Angelo packs the Shadbolt

Here and Now column by Dan Hilborn
Published Jan. 31, 2004


Oh, what an effect a little publicity can have.

An estimated 500 people were turned away from the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts on Wednesday night during the hometown debut of the River World slide show co-sponsored by the National Geographic website.

"We had an amazing response," said Mark Angelo, the speaker who attracted such an enormous crowd. "While I was thrilled with the response, I was also saddened by the fact that a lot of people couldn't get in."

Angelo, head of the fish, wildlife and recreation department at BCIT and one of the best known rivers advocates in the world, put together the 90-minute presentation to highlight his many trips to save some of the most beautiful rivers in the world.

The event was held in the 300-seat James Cowan Theatre, meaning almost twice as many people were turned away as actually got in to see the show.

And with the slide show scheduled to go on a North American tour this spring, it will be another six months before Angelo has an opportunity to schedule a repeat performance, hopefully in a larger venue, for his hometown audience.

This year will be the 25th anniversary of B.C. Rivers Day, and Angelo, a member of the Order of Canada, is hoping to organize the biggest event yet to take place in September at Fraser Foreshore Park.

KUDOS FOR SAFEWAY

The folks at the Huntington Society, B.C. chapter are extending a very hearty thank you to the employees of the Canada Safeway outlet at Hastings and Willingdon after being chosen as the recipient of last year's fundraising activities.

The employees presented a cheque worth a whopping $7,696.36 to the society.

Accepting the cheque on behalf of the society were Norma Stevens and Bev Cullen. Making the presentation were store manager Dave Nemrava, committee chair Suki Reandy plus employees Suzanne Norman, Rob Pennington, Kim Miller and Jen Pumell.

FRIDAY THE 13TH?

Burnaby's first campus radio station will be celebrating one year on the FM dial with a gigantic party at the Anza Club on Friday, Feb. 13.

CJSF, the voice of Simon Fraser University, will celebrate its first anniversary with a party featuring local bands, DJs and more.

The station offers community programming that can't be found on the larger commercial radio stations. Prior to going onto the airwaves at 90.1 FM, the station existed for almost 30 years as an on-campus cable station.

For more information, visit their website at cjsf.bc.ca.