A random recollection of Surrey-related numbers in 2019.
19: The minutes after midnight that Jerik Papequash, Surrey’s first baby of 2019, was born at Surrey Memorial Hospital. “We’re pretty happy because his dad (Jeremy Papequash) is a Canada Day baby, born at B.C. Women’s Hospital,” said mom Jeanna Spence. “Yeah, so it worked out pretty well — it’s like we were joking about him being a holiday baby with his dad, and it happened.”
$39.9m: The amount won by Surrey’s Michelle De Roma in a Lotto Max draw. The married mother of three said she planned to travel the world and invest in real estate.
16: The number of highrise developments planned in Surrey’s City Centre in 2019, according to Mayor Doug McCallum, who said in January that “it could probably easily be one of the biggest years” for such development in the area.
2,200: The number of seats proposed for a new “destination athletic centre” and grandstand for track and other sports at Bear Creek Park, in a structure similar to Langley’s McLeod Stadium.
16: In kilometres, the length of February’s Surrey Interfaith Pilgrimage, in a fifth-annual event from the Thien Ton temple on 96th Avenue to KPU’s Surrey campus, in Newton.
1,000: The estimated number of rock concerts seen by Surrey’s Colin “Captain Maniac” Hartridge in his 69 years.
143: The estimated number of days Surrey’s Mat Fee said it would take him to ride his single-speed BMX bike across Canada, in an awareness campaign for John Volken Academy in Newton.
$10.7m: Amid a “portable explosion,” the expected bill in 2019-20 for the purchase of school portables in Surrey, up from $8.5 million in 2018.
12: The number of overdoses in Surrey on a single day in March, prompting Fraser Health Authority to issue an overdose alert.
71: Cliff Annable’s age when the Surrey community builder and former White Rock councillor died suddenly in March, after suffering a heart attack.
1955: The year of opening of Whalley’s landmark Flamingo Hotel, which was demolished in June to make way for a residential project at the corner of King George Boulevard and 108th Avenue.
1965: The year of opening of North Surrey Recreation Centre, which closed for good on Dec. 22 to make way for a mixed-use Centre Block development on the site.
$52m: The cost to build the new North Surrey Sport & Ice Complex near Scott Road SkyTrain station, in a move of ice sports away from North Surrey Recreation Centre.
200: The number of tiny tremors recorded between Victoria and Seattle on March 12, due to a “tectonic dance.”
9: The date in January that Brooke Colby Productions had picked for a meeting to “obtain clearances” with officials for a Team Knievel daredevil motorcyclist to “jump the gap” left in White Rock’s pier after a huge storm the month before. The stunt never happened.
940: The number of karate kicks executed by Jasmin Nahal in five minutes during a Kick-A-Thon charity event held at Newton Black Belt Academy in April, adding to the total of 15,961 kicks by students there.
1,200: The approximate number of police-involved cases of serious harm or death investigated by the Central City tower-based Independent Investigations Office (IIO) since it opened in September of 2012.
$1.70: The per-litre price of regular gas in Surrey in mid-April, when locals grumbled about paying the highest fuel prices in North America.
440: Total number of students expected at Simon Fraser University’s newest campus in Surrey, at a “living lab” facility for clean-tech studies, being built at 10285 Unversity Dr.
$365,000: The estimated cost to install tampon and pad dispensers in all Surrey schools and district buildings, according to a Surrey Schools staff report in June.
$15,851: The amount spent to create a Surrey Police Department vehicle prototype showcased outside Mayor Doug McCallum’s State of the City address on May 7.
100: The estimated number of “extreme weather” beds in Surrey during an early-February cold snap.
30: The number of B.C. temperature records that fell during a mid-May heat wave.
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