Tuesday October 29, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 87)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Trail blazers: Semiahmoo Secondary’s cross-country team added a trio of banners to its growing collection last week, after runners edged the competition at Fraser Valley championships at Clearbrook Park. i see page 333
Committee members – joined by mayor, councillor – hear announcement in Colombia
Surrey wins 2016 world fastpitch bid Nick Greenizan Staff Reporter
The 2016 Women’s World Fastpitch Championships have been awarded to Surrey. The announcement was made Friday at the conclusion of the International Softball Federation’s congress in Cartegena, Colombia. Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and Coun. Tom Gill joined members of the Canadian
Open Fastpitch International Championship committee – headed up by Greg Timm – in Colombia, and the committee made the announcement on Twitter and via a flurry of text messages. “We got it – I just got a text from Greg. The (ISF) called it ‘an exemplary bid.’ It’s pretty exciting, and I can tell all the guys down there are excited, too,” Chuck Westgard, a
member of the bid committee who did not make the trip south, told Peace Arch News. “It’s the first-ever world championship for Surrey, so it’s big – it’s big for the city and for softball in B.C.” In Colombia, the bid committee made a handful of presentations to the ISF congress throughout the week, and a final vote among the ISF’s more-than-130 members was held
Friday morning. “Developing our bid was 18 months of work on behalf of the bid committee, and winning today is incredibly exciting,” Timm said in a news release sent Friday afternoon. “This is the premier tournament in our sport, and bringing it home to Surrey and Canada is an incredibly proud moment.” i see page 4
Group draws from past
North Island tragedy
New life sought for sea fest
Plane crash claims resident
Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Efforts are underway to once again breathe new life into White Rock’s longstanding annual waterfront festival. Those rallying support for the next incarnation of the Spirit of the Sea Festival say while discussions are still in the early stages, anyone interested in getting involved is encouraged to step forward. “There is interest in, specifically, trying to pull together a celebration next year, and it’s really in regards to the 65th anniversary,” said Brian Hagerman, a longtime White Rock resident who was involved in the festival about 25 years ago. “The interest from myself and others is to see if there is a way to put together the society in a format that would really sort of celebrate that 65th anniversary, and get the full support of the city and the residents for a summer event.” Hagerman said a group of about 10 people has been meeting since mid-August – shortly after the last festival wrapped up – to explore the options, and they expect to have a new society established in the next three weeks. Creating something sustainable will take time, money and people, he said. i see page 4
Paul Rudan Black Press
Campbell River Seatch & Rescue photo
Members of Campbell River Search and Rescue locate the wreckage of a floatplane on Vancouver Island. PHONE AHEAD we’ll have it ready when you arrive
NOW OPEN!
JACK-O LANTERN PIZZA
AVAILABLE NOW THROUGH OCTOBER 31ST
At participating locations for a limited time. Not valid with other offers.
8
$
LARGE
SOUTH SURREY 15355 24th Ave Peninsula Village between London Drugs & Safeway 604-385-1980 we accept
at participating locations
facebook.com/PapaMurphysTakeNBakeCanada 13335_PAN_JOL8
BORDER GOLD CORP.
A Peninsula man was one of three people killed Thursday in a floatplane crash off the northeastern tip of Vancouver Island. According to the Transportation Safety Board, the Cessna 185 carrying the trio went down as it was preparing to land near a logging camp. It hit a hillside about 20 metres from the shoreline. While several witnesses rushed to the scene – a densely wooded area near Potts Lagoon, off of Port McNeill – there was nothing they could do. At the request of family, Peace Arch News is not yet naming the Peninsula victim. Volunteers from Campbell River Search and Rescue were called to help remove the bodies. Search manager Grant Cromer said the effort posed a number of hazards, including the possibility there was still fuel onboard. “We have attended numerous plane crashes in the last few years and dealing with the terrain and i see page 4