Month: June 2012

 

Local car enthusiasts had plenty to dazzle their eyes on Wednesday, June 13, when the Golden Gears Car Club held their first Iroquois event. The Show & Shine held in the Iroquois Plaza drew 38 vehicles from all areas of Eastern Ontario. On hand at this show was one of the club’s sponsors, Benson Auto Parts. Club president Henry Swank was very pleased with the turnout, and hopes that the giant car show planned for July 1 at the point will draw lots of area visitors. Pictured is Ted Decker with his Shelby Mustang.

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Morrisburg area residents John Gleed and Ron Beaupre are pleased to announce the introduction of an Internet based pictorial history of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The new pictorial history has been added to the stlawrencepiks.com website and covers the period from the first efforts to improve river navigation in the early 1800s to the present day, from Montreal to Lake Ontario. 

It includes more than two hundred historic photographs and descriptions.

The St. Lawrence River system, in conjunction with the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, provides a continuous waterway extending 2,347 miles into the heart of the continent from the Atlantic Ocean. 

Between Montreal and Lake Ontario, a distance of 183 miles, the St. Lawrence River falls a total of 246 feet.

The photographs and narrative are provided by Ron Beaupre who now lives on the shores of the Seaway in Mariatown, near Morrisburg. 

He grew up in the 1950s in Iroquois where he acquired his life-long interest in the Seaway, its boats and history. He became by his own admission a “Boat Nerd”. 

Over the years, he has collected a unique library of Seaway related photographs and other documents. 

He has made a selection of some of his favourite photographs and related information available for presentation in this pictorial history of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

John Gleed originally introduced the stlawrencepiks.com web site in 2010, after retiring to Morrisburg following a high tech career in Ottawa. 

The site displays some of the best digital photographs taken by himself and his wife, Rosemary Laurin, mostly from along the St. Lawrence River in the beautiful areas around Morrisburg.

In 2011, a Morrisburg pictorial history section was added to the website based on the Reverend George Smith’s historic photographs of the old town of Morrisburg, prior to being flooded by the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. 

They were presented with the generous permission of his daughter, Claire Delage, the current owner of all copyrights. 

For more information, see www.stlawrencepiks.com or contact John Gleed directly via email at john.gleed@gmail.com or by phone at 613-543-0933.

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On June 16th, Issac Rutters had his hair cut at the Dutch Touch in Morrisburg. The remarkable thing about Rutters’ hair cut is that it is the second time he has grown and cut his hair for cancer.  

On September 24th, the grade 5 student from Rothwell-Osnabruck donated six three-inch ringlets of hair to Angel Hair for Children in Mississauga. That donation led to wigs for four children with cancer.

Feeling good about helping other children, Rutters decided to do it again. Dutch Touch hairdresser Melanie McCourt was able to retrieve 12 ringlets this time, double Rutters’ last donation.

Rutters is one of three children belonging to Jennifer and Jeff Rutters of Ingleside.

Alongside Rutters during the visit to the hairdresser was maternal grandmother Muriel McRoberts of Winchester.

She explained that one of Rutters’ sisters has been a regular visitor to CHEO and during one of those visits, grandmother and grandson learned of the idea of donating hair for cancer patients through one of the nurses on staff.

Together, the pair visited the cancer ward of the hospital and were shocked to discover how young the children were who had been affected by the disease. McRoberts said it was then that her teary-eyed grandson decided this is what he wanted to do.

In fact, going forward he intends to make the donation a yearly event. According to grandfather Lloyd McRoberts, “we call him the Chia Pet.”

Unlike many other companies that make wigs for cancer, Angel Hair for Children doesn’t have a length requirement.

According to McRoberts, the company was happy to receive the natural curly hair Rutters sent in last September.

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Beginning in September, Seaway District High School will offer a second option in the Specialist High Skills Major program.

On June 12th the province made it official and the local high school is now accredited for the Transportation High Skills Major in addition to the Agriculture High Skills Major already being offered.

According to principal Terry Gardiner, Seaway staff members Robert Knapp, Tanya Crosby and Mark Lewis were instrumental in securing the new accreditation.

The Specialist High Skills Major program allows students in grade 11 and grade 12 to focus on a career path that matches their skills and interests.

The Ontario Ministry of Education offers several options within the Specialist High Skills Major program in addition to agriculture and transportation. 

Seaway’s “excellent shop facilities” was just one of the reasons staff chose to pursue accreditation in the transportation program, said Gardiner. 

He also explained that “a component of the High Skills Major is co-op and we have partners in the transportation industry that provide co-op for our students.”

In addition, the transportation sector is “a large employer in this part of Ontario.”

Gardiner also pointed out that the two programs, agriculture and transportation, compliment one another. He has students in the agriculture program, for example, who are focused on transportation opportunities within agriculture.

“The High Skills Major program has shown that it engages students. When they are interested in their studies, they do better and they attend more.”

He also pointed out that the program “allows students to explore work options in high school before they make decisions about  college.” 

They have the opportunity to try a career to see if it fits for them and, as Gardiner admitted, there are students who have said “yes, this is for me” and others who have said “no, not for me.”

The first set of Seaway students to graduate from the Agriculture High Skills Major will do so this year, said Gardiner.

As for the Transportation High Skills Major, students have already begun expressing an interest and signing up for September.

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On May 16th the Township of South Dundas received a letter from Mart Prost requesting cleanup of the Moffat-Fetterly Drain.

Don Lewis, manager of planning and enforcement, suggested that council use section 78 of the Ontario Drainage Act, “improving the works without the use of a petition.”

He pointed out that Prost has been unable to get any neighbours to sign the petition because they aren’t farmers whereas Prost himself wrote in his letter that “I grow approximately 110 acres of cash crops on land affected by lack of proper drainage maintenance.”

Lewis estimated that there hasn’t been any substantial work done on the drain since possibly before the 1960s. 

Council agreed that Lewis should come back to council with a cost estimate as well as information on who would pay the bill before any decisions are made.

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To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, six attractive blue signs have been strategically positioned in South Dundas to mark significant locations/events that took place at or nearby their locations. Two of the signs can be found at Mariatown which was located in a key place on the “life-line” of Upper Canada–The St. Lawrence River. It was at Mariatown that the first local volunteers mustered for duty. Two signs are located at Iroquois and two are on Highway 2 east of Morrisburg. The signs at Iroquois commemorate The American Landing and Occupation of the Front of Matilda and the Skirmish at Doran’s Farm. East of Morrisburg the signs mark The Burning of Nash Creek Bridge and the November 10 &11, 1913 Battlefield at the Nine Mile Road to Fetterly’s Farm. “What I am hoping is that people will stop, look and envision what happened 200 years ago,” says Morrisburg resident Bill Shearing who was involved in the South Dundas sign program. Shearing pointed out that the signs were placed where it was felt motorists could stop, pull off the roadway and read them. Brochures explaining the signs are currently available at the South Dundas Economic office in Morrisburg. In addition to the more widely known Battle of Crysler’s Farm, there were several lesser known events and skirmishes that took place in the South Dundas area. The sign pictured above, is located in a very picturesque setting on the westerly limit of Mariatown.

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The Dundas County District Council of Easter Seals Ontario met on June 14th at the J.W. McIntosh Seniors’ Centre in Williamsburg for their annual general meeting.

In 2011, Dundas County raised $19,467.85 through its many fundraising events, which include Paper Eggs, Ball Hockey, Bowling, Snowarama, Curling, and Blooperball.

Council chair Ian McLaughlin attended the provincial annual general meeting  weeks ago and reported that only four per cent of every dollar goes to administration and seven per cent to fundraising costs, leaving a whopping 89 per cent for Easter Seals children.

Currently, there are approximately 11 families in Dundas County registered with Easter Seals Ontario.

Children, youth and young adults up to age 19 are eligible for services through Easter Seals Ontario. At age 20, services are then available through the March of Dimes. 

According to McLaughlin, the main difference between the two groups is that March of Dimes receives financial support from the government whereas Easter Seals relies solely on donations and fundraising efforts.

“We’re very proud of the fact that 2012 is the 90th anniversary of Easter Seals in Ontario,” he continued. “It was started by eight rotary clubs in 1922 in Windsor, Ontario.”

“One of the major funding projects that Easter Seals supports is camping.” The two camps are Camp Merrywood and Camp Woodeden.

“Most Easter Seals kids will tell you that their favourite memory is camping.”

For those who don’t want to go to camp, McLaughlin explained that there is a summer recreational choices program as well where families are eligible to receive financial assistance for alternatives like a family vacation or day camps.

In addition to providing information about Easter Seals Ontario and the many fundraisers, the Dundas County District Council of Easter Seals Ontario recognized and awarded some of the many community volunteers who helped raise money for the cause in 2011. 

There were four awards to give out this year beginning with two for the Snowarama fundraiser and two for the Paper Eggs fundraiser.

The first Snowarama Award, in remembrance of Debbie McHaffie Strader, is awarded to the club that raised the most funds for the event. This year, like several before, the award went to the South Dundas Snowmobile Club. Jean McDougal was on hand to receive the award.

The second Snowarama Award is awarded to the first time participant who raised the most money for the event. Chris MacMillan, a grade 8 student at St. Mary’s-St. Cecilia’s School in Morrisburg won the award.

The first Paper Eggs Award is awarded to the company with under five employees who raised the most money for the event. For the fifth year in a row, Cook’s Corner of Morrisburg won the award. Debbie Denis was on hand to receive the award.

The second Paper Eggs Award is awarded to the company with more than six employees who raised the most money. For the first time ever, Mike Dean’s of Winchester won the award.

The Dundas County District Council of Easter Seals Ontario members include Harriet Clarke, Ron Gillard, Deanna MacKillican, Ian McLaughlin, Margaret Reynolds, Bob Ruddock and Marja Smellink.

McLaughlin pointed out that the council is on its 12th year and that they’re “always looking for volunteers. We meet once a month on the second Thursday night” at the J.W. McIntosh Seniors’ Centre in Williamsburg. There are no meetings in July or August.

“We certainly are always looking for new and interesting volunteers to help us out with one project or more,” he concluded.

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There was a lot of work and research involved, but now that their study of the World War II bombing of Hiroshima is complete, the grade 4 class at Morrisburg Public School has a wonderful keepsake to cherish.

The keepsake is a beautifully produced book titled Peace Island. It includes colorful artwork and the class-produced story of two pilots, one American and one Japanese who were shot down on a South Pacific island during World War II.  The story tells how the pilots  became friends.

“The topic was about peace,” said grade 4 teacher Jim Lamoureux. 

The large project started in December and the students completed a lot of reading, mainly of books dealing with the bombing of Hiroshima.

The students worked in teams of two and from their studies they wrote and illustrated their own book, Peace Island. Each of the two person teams was responsible for two pages.

“We did the whole plot,” explained Mr. Lamoureux. “We brainstormed the story as a whole class. We had an idea wall, and worked out what each of the characters should look like. Then for every page that had the character,  the kids used that as their bookmark for their artwork.”

“The theme of our book is that by working together, peace can be achieved.”

The students posted their pages on the Wiki class website, and Mr. Lamoureux did the final editing.

“It turned out really, really well,” said Lamoureux. “We did some fund raising to bring the cost down and make it affordable for each of the kids to purchase. It’s not published for sale.”

Through their studies of Hiroshima, the students discovered the story of Sadako Sasaki who was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, near her home in Hiroshima. In 1955, she was diagnosed with leukemia which was linked to her exposure to the radiation.

During her illness, Sadako was introduced to the ancient Japanese story that promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes would be granted a wish by the Gods.

The story is that Sadako died before she completed the 1,000 cranes, and her friends completed them after her death.

Funds were raised to build a memorial to her and all of the children who died from the effects of the atomic bomb. 

Sadako has become a leading symbol of the impact of nuclear war and every year, school children around the world make and send paper cranes to Japan to be placed at the base of her memorial.

“So everyone in this classroom has folded origami cranes,” said Mr. Lamoureux. “We have strung them together in garlands of 100, and we are shipping them to Hiroshima where they will be placed on our behalf.”

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