Fire chief stays silent after a challenge from the mayor

Here & Now column by Dan Hilborn
Published Sept. 27, 2003

What's with Burnaby Fire Chief John Stewart and his refusal to answer the call?

It's been almost a week since Mayor Derek Corrigan challenged his top firefighter to a race in a set of supercharged 'rocket racers,' and the usually fearless fire chief has still not officially responded.

The challenge is meant to kick off Fire Prevention Week which takes place at Lougheed Town Centre mall on Sunday, Oct. 5, and the rocket racer challenge promises to be one of the major media events of the year in the city.

Besides the race, which is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m., the launch of Fire Prevention Week will also feature two 'science of fire' shows presented by Science World.

Fire Prevention Week at the shopping complex will also see the distribution of the Burnaby Fire Department's newest fire safety tool - the Fire and Safety Challenge CD, that was created and produced by the local fire department.

Chevron Canada has come on board by purchasing 500 of the entertaining and informative CDs so that 100 can be distributed free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis on each day of Fire Prevention Week.

For a complete list of other activities over the week, look for the Fire Prevention Week event schedule on page 22 of today's paper.

SHORELINE CLEANED

Congrats to the good students at Deer Lake school on Gilpin Avenue, where a class of about 70 students in Grades 4 and 5 took part in the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up last week.

For the third year in a row, students went down to the Barnet Marine Park and picked up all the cigarette butts, old potato chip bags and other assorted garbage they could find.

It's not easy work, said Lynn Ripley, chaplain for the private school operated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Last year, the classes carried 19 bags of the rubbish off the beach, and students are given instructions to make sure they leave behind any glass or other sharp objects for an adult to pick up.

"We do this to show God's love in a practical way, so the kids learn to be good neighbours," Ripley said.

Besides the clean-up campaign, students at the school have also been known to bring home-baked cookies to the nurses at Burnaby Hospital and staff at the nearby RCMP detachment, local fire halls and even city hall.

"We even give away balloons in parks," said Ripley, who admits that many people often don't know what to say when they are presented with something nice "with no strings attached."

BUBLE GOES PLATINUM

Local crooner Michael Buble continues to burn up the charts with his self-titled CD, released by Warner Brothers Music earlier this year.

The disc has gone platinum in Canada and is starting to climb the charts around the world. After a successful tour of New Zealand, Buble's album passed the gold mark and reached #1 on the Kiwi sales charts. The record also went gold in Australia, where the disc sits at the #2 spot on the charts.

Buble also played before the heads of state of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur before being greeted by 1,000 adoring fans at an autograph- signing session in the Philippines.

Last week, Buble was doing the talk show circuit in the United States, before heading off on a fall tour of the United Kingdom and South Africa.

It certainly appears that the entire world is waking up and recognizing this tremendous talent who had his start on his grandfather's knee, right here in Burnaby!

CHOCOLATE TO WATER

Four year-old Johnathan Iaci and 25 of his closest friends had a free tour of the Vancouver Aquarium and Marine Science Centre last weekend after he won the grand prize in a contest sponsored by Nestle Canada and the YTV television station.

Johnathan won a behind-the-scenes look at the marine laboratories, front row seats for the dolphin show, and was the guest of honour for a chocolate party.

THE TRUE MONARCHS

Thanks are overdue to the Metro Monarch Lions Club for their recent donation to ensure that a 64-year-old mentally ill Burnaby resident did not wind up homeless this month.

A mention in our Sept. 13 newspaper contained an incorrect name for the generous service club.

Also helping on the case out were the Progressive Housing Society and other community based non-profit societies.

TAI CHI AND YOGA CLASSES

Have you ever been twisted into shape?

That could well be your fate this week as Brentwood Town Centre hosts the first installment of its Bend It For Brentwood campaign to raise cash for the Burnaby Hospital Foundation.

Every Monday and Tuesday for five consecutive weeks, the shopping complex will host Tai Chi classes in the morning, and yoga classes at night in an effort to buy two multi-position treatment chairs of the hospital.

The Tai Chi classes will begin at 9 a.m. and will be taught by local master Ken Lagerstrom, while the Hatha Yoga classes are at 6:30 p.m. and will be led by Louise Stewart.

For details, visit the Web site www.simplybrentwood.com