OPINION Celebrating success

An email in my inbox a few weeks back has prompted me to write my column this week.

A resident, who I will not name, was critical of our perceived lack of arts and entertainment coverage and questioned why we put such an emphasis on sports coverage

I politely responded back that we endeavour to provide balanced coverage to the arts, sports and other community events and groups and that one does not outweigh the other. Sometimes, due to space constraints, we can’t always get everything in the print edition, which is why we are pushing more content to our ever-growing website.

As for our sports coverage, thanks to longtime sports editor and community news reporter Mark Booth, the Optimist has arguably one of the best community sports sections in the province

Case in point has been the last two months – possibly the busiest stretch for Mark in his 30-plus years working for the Optimist.

He has been burning the candle at both ends spending a lot of evenings in hockey rinks, gymnasiums and on the sports fields, covering Delta athletes and documenting their achievements

Thanks to many parents, coaches and volunteers who aided our coverage with photos and game reports, we have been able to provide coverage on the Special Olympic Games in Kamloops, B.C. Winter Games in Vernon, the Canada Winter Games in PEI, provincial high school basketball championships at the Langley Events Centre, a second straight provincial hockey championship for the South Delta Storm, the Delta Ice Hawks gunning for a Cyclone Taylor Cup Junior B Championship and a national volleyball championship for UBC anchored by a former South Delta Secondary player.

And there have been countless other stories of achievement as well.

Sports, like achievement in the arts, is important to many in our community We will cover it all the best we can, but to say one is more deserving than the other, as this reader suggested, is simply not a valid argument

My father told me sex, politics and religion were three hot topics to avoid. These days you can add bike lanes to the list.

Nothing gets emotions higher than discussing bike lanes with a car lover after they lose a parking spot and their two lane road becomes one.

Bike lovers on the other hand can rejoice as B C municipalities commit to a future with bike lanes. They want us out of our cars to reduce excess traffic and pollution, and to get healthy.

While there’s a desire for safe cycling in our community, Delta’s Cycling Master Plan is in the slow lane

At the cities current rate of financing even high priority projects won’t be completed for 59 years. That means a Grade 5 student today won’t be able to enjoy a completed cycling network in Delta until they are 69.

I hear those in opposition claim that bike lanes are expensive and that they never see cyclists using them. Those are credible complaints for now, but the city has to put their money where their mouth is if they want more people to ride.

Have you heard about the “15-minute city” plan? It’s the newest trend in urban planning. Cities are redesigned so that residents can walk or bike to work, buy groceries, visit doctors’ offices and attend schools in just 15 minutes of where they live

That sounds like a delightful fantasy to me. We already have that capability in our neighbourhoods, yet parking lots are full and we face major traffic jams on our local roads.

Admit it, we are car eccentric, and getting people onto bikes to do even daily errands seems like a pipe dream Electric bikes may inspire some, but it’s a hard sell.

For now bike the Boundary Bay trail this spring, it’s safe and incredibly scenic, and great for all ages The next generation is far less interested in cars and we can learn from them

I love the advice Kevin Costner was given in the movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come, ” and what a heavenly field that was