the brockville observer DECEMBER 15

Shawn Dawson, Stuart Spurrell, Timothy Ross and Bob Van Blitterswyk took to Mount Marcy in the Adirondack’s last weekend in preparation for tackling Africa’s high-est peak in the spring of 2011. The three lo-cals are work-ing towards the physical and mental challenges they need to experience before accompanying Dawson to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Although Mount Marcy is far smaller and less diffi-cult than the feat they will be attempting in April, it gave the trio an idea of the challenges they will face. The group pushed through the difficulties, with the help and experi-ence of Dawson, helping the relative newcomers push past adversity, a little taste of the ‘power within the group’ that they will need in Africa. “Can I do Kilimanjaro? Yes! It’s go-ing to be day after day of what we went through yesterday and I’m up for it”, said Tim Ross.

Dawson reflected on the training run on Mount Marcy, which included

nasty weather conditions like 80 mile/hour winds and constant precipita-tion. “The group was all heart”, said Dawson, add-ing that this was as much a

taste of things to come for the group as it was a team build-ing event with the purpose of each team member real-izing that they will be there for each other

when things get tough. Spurrell echoed the

sentiments of his team, in that this was but a small sample of what is to come, and training will continue for the following months.

“I can hardly wait to go to Kilimanjaro with all of our team and do this for 8 days”, said Spurrell, adding that it was great to get to know the Dream Mountain Foundation team and to spend time with Dawson, the team leader.

The group will con-tinue training over the next several weeks and gauge the team’s progress meticulously leading up to the great-est challenge of many of their lives. Updates on the team’s progress will appear regularly over the next 3 months, leading into the climb.

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Locals training for Kilimanjaro

The ‘Dream Team’ tackled Mount Marcy in the Adirondack mountains on the weekend in preparation for Mount Kilimanjaro in the spring. Four locals are pictured here including; Shawn Dawson, Stuart Spurrell, Timothy Ross and Bob Van Blitterswyk.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

City police and firefighters, along with members of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office and Brockville building officials are continuing the investigation into the cause of a recent fire, officials say. The tra-gic blaze, which began at approxi-mately 5:30 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, December 11th, at 171 James Street has resulted in one fatality, 49 year-old resident Sean Mallard, who fell victim to smoke inhalation as he slept. Mallard’s death was confirmed following a post mortem conducted in Ottawa this Monday. Other residents of the red brick apartment complex es-caped the fire or were not home at the time.

ERIN CHRISTIE PHOTO

Investigation into fatal fire continues

“Can I do Kilimanjaro?

Yes!”Timothy Ross

By Austin de LuisThe Observer

Page 2 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2010 THE OBSERVER

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Clark helps spread pre-Christmas cheerLocal food banks received some pre-Christmas cheer thanks to those attending Leeds-Grenville MPP Steve Clark’s Christmas Reception, held Sunday, December 12 at the Quality Hotel Royal Brock in Brockville. Approximately 200 people attended the event and brought with them 300 food items and more than $120 in cash donations for local food banks. Pictured with MPP Clark are, from the left, Bonnie Gommert, executive director, and Shorey Bowen, administrator and fundraiser, with the Food For All Food Bank in Prescott and Myra Garvin, co-chair, and Maureen Smith, volunteer co-ordinator, with Brockville’s Operation Harvest Sharing Food Bank. Clark encouraged everyone in Leeds-Grenville to remember those in need by supporting a food bank in their area, not only during the Christmas season but year-round. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The Thousand Islands Antique Boat Museum Trust announced the next phase of its plans to es-tablish a Canadian Antique Boat Museum in part-nership with the US Antique Boat Museum based in Clayton, New York. The Trust has retained the services of the Economic Planning Group (EPG), a tourism consulting firm, to investigate alternative locations and sites.

“We are very excited to move forward on this im-portant stage that will help get us one step closer to making a Canadian Antique Boat Museum a reality,” stated John Simpson, museum proponent and trust-ee with the Thousand Islands Antique Boat Museum Trust. “Finding the right location will be critical to the overall success of the Canadian museum.”

By establishing a museum in Canada, the Trust and other promoters are hoping to achieve the same level of success as that of the US museum. The Antique Boat Museum, located in Clayton, NY was first established more than 40 years ago. It has since grown to become a major feature of the Vil-lage of Clayton and Upper New York State. Today, it is a self-sustaining, high quality museum offer-ing hands-on learning programs associated with boatbuilding and boating in the 1,000 Islands and across North America. The museum has played a key role in restoring tourism for the area as well contributing to overall economic and cultural vi-brancy of the village.

“Our goal in building a Canadian museum is to provide an exciting destination for Canadian and American tourists in the 1,000 Islands region and to serve as a solid anchor that will attract economic activity for area businesses,” stated Joe Pal, a trustee and supporter of the project. “As many area com-munities have suffered through tough economic times, we are confident this project can go a long way to increase the vitality of the area and build on the natural treasure of the 1,000 Islands.”

There are several possible sites within the 1,000 Islands region that have real potential for the mu-seum’s location and are now being considered for the project. A proposal in 2007 to establish the mu-seum in the Town of Gananoque was not able to proceed due to complications at the time in secur-ing the necessary commitments. Members of the Trust and supporters of the museum are confident that through this new process, they will meet with success in securing a final location and home for the museum.

“We are committed now more than ever before in ensuring that this project becomes a reality,” concluded Simpson. “We are also looking forward to building on the exciting partnership with our US friends in Clayton, NY and making the 1,000 Islands Region an exciting destination for Canadian and American tourists, as well as a wonderful and vi-brant place for local residents.

Plans move forward to establish Canadian antique boat museumStudy commissioned to explore various

site locations around 1,000 Islands region

As household costs continue to rise, more and more families are feeling the financial crunch. The Salvation Army launched its 2010 Christmas Kettle Cam-paign on Thursday, Nov-ember 19th, to help those in need, both around the holiday season and throughout the year.

The campaign, which will run until December 24th, will see nine of the familiar Christmas ket-tles, staffed by more than 80 bell-ringing volun-teers, spread out across the City. Locally, the cam-paign has raised approxi-mately $28,000 towards its $72,000 target, all of which will support hun-dreds of local families, many of whom need help meeting basic needs such as meals throughout the year, shelter and cloth-ing.

“What is important about this campaign in Brockville is that the funds that are raised stay within the community, the goal is to bring hope and dignity to as many people as we can,” said Salvation Army volun-teer coordinator, Hannah Cody.

Cody continued that

the campaign received an outpouring of support in 2009, with donations surpassing the $63,000 target, by $8000, for a

total of $71,000, prompt-ing them to increase this years’ goal to $72,000.

“We’re always blown away by people’s gener-

osity, and I think we’re off to a pretty good start this year,” said Cody. “We’ve also seen an in-crease in volunteers and had several local busi-nesses and organiza-tions ask to man kettles for a day. A lot of times, people tend to forget about those in the com-munity that don’t have. The amount of support we have received shows us that people in Brock-ville don’t forget.”

While the Salvation Army’s traditional Christ-mas kettles are common-place at many Loblaw and Walmart stores, LCBO outlets, shopping centres and street cor-ners around the holiday season, the organization is now reaching out to a new generation of poten-tial donors this year.

On November 15th, the agency has launched a donation website, www.fillthekettle.com, where people can make online donations.

The site allows donors to choose to donate to any of nearly 2,000 kettles across Canada or even start up their own virtual kettle, with all proceeds going to local initiatives.

Other holiday initia-tives include the Angel Tree and Christmas Bas-ket programs.

Kettle campaign supports community

Long-time volunteer, Ross Henninger braves the cold to col-lect donations for the Salvation Army. Henninger, who can be seen manning the kettle outside the LCBO, located on William Street, is one of 40 members of the Brockville Coun-try Club that volunteer throughout the campaign. “This is a very busy kettle,” said Henninger. “People are very gener-ous in this city, which is great because the money goes to a good cause.” ERIN CHRISTIE PHOTO

By Erin ChristieObserver Staff Writer

The residents of Wedgewood Retirement Resort are once again crafting beautiful angels this Christmas, aiming to raise $1000.00 in support of Palliative Care.

“This is the second year we’ve done this,” says Joyce Barnhardt, Dir-ector of Activities at the Wedgewood. “Last year, one of our residents, Isa-bel Ball, had the idea to make angels and decorate

the trees in the resort with them. It turned out to be a friendly competition between the seven floors, and now we judge for the prettiest tree.”

The angels are also sold for $10.00 each, last year raising $600.00 that was donated to the Brockville and District Hospital Foundation (BDHF)—earmarked for support of the Brock-ville and District Hospice

Palliative Care Service (BDHPCS) that serves the community from Brock-ville General Hospital Garden Street Site.

“The residents have made 70 angels so far,” explains Sabby Duthie, Director of Operations at the Wedgewood, “but are still making more. The Wedgewood purchased angels in memory of each resident that passed away this year, and the

rest are selling fast. They are certainly becoming a local favourite.

“We’ve already reached $540.00 and are in good shape to pass our total from last year,” Duthie adds. “We would be thrilled to reach $1000.00.”

The handcrafted an-gels are a delight in gold and white, and can be purchased for $10.00 each at the Wedgewood.

Wedgewood resident Angel-Makers angeling to reach $1000 Goal

THE OBSERVER WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2010 Page 3

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A Community ChristmasChristopher Coya Alex Fleuriau Chateau

P&G brings United Way closer to goalStaff, Board Members and Campaign Co-Chair Sharon Jordan met with the Procter & Gamble Campaign Committee to ac-cept the company’s final totals for the 2010 United Way campaign. Using a combination of special events, payroll deduction and special in-house opportunities such as product sales, the employees of Procter & Gamble raised a whopping grand total of $ 207,036.00, representing nearly 22 per cent of United Way’s final target of $965,000, all of which will be reinvested back into the community to 27 member agencies under the United Way funding umbrella. SUBMITTED PHOTO

“Angeling” at the Wedgewood for Palliative Care are (seated, left – right) residents Helen Bucker and Elizabeth Gartland; (standing, left – right) Sherry Anderson, BGH Director of Complex Continuing Care, Rehab and Palliative Care; resident Isabel Ball; Joyce Barnhardt, Director of Activities; Sabby Duthie, Director of Operations; resident Hugh Gartland; and Kimberley Davey, Palliative Care Consult Nurse with the BDHPCS.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

There is nothing like walking a mile in someone else’s shoes to gain some perspective. That is one of the many lessons that ten community-minded Brockvillians learned after spending one week in November subsisting entirely on the contents of a Food Bank food ham-per, something that thou-sands of people relying on social assistance ex-perience year-round. The hampers, which lasted approximately three to four days, contained stan-dard non-perishable food bank items, such as Kraft Dinner and canned stews and pastas that contain high amounts of sodium and very little protein. Once the contents of the hampers ran out, partici-pants were encouraged to seek out charitable meals such as church dinners or soup kitchen fare.

The exercise was the local segment of ‘Do the Math, Eat the Math’, a province-wide initiative to raise awareness of the growing food security problem in Ontario. Par-ticipants which included, Janet Eaton, Ray Wheeler, Claire Farella, Linda Earl, Sarah Wheeler, Michael Jiggins, Joanne Systma, Alison Tutak, Jack Butt and Kim Giroux, were asked to blog about their personal experiences daily to record their journey and to make donations to help cover the cost of the hamper in order to replenish supplies to be used for those who regularly access the food bank.

To conclude their ‘eye-opening’ week, the par-ticipants met with organ-izer Carole Chang, of the Leeds-Grenville and Lan-ark District Health Unit,

for a de-briefing, in order to discuss their experien-ces, some of which Chang said, were shocking.

“The de-briefing was surprisingly emotional,” said Chang, adding that some of the data collected would be used in the Unit’s upcoming report on hunger and nutrition in the region.

“I think this changed people’s perspective. Most of the participants said that if they learned anything, it’s that food se-curity is about more than

just putting food in your belly, it’s about a standard of living.”

Chang continued that many of the participants noted that experiencing an unsecure food supply brings a whole number of problems, including social isolation and hope-lessness.

“Physically several of the participants noted that the high sodium/low protein diet left them feel-ing drained and sluggish,” said Chang.

Participant Kim Giroux, a medical social worker at Elmgrove said that the experience lead her to ac-knowledge the physical, mental challenges caused by malnutrition as well as the correlation between malnutrition and the so-cial challenges faced by those who rely solely on the food bank.

“Physically I lacked energy, concentration, and motivation to follow

my regular schedule,” said Giroux.

“Socially I felt isolated and different from those whom I normally associ-ate with. Now when I meet with one of my clients and they appear lethargic I will remember my experi-ence of this initiative and challenge any judgmental thoughts.”

Participant Janet Eaton, who made the ex-ercise a family affair by including both her hus-band, Ray, and daughter, Sarah, echoed Giroux’s

sentiments, adding that her normally energetic family found themselves in front on the television after their evening meal.

“We take things for granted,” said Eaton. “Things like choice. We can choose what we eat and what we put in our bodies and by extension, how we are going to feel. I couldn’t imagine not having that choice, how-ever there is a growing population of people out there who don’t have that choice. They eat only to survive.”

To that end, Chang and the Unit will be advocat-ing for a $100 healthy food supplement for those re-ceiving social assistance, though Chang noted that adding to the benefits of those on assistance won’t solve the problems faced by food bank clients.

At the de-briefing, sev-eral of the participants generated recommenda-

tions for both short term and long term solutions for healthier food options and increased funding for

the area’s most vulnerable residents.

Chang said that imple-menting a campaign to

encourage healthy food donations was one of the most common recom-mendations, along with weekend food program-ming and breakfast pro-grams in local schools,

free nutrition classes. Chang explained that

the participants said that they would like to see an

initiative that would allow food banks to provide well balanced meal options, such as a community garden where fresh fruits and vegetables are grown and donated to Operation Harvest Sharing. The dif-ficulty in completing simple tasks such as cre-ating meals was also high-lighted by participants. Chang recalled that one participant tried to make spaghetti, but did not have all of the ingredients to make it, which brought about the suggestion of meal kits, which would include all the necessary ingredients to make a complete meal.

Armed with a plethora

of helpful recommenda-tions, Chang said that the Unit felt the project was a success and they will

continue to run it annu-ally, though possibly with a different focus.

“We were grateful for the group we had, it’s not any easy way to live and the thing I think that people will remember is that there are people who have to live that way for more than a week. But if all it took was a week to get people more involved, than we know we’re mak-ing a difference. The only complaint or issue with the exercise that seemed to come up is that there weren’t any politicians in-volved, not in Brockville. Maybe some of them will be able to participate next time.”

Eating to thrive:Food bank challenge participants offer new perspective


The ObserverCOMMUNITY


“I think this changed people’s perspective. Most of the participants said that if they learned anything,

it’s that food security is about more than just putting food in your belly, it’s about a standard of living.”

Carole Chang, Leeds-Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit

“Socially I felt isolated and different from those whom I normally associate with. Now when I meet

with one of my clients and they appear lethargic I will remember my experience of this initiative

and challenge any judgmental thoughts.” Participant Kim Giroux



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A cheque in the amount of $3000 was donated to Operation Harvest Shaaring at a recent presentation on Dec. 1. 3M Canada Company is making donations in all the communities in which they have facilities. From left: Mary-Ann Smith, Terry Bowman, Jennifer Jackson-Fevens (Operation Harvest Sharing), Nadine Gropp, Lisa Croll. Jennifer was thrilled and expressed the thanks of the Har-vest Sharing folks.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010The Brockville Police continue their investigation into the fire on James

Street in Brockville. The investigation includes members of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office, The Brockville Fire Department and building officials with the City of Brockville. A post mortem was conducted in Ottawa yesterday and the cause of death has been determined as smoke inhalation. It is an-ticipated that investigators will conclude the scene investigation later to-day.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010On December 13, 2010 at 2:30 pm two females were shoplifting at Sears.

Items taken include coats, cosmetics & men’s razors. They were observed leaving in a black or very dark Toyota Corolla with distinctive “L” shaped trailer hitch. Possible plate obtained AZBE307. Both females are described as heavy set wearing white Roots hoodies. One (in her 40’s) had brownish/red hair while a younger one had dark hair in a pony tail. Please call the Brockville Police or Crime stoppers with any information.

Acts of kindness may have ultimately put Brockville resident Val-erie Xavier in harm’s way the day she let a troubled boy into her home. De-scribed as an elegant woman who spent most of her working life caring for the elderly, Xavier was rumoured to have taken in boarders in an effort to continue her work help-ing others. Neighbors said the woman had recently opened up her apart-ment to a teenager who needed a place to stay. It is rumored that he may be the young man who now stands accused of Xavier’s murder. The 80 year-old woman was re-ported missing from her north-end apartment on Sunday, September 26th and a 16-year-old suspect was arrested in Ottawa driving Xavier’s car and in possession of a stolen credit card. The Brockville youth, whose identity is

protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested and charged with possession of a stolen credit card, theft over $5,000 and posses-sion of property obtained by crime, and released. But police shortly after re-arrested the same suspect on the second-degree murder charge and took him into custody. On Oc-tober 6th, following an extensive search, Xavier’s body was discovered be-

hind a County Road 29 gas station, about two kilometres north of her Brockville home. Police have released little infor-mation about the case, saying only that the mis-sing woman and the sus-pect knew each other. The teen was remanded in Brockville court on Mon-day following a bail hear-ing. There is a publication ban on any evidence from court.


Investigation continues BROCKVILLE POLICE BLOTTERMurder of Valerie Xavier still under investigation as Brockville police gather evidence

get spotted...Observer

get spotted...Observer

Donation brings smiles all around

Valerie Xavier

Birds of a featherA flock of Common goldeneyes takes off from a local lake. Common goldeneyes are chunky, medium sized sea ducks that breed in forested regions of Canada and Alaska, and northern parts of the lower U.S. They overwinter throughout North America as far north as water remains ice-free.

PHOTO: GORD HICKS

The ObserverEDITORIALPage 6 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2010 THE OBSERVER

THE OBSERVER EDITORIAL

MUSINGS FROM

Jeffrey Morris

Poor Corbin.The little guy sat there for what must have

seemed like forever-and-a-half, whaling like a banshee and dehydrating his body through a hurricane of tears.

It was probably the most traumatizing mo-ment of the two years that the little guy had been alive.

Corbin, you see, had every right to be freaked out.

He was meeting Santa Claus.For the first time.I stood there and watched

helplessly with my mother and my two sons, who were desig-nated as helpers in the Santa’s Village Workshop and Empor-ium of Terror on King St. in Prescott. They were helpless too. Santa and Mrs. Claus were also helpless. Corbin’s mom and extended family were also helpless. We were all helpless. Without help. Help free. Lacking helpage. Sans aide.

Corbin, meanwhile, was melting down like a Fudgesicle in a sauna.

As I watched, I had a flood of memories aqua ducting through my mind. Maybe the same scenario would make you reflect too. Was I afraid of Santa? Did I react like that? I don’t think my kids reacted that way their first time meeting Santa, did they?

I think I only had one meltdown with Santa when I was a kid. My kids were okay most of the time. My youngest one got kind of freaked out by Santa one year, but then he redeemed himself at the Star Wars exhibit at Disney when he embraced and cuddled with Darth Vader. Then again, the boys grew up in Texas, and that day in the Collin County Mall in Plano happened to be a hot one. Santa was a little, uh, sweaty that day. I think he had some bar-becue sauce in his beard too. Santa had a bit of an accent, too. He must have been from the southern region of the North Pole, where they say things like, “Are y’all fixin’ to leave Santa and Rudolph some biscuits?”

But, still, it was a great memory in parent-hood as my oldest son, still a pre-schooler, ex-plained to the Texan St. Nick that he was very good so that he wouldn’t get a “coal of lump” in his stocking.

As I started cruising through some psychol-ogy websites and looking up “Claustrophobia”, it started to make perfect sense. Many kids are afraid of St. Nick. Some grown-ups are too. Corbin is not alone.

One of the most noted authorities on the subject is Ryerson University psychology pro-fessor Martin Antony, author of “The Anxiety Workbook”. Antony says that the problem may not be with Santa, but with the concept of a costumed character.

“Even though it’s something children would be familiar with from books or television …

and probably wouldn’t be afraid in that con-text, when Santa’s right there, it can be scary for kids again because it’s unfamiliar,” he said in a Canadian Press interview. “From a dis-tance it may not be too bad, but being picked up and plopped on a stranger’s lap at the best of times may be scary for young children.”

That makes sense. Kids see story books and cartoons of Santa Claus, but when they are confronted with the actual man with the big white beard and the costume, it is completely different ballgame. Santa is big – very big – to

a child. The entire line up at the mall and the big chair can be very intimidating as well. The urgency of the line-up and the experience can over-stimulate a child emo-tionally. And then, when it comes right down to it, how intimidating and awe-striking must it be for

a kid to meet someone as great as Santa. Im-agine going to a church and standing in line to meet Jesus Christ for two minutes. Wouldn’t you be a bit freaked out, too? That’s what it is like for a kid.

And why, as parents, do we even insist on forcing the kids to get the picture with Santa? If we are lucky, we end up with a cute picture. Somewhere my ex must have a picture of the two boys with Sweaty Claus, who had taken off the red suit and was wearing a drenched, light blue undershirt. Yup, that was seven bucks U.S. well spent. But tradition overrules com-mon sense when it comes to this one, as we hand our kids over to a stranger and expect them to sit on their lap and be cute.

Again, you can’t blame Corbin for losing it.“If it’s someone afraid of snakes, it would

have a very different effect if I were to throw a snake at that person than if I were to encour-age the person to approach the snake on their own,” Antony said. “The one thing that I would recommend to parents is that they would not force children into the situation, but that they would find ways to encourage children to try it and have it be a sort of a fun thing and not making it a negative experience.

“The absolute worst thing that will hap-pen in a given year is maybe a child won’t be able to do it, and they’ll skip a year of sitting on Santa’s lap. I don’t know any adults that are afraid of Santa, so there’s a good chance if it doesn’t happen in one year or in another year that eventually it will happen.”

Corbin eventually calmed down for a photo, and after he left with his exhausted mother, I got thinking. If a clown sat on Santa’s knee, who would be more afraid?

Jeffrey Morris was the 2008 OCNA Colum-nist of the Year. His book, from the Other Side, is available at Manotick Office Pro, Pages in Pres-cott and the Barrhaven UPS Store. If he signs it for you at Christmas, hopefully he won’t make your kids cry.

Corbin’s battle with Claustrophobia

Happy Global Village DayHere’s a good one.We were having a chat with a local community leader, and the sub-

ject of Christmas was brought up. Her daughter is in junior kinder-garten, and she vented in frustration about what has happened to the holiday in the school system.

“She is having Happy Global Village Day,” she told me, not knowing whether to think it was cute, disgusting, appropriate, clever, or nause-ating.

The answer probably sits somewhere in the “all of the above” cat-egory.

Although we can mock political correctness as it applies to the holi-day season, there comes a line where too much is too much. By trying not to offend anyone, we are, in fact, offending everybody. Our efforts to be respectful by blanketing the meaning of our cultural holidays only creates resentment on all sides, particularly since the political correct movement is nothing short of cultural self-loathing.

When the mom told us that the class takes a look at the different holiday celebrations around the world – that particular day was Kwan-za – she added that there were pluses and minuses to the efforts made by the school. On the plus side, it is absolutely great to learn about our different cultures. The minus, however, is a big one. In teaching the traditions, they took religion completely out of all of the celebrations.

How can you tell the story of Christmas or the story of Chanukah when you eliminate religion? Is Christmas nothing more than Santa and toys? How does the Muslim community feel about religion being taken out of their holiday celebrations?

By being fair to all, we are being unfair to all.The story of Christmas is a beautiful story, regardless of your reli-

gious beliefs. There are beautiful stories in every religion – miracles that we can learn from and be inspired by.

In the years that I have grown up and said Merry Christmas to people from all walks of life, nobody has ever been offended. In fact, the friends I have from other cultures all welcome the greeting with a genuine smile. I am not offending them by saying Merry Christmas. I am sharing the most joyous celebration of my religion and my culture with them. They are happier to hear Merry Christmas than my white Anglo Christian friends.

When the city or other public institutions ban wishing someone a Merry Christmas and replace it with a Happy Holidays greeting, no-body wins. Many of the religious people of non-Christian faiths feel that they are being coddled by a machine of social engineering. The Christians feel the sting beyond religion, as Christmas is the focal point of our culture for a full month – or more – of the year.

So, from me to you, from our staff and from our newspaper to you:Merry Christmas. Embrace Christmas. Embrace the love of the holi-

day and share it with friends and family, regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds.

Christmas is special and must remain special – even in the Happy Global Village.

Jeff

Serena Paton stars in We’ll Meet Again

June 29 & 30This outstanding tribute to British

singer & actress Vera Lynn stars Serena Paton and Kerry Stratton and the Gand Salon Orchestra. Serena was honored to perform the songs of Vera Lynn on Juno Beach in France in 2009 and for numerous ceremonies honoring fallen World War 11 heroes in Ottawa.

Vera Lynn’s recordings and perform-ances were enormously popular during World War 11. Nicknamed “The Forces Sweetheart” Vera is best known for her clas-sic songs “We’ll Meet Again” “The White Cliffs of Dover” and “My Son, My Son”.

In 2009, Vera became the oldest living artist to make it to #1 on the British album charts.

At one time it was a rare occurrence to be asked about organic wines and the recom-mendations came from a very small pool of candi-dates. In fact I remember a time when there was one organic wine on the Vintages listings, named Vin Coeur, or Heart Wine. It was certified organic and enjoyed the distinc-tion of being the only wine we had ever heard of that had its own phar-maceutical number! Ap-parently it had such high levels of vitamin P that the producers applied for and received the phar-maceutical designation.

Now, whether inspired by health issues or per-sonal convictions, the question pops up regu-larly. Vintners take the issue seriously and there are a large number of wineries that are certi-fied organic or working towards certification.

One of these is On-tario’s own Malivoire Vineyards, located on the Beamsville Bench in the Niagara Peninsula. Founded in 1995, their original vineyard, the Moira, achieved certifi-cation in 2004 and today all of their vineyards are certified organic. They have expanded produc-tion and now have wines available at the LCBO. Malivoire White 2008 (CSPC# 141531, $14.95, Brockville Shopping Centre) is worthy of our attention based on its

quality, flavours and ver-satility. The fact that it is organic didn’t originally factor in to its choice for inclusion in the column and is a bonus.

The wine’s makeup is a bit unusual in that it is a

blend of mostly Chardon-nay with smaller amounts of Riesling and Gewurz-traminer (80/15/5). This is another example of the new trend in Ontario of blending non-traditional grape partners to create new wines with exciting new flavour profiles.

The grapes for “The White” are handpicked and then fermented sep-arately in stainless steel tanks before being blend-ed for the final wine. The

full, open nose exhibits fresh grapefruit, peach, green apple, pear and citrus fruit aromas which carry through to the pal-ate. There the tangy stone fruit and citrus are joined by a touch of vanilla and just a wisp of honey. While light to medium bodied and fresh and crisp, there is a rich, creamy texture to the palate. The balance

is superb and the finish shows great complexity with multidimensional flavour profiles and great length.

You might think from this description that this is an off dry white. In

fact on first impression the wine seems off dry at the first sip, but the mid palate and finish are dry. There’s plenty of citrus acidity to keep all the ele-ments in perfect balance. It also makes for a versa-tile food wine.

White meats such as chicken, turkey and veal are all wonderful part-ners for Malivoire. It also has enough acidity and depth of flavour to match up with their richer tex-tured, fuller flavoured cousin pork.

Seafood and fresh-water fish make the list of potential partners to benefit from pairing with our organic Ontarian. Simple recipes are per-fect, but once again Mali-voire can handle richer, more complex fare.

Pasta with cream sauce in all its variations makes the list. A couple of dishes that never seem to make food and wine lists are gnocchi and perogies. Malivoire will match both quite nicely, thank you.

Not in the mood to cook? Order in your favourite Thai or Chi-nese dishes (moderately spiced) and pair it with Malivoire. Or simply open a bottle, kick back and relax. Enjoy!

Malivoire white, organic and delicious


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Believe it or not, there are a number of advantages to having your house on the market during the holidays. Although many homeowners prefer to sell their house after the first of the year, some sellers have learned some of the unique advantages of selling their home during the holiday season. Here are a few to consider:

Motivated Buyers - If buyers come out to see homes during the holidays, they are usually motivated to buy and can’t put their purchase off any longer. Transferees are often in this category. They are in town for a limited time and must make a purchase so they can relocate within the period specified by their employer.

Less Competition - There are typically fewer homes for sale over the holidays. This means that your home has a better chance of selling to the buyers who are looking for your type of property and price range. If you wait until after the first of the year, your home will be coming on the market with numerous other properties that were delayed until after the conclusion of the holidays.

Home Shows Well - Your home will never have a warmer, more inviting appearance than during the holidays. The smells and sight of a home decorated for the holiday season will cause buyers to enjoy and linger a little longer than after the holidays when all decorations are removed and put away.

Advice - Don’t be discouraged about selling your house at holiday time. You may be surprised to learn that it could be a wise marketing decision.

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The Observer VOICE

MORE THAN JAPAN

by Lauren Smith

OFF THE VINE

by Russ Disotell

Hello and welcome back to my adventures in Japan. For those of you who are not fam-iliar with my back-ground, I’m a first year ALT (assistant language teacher) with the JET program. I current-ly live in Takayama, where I teach English to elementary and junior high school stu-dents. So far, I’ve man-aged to get through one and a half seasons here in Japan, though mostly, it feels like fall. Unfortunately, we have yet to see snow, at least nothing substantial. We’ve had a few flakes that melted before they touched the ground but nothing that actually coated the ground.

But snow isn’t what I want to talk about. Given the season, I thought I’d tell you about some of the dif-ferences between Can-adian and Japanese winters

To start with, the dif-ferences, as you can imagine, go beyond just the temperature.

The Japanese rarely build with insulation, with the exception of Hokkaido, I’m told, so heat doesn’t last that long.

I’ve finally had to dig my kerosene heat-ers out and turn them on. I can’t leave them on overnight or you I run the risk of suffocat-ing from the fumes, but they do make my apart-ment lovely and warm when they’re on.

Since this is my first time in Japan, I have no idea of what people do in the winter. Luck-ily, the other ALTs are

happy to help, which is great because these are things that I normally wouldn’t think about

For example, I will eventually have to start storing my toothpaste and moisturizers in the fridge to prevent them from freezing over-night. I know it sounds weird but there have been mornings where my fridge has been the same temperature if not warmer than my apartment.

To combat boredom, or freezing to death from lack of motion, I’ve chosen to teach an extra class, which happens to be French. I should mention at this point that it has been five years since I have studied French and at least two since I last spoke it. Suffice to say, I have forgotten a lot of it. I regularly make mistakes, which my students are more than happy to correct. This wouldn’t be so hu-miliating if it wasn’t for the fact that they have never been exposed to the language before.

So why, you ask, would I put myself through this? Initially another teacher had signed up to teach the class but was able to fulfill her commitment and if someone didn’t teach it, it would have been cancelled, so I volunteered, assuming that my grasp on the language would come rushing back. Obvious-ly, I was mistaken.

As I go forward, it’s coming back to me, slowly. My students let out the occasional groan as I struggle to sort the masculine from the feminine verbs, but they are patient with me.

Bon soir, Brockville, until next time!

Hiver au Japon(or Why am I Teaching French?)

This is another example of the new trend in Ontario of blending non-traditional

grape partners to create new wines with exciting

new flavour profiles.

Shop locally this season, supportlocal businesses

I said I would not write opinion pieces when I started contributing to The Observer, but I cannot resist any longer.

The approaching holi-day season has already upped everyone’s stress level, and drawn all the people out of their holes that want to RIP US OFF!!! I really don’t hear much about high gas prices anymore, but perhaps I have deafened my ears

to people who complain about it, but accept it as the way of things. Even when we read that a bar-rel of oil is just about at the lowest it has ever been, dollar wise. People com-plain about Hydro One and Enbridge, and their increased delivery char-

ges, The HST, Green ‘Eco’ tax, and of course our gov-ernment at large.

Don’t think for a second that I am defending any of it, because any of these things make my blood pressure rise. I think the thing which makes me

reach a full blown rage, is that we seem to be powerless against these things, or that the majority among us who care about it simply go on with our daily lives and think there is nothing we can do about it.

I remember one day a

gentleman being in front of me in line at a store to pay for his gasoline, and complaining about the price. Upon glancing out the window to look at his vehicle, I noticed he was driving a Cadillac STS. I could feel the heat of anger. I won’t disclose what happened, but it really ticked me off that the fellow could give the young lady manning the store a scathing rant over

the 2 cents extra he had to pay today, but had he ever tackled an elected official about it? Doubtful.

The other obvious trend these days is the maximization of profit by corporations large and small, at the employees and even customers’ ex-

pense. How many times have you noticed only two cashiers open lately, with a large line of people wait-ing? Sound familiar? Here is the translation: The company is saving money on employees to service YOU, their customer!!! They take for granted that you will swallow hard, and accept that they are doing what they CAN to serve you. If someone becomes angry about it, who takes the heat? The employee at the cash.

Now you are back at work, where your employ-er continues to wring every last productive minute out of you, and if you are still lucky enough to have a union, the company doesn’t seem to care what your collective agreement says. For the love of God, don’t get injured, a report would be life-ending! It will put you into a hell of WSIB claim paperwork the size of Everest, threats from your company’s In-surance carrier and your

‘puppet’ bosses, the frus-tration of a gazillion voice mail or automated menu phone calls ( with no an-swer ) and ultimately the loss of your wages and or your job for doing nothing wrong.

I hope this has been an enlightening update to life

on planet Canada. Wake Up, everyone. It is time that all of these groups and companies are reminded who the boss really is. The customer who buys your product. The Employee who makes your business run. The Voter who puts you in office.

At this time of year journalists usually take some time to reflect on the previous twelve months and highlight the stories that they con-sidered to be noteworthy. So, in keeping with this time-honoured tradition, I offer my thoughts on the significant science stories of 2010, in no par-ticular order.

The discovery of plan-ets orbiting stars near the Earth (near is a relative term here) has been go-ing on for about a dec-ade, with about 450 plan-ets being identified. The issue has been that these were all Jupiter-like plan-ets, huge gas giants that are unlikely to harbour life. In 2010 however, a rocky planet was discov-ered in the so-called Gol-dilocks zone, in an orbit around a star in the zone where liquid water can exist. Not too hot, not too cold. Of course it is far too early so see if any-one or anything is waving back at us as we view this planet, but it bodes well for future discoveries.

A major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico gave us all cause to reconsider our priorities, at least for a while, while we thought about terms such as “top kill” and whether we will have to pay more for shrimp. The sentiments are pretty fleeting, it seems.

NASA announced a form of bacteria that ap-

pears to be able to util-ize arsenic in place of phosphorus in its DNA (all known living things use phosphorus in their DNA). The paper has come in for much criti-

cism, and several of its findings are being scru-tinized, but the possibil-ity that we have on our hands an organism that functions with a different basic chemistry is signifi-cant.

A 55 million year old fossil, thought to be the distant ancestor of all primates, you and I in-cluded, was found in Wyoming. This was greet-ed with great enthusiasm by paleontologists and many others in various scientific disciplines, but roundly condemned by some religious groups.

The Hadron Collider in France and Switzerland has been running for most of 2010. Contrary to dire warnings from some who don’t know much about particle phys-ics (your correspondent doesn’t know much about particle physics but I do

know good science when I see it) the world did not end up being swallowed by its own black hole. A large amount of valuable data is being generated that is being analysed in detail.

The Hubble Space Telescope continues to give excellent service, even though its planned lifetime has been ex-

ceeded. In an interesting experiment, the telescope was pointed at a region of space where there was not much else… sort of like the space equivalent of Ungava, and an ultra-long exposure was made. They found thousands of galaxies, much further away than was previ-ously thought possible. They are so far away, in fact, that the light that is reaching us began its journey long before the Earth itself was formed.

A significant technical achievement was the rescue of the 33 trapped miners from the Chilean gold and copper mine. A small shaft was sunk to locate them, through which food, water and other necessities could be sent. A larger shaft was then sunk, and a capsule constructed to allow each miner to be safely brought to the sur-face. Mining remains a dangerous occupation, as this successful rescue was followed shortly by a mining tragedy in New Zealand where 27 coal miners were lost in a mining accident.

These are but a few of the science and technical events of 2010. There were thousands more that did not make the news but each advanced human knowledge and under-standing in small but sig-nificant ways. Let’s cele-brate the hard-working scientists and technical people who work in the field, and as well, the teachers who helped make them what they are.


THEFINE PRINT

by Dennis Stein

THE SCIENCE COLUMN

by Rod Charlton

The Observer VOICE

2010 – The Year in Science

This is what I said I wouldn’t do

I remember one day a gentleman being in front of me in line at a store to pay for his gasoline, and complaining about the price. Upon glancing out the window to look at his vehicle, I noticed he was driving a Cadillac STS .

Hubble photo of a small portion of one of the largest seen star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. Towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble’s classic “Pillars of Creation” photo from 1995, but is even more striking in appearance. The image captures the top of a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried in-side it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks like arrows sailing through the air.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.SKYIMAGELAB.COM

The world did not end up being swallowed by its own black hole.

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Looking for a good book for the holidays? Two local writers have the answer.

In the fall of 2009, both Catherine Cavanagh and Andrea Cameron began writing weekly columns for local publications, in-cluding The Brockville Observer. For both writers, this has lead to opportun-ities in national and inter-national magazines. For the past several years, they have edited each other’s work and challenged each other to keep writing. Now, they embark on a new writing venture together: the publication of their own books.

Named after their col-umn titles, Cameron’s Cor-ner by Andrea Cameron and Soul Side: Articles of Faith by Catherine Cavan-agh will be released on De-cember 12th, 2010 at the Farmers’ Market hosted by the Brockville Museum. Signed books will be avail-able for purchase from 10:00am until 2:00pm. One dollar from the pur-chase of each book will be donated to our local food bank.

“We’ve both enjoyed writing for local publica-tions so much, it was time for each of us to publish our own books to share with the community,” says

Cavanagh. “There’s some-thing for everyone in these collections.”

Soul Side examines spirituality and ethics from a Christian perspec-tive, covering everything from Haiti to Alzheimer’s Disease while Cameron’s Corner explores issues related to parenting, the environment, and educa-tion. The books contain favourite columns, but also include additional stories and articles that have not been published locally.

“We definitely cover a range of topics--and this is reflected in our reader-ship. Our writing reson-ates with everyone from high school students to seniors,” Cameron says.

According to Wendy Priesnitz, editor of Natural Life Magazine, “Andrea Cameron is a wonderful storyteller whose writing evokes smiles, tears, and thought--often all three in the same few hundred words.”

Catholic New Times editor John Quinn states, “Cavanagh writes as a contemplative in ac-tion. Her writing is pas-sionate but purposeful, inviting us to understand our faith, make our faith our own, and not simply

‘keep the faith’.” Leeds County Books

will host a book sign-ing for both authors on December 18th from 11:00am to 1:00pm. All are welcome. Both Soul Side and Cameron’s Cor-ner will be available for purchase there. Soul Side will also be carried by Search Light Books and Cameron’s Corner can be found at Wendy’s Mobile Market: www.wendys-mobilemarket.com.

Cameron’s book will also be available for pur-chase on her blog at www.andreacameron.blogspot.com, and copies of Cavan-

agh’s book can be obtained by emailing [email protected].


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The Observer VOICE

Observer columnist to release book

Popular Observer colum-nist Catherine Cavanagh’s book cover Soul Side will be released just in time for the holidays.

Andrea Cameron’s collection of stories Cameron’s Corner was released on December 12th.


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Wrap it in a large box and give it to her on Christmas. She won’t be expecting it since a ring would normally be in a small sized box. You can fill the box with other ro-mantic trinkets to throw her off more. Or you could fill it with peanuts (the styrofoam kind) and she’ll have to search throw them to find the ring.

• Play Santa and be sure to tell her what Santa wants for Christmas.... for her to be your wife!

• Put it in her Christmas stocking. You can put a candy cane through it with a ‘Will you marry me?’ note attached.

• Wrap it in box after box, ending with a big box with a big bow. If you’ve seen the movie ‘Serendip-ity’, you’ll know what we mean.

• Give her 5 wrapped boxes with a different word (will you marry me) in each box and the ring in the last box. Make sure she opens them in the correct order!

• Spell it out on the roof (or side of your house) with Christmas lights. She’ll be surprised to see your decorations this year!

• Place strands of Christmas lights on your lawn spelling out “Will you marry me?” so that

she sees it when she drives up.

• While decorating the Christmas tree, put the ring around a glass orna-ment and hand it to her to hang on the tree.

• Many cities decorate with lights for the holiday season as well as offer car-riage rides through parks, the city center, etc. Take your sweetie on a car-riage ride under the holi-day lights on a cold night. You’ll be able to snuggle together on a blanket in a romantic environment when you propose.

• Place the ring in a small box with her name on it and hang it on a branch on the Christmas tree. Have some one ‘find it’ after all the other pre-sents are opened. As she opens it, pop the question!

• No snow this Christ-mas? Create a magical holiday proposal with SnoWonder, which looks just like the real thing! What could be better than a snowy, romantic pro-posal?

• Go to a park or down-town area that always has a great Christmas light display. Take him or her on a horse drawn carriage ride and snuggle up under a warm blanket together. Hire a Santa ahead of time and have him stop the carriage halfway through

the display (preferably in a romantic area) and ask for your sweetie’s name and then tell him/her that he has a little something for them. Have him pull box after box out, each

one having a small toy. Finally, after several pre-sents, have him find the real present with an “Oh, here it is.” When he hands the ring box to her, get down on one knee and

ask her to marry you.• Have a step stool

ready and ask her to put the star on the top of the tree. When she climbs up, have the ring on the limbs by the top for her to find. When she finds it, grab her hand and ask her to marry you.

• Hang the ring box like an ornament on the Christmas tree. After the last present has been opened, tell her there is one more surprise present for her that she needs to find on the tree. When she finds it and opens the box, be down on one knee.

•Take her out to look at Christmas lights around the town. As your light viewing is coming to a close, take her to the top of a hill , where you have lights spelling out “marry me?”.

• Buy a personalized Christmas ornament, such as the globe orna-

ments that have a saying on a piece of paper rest-ing on some festive glitter inside. Have the message in the ornament say “Will you marry me?”. Wrap it up like you would any christ-mas present and let your sweetie open it on Christ-mas day. As she is opening it you’ll have plenty of time to fish that ring out of your pocket, and get on your knee of course!

• On Christmas day, hang a mistletoe in the door way of your bed-room. After she’s seen the mistletoe and you kiss, come back later and hange the ring in the middle of it. Then, when she goes to get something, follow her and stop her under it and say look at the mistletoe. When she looks up she will see it. Ask her to marry you, then share a kiss under the mistletoe again, your first as an engaged couple.

Christmas proposal ideas add romance and fun


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Many homeowners have taken cues from the reces-sion and are choosing to stay in their homes a little longer rather than sell in a buyers’ market. Those who want to make their current abodes more livable or at-tractive to future buyers may choose home improvements that raise the value and/or add more space. These op-tions present great opportun-ities for gift givers wondering what to buy for the household handyman.

For many, home improve-ment renovations have be-come do-it-yourself projects out of necessity, as DIY is often more cost-effective than hiring a contractor. However, projects can go awry and cost more money in the long run unless the right tools and techniques are used. Gift giv-ers should select tools that will offer the most bang for their buck and help homeowners sail through many projects. Woodcraft offers these ideas for successful holiday gifting.

Shaping and drillingWhether crafting furniture

or sizing and shaping wood for various home repairs, qual-

ity routers, planers and jigs are needed for the fine-tuned precision these projects re-quire. To polish off edges, add grooves or dadoes, or create a personalized design, choose the Porter-Cable Compact Router. DIYers can create an ultra-smooth surface with the Delta 13” Portable Thickness Planer. Its three-knife cutter-head offers a blade life three times longer than competi-tive three-knife planers. Se-lect a Porter-Cable Quik Jig to substantially reduce the time required to drill the pocket holes used for joinery in some projects.

The art of woodturningFor centuries, woodwork-

ers have enjoyed the feel of virgin wood in their hands and the pleasure derived by turn-ing that piece of wood into an amazing piece of artwork. Check out the Easy Wood Tools Detailers in mini, mid-sized and full-sized models that are ideal for adding detail to projects such as bowls or chair stiles. Pair these detail-ers with other gouges, scrap-ers and lathe accessories for the hobbyist or professional woodturner on your gift list.

Expanding the workshopWhat DIY woodworking

hobbyist couldn’t use a little more space in his or her work-shop? While it’s not always pos-sible to move up or out, keep-ing tools neat and portable can make maximizing space much easier.

Moving large machinery around the shop can be a chal-lenge, but a four-pack of Wood-River Plate Mounted, Machine Leveling Casters can solve the problem by helping handymen to move, level and reduce the vibration of various shop ma-chines. Likewise, the WoodRiver Adjustable Mobile Base moves and levels tools, enabling shop owners to get the most out of their existing space.

WorkshopessentialsEvery DIY woodworker

needs to equip the workshop with some basic tools. To re-move errant nails from wood, DIYers can use the Nail Jack Nail Puller or Nail Jack Nail Hunter. Projects can be kept secure by using the WoodRiver Universal Vise, and an 8” Pin-nacle Arkansas Combo Stone is the ideal gift for keeping blades sharp to avoid injuries and kickback on machines.

Gift Ideas for the Household Handyman

Holiday shoppers know the routine well. When ventur-

ing off to the nearby mall or even shopping online, shoppers often find a host of items they think would make the ideal gift for each person on their list. Oftentimes, it takes a healthy dose of discipline to stick to a budget and not go overboard.

However, seasoned

holiday shoppers are also aware of that one person on every holiday shop-ping list who seemingly has everything or simply insists they want nothing at all. Shoppers typically put off the gift hunt for such friends or family members till the very last minute, often buy-ing whatever’s left on the shelf as a result.

While many have

grown accustomed to that one stickler on their shopping list, there are a handful of options for gift givers who need to find a way to put a smile on that hard-to-shop-for friend or relative’s face.

* Go the gift card route. Few gifts provide the versatility and func-tionality of gift cards. For instance, a gift card to the local electron-ics store can be used by nearly anyone, even the person who already ap-pears to have everything. Such stores often stock CDs, DVDs, MP3 play-ers, and a host of other items that nearly every-one uses. And though you may be uncertain as to what the gadget lover in your family has or doesn’t have, a gift card to a nearby electronics store is sure to put a smile on his or her face.

* Go straight to their stomach. When gifting during the holidays it helps to remember that one gift is always fool-proof: food. And perhaps no food is more foolproof than chocolate. This holi-day season, shoppers can go one step further and not only give chocolate that’s delicious, but en-vironmentally friendly as well.

* Give to a favorite charity. For the person

who truly has everything, a charitable donation in their name is a gift that truly illustrates the spirit of the holiday season. Many people have causes that are near and dear to their heart. For animal lovers, make a donation in their name to the local homeless animal shelter. For that environment-ally-conscious friend or family member, con-sider a donation to a lo-cal parks department of environmental group. When it comes to charity, nearly every group could use a helping hand, and the person who already has everything would no doubt be thrilled to know one was given in his or her name.

Gift ideas for the person who has everything


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By Kenneth Dodd

The Brockville Braves’ staff will be playing short-handed for the next few weeks — and with good reason.

Pascal Meier, the Video Coach of the Braves, has accepted a position with the Swiss national junior ice hockey team for the 2011 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Champion-ships being held from December 26 to Janu-ary 5. Meier will be per-forming the same duties for the Swiss team as he does for the Braves, and he will be joining up with the Swiss on December 19 in Oshawa for the North American portion of their training camp before traveling with them to Buffalo, where this year’s tournament is being held.

“I feel honoured, thrilled, and a little over-whelmed to be a part of this,” said Meier. “I’m very excited.”

A 22-year-old native of Switzerland, Meier cur-rently resides in Ottawa. He began his career as

the Video Coordinator for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees men’s ice hock-ey team before joining up with the Nepean Raiders for the 2009-2010 season. He became a part of the Braves’ staff this past off-season.

Switzerland will be playing exhibition games against Canada in Osh-awa and against Sweden in St. Catharines be-fore opening its 2011

World Junior campaign against Germany in Buf-falo on December 26. Drawn in Group B with the Germans as well as Finland, Slovakia, and the defending cham-pion United States, Meier knows that it will be tough for the Swiss to progress, but he is confident about their prospects.

“It’s a competitive group, but I think our chances are good to

make the quarter finals,” said Meier. “We will have to battle every game and not take anybody lightly.”

As for the prospect of coming up against his adopted homeland of Canada, Meier is honest about his feelings.

“Essentially, I em-brace both countries as my home,” he said. “But when you are working at that level, your team’s re-sult has priority.”

Braves’ Video coach off to World Juniors - December 14, 2010OTTAWA, Dec. 15,

2010 – The Senate is standing behind the families of fallen peace officers.

Senators voted unani-mously Tuesday even-ing to pass a resolution by Senator Bob Runci-man (Ontario – Thou-sand Islands and Rideau Lakes) urging the gov-ernment to institute a scholarship program for families of federal peace officers who are killed in the line of duty.

“I am grateful that senators on both sides of the aisle put aside parti-san differences to sup-port the families of peace officers,” Runciman said. “It’s a small thing, but it sends a message that we appreciate the sacrifices they make.”

Runciman would like to see a federal program patterned after a fund that was instituted when he was Solicitor Gen-eral in the province of Ontario. The Constable Joe MacDonald Public Safety Officers Survivors Scholarship was named after a dedicated young Sudbury police officer who, following a routine

traffic stop, was mur-dered execution style by two violent thugs, one of whom was out on parole at the time.

The Ontario fund was started with $5 million, which has never had to be replenished. A federal fund would apply to such federal peace officers as RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, and the Correctional Service of Canada, among others. Forty-nine federal peace officers have lost their lives in the line of duty in the last 20 years, most of them Mounties.

The resolution passed by the Senate is non-binding, but Runciman is hopeful the measure can be included in the next federal budget.

“I’d like to see the government heed this resolution, but I’d like it even more if it wasn’t ne-cessary, if our peace of-ficers could return safely to their families every night,” Runciman said.

For more information, please contact: Barry Raison, Office of Senator Robert Runciman

(613) [email protected]

Runciman’sscholarship motion

The Brockville Braves bolstered their blue line last week adding a familiar face to the lineup.

Sebastien Gingras, an all-star defenseman from last year’s record setting squad has returned to the team that helped him land a Division 1 scholarship with Maine. Gingras

return couldn’t come at a bet-

ter time with the team slump-

ing slightly and losing pace with Cornwall and Pembroke. “This is a great pickup for our team”, said assistant coach Jason Hawkins. “He was such a big part of our team last year and we are more than happy to have him back”.

Gingras who grew up in Pierrefonds, Quebec, played with several of the Braves newcomers from the West Island area, grow-ing up and during sum-mer skates as recent as this past year. “I know many of the new faces in the lineup and of course everyone that is returning from last year”, said Gingras, adding that knowing how each member of team plays will help transition him back into the groove more quickly.

Gingras return will be most evident on a medi-

ocre power-play that is well under the 20 per cent mark, and putting Gin-gras beside Tyson Wilson should give the Braves a formidable back two with the man advantage. “I know that I can help the team offensively, espe-cially on the power-play”, said Gingras. “We hope to improve our numbers and get the PP closer to the 25 to 30 per cent mark”.

Gingras welcomes be-ing back with the Braves organization under head coach Todd Gill. “Todd has always let me play my

game”, said Gingras. “He knows my game and has always wanted me to be creative while making sure I am responsible in my own end with the puck”.

Gingras offense will be needed this weekend when the Braves open up the showcase at the Sen-splex in Kanata versus Gloucester, a team that has stifled Brockville’s of-fense, allowing only one goal in the past three games. “We need to find a way to score more goals, and this is the perfect op-portunity to do this”.


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The Observer BRAVES HOCKEY

The Brockville Braves split a pair of games against Yzerman division opponents on the week-end, keeping their hold on second in the Robinson division, but losing a little more ground on the Corn-wall Colts.

On Friday, the Braves hosted the Glouces-ter Rangers, looking to avenge two losses, in which they didn’t manage to score. In another tight game, the Braves fired 45 shots on the Rangers goal, but found themselves tied 1-1 late in the third per-iod on David Roy’s 5th goal of the season, before a defensive lapse saw the visitors take the lead with just under three minutes remaining. The Rangers added an empty net goal to take their third in a row from the defending Hockey East Champions. Justin Gilbert was solid in goal for the Braves stop-ping 28 of the 30 shots he faced.

On Sunday, the Braves travelled to Smiths Falls to take on the Bears, looking to get back in the win column and close the gap on the division

leading Colts. Brockville came out on a mission, peppering the Bears

goal with

13 shots in the opening period but found them-selves down 1-0 after the first 20 minutes.

The Braves came out in similar fashion in the second firing another 16 shots at former Brave

Matt Jenkins, but with greater success, scoring the only three goals of the period. Adam Strumas

evened the game with his 3rd of the year, before Captain Colin MacLean gave Brockville the lead with his 7th. David Roy netted his 6th of the cam-paign giving the Braves a 3-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

The Bears closed the gap to 3-2 early in the third, but Chris Roll doubled the visitors lead with just over five min-utes remaining in the game. A late goal by the Bears made it close but was nothing more than a consolation with only 13 seconds left in the con-test. Brockville received multi-point games from Stan Smrke, with three helpers, and MacLean with a goal and assist. Brockville native and for-mer Brave Nathan Living-stone had a pair of assists for the Bears in the loss. Justin Gilbert played well in goal stopping 22 of 25 shots he faced.

Brockville will head into the showcase at the Bell Sensplex this weekend looking to break the cur-rent streak of three con-secutive losses to their Fri-day night opponents, the Gloucester Rangers. On Saturday, they will face the Cumberland Grads.

Brockville Braves split pair of games this weekend

Generations Braves profile

of the week:SEBASTIEN GINGRAS


Zak Zaremba walks in alone during Friday night’s 3-1 loss to the Gloucester Rangers. The Braves earned a split on the weekend, winning on Sunday in Smiths Falls 4-3. PHOTO BY AUSTIN DE LUIS

Familiar face back in Braves lineup



The St. Mary Cru-sader junior and senior women’s basketball teams are headed to Orlando to participate in the Disney sponsored KAS 2010 Clas-sic Tournament from De-cember 16th-19th.

The trip, which has been in the works for over four years now, has done several fundraising events along the way to make it possible for the two teams to be able to attend such

a great tournament and experience something different, outside of the usual Eastern Ontario competition. “We wanted to give the girls some-thing to look forward to that they will always remember”, said senior women’s head coach Matt Reil. “This tournament is one of the reasons we have been able to retain such great athletes in our program at St. Mary”.

The idea came from Joe Latham and his South Grenville squad that has

made a trip to Hawaii three times over the past eight years. “I talked with Joe and then approached our principal at the time, Tom Whelan”, said Reil. “After getting approval for a trip, I started research-ing what was the best op-tion and the KAS tourna-ment was a great choice”.

The team is guaran-teed three round robin games with only one team advancing from each bracket to the knockout stage. Both junior and senior team members are

excited to see the challen-ges of the different styles they will face from their competition. “We are all very excited about the trip”, said senior Rebecca Perry. “I couldn’t think of a better way to end the season”.

The teams are look-ing forward to encoun-tering different systems and styles from all over the U.S., seeing first hand the level of play outside of their own province. “I can’t wait to see how we measure up against the

competition”, said sen-ior Taylor Murray, adding that she feels that their team will be able to hold their own against all com-ers.

The juniors echoed many of the same senti-ments, adding that the tournament and com-petition will add to their team upon their return. “This will teach us things we haven’t seen before, and help us grow togeth-er as a team”, said junior Alana Logie. “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity”.

Junior teammate Taya Heldens also talked about creating a closer team during their trip. “We will be more like family after spending every moment together”, said Heldens, adding that the team will be more cohesive after this experience.

The teams open up their tournament sched-ules on Thursday, when the juniors play Tellico Plains High School from Tennessee and the sen-iors take on Auburn High School from Virginia.

Crusader women’s basketball headed to OrlandoThe ObserverSPORTS

The Brockville Jr. Braves Novice B1 team wins tournament championship in Alexandria

Team members: Gavin White, James Mayotte, Andrew Pitts, Dylan Wren, Braden Robinson, Garrett Hough, Brandon White, Evan Henderson, Cameron Karasiuk, Matthew Worden, Owen Davy, Clark Moore, Cole Jelly. Coaches: Steve White, Dave White, and Geoff Mayotte.

P&G Atom House Angels

The Procter and Gamble Atom House Angels blanked the Kemptville Storm on Wednesday night with a score of 6 - 0 . Lots of excellent passing demonstrated the girls’ continuing de-velopment as a co-hesive team. Leigha Geraghty and Emily Houston each had two goals and an assist for the Angels, and Kay-la Klein-Gunnewiek provided the other two goals. Other as-sists were contrib-uted by Alexis Pur-cell and Sammy Wilhelm. Katriana Battams had the shut-out for the Angels. The Angels host Out-ouais this Saturday at the Memorial Centre at 11:30 am.


Game 1Brockville 8, Cumberland Panthers 0

-Gavin White (3), James Mayotte, Andrew Pitts, Dylan Wren, Braden Robinson, Garrett Hough-shutout Brandon White-Player of the game - Braden Robinson with his first goal of the year.

Game 2Brockville 3, South Stormont Selects 1

-Gavin White (2), James Mayotte-Player of the game - Brandon White who was out-standing as the Jr. Braves were outshot by the previ-ously undefeated Selects

Game 3Brockville 2, Alexandria Glens 1-Gavin White, James Mayotte-Player of the game - James Mayotte who scored a spectacular goal in overtime to win the championship.


The ObserverFILM

Growing up, I loved the movies of Ray Harryhau-sen. He was the visual ef-fects director and master of stop-motion anima-tion that created such fantasy film classics as, “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad” and “Jason and the Argonauts.” He is a legend in the special ef-fects field due to his abil-ity to make the Fantastic seem real. He created Cyclops, dragons, living statues, sword-wielding skeletons, giant sea crea-tures and massive killer birds. His fantasies were epic in scale and made for must-see Saturday matinee viewing.

It is my love for his work and the work of his technically able chil-dren and grand-children that effuses my review of The Chronicles of Nar-nia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This is a must-see movie for the whole family that takes the realm of the fantastic and literally brings it to life. This is a fantasy film that provides great characters, vibrant locations and non-stop action from be-ginning to end.

The story is narrated by Eustace Scrubb, (Will Poulter) the cousin of Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) and her broth-er Edmund (Skandar Keynes). Eustace is the pain-in-the-butt cous-in that everyone loves to hate. His world is small, and he is a loud-mouthed, opinionated jerk. It is his point of view that we follow through the adventure. This young actor is a real find. Some film fans may know him from the British in-dependent film, “Son of Rambow”. His acting was wonderful, and the arc of his character develop-ment really anchored the film. This is one young actor with a great future ahead of him.

The movie opens in London during WW II with Lucy and Edmund feeling like casualties of war. They are forced to live with their cousin and his family while their older siblings are off in America. During a fight with cousin Eustace, Lucy looks over at a picture on the bedroom wall of an old ship in a seascape. The ocean waves swell and the vessel begins to move. Water pours out of the painting, filling the room, and almost drown-ing the kids before taking them to the legendary land of Narnia.

There, they are picked up by The Dawn Tread-er, a ship led by their old friend Prince Cas-pian (Ben Barnes). The

story is a classic quest, in which the heroes have to, against all odds, find sev-en swords, lay them on the banquet table of the lion-god Aslan and defeat a dark evil. This evil feeds on the minds and hearts of heroes and crew test-ing the very limits of their endurance and faith.

The effects in this film were stunning. The scenes were colored in the style of the fantasy art of Maxfield Parrish. I was blown away by the rich-ness of the color palate and the incredible depth and detail of the images. Like the films of Ray Harryhausen, this mov-ie was filled with won-drous creatures. There is a Minotaur in the crew. One of the best and most unique characters, Reepi-cheep was a CGI created, sword-wielding giant rat, voice provided by Simon Pegg. His relationship with Eustace provided much of the character de-velopment that propelled the story forward. There are scenes with invisible people, wisps of smoke that form nasty charac-ters, and the best looking and possibly most fright-ening sea monster ever put on celluloid.

With The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Michael Apted (Amazing Grace) has directed a fantasy film for the ages. The first two movies of the series made me doubt that a great Narnia adaptation could ever be made. This movie, the third in the series, has made me a be-liever.

The Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn TreaderVIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE

by Tom Allnutt



The staff of Bliss Holistic Spa and Salon stop for a photo during their Grand Opening. In the picture are; Laura Lavery, Lesley Baker, Christina McCorkell, Cheryl McCorkell, Tammy Hawkins-Abrams, and Stephanie Forgues.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Presented by the Leeds & Grenville Im-migration Partnership, this event was open to all newcomers to the community and saw representatives from nine different organ-izations, each of whom made brief presenta-tions about the services they offer to the com-munity. Presenters were carefully selected based on the role that their or-ganization plays in help-ing recent newcomers become more connect-ed to the community. Participating organiza-tions included: the Em-ployment & Education Centre, Upper Canada

District School Board, Cornwall Immigrant Re-source Centre, and World Education Services, an international education organization based out of Toronto, that will help attendees learn how to access resources to navi-gate the difficult process of having international academic credentials recognized in Canada.

The Leeds and Gren-ville Immigration Part-nership is a program that brings together organ-izations and individuals dedicated to assisting newcomers to Canada in becoming involved, contributing mem-bers of our commun-

ities. With leadership from the United Way of Leeds & Grenville, the City of Brockville and the Brockville & District Multicultural Council this program has spear-headed the creation of a regional Immigration Portal. This website of-fers and links to a full breadth of information that is relevant to recent newcomers to Canada, and the region. It pro-vides municipal specific settlement information, and links to important Federal and Provincial immigration websites. The Immigration Portal is available at www.new-comersinfo.ca.


Despite its slow start, the 22nd annual Kins-men Club Snow Suit Drive, has picked up considerably over the last few weeks, raising 1125 snowsuits for chil-dren in need. The snow-suits, along with mit-tens, hats, scarves and other necessities for our long winter were distrib-uted through Children

and Family services. “We would like to thank everyone who donated snowsuits or made mon-etary donations at the Santa Claus Parade or at one of the two Brockville Braves games where we were collecting for the Snowsuit Drive,” said Snowsuit Drive Chair-man, Jim Gilbert. “We would also like to thank all the drop-off locations for their support during this project.”

Gilbert continued that the drop-off spots were CIBC, Brett’s Valu-Mart, Brockville and Area YMCA, Brockville Chiropractic & Health Associates, Brockville General Hospital, Can-adian Tire Brockville, CARQUEST Auto Parts, Metro Brockville, Parke-dale Tim Horton’s, Real Canadian Superstore, Severson Cleaners, T.I.S.S., Wal-Mart and Zellers.

Immigration workshop helps newcomers connect

Kinsmen surpass goal

United Way Leeds-Grenville President, Shawn Souder, welcomes the audience at a recent workshop, entitled Connecting with your Community, held at the Quality Hotel Royal Brock, last Thursday evening.

ERIN CHRISTIE PHOTO

Grand opening of Bliss

Managing your MoneyA resolution you can take to the bank

Victor Dorey – Consultant


The ObserverJUST FOR FUN

crossword

Gemini, romantic endeavors take a back seat to other pressing issues. Don’t worry, there will be time to spend with a special someone in a few days. Until then, get other work done.

Cancer, consider an alternate way of

doing things this week. It’s fine to go against the grain once in a while. But others won’t want you to make it a habit.

Leo, you may be passed over for a promotion but don’t let it get you upset. Your time will come in the near future. Simply be patient and you will be rewarded.

Bide your time, Virgo. The best things come to those who wait, and you’re about to reap the rewards of your patience in the next few days.

Libra, someone you’ve counted on in the past proves unpredictable this week. Rather than dwell on what cannot be changed, find someone responsible.

Scorpio, things are a bit rocky at home but you are a survivor. Just wait out this rough patch and you will find that things return to normal in no time at all.

SEE PAGE 21 FOR ANSWERS

WorD search

A simple change in attitude can bring on an entirely new perspective, Sagittarius. Rather than go with the status quo, try a few new things and see how it goes.

Take a chance on an adventure, Capricorn. It’s good to play by the rules most of the time, but a little excitement can be good for the system. Leo wants to come along.

Aquarius, leave room for a little mystery. While it’s your nature to analyze, play it free and easy this week and enjoy the spontaneity that comes with such an approach.

The financial stars are smiling in your favor, Pisces. That big-ticket purchase has your name on it. Go out and get it.

Take a moment to breathe, Aries. All of this running around has left you more frazzled than ever before. Relationships may suffer if you don’t slow down.

Taurus, family matters must take precedence over personal issues this week. A close friend arrives to pitch in and help smooth things over.



Serving Brockville and the surrounding communities613-342-8773

Please call theadvertising department

51 King St. W. Brockville 613-498-2200LOCATED IN THE HEART OF HISTORIC BROCKVILLE

• The Brockville Community Choir presents Handel’s Messiah, Friday, Dec. 17, 7:30 pm. Brocks Landing Chapel of the Good Shepherd (formerly GCC Chapel), 124 County Rd. 2, Maitland. Info: 613 924-6361.

• Singers open MIC with Robert Graham featuring students from The Music The-atre Performance Program at St. Lawrence College and Robert Graham as house pianist. All singers welcome - BYO sheet music. 8:00 pm to midnight every Friday at Buds on the Bay. www.robertgraham.org for more info.

• The Brockville Community Choir presents Handel’s “Messiah” on Friday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 pm at Brocks Landing Chapel of the Good Shepherd (formally GCC Cha-pel), 124 County Rd. 2, Maitland. Inquiries: 613 924-6361. Tickets can be bought at Dream Weaver or Flowers Brockville in Brockville. www.brockvillechoir.com

• Entertainment, Lunches, Caring, Sharing - Do any of the above interest you? Why not consider joining the Brockville Branch of the Retired Women Teachers of Ontario. 613-342-5779

• Winter Skating Saturdays during January and February 2011* 11 am-2 pm. Mac Johnson Wildlife Area, off Debruge Road. Skating shack at rink, hot drinks available, depending on weather

• General Meeting at Mac Johnson Wildlife Area. Tuesday 11th. January 2011, 7:00 pm. Commonwealth Elementary School. Pearl Street, East, Brockville. Dan Garswood is the guest speaker, the topic “Outdoor Photography”. There will be a friends activity update. Everyone welcome. Additional information 613 345 1990.

• Brockville Senior Citizens - Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday, 15 Elm Ave, Brockville, Cribbage Tuesdays 7:30 pm, Euchre Wednesday 1 pm, Darts Thursday 1 pm, Euchre Friday 7 pm. Info call 613-345-2266.

• Every Wednesday from January 12th to April 27th, 2011 at the Brockville and Area YMCA, 345 Park Street, 11:30 am-1:00 p.m. our staff will be cooking hot lunches for you! Each week will be a different menu with different cooks. Visit our website at www.brockvilley.com or call 613-342-7961 ext. 30 for more details. All proceeds will go to the Annual Giving Campaign.

• Brockville and Area YMCA Youth Night. Drop in program designed for kids from grades 1-8 who are looking for a safe, supervised place to learn new games, meet new friends and enjoy programmed activities. Activities vary weekly and may in-clude swimming. Saturdays 6 to 8 pm. Jan. 15 - June 11. No Youth Night Feb. 19, Mar. 19, Apr. 23, May 23. Members: Free. Non Members $5.00

• Thousand Islands Toastmasters - Improve your speaking skills and learn to deal with variety of situations with confidence, assertiveness, and wit. Please don’t be shy, and don’t be scared. We guarantee a fun and mutually supportive atmo-sphere. You have a voice, so let it be heard! Come join us... You will be glad you did. We meet on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month at Bridlewood Manor, from 7 pm - 9 pm. For more information, please contact Jim at 613-345-0111 ext. 3015 (days) or 613-924-1588 (evenings) or visit our website at www.learn-publicspeaking.org

• Birthday Parties at the Brockville and Area YMCA. Make your child’s birthday extra special at the Y! We take care of the planning and the mess while you relax and enjoy the party. This 2-hour party includes a specially decorated room, fun activities, meal of choice and one hour of pool or gym time. Available Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday afternoons. At the Brockville and Area YMCA, 345 Park Street, Brockville. For more information call (613) 342-7961 or go to www.brockvilley.com

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Leeds and Grenville is pleased to announce that we have been selected as an of-ficial partner of Payless Gives, an annual giving program from Payless ShoeSource. We are among 800 charitable agencies representing all 50 states in the United States, across Canada and Puerto Rico and in 10 Latin American countries to be part of the program.

Big Brothers Big Sis-ters of Leeds and Gren-ville will be distribut-ing coupons for shoes to children of families on our client list.

Our agency mission statement is that we commit to the young people of Leeds and Grenville that we will be leaders in providing them with the high-est quality, volunteer based mentoring pro-grams. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Leeds and Grenville is an ac-

credited agency with high standards for child safety, commit-ted to serving children aged 6-16, by providing them with the high-est quality, volunteer -based mentoring pro-grams. Each program deals with prevention and building resilience. Research indicates that by providing chil-dren and youth with positive role models, mentoring programs demonstrate to the children and youth involved that they are valued and possess the strength to overcome the obstacles they will face as they grow older. Mentoring plays an important role in the future direction a child will decide to take later on in life, paving the way to a future full of possibilities.

“In its third year, the goal of the Pay-less Gives Shoes 4 Kids program remains the same – to provide foot-

wear, a basic necessity, to children who might otherwise go without,” said LuAnn Via, CEO of Payless. “The success of the program over the past two years, and the number of chil-dren and families we have been able to as-sist, continues to drive our efforts. Unemploy-ment is still very high, affecting many families that struggle to pro-vide their children with basic essentials. This is especially challenging during the holidays, and with Big Broth-ers Big Sisters of Leeds and Grenville help, we hope to make a bigger impact than ever this year.”

For more informa-tion about the ways in which Big Brothers Big Sisters of Leeds and Grenville is helping our community this holi-day season, please visit our website at www.mentoringmatters.ca or call 613-345-0281.

Big Brothers Big Sisters partner with Payless to provide free

shoes to children in needVolunteer firefighters

are essential to the safe-ty and peace-of-mind of rural communities. Without the emergency public service provid-ed by these brave men and women, all of our communities in Leeds-Grenville, except for Brockville, would not have fire protection.

There are twelve vol-unteer fire departments in our county. Across Canada more than 90% of 3,492 fire depart-ments are staffed by volunteers - 84,000 vol-unteer firefighters in all.

Our volunteer fire-fighters do not receive enough compensation for their public service.

As Canadians, we need to show support for their efforts – not just to assure the viabil-ity and sustainability of our volunteer fire de-partments, but because

it is simply the right thing to do.

A future federal Lib-eral government wants to introduce a $3,000 refundable tax credit to offset the costs Can-ada’s volunteer fire-fighters incur for their emergency public ser-vice, and to properly acknowledge their con-tributions

This tax credit would be available to all vol-unteer firefighters with at least 200 hours of vol-unteer service during the tax year. The annual volunteer service would include time devoted to achieving and main-taining firefighter train-ing in accordance with recognized standards. The tax credit would be made available to every-one who qualifies, re-gardless of income.

Even before our vol-unteer firefighters don

their uniform, they have put hundreds of hours of their free time being trained. Not only are they on call around the clock, they don’t hesi-tate to put their lives at risk to keep the resi-dents of Leeds-Grenville safe.

Support for volun-teer firefighters is part of the Liberal Party’s “Rural Canada Matters” initiative. This spring, Michael Ignatieff also announced the Liberal plan for Canada’s first National Food Policy and measures to help attract doctors and nurses to underserved rural communities.

We want to make sure that residents in Leeds-Grenville and in every part of our country enjoy excellent essential services, and supporting firefighters is part of our commitment.

Liberals know the need tosupport Volunteer Firefighters

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Brockville, ON – Their Opportunity Minor Sports Corporation, a startup non-profit, has made it through three rounds of voting to make it as a Semi-Finalist in the Aviva Community Fund Competition. With your votes, Their Opportunity will have the chance to win thousands of dollars to help underprivileged children participate in recreational sports pro-grams.

Starting today, you can vote once per day for your favourite idea. Their Opportunity is hoping for your vote.

The Aviva Commun-ity Fund gives small, medium and large-sized community ideas the chance to win up to one million dollars to bring

positive change to their respective communities. Ideas had to go through three rigorous rounds of voting to make it to the Semi-Finals. After this fourth round of voting, the top 30 Finalists will go before a panel of judges.

Their Opportunity works within commun-ities to make sports in-volvement a possibility for all children. Started by two brothers from Brock-ville, Ont., Randy and Rob Gill grew up immersed in minor hockey and other sports and value the role it played in their lives.

“Sports are a neces-sary component to young Canadian children’s lives. Not only for physical health, but also for self-esteem and character building” says Founder

Randy Gill. Recipients of the program are also required to volunteer in their community, as part of a pay-it-forward mod-el.

The brothers agree that “it takes a village to raise a child” and are doing their part to strengthen communities in Canada. Offices in Calgary and Whitby enables Their Op-portunity to reach needy kids across the country.

“It is more than a sports activity program” says Rob Gill, co-founder. “It’s a personal develop-ment program to end the cycle of poverty in our communities.”

To learn more or to vote for Their Op-portunity, visit www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf5644.

Local sports charity gets shot at scoring big to change kids’ lives

(QUEEN’S PARK) – In Question Period on December 6th, Leeds-Grenville MPP Steve Clark called on the provincial government to work with the com-munity to establish a Se-cure Treatment Unit for women at the Brockville Mental Health Centre.

“The model now in place for men has seen a remarkable 38% re-duction in recidivism amongst the highest-risk group. We have the facility, we have the staff, we have the program and a willing host com-munity,” Clark said in his question to Minister of Community and Cor-rectional Services Jim Bradley.

“My question, minis-ter, is when will this gov-ernment join us at the table to build this treat-ment unit before an-other Ashley Smith has to suffer,” asked Clark.

Smith was the young woman who died in a Kitchener jail cell in 2007. Her case has come to symbolize for many the problem within the correctional system of getting proper psychiat-ric treatment for women in custody.

“I’m disappointed that Minister Bradley didn’t offer a firm com-mitment to join the team that is working hard to bring this badly needed facility to the Brockville Mental Health Centre,” said Clark.

The Leeds-Grenville MPP is working on the project with Senator Bob Runciman, MP Gord Brown, the Royal Ot-tawa Hospital, officials from the City of Brock-ville, Elizabethtown-

Kitley Township and the United Counties, as well as the Brockville and District Chamber of Commerce and 1000 Islands Community De-velopment Corporation.

Beyond filling a glar-ing void in the system, Clark explained the ef-fort is seen as an import-ant economic develop-ment opportunity as it would create good-pay-ing jobs and enhance the viability of the Brockville Mental Health Centre as other services are moved off-site.

Clark shared Mon-day’s question with his PC Caucus colleague MPP Sylvia Jones (Duf-ferin-Caledon), who began by pressing Health and Long-Term Care

Minister Deb Matthews about implementing a key recommendation from the recent Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions.

“The government has a good opportunity to join the team in Brock-ville to ensure better services are available for women in the justice system struggling with mental health and ad-dictions issues, but are dragging their feet,” said Jones.

Jones, who was in Brockville recently for a Community Mental Health Roundtable host-ed by Clark, pointed out the all-party committee in its report “identified a need for specialized care for women involved

in the justice system, yet few services are avail-able.”

While Matthews of-fered no commitment, Clark noted that in Brad-ley’s answer to his sup-plementary question, the minister pointed out “we really like the recommendations that have been made by the select committee.”

“If that’s the case,” stressed Clark. “I hope to hear from Minister Bradley soon with an of-fer to ensure this critical recommendation can be addressed by build-ing the Secure Treat-ment Unit for Women in Brockville. It’s exactly the type of program the select committee identi-fied as missing.”

Women’s mental health needsSecure treatment unit at BMHC would be important first step



The dynamic cast of the St. Lawrence College Music Theatre program’s production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas perform the musical’s final number during a dress rehearsal at the Brockville Arts Centre last Wednesday afternoon. The production, which opened last Thursday evening at the BAC, has received rave reviews from audience members, nearly selling out each show. “This was a huge undertaking so we’re thrilled with the support we’ve received from the audiences,” said the show’s musical director, Chris Coyea, adding that the collabora-tive efforts of director, Michael Bianchin, choreographer, Janet Venn-Jackson, stage manager, Brian Frommer, as well as the talented young cast, made the show a success. Funds raised from the show’s ticket sales go towards production costs and bursaries for music and theatre students, which are matched dollar for dollar by the government.

ErIn ChrISTIE PhoTo

They’re dreaming of a ‘White Christmas’


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the brockville observer DECEMBER 15