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WEDNESDAY
19
August 4, 2010
The Coquitlam Adanacs and New West Salmonbellies are deadlocked in the junior A lacrosse final.
Your source for local news, sports, weather and entertainment. www.thenownews.com
Trevor Wingrove
Key city staffer dies John Kurucz
jkurucz@thenownews.com Longtime Coquitlam city staffer and renowned lacrosse player Trevor Wingrove lost his battle with cancer last Thursday, dying at the age of 42. Wingrove was the city’s general manager of corporate services, a position that saw him head up a number of different city departments — bylaws, financial and legal — as well as working alongside the RCMP and Coquitlam Fire and Rescue. “It’s quite devastating for us all here at City Hall,” Mayor Richard Stewart said Tuesday. “He had been a longtime member of this team and pretty much a lifelong resident of Coquitlam.” Wingrove was first hired by the city in December 1992, working his way up to the position of city clerk in 2000, before being named to his most recent post in December 2002. “He was a wonderful boss, a great friend. He always supported me and supported anyone who worked with him and for him. He was a great mentor, and just a great person to work with, and learn from,” said Sonia Santarossa, CONT. ON PAGE 5, see ‘IT’S.’
Paul vanPeenen/NOW
Anmore’s Aleks Polanski has been collecting bikes, toys, books and sporting equipment for kids in Uganda, after seeing a photo in a newspaper of a child on a homemade wooden contraption that looked like a bicycle.
Anmore boy helps kids in Uganda Jennifer McFee jmcfee@thenownews.com
A nine-year-old Anmore boy recently set the wheels in motion to ship used bikes to Africa, and the momentum continues to build for his pedalpowered project. It all started at the breakfast table last September when a photo in the Vancouver Sun caught the attention of Aleks Polanski. The black-and-white image showed a Congolese boy on a makeshift scooter built out of wooden planks and wooden wheels. This homemade two-wheeler was a shocking sight compared to the shiny new bikes enjoyed by Aleks and his eight-year-old brother, Mitchel. “You see how lucky you boys are?” asked their dad. When Aleks started thinking about how fortunate his family is, he wanted to find a way to help. “So I said because we just got some new bikes, maybe we could donate our old bikes to Africa,” he
said. “I guess I had lots of bikes I didn’t need.” Aleks cut out the picture and showed it to his Grade 3 teacher, who geared up students and staff at Anmore Elementary to help with the project. Meanwhile, his dad connected with the local Rotary World Help Network, which ships educational, humanitarian and medical items around the world to countries in need. Over the months that followed, friends and neighbours began to drop off their used bikes, ranging from tricycles to full-size cycles. With help from their dad, Aleks and Mitchel fixed flat tires and broken pedals, repairing the donations to be as good as new. The project also expanded to include used books, toys and sporting equipment. By the end of the school year, Aleks had collected 17 bikes and more than 1,000 books, plus piles of toys, sports gear and soccer uniforms. The Rotary World Help Network sent a truck to collect the contributions, which were added to a shipment destined for Uganda. The charitable organization covered the costs to send the supplies via
cargo float to Africa. Since then, donations have continued to come in. Aleks now has five more bikes and two scooters to send, along with books, bike helmets and other sports supplies. “I’ll probably continue with the project for a while,” said Aleks, adding that recycling the cycles also has a positive environmental effect. “Who wants to throw some kind of bikes and books in the garbage? It makes a bigger landfill.” His mom said the project opened her family’s eyes to the effects of living in a throw-away society. “This is an area where we tend to keep up with the Joneses a little bit and get rid of stuff quickly. … There’s been a good response. People are generous and thoughtful that way,” said mom Michelle Goodwin. “There’s always need for other countries. It only takes a visit to see how fortunate we are. You really find out in a hurry how lucky we are.” For more information or to make a donation, email bikes4africa@hotmail.com.
Get back in the game. Say goodbye to pain. After a few hours of tennis I would develop a limp and the knee pain was interfering with my game & sleep. I had an MRI and X-Rays and was diagnosed with serious arthritis in both knees. The other Doctors recommended physio therapy and expensive remedies that were injected into both knees. There was only minor improvement noticed. After seeing an ad in our local paper I decided to give Laser Light Therapy a chance. I’ve had about six half hour treatments for each knee and I can’t believe the results. Now after tennis I feel almost no knee pain or stiffness and can sleep without pain. Laser Light Therapy
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There is no other system in the world that is comparable or gets such outstanding results.
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778.285.2737
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one block east of Coquitlam Centre