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Times Advocate, 1993-05-05, Page 8Hops 8 firriesiAdvcielste, May 5,1003 Seven Iteral aseiliiiiiiis aliveive Cai8 125 medals at Clinton alivaids teremony CLINTON - The Clinton Town Hall Thursday evening was the sets ting for recognizing some of the top citizens of Huron County. MPP Paul Klopp presented 23 people with Canada 125 modals and certif- icates in recognition of their contri- butions to their communities. The medals are part of a 40,000 series commissioned by the Queen as part of the 1992 125th anniver- sary of Canadian Confederation. Karen Haslam, Perth MPP and minister without portfolio, was scheduled to help with the presenta- tion, but arrived late and made her speech after the awards ceremony. Klopp called the occasion "an honour" for him to be presenting such awards to the recipients, both young and old, who made contribu- tions to Huron life in diverse fields in everything from the arts to agri- culture. The 23 winners were selected from dozens of nominations from Huron's munici ' lities, and Klopp Perth MPP ano cabinet minis ter Karen •Haslem addressed Thursday's :audience .on the importance :of volunteerism, particularly ih.rnral Vis. said it was a hard task to pare the list down to the finalists. Each of the recipients, he said, made their "contribution to this province, to Canada, and to their neighbour- hoods." "Everyone coming up here this evening didn't do it because they were looking for a medal," said Klopp. "We really need people to get involved in their communities." The MPP said such awards cere- monies were very worthwhile, be- cause communities need to take the time to honour their volunteers. Winners from the south end of the county included Philip Durand of Zurich for his work with the On- tario Farmers Union, marketing boards, including the Huron County Wheat Producers Commit- tee and the White Bean Producers Marketing Board, and for his work in promoting ethanol as a fuel. Ken Gascho, also of Zurich, re- ceived his medal for his "quiet, but persistent dedication to practising ecological farming and conserva- tion tillage practices". Gascho has allowed his farm to be used for conservation research and environ- mental enhancement. Mozart Gelinas, again of Zurich, was honoured for enriching his community with his musical tal- ents. His band, Mozart's Melody Makers, has been performing for 23 years, and he volunteers his talents at many seniors functions in .the area. Gordon Hill of Mama -received his medal for iris contribution tothe betterment °of local :agriculture. Hill also saved }on :the .Omario Farmers Union, the -Fede ration of Agriculture, the rio Bean'Fro- ducers Marketing Board, and has been a member of many provincial committees and federal bodies over the past 35 years. Don McCaffrey of Exeter was honoured for his volunteer contri- bution to the:Blyth Festival over 11 years, including being chairman of its building committee. McCaffrey has also sang with:theBiythFcsti- val Singers for 12 -years. Dolores Shapton, also of Exeter, received her medal for what was described as being "a tireless work- er for many years with the Exeter Agricultural Society and the Pro- vincial Homecraft Division". Shap - ton was involved with the Stephen ibwnship Sesquicentennial, and is currently serving as first vice- president of the London Area Women's Institute. • Joe Wooden, currently living in Grand Bend, was recognized for his service with Exeter town council, its planning board and recreation committee. Wooden also wrote a history of Exeter, and has been ac- tive in its Anglican Church. He is also principal of South Huron Sec- ondary School, and is a former principal of Central Huron. Other winners of Canada 125 medals included Bev Brown of Brussels, Sharon Flanagan of Sea - forth, Earl Heywood of Winghani, Dr. Jim Hollingworth of Goderich, Robert Hunking of Auburn, Mary Hunter of Belgrave, Helen MacK- enzie of Seaforth, Brenda 'McIntosh of Seafbrth, Sharon Morris of Goderich, Florence Pullen of Clin- ton, Walter Renwich of Belmore, June Robinson of Auburn, Keith Roulston of Blyth, Debbie Selkirk of Lucknow, Elaine Townshend of Clinton, and Marian Zinn of the Lucknow area. MPP Karen Haslam,'summed-up the evening with an address on the importance of volunteerism, partic- ularly in rural areas. She noted Hu- ron County has no large urban cen- tre. to act as a "magnet" for the region and where government ser- vices may be universally found. "In many cases volunteers are the only group providing a particular service," said Haslam, adding that volunteer services in such areas would cost millions if a govern- ment were toprovide them. But Haslam said it is impossible to put a price on what is virtually priceless. Mozart Gellnas (right) of Zurich receives his Canada 125 med al and certificate from MPP Paul Klopp and his wife Heather at Thursday evening's special ceremony in Clinton. Twenty-three Huron residents received Confederation medals Thursday evening. Here Joe Wooden receives his. New hobby brings t�p awards for Exeter woodcarver By Adrian Harte T -A Editor EXETER - A _local man has turned his new hobby into an award-winning pastime, especially since taking top honours in a World Championship last weekend. Fred Negrijn took up wildlife carving only two years ago after having virtually handmade all the wood furniture in his home. He started taking classes at Fanshawc College in carving, and under the tutelage of expert instructor George Wickham, has honed his talent to top -class results. A full-size carving of a loon not only won a first place blue ribbon at the North American Competition in Novi. Michigan, but last week- end won in its class. at the Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition at Ocean City, Maryland. Negrijn was .un- able to attend, but his carvingftsa v- cned with his instructor whd was also competing. Negrijn's work has been shown in the novice classes of the competi- tions, but he notes he will soon be moved up to the intermediate class because of his success. A Bob- white Quail carving also won its class at a show near Peterborough, Ontario. "I've competed in the novice class because I'm a beginning carv- er really," said Negrijn. The wildfowl- classes have .their own challenges. and are well cwt - tested by carvers everywhere. 'The final carvings actually have to -be floated 'in a tank of water while they are .being judged.' The most realistic bird wins. "You have to come as close to the real bird as possible," explained Negrijn, adding that the carving has to float at exactly the atone depth and attitude as the real thing. This means weighting the carving with lead and comparing it with photo- graphs of live specimens and bor- rowed taxidermy mounts. The loon is a favourite subject of Negrijn's. The, full-size winner is his third, and a fourth one is al- ready underway in his shop. Each one gets a little better, he said. "The loon, for example„ most people think it's a black anwhite bird, but there's hardly any black on it at all," he pointed out. A close look at his carving proves his point. Each "black" feather is 'really a variety of shades of brown, green, and blue. "These are all the things judges take into account when judging your piece," said Negrijn. The shape of the bird is extreme- ly critical to the judges. Negrijn measures his from precise blue- prints, or "patterns" establishedby his instructor. Negrijn only has time to carve' :three or four .new pieces a year. The large loon alone took about 150 hours of work. he guesses. "I really enjoy it," he said. "I can spend hours at it in the shop." As for the tools he uses, he has an assortment of grinders, sanders, chisels, and fine power tools, but as he notes "the important thing is not how you take wood off, but where you take it off, or leave it on." Each feather, however, is careful- ly inscribed on the carving's surface with a wood burning tool. Not everyone has that kind of pa- tience, but Negrijn believes many more local people night be inter- ested in lopingottiinterest in carving. "Eventually, if there's enough in- terest in the arca, I'd like to get into [local] carving classes," he said. His son Brian is already develop- ing an interest. After watching his father, Brian tried his hand at a small carving of a loon in flight. It claimed a fust prize in the junior class of the Forest City Wildfowl Carving competition in London. Coimtv voting remains undecided By Fred Groves T -A staff GODERICH - Once again, county council is still at a cross- roads when it comes to deciding just how many councillors will sit on the Huron County Council. Thursday afternoon in Goderich, council deferred a proposed 26 member option back to it's execu- tive committee which in turn will ask the local municipalities for their opinions. County Council hopes to have a handle on the direc- tion in which they arc going by their July meeting. "I'm sending a letter out to all the municipalities asking for their com- ments," said Huron Administrator Lynn Murray. She added the reason the munici- palities were going to have a Chance to review it was because they were all asked for their com- ments before. It was the executive committee which brought the recommended 26 members to council on 'Mars - day. It was an error for the executive to deal with it," said Hay Town- ship's Murray Keys. The recent proposal would see the elimination of all the deputy - reeves which would slash the num- ber of county councillors from 32 down to 26. As part of the latest proposal, there would also be a drastic change in the actual voting struc- ture method. Broken down, any municipality with between 1 - 1.000 electors would receive one vote, that would include the villag- es of Hensall and Zurich. Those with populations between 1,001 - 2.000 would have two votes, that would include Usbome Township. For three votes, it would require 2.001 - 3,000 votes which would include Hay Township. In the county, there would 1e four municipalities. Exeter, Ste- phen Township, Goderich and Goderich Township which would fall into the over 3,100 electors group. Currently, all 26 municipalities receive one vote, except for Oahe - rich attlich has two - that is Mood on it's population size. . Since •December, municipalities have reviewed the 10 options and of the 25 which responded, Stanlcy and Goderich townships had no opinion, 24 opted for one represen- tative per municipality and one vote. Fled Negdin of E eter holds his life-size loon carving which won a world championship in it class. At left is his carving of a Bobwhite Quail, which is also a blue ribbon winner.