Friday
May 6, 2016 (Vol. 41 No. 36)
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
Pop arts: Temporary arts hubs are springing up in both White Rock and Newton this month, as ‘pop-up’ galleries take over previously unused space in both communities.. i see pages 19, 22
Synthetic drug lab suspected in White Rock residential neighbourhood
Anti-gang squad arrests pair at house Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Tracy Holmes photo
An officer with the Mounties’ Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response Team carries paraphernalia from a home on Parker Street Tuesday.
Heavily armed police surrounded a White Rock home Tuesday evening, arresting two people as part of an investigation by the province’s anti-gang unit. Investigators with the Mounties’ Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, with assistance from White Rock RCMP and the Lower Mainland District Emergency Response Team, descended on the home – in the 800-block of Parker Street – around 5:30 p.m. to execute a search warrant. The move was part of an investigation that had been ongoing for “about a couple months,” Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton told Peace Arch News Wednesday. Upon entry of the blue, twostorey residence, a 46-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman were taken into custody. Charges are anticipated, but as of Thursday morning, none had been announced. Houghton noted it’s “entirely possible” that more arrests will be made in connection with the investigation. During a search of the premises Tuesday night, police found substances and paraphernalia “consistent with what is believed to be an illegal synthetic drug lab.” i see page 4
Vintage Affair to be replaced after 23 ‘unbelievable’ years
End of an era for Peninsula foundation fundraiser Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
A tradition that’s raised more than a million dollars for charitable causes on the Semiahmoo Peninsula over the past two decades has come to an end. Curtis Christopherson, president of Peninsula Community Foundation (formerly the White Rock South Surrey Community Foundation), confirmed Wednesday that a decision to retire Vintage Affair was made at the beginning of the year, in favour of a “reinvented” approach to helping the community. “We had 23 years of an unbelievable event,” Christopherson said. “We’ve been able to
raise, obviously, a lot of money. “We felt that now’s the time to go out on a high.” Vintage Affair, held annually in the fall at Hazelmere Golf & Country Club, was the foundation’s signature fundraising event, and routinely attracted hundreds of guests for an evening of wine tasting, gourmet food, door prizes, auctions and entertainment. Foundation vice-president Mike Anderson said that in the past 10 years alone, it has raised around $800,000, including more than $50,000 at the 2015 event. Charities and initiatives that those monies have benefited, he said, include the Centre for Active Living ($500,000), Sources’ Christ-
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mas hamper program ($180,000), Anderson and Christopherson KidSport Surrey ($14,000), Semitold Peace Arch News the aim moving forward is to continue buildahmoo House Society ($8,700), Make-A-Wish Foundation ($6,500, ing those funds, while increasing to send a Peninsula boy who is awareness of the foundation’s ability to connect organizations, educate battling leukemia to Atlantis) and 60-Minute Kids Club ($6,000, for on setting up endowment funds and the like, and “have a little more visfitness programs in local schools). Another $20,000 has been distribibility in the community.” uted through one-off grants and “A lot of people didn’t know that Curtis sponsorships to organizations; and, Christopherson Vintage Affair was an event we two internal endowments have been hosted,” Christopherson said, noting it was also becoming more difficult established – the Love Your Community Fund and the Mental Health Fund, to attract sponsors and attendees. with $49,000 and $25,000 in each of those, “Our identity had been directly related and i see page 4 respectively. Reserve Now for Mother’s Mother’s Day D Brunch!
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