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The Times Advocate, 2004-04-21, Page 39Wednesday, April 21, 2004 Exeter Times–Advocate 39 UCW quilt show and tea at Holmesville UC By Rhoda Rohde THAMES ROAD CORRESPONDENT THAMES ROAD - - The Easter meeting of the UCW was held on Tuesday evening when the women enter- tained UCW from Centralia, Hibbert and Woodham. There were some 50 women in attendance. The meeting table was covered with embroidered cloth, lit candles, bouquets of flowers. There were beautiful chrysanthemums on the lunch tables and greenery shrubs at the front. Anne Kernick welcomed everyone and introduced Pat Down. She and her husband Bob Down were to Advanced Leadership Alumni recently in Australia and New Zealand. They visited the Great Barrier Reef, the Botanic Gardens, and saw three men sheer 800 sheep in one day. Pat Down gave an interesting commentary, showed pictures and passed photo albums around. Marg McCarter thanked Down and presented her with a bouquet of flowers in a vase. McCarter spoke on Easter Challenge. The women sang Birds Are Singing accompanied by pianist Marjorie Johns. A reading `Baking and Blushing' was presented by Shirley Cooper. A reading `Easter' was given by Kernick. Questions and answers on Easter Challenge were given by Kernick, McCarter, Ruth Anne Osgood and Shirley Cooper. Cooper read Luke 24: 1-11. Osgood led in prayer. The women sang The Old Rugged Cross. Osgood and Kernick received the offering with prayer by McCarter. Kernick read the `Coming of Spring' and handed out coloured jelly beans. Everyone read the Jelly Bean Prayer. President Judith Parker welcomed everyone and read `People Are Like Stained Glass Windows.' Parker mentioned the events on April 19 at North Street UC, Goderich and the Strawberry Supper on June 13 at SHRC. The meeting closed with the UCW Prayer. Lunch committee were Joan Morgan, Jean Hodgert, Lorraine Alexander, Helen Weston, Jo -Anne Rowe, Melonie Miller and Doris Elford. The women helped themselves to dessert and beverages which brought a very enjoyable evening to a close. Church Service Rev. Marilyn Carter was in charge of the regular church service on Sunday morning. Everyone sang the Easter Introit, people shook hands, Rev. Carter gave greetings and the announcements. Joyce Fulton gave a Minute For Council; if anyone wishes to help out with the Out In The Cold Program for May, please contact Helen Weston. If you wish to pre -pay for the cookbooks, sign up on the bulletin board. Rev. Carter led in the call to worship. Quinn Rush lit the Christ Candle and Rev. Carter told the children about `Peace.' The choir sang I'll Live For Him accompanied by organist Marilyn Vandenbussche. The responsive reading was Psalm 118 verses 14-29. Rev. Carter read John 20: 19-31 and the title of her sermon was 'Come to Believe.' Osgood read a Minute for Mission, `Sacred Circles.' Helen Kadey and Virginia Warwick received the offer- ing. Everyone read the commissioning and Rev. Carter pronounced the benediction. The singing of May the THAMES ROAD NEWS God of Hope Go With Us closed the service. Everyone enjoyed muffins and beverages. Many thanks Many thanks to the Sunday School for their Easter Sunrise Service. Many thanks to the worship committee for their prayerful and thoughtful preparation of the Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday worship ser- vices. The worship committee would like to thank everyone who participated in the Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday worship services. Thanks to the Cooper families for cooking the Easter Sunrise breakfast and to June and Mike Stewart for the donation of eggs. Announcements April 23: Concert of sacred, opera and show music by tenor James Dundass at St. Andrew's UC, Bayfield at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $10. April 30 and May 1: 125th Anniversary Celebration, Holmesville United Church, invites you to attend the UCW quilt show and tea to be held at the Holmesville UC April 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. and May 1 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Money from the Lenten Calendars for M&S Fund is due now. Please put your money in a plain envelope marked with your name and M&S Fund, Lenten Calendar. Personals Congratulations to Brian and Carissa Richardson on the birth of their daughter, Kingsley Carissa on Saturday morning. Congratulations also to Don and Janis Richardson, grandparents and to great-grandpar- ents Ken and Dorothy Duncan. Latest school board meeting a yawner By Stew Slater SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE SEAFORTH — Anyone hoping to dispel the public perception that school board meetings are boring should be thankful no members of the public attend- ed the most recent gathering of the Avon Maitland District School Board. The April 13 meeting was the board's initiation into a three-month pilot project during which trustees will spend significant time in so-called "Committee of the Whole," engaging in free -ranging discussion uninhibited by many of the rules of order used under the more common "Regular Session." Under the new format, trustees and senior staff spent about an hour discussing a theoretical concept called "Professional Learning Communities," in reac- tion to an article written by a former U.S.-based school superintendent who recently conducted a Professional Development session for Avon Maitland principals. Another 20 minutes was spent arguing the merits of the word "unlocking" as it is used in a pro- posed update of the board's mission statement. Trustees, of course, likely won't share the belief the meeting was boring. Before they convened briefly into Regular Session to approve changes to trustee expense accounts and then adjourn the meeting, board members nodded in approval as chairperson Meg Westley expressed her satisfaction with the new format. Communications manager Steve Howe, who handles the responsibility of getting news about the board into the media, suggested after the meeting that Committee of the Whole could potentially — given a certain topic — be more exciting. He suggests it could inspire the type of passionate exchanges the public doesn't always expect from school board trustees, and which school board reporters complain are sometimes stifled by the rules of order followed dur- ing Regular Session. "Just imagine if we had started this a couple of months ago, and talked about the flexible timetable in Committee of the Whole," said Howe, referring to a contentious issue which led to considerable discus- sion in Regular Session and a split vote among trustees. Under the pilot project, the first Avon Maitland meetings of April, May and June — on the second Tuesday of each month — will largely follow the Committee of the Whole structure, with initial discus- sion surrounding one particular item of information. April's article was written by consultant Richard DuFour, who advocates building a so-called "Professional Learning Community" throughout an entire district, in which teachers and administrators are encouraged to build on their expertise through professional development, and share their knowledge instead of working their entire careers in isolation. "We're all going to be testing the waters this evening," stated Westley as she opened the meeting. "The idea of this new format is to discuss, in a more informal setting, some of the issues we're dealing with without the pressure of having to make a deci- sion." The second meeting of each month — on the fourth Tuesday — will be reserved for more specific busi- ness of the board. Most trustee votes, except those which demand timeliness, will be held during these meetings. During the April 13 meeting, in the only vote, trustees convened briefly into Regular Session to approve an increase in the amount of money avail- able to board members for registration in confer- ences and conventions. The chairperson will now receive as much as $2,450 per year, the vice chairperson $1,800, and other board members $1,250. If one board member doesn't use their entire allocation, other members may be allowed to exceed their share, but any expense which causes the entire budget to be exceed- ed must be approved by the entire board. NDPs nominate Robertson as Huron -Bruce candidate GODERICH — Grant Robertson was elected March 27 in Goderich to carry the NDP banner in the upcoming federal election. The meeting at the Goderich Lawn Bowling Club attracted a substantial audi- ence including guest speaker Irene Mathyssen, a member of the NDP's Provincial Executive and London- Fanshawe NDP Federal Candidate. Accepting the nomination Robertson said, "I am hon- oured to represent the NDP because we have consistently put first the interests of today's families. While the other two parties seem to only care about which insider gets to belly up to the trough, the NDP has been standing up for quality health care, for farm families, for educations our students can afford, for opportunity for all, for a green and pros- perous economy and for a society where no one is left behind. "After 20 years of Mul-roney, Chre-tien and Martin this country is at a cross- roads. Growing corporate control and influence is undermining the very foun- dation that this country was built upon. People like us, ordinary Canadians, just don't seem to matter much any- more. I believe we need an election sooner rather than later. This coun- try seems to be drifting away from traditional Canadian values and it's time to take our country back. It should not take long to get to the bot- tom of the sponsorship scandal. We know where the culprits are and we know that they are Liberals. Let's get on with finding practical solutions to fixing the problems." From his work as a family farmer, a community activist, and a worker advo- cate, Robertson has earned a reputation as someone who cares, works hard and gets things done. Robertson is a 38 -year-old family farmer from near Paisley and works as the Branch Supervisor for the Bruce County Public Library in Ripley and Lucknow. Robertson and his wife Sarah Slater are active in the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture, the National Farmers Union and are two of the founding members of Robertson the Rural Community Coalition, an orga- nization fighting for farm families and others and the protection of our water and communities. Robertson is also a former local presi- dent of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. "Canadians are looking for leaders who have integrity and a real desire to do more than just talk about change That's why the new energy and practical solu- tions NDP leader Jack Layton has been talking about are so exciting. As a family farmer I understand the value of a dollar and the importance of building some- thing for the future. That is what has attracted me to today's NDP. Under the leadership of Jack Layton today's NDP understands the importance of afford- able, practical solutions, but the NDP also has the vision to build a better Canada for today and tomorrow. Canadians need to ask themselves who's really standing with you?" Robertson said while the help offered under the recent BSE aid package pro- gram is much needed and appreciated, he finds himself growing more concerned as the details come out. It is conceivable that a feedlot operation could have had as many as 100,000 eligi- ble animals Dec. 23, 2003, so that opera- tion could be eligible for as much as $8 million. "If the government's current aid pack- age was really intended to help farm families there would have been a cap imposed so that these big operations could not gobble up all the available funds," Robertson said. According to Robertson, another simple mechanism to ensure this money went first and foremost to struggling farm fam- ilies would have been pro -rating the aid so a greater percentage was paid on the first few hundred cattle, and declined as they worked up to the tens of thousands. "It would have been a simple, practical step to get the money where it is needed most," Robertson said. "Like most farm- ers I am grateful for any help right now, but this current aid package and the lack of caps ensuring that the money goes directly to farm families first, demon- strates once again that agricultural policy in Canada must change."