SURREY — Literary artist Heidi Greco, glassblower Robert Gary Parkes and theatre veteran Jim Trimble are the three newest members of the city’s Civic Treasures club.
The award, launched a decade ago, is given annually to those “who have achieved excellence in the production of the arts and/or made significant contributions to the development of arts and heritage in the City of Surrey and beyond.”
Parkes, who operates Loafing Shed Glass Studio in the Port Kells area, has more than 30 years of experience in the glassblowing field.
Greco, a Surrey-based poet and writer, recently published the book Flightpaths: The Lost Journals of Amelia Earhart. She has a long history of championing the literary arts in Surrey, including work to create the position of Surrey Poet Laureate, the inaugural title of which was given to Renée Sarojini Saklikar in 2015.
READ MORE: Surrey writer on a fantasy flight with lost pilot Amelia Earhart, from June 2017
A South Surrey resident, Trimble is a founding member of The Society for the Preservation of Vaudeville, home of The Vaudevillians performance troupe. More recently, he launched Naked Stage Productions Society, which produces “readers theatre” plays for the stage at Newton Cultural Centre.
READ MORE: Surrey’s Naked Stage company searches for some new people, including actors, from December 2016
The 2017 Civic Treasures award recipients will be honoured during an event at Surrey Arts Centre on Oct. 3. Saklikar will emcee the gathering, which will include performances by Benny & the Good Men and Desiree Dawson, the CBC Searchlight competition winner from 2016.
A list of past winners of the Civic Treasures award can be found at surrey.ca/culture-recreation/13678.aspx.