Wednesday night saw four new Hometown Heroes recognized in Maple Ridge.
Both Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are home to numerous elite athletes at the highest levels of their sports – including NHL star Cam Neely, Hall of Fame baseball player Larry Walker, and Indy Lights racer Greg Moore – leading to a Hometown Heroes banquet born in 1998.
At Garibaldi Secondary, banners for the four new heroes were unveiled, and each of the people being recognized as among Ridge Meadows’ greatest athletes had a chance to give their thanks, after a banquet prepared and served by future chefs in the culinary arts program at the school.
There were no Hometown Heroes events during the COVID-19 pandemic, so three years worth of heroes were recognized – two in one year, due to a tie. There were two sprint kayak racers with the Ridge Canoe and Kayak Club in Brian Malfesi and Sara Hopkins (for 2020), cyclist Maggie Coles-Lyster (2021) and softball player Jaycee Affeldt (2022).
“We get to celebrate three years in one night,” is how Maple Ridge-Mission MLA Bob D’Eith put it.
Each of them took a turn at the podium, including professional cyclist Coles-Lyster, who sent a video greeting because she is currently competing in Paris, France, and could not attend in person.
“I miss Maple Ridge a lot when I’m on the road,” her video told the audience. “I even got the Golden Ears tattooed on my rib cage – that shows how much it all means to me, to come home to such a beautiful, loving, and supportive community.”
READ ALSO: Maple Ridge cyclist chosen as a hometown hero
Hopkins, who is a lawyer in northern B.C. talked about giving back to the community.
“The privilege I had to compete all across the world, to see the world, to learn to make connections, and make friends across Canada and across the world, is an opportunity and a privilege not afforded to many children,” said Hopkins.
READ ALSO: Sprint kayaker Hopkins named a Hometown Hero
“As athletes we learn early on, and the most successful of us learn this very well, to put our heads down and focus on ourselves. Get through each practice, get through each competition. Reflect on our performance – be better, do better,” she said. “At the end of our career we have to lift our head up, and ask ourselves what we can do for our communities that have supported us in achieving our dreams.”
Malfesi has been training toward the Paris 2024 Olympics.
READ ALSO: Maple Ridge’s Malfesi to be honoured as a Hometown Hero
“It’s really cool that such a small club and such a small city, has produced so many amazing athletes,” said Malfesi.
He pointed to people who had coached him in cross country running and gymnastics, and acknowledged other local athletes and friends he hadn’t seen since high school.
“It’s cool to be part of such a tight community and to have people coming back from all over,” he said.
Affeldt is a Garibaldi grad who said it was great to be back “where it all started” and see faces she hadn’t seen in years.
READ ALSO: NCAA star ball player will be one of Maple Ridge’s Hometown Heroes
“I was always so proud to call Maple Ridge my home town, when I lived in Alabama, and I’m just so proud to call it my home town again now that I live back here.”
All of the athletes expressed their love and appreciation for their families, and thanked the organizers of the annual Hometown Heroes night.
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