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The Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-08-26, Page 22 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, August 26, 2015 Valerie Gillies Lucknow Sentinel Many of the turtle hatchlings were released by children who watched their progress once they were in the water. Abigail Ball's turtle was one that crawled up onto a rock (seen at Abigail's right) after release on August 19, 2015 in Wingham. Many of the 138 female snapping turtle hatchlings that were released at Wingham River Flats Ecological Park on August 19, 2015 climbed back up onto the rocks after being placed in the water. Owen Verhoef was chosen to release a special hatchling named Julie in honour of Julie Sawchuk who had previously saved turtle eggs from a snapper killed on the road, then was injured on the road, herself, in a bike accident on July 29, 2015. Julie the turtle was released in Wingham on August 19. Share the Road bumper stickers are being sold to both help raise funds to help Julie Sawchuk's family with medical expenses and to raise awareness for drivers to share the road with wildlife, bikers and others. From left: Owen Verhoef, Riley Good and Robert Lamont hold the stickers that were available at the release in Wingham on August 19, 2015 and will also be available at several businesses in Huron County. Help shape Puron County's Economic Development plan We also welcome you to share feedback and follow our progress on our Faeebook page "Shaping Huron County's Economic Development plan, 2015-2020". Have Questions? Please email inquiries to sandra.mccann@ontario.ca 519-482-3333 Huron County's 10 municipal partners have launched a collaborative economic development strategic planning process in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The strategic planning process launched on August 10, 2015 and will continue through the month of October at which point municipal staff will look to develop workplans and budgets to help implement short and long term projects and goals. This process will seek to dovetail each municipal economic development strategic plan in an effort to address gaps, seek out opportunities for collaboration and consolidation, share best practices and develop effective and streamlined performance measurement techniques. Each of the following municipalities has appointed a five -person core team to work through this process: • Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh • Bluewater • Central Huron • County of Huron • Goderich • Howick • Huron East • Morris-Turnberry • North Huron • South Huron We want to hear your voice! Members of the community are encouraged to participate in this process. Each municipal core team must develop a strategic planning committee that they consult throughout this process. If you have ideas about how we can strengthen and grow Huron County's economy and would like to participate on a municipal strategic planning committee please email: sandra.mccann@ontario.ca • 519-482-3333 Three students of Julie Sawchuk are running a daycamp through the North Huron Recreation Department. Ashley Forrester, Brooke Ohm and Ben Errington brought their campers to the turtle hatchling release in Wingham on August 19, 2015. Forrester had been at the first release in 2014 when Sawchuk had brought her Biology class from F. E. Madill. The campers are filing down the embankment to learn about the program through Huron Stewardship Council. Share the road with turtles and cyclists CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 1 A press release from Huron Stewardship Council explains, "There are eight native turtle species in Ontario. Seven of those are at risk. The Snapping Turtle is one of those species at risk. It takes a long time for most turtles to reach matu- rity. Mature turtles may live for many decades but turtles reproduce at a low rate." The release goes on to state, "A Snapping Turtle would need to lay about 1,400 eggs in her lifetime, on average, for just one of her offspring to sur- vive to adulthood. Saving even one adult by safely helping it across the road, or taking an injured turtle, or a turtle carrying eggs, to a wildlife custodian, can help to conserve that species." Another portion of the release advises that road mortality is one of the biggest threats facing turtles as there are no land areas in southern Ontario that is more than 1.5 kilometres from a road. This proximity makes it more likely that turtles will cross roads while making their journey to find a nest to lay their eggs. There are other factors including habitat destruction and poaching which leads to a global decline of turtle populations. The turtle release event held at Wingham River Flats Ecological Park on August 19 saw between 80 to 100 people attend to show their support by making donations for the Sawchuk family in order to release a hatchling. There were 138 turtles released back into the wild. The event raised $800 for the Sawchuk family. The Share the Road initia- tive continues with HSC giv- ing out bookmarks and post- cards with information about turtles and the cam- paign. To learn more about Share the Road visit www. sharetheroad.ca. To donate to Sawchuk's recovery pro- cess and to read her blog posts visit www.forjulie.com. The bumber stickers for the Share the Road initiative will continue to be available at several businesses in Huron County and beyond. You can find them in several communities, as listed. Share the Road Bumper Sticker outlets In Goderich: 360 Board & Bikes, Finchers, Goderich Chiropractic, Kate Hazlitt N.D Office, Menestung Cross Fit. In Blyth: Blyth Festival, Stiches With A Twist. In Wingham: Vintage Winery, Maitland Family Dental. In Clinton: Made in Huron. In addition to these outlets, Feast for Good will have stickers at the Bay- field Farmers Market on Fri- days and Goderich Farmers Market on Saturday. HRS reports that stickers are also going to Mitchell, Peterborough and Colling- wood at the request of busi- ness owners who want to spread the word to Share The Road.