Huron Expositor, 2004-10-13, Page 6S-THI HURON EXPOSITOR, Oct. 13, 2004
News
Seven head to tomorrow's Huron County Idol final
By Jason Middleton
Expositor Staff_
Under the bright lights of
the stage at Hurley's Celtic
Inn in Seaforth, eight acts
competed last Thursday night
to earn a spot in the. Huron
County Idol finals.
Although there were only
four spots originally planned
for the finals, a tie between
two acts in the top four
caused the judges to allow
five acts move on to the next
week.
"We had a tie tonight so we
don't have four going into
next week. We have five,"
said Huron County Idol judge
Helen Pridham. "We battled it
out in the back room for quite
some time and we can't
whittle it down to four so
we're going with five."
The five acts moving on to
next week's final showdown
are: 15 -year-old Laura
Elligsen, of Walton; Darcy
Schevermon, of St. Marys;
Shari and Natasha Meister, of
London; Yvonne Bonnak, of
Stratford and Dave Shepley
and Jay Longfield, of St.
Marys.
Bonnak, who preformed
two karaoke songs, said that
she's happy she made it on to
the finals because she had
been sick all week.
"I'm thrilled because 1
wasn't going to come tonight
because I've been sick all
week. But, my husband made
me come," said Bonnak.
For the finals Bonnak plans
on getting some rest so she
can perform at 100 per cent.
"I'm going to get over my
sore throat and get lots of rest
and sleep," said Bonnak.
For Schevermon, who had
been performing since he was
nine, said that he's had a lot
of fun during Huron County
Idol.
"The competition it was
great. It was just luck (that I
went on). Everybody was
great," said Schevermon.
For Shepley, who has
performed with Longfield on
and off for the past six years,
said this contest has been a
great way for them to get
their name out there.
"We really didn't have any
expectations. We play around
already so if we come out
here and we get a gig out of
the deal then that's what
we're looking for," said
Shepley.
"The contest is fun. It's a
lot of fun to play against other
people. We're here to get our
name out," said Shepley.
The judges chose the four
winners based on their ability
to sing and play in tune, how
they deliver the song to the
audience and if they have
rhythm. They also judge the
contestants on how they put
their own spin on a song and
how well the audience reacts
to their performance.
"If you did not make it, it's
not that you don't have the
talent, it's that this night has
been talent -filled," said
Pridham who was one of this
week's judges along with
Hilda Crocker, Brian Melady
and musician Les Smith.
"It was an extremely
difficult night (to judge) with
some great entertainment.
There's some wonderful
talent around here," said
Pridham.
The crowd, ranging from
high school students to a
Jason Middleton photo
Laura Elligsen, 15, performs during the semi-finals of Huron County Idol. On Thursday Elligsen
will compete for top spot in the competition - $1,500 in recording studio time.
woman celebrating her 60th
birthday, were entertained by
two songs by each performer.
During next week's Huron songs while competing for
County Idol finals, top prize - $1,500 in
performers will perform three recording studio time.
Local peace activist speaks about his recent visit to war-torn Iraq
By Jason Middleton
Expositor Staff
Lucknow-area peace activist
Stewart Vriesinga presented a
glimpse into war-torn Iraq
when he spoke to 25 people at
the Vanastra Christian Church
on Oct. 1.
Comparing the War on
Terrorism to the Cold War,
Vriesinga said there are a lot
of similarities between the
two.
"I do believe we've
embarked on a new era that is
very reminiscent of the Cold
War that we had with the
former Soviet Union," said
Vriesinga, adding that other
similarities include increased
defense spending and the
Stewart Vriesinga
doctorate of national security.
As a member of the
Christian Peacekeeping Team
(CPT), Vriesinga has worked
in Iraq, Latin America and in
Grassy Narrows, ON.
"We (CPT) stand with and
work with the victims of
violence and look for non-
violent ways of addressing
conflict. That can sometimes
mean civil disobedience -
disobeying unjust laws," said
Vriesinga.
While in Iraq, Vriesinga
focused mainly on issues
facing detainees captured by
the American collation.
"Those are Iraqis that are
arrested and held indefinitely
without trial, for some of them
since day one," he said.
Vriesinga explained that a lot
of families in Iraq are looking
for family members snatched
away in the middle of the night
by coalition forces.
"A big part of our task was
facilitating' the access of Iraqis
to decision makers and
authorities," said Vriesinga.
"That continues to he a big
part of our work."
According to Vriesinga,
there are tens of thousands of
Iraqis being jailed by the
coalition for unjust reasons.
"Initially our work was
accompanying Iraqis families
looking for news of their
relatives," said Vriesinga. "We
would try and walk them
through the process."
"I think that one of the
negatives that has come out of
this war is negative
stereotypes. Here we have a
lot of stereotypes of Arabs and
Muslims and it seems that we
are reaching a point that they
are all almost presumed to be
guilty until they are proven
innocent," said Vriesinga.
Another thing that CPT has
done during the war is putting
"a face on Iraqis that have the
been the victims of this war.
So we did that primarily by
visiting hospitals and
interviewing and
photographing the victims of
bombing...
He explained that we all can
do things to help to bring
peace. He suggested that
people work to overcome
stereotypes and work to
abolish policies that deny
Araks and Muslims the same
rights and protections that we
have under the law.
• He said that after war was
"supposedly over" Iraq was
had no civil service, looting
became rampant and weapons
on the street were "all over the
place."
"I hope that part of what I'm
doing here tonight will
promote the healing of the
immense damage that has
been done between the
western world and the Arab
world - between the Christians
and Muslims," said Stewart
Vriesinga. "Because unless we
undo some of what has been
done, things don't look good."
Vriesinga, who returned
from Iraq three months ago,
said he is planning on heading
back to the country possibly in
November.
Better Health Care for Canadians:
A 10 -year plan
Working together, the Prime Minister, Premiers and Territorial leaders have signed a 10 -year plan,
supported by $41 billion in new federal funding, that will lead to. better health care for Canadians.
Better Health Care
Reduce waiting times
•Improve access so that Canadians don't wait as long for key tests, treatments
and surgeries
4 More Doctors, Nurses and other Health Professionals
•Plans to train and hire more health professionals while also developing
faster accreditation for foreign -trained health professionals
if Expand home care
•Provide better support for people being cared for or recovering at home
Improve access to family and community care
• Increase 24/7 access to doctors, nurses and other health professionals
id Better Access to Needed Medicines
•A commitment to manage drug costs and ensure that no family is forced
to choose between needed medicines and financial ruin
4 Improved Aboriginal Health
•New investments and better planning to close the gap between Aboriginals
and other Canadians in terms of health
Shorter Waiting Times
The federal, provincial and territorial governments have committed to report
clearly on the progress we are making in health care and, for the first time will
report on progress in reducing waiting times.
Gel Comparable indicators ... so we can measure
•Federal, provincial and territorial governments will use comparable information
to report their progress in improving access to doctors, and to diagnostic
and treatment procedures
4 Benchmarks ... so we know what we are striving for
•Federal, provincial and territorial governments will set medically acceptable
waiting times - based on advice from medical experts - starting with cancer,
heart disease, diagnostic imaging, joint replacement, and sight restoration
Targets ... to drive change
•Provincial and territorial governments will set their own targets and report
annually to citizens on progress in reducing waiting times
Canadians will see for themselves where their health
care money is going and how it is making a difference.
To obtain a copy of "The 2004 Health Care 10 -Year Action Plan at a Glance",
call 1 800 0 -Canada (1 800 622-6232) or, to see it on the web, click www.canada.gc.ca/healthplan. 111114,,,
*1 Government Glouvernernent
of Canada du Canada
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