Thursday, August 8, 2013 Maple Ridge teen Nicole Clark was in California recently recording some music.
Page A5 • LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS, AND ENTERTAINMENT • mrtimes.com • 604-463-2281 • 28 PAGES Katzie First Nation
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Mounties are looking for two men who used a victim’s truck as a getaway vehicle.
The public is invited to a Sunday rally aimed at making a community safe for its kids.
by Sylver McLaren smclaren@mrtimes.com
by Maria Rantanen mrantanen@mrtimes.com
The mothers and grandmothers of the Katzie First Nation want to take back their community for the next generation. Coleen Pierre said she’s tired of confrontations on the reserve in Pitt Meadows where she lives with people under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and she’s tired of feeling her community isn’t safe for kids – so she is organizing a rally this Sunday starting around 3 p.m. “reclaiming our community.” “We don’t feel safe anymore,” Pierre said, adding that “we want to have the ability to send our grandchildren to the park.” But with constant fear for their safety, they don’t have the freedom to do that any more, Pierre said. “Enough is enough – I want my community back,” she said. Katzie First Nation Pierre has invited drumSunday, Aug. 11 mers and sing3 p.m. ers to come 10946 Katzie Rd. from other First Nations bands to the event. Katzie resident Eileen Kenworthy will also be at the rally on Sunday. After a car fire a few weeks ago near the reserve where a man was severely burned and with a recent increase in drug-addicted people in the community, Kenworthy said she is tired of the fact that their children and grandchildren can’t play outside by themselves and they have to see drug-addicted people walking around. “Nobody is doing anything, so we have to – we as mothers, as grandmothers,” Kenworthy added.
Rally
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George Leeder, the retired district fire chief from Firehall No. 1, gave his daughter Joanne Georgelin a comforting hug Tuesday. Her house was destroyed by a suspicious fire on the weekend, and the community has come together to help.
Suspected arson
Victim overwhelmed by generosity
A family of four, who were burned out of their Dunbar Street home, were back Tuesday to receive a pile of donations. by Sylver McLaren
smclaren@mrtimes.com
Smiling through the tears was all Joanne Georgelin could muster Tuesday as friends and strangers pulled up in cars and unloaded household goods in front of the burnt out shell of her home. Those generous people answered a call by Georgelin’s neighbour Carla to donate nolonger-used household items and new items – like school supplies – to the uninsured family who lost everything in the Dunbar Street arson fire on Saturday morning. “The response was really lovely,” she told The TIMES, wishing she had everyone’s name so she could thank them personally. Georgelin, along with her daughters Rebecca and Elizabeth, as well as a family friend Haley Proudman, lost their home and almost all its contents in the early morning blaze. “We are feeling so grateful from the loving kindness of this community. Many of us were brought to tears yesterday with the response. I definitely tried to give everyone a hug that I
CANCELLED FLEET ORDER
could,” Georgelin said. “We filled two pickups and a car trunk with stuff from silk plants to new coffee makers. I need to go actually make a list of things yet. We got a queen bed frame too. Some things that were so fun for the girls were items like a backpack full of new Ardene jewelry and accessories and another goodie bag filled with new nail polishes, school supplies, and flip flops,” Georgelin said, adding that they have enough clothes now thankfully. “It’s total devastation, but she is happy to be alive. That was a blessing,” said Carla, a friend who admitted that her role in this disaster is that of a caring and concerned neighbour who had lost a parent in a fiery helicopter crash when she was a child. “There have been so many people who have come forward,” Carla said about the outpouring of support for the Georgelins. The fire broke out at about 2:45 a.m. Saturday morning and the house was fully engulfed within minutes. It’s still under investigation. Carla is still hoping people will come through with more donations before the Aug. 16 deadline. She can be reached at 604-4638321 to make arrangements. In the meantime, financial donations can be made at Westminster Savings, account #451548214.
The owner of a house on 280th Street is lucky to be alive after being shot at during a home-invasion style robbery. Mounties were called to a house on 280th Street at about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6. It is alleged two men were confronted by the homeowner inside the residence, and one of the suspects fired a shot at the owner before the suspects ran out of the house, said Ridge Meadows RCMP Cpl. Alanna Dunlop. The suspects then stole the victim’s pickup in order to get away, she added, noting the owner was not injured. The stolen truck was found abandoned nearby at Ruskin Park, Dunlop said. “This is a very serious matter and it is being thoroughly Cpl. Alanna Dunlop investigated,” she said. Ridge Meadows RCMP “Police have received some valuable information from citizens in the area, and that info is being pursued,” Dunlop elaborated. “We are requesting for continued public assistance in solving this crime. Anyone who may have seen a vehicle or suspicious activity in the area of Ruskin Park in east Maple Ridge between 6 and 7 a.m. Tuesday morning is asked to call police as soon as possible,” she said. Anyone with any information is asked to call Const. Kathleen McKinney at 604-467-7604. Or, to remain anonymous people can call CrimeStoppers at 1-800222-8477 or leave a tip online at www.bccrimestoppers.com.
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