schools participated in the first phase of the challenge, which is organized by the Canadian Council for Geographic Education with help from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
Check out the contest web site at www.geochallenge.ca and answer the sample questions sheet for a chance to win a year's subscription to the beautiful Canadian Geographic magazine.

THE TOP DEBATERS

Kudos to Ryan Androsoff, a Grade 12 student at Burnaby Mountain secondary, who will help represent our province at the National Debate Seminar in St, John's, Nfld., later this month.
Androsoff, placed sixth out of a field of 60 debaters during the Law Foundation Cup, the B.C. debating tournament, held in early March.
Accolades also go to Boris Khramtsov, a Grade 12 student at Moscrop, who just barely missed making it to the national seminar when he finished in seventh place at the provincial tournament.

A BUSY SPRING BREAK

Kimberly Vis, a Burnaby resident currently attending Dordt College in Sioux Centre, Utah, recently spent her spring break serving on a mission team with the college's Putting Love In Action team in Cary, Miss.
About a dozen students spent their week helping to put siding up on a trailer home, painting the inside of a house, helping out at a thrift store at the Cary Christian Centre and playing with kids.

LIBERAL FUNDRAISERS

Members of the Burnaby-Douglas Liberal riding association had some high-powered help from Ottawa when they held a fundraising dinner at the Hart House restaurant last week.
Maurizio Bevilacqua, Secretary of State for Financial Institutions, was the guest of honour for the Thursday afternoon reception, held at the beautiful Hart House restaurant.
The host of the event was Tony Lee, president of the local riding association, and an estimated 50 party members were on hand for the event.
The next really big event for local Liberals will be May 31 when Paul Martin, John Manley and Shiela Copps arrive in Vancouver to particpate in something billed as a leadership forum.