The Nelson Avenue Community Church and daycare are celebrating fresh new facilities this weekend after raising money for redevelopments. They are holding an open house and community fair on Sept. 17, with a bouncy castle, games, food, music and tours. On Sept. 18 there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10: 30 a.m., followed by a dedication service and a special reception. The public is invited to attend both days. The community fair runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17.
The daycare is inside the church and has been operating since 1988. The church is at 5825 Nelson Ave., in the Metrotown area. For more info, go to www.nelsonavedaycare. com.
LIBRARY PARTY
Your local, quiet library branch is about to get a bit raucous this October. The Burnaby Public Library is celebrating its 20th anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 1 with a 20-hour stretch of programs and activities at the Bob Prittie Metrotown branch. The library will be open late for the celebration, and there will be fun, lively, noisy events starting with a community breakfast at 7 a.m., followed by activities throughout the day for people of all ages, and wrapping up with a latenight film noir double bill.
The library is also launching three contests leading up to the celebration: Your favourite book moment, where you can draw, paint or digitize a photographic image of your favourite book moment; Chinese readers' favourites, where you can submit your favourite Chinese novel in a variety of categories; and a Twitter contest where you answer a daily question for 20 days (Follow the library @burnabypl on Twitter.) Winners will be announced on Oct. 1. For contest details and a full schedule of the events, go to www.bpl.bc.ca.
For those curious about the name behind the branch, Bob Prittie was a former Burnaby teacher, an MP, mayor and library board member.
The branch is at 6100 Willingdon Ave.
FRENCH EDUCATION
French immersion enrolment numbers are on a roll in B.C. and the Yukon. According to the Canadian Parents for French (B.C. and Yukon chapter) there are more than 275,000 students enrolled in French immersion, intensive French, or French this year in B.C. and the Yukon. Thanks to 44,800 of those students taking French immersion, enrolment numbers have increased for 12 years straight.
"French immersion enrolment is at a record high," said Glyn Lewis, the group's interim executive director. "Parents from Victoria to St. John are recognizing the life-long benefits of official language opportunities within the public school system."
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