HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1996-01-31, Page 6Page 6 — Luc now Se
tjuei, Wednesday,, January 31,1996
Port Albert teen wins spot
by Blake Patterson
Melissa Daer, 17, of Port
Allrt was recently selected
to be a mernbei of t six
the
rider �i°eaixi Canada for h. ..
1996 World Cup Saddleseat
Equitation competition in
Louisville,, Kentucky this
July 18-214-
„ 'The
$21.-
'The World Cup 'event,
will be part of a larger event
called Equitana USA,- and
will feature riders 'from the.
• United States, Germany,
South Africa and. Canada.
Equafina is the 'world's -fair'
of equestrian' sport and for
the past 20 years it. has been:
held every odd an imbered.
year .in Essen, Germany.
This year, however, ,will
mark the first year for.
b✓quitanaU.SA (a sister
eventto the ,. German
Equitana) scheduled for
even numbered years.
WAITING #ORI?VORD
Daer said she was
thrilled when the phone call
finally came through Jan.
14 telling her she had made
the team.
Daer had been waiting
expectantly, since her final
competition in Ottawa in
October the.dhainian
aiirm
of the Canadian, Equestrian
Federation National
Saddleseat Equitation com-
mittee had asked her to
apply for the national teatn.
After years of difficult
training and seemingly end-
less hours of travel and
"We we were reallY
excited,” 'said Daor.. "A.
g go to tate w
chance toworlds
is smoothing that doesn't.
come along very often."
So she applied, and then.
'she. waited:. .
"As it got
closer , and
Closer to the
time," said
.Daer, "every
night when 1
carafe home T
would say,
'Mot did •'
you hear
nytlri.ng
yet?' But it
was just a+
matter of
waiting,"
And now,
with . her
s p• o t.
. secured, her
focus is on
the competi-
tion.
NEW
GROUND
Daer said
,one of the
biggest chat:.
lenges she
Will :face is
adjusting to
a new horse.
Because : the World Cup
is a world-wide competition
which would require .young
ridersto facethe expense of
transporting horses thou-
sands
sands of� miles to ompete; ...
.r o
all riders will have t ride
horses selected from a
Mut) of animals on loca-
tion in Kentucky,
For ono week preceding
the corm- petition$ 'the riders
will have time to 'get to
know' their horsa a
• process which can some-
times t
t* a
eke Yeats to accom-
plish.
"Riding an unfamiliar
horse -will be . a big clal-
lenge,'." said Ma.
ty od
.n the ;tn 'ori,
�' af herchampionships over the past
Iwo years, Daer has enjoyed
the familiarity of her prized
American ' Saddlebred
Skizekes, but in Kentucky,
she will have to adjust to a
different
horse,' a differ-
ent gait, and a
whole mixed
bag of n.ew
subtle signals
Which allow
-horse and
rider to coin-
municate.
"You have
to learn how
Much pressure
youneed to,
put on them
with your legs
and.with the
bit, and yon
haveto devel
.op a rapport,"
she said.
:NO DOUBTS
Regarding
the national
team's
chances, she
said Canada
will do well.
on the world
stage.
"I don't
have: ; any
Melissa Daer, of Port Aibert,•was recently selectedto be a member of a six -raider :Team
Canada -for the 1996 World Cup Saddleseat Equitation competition, *Kentucky, this
JuIy.N(pboto by Shannon de Muinck}
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byrPat Hatpini
The' Bruce County Board
of ,Education chairman is
calling for a new approach
to the . budget -setting
process.
Jennifer Yenssen,said a
newly -created restructuring
task force will have thejob
of dealing with a potential
10 per cent cut in provincial
,grants..It, will examine all.
aspts of board operation,
including property, trans-
portation and education.
"Somewould say that is
a declination of :our educa-
tdpal system. It'sgoing to
be too large a task for
finance to handle on its
own,"she said,=;adding't
may lead to a new way of
delivering educational pro-
grams.
She outlined terms of ref-
erence for the new task
.force, saying its primary
goal will be. the ""niainte-
"nance and growth°of the
current high: quality educa-
tion within. Bruce County
schools.".S1 e deSeribed the
task force's job as a broad -
Scope review of ways to off-
set grant cuts.
'The clock is ticking.
The grant cuts have been
announced," Yenssen said
In an 'effort to cut costs,
the board is .also investigat-
ing shared transportation,
purchasingand staff train.
ing options With the, Croy
County and Bruce -Grey
separate boards. In a meet-
ing last month, the three
boards identified 1 i areas of
doubts: that we (Team
Canada) will be able to held
our own."
The event will bejudged
... t Mk
lake Oly. mpic figuure skating
with, two judges
J ud es from the
e
UniteStates, t7afron
;.
South Arica and one from
Canada.
The judges will be look-
ing for things such as the
rider's positiotiing in the
saddle, the steadiness of
their ,legs good hand con-
trol and posture.
The United. States'domi-
nate the sport, but the
unknown in the competition
will be the quality of the
South°African team.
Daer said,since the South
Africans are relatively new
to the sport and do not usu-
ally compete in the States, it
is uncertain how tough they
will be in the ring.
"It's going to be' interest-
ing to see," she said.
PROUD CANADIAN
Regarding what it will
feel like to represent her
country, Daer said the mag-
nitude of the situation .hasn't
really hit her yet, but she
definitely knows it will be a
great honour to ride for
,Canada.
"I'm sure we will all do,
our best to make Canada
proud."
et aroac
possible shared purchasing.
There is also the potential
for sharing services and
purchasing with municipal
and county departments.
Yenssen said the three
boards will meet monthly as
they look for ways to co-
operate on cost-saving mea-
sures.
Trustee Don Stobo, a
member of the shared ser-
vices committee, said in its
first meeting the members
from the three boards quick-
ly overcame what . he
described as a "strained"
atmosphere in the early part
of the meeting.
"I don't see a lot of big
bucks being saved but if we
can cut thecost of services
nee
and ,save even- twi, or time
salaries, it will be Worth-
while, he said.
Director of education,
Paul :Martindale, painted
out the. Bruce board 'already
shares busing and some pur-
chasing. He supports the
effort toward more co-oper-
ation among boards.
'This . shows we believe
there is a clear alternative,"
to the amalgamations ,pro
posed in the ..Sweeney
rep"ort,"Matindale said.
Vice bairman Frank.
Eagleson predicted 'the
shared services committee
could be the "stepping
stone" to a consortium .that
"could be the way to sur-
vive into the future."
sure
t
•from page
monitoring program scheduled to start in February will
helpthe board find outwhy students afe dropping out
and what can be done to prevent it.
"We are going to make every effort to contact students
as they leave : school, find out why they left, and see if
we can encourage them to get back into school," Lennon
.said.. He added the board can provide independent study,
correspondence courses, alternate learningschools like
the one at Saugeen District Secondary School or adult
education, depending on the students' needs.
Lennon called for vigilance on the part of the board to
keep.the drop-out rate low. That means "making sure our
service delivery meets the needs of the students," :he.
said. "rin not convinced we'rethere yet."'