Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Edmonds parade hi-jinks

Here and Now column by Dan Hilborn
Published Dec. 13, 2003



What kind of a fool would mug a clown?

A whole bunch of very young ones, according to participants at the first annual Burnaby Lions Club Santa Claus parade that was held on Edmonds Street two weeks ago.

According to high-ranking officials at the Burnaby RCMP detachment, Scooter the Clown was "swarmed" by a large crowd of young boys who ran off with a rather impressive array of balloons as the hapless clown wrapping up at the end of the parade.

Thankfully, the loss was not significant, and Scooter had a few other tricks up his sleeves to help keep the large crowds entertained.

Speaking of clowning around, the Burnaby firefighters apparently pulled a fast one on one of the city's Liberal MLAs during the parade.

Harry Bloy (Burquitlam) was packed into a luxury convertible and told that he had enough gas to make it to the nearest gas station. Unfortunately, the nearest gas station was just one block to the east, when the parade route was three blocks west.

Harry's vehicle pulled onto Edmonds Street, and then came to a grinding halt. With a few hearty guffaws, the local firefighters 'fessed up to their prank and got his vehicle back up and running in time to finish the parade.

And from guffaws to gaffes: We had some incorrect information accompanying the photograph of the parade that was published in our Dec. 3 edition. The photo is in fact of 'Jubilee,' the Happy House mascot, surrounded by supporters from the South Burnaby Neighbourhood House. The mistake was made by "high-ranking officials" at the Burnaby NOW newspaper.

FREE DINNER SOLD OUT

The folks at Burnaby's Eternal Life Church found their annual Christmas dinner was so popular this year that they couldn't feed all the people who wanted to come.

In all, about 75 people were served dinner at the South Burnaby Lions Club hall on Rumble Street last Sunday night. Unfortunately, Rev. Audrey Mabley says at least 20 others had to be turned away when they called for free tickets earlier in the week.

Mabley said the dinner is aimed at helping "the down and out" and this year included gifts for children, including teddy bears, chocolate and warm mittens.

Major sponsors included the IGA and Safeway food stores, with assistance from a handful of private donors, helped to provide the half dozen turkeys that were cooked for the function.

The church advertised the dinner by putting up pamphlets and posters at the local welfare office and food bank

The food "was done like it would be in an elegant restaurant," said Mabley. "It was just a wonderful, beautiful day. It was fantastic."
- file from Christina Myers

BAY EMPLOYEES GIVE

The folks at The Bay Metrotown have gone all out to help others during this holiday season.

According to Conniet Lo, retail manager for MAC Cosmetics at the store, an employee named of 'Bee' is selling chocolates plus handmade hope necklaces with beads to raise money for the local food bank.

So far this year, Bee has raised over $300 for her food bank drive, while other Bay employees have donated over 100 pounds of food.

Another group of Bay employees has collected over 50 children's toys. The toys will be donated to B.C.'s Children's Hospital, while the stuffed animals will go to the Christmas Bureau.

THE BOSS BOARD

You can always tell when a local community group has survived tough times - that's when the volunteers start coming out of the woodwork.

Last week, the Burnaby Seniors Outreach Services Society held its annual general meeting and elected a new board of directors to help promote the emotional health and well-being of local seniors.

This year, the society restarted its popular senior peer counselling program and saw a small expansion of its outreach services.

"As our organization continues to grow, our focus will remain on reflecting the cultural diversity of our community, both on our board and through the peer counsellors who serve our clients," said Shirley Mortimer, newly elected society president.

"Right now, we have members of the Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Scandinavian, and Caribbean communities associated with BOSS and we hope to see our numbers increase," Mortimer said.

The new board of directors includes vice-president Maxine Simpson, secretary Melanie Falcon, treasurer Ken Aiken, and board members Jim Clement, Patricia Cardarelli, Helen John, Gwen Blanchette, Roger Zahar, Khadejha McCall, Wendell Radcliffe, Don Ward and Bernice Macleod.

Recognition certificates and lifetime memberships were presented to Nancy Gobis, Betty Cumby, John Dingle and Margaret Fraser.

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