The Times Advocate, 2008-03-19, Page 66
Times–Advocate
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Opinion Forum News
Continuous change for Farmers' Club
By Nina Van Lieshout
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
KIRKTON — The 91st Annual Kirkton-Woodham
Farmers' Club meeting was March 5 at the Kirkton-
Woodham Community Centre, with about 20 members
in attendance.
A new president was elected, Bruce Ross, while
Gerald Johns stepped down as past -president.
Ross says, "I have big shoes to fill," adding, "The suc-
cess (of the club) has come from a lot of people. You've
all played a big role, come together and been a big part
of the team's success. Let's continue into the future."
Some changes include a new secretary treasurer, Jan
Harper, who was born and raised in Exeter.
"I am honoured, very honoured," says Harper, cho-
sen from 24 different applicants.
The club is also considering having no recording sec-
retary because some of the tasks are too redundant,
with a new secretary treasurer on board.
The farmers' club gave $700 to the Kirkton
Agriculture Society in 2007 and $200 to the Cystic
Fibrosis Society, in memory of former secretary trea-
surer Lisa Sutherland.
Other new positions include: past -president Gerald
Johns, vice-president Cliff Thomson, managing com-
mittee members Steve Hern, Chris Weernink, Paul
Warwick and Doug Easton and secretary treasurer
Maria Urquhart.
The budget was also discussed at the meeting.
Sales increased from $2,668,432 in 2006 to
$3,056,282 in 2007.
Current assets totalled $401,001 last year, while in
2006 they were $412,900.
Some larger sales in 2007 were fertilizer at
$1,140,421, and chemicals at $863,601.
Larger purchases were fertilizer at $1,062,131 and
chemicals at $817,303.
The Kirkton-Woodham Farmers' Club have a new
website: www.kwfarmersclub.ca
POLICE BRIEF
Speedy driver was almost
two times legal limit
SOUTH HURON — On March 16 Huron OPP offi-
cers were conducting radar enforcement on London
Road. Police noticed a vehicle traveling southbound
on London Road at a high rate of speed. Radar con-
firmed a speed of 128 kilometres per hour in a post-
ed 80 kilometres per hour zone.
When the driver of the vehicle was approached by
officers, a strong odour of alcohol could be detected
immediately in the car and from the driver. A road-
side Alcotest was administered and the driver failed.
The driver was arrested and taken to the Exeter
Detachment where he provided two more samples
of his breath to a qualified breathalyzer technician.
Two more breath samples confirmed that the driver
was nearly two times the legal limit of 80 milligrams
of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood hi the system. A
19 -year-old South Huron man will appear in Exeter
Court June 26, answering to one count of driving
with over 80 milligrams of alcohol. A 90 -day drivers'
license suspension was also issued.
New positions — The Kirkton Woodham Farmers' Club held its 91 st annual meeting March 5.Above front
from left new positions include secretary treasurer Maria Urquhart, president Bruce Ross and secretary trea-
surer Jan Harper; back row are past -president Gerald Johns and managing committee members Steve Hern,
Chris Weernink and Paul Warwick and vice-president Cliff Thomson. Missing from the picture is managing
committee member Doug Easton. (photo/Nina Van Lieshout)
Update from South Huron mayor
SOUTH HURON — The South
Huron Home and Garden Show was
last weekend in the Recreation
Centre in Exeter.
I am not sure of the numbers or if
the event was considered a success,
but I liked what I saw. This was the
first event by the South Huron
Chamber of Commerce and their
new event planner Amanda
Marshall.
If this new venture of the
Chamber of Commerce is going to
succeed, there has to be enthusi-
asm and hard work from the event
planner as well as support and help
from the people of South Huron. I
think we have the enthusiasm and
drive from Amanda and I commend
her on her first event. South Huron
is lacking in events such as this and
it is these types of events that not
only entertain us the residents, but
promote our municipality to others
outside the area. Let's give Amanda
some ideas on events we would like
to see in our community. Then we
will have to show our support by
Ken Oke
attending and also
giving help when
needed.
This service is
provided by the
South Huron
Chamber of
Commerce and is
available to every-
one in South
Huron whether
you are from as
west as the Lake
Huron shoreline or to the east in
Kirkton, or Dashwood to the north,
or Crediton/Centralia/Huron Park to
the south.
If you would like an event in your
area or would like help with an
event, contact the South Huron
Chamber of Commerce to make
arrangements on how the event
can be planned and how costs can
be considered.
On another note, council and
senior management have partici-
pated in a strategic planning
process to identify their vision and
to develop a series of short-term
and long-term strategies. This plan
takes into account a planning
process for a five-year budget
process for operational and capital
expenses as well as taking into
account the types and level of ser-
vices that will be required. This
plan also takes into consideration
the maintenance of existing assets
as well as considering the impact of
growth.
The 2008 – 2012 Draft Strategic
Plan is available at the Olde Town
Hall municipal office and on the
municipal website
(www. town.southhuron.on.ca) for
viewing by the public. Comments
and recommendations are invited
from the public until March 31.
This should be your plan as well as
our plan, so please take the time to
view it and see if this plan reflects
the direction your municipality
should be going. It would be nice to
have more in the plan, but unfortu-
nately everything comes with a
price tag.
Principal's message
EXETER — I would like to start this week's column with a reminder to parents
and students that the Interim Reports for the Second Semester will be mailed out
this Thursday. Parent -teacher interviews are scheduled for the following Thurs.,
March 27.
However, because of the Easter weekend, it is likely that some reports
will not arrive until close to the day of the interviews. Parents are encour-
aged to start having their children book interviews now with the teachers
they wish to see. Likewise, I am encouraging teachers to contact the par-
ents with whom they would like to have interviews.
The interviews will take place in the cafeteria and the small gym from
3:30 to 5 p.m. and 6:30 to 8 p.m. Special Education teachers and guidance
counsellors will be in their classrooms or offices respectively. While we
encourage parents to book interviews in advance, it is often possible to
find open times with most teachers on interview days. So if you are not
able to book interview times in advance, you may be able to schedule
one that day. We will have student secretaries in the front foyer who can
assist you in booking such appointments.
One of the challenges we face hi education today is preparing students for life
after high school, particularly in the area of technology, which is rapidly chang-
ing. In the future, many of the students in school now will be doing jobs that have
not yet developed, using technology that has not yet been invented. Clearly,
schools face a huge challenge in keeping up with technological change, not just
due to the tremendous costs of buying technology, but also because educators
themselves have not been trained on the most current technology and there is no
easy way for us to stay current with the rapid pace of change.
What we can do, though, is work on teaching students the skills and problem -
solving strategies that will enable them to learn new technologies as they
are developed. Because students have grown up with computer technology,
many of them are already adept at using it and can manage the changes
more easily than adults. We do, however, need to teach them appropriate
uses of the technology and how to effectively manage the massive amounts
of information that are available on the Internet. This includes how to cite
the sources of the information, giving credit to the people who have "creat-
ed" the information. This has become much more challenging than just
footnoting sources and providing a bibliography. Information technology is
like any other technology: it can be good or bad, depending on how it is
used.
Over the remaining weeks of this school year, I plan to write about spe-
cific aspects of technology, particularly in terms of its educational value.
There is no doubt that information technology is here to stay and that it
will continue to grow.
Collectively, we have an obligation to our young people to teach them how to
use it wisely.
JEFF
REABURN
PRINCIPAL'S
MESSAGE