March 11, 2010

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Former B.C. Premier Bill Vander Zalm is taking his fight against the HST on the road, travelling through the province to find volunteers to collect signatures for an anti-HST petition.

It's a daunting task, collecting signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in each of B.C.'s 85 electoral ridings, but that's what the group "Fight HST" is hoping to do. Vander Zalm says support is already strong in the Lower Mainland, the Okanagan, on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, and that's why he's trying to connect with voters in other areas.

The former premier is looking for canvassers to collect signatures for the anti-HST petition. Vander Zalm says about 2,600 canvassers have signed on already, including 22 new ones last night in Merritt. "If we get enough volunteers, then every volunteer will only need to go out and get 50 or 100 signatures and they can probably do that in their own little neighbourhood. That will make it very easy."

Vander Zalm will be hitting the northern part of the province next, trying to sign up as many canvassers as possible before the sign up begins April 6th. He will have until July 5th to meet the sign-up requirement. His bill, called the HST Extinguishment Act will go to the legislature for consideration if the petition is a success.

Not one of the six other initiative petitions in the past has been successful, but Vander Zalm is confident early support for his anti-HST campaign will help him get enough signatures. He says it would be political suicide for the provincial government to ignore this. "It's a formal process, they can't ignore it. They can't do like they do with other petitions, put it through the shredder. They have to address it."

March 11, 2010

The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame announced three new inductees last week and former Vancouver resident Brent Franklin, Graham Cooke and the late Ben Kern are all deserving of the honour.

But what about Dick Zokol?

Zokol is in that very select club of Canadian males who have won on the PGA Tour. He captured the 1992 Greater Milwaukee Open as well as the '92 Deposit Guaranty Classic in Hattiesburg, Miss.

He also won on the Nationwide Tour in 2001, captured the Canadian Amateur in 1981 and that same year captained his Brigham Young University golf team to the NCAA Championship.

Zokol, who has drawn reviews for his co-design of Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club near Merritt, deserves to be in the Hall sooner rather than later.

A source close to the Royal Canadian Golf Association explained to me that it may just be a matter of someone stepping forward to nominate Zokol to the Hall of Fame's selection committee. Hopefully, that happens in 2011.

TALE OF TWO COLLEGIANS: Many of B.C.'s best junior golfers dream of earning a scholarship to an American school and Langley's Sue Kim and Richmond's Christine Wong were no different.

Both realized that goal, with Kim heading last fall to the University of Denver and Wong accepting a scholarship offer from San Diego State University.

For Wong, big-time collegiate golf has been everything she had imagined and then some. She has flourished at San Diego State, where under the tutelage of coach and former LPGA Tour winner Emilee Klein, Wong has won two tournament in her freshman year.

For Kim, that dream became something of a nightmare. The 2008 B.C. Junior Girls champion, who had been highly recruited by nearly 20 U.S. schools, didn't play particularly well last fall. But her real struggles came in the classroom. She failed to complete her fall semester and didn't return to Denver for the spring semester.

The 19-year-old Walnut Grove secondary graduate, who remains a member of Canada's national amateur team, is now working on her game in the Palm Springs area of Southern California and hopes to attend the Duramed Futures Tour and LPGA Tour qualifying school tournaments this fall.

Wong, who works locally with another former LPGA Tour winner - Jennifer Wyatt of Savage Creek golf centre in Richmond -finished tied for 11th at this week's Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational near San Jose.

CLOSE CALL: North Vancouver's Eugene Wong, no relation to Christine, almost pulled off a California double this week.

The Handsworth secondary grad and University of Oregon sophomore finished third at this week's Fresno St. Lexus Golf Classic in central California. Last week, Wong won his first collegiate event at the USC Invitational in suburban Los Angeles. That event boasts past champions such as Tiger Woods, Corey Pavin and Paul Casey.

Wong, the 2008 B.C. Amateur and B.C. Junior winner, finished the 54-hole event at two-under par. That was three shots behind co-medallists John Chin of University of California-Irvine and Robbie Filmore of Brigham Young University.

BYU senior Brady Johnson of Mill Bay tied for fifth. Abbotsford's Nick Taylor, who is completing his senior year at the University of Washington, finished tied for 11th at the Fresno tourney.

GUEST SPEAKER: Ken Venturi, the 1964 U.S. Open champion and retired CBS golf analyst, will be the guest speaker at the University of B.C. Thunderbirds' annual Telus Millenium Breakfast on April 1 at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre.

Tickets are $200 each or $2,000 a table and can be purchased at www.gothunderbirds.ca.

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published: March 09, 2010

(in photo) Cheryl McLeod was asked to “dance her own dance” using her own costume at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Photo by Katie Sanders

“The most amazing and powerful experience I’ve ever had.”

That’s how 22 year old Cheryl McLeod describes her involvement in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Opening Ceremonies.

“I know it’s a cliche,” she said, “but it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I can’t even begin to explain all the ways it changed my life.”

McLeod, a member of the Upper Nicola Indian Band, was a performer in the native dance troupe representing aboriginal nations from across Canada. She was one of 350 dancers, all between the ages of 19 and 29, who were asked to bring a little of their own home and culture to the event.

“I had to bring my own costume, and was asked to dance my own dance, to represent myself, my home and my people.”

For two weeks prior to the opening ceremonies, and for one week after, McLeod, along with her fellow performers was sequestered in a private camp near Squamish.

Each day they were bussed into Vancouver where they participated in two rehearsal sessions. Once the dancers had completed their work for the day they were turned loose in the city, and given access to several local attractions.

“This was my first time away from home, and my first time in Vancouver,” McLeod said. “I had so much fun with all the new friends I made, I wasn’t ready to come home.”

On her many excursions around the Olympic city Mcleod took in the Grouse Grind, the Capilano suspension bridge, the Canadian women’s hockey game against Slovakia, and many of the free shows and events hosted downtown.

Even though McLeod went through a long application process to become a participant, her mother, also Cheryl McLeod, knew she was a shoo-in from the start.

“The application was extensive,” her mother explained. “They wanted Cheryl to prove she had aboriginal ancestry, that she was active in her community, that she had involvement in sports and that she was working on her education.”

McLeod was able to check all those boxes, plus a few extra. She is currently in the running to become a Provincial Youth Ambassador, which is the next step up from her reign as a local Youth Ambassador in 2006.

Should she be accepted into the program, McLeod will represent Merritt and the Nicola Valley. Being a Youth Ambassador will give her access to several scholarships which she intends to apply to her post secondary education at NVIT.

“I haven’t decided what I want to study yet, but there are a few things that interest me. Working with the RCMP K-9 unit, social work and becoming a pastry chef are all high on my list right now.”

It was her experience as a pow-wow dancer that eventually led to her acceptance in the opening ceremonies.

“I’m so glad that my Mom took me to so many pow-wows as a kid. Having danced in front of crowds before made this a little easier. A little, not a lot. The crowd at the ceremonies was huge!”

Now that the Olympics are over, and McLeod is back to reality in Merritt, she’s motivated to keep the momentum she gained at the event.

“I’m working hard to stay in touch with all the people I met in Vancouver,” she said, adding, “We all became such good friends, we’re hoping to go to Russia for the next games.”

When asked what the most important thing she learned at the games was, McLeod answered, “I can go anywhere, and I can be myself. I’m proud of who I am and where I come from.”

Published: March 09, 2010

Former Premier Bill Vander Zalm has invested a lot in Merritt, including thousands of flowering bushes.

“I think Merritt could be the Capital City of Lilacs in North America,” says the well-known gardener, who has donated thousands of lilac plants to the city in recent years.

“It’s dry and cold. It’s the best climate in North America for lilacs.”

Vander Zalm’s interest is not just in the plant life of Merritt.

He owns some well-situated property above the Coquihalla near the Visitor’s Information Centre south of town, and he will be using his visit to Merritt to have a chat with the mayor. His “Palomino” property could one day be a gated retirement community, if he can get access to utilities.

Vander Zalm would like to see progress with the Gateway 286 project, a design by local First Nations to use reserve land near the Visitor’s Centre to build a casino complex.

While his property has access to well water, he is hoping the Gateway project will spur the province to fund utilities in the area.

“The city is very cooperative and reasonable. They can’t control what the province will do,” he said.

Vander Zalm says he considers Merritt to be “a lost jewel”.

Before he purchased his property, he would drive past and consider the possibilities.

“I would think, my goodness, the opportunities here are great. There’s a great climate and lay of the land,” he said. “I finally decided I had to be part of that.”

And should things fall into place for the 286 project and Palomino, expect the side of the mountain to get some bright colours in the spring.

“Once we start developing, there’ll be lots of beautiful lilacs there.”