Paul Beckett MD writes:
I saw the Whonnock Community website and saw your newsletter, so thought I'd drop a line. I'm not sure if you're aware but the old
Dowco building, a.k.a. the old Whonnock Elementary School, was sold last November.
I'm the new owner. Several groups meet at the building now, so I thought I'd let you know about them:
Thornhill Montessori is still there and hoping to expand to two classrooms.
RCKC still meets there - I've given them a full classroom for all their workout equipment and access to the gymnasium, to use gratis until I rent out the space to someone else or they complete their new building whichever comes first.
HyperStealth: A private company leases one room. The owner is Guy Cramer at
gcramer@hyperstealth.com. Guy is a fascinating character - I think the people of Whonnock/Ruskin would find what he does quite fascinating (designs camouflage for countries around the world).
Albion Fellowship Church: This is a church of about 130 people from all over ThornHill, Albion, Webster's Corners, Whonnock, Ruskin, etc... a few from the rest of MR, and A few come from as far as Mission and Abbotsford and one or two even come from Pitt Meadows. It's also the church I attend. We used to meet at Albion Hall - hence the name. We'll also likely be changing the name some time in the next few months to reflect the change of venue. Dan Ost, who is also the firehall chaplain, is the pastor. He can be reached at
dost@albionfellowship.org. The church is VERY community-minded, willing to open doors for community needs and quite involved in putting on youth activities in the community.
Maple Ridge Modern Pentathlon Association: This group went into mothballs about 1 1/2 years ago, as did all of BC Pentathlon. It was resurrected a few weeks ago by me (I'm the acting president until we actually form a board) and is currently the only active pentathlon club in British Columbia. Athletes at all levels participate in epee fencing and competitive air pistol shooting at the school. We are coached by Bob Noble, Pentathlon Canada's high performance director and perennial master's champion. With three nationally ranked age-division gold medalists, we develop athletes from grass-roots beginners through to the international level of competition with high standards in coaching and safety. Our youngest athlete currently is 7 years old, our oldest 54. Entry to the sport is only $20 annually which is all-inclusive for registration and insurance, facility use, coaching, all basic fencing equipment and use of entry-level competitive air pistols.
