LangleyAdvance
Seniors’ Week 2013 pg A16
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Tuesday, June 4, 2013
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David Johnston, Governor-General of Canada (centre, wearing black hat), presented the Caring Canadian Award to the 2011 Canadian champion Langley Little League team, which travelled to Uganda in January 2012 for the Pearl of Africa Series.
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Pearl of Africa participants feted The Governor General recognized a baseball team for drawing awareness to Uganda. by Troy Landreville
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Langley’s 2011 Canadian champion Little League team and a handful of others were honoured by Canada’s Governor General Monday afternoon at the Township Civic Facility. For its goodwill trip to Uganda in January 2012, the team received the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award which recognizes individuals who volunteer their time to help others and to build a smarter, more caring nation. David Johnston, Governor General, personally presented the award to the players, two umpires (Ed Levinson and Chuck Dufton), two coaches (Dean Cantelon and Rick Burns), team coordinator (Christine
Ens) and local organizer Ruth Hoffman for their community service for the 2012 Pearl of Africa Series. The Pearl of Africa Series has been about citizenry and many lives. Team Uganda was the first African team ever to earn the right to compete in the 2011 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Due to documentation problems, the Ugandan players couldn’t get visas to enter View the United States video and didn’t make it with to Pennsylvania. Their historic moment was or online denied. Following a fundraising effort with Right To Play, a travel fund was established to fly the Canadian team to Uganda to face the team it should have played in the first round at the World Series. The Pearl series benefited the Ugandan players long after the Langley boys headed home. Funds
raised supported the Ugandan players. The Langley Little Leaguers still treasure the memories from Uganda. “It’s a big honour,” second baseman Ken Dubois said, of the award. “They [the Ugandan players] didn’t have much when we went over there. To help them out, it just lightened everyone’s day. It’s a struggle for them every day.” Centre-fielder Trevor Miller admitted he didn’t know very much about the Caring Canadian Award, but realized that if the Governor General travelled all the way from Ottawa to present it, the award must be “pretty important.” Reflecting on the trip, Miller said the experience was “pretty much once in a lifetime.” Cantelon said the team was excited to go to Uganda, but no amount of research could have prepared them for a trip he described as “eye-opening and life-changing.”
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“To see their lifestyle, how they live, the slum area, what they don’t have, and just the little things we take for granted… it was a life-changing experience for all of us,” he said. The Pearl of Africa story also attracted international attention when ESPN and ABC aired a short video created by filmmaker Jay Shapiro who had just produced Opposite Field, a documentary on Uganda baseball. The coverage triggered an outpouring of support from the media and impassioned viewers. With support from around the globe, Right To Play set up funds for school scholarships for the Ugandan team, player transportation, and to rehabilitate fields so that children will have safe and accessible places to play for years to come. During the presentation, Johnston said the local Little Leaguers gave “in such extraordinary ways.” “As Governor General I consider it a great privilege to recognize the
members of the team and those who support them,” he said. “On behalf of all Canadians, thank you for your caring and kindness.” Following the Governor General, Langley player Colby Ring took the mic, saying that Pearl of Africa was not about baseball but life lessons and new outlooks, especially lifelong friendships. “Uganda is a poor country but rich in so many ways,” Ring said. “Going to Uganda taught all of us how lucky we are, even if we sometimes forget. I speak on behalf of my team when I say that we think about Uganda and those boys and their families every day. They have a very special place in our hearts.” Ring noted that the experience “changed us forever.” “It is so much more than the bats, balls, gloves, shoes… the stuff that we gave to them. We miss them and we thank them,” Ring concluded.
• More at langleyadvance.com, including about the Pearl series
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Langley man, 35, facing child porn charges
A Langley man has been arrested and faces three child pornography charges. by Matthew Claxton mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
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A Langley man has been charged with making and distributing child pornography, and is now banned from being around children.
Police are releasing little information about the investigation so far. The BC RCMP Integrated Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) was alerted to a series of allegations in early May, said Sgt. Rob Vermeulen, a spokesperson for the province’s RCMP. They launched an investigation, and with a search warrant and aid from the Langley RCMP, seized a number of items from a local home.
Glenn William Schulz, 35, is facing three charges. He is alleged to have made child pornography for the purpose of sale, to have made or distributed it, and to have possessed it. All the charges relate to a time between Nov. 15 of last year and March 28 of this year. Schulz was officially charged on May 30 and has been released on a $10,000 bond, said Vermeulen. As a condition of his release, he
cannot be in the company of children under 16 in a public location, he can’t be alone with any girl under the age of 16, and he is restricted from using the internet. He is scheduled to appear in Surrey Provincial Court on June 20. The investigation is active and the reasons given to obtain the search warrant remain sealed by the courts, meaning no further information is being provided, said Vermeulen.