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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2015-11-05, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015. Continued from page 1 landowners or, in North Huron’s case, municipalities, Lee says, and the group is not permitted to be on those portions of the trail, but there is still plenty of trail for them to work on. While rain was in the forecast for Saturday, Lee said it’s important that the group get moving. He hopes to have this portion of the trail’s surface treated and graded, as well as fenced and signed, so members of the public will have a positive demonstration going into the winter, which will be an important time for the group. Over the winter months, Lee says, there will be a lot of mapping work done on the trail and a crowd-sourc- ing campaign will be initiated so the majority of the work on the trail can begin with the snow melts and the ground thaws in the spring of 2016. The mapping work will be done digitally with hope of developing an app for smartphones that will allow users of the trail to interact with trail maps and information about the trail, Lee says, but there is still a lot of development that needs to take place before anything like that is ready for use. He also said that significant work will be done on the organization’s governance structure over the winter, which is crucial as the trail continues to move forward. The portion the group worked on over the weekend is “in great shape” according to Lee, who said that the work being done is going to be great for a number of reasons. “I think people will be pleased to see something actually happening,” Lee said of the work on the trail. “I feel like we’ve talked about it for years, so now we’re turning that into action.” Stewardship along the trail was one of the hot-button issues with decision-makers such as Huron County councillors and critics such as adjacent landowners. It’s one of the aspects of the trail that has been going even better than expected. Lee says that handshake agree- ments are in place with stewardship groups to take care of nearly all por- tions of the trail through Huron County. Over the winter those agree- ments will be firmed up, but Lee says it’s good to see the enthusiasm and the willingness to chip in from local service groups, as well as adja- cent landowners who have put their names forward. While work on the ground contin- ues along the trail, from a political standpoint, Huron County Planning and Development staff will be pre- senting their long-awaited report on the trail to Huron County Council at a meeting this month. Once the report has been received and debat- ed, council will decide whether or not to officially support the trail. Last month, council received a report from the newly-formed Huron County Economic Development Board recommending support of the trail. The board also pledged $20,000 of support to the trail as long as its requests were met. For more information on the trail and its ongoing progress, visit its website at www.g2grailtrail.com. G2G to focus on mapping, crowdsourcing campaign Huron Christian School groups, teams faring well By Principal Nick Geleynse New things always seem to create excitement. This year, at Huron Christian School in Clinton, we started our 54th year of providing a Biblically-based, Christ-centred education with an opening assembly on our newly-installed rubberized gym floor. Wow, what a difference, not only with how it looks, but also how it feels! No more hard, sometimes slip- pery, concrete, with cracks under- foot. Now we have a softer, very sure-footed surface to play on. This new floor was made possible through a generous gift from an anonymous donor. The new gym floor is also more comfortable to sit on for our weekly Monday morning chapels, where we spend time together singing some worship songs, a brief devotional and listening to the announcements for the upcoming week. It’s also a time to recognize accomplishments by individuals or teams. Speaking of teams, our soccer and cross-country teams all had success- ful seasons, both as far as team and individual accomplishments go. Now it’s our volleyball teams that are practising for their end-of- November tournament. Student groups of all ages are active outside of sports as well. As part of their learning, we provide opportunities for our students to be actively involved in serving their community. Each week a group of four students from Grade 6 to 8 help out at the Soup and More lunch at the Heartland Community Church in Clinton. On a monthly basis, another group of students goes to the Day Away Centre or seniors’ home in Huron County to entertain and interact with the residents. As I write this, we have just fin- ished another afternoon of students going out into the community to share the love of Jesus in a very practical, hands-on way – raking leaves at homes in Vanastra and Clinton, cleaning up garbage along Highway 8 west of Clinton and interacting with seniors in Exeter Villa, Maplehill in Clinton and Goderich Place. Those experiences prove that learning does not happen just inside the classroom. Currently, our Grade 7/8 class health class is putting together designs for a skateboard park, which will be presented to either the Central Huron or Huron East municipal council. This project incorporates health, math, writing, speaking and multiple other disci- plines. The class spent some time in Exeter getting ideas for their designs. Our Grade 5 to 8 students partici- pated in a wetland day sponsored by the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority, in which they helped plant more trees in the wetland just behind our school. Grade 4 students participated in a program studying habitats native to this area that was presented at the Wawanosh Nature Centre. Students in Grades 1 to 3, as part of their tree study, visited the Woodlands Arboretum for a close- up, hands-on view of many species of trees. In addition, they planted two more maple trees on our school property. Some exciting events are coming for the school including the annual Goods and Services Auction on Nov. 21 at the Libro Community Hall in Clinton, Kindergarten registration for the 2016-17 school year on Nov. 25 and finally our Christmas musi- cal on Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. and Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. The school year is well on its way and we’re excited about exploring and learning about this creation that God has given us.Helping out When it comes to learning, students at Huron Christian School look both in and out of the classroom for their lessons. Earlier this week, a group of students visited homes in Vanastra and Clinton along Highway 8 cleaning up garbage and raking lawns. Back row, from left: Kirsten McKellar, Maria Pot, Kerina Boersma, Julia Waanders, Lian Stanley, Brooke Kootstra, Pastor Paul DeWeerd, Irwin Hol and Sean Vandendool. Front row, from left: Nadine VanBreda, Anneka Meinen, Cassie Whaling, Ethan Boersma, Riley Poortinga and Jared Boersma. (Photo submitted) Poppy campaign Blyth Legion members Mel and Ric McBurney and Blyth Scoutmaster Lavern Clark were out pounding the pavement to sell poppies for Remembrance Day over the weekend. Saturday marked the official opening of the Poppy Drive campaign in Blyth. (Vicky Bremner photo) Putting in work A group of volunteers spent Saturday near Walton preparing the Goderich-to-Guelph Rail Trail for the eventual foot traffic it will see. The group worked on the portion of the trail between Brussels and McDonald Lines. One of the major aspects to preparing the trail for use is fenc- ing. Here, erecting a fence are, from left: Steven Gross, Paul VanderMolen, Doug Wilson and Joe Dwyer. (Vicky Bremner photo)