Cover Story

A new skate park is coming to Lethbridge.
   Where? That’s still on the hush-hush until further notice.
But Lethbridge Skateboard Association president Peter Barry promises that when the location of the new skate park is revealed to the public, boarders across the city will be pleased with what they see.
“It’s a great site,” said Barry. “It’s very centrally located. It’s going to be close to all amenities and have some very good facilities around it. Basically, we just have to wait for the developer permits to go through first. There are steps to every process and with this one we have to have a bit more patience before we reveal the site. But I’m really excited about it. It’s going to be a good site for the City of Lethbridge to reveal.”
Now, having been tasked to raise $400,000 of the $600,000 needed to build the new park, the Lethbridge skateboard club gets back on board with its fundraising initiatives, having raised roughly $230,000 so far.

Looking for the complete list of winners in the Sun Times' Best of the Best survey? They're only available in the Feb. 29 print edition, available in various locations around the city, including the Lethbridge Herald office downtown.

Eleven blue and red ribbons hang on the walls of Bert & Mac’s Source for Sports, and general manager Jon McFadden is about to add two more to the collection.
For the 12th consecutive year, the business at 1108 1 Ave. S. has earned the distinction of being named the top sporting goods store in the city in the annual Best of the Best consumers survey conducted by the Lethbridge Sun Times. Readers’ votes each year determine the winners named every February. Voters also awarded the store the title of second-best fitness equipment store.
McFadden credits customer service as the key to success.
“Customer service is the biggest thing that sets you apart from big-box stores,” he says. “People want service. They don’t want to self serve. Self-serve is for groceries.”

When Vic Rizal first arrived in Lethbridge just under three years ago from a Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal, he had his eye on the city.
After civil unrest and ethnic cleansing that displaced approximately 100,000 people, Rizal wanted a change for the better and thought Canada could offer new opportunities.
 Like many newcomers to the country, he believed living in a smaller centre would make it easier to adapt to a whole new culture.
“It’s like living in an apartment for your whole life and then buying a house. It takes some time to adapt to living in the new house,” said a very articulate Rizal, who works the front desk at the Lethbridge Family Services Immigrant Services Centre at 703 2 Ave. S.