Abbotsford residents received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal last
Friday. The recipients were: Rudy Baerg, Mitch Borrows, Capt. Ted
Bowman, Gerri Charles, Deirdre DeGagne, former Matsqui Mayor and MLA
Harry de Jong , Brian Doerksen, Dorothy Dyck, former Mayor George
Ferguson, founding principal Dasmesh school Dalip Singh Gill,
multi-cultural and Immigrant Manager Manpreet Grewal, former City
Councillor Lynne Harris, Stan Hindmarsh, Dave Holmberg, former Matsqui
Mayor Dave Kandal, Lorna Keith, former school teacher Freddy Latham,
Dave Murray, Police Sgt. Mike Novakowski, former Mayor George Peary,
UFV professor Darryl Plecas, Punjabi Patrika Publisher Andy Sidhu, Les
Talvio, Pieter Vanderpol, John Vissers, Milt Walker, Menno Froese, Deb
Lowell, City Councillor John Smith, Police Chief Bob Rich and
Christine Wiebe. The medal is awarded for long standing devotion to
public service. Speaking to a few of the recipients, they expressed
their surprise to find out they had been nominated and awarded this
medal and this is what they had to say. Andy Sidhu said, "Being an
immigrant to this country and being recognized by the Federal
Government is a great honour." Freddy Latham said, "Many of us have
served a lot of years in the community. Myself, 30 years of it
involved in the community, theatre, Arts Council and the Abbotsford
Children's Theatre (which she founded). It is nice to be recognized
for the years of work and service to our community. Looking forward to
many more years of banging the drum for the arts community." Dalip
Singh Gill said, " My work in the community regarding education has
been recognized. I think the credit goes to the students at the
Dasmesh Punjabi School. I am proud of the achievements of my students
in various fields." Congratulations to all the recipients.
Abbotsford Member of Parliament and Minister of International Trade
Hon. Ed Fast said, “These eminent community leaders enrich every
aspect of our community, including the arts, business, education, and
service to the poor and vulnerable. In doing so, they re-affirm
Abbotsford’s reputation as the most generous community in Canada.”
Mission will be holding their Diamond Jubilee medal ceremony on Nov
3rd at Cedarbrooke Chateau from 1:30-3:30pm.
Deesh Sekhon, a resident of Abbotsford and the Founder of GirlKind
Foundation became aware late last year of the sobering issue of
Gendercide which happens world wide and is more prevalent in certain
cultures than others. Gendercide is the elimination of a specific
gender (usually females) through infanticide, murder and/or
sex-selective abortions. This past September, Sekhon launched GirlKind
Foundation which is non-profit organization whose purpose is to help
bring an end to gendercide, gender discrimination through dialogue and
education and to reach out to help support abandoned girls world wide.
"To know is not enough; understanding what gendercide is and how it's
affecting our world isn't enough. We need to act to make a difference
to save a girl and that is what lead to the creation of GirlKind,
changing cultural beliefs one girl at a time. Creating a better world
where every girl matters, said Sekhon."
In keeping with creating dialogue and raising awareness, GirlKind is
presenting a 2nd screening of the film "It's a Girl" in partnership
with the Centre for Indo-Canadians Studies at UFV on November 19th in
room B101 in the evening. For more information on the time visit
girlkind.org
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