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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-02-13, Page 1single copy 35c 44, SEN Published in Lucknow, Ontario, Wednesday, February 13, 1985 28 pages' Noone injured in eight car pileup Blowing and drifting snow created Whiteout conditions on Friday resulting in an eight car pile up on Huron County Road 1 south of Lucknow. No one was injured in the accident which involved a chain reaction as abandoned cars were struck from behind. A car driven by William Brown of R. 6, Goderich was, involved in an accident with two other vehicles driven by William Kolkman of Londesboro, and Rick Cun- ningham of R 5, Goderich, at 1.01 p.m., 4.8 kilometres south of Lucknow. Ai 4:03 p.m.. a car driven by Gordon W eber of Cambridge was struck by a car driven by Achim Stocker of R. 5, Goderich, 4.8 kilometres south of Lucknow near the farm of Stuart Alton. At 4.10 the Weber vehicle was struck by a car driven by Deborah Brewster of R. 5, Clinton. Five minutes later the Brewster vehicle was struck by a car driven by Ken Bean of R 5, Goderich and five minutes later the W eber vehicle was struck again by a car driven by Wayne Jerome of W est W awanosh Town- ship. In a separate incident a tractor trailer truck_driven by William. Nelson of Lucknow collided with a half ton truck driven by George Dietze of Kincardine at 3.30 p.m. near the location of the other accidents. - ,Supports late immersion By Sharon Dietz A local ratepayer who served on the • Huron County Board of Education's ad hoc committee studying French immersion in the county schools believes in equal access to education opportunities across the county and stands by the committee's recommendation that development of a' late immersion.program in grades.? and 8 is the only practical .French immersion program for Huron county schools. JoAnn Todd of $t.. Helens served on the committee which prepared a lengthy report considering six alternatives for implement- ing French immersion in the county. The committee's recommendations to the board were that no French immersion program be implemented , at this time and the board develop criteria for establishing a program of late immersion in the grade 7 and 8 lasses in the five county . towns. The recommendations were turned down by the board at its February 4 meeting by a vote of 11 to four. Todd says the committee grappled with the issue that total early immersion is the best way for young children to learn a second language but developing a total early immersion course would present problems which would snowball as the program expanded from kindergarten through grade eight. The committee discussed the implications of finding space for an increasing French immersion program in immersion centres, the costs of busing children to thecentres around the Turn to page 3• Sweet. valentines Some valentines are so tasy! Jessica Cooper rolls her eyes in delight as she tastes the pretty pini;: icing she she used to decorate her valentine cupcakes while Jennifer. Porter looks on. Die girls are members of Katie Hackett's grade four Sunday Schoolclass at Lucknow United Church. The children decorated valentine cupcakes with pinkicing and candy hearts to take home for Valentine's Day. (Photo by Sharon Dietz) Response to immersion decision is varied By Sharon Dietz Response to a Huron/County Board of Education decision not to implement French immersion program at this time ranges from disappointment to hearty endorsement. Cathy Stecca, whose children attend Brookside Public School, says she is ashamed of the prejudicial comments made by a board trustee Frank Falconer at the February board meeting, when he asked board members to remember who won the war Wolfe or Montcalm and observed that as a Scot the ratepayers he represents were sure they would not get French "Im- merge" with his vote. Stecca says she knows many people in' Huron County are uncomfortable with this type of prejudice and share the shame she feels that 'such comments make newspap- ers where it reflects on everyone living ,in the. county. Stecca and her husband have decided early total immersion would be too awkward for their children because as a rural family they did not want' their children travelling long hours on the bus to school outside their community. W e don't want French to take over their whole life, she says, so that they come home from school too tired to take piano or gymnastics because they .spend such long hours travelling to and from school. Stecca raises an interesting point saying she wonders if studies have been done on the usefulness of the Core French program currently being expanded in Huron Coun- ty. A tremendous amount of time and money has been spent on Core French and she would like to hear a good arguement on the value of this program. Can the Ministry of Education defend the value of Core French and should the money be better spent on immersion programs? she asks. Stecca also suggests if there . is this grassroots dislike of a second language and the Quebec French - in Huron County, perhaps the schools should not only intro- duce a second 'language but also the culture. Some rural children need to develop a tolerance of other races and colours because this is not taught in the home, she says. Core French could "serve a cultural purpose even if it does not teach the children to speak the language, she ands. Perhaps this introduction to the French culture through Core French would offset such narrow points of view in the county as those expressed at the board meeting last week. Turn to page 4• Raise mosey for baby needing liver transplant By Ron Wassink She's only five months old but Paulette Martin is fighting for her life. And it's a fight she could lose if she doesn't get a much needed liver transplant. • The youngest of nine children of Peter and Louise Martin of Glammis, Paulette / was born July 20 with a liver that doesn't function properly. In medical terms, she has biliary atresia. "Biliary atresia means 'Paulette doesn't have a bile duct. And because of this, bile / backs up in her system," said Mrs. Martin. "Eventually, the bile destroys the liver. It's like cirrhosis of the liver and usually it's fatal." The Martins noticed Paulette was jaun- diced and the jaundice never cleared up. At three weeks of age, Mrs.Martin said Paulette's eye whites were yellow and the symptoms were getting worse. At two months of age, Paulette was taken to a London hospital. Doctors performed an operation but they found they could no nothing for Paulette. She needed a new liver. "After the surgery failed, the last resort is a transplant or a miracle," said Mrs. Martin. Biliary atresia is a rare disease with only about 25 or 30 cases in Canada each year. And the disease more frequently affects girls. The average survival rate is one to two years of age though some children can survive longer without a transplant. "Two years of age is the magic age. If Paulette can survive that long, she can survive the transplant surgery which is very arduous. Many babies who die don't survive the surgery." When the family first learned Paulette had biliary atresia, it was devastating, said Mrs. Martin, and that devastation was. greater because Paulette has spent over half of her life in hospital. `,Family means a lot to us and family is special. It took us a while to accept it. But faith and family kept us going. We're now very optimistic that everything will turn out," said Mrs. Martin. Paulette has been in hospital since she was two months old., When she was home, she contracted . pneumonia. Her mother says Paulette has little resistance to common illnesses. Turn to page 5• IN THE NEWS All star hockey Several lucknow area lads will represent F. E. Madill Secondary School on the school hockey team which will play exhibi- tion games against Goderich . and Seaforth high school teams to raise money for sports jackets. Former Lucknow Midget coach Larry Lane, a teacher at Madill will coach the Madill team of three lines including a Bantam, Midget and Juvenile line, com- prised of boys who play on teamsin the area which usually compete against Turn to page 15• Benefit hockey Five month old Paulette Martin has biliary atresia, a fatal liver disorder. The granddaughter of Clarice Dalton of Kingsbridge, Paulette will die if she does not have a liver transplant. A fund has been established to raise money which will be used to offset medical expenses when Paulette goes to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for surgery, if and when a liver donor is found. The hospital in Pittsburgh is one of only three in North America which do this surgery. The Luclmow Kinsmen Warlords will play the CKNX Tryhards in a benefit hockey game at Lucknow Arena Sunday, February 24 at 3.30p.m. and all proceeds from cash donations at the door will go towards the Paulette Martin liver Fund. Cash donations to the fund may,also be , accepted at Cliff's Plumbing and Heat- ing, Treleaven's Feed Mill, McDonagh Insurance and helm Welding Ltd.