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Events mark Man in Motion anniversary

Nathan Bragg from Maple Ridge and Gordon Kirkland from Pitt Meadows will be medal bearers
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Rick Hansen wheeling in Birdsville in the Australian Outback. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Man in Motion World Tour that Rick Hansen completed in 1987.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Man in Motion World Tour that Rick Hansen completed in 1987.

As part of the Anniversary Relay, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows will be celebrating local heroes, May 16 and 17.

Two local medal bearers will carry the Rick Hansen Medal as part of its cross-Canada journey and stop at local community celebrations.

The two medal bearers, Nathan Bragg and Gordon Kirkland, were selected as part of a community survey, with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows municipal advisory committee on accessibility issues making the final decision, says a District of Maple Ridge news release.

"Nathan and Gordon are great citizens, great volunteers and amazing examples of how we all need to focus on how many people in our communities, working together, are making a difference," said Greg Turnbull, on the accessibility committee.

The celebration in Maple Ridge takes place May 16 in Memorial Peace Park from 5  p.m. to 7 p.m.

The medal arrives at 6 p.m., carried by 18-year-old Maple Ridge secondary student Nathan Bragg, the B.C. Wheelchair Basketball Society's 2010 Junior Athlete of the Year.

The event will include live music, displays and a brief ceremony as the medal arrives on the bandstand.

The next day, Thursday, May 17, the medal goes to Pitt Meadows for a celebration at Spirit Square from 11:45 am to 1:15 p.m.

Live music, a barbecue and other events will serve as a backdrop for the medal ceremony, featuring humourist and novelist Gordon Kirkland.

Turnbull said the advisory committee on accessibility issues, is an example of how accessibility and inclusion is now "part of the way we do business in our communities, and what has happened to make them more inclusive and accessible since the Man in Motion World Tour ended in 1987."

For two years Hansen wheeled in a wheelchair through 34 countries on four continents.

The Anniversary Relay recreates Hansen's original route as a global invitation to join in his journey towards a cure for spinal cord injuries and create a more inclusive society, as well as inspiring a new generation to dream and take action to change the world.