HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2006-09-21, Page 1On the Run
Clear skies and seasonable temperatures shone on this year's Terry Fox Run in Brussels,
Sept. 17. The 2006 Terry's Team Member for Brussels, Abi Corbett, led off the event Sunday
morning from the Brussels Optimist Clubhouse. Corbett, who is a breast cancer survivor, wore
a shirt signed by supporters. Organizer Doug McArter said there were 103 participants, and a
total of $6,464.37 was raised. (Vicky Bremner photo)
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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 22 No. 37
Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006
$1 (94c + 6c GST)
Colour
tour, Sun.
Join the annual Fall Colour Tour
at Wawanosh Valley Conservation
Area on Sunday, Oct. 1, from 1- 4
p.m. Hosted jointly by the Maitland
Valley Conservation Authority and
the Maitland Conservation
Foundation, this is a family event
celebrating the autumn season.
Wagon rides will be available
through the conservation area. If the
weather permits a team of horses
will be providing short wagon rides
along the edge of the forest and
through the meadows. If visitors
would like a longer ride they can
climb aboard the tractor wagon and
head to the back of the property.
Visitors will be dropped off at the
hardwood forest if they wish to walk
back along the river trail.
During the afternoon, staff will be
offering guided walks through the
conservation area. Staff will provide
information on how plants and
animals are preparing for winter.
Visitors are also welcome to pick up
a trail map and explore the property
on their own.
The Wawanosh Nature Centre will
be open throughout the tour. Visitors
are invited to stop by and explore
the displays and hands-on
conservation activities. There will
be special activities for children.
As a special feature at this year's
event, the draw for the Foundation's
2006 conservation raffle will be
made at 3 p.m. Tickets will be
available up until draw time.
Proceeds from the raffle will
support education activities at the
Nature Centre.
Admission to the Fall Colour Tour
is free. Bring a mug and enjoy some
apple cider for 50 cents a cup. The
Wawanosh Nature Centre is also a
stop on the Farm Mystery Tour.
Donations to the Maitland
Conservation Foundation to support
education program s at the Nature
Centre will be gratefully accepted.
The Wawanosh Valley
Conservation Area is located south
of Belgrave, and west of County
Road 4. on Nature Centre Road. For
more information contact the
MVCA at 335-3557.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
The 2006 season of world
premiers at Blyth Festival was one of
the most, successful in 'recent years.
General manager Jane Gardner
said that tickets tales boasted a seven
per cent increase from the previous
year. "And by all reports, people had
a great time here this year."
The most popular of the four new
plays, was its 100th world premiere
Schoolhouse which had a paid
attendance of 87 per cent.
On its heels was The Ballad of
Stompitt' Tom with 77 per cent paid
attendance, then Another Season's
Harvest with 72 per cent and Lost
Heir with 55 per cent.
Average paid attendance last year
was 60 per cent, said Gardner.
"The nostalgia around the one-
room schoolhouse attracted a lot of
groups to the theatre this year. There
were a lot of teachers who came to
see Schoolhouse."
Marketing director Karen Stewart
said that strategic marketing helped
the Festival connect with the
audience. But also, "we were able to
generate interest from the national
media as we achieved the very
unique goal of producing 100 world
premiere productions."
"With only 10 weeks of
performances we were able to be
strategic about the way we raised
money and made resourceful use of
the budgets," said Gardner.
Any concern that mounting four
new plays might be a little risky,
were unfounded. "It was wonderful,"
said Gardner.
"Though it did take a lot of energy
to give the new scripts the time to do
what was needed to get them ready
for the stage."
She credits artistic director Eric
Coates for pulling it off. "This has
be,9n a tribute to Eric and his
directors to shape those scripts to the
point they could be performed here."
Out of the 25,000 theatregoers
who came to see productions in
Blyth this summer, 2,000 were new,
said Gardner. "Most of those were
for Stompin' Tom. This is terrific
because we are very interested in
attracting new people to see our
shows."
Word , of mouth played an
important part in this year's success,
said Gardner. "We definitely saw
that with Harvest. People who had
come to see it had spoken to others
and said they needed to see it too.
The word of mouth was
tremendous."
Not only the theatre benefits from
the summer's success, however. The
Festival paid out $15,432 to church
and women's groups and the Huron
County Fork Producers for country
suppers and lunches. Rent in the
Math
strong in
AVID SB
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
The Avon Maitland District
School Board is once again among
the province's leaders when it
comes to success rates in the
standardized Grade 9 math test —
including keeping pace with the
Education ministry's efforts to boost
province-wide success among
applied-level students.
But recently-released results from
the Education Quality and
Accountability Office (EQAO)
reveal the opposite trend in reading
among students in Grades 3 and 6,
and in writing among Grade 3
students.
Board-wide success rates in all
three disciplines decreased for the
Avon Maitland board in 2006,
compared to the previous year. And
the board now sits below the
provincial average in Grade 3 and 6
reading, and Grade 6 writing.
Counterparts in the district's
Catholic system, meanwhile, once
again put their board at or. near the
top of the province in all three
grades.
Across Ontario, average success
rates in all eight disciplines —
Grade 3 and 6 reading, writing and
math; and applied-level and
Academic-level Grade 9 Math —
increased in 2006. Most increased
by one, two or three per cent, while
the average success rate in applied-
level Grade 9 math jumped eight per
cent.
That still, however, means only 35
per cent of the province's applied-
level Grade 9 students passed the
test. The applied-level standardized
test has been the topic of much
discussion for several years, and
efforts continue to build success
rates.
Continued on page 6
amount of $35,000 was paid out to
local landlords for the theatre
company.
As well 160 ticket packages were
donated to community groups for
fundraising events.
Stewart said, that the Festival
worked with the Canadian Legion,
the Legion Ladies Auxiliary to
Branch 420, and the Blyth Lions
Club to raise $990 on Canada Day
for improvements to the lighting in
the lower hall of Memorial Hall.
The Seaforth Community Hospital
Foundation's special event at the
theatre on Sept. 2, netted over
$2,700.
Though final figures aren't
available yet, 'Gardner confidently
forecasts a sizeable surplus for the
season. "We've been really thrilled
by people's reaction."
"Now the challenge is to find
another season to build on this
success."
2006 season a great one for Festival