- Terrace twins choose tandem.
careers in law enforcement

WHEN IDENTICAL twins
Mark and Matthew Meijer

- were choosing careers, they

not only «looked -at . their
future, they also. looked at
their past. Then they made a

joint and judicious decision: :

they would track in . their
father’ s law enforcement
footsteps.

For Matthew, that meant

becoming an RCMP officer.
' “My dad was a Mountie and '
that has played at the back of

my mind since I was little,”

‘says Matthew, referring to
- his father, Terrace resident

Rick Meijer, a Mountie for
26 years. .
high school’ I realized. no
other job interested me.
‘Matthew, who recently
graduated ‘from the RCMP
academy in Regina, is now

* stationed at his first posting, :

Salt Spring Island.
For his brother, Mark,

law‘enforcement comes in a

slightly different form: that of

a Canada Order Officer with —
_.the Canada Border Services”
Agency (CBSA). Mark, who ..
had. been employed on con-.

tract as a Customs Officer in
Nanaimo since 2002 under
that agency’s former name,

“Canada Customs & Revenue
_ Agency, recently undertook -
' full time ‘duties with CBSA '

in the Kootenays. -
“You get to enforce the
criminal code and all federal

a ‘statutes of the Customs and
Immigration: Acts, and you

get to hone your skills by

seeing if people are lying or

not,” says Mark.

Mark and Matthew, who

hail from Terrace, graduated

from Caledonia Sr. Second- .
. ary School in- 1996. They

- Legion notes |
Karaoke contest on tap.

_CONTRIBUTED By |
CMDE PETER |
CROMPTON >
A GREAT time was had by
all at the Brarich’s annual
curling bonspiel, in its 51st

year. It was great to see 30
rinks out there enjoying ‘the. o
weekend; thanks go to the -
organizers, to the out-of- .

town rinks, the junior teams

and all that participated. -
The “A” event was won by

the John Evans rink of John,

-Gord Olsen, Kim Evans, and —

Kelly. Nunn. The “B” event
went to Andy Hoffman, Les

- Sinnott, Steve Dinnedge and

Dino Diane, the junior rink
of Jordan Johnson, ‘Doug

Swank, Kiran Griffiths and

Scott Rosentreter took “C”
event,’ while Warren Co-
peland, Chad Sallenbach,
Shane DeJong and Marga-

* ret Copeland won the “D”

event.
Thanks go to the North-
west College Culinary Arts,

Legion Ladies Auxiliary for

the super Saturday evening

meal, the Terrace pipes and |
. drums, and all the merchants —
‘who donated door prizes.
' Thanks to the Branch |

colour guard and the sports
chairperson Joyce Bradley,

co-chair John Kennedy and |
the whole committee. Well’

done.

‘In the: zone darts play

downs held in Kitimat, the
Smithers Branch ran away

with all the honours. Brian ©

Robinson won the singles,

- Lloyd Dundas and partner -
’- Kevin Murray the doubles,

and. Dundas, Murray, Rob-
inson and Gibson took team
honours; they now ‘travel

south for the provincials in -.

early April, where Dundas

and Murray will defend their _
provincial doubles champi- |

onship from last year. Good
luck to all.
In the world of Branch

entertainment, our Saturday

jam sessions are going well,

as are the meat draws. We >

hope to hold some special
events in the near future so
keep your eyes on the notice
boards. There is a karaoke

contest that will get under |
_ way on Friday, Feb. 17 and
- continue on March 3 and 17, °

with the finals on March 31.
Our last couple of general

meetings have been a little
let’s keep .

better attended —
it up and hope to see even
more out next Tuesday, Feb.

14 at 8 p.m.

- The next veteran’ s dinner
will be held on Wednesday,

Feb. 15, so let’s see all our

“Some. time in«

attended NWCC in Terrace,

then went on to Nanaimo’s

Malaspina _ University,
where, in 2002, they ob-
tained their. degrees: Mark,
a Bachelor of Science, as
well as a Diploma in Re-
source Management & Of-
ficer Technology; ‘Matthew,
a Bachelor of Arts.,'as well
as a Deputy Sheriff's Cer-

tificate from the: Justice‘ In-«

stitute of B.C. Matthew also
served as a reservist with the

.Canadian Scottish Regiment
_ (Princess Mary’ s) of the
:Armed Forces: in Nanaimo

for a number of years.
Matthew’s _ graduation

~ from the RCMP is all the
_ more remarkable given the

severity of injuries he re-
ceived in a near-fatal Brinks

" motor vehicle accident in the

fall of 2003. Driven by un-
wavering resolve, Matthew
suffered through numerous .
surgeries and an extensive

.fehabilitation program, at °

first eating through wired .
jaw: and broken. teeth; navi- .

gating with a walker, then a.

cane. ‘In February 2005, he’:
was accepted into the RCMP
Academy. and graduated in.
July, 2005 -.at a ceremony -

‘where his. father proudly

handed him his badge.
Choosing tandem careers _

“seemed natural for these
. twins, who have helped and

supported each other over

~the years. It was Mark who, | '

following « Matthew’s mo-_
tor-vehicle accident, kept an ‘
all-night vigil by his broth-
er’s ICU bedside until. their |
parents arrived, It was Mark .

‘ who, during Matthew’ s pain-

ful recovery, kept an eye on
his brother,.as well as looked

veterans and spouses of vet-,
erans out to this monthly get.
together.
It’s a great opportunity to. p.
meet and chat over a hearty:

meal and beverage.

Canadian
Cancer

after his dog. But then, look-

‘ing after each other’s dog
is something they’ve been -
‘doing for years when the

other one was away. (Yes,

even their golden retrievers

are siblings - and..who can
blame them if at times they

‘get confused as to who their
-real master is!)
-. But now Mark and Mat-.
‘thew’s lives are diverging:
Mark recently got engaged. _
And they’ve moved. But .”

before they left: Nanaimo

— where, with ‘the excep-.

“tion of Matthew’s six-month
training in Regina, they’ve

they had .

lived since 1998 —
to visit each other - twice in
two days. First, Mark visited

Matthew on Salt Spring Is-. .

land: Then, as the movers

were packing - Mark’s . be-.
longings for his relocation:
to the Kootenays, Matthew .

“visited Mark in Nanaimo.

_ Difficult though it must’ «
"have. been to say good-bye .
~ of sorts — they’re already:
making plans for their next...
visit. When they get together
- again —‘and that will ‘likely, ”:
be around Christmas, just -
before Mark leaves for a..:
three-month course in Que-
“bec — ‘theyll no doubt have. i
‘lots to talk about. 7
Their careers may be.»
: grounded in the past, but ~

Mark and Matthew are now

focusing on careers that are

theirs to shape.:

e“There’s lot of ‘things I.

’ want to do, but for now I’m

concentrating. on general

duty work,” says Matthew.

Pd like: to get into the | °
dog service department of °.
~ maybe the intelligence side _

of it,” states Mark...

. bog
ran

March 3.

Next | general. ‘meeting,
Tuesday, Feb.: 14 at 8.00
m.

WE WILL REMEMBER

‘THEM
Next steak night Pray .

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Contact Infbmation/Inquirid

3608 Sparks St.,Terace, B. C.V8q
- Ph: 250- 635- 6173.
Fax: 250-635-9385 .
Email: ccs@telus. net

Website: www.centennialchristf

“Train a child in the way be should go and
when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22: 6.

vade 12

TWINS”

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - B3

To which Mark adds with
confidence — and he’s obvi- |
ously speaking for Matthew
as well as himself — “I’m
happy. It’s teally interesting
work.”

Mark, »~ left,
and ‘Matthew. Meijer.
have followed _ in. their
father’s footsteps.

. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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