The Village Squire, 1981-06, Page 17A poet in our midst
Huron County has a young poet in its
midst who will soon be competing for top
honours in a national poetry competition.
Rachel Battye, a Central Huron Second-
ary School (CHSS) student, entered a
poem, "Remember", in the Clinton
Legion Remembrance Day poetry con-
test. The poem then won at the Branch,
Zone, District and Provincial levels.
Now Rachel's poem will compete
against the nine top poems from the other
provinces. One of the prizes for the
winner of the national competition is a
trip to Ottawa where the winning poem
will be read by its author on national
television November 11.
McAlister lithographs
shown in Goderich
A Goderich Township artist, Leda
McAlister, recently held an art exhibit at
Goderich Library. Although she is usually
low-key about her work, the artist agreed
to show her lithographs at the exhibit.
The,show entitled "Litho Plus", in-
cluded about 20 lithographs illustrating
sea gulls, grasses, old buildings, and
conveyances. The "Plus" is the finishing
touches which McAlister adds with
pastels, water colours and collages.
McAlister has had an artist's eye since
childhood but her medium has changed
several times. She has used water colours
and oils, has sketched and sculpted and
has even done commercial art. Litho-
graphs are fairly new additions to her
collection.
The McAlisters have a solar heated
home in the Bayfield area which is also
her studio. It is open to the public and
people are invited to browse and pur-
chase works of their choice.
"Land of the Wildhawk"
by Herb Shoveller
A new book aimed at a teenage audience
11NI.)of!he WILD HAWK
This recent offering from Stratford
writer Thelma Coleman aims to take its
teenage audience on an adventure to the
Wigged terrain of Northwestern Ontario.
With sonic minor exceptions, the wilder-
ness setting, the thrill of prospecting and
the threat of encounters with treacherous
claim jumpers should all attract readers
and whisk them through the short novel.
The central plot focuses on a young
brother and sister. Meri and John
Paxton, who travel north one summer to
visit with their father, a geology teacher
who spends his vacations prospecting.
The story opens as the pair approachc.,
their destination, Sioux Lookout, by train.
As the journey nears its end, the
.apparent theft of some of their luggage,
combined with the vivid imaginations of
the youths, lays the groundwork for
action to follow.
A minor theme which runs as an
undercurrent in the story is the
introspection of Meri. The young girl, the
older of the two, constantly tries to
anticipate the manner in which her
father, Bill Paxton, deals with her and her
brother. Clearly a conflict of sonic sort
exists there, and only near the end of the
novel is it revealed and resolved.
Once settled in their father's bush
cabin. Meri and John begin an education
in wilderness life. Under their father's
teaching the pair learn how to stake a
claim and the danger imposed by
conniving claim jumpers, all while
they're picking up the basics of outdoor
survival. Inevitably, it all cones together.
'While doing some amateur detective
work, Meri and John scare up a claim
juniper and have to make a mad scramble
to safety. Their flight is successful, but it
leaves them desperately lost and no sign
of their father's trail blazes. Their
youthful courage and insight, however,
not only lead them to safety but also
help them take part in the ever -optimist-
ic good conquers evil conclusion.
Weaknesses in Land of the Wild Hawk
are that its characters are not fully
developed. Meri comes closest to being
rounded out, mainly because it is she who
is permitted to occasionally reflect on life.
Early in the story, both by the way others
treat him and through sonic of his
comments, John seems about 10 or 11
years old. Later on, however, and for the
same reasons, he seems to have aged
four or five years in a couple days. Others
than the customary pre - or early teen
traits he possesses, he's hard to get a
handle on.
Other characters - Jacques Picard,
claim jump hunter, Kristen Knudson, a
bush pilot and Pack Rat Meg, a wispy
wilderness recluse who travels the woods
- might all have received extra treatment.
especially Meg. She has developed an
almost infallible camouflage to avoid
other people and lives comfortably with
forest creatures. She is, though, a good
soul, and befriends Meri and John and
plays a major role leading to the happy
outcome. Her transition from almost
hermit to ally would have benefi ted from
additional work, and could have added
additional fantasy and suspense to the
plot.
Likely the most important ingredient in
the story for a teen audience though is
ae:ion, and Land of the Wild Hawk has
bts of it in rapid doses, most notably as
the novel approaches its climax. That
alone provides a failsafe attraction for the
younger reader.
"Land of the Wild Hawk" by Thelma
Coleman: Borealis Press
VILLAGE SQUIRE/JUNE 1981 PG. 15