Remembrance Day ceremony at city hall

A parade and ceremony marking Remembrance Day will be held Tuesday, Nov. 11 at Richmond City Hall.

The parade will begin at 10:25 a.m., with the official ceremonies starting at 10:40 a.m. at the Cenotaph, at the east side of city hall, near the corner of No. 3 Road and Granville Avenue.

The parade will include three marching bands, a colour party, Royal Canadian Legion, Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans' Association members, as well as members of other service organizations.

Following the ceremony, the marching units will proceed from the Cenotaph west on Granville Avenue past a reviewing stand near the Richmond School Board offices, continuing west to access the Minoru Park parking lot.

Portions of No. 3 Road near city hall will be closed for about two hours to facilitate the event.

City maps out disaster routes

Richmond council has approved disaster response routes to ensure free movement of emergency services in the case of a crisis.

When activated, these routes will be used by emergency responders to quickly move people to safety and provide supplies to residents in need.

The routes run along Alderbridge Way from the Highway 91 interchange to Garden City Road, south on Garden City to Granville Avenue, west along Granville to No. 2 Road, along No. 2 from the airport to Steveston Highway, west on Steveston to No. 1 Road and south on No. 1 Road to Moncton.

Signs marking these routes will be installed by mid-December.

If the routes need to be activated, public service announcements on the radio will provide the necessary information. Emergency responders will control access to these routes to enable ambulances, police, firefighters, supply convoys and evacuees to get where they need to go.

The disaster response route network for the Lower Mainland is now complete.

School district to get audited

Richmond School District will be one of the province's two school districts to be examined in depth by B.C.'s office of the auditor general.

"I'm afraid people are going to put two and two together and get 22, but there's nothing wrong with our books," said Bruce Beairstro, the district's acting superintendent of schools. "It's a random selection."Recently, school districts were added to what is called the "government reporting entity" and as a result, the auditor general now has responsibility for overseeing financial audit procedures in school districts. "They were never responsible for schools before and they need to know how they work," Beairstro said.Beginning the 2006/07 school year, the auditor general will be taking responsibility for the district's financial auditand that of Nanaimo-Ladysmith School Districtfor a period of five years. The process will be phased-in beginning in 2004.

McMath's big gig

The McMath Jazz Quintet will be performing Sunday night in a special show at the Vancouver-based Hot Jazz Society.

The group of two Grade 10 and three Grade 12 students has been performing at venues all over Richmond and now will enjoy a new experience, says group leader Jeremy Hepner.

"So often they're an adjunct to what's going on," Hepner says. "This time it's their show."

The group includes Alvin Bonifacio (trumpet), Sandra Mae Luykx (saxophone), Colin Bock (guitar), Kit Dean (bass) and Gordon Cheung (drums).

They've played at seniors homes, youth awards, grad ceremonies, Richmond Music School's open house and last week they performed for a Richmond High alumni get-together at Quilchena Golf and Country Club.

"They've become this little in-demand group," Hepner says.

Last June, Marty Summers of the Hot Jazz Society called to see if they would be interested in performing in a showcase of young talent.

The Sunday gig will put the students in front of a jazz-savvy crowd, and they're hoping some people from Richmond will come out and cheer them on.

"They're just really keen kids," Hepner says.

Door open at 6:30 p.m. A band from Terry Fox Secondary will perform the first set, then the McMath group will take the stage about 8:30 p.m., performing a one-hour set.

The numbers include Davis's "Tune Up" and Duke Ellington's "Just Squeeze Me."

The Hot Jazz Society is located at 2120 Main St. in Vancouver.

—by Chris Bryan

Kids helping kids

Children in Hamilton Community Centre's Out of School Care program have used their creativity to help send needy children to camp.

The nine children in the program, aged eight to 11, decided to create bracelets, key chains and necklaces, then sell them to raise money for Camp Goodtimes, a summer camp for children with cancer.

For three days last month Simran Dale, Tasha Kara, Brittany Krikau, Sydney Schiffner, Marlo Smith, Isabel Wong, Fabian Ortiz, Bo Pellah and Terence Lal sold their creations at their store, Odds and Ends, during recess, lunch and after school in the front lobby at Hamilton Elementary.

They raised a total of $84.

One parent, Steve Smith, said his company, Tangent Management Corp., would match all funds raised. An anonymous donation was also made, putting the grand total going to the camp at $252.48

Dinner for a cause

Level three at YVR's international departures will be the site of a night of dinner and dancing for two good causes this Saturday night.

The 2003 Time for ChildrenTime for Travel, sponsored by HMY Airways, will benefit the BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities and the C.H.I.L.D. Foundation.

The evening begins with cocktails at 6 p.m. inside the VIP lounge, followed by a gourmet dinner prepared by the Fairmont Airport Hotel. The legendary Dal Richards Orchestra will provide entertainment for the event.

For tickets call 604-873-1865 or visit http://www.yourlibrary.ca/redirect.cfm?www.timeforchildren.ca">www.timeforchildren.ca.

Public invited to remember

All are invited to take part in Remembrance Day events at local schools, according to Annie McKitrick, Richmond School Board chair.

"Many students and their families (in the district) come from war-torn countries," McKitrick said during Monday's school board meeting. "This makes the Remembrance Day events more meaningful for them because of personal experience."

McKitrick added those interested in taking part in a local school's events should call the school office for details.

Bye bye Richmond High

An open house will celebrate the last days of the old Richmond Secondary, Nov. 21.

First from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., past and present students and staff are welcome to visit and roam the halls of the school. The music and refreshments portion begins at 8 p.m., with tunes from the last five decades playing until 10 p.m.

Trustee Sandra Bourque said an alumni dinner, set for 6 p.m. in the cafeteria, will be for "anyone who went to Richmond High or wish they did."

Dinner is $20 per person, contact Vicki Davies at Richmond Secondary for tickets at 604-668-6400.

Lions honoured

The B.C. Lion's family literacy program, Read, Write and Roar, won kudos from the Richmond School Board at Monday's meeting.

Lui Passaglia was on hand to receive the board's recognition. Passaglia, known for his stellar 25-year football career, now does community relations for the team.

"I don't know if literacy was at fault the way we played yesterday," he said with a grin.

"But reading doesn't stop when you play football. We hope to visit as many elementary schools as possible between now and next football season, and try to get across the importance of reading."

School board chair Annie McKitrick said she thought the team was doing great work for kids.

"Although the game was lost, this program makes (the team) look like a winner."

New recruit

Richmond Youth Service Agency has hired Leah Pomerantz as its manager of programs and personnel.

Pomerantz, a registered social worker, has worked as a community planner in Cleveland, Ohio and for Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Budget discussions continue

The City of Richmond's finance committee will reconvene Monday and will continue to discuss the 2004 budget.

Though the committee began to discuss the budget last week, council members required more time to assess the operating, capital and utility budgets.

The proposed budget plans for a 4.45 per cent increase, in keeping with the five year financial plan drawn up last year. Finance director Andrew Nazareth said the city hopes to approve the budget before Dec. 31 in order to be able to track expenses against the budget as soon as 2004 begins.

If the committee approves the budget Monday, it will still require final approval at next week's council meeting.

TransLink board gets pay raise

TransLink's board has voted itself the same pay increase as the Greater Vancouver Regional District board.

The regional transportation authority's board passed the recommendation this week "in order to maintain consistency" between TransLink's board and the GVRD.

Currently, TransLink's chair is paid $2,400 per month and directors are paid $125 per meeting ($250 for meetings over four hours).

The changes mean the GVRD-appointed chair of TransLink, Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum, will receive $3,334 per month and appointed directors, including Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, $200 per meeting attended.

Directors will be paid $400 for meetings which last four hours or more.

Remuneration will also be adjusted annually based on the Vancouver Consumer Price Index.

According to the report, remuneration increases recently approved for GVRD directors should be passed on to the transportation authority because the roles and issues faced by both boards are similar in nature.

The changes will be adopted Jan. 1, 2004.

ACRO honoured for safety week

Sea Island's ACRO Aerospace was recently praised for its health and safety programs.

The award came during the Workers' Compensation Board's recent participation in the North American Occupational Safety and Health Week competition which named ACRO winner in the best new entry category.

ACRO, which is the running for a 2003 B.C. Export Award, was among 16 other companies in B.C. to receive an award for its health and safety efforts on the job site.

Shell game

Home improvement radio personality Shell Busey is hosting his show this Sunday at Treasure Cottage Family Thrift Store (3800 Moncton St.). The store raises money for the SOS Children's Village.

Ex-Hydro CEO to lead new RAVCo board

A board of directors has been appointed to oversee the management of the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Rapid Transit Project, with former B.C. Hydro chief executive officer Larry Bell serving as its chair.

Bell was elected as the chair of RAVCo, as the body is called, at its first meeting Friday.

"With a project as important as this one is to the region, it is vital that we build it on time and on budget, and...meet the public's expectations for accountability," Bell said in a prepared statement. "The RAVCo board will provide oversight to management and ensure that the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Rapid Transit Project meets its commitments to contributing agencies, stakeholders, the procurement process and the public."

Bell resigned from BC Hydro this past week,

Also named were Larry Berg (Vancouver International Airport Authority CEO), Pat Jacobsen (TransLink CEO), and independent directors Doug Mackay, Eva Matsuzaki, Sheri Plewes and David Unruh. Directors are appointed by the TransLink board for three-year terms.

The Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Rapid Transit Project is the proposed rail rapid transit line connecting Richmond, the airport and Vancouver.