Green planted firmly in three oaks vote

Three Oaks Senior High votes Green as Carl Arnold wins Student vote

S. Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

CAPTION: Cameron MacMurdo casts his vote in the Three Oaks Senior High student vote as the voting station team watches. The team was (back row left) Logan McLellan, Danny MacIssac, Alexandra Ozon, Mikayla Clow, Mike Trainor, (front row left) Besnik Paloji, Molly Duffy and Shelby McCormack. 

SUMMERSIDE-Carl Arnold of the Green Party got 184 votes to win the student election held Thursday at Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside.

The vote had an 80 per cent turn out with 591 ballots cast. Guy Gallant of the Liberals was the runner up with 134 votes, Jacquie Robichaud of the NDP took third with 133 votes and Egmont incumbent Gail Shea of the Progressive Conservatives took the final spot with 127

The vote was put on by both the school and the Student Vote program, which is designed to encourage students to become politically aware and simulate the voting stations set up by Elections Canada on the day of the election to show students how its done.

The school is one of 4,300 participating in the event across the country, which includes Summerside Intermediate whose vote will be held on Friday.

The program also supplies free learning materials and electoral supplies, including a polling station, ballot boxes and ballots and an election operation handbook for the schools to help the kids learn about the parties and their policies.

Mike Trainor, Political Studies teacher at Three Oaks and organizer of the Three Oaks’ vote, said his motivation was to get students to learn to take an active role in democracy.

“I encourage students and I tell them the importance of being involved in the democratic process, the fact that the right to vote is a guaranteed constitutional right and it’s protected and should be encouraged.”

Trainor said that he tells his students that if you don’t vote you don’t have a right to complain.

“There’s a number of students in my class that are going to be voting for the first time and they can’t wait to get out and vote.”

Trainor, who worked for Bennett Campbell on Parliament Hill, said the goal of the program is to encourage students become life long voters and get them to engage in the democratic process.

“Some of the research out there is that if young people, when they turn 18, don’t vote in either of their first or second election, as they get older in life the chances of them actually going out to vote is next to nil.”

Cindy Mendoza, Social Studies teacher at Summerside Intermediate and an organizer of the vote there, said for their program they handed out election dictionary so students could understand when they were watching or reading election coverage and were also assigned to find platforms from each parties website about different issues and present them to the class.

“The students really stop and think what makes more sense to me? Who did I think presented it the best? We’re trying to break everything down from what do the terms mean? What do the parties represent?”

She said that it’s important to make sure that the kids know how to make an informed vote versus voting the way their family or friends do.

“It’s just amazing where we took this, it’s part of our curriculum and we focus heavily on it in grade eight but we weren’t limited by the text book, we were only limited by our students imagination.”

ADL FOOD SHOW

CAPTION: (left to right) Andrew Cotton and Aaron Smith, junior chefs from the Culinary school at Holland College, show off their Deserts they made from ADL products for the Culinary Challenge at the ADL Food Show in the Silver Fox Yacht Club in Summerside on Wednesday.

High Advance Poll numbers for PEI ridings

High Advance Poll numbers for PEI ridings

S. Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

Advance voting poll turnout was up 34 per cent in both the Egmont and Malpeque ridings Friday, Saturday and Monday.

A news release from Elections Canada showed the Egmont riding’s numbers rise from 2,847 in 2008 to 3,828 this year while Malpeque saw voters go from 2,406 in 2008 to 3,214. Prince Edward Island seen rises in all the ridings except Charlottetown, which was down seven per cent. The Cardigan riding saw their turnout rise 49 per cent to 3,685.

Preliminary figures for Canada seen advanced polling numbers rise from 1.5 million to two million over the three days, with Friday and Monday being the busiest advance polling days ever.

The Election’s act requires that advanced polling be done on the tenth, ninth and seventh day before an election.

Guy Gallant, Egmont Liberal candidate, said anytime you see any voter turnout go up it’s a win for democracy.

“I’ve been told that a lot of the youths were seen at the polls on the weekend, especially with a lot of them being home for Easter from University. It’s quite encouraging to see a youth population come out and vote too.”

Gallant said he hopes this is a sign voter participation for the election will be higher than the last election.

“A 60 per cent voter turnout in 2008 is pretty discouraging when we look at what’s at stake, the future of our country. The higher, the better.”

Jacquie Robichaud, the NDP Egmont Candidate, said she thought it was great to see numbers up and that they’ve been telling voters about the advance polls on her campaign stops.

“I was going around to people that had been involved in campaigns in the past and they didn’t realize what the advance poll meant, and that was our own people,” she said. “I was at every door, especially the seniors, telling the date of the advance poll.”

She said she thinks it is going to mean a higher voter turnout for the election.

“I think it’s great and I think it shows that overall more people are going to vote this time.”

In the Malpeque riding, Conservative candidate Tim Ogilvie said he thinks it had a lot to do with good voter interest, and the Easter holiday allowing for people to get out and vote.

”I’m sensing very good interest at the doors in terms of the race and the issues.”

Ogilvie said that he’s hopeful that the rise in voter turnout for advance polls will foreshadow election day.

“I’m heartened by the turnout and interest in that it could be evidence of the fact that I’ve seen a lot of positive support at the doors and that people might be interested in change.”

PARK CLEAN UP

CAPTION: (Left to Right) Trent Williams, City of Summerside’s Park Supervisor, Noah Richardson, leader of Summerside’s Youth in Action and Dave Poirier, Chief of Police, stand outside Schurman Park in Summerside Tuesday afternoon after discussing plans on how to clean the park up.

Astronomy Club to have Astronomy Day Display

Athena Astronomy Club to hold Astronomy Day Display

S. Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

CAPTION: Randall Affleck and his daughter Katie look at a star chart at his home in Bedeque. Randall is the president of the Athena Astronomy Club, which is holding their Astronomy Day Display May 7 at Credit Union Place. Photo QUIGLEY/ JOURNAL PIONEER

SUMMERSIDE- Randall Affleck’s favourite constellation is one you can see without binoculars and telescopes and it’s named Pleiades. It’s also the reason he became part of the Athena Astronomy Club.

“I also named my cow Pleiades,” he said.

Affleck is the president of the Athena Community Astronomy Club, which is holding it’s annual Astronomy Day Display at the Credit Union Place on May 7.

The club will be bringing in equipment they use, such as star charts and telescopes as well as distributing planispheres, which are charts to help identify what is in the sky and where.

Anyone is welcome to come to the event and the club members will be there for anyone looking to discuss astronomy, said Affleck.

“It’s to build interest and excitement in the community regarding astronomy and welcome people that are curious about it or interested there are a group of us that are also interested in the night sky and what is out there.”

The day is a “community outreach” for the group, who are always ready to welcome anyone new, said Affleck.

“A lot of people look up but they may not know what they’re looking at or what’s out there. By no means do I know what’s all out there, but it’s certainly nice to be with a group of people that are interested in pursuing that.”

Last year had been a successful year for them after they brought in an Astrobiologist from the Canadian Space Agency to speak at the Harbourfront Theatre, said Affleck.

“It’ll be a general display and people that are amateur astronomers, people from your community that are knowledgable about the night sky. So if you have any questions just stop by.”

For those looking to get started, all you need is a pair of binoculars, said Affleck.

“Binoculars for example are probably one of the best ways to view the night sky, and just about everyone has a set of binoculars.”

Summerside's Rocky

Lightweight Champion prepares for title defense

S. Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

CAPTION: Steve Rogers spars with Ryan Gallant as he prepares for his fight against Ricky Goodall on May 7 at the Casino New Brunswick. PHOTO QUIGLEY/ JOURNAL PIONEER

SUMMERSIDE- Steve Rogers was on his couch watching a Mixed Martial Arts event on TV when he told his wife, Jana Selby-Rogers he would like to try that.

Rogers had been involved in boxing since he was young, even becoming a coach at one point, so Jana began trying to find him a fight.

It’s been five years since that night and now the 33 year-old Summerside man is now getting ready to defend his Lightweight championship in the Elite 1 MMA promotion’s May 7 fight card in Moncton at the Casino New Brunswick.

Mixed Martial Arts is a combat sport that brings together many different styles of fighting and fighters into one cage or ring. Some of the styles used include wrestling, jiu jitsu, boxing and kick boxing and is one of the fastest growing sports in the world.

Steve’s Mixed Martial Arts Lightweight title defense will be against Ricky Goodall, a fighter from Nova Scotia where he looks for his fifth professional win.

In preparation for the fight, Steve’s training regiment consists of a 6 km run every morning, going to work at Wiebel Aerospace, going to Island Impact, his club where he trains MMA with anyone else looking to get into the sport including two other professional fighters Brad Collicutt and Ryan Gallant. He trains there four nights a week for two hours.

Goodall’s striking will be what he’s looking out for in the fight, said Rogers.

“His striking. He’s a little bit taller than I am, so he’s going to have a little bit longer of a reach and I’d say his kicks are probably going to be pretty hard.”

CAPTION: Steve Rogers trains his boxing with coach Joe Borden as he prepares for his fight against Ricky Goodall on May 7 at the Casino New Brunswick. Photo QUIGLEY/ JOURNAL

Goodall is cutting to the 155 lbs weight class from his regular class of 170, which Steve feels will give him an advantage in the later rounds.

“If the fight goes into deep water, then for sure. If it goes into the second or third round.”

Steve said his perfect fight though wouldn’t take him into those later rounds.

“Knock him out in 20 seconds,” he said. “Get in and get it done.”

Steve said his never say die fighting style can be compared to that of Clay Guida in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“Mostly because I’m just going to keep coming and I’m going to keep trying to walk through anything you throw at me to try and win. He sometimes takes a lot of abuse in his fights.”

Though the sport gets criticized for being violent, Steve and Jana both agree it’s safe.

“People say to me ‘Aren’t you worried he’s going to get hurt?’ Of course I’m worried he’s going to get hurt, it’s a fight, of course I’m worried. But I see how much goes into it,” Jana said. “It’s not just a bunch of guys jumping in a cage fighting.”

“For the most part, it’s probably the most sportsmanlike sport I’ve ever been in,” said Steve.

He said though he is on the tail end of his career, there is still one more thing he’d like to see.

“I’d really like it to come to the Island and stay involved with it here.”

Tickets to the fight are still available.

WHAT'S OPEN?!? WHAT'S CLOSED?!?

The following businesses will be open Sunday and Monday this week:

Empire Theatres

Lawton’s Drugs

Credit Union Place.

The following businesses will be open Monday and closed Sunday:

City Hall

Sobey’s

Price Chopper

Atlantic Superstore

Waterfront mall Liquor Store

County Fair Mall Liquor Store

CIBC

Consolidated Credit Union

Zeller’s

Wal Mart

'Standing Small'

Elm Street class Standing Small to bullying

S. Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

CAPTION: Dawson Drummond (left) and Alexis Richard (right) showing they will stand up to bullying at the Standing Small Arts Smarts Celebration in Elm Street School Thursday. Photo QUIGLEY/ JOURNAL PIONEER

Bullying is always a tough issue to deal with.

Rhonda Ellis wanted to get her grade six class at Elm Street Elementary involved with addressing the issue while working with the Arts Smarts program in P.E.I.

After talking to her friend, Maurice Bernard, about how they could combine teaching art and bullying awareness they came up with the idea of a graphic novel.

Named Standing Small, the project had the kids illustrate and tell stories of either their own experiences or fictional accounts of bullying. The project took the class three months to put together, including basic art lessons with Bernard.

The graphic novel, which was completely done by the kids, had each kid specifically design their own front cover for it.

The idea was easy to come up with because of the popularity of graphic novels and the attention bullying is getting, said Ellis.

“Bullying is a very hot topic and kids are dealing with it all the time. Graphic novels are also a hot thing right now, a lot of the books we used to read like the Babysitter’s Club and the Hardy Boys are coming out in graphic novels now.”

There has been a decline in bullying in her class, said Ellis.

“With my class I certainly see a decline in bullying than I’ve seen in recent years. I attribute a lot of it to the project.”

 The goal for the program is to have the kids live what they had written, said Ellis.

“We just want to make an impact with this class, sort of break the silence I guess. There’s a lot of different ways that people try to deal with bullying but it still seems to be a constant issue.”

Dawson Drummond, a student in the class, said he had lots of fun working on the project and also learned a lot.

“I learned that you have to respect everyone, but you don’t have to like them. You can just stay your distance and respect them. Also the words just aren’t on paper, you have to mean them.”

He knows what he’s going to do next time he gets bullied or witnesses someone getting bullied.

“I’m going to try to stop it by telling a teacher or trying to make the situation a little better by trying to talk with them about it.”

Alexis Richard, another one of the students, said she learned bullying is wrong.

“I learned that bully is not nice at all and it can hurt people up to the point where they might hurt themselves.”

Richard said she had been bullied herself before, but she now knows how she’d handle it.

“Just not listen to it.”

STP has Inaugural meeting

CAPTION: Barry Mills and Eileen Conway-Martin of the East Prince Senior Initiative discuss improvements they would like to see on the walkabout Tuesday in Summerside. Photo QUIGLEY/ JOURNAL PIONEER

School Travel Planning program walkabout

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

SUMMERSIDE- The School Travel Planning program had a walkabout in streets surrounding Parkside Elementary in Summerside on Tuesday.

The School Travel Planning program is designed to encourage elementary aged kids to walk to school to keep them healthy while making sure the path is safe.

The walkabout Tuesday was designed to identify any hazards that may affect a child’s walk to and from the school.

The program, implemented by Green Communities Canada and facilitated locally by Recreation P.E.I., gathers stakeholders, such as school board officials, parents, community leaders and discusses ways to implement plans for a safer, more active environment.

The Parkside school will be the first school in Summerside to introduce the Canada wide program, while Summerside will be the pilot city in the province.

Peggy Miles, School Travel Planning Facilitator for P.E.I. said there are a lot of positives as far as safety and environment for the kids is concerned in the city.

“We have good infrastructure so we need to be grateful to the municipality for that and it’s a beautiful route, as someone mentioned, you know lots of trees and greenery, so an enjoyable walk for kids to and from school.”

There’s a lot of research that is going into the program and enthusiastic schools will make the program successful, said Miles.

“Basically we take the issues, the strengths and the challenges we have and find solutions for those.”

Janet Cameron, principal of Parkside school said her expectations of the program is to get more kids walking and biking to school.0

“We’ve got some great ideas now, some really doable manageable things. So we got to meet just one more time and I think we can set some dates for the kids to actually get out and do some things.”

 They are looking to have things ready by end of May or June and to carry over to next year, said Cameron.

“We welcome the opportunity and really feel that Summerside is a safe place to do this in.”

Michelle Askew, Chairperson of P.E.I.’s School Travel Program, said Tuesday was an important step in the program by checking to make sure things were safe.

“The goal is to have the first sort of event in the spring, so in the next month or so have a special day really devoted to getting as many kids as possible to walk along with teachers and parents.”

Building a program that works for the kids is something they need to do, said Askew.

“So everyone gets kind of a taste for how much fun it could be to walk to and from school just like our grandparents did, who use to say they would walk uphill to school barefoot in the snow.”

No Earth Day celebration for Prince County

No Earth Day celebration for Prince County

S. Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

SUMMERSIDE- Earth Day, which shares a calendar date with Good Friday this year, has no events for the Prince County area on its website.

The day, which is on April 22 every year, is usually filled with events and projects that highlight some of the key issues in the environment, has only a listing for a Charlottetown Earth Day event at the Confederation Court Mall for P.E.I.

Heather Pringle, the Environmental studies teacher at Three Oaks, said there would have been something at the school if it wasn’t closed for Good Friday.

“Perhaps it’s all the election talk these days. The environmental often gets put to the back when suddenly the election comes up other issues seem to preoccupy people’s minds, you know health care, the economy, that type of stuff.”

The recession taking front stage in the election and putting the environment in the back is also hurting the environmental awareness, said Pringle.

“I hate to say it, but until we see the environment as something that’s going to cost us money, then we tend to not going to pay too much attention to it.”

Carl Arnold, the Egmont riding candidate for the Green Party, said it does upset him that there is no Earth Day celebration in Prince County.

“It is a little upsetting, it is also a little upsetting Climate Change has temporarily dropped off the radar.”

Arnold said he believes the issue will come back to the front eventually.

“It would be nice if we could deal with them in a more proactive manner, unfortunately I don’t think that’s going to be the case.”

Arnold said though there isn’t an event people should still reflect on their carbon footprint and the impact they could have.

“Earth Day is a great day, but it doesn’t have to be Earth Day for people to consider their own personal carbon footprint, their energy use. Where possible, make a reduction, maybe it’s as simple as this, on Earth Day maybe try to share a ride with a friend.”

Summerside KIA having Grand Opening

KIA General Manager Anthony Como sits inside a 2011 KIA Sportage.
Photo QUIGLEY / JOURNAL PIONEER

S. Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

SUMMERSIDE- Summerside’s Kia Discover dealership is having its grand opening from April 27 to the 30^th.

The building located on Water Street East, which houses 10 employees is looking to open with a bang by offering customers who buy their cars during the Grand Opening their choice of a free Carnival Cruise for two or a free barbeque.

The shop will be staying open until 8 p.m. during these days to accommodate those who don’t get off until later hours.

Anthony Como, the Summerside Kia general manager, said it was the ability to provide good service to new and existing Kia customers made Summerside an attractive site for the growing automotive producer.

“The product now compared to say five or six years ago is 10 times better than it ever was, pricing is very competitive within the market.”

They have been able to offer credit to those who haven’t been able to get it anywhere else with their Challenge Credit program, which has helped business for them, said Como.

 “We’ve been quite busy with the traffic, I’m expecting quite a few cars sold in those last four days.”

The economic crisis that has hit so many car companies is not a worry for Kia, said Como.

“We’re probably the fastest growing manufacturer in North America right now. I’m not concerned at all, I think we only have one place to go and that’s up.”

Though the prices are low, the cars are high on quality, said Como.

“The vehicle itself, with the amount of standard features you get in the vehicle, priced below the competition. That’s a big plus.”

The companies best selling model right now is the KIA 2011 Sorento, said Como.

“We sell a lot of Rios as well, small car, compact, great on gas, inexpensive vehicle to purchase.”  

2 Newspapers

Two newspapers, one name. Swag.

Cavendish Farms going Greener

Cavendish to cut costs and emissions with natural gas

S. Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

CAPTION: Robert Irving and Richard Brown announced the plans to have Cavendish Farms changed to Natural Gas by December 2011 Monday at the one of the plants in New Annan.

NEW ANNAN- Cavendish Farms announced their plan to cut costs and greenhouse gas emissions with their switch to natural gas Monday in a press conference at the company’s plant in New Annan.

With the move the P.E.I. potato growing giant aims to cut their production costs by 30 per cent and their greenhouse gas emissions by 28 per cent. Also eliminating the use of 29 millions litres of heavy oil per year.

The plant is receiving a $15 million loan, which is on a five-year term, from the province to help build a receiving station for the natural gas, which is to be transported in large cylinders carried by truck.

The gas will be extracted from the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline in a location near Port Elgin.

The company plans to be switched to natural gas by December of this year, estimating a creation of eight to 10 new jobs. The construction will take 35, 000 man hours of work.

Robert Irving, President of Cavendish Farms said the investment will be good for both business and the environment.

“As with our investment in biogas, we are always looking to reduce our carbon footprint while making our plant more competitive.”

The move will help keep the manufacturing jobs and plants open on P.E.I., he said.

“We appreciate the Province’s support of this investment in cleaner air and energy efficiency.”

The idea came from having to stay competitive because of customer demands for lower prices, the exchange rate and the recession, said Irving.

“It’s a win, win for us to make us more competitive and allow our plant to keep running here for years to come and keep our over 700 employees.”

Richard Brown, P.E.I.’s Environment, Energy and Forestry minister, said the move will reduce the province’s greenhouse gas emissions by one per cent.

“It is the equivalent to taking 4, 200 cars a year off the road.”

Now that Cavendish Farms will be bringing in natural gas, there is potential for a market, said Brown.

“I’m extremely excited about the project, I am extremely excited about bringing natural gas to Prince Edward Island and so be it if this is the first step, trucking it in. If we get a good market in place and a lot of customers online and maybe the pipe could be a thing there we could look at it in the future, but right now its not economical.”

The move will also help P.E.I. achieve the Canadian goal of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent by 2013, eight years ahead of the Nations target, said Brown.

“The reductions after 2013 will contribute to help the rest of the country meet its targets. P.E.I.’s environment is indeed the big winner today.” 

SIS Leadership class goes second year in Relay for Life

Summerside Intermediate Leadership Class to join Relay For Life

S. Ryan Quigley

Journal Pioneer

Last year, Rob Connell’s leadership class at Summerside Intermediate made it their project to be in the Relay for Life. After their campaign last year raised $3,300, Connell’s leadership class this year is entering again.

Connell’s class this year is comprised of 32 students who will be participating in a number of fundraising activities for the cause including a car wash, the Cavendish Farms French fry cart, a school dance, auctioning off a stick signed by a professional hockey

player and donations and pledges from family and friends.

The Relay for Life, which takes place at Credit Union Place May 13, is a Canadian Cancer Society fundraising campaign where people in teams take part in a 12-hour relay to raise awareness and funding for Cancer research.

The goal this year is to beat the $3,300 raised last year, said Connell.

“Our goal is to raise $5,000, which was our goal last year. We fell a little short, mind you though we did win a bronze for the money that we raised.”

Last year’s fundraising taught him lessons about the kids in his class and the work that goes into the relay, said Connell.

“I learned it was a lot of work. I learned that even students who are younger, these are kids who are 14 or 15 years of age, that they are quite capable and responsible enough to take on something this big and are willing to put the effort in to make sure that it goes off smoothly and they have fun with it.”

After last year they want to keep this event going in SIS leadership classes, said Connell.

“Because of it last year it’s something that’s just going to become something we do every year with the leadership class.”

PACE opens new Artists in Residency building

CAPTION: Lori Ellis, City of Summerside’s Manager of Heritage and Cultural properties, announces the opening of the city’s PACE Artist’s in residence program at Lefurgy Cultural Centre in Summerside. The housing is located at 471 Notre Dame St.

Extra Helpers Spring National food bank starting at Summerside Atlantic Superstore

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

CAPTION: (Left to right) Mary Noye and Debbie Clark of Atlantic Superstore stand next to Marj Montgomery of the Salvation Army near the box for the Extra Helpers National Food Bank in Summerside Thursday afternoon at the Atlantic Superstore. Photo Quigley/ Journal Pioneer

SUMMERSIDE- The Atlantic Superstore is helping stock the shelves for the Salvation Army food bank.
The Prince County Extra Helpers Spring National food bank hosted by the Salvation Army and Atlantic Superstore is began Thursday at the Atlantic Superstore.

The drive, which is taking place between April 14 to the 26, is aimed to help raise food donations for the Salvation Army.

There will be a box and carts placed in the Atlantic Superstore for donations and cashiers will also take money donations from those interested. The money and the food will all go to the Salvation Army. The store will have several stickers up for the promotion to help guide customers to items that would be well suited for donation.

The promotion has been done before and had success in the past said Superstore Community co-ordinator Mary Noye.

“It’s been great the couple of times, one much more successful than the other. It depends on the season sometimes I think it gets mixed with the other things that are going on.”

The goal for Superstore is to fill the donation box as much as possible, said Superstore Assistant Manager Debra Clark.

“There’s so many people in our community that need our help and we’re a big store and we have a lot of staff that like to help and we have the environment that we can help in.”

Usage is up, but donations are down so the need to fill the food bank shelves before the summer months when everyone goes on vacation and donations are slow is high, said Salvation Army family co-ordinator Marj Montgomery.

“Donations are down so we have to fill those cupboards before the summer hits or we’re going to be in an emergency situation.”

There is some back up stock, but the Salvation Army needs more, said Montgomery.

“We have a rough idea where things are going so we do need those donations to come in. Hopefully with this promotion the Atlantic Superstore is putting on this is going to fill our shelves or at least help us fill them.”

The Superstore and Prince County are always great supporters of the Salvation Army and they’re appreciative, said Montgomery.

“We can’t do what we do within the community of Prince County without the help of everybody,” said Montgomery. “We have such a great support base in Prince County.”

Eptek Art and Culture Centre to host Double Vision Photography and Paint exhibit

CAPTION: Paula Kenney, Eptek Art and Culture Centre site director, shows off paintings and photos for the exhibit which opens Sunday.

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

SUMMERSIDE- Wendy Lefebvre was working with a photographer whose photo she was using for inspiration for a painting. After hearing his complaints about the lack of shows for photographers in Prince Edward Island, she had an idea.

She decided to put together a show that complimented the two art forms by having painters using pictures from photographers for inspiration.

Lefebvre is now one of the artists putting on the Double Vision art show premiering with an open house on Sunday at the Eptek Arts Centre in Summerside.

The show will feature artists Katharine Dagg, Tanya Sheridan, Suzanne James and Lefebvre with photographers Kim Foote, Joe Sampson, Mickey Coughran and Shirley Gallant.

There will be 48 works shown at the show, with each artist paired with a photographer for six paintings each. Though some of the pairings were assigned after the names had been accumulated, some of the painters and photographers took the opportunity to work together.

Coughran said he is excited to see the public’s reaction to the marriage between the two arts.

“We are both attempting to portray an image, some of us using lenses- others, brushes.”

James, partnered with Coughran, said the work helped her gain a new appreciation of photography and its skills.

“I feel the show will be different and an opportunity for people to compare the photo and the painting thereby raising their own awareness and observation.”

Gallant said she was interested to see what her partner Lefebvre was inspired by in her photos.

“I know an artist can’t always create a successful painting unless she feels strongly enough about it. I had to look at my own photos somewhat differently. In the end, I felt very satisfied with the results and quite honored to have my photos painted.”

Lefebvre said it’s always a risk when you put your own painting out there, but this time was a little harder.

“And it’s more of a risk when the inspiration of your painting, a photo, is hanging right beside your interpretation. I felt I had a real responsibility to do justice to Shirley’s photographs.”

Foote said she thinks it will be interesting to see what decisions an artist makes painting from a photograph.

“They will be privy to the changes and the interpretations painters make during their creative exercise.”

Dagg, who will be painting from Foote’s photograph, said it was a different experience.

“You have to find a way to do justice to his/her vision and still create a vision that expresses something that excites you as an artist.”

The show will be going from April 17 to May 13 at the Eptek Art and Culture Centre, the open house on Sunday is open 2 p.m. to 4p.m.

Rookie Blue

Rookie Red, White and Blue

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

CAPTION: (Left to Right) Brandon Carter, Jordon Costello and Alex Gallant outside the Capital’s dressing room before practice on Tuesday.

It was only a few days ago the Summerside Western Capitals were celebrating the Kent Cup victory. It was still fresh on the minds of three of the Cap’s homegrown rookies, Alex Gallant, Jordan Costello and Brandon Carter as they arrived for practice to get ready for the Fred Page Cup.

“We just kept going, no one gave up. We kept going and going, then making it a one goal game, then tying it up, I thought, we can actually do it right now! Then Trevor puts the puck in the net you don’t even remember you just jump over the boards and get there as fast as you can,” said Carter.

“As soon as the goal went in the net, all I could think about was getting my gloves and helmet off and getting in there and giving everybody a great big hug,” said Costello.

The team started a three day practice regiment on Tuesday to get back into shape for the tournament being held in Terrebonne, Quebec, to decide who ultimately moves on to the Royal Bank Cup.

The fact they have the maximum amount of 20 year olds, nine, on the team this year including Captains Harrison McIver, Trevor Carmichael, Nathan DesRoches and Neil Sherren, has been a big advantage for the team, said Carter, Costello and Gallant.

“You learn from them all, there is eight of them I think who were on the Royal Bank Cup team from 08-09 like they’re just character guys and they help everybody through it,” said Costello.

“Everyone of them has played a big role this year, treated everybody well, came up big on and off the ice, no one has gotten ahead of themselves yet,” said Carter.

“(The leadership group) got us here, those guys are great,” said Gallant. “They all pitch in and do a great job. There’s nine of them, and they all want to win, last year of junior.”

The team has bonded a lot through these games, especially with how close in score they’ve been, said Gallant.

“The whole team just is completely together. Just a bunch of good guys, that’s what helped us get through it.”

Costello also sees the bond in the team as a big part of their success.

“I mean this is probably one of the closest knit teams I’ve ever been on, everybody bonds with everybody. You can ask for much more, when you get that it’s something special.”

Though the guys know they’re not the team’s goal scorers, they know they can still offer the team some help.

“I just do what I’ve been doing all year, play energy line, get out there create some energy for the team when it’s needed,” said Carter.

“I’m just going to have to do my job. I’m on the fourth line, everyone knows their job and that’s just to play their role,” said Gallant.

“I’m no goal scorer,” said Costello. “Well, in the Fred Page Cup I’m going to offer my hard work and penalty killing ability, play defensively like I have all year.”

Gallant, Carter and Costello is excited about their chances in the Fred Page Cup, but also about the lessons they learned from this year for next year.

“Being able to share this with the guys that are going to be coming back again next year, we will be able to be leaders ourselves and learn from these guys,” said Carter.

Easter responds to Ogilvie’s comments on absence from Island

Easter responds to Ogilvie’s comments on absence from Island

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

Liberal Member of Parliament Wayne Easter responded to comments that he was campaigning outside of Prince Edward Island from the Conservative challenger in his riding, Tim Ogilvie, Wednesday.

Easter, incumbent of the Malpeque riding, was out of province recently to attend the National Agriculture debate in Ottawa against the Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz.

Easter said while he was there he did speak in some ridings in the Toronto area on issues such as the National Food Policy and farm issues.

In a press release on Tuesday, Ogilvie said that it was arrogant for Easter to leave the riding to go campaign in Ontario against Dianne Finley.

“I find it astonishing,” he said. “While Island Conservatives campaign hard from door to door the Ignatieff Liberals are following their Leader’s example and ignoring P.E.I. all together.”

Ogilvie said though there are valid reasons to travel during a campaign, he that he thinks Easter is taking his voters for granted.

“I guess he figures he’s got things sewn up around here. I wonder if Malpeque voters will agree?”

While Easter said he spoke in Finley’s riding, it was only for farm issues and the National Food Policy and is now back to do his campaigning on the Island.

“I’m basically campaigning in three polls a day. Everywhere from Malpeque, Borden-Carleton, to Stan Hope, right now we’ve been in 37 polls.”

Easter said the accusation of him being arrogant is nothing new to him as he said the Conservative’s don’t want him campaigning on National Issues.

“I am one of the most respected people in Canada on Agricultural issues and that’s why there’s a lot of requests for me to go elsewhere, but I don’t do that during a campaign. I was obligated to. Is Tim Ogilvie saying that Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture, shouldn’t have been in Ottawa for the National debate?”

Pheasants population continues to be concern for province and agency

Pheasants population continues to be concern for province and agency

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

Pheasants Forever and the Province of Prince Edward Island are continuing an initiative to bring the wild Pheasant to Prince Edward Island.

They have previously tried with Pheasants that were farm raised, but have recently decided to start importing them from other Provinces, including two from New Brunswick this year.

The previous attempts at introducing Pheasants to the Island were unsuccessful, said Wade MacKinnon, senior conservation officer.

“Pheasants were never native here, there were introductions but the birds that they released were just farm yard birds. They were just raised like chickens in cages and let go.”

New Brunswick doesn’t have a large spread of Pheasants because of the environment in the province, he said.

“New Brunswick is primarily a forest province, pheasants prefer an agricultural habitat. So you’re not going to find them in the spruce words back in Miramichi because they wouldn’t survive there. They need open ground, open fields, because that’s the kind of habitat they prefer.”

Carl Hansen, P.E.I. Pheasants Forever chapter leader, said he understands why New Brunswick hunters are upset.

“I can understand where they’re coming from, they feel like we’re invading something they have, that they never had Pheasants Forever. The pheasants they have there now came from Nova Scotia. They’re not native to New Brunswick, as they are not native to Prince Edward Island.”

In the last five years they have released close to 225 pheasants onto P.E.I., said Hansen.

“Which is not a whole lot. We’re seeing signs of young birds every year. They are surviving and repopulating that’s for sure.” 

OLYMPIC HEROES TO PEI

Olympic and Paralympic heroes coming to SIS

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

Heather Moyse and eight other athletes will be on the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Heroes tour is coming to the Summerside Intermediate School on Wednesday April 13.

The tour is in celebration of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame induction ceremony being held at the Casino New Brunswick in Moncton on April 16.

The tour includes a stop in St. John’s, Newfoundland at mile zero on Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope 31st anniversary. The tour will also go through Charlottetown, and Halifax.

The tour includes seven Olympic athletes, including Moyes’ bobsleigh partner and gold medalist Kaillie Humphries, four-time medalist in short track speedskating Tania Vicent and two Paralympic athletes including Greg Westlake, Paralympic sledge hockey gold medalist/

Isabelle Hodge, the Canadian Olympic Committee’s manager of media relations, said the event is to spread the Olympic spirit across Atlantic Canada.

“The athletes realize how much support they’re given by the Canadian public and for them to be able to do this is very important.”

These events will be similar to a pep rally where the athletes share knowledge and stories about their experiences about how they got to where they are, said Hodge.

“Really touching on healthy, active living, being leaders, really being focused, setting goals. They want to impart knowledge and things important to them.”

It’s the first ever Olympic and Paralympic Hero tour the COC has done, said Hodge.

“We want to infuse different communities with the Olympic spirit and the Olympic movement. We are going to large cities, smaller cities.”

The idea came from a parade they held last year in Montreal with the 2010 athletes that had over 150,000 attend, she said.

“We thought, people are really excited about this, there’s a lot of attention and it’s nice to give back so we thought okay what can we do? So we mapped it out and we said let’s try doing a lead up to (the induction ceremony) and turn it into a tour.”

Acadian Museum holds 50th Anniversary Celebration for Evangeline School

School Exhibit time capsule for Acadian Museum director

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

Acadian Museum of Prince Edward Island director Cécile Gallant stands next to a cut out of her former principal sister Jeanne d’Arc at the école Evangeline 50^th Anniversary exhibit.

When the Acadian Museum of Prince Edward Island’s Director, Cécile Gallant, walks into work in the mornings lately, she walks into a time capsule and is greeted by her old principal Sister Jeanne d’Arc.

Since November the Acadian Museum of PEI has been home to a 50^th anniversary exhibition in celebration of the école Evangeline.

Built in 1960 for the ’60- 61 school year, when it was opened as the Evangeline Regional High School, the first regional high school in P.E.I., it was merged with the Consolidated school next to it, both figuratively and literally, in 1978.

Some of the artifacts were donated or on loan from the school and the principal Gilles Arsenault who have been supportive about the exhibit.

The exhibit, which has been going since November, was built by Gallant, Hélène Bergeron, the curator who got the pictures and some artifacts and Gloria Arsenault over the span of two months. She affectionately refers to them as her “team”.

A life size cut out of d’Arc sits at the front of the exhibit, someone who Gallant remembers well.

“She wasn’t mean, she was strict,” said Gallant “Everyone has memories of Sister Jeanne d’Arc, when they see her their still scared of her today.”

The building, which has seen close to 2,000 students pass through and had visits from such politicians as Pierre Trudeau, houses favoured memories of her and her friends, said Gallant.

“The people I went to school with, the laughs we had, the things we lived through together, studying and all the activities in the gym. Things you did together when you went to school.”

The exhibit spans all 50 years of the school, with year books, class photos and many other artifacts of the school. Two generations of her family, herself and her two sons attended the school, said Gallant.

“We always had to go to school in dresses or skirts, no pants allowed. While today they dress in ßpants, more free.”

The exhibit isn’t just for those that went to the école Evangeline, said Gallant.

“It’s kind of universal, anybody who has gone through high school from the 60s to the early 2000s, you see similarities.”
The exhibit was a travel back in time and fun to put together, she said.

“It was special reliving my youth.”

The exhibit is open until May 1, with the hours from Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Summerside Job Fair

Summerside Job Fair brings in many

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

CAPTION: Cory Ryder applies at the ADL booth with Debbie Taylor-Gallant on Thursday at the Summerside Job Fair in the Waterfront Mall.

SUMMERSIDE- The Summerside Job Fair brought 560 students and adults alike to the Waterfront Mall Thursday in search of opprotunity.

The fair included various opportunities spanning from D.P. Murphy Inc., Brother’s Two Restaurant, ADL and Holland College. The fair was being organized by East Prince Youth Development Centre and the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island.

The fair was a success with many of interested people and exhibitors, said Melissa MacDonald, one of the organizers.

“(the fair) is going really really well. We’ve had lots of people attend and there is lots of exhibitors around, we had everyone come today.”

The atmosphere was positive and the feedback from exhibitors was good, said MacDonald.

“We heard lots of comments about their being a great variety of people attending. People from all age groups and all different points in their careers.”

Debbie Taylor-Gallant, employee relations officer for ADL, said she was happy with the job fair and the applicants they received so far.

“I’ve been going since this started and it’s the best job fair I’ve been to, I enjoy it and it helps me a lot in recruiting.”

Sheila Bell, manager at the Brother’s Two restaurant, said although they had some luck Thursday she thinks it would have benefited more if it continued into the evening.

“My thoughts have always been to hold it going into the evening so people who hold part time positions, can possibly apply for positions in the evening as well.”

Sarah Kowalski, a local resident, said she thought the job fair was doing well.

“I think it’s alright, I got a couple applications. I really want a server’s position and there seems to be a lot of that offered.”

The people were nice at the booths, but they should be more aggressive, said Kowalski.

“I think they need more approach to the people when they get there instead of just, ‘Hi how are you?’”

MY VIDEO

I MADE A VIDEO WAYNE... oops caps lock... to lazy to delete but check it.

http://www.journalpioneer.com/Video/13360/church-demolition

Housing project on South Dr.  S. RYAN QUIGLEY / JOURNAL PIONEER

Local Author launches book about mother

Local Author launches book about her mother

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

Judy MacDougall will be launching her book April 15 with a book signing at the Eptek Art & Culture Centre in Summerside.

MacDougall’s book, Ruby: A Child of the King, was written about her late mother. After she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in the summer of 2001, Ruby continued to preach the word of God and touch those she met before her death at the age of 72.

In a press release MacDougall said the title of the book came from her mother saying “I’m a child of the King”.

“Ruby knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, the God of the mountain is still the God in the valley.”

She said she wrote the book initially as a keepsake for family and friends but soon realized Ruby’s story could touch everyone.

“Ruby’s story is especially encouraging for anone who is in a valley of their own life- whether it is sickness or any one of many valleys this life can hand us.”

MacDougall said the meaning of the book’s cover with a treasure chest is because though Ruby felt like she didn’t leave her kids riches they felt like she left a full treasure chest.

“These treasures, which form the heart of this book, are described in Chapter 1. So, I am not going to reveal the treasures, but they did challenge me – and I hope it does the same for the reader- to reflect on ‘What am I storing in my treasure chest here on earth.”

MacDougall said we can learn from each other by sharing stories we gain over the years of our life.

“On our journeys, we are blessed if we experience life’s mountain tops; however the valleys are inevitable. Ruby felt blessed even in the valleys for she chose, to quote her, “to get better not bitter because of God’s grace.”

NDP Announce Candidate

Jacquie Robichaud running race for NDP

S.RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

SUMMERSIDE- As of Wednesday night, Jacquie Robichaud became the NDP’s Egmont candidate joining three others on the ballot.

Robichaud is a single mother and widow of former Island NDP leader Gary Robichaud. She has a Home Ec. degree from the University of Prince Edward Island and a Human Ecology degree from the University of Manitoba.

Robichaud said she learned a lot from helping her late-husband in his campaigns and after the previous NDP candidate favourite dropped out she knew she could do it.

“I don’t want to be riding on Gary’s coat tails too much.”

 The high cost of drugs, which we could save billions on by buying in bulk, would be one of the first things she would address, said Robichaud.

“At the moment, people pay what the drug companies would want us to pay. I think there would be more control that way. Plus there’s some drugs that are covered in one province but not covered in another. This would be a national program that would be better rounded and cover more in certain provinces.”

She said one of the things she would rather do is have money put into small businesses that keep employment here rather than corporations that outsource work.

“I think (Harper)’s there for the people that have money. People that have money do fairly well under him, but because of the recession there are many people falling between the cracks for no reason.”

Teamwork is needed in Ottawa and a majority government will disrupt the sense of community, said Robichaud.

“Stephen Harper’s in control and if the rest of the party doesn’t say exactly what he wants them to say then there’s problems created,” she said. “Coming from my family studies background, I’ve always been taught peace begins in the home and to have peace in the home you need to have teamwork.”

She said Michael Ignatieff is part of the problem.

“There is even Liberals that do not want him to be Prime Minister. His record does not match his words, how can we trust him to follow through with what he says he will do?”

Robichaud said the NDP is more in tune with the everyday citizen.

“It’s time the ordinary citizens got a break. Only the NDP can fix what’s wrong with national politics.”

The slogan for her campaign is “It’s time for some respect” and Robichaud said it’s because she’s tired of watching the Liberals and Conservatives play their “partisan games”.

“Coming from my background, like if you watch them on CPAC and if children under my care were doing that, they’d be put on a time out.”

DOWNTOWN PAWNS opens in Summerside

CAPTION: Peter and Jennifer Chaisson stand in their new shop Downtown Pawns in Harbourview Place, opened today. The grand opening is planned for April 15^th.   S.RYAN QUIGLEY / JOURNAL PIONEER

Egmont Riding Gets Two New Candidates

Two New Candidates for Egmont Riding

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

Party officials confirm two more names for the Egmont riding today.

NDP officials confirm that Jacquie Robichaud, wife of the late Gary Robichaud, former leader of the P.E.I. NDP, will be their candidate for the Egmont riding.

Green Party officials also confirmed that Carl Arnold, teacher at Summerside Intermediate, will be joining the race.

Arnold said he would be happy if his campaign just got voters to look at the Green Party’s platform.

“My concern is that if by the end of this election a few more people have taken the time to go and look at the Green Party policy, that would be wonderful. However, I would be just as happy if they went and examined the policy of whatever policy they wanted to vote for.”

The green party isn’t worried about partisan politics and not worried about doing whatever it takes to get power, said Arnold.

“Canadians have some serious issues to deal with in the coming years and to do that, we’re going to have to seriously discuss ideas, platforms and policies. And currently we’re not doing that.”

The biggest concern with Canadian voters he talked to was losing faith in the government, said Arnold.

“Last election 1 million voters voted for the Green Party. If Canadians want to give the Liberals or Conservatives a scare, they have another place they can park the vote, they can vote for the Green Party. Scare those parties into policy that might actually help.”

Canadians in every riding have to do a little better job educating themselves, said Arnold.

“It’s to easy to blame the politicians for all our problems. Nothing will change until Canadians become more informed about what is actually going on and the Green Party actually wants you to examine their platform and examine their party.”

The two join Liberal nominee Guy Gallant and Conservative incumbent Gail Shea as the four candidates for the position.

The deadline is April 11 at two p.m. for any other nominations.

Evangeline ready.set.go for spring sports

Evangeline ready for spring sports season

S. RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

Ecole Evangeline is believes this year will be a good year for their spring sports, said Athletic Director Velma Durant.

The school has a badminton team from novice to senior programs, senior and midget programs for both men and women’s softball and a track and field team with both men and women being represented.

The badminton teams are expected to be strong since the school has no basketball team, practice began earlier in the winter with Jason Arsenault coaching the senior, midget and bantam teams and Velma Durant coaching the novice team.

The early start should make sure the teams are ready and the games should be fun to watch, said Durant.

“As far as badminton we should have a pretty good team I’d say, it’ll be good games.”

The senior men’s softball team is expected to have a good year with hopes of a top three finish for the team. All members of the senior team played last year.

The senior boy’s group is filled with really good athletes and should be a strong team this year, said Durant.

“We have good little players that have been around ball for a while in that group.”

The senior girl’s team is hoping for a competitive season this year and stay competitive. The team is looking to keep with last year and remain a strong team.

A top five finish is the goal for the senior girls team this year, said Durant.

“Last year (the girls team) was a pretty good team.”

Both the midget men and women teams are hoping to finish top five this year too.

The track and field team in Evangeline is ready to go, with the gold medal winner at the P.E.I. School Athletic Association’s Source for Sports provincial cross country meet back in October of 2010, Alex Cyr, a favourite for long distance run competitions, with Joel Arsenault also being one of the schools top running candidates. John Barriault is the school’s best high jumper and competes in shotput too.

Chantelle Gallant is a good sprinter for the school, while Myrian Cyr is a good Long distance runner on the woman’s side.

The coaches for track and field are Arsenault and Durant.

Track and field should be a strong showing for the school, said Durant.

“Track and field, we always have a few good athletes to watch.”

Kinkora School ready for spring

John Reeves goes for a jumpshot at PRACTICE

S.RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

Academics, participation, commitment and competitiveness, these are the ideas Kinkora Regional High wants to stress in the spring sports season to athletes, said Athletic Director Trent Ranahan.

Badminton both male and female, is beginning with Ranahan and Steve Dawson coaching. The team expects to have several of their team make it to the finals with Cody Dawson being a favourite on the male side and Briar Roberts on the female side with Provincial championship experience.

Ranahan said he has high hopes for the Seniors in Badminton.

“Like with the badminton, especially with the seniors, I can certainly predict there will be a few that will move on to provincials.”

The AA Rugby girls will be returning to defend last year’s provincial championship. The Rugby team is a joint effort with the Kensington Intermediate Senior High and is coached by Kevin Bustard and Todd Diamond. The home games have been split up between the schools too.

The AA Rugby boys are hoping to be competitive this year too, coached by Josh Griffin and Oliver Wells, the team is looking to bring home a medal. The team is also in conjunction with KISH.

The A Rugby girls are looking to compete with the best in their division this year lead by coach Darren Reeves, they hope to be a medal contender/

The split is a good thing and it helps the schools and kids form a bond, said Ranahan.

“There’s a good relationship with the athletes and they bond together and field a good team.”

The male softball team is looking to improve on last year’s one win season. The goal of the season is to be in the top three teams in the province and several players from last years team will be in the lineup come first pitch. Ranahan, Tyler Allen and John Gallant are going to be  the coaches.

This will be the last year for some of the returning players, but last year was a young team, said Ranahan.

“Last year it was a relatively young team and we were kind of building up. Hopefully this year we’ll improve.”

The female softball will be a younger team this year losing some key seniors from last year. The team is coached by Brendan Kelly and is led by a group of girls who have played for the last three years.

The leadership group on this team may make up for last year’s senior player losses, said Ranahan.

“So they do have a core group of leadership girls, that will certainly try their best to fill in the gaps of anything we lost from the Grade 12’s from last year.”

Like most years they expect to have a large turnout for track and field. The events the school expects to place well in is Javelin, running events, especially the relay and shotput are expected to be the stand out events. Coaching duties are with Stephanie Browne and Adam Lambe.

Ranahan said he thinks Cody Dawson’s chances in the javelin event are great.

“I’m expecting a great track event from Cody Dawson.”

Joel MacIsaac goes after a drop shot

VERY SLOW MONDAY

Read above.

Slemon Park Parents unhappy with graffiti

Parents Jessica Hogan-Gauthier and Elizabeth Desroches stand inside the bus shelter in Slemon Park with the offensive drawings and slogans all around them. S. RYAN QUIGLEY / JOURNAL PIONEER

Parents upset with offensive graffiti

S. RYAN QUIGLEY
JOURNAL PIONEER

Jessica Hogan-Gauthier was walking her kids, ages five and 10, to the Slemon Park bus shelter on Thursday morning when she noticed silver markings on the grey walls of the shelter. As she got closer she began to recognize some of the words and drawings on the walls to be particularly sexual and vulgar in content. She was shocked.
This has been going on for six years and Gauthier and other parents around Slemon Park are not happy with it, including 3 times in the last year alone.
The graffiti tends to be either racial or sexual and with kids who are just beginning to learn to read it’s a problem, said Gauthier.
“(We) have five year olds, they’re just learning how to read, so they’re just starting to sound things out and they’re sounding out words like that and it’s just really upsetting.”
Slemon Park officials have dealt with the graffiti by repainting or scraping it off in the past but it’s getting hard on the parents, said Gauthier.
“I do hate to say tear it down really because it is the only shelter and in the middle of winter it’s awful to stand out there, with the wind blowing, and the buses come kind of at their own schedule, if they had some sort of security, some way of keeping an eye on it, it’s obviously a trouble area.”
Elizabeth Desroches, another concerned parent in the area and mother of a five-year-old, said she called the Slemon Park office back in December because of racial words on the shelter.
“I phoned Paul Matheson and I told him I am sick and tired of this, it’s really disturbing for the kids to go up there and read this,” she said.
Matheson, property manager for Slemon Park said they plan on working with Summerside Police Department and plan repairing the site.
“It’s pretty disheartening that people choose to deface private property.”
Police Sgt. Barry Arsenault said that those who witness such vandalism should quickly take down the best description of the person and phone the police.
“If they can call as soon as possible with the best description then hopefully we can get there and catch him in the act or catch them walking away with paint in their hands.”
If the graffiti was art she wouldn’t have so much of a problem with it, said Gauthier.
“It’s just the blatant disregard for everybody else, it’s disregard for the neighbours, disregard for the rest of the community and the kids that have to see that. That’s the problem.”

Cardiac Caps inspire city

CAPTION: The Quality Inn showed their support, much like other businesses for Summerside’s Cardiac Capitals who start Game 1 of the Kent Cup series on Sunday. S. RYAN QUIGLEY / JOURNAL PIONEER

Vipers strike early in IJHL final

The Maniacs’ Colby Bruce with the first goal to tie it up in the first period on Vipers’ goalie Logan Reid. S. RYAN QUIGLEY / Journal Pioneer

Kensington Vipers strike first in IJHL final

S. RYAN QUIGLEY
JOURNAL PIONEER

KENSINGTON- Alex Noonan scored the winner in the second overtime letting the Kensington Vipers strike first to take a 1-0 series lead in the Mark’s Work Warehouse Island Junior Hockey League final over the Down East Maniacs 3-2 Thursday night at the Community Garden in Kensington.
The game saw a back and forth battle between the two teams that lasted two overtimes and a total of 96 shots combined between the two teams.
Logan Reid got the win for Kensington making 42 saves while his counterpart Travis Willis made 49.
The Vipers were lead by Thomas McSweeney with a goal and an assist while the Maniacs were lead by Tyler Clair and Colby Bruce with a goal and assist respectively. Maniac’s coach Harry VanDenBroek said he was happy with the performace his team gave coming off their series victory last night against Sherwood.
“They worked as a team, they worked good right from the first second to the last second.”
He said that they’re going to be better and stick to the game plan in game two.
“Play Maniac hockey.”
Vipers head coach Wade Waddell said both teams played well and at that stage in the game it’s just luck.
“We got the last bounce, it’s as simple as that.”
There wasn’t anything magic said before the second overtime and that they should just get pucks to the net, said Waddell.
“I expect them to be as good and probably a little bit better next game. I think the fans are going to get treated to a good series here.”
The first period saw Kensington jump out to a 1-0 lead 14:11 in, with McSweeney scoring off the rebound from Cameron Webster’s shot with Michael Ramsay getting the other assist.
In the second Bruce made a move to beat Vipers goaltender Logan Reid to tie the game up at one at 7:44, with assists from Clair and Kayleb Lazaric to notch the only goal in the frame. The Vipers got 15 shots on goal while the Maniacs got 10.
In the third period the Maniacs hit the net first with Clair scoring this time while Lazaric and Bruce got the assists giving the line it’s second goal of the night at 7:00.
Then 10:56 into the third John Ryan Francis gave the momentum back to the Vipers with helpers from Brett Hogan and McSweeney.
The period ended with each team getting 15 shots at piece, setting up for overtime.
After a scoreless overtime with the two combatants matching each other in shots, the second overtime gave way to a clutch goal by Noonan with the overtime winner, 8:16 in.