The Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-04-04, Page 17Montreal tree t: ,
deX ,Ch' o
Ontar1 *rI-ari-o! A choral selection,;ounded out the program
op Friday morning at St. Mary's. The whole school took part
' in the event in one way .or another to make it a very enjoyable w
show. (staff photo)
An -experience in living.;,
eople are
•a
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When one hears of all the activities that take' place in a
distant area of th,e countrvvone wishes they could travel and
"see it -for themselves"..A bird's .eye view of something
enables a person to enjoy a greater- understanrding of the
„background, history -cm- tradition of it, Such,is 'the thinking
behind Project Canada.
Project Canada 'is a program that involves •student ex-
change. Last week 2.9 students, two teachers and one mother
chaperone : fret t Abbotsford B.C. were in Goderich for a
"bird's eve view" of Huron,County, its history and the way
of life of, its population.
The youngsters arrived Sunday, March 24, at 2:30 in :the
morning after an exhausting.twelve hour ;journey. Their first
impression of O'r tario was that it was very cold. When'1hev°
left. Vancouver it was" bright, sunny and 60 degrees, None of.
the children were prepared for the cold and -many were not
dressed in.•warni clothing.
"Most °of the children had Spring coats on and didn't have •
any gloves or.searlres," said..Judy Coffin, orieof the 'teachers.
`"When we got off the plane the temperature change was very
suprOing. We only had snow three times all winter -in Van-
cover and_'it never stayed for more than- a day. The kids
have been -„throwing snowballs singe we arrived. '
The first day in Goderich was spent in the houses of the
hosts. The children relaxed an got to know 'their 'new
friends. Some of them felt that t time spent with their new
A -talented display of gymnaskics Wags given the Abbot-
sford guests by the students of St. Mary's. (staff photo)
Want to buy a musical toilet lady? The students of St.
Miry's put on a skit spoofing TV commercials as part of
the entertainment for the B.C. guests: ?staff photo) •
P
ev
A
The rhythm section of the -kindergarten band of St. Mary's adds a little flair to the musical. portion of Friday's, variety
show. (staff photo)
counterpart.~. 'front' Onta'r.io was as educational and enter-
taining as any tour or event they participated in.
"Some of the 'things we have experienced since arriving
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have come as a complete surprise to the whole group;" said
- teacher °.Jud•' Zesko, ,The; itinerary planned: for us gave u5
an excellent cross-section of life in Huron County and its
relation CO- the province of Ontario."
The' first• day the -students 'got, together in. familiar
territory, the school,: They had an "In -Class" Assembly" at
St. Marw's with the Grade '8. class', of the school',presenting a
• ,lesson inn 'the`history and life-style of Goderich. The pupils
'g'athered history books and an atlas of Huron Countw• to help
in the presentation. They had put together "a slide -story of'
the town andmade some models of various .sites in.
Gciderich, one of which -was a scale of the harbor. •
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Throughout the week the staff at St. •Ma-ry's made the
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recreation' facilities of the school available to the visitors.
They ,supervised the gymnasium. for basketball and•
volleyball, there were chess and checker, games, scrabble ,.nd
a wide variety of other games.
The Goderich Town Council invited the youngsters to•the .
-. fluke of Bedford for a luncheon on Monday and presented
them with souvenirs Of the'town. Later that afternoon a
game of bowling was enjoyed at the Little Bowl Lanes.
. Tuesday was travel day for the visitors. Early in the mor-
ning they set out for .Niagara Falls stoppingin Stratford to
- see the Festival Theatre. While in Niagara Falls they toured
Madame Tussaud's Wax• Museunm and journeyed' through
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" • the'tunnel under the falls`.`"On the return" trip they visited•the'
.• _ African' Lion Safari.
Wednesday mornint; was. spent in St,. Mary's fin' a
discussion and film on the community of Goderich, and its
surrounding area. In the afternoon they enjoyed' a. guided
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tour through Bell Aerospace in Grand_Bend. This our held
a special interest for the students because ,;the ho ecraft is
used ,a great deal for ferry service along-'theecoast o ritiah
°Columbia. -
• Thursday morning the groltp were'taken through the'Sheaf
fer-Speidel plant in Goderich and then .the Goderich
Psychiatric' Hospital, where they were guests for •lunch. In
the afternoon .Ontario Hydro invited them to see the
Douglas Point Power Station in Kincardine
Friday was again spent in school with the classes of St.'
Marv's putting on a varietv•show. The Grades 1 to Sand the
Kindergarten class entertained their guests with skit's,
singing and some gymnastics.
'•That,afternoon another historioloolt,,at Hur •rr County was'
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offered with a`tour of the Huron County pi neer Museum
The trip was however, not without its pro tems..1Just after
arriving in Goderich one of the, guest students came down
with a serious case of pneumonia and was hospitalized at ,
Alexandra- Marine and General Hospital. The young man
was 'very disappointed and lonely in'he hospital because he
wanted so much to take part in the tours but his fellow
students visited him as often as, they could to matte, his
illnes;,a little easier to live with.
• ,When the two teachers from Abbotsford were asked what,,
they. thought ,of the town they had very similar an4Wers.
"Godey.,ich is atot smaller than I thought it 'would he,"
said .Judy Zesko. "It is quite a bit different than Abbotsford
in its architecture and history. The houses are very beautiful
and briolpThere arena', too many brick houses on -the coast•"
-Judy Coffin thought Goderich was also very. pr-etty. "The,-
town is °very."quaint", she said, "and I love the old brick
houses." "I havelearned as mutrh from talking with t
residents as I would have with any tour I could have moi
on".
"One thing that I have found and I -think many of the
students have found hut, is that people are people wherever
they go and, I think that the billeting in the homes has given
us a greater insight into life,in G'oderich;." the teacher ,corn,-,..
mented.
At. one of the many ' lunches the children enjoyed the
Mother chaperone was given a hearty round of applause.
Mrs: Valliers•, who cadge all the `way to help the teachers,
was celebrating her twenty-eighth wedding anniversary on •
Wednesday and had received a message from her husband
that expressed his loneliness at being separated from, his
wife on their special day
Tom Hood, the Grade 8 teacher who co-ordit'tated much of
'the activities during the week, was als, applauded for his ef-
forts.
The teachers and stridents who were affiliated with the
week Iong^visit seemed to get -one commek impressiort of rhe
exchange program. Everyone had ;a vl v enjoyable,
educational visit with each other and was exceptionally glad
he or she was Able to participate.•.
When the St. Marv$; students travel to Abbotsford in May
.they will renew"'whe• friendship that was born in Goderich,
,But the unusual aspect of their friendship is that though
they may, ryeverosee each other again in the'course of their
lives, they will never forget one another foe their week
together here in Goderich. '
Photo story
by
Jeff
Seddon
A
v,
H
•
C.
,How does Red Sails an the Sunset gThe students examine pan old jukebox in the
museum. -(staff photo)
Judy Coffin.first on right, Tom Node standing and Judy Zesko seated had their work cut out
for them when they shouldered responsibility for the exchange trip. Mrs. Valliers (fifth on
left) celebrated her 28th wedding anniversary on Wednesday. (staff photo)
To glvet their, guests a better understanding of the history of Huron County the St,. Mary's studints avenged* tour of tiw
Pioneer Museum. (staff photo) a`
n