TUESDAY, JULY 2, 2002
80CENTS (HOMEDELIVERED: 54 CENTS ADAY)
High today: 16 Low tonight: 4 Details page 2
  We stand on
:
guard for thee
                  Thousands attend Canada Day festivities
by SCOTT STANFIELD Citizen staff
There was hair painting, dancing, singing, ethnic food booths and nu-Imerous children’s activities at the annual Canada Day celebrations Monday [at Fort George Park.
; There was also an eight-foot long cake in honour of Canada’s 135th birthday as well as the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
“I’m the owner, baker and decorator,” said Kandy Filipovic, who runs a home-based business called Kandy’s Custom Cakes.
Filipovic, whose maiden name, believe it or not, is Cake, has been providing the giant treat for seven years, pri-!or to which her father Tom was doing the baking.
“I’ve been 50 years in the bakery business, so I hope she knows something,” said Tom, clad in a Canada Day top hat.
Cake, who describes his appropriate surname as a “good Newfoundland name,” relocated in 1974 from Quebec to Prince George, where he operated T. Cake & Son at three different locations.
His Canada Day creation may only take a few hours to bake, but Cake said
 it takes four people to carry the cake and dish it out at the park.
   Following the opening ceremonies, the event dignitaries performed the ceremonial cake cutting while hundreds of people waited in line for a slice.
   “In no time that cake will be gone,” Cake said.
   The party in the park opened with the marching in of the Rocky Mountain Rangers, and a few words from Mayor Colin Kinsley, local MLAs Pat Bell, Shirley Bond and Paul Nettleton, and Shawn Bellamy, president of event host Multicultural Heritage Society.
   “This country wouldn’t be what it is today without these people in the park,” said Kinsley, who on behalf of the city was presented with a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth II.
   A book of congratulations with signatures from Prince George residents is to be forwarded to Buckingham Palace in honour of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
   By noon Monday there were already an estimated 6,000 people at the park, but event organizers anticipated that number to possibly double by the end of the day, which concluded at 11 p.m. with the fireworks display.
                                                                                                                                                                                                         Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
Const. Talena LeBlanc salutes during the national anthem to open Canada Day ceremonies at Fort George Park on Monday. See more Canada Day photos on page 13.
                                        PRINCE GEORGE
                                                                                                                            Serving the Central Interior since 1916
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
Beverly Dimmlck, who will become the first owner of a Habitat for Humanity home built In Prince George, watches an excavator dig the basement on her new house at 13th and Winnipeg on Saturday morning.
                                                                                            by SCOTT STANFIELD Citizen staff
  The efforts of the local branch of Habitat for Humanity have given Prince George resident Beverly Dimmick and her children the opportunity to finally own a house of their own.
  This summer, numerous volunteers, including Dimmick, will be constructing the organization’s first house in Prince George.
  A Christian-based organization, Habitat for Humanity is a housing program dedicated to the elimination of poverty housing by building homes in partnership with families in need. Volunteers build simple, affordable houses which offer interest-free mortgages to families who would otherwise not be able to purchase their own home.
  “It’s cheaper than paying rent, so it helps me out enormously,” said Dimmick, a mother of three teenagers who has been on her own the past seven years. “This really gives my children and I a chance co put down roots. This is going to be home from now on.”
! Dimmick, 40, moved to Prince George from [Cape Breton, Nova Scotia about nine years ago. Five years ago, she earned a diploma in Early Childhood Education at CNC, then worked with youngsters for a couple of years until osteoarthritis in her lower back forced iher out of her chosen profession. She is now {working towards a social work diploma, after [which she plans to obtain a university degree, jln the meantime, she will be investing 500 hours of unpaid labour, or “sweat equity,” in
l
 the construction of her new home as well as in the community.
   Board members at Habitat for Humanity, Prince George identified Dimmick as a person in need, but one who has the ability to pay a mortgage.
   This past weekend, the group held a site dedication and ground breaking ceremony at 1808 13th Avenue, where Dimmick and her family will move into their 1,000 square foot home when construction is completed by late-summer or early-fall.
   “It (the ceremony) is a very emotional thing
  that happens,” president Kevin Braet said, adding the house brings into fruition two years of hard work and persistence of numerous volunteers and sponsors. “We see the housing project as a way to involve the community.”
    Braet said the group is in the process of selecting a second family for whom they hope to begin constructing a house by next summer.
    To volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, call 564-1188. To apply for housing, drop by office #318 at the Native Friendship Centre from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
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 http://mm.princegeoigecitizen.coni
Citizen of Year finalists named
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                                  canada.com
                                                                       Mayor thrilled with Taiwan trip
  Mayor Colin Kinsley and the delegation which recently traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, declared the trade and networking meetings a huge success.
  “The range of meetings exceeded our expectations,” Kinsley said.
  “The variety and scope of the meetings with governmental and industry representatives were tremendously valuable and productive.”
  Further details of the June 21-27 trip will be announced at a press conference today.
  Kinsley was joined by city manager George Paul, city councillors Don Zurowski and Cliff Dezell, Gerry Offet, president of the P.G. Development Corporation, Mary-Ann Tierney of the International Education program at CNC, and Paul Blom of Northern Pacific Forestry Inc. They were invited by Victor Chin, director general of the department of North American Affairs of the Foreign Ministry in Taiwan.
  The main focus of the excursion was to meet with Taiwanese officials to discuss potential trade opportunities, particularly with woodframe housing, and the training of Taiwanese students in Prince George, Kinsley said at a previous press conference.
  The Prince George crew was also planning to explore engineered wood products, information technology, transportation opportunities and the possibility of exporting beef.
 Habitat home project under way
  The names of-five finalists for the Prince George Community Foundation’s Citizen of the Year were announced Monday during the opening ceremonies at the Canada Day celebration at Fort George Park.
  The annual award is designed to honour local residents who have demonstrated volunteer and philanthropic commitment to the community.
  The five are:                        »
  ■ Margaret Chemerinski, a long-time Brownie and Guide leader and area co-commissioner for the New Caledonia Council
  ■ Tom Griffiths, founding member/president of D.A.R.E. B.C. Society (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and president of the Northern Police and Community Education Society
  ■ Dr. John McKenzie, director for the P.G. Knights of Columbus and Elder Citizen Recreation Association, founding member/director of the Northern B.C. Friends of Children Society and chair of the Sacred Heart Parish
  ■ Dawn Miller, director of the Science Council of B.C. and founding member of the Women’s Enterprise Society, Toastmasters and women@work
  ■ Daryl Moulder, president/volunteer with the P.G. Railway and Forestry Museum, councillor/host to international students and volunteer at the P.G. Playhouse.
  “The nominees are five caring residents who
From left to right, Tom Griffiths, Dawn Miller, Citizen of the Year for 2002 John Flatt, Margaret Chemerinski and Dr. Jack McKenzie. Missing from the photo is nominee Daryl Moulder.
have contributed in their own way to the well being of our community,” said Community Foundation president Noreen Rustad who, along with 2001 Citizen of the Year John Flatt, announced the
finalists. “It’s very humbling to read what these people have done for the community.”
  The winner will be named at a gala banquet Oct. 4 at the Coast Inn of the North.
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