The Citizen, 2012-04-05, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012.First egg hunt a great success
The First Annual Easter Egg Hunt
in Auburn was a great success with at
approximately 50 children in
attendance. Organizers set up
activities of face painting, cookie
decorating, games, crafts – even the
Easter Bunny himself showed up at
the Auburn Community Hall.
Younger children had the
opportunity to participate in the egg
hunt in the park while the older
children followed the map provided
(which was a creatively worded
poem written by Laura Beacom) and
collected eggs throughout the
village. Event organizers were
grateful for the sunshine, despite the
cooler weather. A special thank you
goes to everyone who made
donations to the event, including
their valuable time. A second Annual
Easter Egg Hunt may be in the
works.
The next big event planned for
Auburn is the village-wide garage
sale which will take place onSaturday, May 5. The Auburn Lionswill host the final communitybreakfast of the season that morning
as well. The Auburn Home and
Garden Show will be held that day at
the Huron Chapel. Craft vendors
and Home Party representatives will
be featuring spring deals. This show
is hosted by Huron County
HIV/AIDS Network in support of
education and client programs. There
will also be a silent auction table and
admission is free.
On Sunday, March 18 Cameron
Jeffery Carter, son of Jeff and Kelly,
was baptized at the Auburn Knox
United Church during the morning
service. There were many family
members attending from as far away
as Whitehorse, Yukon along with
godparents Martin Sturzenegger,
Shawn Reflinghaus and Jessica
Lougheed. A light lunch and social
time was held at the home of
Cameron’s grandparents, Wayne and
Cathy Carter.
There will be a Good Friday
service at Knox United at 11
a.m. on Friday, April 6. All are
welcome.
Walkerburn Club
The members of the Walkerburn
Club met at the home of Mary Elder
on March 19. Christena Gross was
president of the day in the absence of
Betty Archambault. Christena
opened with prayer, followed with
information on Easter. Deanna Snell
read the secretary’s report in the
absence of Eileen McClinchey. Ila
Cunningham gave the treasurer’s
report showing a good balance. The club donated money to theRed Cross at the February meeting.Roll call was answered by six
members telling “What you do for
excitement in spring?” There was a
brief discussion on lap quilts.
Members have several ready to quilt,
as well as more tops being made.
The next meeting is on April 16 at
the home of Vera Penfound and more
quilting is planned. Vera will serving
lunch and Christena will be the
President of the day. Deanna Snell
had several interesting contests on
St. Patrick’s Day. Mary served a
delicious lunch of carrot cake and ice
cream and a social half hour was
spent before leaving for home.
By Koreen
Moss
519-526-1060
kandkmoss@
sympatico.ca
PEOPLE AROUND AUBURN
Board receives turbine letters
The Huron Perth Catholic District
School Board (HPDSB) received
correspondence from two wind
turbine projects at its March 26
meeting.
Engineering firm Neegan
Burnside sent a notice of proposal to
the board about the Grand Bend
Wind Farm, a 100 MW wind farm to
be located to the north of Grand
Bend. The firm requested any
pertinent information from the
HPCDSB regarding concerns,
questions or policies which might
conflict with the project.
The wind farm will be located in
the municipalities of Bluewater and
South Huron, while a transmission
line will run partly through Huron
East and West Perth.
Neegan Burnside has been
retained by Grand Bend Wind
Limited Partnership c/o Northland
Power Inc. to prepare the application
for the wind farm. A round of public
meetings will begin in the first two
weeks of April.
Meanwhile, the St. Columban
Wind Project sent the HPCDSB
notice of the proposed Huron East
wind farm’s final public meetings on
May 8 and May 9.
***
Staff from schools in Huron County
shared their strategies for success at
the HPCDSB March 26 meeting.
Todd Chisholm, principal of St.
Joseph’s School in Clinton, said his
staff work with counterparts at St.
Columban, Sacred Heart and St.
Ambrose as part of Professional
Learning Communities (PLCs).
Staff also focus on 21st century
learning, which Chisholm said
includes open-ended questions and
collaboration.
“It doesn’t just mean technology,”
he said.
Carrie Ducharme, a Grade 2
teacher at Our Lady of Mount
Carmel in Dashwood said she read
aloud to her students and had them
use online reading software after she
discovered that 12 of her 19 students
weren’t at the provincial benchmark
for reading in September. Ducharme
focused on the progress of one
student in particular to illustrate how
her strategies worked. The student
went from a Developmental
Reading Assessment (DRA) level of
four, roughly Kindergarten level, to
a DRA of 24, exceeding the
provincial standard, in March.
Ducharme’s class now has 17
students in total exceeding the
provincial benchmark, with one
meeting the standard and one still
working towards the standard.
Jackie Simpson of St. Marys
School in Goderich listed the
techniques her school uses for
students, including a focus on oral
skills, engaging parents with parent
nights and matching veteran
teachers with newer teachers.
She added that the Aug. 21, 2011
tornado in Goderich has made this
year a challenge but emerging from
the “chaos” has also provided
important lessons for the St. Marys’
school community.
“It’s been quite the journey for
us,” she said.
By Rita Marshall
Special to The Citizen
NEWS
FROM AUBURN
Volunteering with vittles
Laura Good was one of the many people making the
Auburn Lions Breakfast during the first ever Auburn Village
Easter Egg Hunt a success. Good was volunteering at the
meal to earn volunteer hours she will need to graduate
high school. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Catholic board fixing schools
The HPCDSB is spending the
most facility money on its two
secondary schools now in the hopes
of saving money later.
At the board’s March 26 meeting,
superintendent of business and
treasurer Gerry Thuss and Anne
Marie Nicholson, manager of plant
and operations, reviewed how the
board has been spending its renewal
funding for the 2011-2012 school
year.
St. Michael Catholic Secondary
School received the most facility
dollars with $84,416 of repairs.
Nicholson reminded the board that
the school is aging.
“It seems new to us, but it’s 20
years old,” she said of the original
part of the school. St. Anne’s
Catholic Secondary School came in
second in amount of money spent on
repairs, at $29,797.21. Repairs have
included boiler replacements, heat
pumps and emergency lighting.
Thuss said staff is taking a “fairly
aggressive” approach to preventative
maintenance in an effort to avoid the
increased cost of maintaining the
facilities later on.
St. Marys Catholic Elementary
School in Listowel received the most
facility money after the two
secondary schools, receiving
$26,512.49 in repairs and upgrades.
Nicholson explained that there
have been a rash of break-and-enters
in North Perth, with St. Marys
having been hit at least three times.
Four computers have been
stolen and the school has been
vandalized.
The board spent $8,000 on a
camera surveillance system for the
school, which resulted in the higher
figure for St. Marys.
Big-ticket repairs ahead for the
board include three roofing projects.
St. Boniface in Zurich will receive a
new roof at the anticipated cost of
$148,000. Nicholson noted that parts
of the roof are from 1959. St.
Patrick’s Kinkora and St. James in
Seaforth are also slated for new roofs
at anticipated costs of $50,000 and
$75,000 respectively. The tenders
are expected to be called soon, said
Nicholson.
Trustees were also told that a
transformer near the play area at St.
Patrick’s Catholic Elementary
School in Dublin needs to be
removed.
“It’s a fairly old transformer,” said
Thuss.
There are no immediate safety
issues for students or staff at St.
Pat’s, but the board has been told that
the transformer no longer meets
code.
Board staff is currently consulting
with engineers on the issue.
Removal of the transformer and its
pole should take place over the
summer.
By Rita Marshall
Special to The Citizen
Belgrave 519-357-2711
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County sunshine list
topped by doctor
As part of the Public Sector
Salary Disclosure Act, the County
of Huron released the names and
salaries of those working for the
county making over $100,000 in
2011. The list was
released to Huron County
councillors at their March 14
Committee of the Whole meeting. It
contained the names of 11 county
employees.
Topping the Huron County list is
its Medical Officer of Health Dr.
Nancy Cameron who was paid
$297,252.96 in 2011. Chief
Administrative Officer Larry
Adams made $166,288.53 in 2011,
while Treasurer David Carey made
$144,237.74.
Director of Planning and
Development Scott Tousaw came
next on the list making $122,293.60
in 2011, while Director of Human
Resources Darcy Michaud made
$122,243.60, Social Services
Administrator David Overboe made
$122,243.59 and Homes for the
Aged Administrator Barb Springall
made $122,236.27.
After Springall on the list came
Emergency Services Chief David
Lew who made $105,751.54 in
2011, followed by County Clerk
Barb Wilson who made $105,092.
61, Business Manager Brad Lucas
who made $104,826.11 and Public
Health Manager Jacqueline Hart
who barely made the list with
$100,040.58 made in 2011.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen