New Westminster’s fire chief celebrated his birthday in style.
Fire Chief Tim Armstrong visited Ottawa this week on behalf of Honour House, a New Westminster based facility that provides accommodations for military personnel and first responders and their families, who are in town for medical treatment.
“Happy Birthday 2 #newwest Fire Chief Tim Armstrong, in Ottawa to promote Honour House. Came 2 Parliament 4 BD dinner,” tweeted New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian.
Armstrong, a director with Honour House, was asked to present to the standing committee on veterans affairs to discuss issues related to military transitioning back into civilian life.
Along with promoting Honour House, Armstrong said it was an opportunity to cite the need for federal funding. Currently, Honour House gets no provincial or federal funding and relies on donations.
“Our military and first responders shouldn’t be relying on charity to support them after they have served our country,” Armstrong told the Record after returning from Ottawa.
Armstrong’s quick trip to Ottawa on March 12 also happened to be his birthday, which included a special birthday dinner.
“I had dinner with Peter Julian in the Parliament cafe,” he said. “He ordered me up a little piece of cake.”
Become a Dementia Friend
The Alzheimer’s Society of B.C. is returning to New West to help it fulfill its mission of becoming a Dementia Friendly city.
Members of New Westminster City Council recently became Dementia Friends after taking a workshop at city hall. The society is putting on a Dementia Friends workshop at New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy’s constituency office on Thursday, March 19 from 5:30 to 7 to 7 p.m.
The free workshop, which is open to the public, will help people learn how to recognize the signs of memory problems and how to best support people with dementia they meet in the community.
The workshop is being held at 737 Sixth St. in uptown New Westminster. For more information, call the MLA’s office at 604-775-2101.
New West groups stand out in advertising campaign
Two local organizations have been recognized for their outstanding achievements during the Yellow Pages Shop the Neighbourhood campaign.
As part of the campaign, New Westminster residents were encouraged to take advantage of exclusive and local deals during a special event on November 29, 2014. During the campaign, the Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Association hand-delivered window clings and day kits to local businesses throughout the city. More than 20 New Westminster deals were loaded onto a special Shop The Neighbourhood website and mobile app that was created by Yellow Pages.
Along with the BIA, local retailer Bunches & Blooms Floral received a cheque from Yellow Pages to recognize their “outstanding achievements” in the Shop the Neighbourhood campaign.
Turning up the heat in Victoria
Two New West firefighters ventured over to Victoria for a bit of business.
Bill Shokar, acting president of New Westminster Firefighters Union Local 256, and Randy Stuber, treasurer, recently visited Victoria and met with local MLA Judy Darcy as part of an effort to have various workplace hazards recognized by WorkSafeBC.
“Firefighters experience higher rates of breast cancer and earlier occurrences of prostate cancer than the general public, and often deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of dealing with traumatic situations every day on the job,” said an email from the MLA’s office. “Our firefighters put their lives on the line each and every day, and they need to be looked after should they suffer from these work-related conditions.”
While in Victoria, Shokar and Stuber also took part in the fallen firefighter memorial service that was organized by the B.C. Professional Firefighters Association, to pay tribute to the many fire fighters who have died in the line of service.
