“ Listen and you will hear” were the words of his Holiness The Dalai Lama earlier this week at the Vancouver Peace Summit. This vision is also reflected in the Abbotsford/Mission Times Building an Inclusive, Diverse Community Essay Contest. With only a few short weeks to the day the October 30th cutoff still gives our local youth (14 to 26) plenty of time to come up with some brilliant topics. The question again is, “ What have you done or what can you do to make our community inclusive?” All essay’s must be 300 words or less and can be emailed to me below or dropped at The Times office at 30887 Peardonville Rd. We will be featuring the top three winners and an honorable mention in this paper on November 20th. So, if you are an inspiring journalist or writer this is your opportunity to shine.
For those who didn’t get the opportunity to attend the 2nd Annual Multicultural Festival (AbbyFest) here are just some of the 72 booths I visited at ice level last Saturday. The Festival was again a success for the second consevative year with approximately 4,000 people streaming through the entrance doors throughout the day. Recapping the colorful day there was a large selection of exotic cuisines ranging from Mediterranean, Lebanese, Dutch, Nigerian to Canadian style pizza. I selected a delicious Lebanese Falafel and got my hands a bit sticky. While cleaning the mess off my shirt, I visited the Abbotsford-Mission Alpen Club. Their organization promotes German culture and dance with monthly sing- alongs. Their next event is scheduled on Oct 10 called, “ Oktoberfest”. Around the corner was the Edelweiss Musik booth, where they were also promoting German culture and family based entertainment.
I decided to turn myself into the Abby Police Department booth. I was greeted by the always-colorful Cst. Crystal Jack, whom I had the opportunity to go on a ride a long with last year. She gave me her business card, where she now heads the Recruiting and Training Section. Let’s just say we shared a few laughs. My last handshake for the day was at center ice at the University of the Fraser Valley International Culture Garden where I met Betty Jones- Tranverse, who instructs French at UFV. Cascade students from 7 different countries organized booths under one large tent. The first country, I encountered was Saudia Arabia and I was given a four question quiz called, “ What do you know about Saudia Arabia?”. I was a bit nervous, but aced it with a perfect score. Other countries included Holland, Sweden, China, Japan, Switzerland and Vietnam. Dwayne D’souza, a fourth year BBA student at UFV the mastermind behind the garden said, “ I designed this cultural garden to let people know of the diversity that exists in our community”.
I bumped into Abbotsford Safeway Store Manger Brad Edmonson, who explained they were 18 Safeway representatives serving food to the 175 volunteers throughout the day. Safeway provided the early morning breakfast and the lunches to the hardworking volunteers. Amar Rai, who volunteered for the day said, “ we don’t get paid because we are worthless, it’s because we are priceless.”
The main draw prize of a Westjet flight anywhere in North America for two was won by Lakhbir (Lucky) Gakhar. Moe Gill closed the day and told everyone to come back next year, as the event has been booked for Sept 11th 2010 at the same spot.
We have proven again, why we are the most generous community in the country and the third most diverse city in Canada- soon to number one.
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