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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1986-10-08, Page 1P TABLOSHED ON 1873 ` THE SEPOY TOWN" ON THE HURON°BRUCCE BOUNDARY 16 PAGES 407 PEA COPY 404 PER COPY AA } Y Pf ,,4 fi/Sy „Yr✓.'a�"aiz Mrs, Meurs, the French teacher at the Lucknow and District Christian School, has in- trodueed the relatively untried idea of ` French immersion course in. the Kindergarten class at the school which began last week, }Jere, she's reads a book to• the students in French. (Man Rivett photo) French, immersiou liy Alan Rivett It' :was like :a second . beginning of the school year for the Kindergarten class at the Lucknow and District Christian School on October 3. It was the opening day for the French immersion course which the school has implemented this year. Mrs.• Sylvia Meurs, the French teacher at the school for the past four years, said the students adapted very well to the first. day of "French only" in the classroom. "They learned how to say "thank -you" in French and "my name is.." They were very eager to learn although they were a little scared at first. But later they were freer to say something. If r said the name of an animal in French they would say it right away," she said. The eight Kindergarten students at the school will speak only French in class all day, but are free to speak English when SC they are talking to their friendiat recess, she said. Mrs. Mears said she hope it will be an ongoing cirriculum requirement in the school, • with the students having French immersion right up to Grade 8: Principal William Kainphuis said the idea of a French 'immersion course in the Kindergarten Blass is the brainchild of Mrs. Meurs, He says this is the first at- tempt at a French immersion course in the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools. He said Mrs. Mears was a natural to teach the course, having lived in France and has an excellent command of the language. • He said the course was volun- tarily set up and taught by Mrs. Mears. "Initially, Sylvia (Meurs) presented the idea to us. She felt that at a very early age, the pupils would be able to work vrith the Turn to page .2 • Towushlps.agree to back new Lucknow arena By Man Rivett In an effort to get the funding for the pro- posed new arena complex for Lucknow, three out of the four municipalities represented on the Lucknow Arena,Board have pledged money towards a new arena. At their meeting on September 29, West Wawanosh, Kinloss and • Ashfield Townships have agreed to put $75,000 each for the new; arena. However, the lone holdout towards backing the project was the village of Lucknow itself. "The village of f Lucknow cannot commit to $75,000 at the present time. Our recom- mendation is to fix the roof and continue with the fund-raising," said Lucknow's Arena Board. representative„ Ab Murray in a statement to the board. Mr. Murray told the board the village would be unable to commit to the $75,000 due to the proposed $1.3 million sewer pro- ject slated for Lucknow to begin next year. Although the Ministry of the Environment. has agreed to finance 85 per cent of the project, the village will be left with an ap- proximate 600,000 debt which will be debentured over an indefinite period. He eixplainedthe village's debt could rise even more if the entire village is taken.. into the proJect instead of the core area. "We were told by out accountant that':. there is no way the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) would debenture :• that amount ($75,000)," said Mr. Murray. Mr.;. Murray went on to say the sewer project itself will put a strain on• taxpayers in the village without the added expense of a new arena in the near future. "There's a` lot of people on fixed income in the village and some of the people just won't be able to pay the taxes," he said. However; Mr, 'Murray, said he would again take the proposal of putting $75,000 towards the new arena before village,coun- cil •again to see if there is any way Lucknow canmake the financial commitment. Rhea. Hamilton -Seeger,. the West Wawanosh representative on the . board, asked the Lucknow board members• how long the village's hands would be tied with Emersons move to Wingham nursi:ng homy Whitechurch's loss is Wingham's gain as two long-time and well -loved residents of that community took up residence on Oc- tober 1 at Bray Lodge in Wingham. Victor and Valetta Emerson have left their Whitechurch home and moved to Winghazn. Leaving the tiny hamlet which has been home to them all their lives will be difficult, but knowing their friendly ways, they soon will have made even more friends. Here at the Sentinel, we will miss Mrs. Emerson's weekly contribution of the hap- penings Whitechurch and .community as our faithful correspondent. For more years than she can remember, she has supplied church and Women's Institute reports, to name just two, as well as a com- plete list of "personal notes" reflecting the activities of people within the community. If Mr. and Mrs. Emerson miss the com- munity of Whitechurch, the people of Whitechurch certainly will miffs them. For years the Emerson home has been open to generations of young people growing up in the hamlet, with stories of the "old days" or just a friendly ear. The former Valetta Tiffin, Mrs. Emer- son' grew up on,a farm near Langside, 'just north of Whitechurch. Her :husband was raised on a farm in West Wawanosh and the two met at a dance where "she cor- nered me", jokes Mr. Emerson today. They were married 62 years in July. and Mr, Emerson. is 93 years of age while his wife is88. They farmed for 25 years before moving to Whitechurch where Mr. Emerson started his own carpentry business. However, even before they left the farm Mrs. Emerson was a correspondent for the Sentinel, •• the Wingham Advance -Times and even the Stratford Beacon -Herald. Her community spirit and enthusiasm. made her a natural for the lob of cor- respondent as she always was deeply in- volved in church, institute and was a keen supporter of all Whitechurch sports teams. The job of correspondent is time con- suming and Mrs. Emerson spent long hours on the telephome over the years, get- ting the news of the community in time for "deadline". All Mr, and Mrs. Emerson's friends join. in wishing them health and happiness at their new home in Wingham. P the project. Mr. Murray responded that it could be inthe i.0 -year range before the village might have money to commit to such a project. Allan Gibson, the arena board- member and Reeve of Ashfield Township, said he would not support a new roof for theex- isting arena as current fund-raising would cease. "If we fix the roof, the fun -raising will be done for sure. The lottery and the service clubs in town have made pledges as long as .it goes to a new arena," he said. • Most of the Arena Board members • agreed the financial commitment from the municipalities would give some direction for the fund-raising effort which most believe has been stalled because of a "lack of direction". • • "I can see that it's not going to happen unless the municipalities get behind them (the fund-raising committee) a bit," said Ashfield Reeve Allan Gibson. "With $75,000 or 300,000 (in total) from the municipalities, $300,000 from fund- raising, and $300,000 from grants, we can go ahead and build it" West Wawanosh Reeve Cecil Cranston also echoed Mr. Gibson's statements, say- ing the financial support froth the municipalities will bolster the fund-raising efforts in the area. "With the money sitting there, wouldn't it make - want to get behind it?" he people said, • Kinloss : Arena Board representative Dave Eadie said a definite commitment of $300,000 will have to be made by the fund- raising committee with the full support of the area service clubs needed for the pro- ject. He also recommended that another arena complex lottery be started after the initial one expires. "The money should provide some incen- Turn to page 2 • Lottery Draw 45 was made in the Lucknow and. istrict Arena Complex Lottery on Oe- ober 6. The winners were: $500 - Lucknow nterinediate Hockey Team; $300 - Wayne cDonagh; $100 • Mary Lavis and $100 hil McCann. Correction A few errors were brought to our atten- tion in last week's Sentinel. The names were accidentally left off the front page picture of the Fingerprinting program. The names were Barb Helm, Dona Mac- Donald and Ashley Hoak. The program was sponsored by the Lucknow Block Parent Association and not the Dinettes as stated. Also, a gentleman called to say a report submitted: by the Huron County Historical Society contained some er- roneous information. The bell mentioned inthe piece did not belong to the church. but was the bell from the leo. 4 West Wawanosh School in St. Helen's. The Sen- tinel regrets these errors. • Victor and Valetta Emerson, long-time residents of the Whitechurch -community, moved to Bray Lodge . in Wingham last week. Mrs. Emerson was the newspaper's loyal Whiteehurch correspondent for many years and they will be missed deeply by their numerous friends in the communi- ty. (Wingham Advance -Times photo)