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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-02-18, Page 1212 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, February 18, 2004 Hensall public school speech winners The results are in for the Hensall public school public speaking contest. Intermediate winners are (back, left to right) first place Amanda Schneider and second place Stephen Troyer. Third place winner Lauren Jinks was absent for the photo. Junior winners are (centre, left to right) first place Crystal Willert, second place Ezekiel McCarthy and third place Tyler Cooper. Primary winners are (front, left to right) first place Jason Schneider, second place Chantale Rowan and third place Janelle Shapton. (photo/Mary Simmons) School boards react to snow days Medals for Pints Unlimited Sherwood residents want improvements By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF SOUTH HURON — The residents of Sherwood Crescent want a better surfaced road with curbs and gutters. Residents appeared at South Huron council's Monday night meeting with a petition. Verla Russell and Peter Aunger represented the group. The issue was originally scheduled for a January council meeting, but was delayed when poor weather led to meeting cancellations. Russell explained there is standing water in sev- eral spots on Sherwood Crescent, including at the corner of Sherwood and Pryde Boulevard. Aunger spoke of the drainage problems and periodic flooding on the street. He said the sump pump in his house runs every month of the year. He added frost damage every spring causes dete- rioration to the road. On the bright side, Aunger said plastic drainage tiles installed along part of the shoulders of Sherwood in the 1980s prevented wear and tear on the road. "The experimental drainage on Sherwood Crescent apparently reduced damage," he wrote in his presentation to council. While Mayor Rob Morley said council will discuss the request fur- ther, road superintendent Mike Alcock said the work isn't slotted into the municipality's five-year road repair schedule. He estimated putting a new surface on the road and including curbs, gutters and drainage would cost $140,000. He said lower- ing and completely re- surfacing the road would probably double the cost. Residents in the gallery said raising the road would cause flooding; on the other hand, lowering the road could mean major construction and large costs. "We can't sit here and make promises," Morley told the gallery. Other notes from the meeting: Seniors' report The municipality's adult activities co-ordinator, Jim Bearss, reported to council on the past year's activities and some ideas he has in mind for the next year. As a result of the suc- cess of last June's first annual trade show which included 50 vendors, Bearss said he is plan- ning another for this June. He also included results from a phone survey of 66 seniors, asking them about seniors' services in the area and what pro- grams they would be interested in. One ques- tion involved the interest in having a local farmers' market. Twenty-five respondents said it should be a high priority, while 28 thought it should have medium pri- ority and 11 gave it low priority. Bearss has also done a study on which down- town Exeter businesses are wheelchair -accessi- ble and which clearly dis- play their address num- bers. On a final note, Bearss thanked the municipal staff for its assistance and noted that while he was hired as a volunteer to work 10 to 20 hours a month, he is instead putting in 30 hours a week on the job. He requested some sort of payment to continue with the services he works on. Asked about the request later in the meeting, Morley said it is a per- sonnel issue, but added Bearss was hired as a volunteer who receives no payment, although his expenses are covered. Deputy Mayor Dave Urlin complimented Bearss on his work, say- ing he was impressed. "I hope you're still around when I'm a senior," Urlin said. "The whole community is bet- ter off." By Stew Slater SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE HURON -PERTH — Martha Dutrizac doesn't believe students in Huron and Perth counties have missed signifi- cantly more school days than average during 2003-04. But the Huron -Perth Catholic District School Board's education superinten- dent does know those missed days don't normally come within such a short duration as occurred during January and February's snowstorms. Successive so-called "snow days," Dutrizac said in an interview earlier this week, "really take a toll on morale" for anyone from staff, stu- dents, parents and administrators. "As soon as you get a snow day, it just snowballs, literally," she said. Dutrizac cited several days missed during the two weeks leading up to a decision to cancel a planned Jan. 30 Professional Development day, which normally would serve as a training opportunity for teachers and a day off for students. The education superintendent expressed confidence the training opportunity will still be made avail- able to teachers at some point in the future. Officials at the Avon Maitland District School Board obviously share Dutrizac's frustration. Like their Catholic counterparts, they've cancelled a Professional Development day, previously sched- uled for March 29. And the two boards co-operated to cancel a shared Feb. 23 "early dismissal day," when buses were to take students home two hours early to allow for further teacher professional development. "We are really concerned about the lost time in some schools. It's signifi- cant," said Avon Maitland education superintendent Marjatta Longston speaking to trustees at a board meet- ing Feb. 10. In response to January and February weather conditions which were described in a Feb. 10 news release as "not friendly," the Avon Maitland board also asked school administrators and parent -based school councils to make instructional time a priority by making a series of "considerations." Suggestions include: less school time spent on special calendar day celebra- tions; a review of out-of-school activi- ties such as school dances, skating trips and ski trips; and limiting stu- dent attendance at in -school activities to those who will receive direct bene- fit. "Class time has to take precedence," Longston told trustees. Dutrizac praised the efforts made by parents, school councils and staff dur- ing the recent snow days, and seemed hopeful the 2003-04 snow days have passed. "Since we've been back full force, our principals and teachers have real- ly focussed on instructional time," she said. "We feel like we've really been on a roll for the last 10 days and, hopefully, that will continue." CARMEN IMnelfllaker '' WLIE�OJIP�ill1�1 WineMaker �Il�ti'f �dl�(Pfr�f�.l� Pints Unlimited employee Carmen Curry and owner Les Wernham, show off the gold and silver medals won by the business at the International Amateur Wine competition Dec. 6-7 in Vermont Against 1499 entries from 48 states, eight provinces and four countries in 50 different categories, Pints Unlimited won gold in Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz-Merlot and silver in Australian -Shiraz (barrel oak- ing).The medals bring the number of wine -making medals won by Pints Unlimited to one gold, three silver and three bronze from International Wine Competitions over the past six years. It is the largest such competition in North America and the first time for Pints Unlimited, which has been owned and operated by Wernham and his wife Ann since Feb. 12 1993, at the competition. (photo/PatBolen)