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Times Advocate, 1995-09-06, Page 7Times -Advocate, September 6, 1995 Page 7 4-H exchange program creates bonds Brenda Burke T -A staff WOODHAM - When asked about their 4-H Connections Can- ada exchange trip to Newfound- land, the first thing teens Marilou and Kathryn Hern said is they want to go back. The girls returned to their Wood- ham area home last week with nine rolls of film after spending 12 days in a small Newfoundland com- munity experiencing boat tours, an amusement park that encircled a lake, fishing for mussels and trek- king around hills, rocks, trees and water. Kathryn, 18, stayed with Steph- anie Walsh in Plate Cove West and fourteen -year-old Marilou was an exchange student at the home of Debbie Newell in Summerville. The Newfoundland students had just completed their 12 -day stay at the Hern home from July 26 to Aug. 6. The Hern sisters had bond- ed with their 4-H twins and found it difficult to part after spending much of the summer together. "It's like you're saying goodbye to someone you've known all your life," said Kathryn. "There were Tots of tears at the airport when we left," agreed their chaperone for the trip, 4H leader Melody White, who had the task of supervising the 10 Huron County exchange students during their stay in Newfoundland. It was the first time flying for many of the students who nearly missed their plane heading back home. Something Marilou didn't miss was seeing a whale in St. John's; she was the only one in the group who saw one during the trip. "You'd hear the spray and then you'd see the back rise up and go down again," she recalled. People on the area's boat tour had spotted a whale every day for the past nine weeks. While whale watching was exciting for Marilou, Kathryn was interested in the jelly- fish. "There was water in the jellyfish rather than jellyfish in the water," she said, adding, "We were never more than a mile away from wa- ter." Unique food experiences for the girls included canned corn on the cob, a Jig's Dinner with salted meats and valuable partridge ber- ries which cost $150 for five pounds. They also brought home chunks of moose meat in a jar. The girls were fascinated with Newfoundland speech patterns such as not pronouncing h's, add- ing s's and talking rapidly. When Marilou first arrived home, her mother, Laura, wondered at first if her daughter had picked up some Newfoundland speech habits. One thing that may draw the sis- Kathryn Hem, 18, stands with her 4-H twin, Stephanie Walsh, 16, while fourteen -year-old Mari - lou Hem stands with her twin, Debbie Newell, 15.'The four have become close friends since getting to know each other through Connections Canada, a 4-H student exchange program. Gun Club hosts shoot Brenda Burke T -A staff KIPPEN - Competitors from as far away as St. Thomas aimed their trap guns at clay targets Aug. 26 in the 18th annual Kyle -Cooper Me- morial Shoot. Each of the 47 competitors had 100 chances at 16 -yard targets. The classes competing were A, B, C and a veterans' class for those over 60.years old. Competitor Glen Mogk, of Mitchell, has been a target shooter for 15 years. He was a runner-up in his class with a score of 84. "I've been a shooter all my life really," said Mogk, also an ex- perienced skeet shooter and hunter. Although he admitted his shoot- ing wasn't up to par Sunday due to a sore shoulder, he mentioned his collection of shooting awards. Mogk's average shooting score is in the high nineties. At this shoot he was scoring in the mid -eighties. "The best I ever shot was a 99 out of 100," he said, adding pro- fessional shooters are able to shoot 200 targets in a row. That's the best in the US, said Mogk, ex- plaining overall shooting scores are climbing. Mogk said ideal shooting condi- tions occur on a clear day when the brightness of the sun is behind the shooter. The memorial shoot's eather happened to be windy and overcast. Explaining the rules of shooting the orange targets, Mogk said only direct hits count. "You have to have a visible piece come off. A little dust doesn't count," he said. As for targets, the veteran shooter said, "It seems more people are starting to prefer the orange." Mogk thinks the orange targets, under bright, sunny conditions, show up better than other colors. Besides orange targets, which are round and measure four inches in diameter, there are black targets and black -rimmed orange targets. Mogk also likes colorful earplugs. Molded to the shape of the ear, his plugs are bright orange and green. "I'm pretty traditional," said Kip - pen Gun Club President Jamie Cald- well. "Mine are just orange." Mogk also has two types of safety glasses, one pair for overcast days and one pair for bright days. The glasses are large and sit high on the face for maximum shaded, vis- ibility. Shooters in the Kippen Gun Club practice from April to October and lights are provided at the trap range for night shooting. The Kyle -Cooper Memorial Shoot takes place every last August Sunday in memory of past club members Bill Kyle and Bill Cooper. Glen Mogk pauses to reload during the Kyle -Cooper Me- morial shoot at the Kippen Gun Club Aug. 26. Kyle -Cooper Memorial Shoot Results . Class A Champion - Brad Mann (Hensall) Class A Runner-up - Bill Wylie (St. Thomas) Class B Champion - Pete Weiler (St. Thomas) Class B Runner-up - Bill Henderson (London) Class C Champion - Jon Gaiser (Exeter) Class C Runner-up - John Sullivan (St. Thomas) Veteran's Class Champion - Bill Stewart (Clandeboye) Veteran's Class Runner-up - Glen Mogk (Mitchell) Score - 97 Score - 96 Score - 96 Score - 92 Score - 86 Score - 84 Score - 93 Score -84 ters back to Newfoundland is its scenery. Kathryn describes the "hills, rocks, trees and water," area as similar to Northern Ontario add- ing "It's just so peaceful and it didn't smell like the farm." The girls also noticed the variable Newfoundland weather. "They have a saying," said Kath- ryn, "'If you don't like Newfound- land weather just wait Live minutes and it'll change."' Other unique Newfoundland ex- periences included receiving mini jiggers (fishing poles) in their ready- made souvenir bags, curvy roads and a popular Newfound- land manufacturing symbol with the words 'Man- ufactured Right Here'. As for 4-H practices, Kathryn and Marilou noticed members in Newfoundland received ribbons and stickers rather than wooden plaques for their achievements. The Newfoundland girls who vis- ited the Heins had an equally unique experience in Huron County during their stay. As for the food differences, Stephanie and Debbie weren't used to eating fresh corn and banana popcycles; Newfound- land has canned corn on the cob and pineapple popcycles. The Hern family caught a frog for Stephanie since the area she lives in lacks frogs, skunks and ra- coons. Unfortunately the students were unable to witness a white squirrel while in Exeter. "Where I live," said Stephanie, "I find moose and bear and fox- es...everything is very rural." As for the people, the Newfound- land girls discovered Ontarians to be friendlier than they thought. You hear stories about people be- ing stuck up and then you get here, everyone's friendly," said Debbie. who made her first trip to Ontario on a visit to Brampton and Mis- sissauga last summer. Stephanie, who hasn't been in Ontario since she was nine when she was in Cambridge, added, "We got to know the people so well it seems we've known them all their lives." The girls also weren't ac- customed to Huron County's land- scape. "The Atlantic Ocean is all around you (in Newfoundland)," said Deb- bie. "Here all you see is a lake and flat land," adding "Everything here us...the roads are straighter... We're used to seeing rocks and cliffs and water... We miss the water." A visit to Grand Bend, however, brought back vi- sions of home for is strange to "It's like you're saying goodbye to someone you've known all your life" the girls. "It just seemed like the ocean so much," said Debbie. "I couldn't be- lieve it, it was fresh water. It was a lot warmer too." Stephanie and Debbie gathered some Grand Bend sand and dried corn to take home. Experiencing the county during the heat wave was particularly un- usual for the students who took in Niagara Falls, Wonderland, the CN Tower and a Blue Jays game during the muggy weather. "Hot to us is 25 (degrees)" said Debbie. "It cools off in the night (in Newfoundland). "We just hang around together. There's not much else to do," added Stephanie. Back home the girls live 5 min- utes apart from each other•and go to St. Mark's All -Grade school, which holds classes from Kin- dergarten to grade 12. They are also taking distance education, where a group of six students see their teacher on a television screen and talk to her using a microphone. They admit it is a more difficult way to learn. Of the 10 Newfoundland ex- change students that arrived in Hu- ron County at the end of July, nine were from Summerville and one, Stephanie, was from Plate Cove. And, they all knew each other. Three or four of the trip days were spent with their host families and the rest of the time was spent with the 4-H group. Chaperone Melody White said because the host homes are located in a smaller community in Newfoundland, it was easier to spend time together as a group whereas in Huron County, students live further apart. The 4-H Newfoundland exchange was not finalized until May 15. "You pick where you'd like to go but it depends what other club is available," said Debbie. Sponsored by the Department of Canadian Heritage and ad- ministered by Canadian 4-H Coun- cil, Connections Canada had 25 per cent of its trips eliminated this year due to cutbacks. The students and chaperones fundraise for every- thing but the air fare. Chaperones ask the students, who are allowed to participate in the program only once in their life time, for autobiographies then try to make 'twin' matches based on the information. "I was surprised. They were like sisters," said Laura Hern of the matches between her daughters and the Newfoundland girls. "I think (Connections Canada) is something the government will cut," she continued. "I think it's a shame. I wish we could do more of it...(The students) are getting right into the heart. You won't come back with a tourist view. You'll come back with a family view." You learn something about an- other province and the people that live there," agreed Kathryn. "I could go hack anytime. It was a good experience." "You make a lot of new friends and get to know them," added Mar- ilou. Some 4-H Huron County and Newfoundland students are already making plans for Christmas visits. Rookie wind-up The Exeter Selp's Rookie 'A' ball team were finalists in both the OBA and WOBA playoffs. The parents played a game against the youngsters on Wednesday to wind up the season. From back left to right are: Brent Pym, Dan Masse, Murray Youman, Sean Murray, Matthew Iredale, Michael MacLean. Middle, Mitch Homuth, Ryan Robinson, Eric Denomme, Nick Anstett, David Chessell. Back, Mike Masse, Dan Denomme, Brad Mur- ray; Absent: Kellen Hefley. UCW supper meeting planned Rhoda Rohde Church service THAMES ROAD - Rev. Jim Allsop was in charge of the first fall church service on Sunday morning. The responsive reading was taken from Psalm 81. The audience sang the anthem as there was no one in the choir. Just a Closer Walk With Thee was sung ac- companied by the organist Marilyn Vanderbussche. The audience sang the children's hymn, "Its a Small World" and Rev. Jim told the two children a story. The Scripture reading was taken from the Old Testa- ment "Jeremiah 2", 4-13 and from the new Testament Hebrews 13: 1-18, 15-16 was ready by Rhoda Rohde. Rev. Jim read from the Gospel of Luke 14: 1: 7-14. The sermon was entitled "On Being Humble and Hospital." The closing hymn "Be Thou My Vision" was sung. Life and work of the congregation Thursday September 7 the Sunbeams will meet in Thames Road Church at 9:30 a.m. Regular services will take place at Elimville at 10 a.m. end at Thames Road at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday September 10. On Monday September 11 the Thames Road UCW supper meeting will commence at 6:30 p.m. and the regular meeting will start at 8 p.m. The supper is being catered by the Hurondale Women's Institute followed by the meeting with Diane Jeffery, Anne Bray. Marga- ret McCarter and June Stewart in charge. Wednesday September 13 the UCW Fall Regional at Centralia United Church. Registration 6:45 p.m. coffee 7 p.m. followed by the business at 7:30 p.m. The theme "Give to us Laughter." Saturday September 16, "A Day In the Country" Foodgrain Project Car Tour. Starts at 10:30 a.m. at Centralia United Church, coffee and pick up tour map. Lunch at Thames Road for a "loonie" farm tours and fellowship. Church doors open in welcome for view- ing. Personals Get well wishes are extended to Mary Rowcliffe who fell and broke her ankle recently. Congratulations to Gerry and Brenda McCarter on the birth of their second daughter last week, also con- gratulations to Gordon and Margaret McCarter, grand- parents and to Lee and Helen Webber, and Jim McCarter great grandparents.