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LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
Y O U R
10
H O M E T O W N
N E W S P A P E R
‘Fifty-five? You’re just a kid at 55’ Jack Thomas stocks the shelves at the Royal Square Safeway. He has no plans to retire – although he just turned 90 By Theresa McManus
tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca
Forget about sitting out his later years relaxing in a rocking chair. Jack Thomas might be 90 years old, but he’s still putting in a full day’s work. Thomas, a clerk at the Royal Square Safeway, may well be the oldest general clerk in Safeway’s history, but he doesn’t look at the job he’s held for many years after most people retire as drudgery. Instead, he sees the benefits of keeping busy and earning a few bucks to supplement his pension. “I am happy here. I love doing what I am doing, I really do,” he said earnestly. “I look forward to coming to work.” While many workers dream of retiring at 65 – or younger – Thomas has never aspired to reach Freedom 55. “Fifty-five?” he said. “You are just a kid at 55.You’ve got a lot of living to do.” Thomas, who turned 90 on Sept. 30, started working at Safeway when he was 72. A general clerk,Thomas stocks and organizes shelves on the graveyard shift two or three nights a week – and has no plans to retire anytime soon.
ON THE NIGHT SHIFT: Jack Thomas may well be the oldest general clerk in Safeway’s history. The 90-year-old started working at the Royal Square store 18 years ago and says he sees the benefits of keeping busy and earning a few extra bucks to supplement his pension. PHOTO CORNELIA NAYLOR
Continued on page 7
BUSINESSES FOR IT, RESIDENTS AGAINST IT
Uptown parklet gets mixed reviews By Theresa McManus
tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca
Should it stay or should it go? The Uptown New West Business Association likes the Belmont Street parklet
so much it would like it expanded, but many area residents say it’s gotta go. “Most of the feedback we have received, both from our member businesses, as well as from member of the public, has been very posi-
tive,” said Bart Slotman, president of the Uptown New West Business Association in a letter to council. “People like the addition of this fun space in this area. People linger, meet their neighbours, and have
a good time. It is the type of environment we want to create.” In June, the city created a temporary parklet adjacent to Tim Horton’s and furnished the space with movable tables and chairs.
A ‘lawn’ area built onto the road features artificial grass, Adirondack chairs, and planters. As part of the initiative, Belmont Street was reconfigured to be a oneway street at Sixth Street. “We would support mak-
ing it a permanent addition,” Slotman wrote. “In this regard, we actually ask you to put consideration to enlarging the parklet, and perhaps even envision the Continued on page 10
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