Editor:
Re: Hidden jewel gets polishing, July 6, and Hidden gem could be kept secret, Murphy's Law, July 13
Contrary to Mayor Lois Jackson's statement that the word has to get out in regards to the improvements being undertaken at Centennial Beach, the word is already out.
Before Delta council and others get carried away with expensive ideas such as paving a parking lot and adding a plaza space, let's remember we are all going to the beach, not to the Corporation of Delta offices.
(Festivals in Surrey are on grass, not pavement.)
Saturdays and Sundays large groups from across the Lower Mainland congregate on the grass and the beach and make full use of this "hidden gem."
It is a multicultural extravaganza: groups of south Asians, Chinese and other cultures arrive carrying their chairs, food, small barbecues and games. There's a feeling of joy in the air as they delight in what nature has provided.
At one picnic table I encountered a group of women wearing hijabs. Two men who came here from Ceylon in 1986 (now Sri Lanka) bemoaned what Richmond has become. They liked the way it used to be.
With a finite number of fire pits, locals were seen pushing large barbecues across the beach as they headed home.
So, there you have it: the word is out.
Claire Hurley
