What's In Store: Private party marks opening of revamped space

Let’s hope the nice weather holds out for Saturday night and the official re-opening of McBurney Plaza.

After what seemed like endless months of renovations and upheaval at downtown Langley landmark, work finally wrapped up on the revamping late last summer.

Now, to celebrate its completion as an outdoor park space in the centre of the core, The City is holding a private party in the public space this weekend – complete with entertainment and artists.

This event will be a way to showcase what the space can be used for, the opening complete with entertainment and artists, said the Dowtown business group’s executive director and City councillor Teri James.

DYI expert heard on radio

Speaking of McBurney Plaza, there’s some cool news about Passionate Home owner Carrie Thachuk. Her talents refurbishing furniture and decorating has earned her a weekly spot on the air waves – however brief.

In this age of DIY, where TV personalities show us how to renovate and redecorate, where how-to-books fill the shelves, and people can learn how to rewire the lights or fix the kitchen sink simply by watching a YouTube video, Thachuk is excited to announce she’ll be sharing advise and tips on how to recreate those expensive looks all on their own via 650AM.

“I have always been passionate about DIY,” Thachuk said. “It’s the reason I opened the Passionate Home.”

The company grew out of her passion for breathing new life into old pieces, and given that talent and her distinction as a chalk painting expert, Thachuk is going to be joining Tom Lucas, the host of Radio Real Estate Show, every Saturday morning between 10 and 11 a.m.

The show discusses all things real estate, including topics such as buying and sharing her DIY tips and answering questions. And for only two or three minutes during each of the weekend shows, Thachuk will be inspiring and encouraging people to scour their homes and local thrift stores and garage sales for those perfect pieces to refinish.

“Sometimes starting out can be a little intimidating,” she said. “I want to help people get past that fear and experience the satisfaction that comes from creating something all on your own.”

Check Thachuk on the air waves this Saturday, or visit her store in McBurney Lane in downtown Langley City.

In fact, speaking of McBurney, there’s an opening celebration planned….

Hopping helps heart & stroke

The bunny is back, and in addition to helping kids celebrate the fun side of Easter, he is helping raise money for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada.

Following much the same concept as the pictures offered with Santa each Christmas, Willowbrook Shopping Centre is offering photographs with the Easter Bunny starting tomorrow (April 4).

The Easter Bunny will be hopping around in the mall’s centre court – appropriately, one might say, situated next to Purdy’s – from Friday through April 19.

More information is available at shopwillowbrook.com.

Modular builders earns top honours

Britco took home three top honours at the Modular Building Institute awards in Texas last week, bringing a big smile to the face of a man many in town know, Britco’s president Mike Ridley.

“Britco is very proud to be recognized…” he said.

They earned the MBI for the best marketing piece in the industry in North America. Britco’s new Aboriginal logo was the result of a design competition sponsored by Britco that drew more than 250 entries from 125 of B.C.’s Aboriginal artists including the winning Thunderbird Soaring image by Andrew Dexel.

Britco’s Atlantic power office earned its MBI award for best permanent office of less than 10,000 square feet in North America in part for its ability to maximize office space on limited available land with minimal impact on the environment.

The site included challenges such logging road access, overhead power lines, and a crane lift requiring custom engineering.

And it was the Terminal Systems Building that Britco constructed received the award for best permanent institutional or assembly of more than 5,000 square feet in North America.

The two-storey administration building was designed to meet high compliance standards for multiple uses on a very compact site in an industrial environment at Port Metro Vancouver’s marine container terminal.

The MBI is the trade association representing companies in Canada, the United States, and 14 other countries involved in the construction and distribution of commercial modular buildings.

“These international awards are important achievements for Britco and reflect the hard work and dedication of the very talented design and construction team we have at Britco,” Ridley said.

Shredding helps feed hungry

Despite wet and windy weather, more than 200 people attended the Shred It and Forget It event Saturday at Envision Financial’s regional office in Langley.

Of course, everyone who participated was a winner in this third annual event hosted by Envision, Langley RCMP, and Iron Mountain shredding services.

But the big winners here are the regular recipients from the local food bank, who will benefit from food and money donated en lieu of a fee for the shredding services.

At the end of the day, more than 8,500 pounds of paper was shredded and $1,700 and more than 300 pound of food was donated to Envision’s signature community program called The Full Cupboard – a food and fund raising program for local food banks, explained Jaime Lord, senior investigator for corporate security at Envision.

““Once again, we had people show up with truckloads of paper to be shredded, with some documents even dating back to 1975! At the end of the day, we filled 50 big bins, amounting to approximately 350 boxes of shredding,” Lord said.