Thursday October 3, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 80) 0)
V O I C E
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W H I T E
R O C K
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S O U T H
S U R R E Y
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Moon glow: Though this weekend’s new moon n won’t be lighting White Rock’s waterfront, up to 800 lanterns will ill decorate the promenade and the pier as part of the city’s first Moon Festival. tival. i see page ge A26
Tourism WR surprised
Art Bates honoured at 92
BIA plans baffle mayor
The man who saved the pier Alex Browne
I
Staff Reporter
t takes a lot to make Art Bates mad. But the affable senior remembers he saw red the day he heard White Rock’s pier was on the verge of being dismantled. That was in 1976, when the federal Department of Transportation (now the Ministry of Transportation) decided it was no longer going to be responsible for the repair and maintenance of ‘unused’ piers. “I became incensed,” he recalls today. The influential Bates quickly spearheaded a successful community campaign to save the city icon – and it was that civic-minded action that was remembered in a recent surprise, a special certificate of honour “for saving the pier” signed and personally delivered by both Mayor Wayne Baldwin and former mayor (and current SurreyWhite Rock MLA) Gordon Hogg. Bates, now a resident of South Surrey’s Westminster House – and, at 92, not as mobile as he once was – said that when he was wheeled down to the Fireside Room of the complex on Sept. 21, he was expecting to visit with family members and a new great-grandchild, Maggie. They were there, all right, but so were Hogg and Baldwin (who still remembers the multiple-careered Bates as the charismatic TV weatherman on 1960s broadcasts originating from CFTK in Terrace that played across the Interior and northern B.C.). “I got the shock of my life seeing them there,” Bates said. “I never heard a peep about what was going on – they completely fooled me.” In the citation, Baldwin and Hogg said the pier is now a designated heritage site and a focus of tourism and recreation that has hosted “millions of people.” “…Their joy is due in large part to your civic-minded approach, and their joy is part of your legacy to this community.” i see page A4
Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
The White Rock Business Improvement Association voted this week to cut funding to Tourism White Rock, a move the city’s mayor said makes no sense. The resolution – which came as “a total surprise” to tourism officials – was made Monday at the BIA’s annual general meeting. The resolution is to save the BIA $20,000 per year. Further cuts include an $8,000 contract for a tourism website, $20,000 for a tourism billboard near the border and about $25,000 for graffiti cleanup. Mayor Wayne Baldwin said Wednesday he cannot understand the logic of the Tourism White Rock cuts, given that the agency exists solely for the benefit of businesses. While he was comforted by news that the BIA will continue to fund about $90,000 worth of specific Tourism White Rock projects, he remains concerned that withdrawal of the $20,000 base funding could have adverse effects. “We still have the issue of the basic amount,” Baldwin told Peace Arch News. “I thought that was kind of a given.” Baldwin – noting Tourism White Rock was formed specifically to help the BIA – described the two organizations as “inextricably linked.” “It doesn’t really benefit anyone else,” he said. BIA president Jack Sixsmith said the decision was simply about being fiscally responsible. It – along with the other cuts – will free up about $95,000 of the annual BIA budget for other initiatives and opportunities, he said. i see page A5
Contributed photo (above), Alex Browne photo (right)
Erstwhile yachtsman Art Bates, seen in his sailing days (above), has been honoured by Mayor Wayne Baldwin and MLA Gordon Hogg for his successful campaign to save the White Rock pier.
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