INSIDE: Cyrus Centre faces tough Christmas after drop in donations Pg. 3 T U E S D A Y
December 21, 2010
25 N E W S ,
SPORTS,
WEATHER
&
Matt Keith makes it home for Xmas
E N T E R T A I N M E N T abbotsfordtimes.com
STOCKING
STUFFERS
Bus vs trains Transit study favours buses over rail ROCHELLE BAKER RBaker@abbotsfordtimes.com
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– JEAN KONDA-WITTE/TIMES
Abbotsford Food Bank co-ordinator Dave Murray waves to the convoy of fire trucks and pick ups loaded with food destined for families this Christmas.
Sirens blare for food bank parade Saturday ROCHELLE BAKER RBaker@abbotsfordtimes.com
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grand procession of vehicles, featuring fire trucks with sirens blaring, wound its way through the city Saturday morning to the Abbotsford Food Bank with over a thousand boxes of goods. Deputy Fire Chief Mike Helmer was all smiles. “We had a lot of drivers honking. People knew
something good was happening,” said Helmer. “[The fire department] had a lot of fun, our partners had a lot of fun and people along the road enjoyed the show.” As well as Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service, parade participants also included a number of FraserValley Auto Mall dealerships and a Save-on Foods semitrailer full of non-perishable food items. The successful food drive was a joint effort by all the participants. Auto mall dealers challenged each other to raise $1000 each to purchase groceries from Nov. 18 to Dec. 19 and collected non-perishables at their businesses. Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service auxiliary firefight-
ers donated $1,000 and collected food donations from neighbourhoods throughout the city. Save-on Foods supplied non-perishable goods at cost to the auto mall dealers and provided the semi-trailer. The total cost for the 1,100 cases of food came to $11,000. This is the second year AFRS has collaborated with community partners for its food drive, said Helmer. The partnership has proven so successful that plans for a food drive and parade are already in the works for the coming year. “Next year we’re going to make it even bigger and better,” said Helmer.
Parental advisory issued by APD CAM TUCKER camtuckertimes@gmail.com
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bbotsford Police are reminding parents of young children to be vigilant when it comes to
finding proper childcare providers. The message comes after the APD recently received several complaints from parents in the community about a man in his 40s approaching
both children and parents about a daycare service he was providing, said Const. Ian MacDonald. “We don’t have a criminal offence here, but we feel it is our job to inform the public that this has hap-
pened,” MacDonald said, adding the man has been identified by police. “Additionally, in talking to some parents, not everybody recognizes
much anticipated study about the future of transit in the Fraser Valley has been released, and it favours expanding bus routes over re-establishing the Interurban rail service. “We’ve been waiting for it for a while and are thrilled it’s out,” said Abbotsford Counc. Patricia Ross and chair of the Fraser Valley Regional District. “Now we know what we should focus on and what it will cost. It’s a given we have to improve the system, and this is a guide to help us do that.” The Strategic Review of Transit in the Fraser Valley, which covers the FVRD communities of Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack, Kent, Harrison Hot Springs, and Hope, was initiated by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in November 2008. It set out to determine the best options for transit services within the region and to link up with Metro Vancouver. One of the more interesting facts to come out of the study was that 80 per cent of all trips in the Fraser Valley end in the region itself, said Ross. see TRANSIT, page A6
see WARNING, page A12
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