Neil Zacharjewicz
MINDEMOYA – The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) feels it is stocking more predatorial fish species in Lake Huron than it can take. According to David McLish, manager of the Lake Huron Unit, a study being conducted with a professor from the University of Michigan seems to be drawing the conclusion there are too many predatorial species in the lake, which is reflected in the decline of growth rates in Chinook Salmon. McLish shared this meeting with municipal leaders and fish and game club representatives at a meeting with the MNR on November 25 at the Mindemoya Community Center.
McLish indicated Lake Ontario is facing the same sort of problem, and Lake Michigan has already experienced a collapse of its fisheries. There are similarities in the rate of decline on Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, he said, and there are fears a similar collapse could take place.
�At this time, we are not supporting additional stocking,� he said. Part of the problem, he indicated, is the St. Mary�s River, which is the largest producer of sea lamprey. The North Channel is one of the major areas of concern, he said. An effort is being made in 1998, 1999 and 2000 to solve the problem, and the MNR is expecting the death of a great number of the lamprey. This will help to create healthier fish, he said.
The MNR does plan to review the fish stocking levels, but the ministry hopes to hold meetings with fish and game clubs from around the lake before the process takes place. A sense of inequality has arisen that more fish are being stocked in some areas than in others, he pointed out.
When questioned about the MNR�s allocation policies, McLish responded the ministry continues to use the old Fisheries Management Plans which were used before its reorganization in 1992. Allocation has always been determined on an ad hoc basis, he suggested, and has never been looked at on a lake-wide basis. This is one option the MNR is considering, he said.
Drive Sober – The Life You Save
May Be Your Own!
The statistics of deaths caused by drunk drivers is frightening! Six deaths every 24 hours, in Canada, are attributed to drivers who have been drinking. This figure does not include those injured in alcohol related incidents. If it did, the rates would of course be much higher. The Christmas season is upon us and the temptation to consume larger amounts of spirits in social settings is often hard to resist. But beware, the OPP and the festive RIDE program will be out in full force attempting to lower these statistics to a much more acceptable level.
In this age of education and public transportation (and yes here on Manitoulin), there is absolutely no need for a person under the influence of alcohol to get behind the wheel of a vehicle. Being allowed to have a license is a privilege only responsible people should be granted. And as such the privilege should not be abused.
Getting behind the wheel and driving while inebriated is one of the most irresponsible actions a person can take and hopefully the police are successful in their fight to stop these senseless deaths. It goes without saying that death, at any time, is difficult for families and loved ones to accept, but to lose someone from the senseless action of a drunk driver is nothing short of heart wrenching.
Statistics state that the death rate from impaired driving is two to three times the national murder rate! Scary, isn�t it? Act responsibly this Christmas – if you�re drinking, stay out from behind the wheel. That one moment of indiscretion could affect the rest of many people�s lives including your own. And if you have ever been drunk behind the wheel of your vehicle, be thankful you haven�t taken a life. Remember though, the next time Lady Luck may not be riding on your shoulder!
Reader Tired of Reading About Deer
Dear Editor,
I believe The Recorder and The Expositor should realize that there are a lot of people, full-time residents, that are tired of reading about the deer hunt. We do not congratulate the fearless hunters that help with the slaughter of the deer. After reading about the great hunt in a community news column, we are sickened by the people that feed apples to the deer for several months before the hunt and then are proud when they shoot one. What kind of sport is that?
I personally feel deer hunting should not be allowed in places where people are living close by. The deer almost become domesticated, have no fear of humans and then bang, that one week in November takes away my pleasure at seeing the deer come over to our pond and front yard. There was a large doe this year with last year�s fawn – she won�t be back, as my dog brought home from the hunter�s camp down the road a large doe head.
That�s another thing. It is bad enough that they are shooting the deer, but then to leave the heads, legs, etc., laying around so I can see them when I go on my walk makes me sick. I am angry that my rights are taken away during hunting week. My neighbour and I cannot walk down our country road without taking our lives in our hands, and we certainly cannot walk in our back acreage for fear a hunter is where he shouldn�t be. This is not right. The papers make it sound like the whole Island welcomes the hunters from off-Island and enjoy the hunt. We don’t!!! We hate the gunshots in the morning, especially when there is a volley of six shots – what kind of hunters are they? One shot should be enough, either they are very poor shots or just shoot at anything that moves.
Please, people at The Recorder and The Expositor, it would be refreshing if you would write about the other side…the people who abhor the hunt. There are many of us who would rather have Manitoulin Island designated as a wildlife refuge and allow the tourists to see the wildlife alive and well. The pictures printed in the newspaper of dead deer and proud hunters sicken us. Yes, indeed, it is a real sport. Feed them all year, and then shoot them from the deer stand. Also, why are deer stands allowed to be built so close to the road? Driving down Poplar Road a fearless hunter was in his stand facing across the road. I thought you were not allowed to shoot across the roads. We don�t want to see the deer stands. We don�t want to see the dead deer. Wake up and realize off-Island hunters are not bringing big dollars to the Island. Most of them have their wives cook lots of food to bring with them. Much more money would be made enticing the tourists to come to see the wildlife – look at Banff, Alberta.
Suzanne Golden of �Golden Treasures� in Mindemoya has a patent pending on her product �The Book Pillow�. Mail orders are accepted and you can contact her at 377-5180. The �Book Pillow� is the perfect gift for people with arthritis, the elderly, handicapped persons, hospital patients and others who like to read. It holds the book, and all you do is turn the page.
�Life�s Simplest Pleasures� is the exclusive dealer for the Chillad Collection, which is a coordinated program that includes jewellery, apparel and unique giftware that is based upon the coming millennium. Samples of the jewellery, watches and T-shirts can be seen at either of their locations in Gore Bay. The Rotary Club is having a ham sale fundraiser. Tickets for the hams are $10.00 and are available through Rotary members and at various stores in Gore Bay until December 11.
Some cooked entrees by Sonja in Manitowaning is accepting orders by phone at 859-3338. Items on the order list include pirogues, shepherd�s pie, lasagna, cabbage rolls and Mexican tortilla pie. Book your orders now in order to receive them in time for the Christmas entertaining season.
�Jake�s Home Centre� in Mindemoya is having a free draw for a beautiful recliner chair for Christmas. Absolutely no purchase is necessary and all you have to do is fill in your name and address on a ballot at Jake�s. The draw will take place December 23 and while you are there, check out the Christmas town.
The Manitoulin Chamber of Commerce �Shop Local� campaign is well underway. Items donated for the big giveaway can be viewed at Wood�s Brothers in Gore Bay and at the �Schooner Restaurant� in Manitowaning. Lots of great prizes including a microwave for some lucky winner.
Remember to register by December 4 with LAMBAC if you plan to attend the marketing seminar they are doing with �Manitoulin Chrysler� on December 8. The cost is $10/person and it runs from 7-10 p.m. Also, you must call the MTA office by December 4 to register your name for the MTA/Chamber Christmas Party at �Jessica�s Restaurant� in Mindemoya on December 9. The cost is $20/person.
Don�t forget to register your winter events with the Chamber office if the order is to be included in their Four Seasons Calendar of Events. This list will be used to promote Manitoulin this winter and throughout the New year. Manitowaning has already called in their curling bonspiels, Lionsfest and snowmobile races.
Rita Gordon�s business column appears Wednesdays in The Manitoulin Recorder. If you have business news of interest to Manitoulin Island and area, write her c/o Gordon�s Park, Hwy. 6, Tehkummah, Ontario P0P 2C0, fax her at (705) 859-2470, or email at [email protected].
Fine Year for Christmas In The Park
Neil Zacharjewicz
KAGAWONG – To some Islanders, it is a modern day Christmas tradition. And many of the repeat visitors who attend each year are what makes Christmas In The Park so successful, suggested Dick Maloney, one of the organizers of the event. On November 28 and 29, the annual Christmas event celebrated its sixth anniversary, with the traditional visit from Santa Claus to meet the kids, the rides on the horse-drawn sleigh (or in the case of this year, horse-drawn wagon), and the wonderful booths full of Christmas items.
Maloney, who has organized the event for the past six years with his wife Koki, and for the past three with Keith and Louise McKeen, said the event is meant to be much more than a craft show. It is more of a family event, or a festival.
Organizers were pleased with the weather they had for the weekend. Maloney noted many of the people who turned out were very complementary of the weekend, and expressed to him how much they enjoyed themselves.
Farmer’s Beat
Brian Bell
Horse News and Views
- �It�s the time of year to start using heated water bowls. Through a recent personal experience, I found that 2.5 volts of stray voltage was shocking the horses. The breaker was off, but there was stray voltage coming through the ground line. To check for stray voltage, connect the negative terminal of your voltage meter to a good ground stake and with the positive terminal, check all metal parts of the water bowl. Contact your local electrical contractor for more information.
- �Mares are long-day breeders. The ovarian activity of 75% of mares in temperate climates increases with longer daylight hours. Mares may or may not cycle and, often, don�t ovulate in the shorter days of fall, winter and early spring. Many farms lengthen the daylight hours to 16 hours, by using artificial lighting, to induce earlier onset of regular ovarian activity. Research advises extending the day length, rather than shortening the night length. Day length should be increased starting November 1. Contact Dr. Bob Wright, OMAFRA, 591-846-0965.
- �When is the proper time to castrate horses? A recent study compared castration of colts between 2 days and 2 months of age with castration of older colts. The study indicates that there were no differences in the rates of growth between the early castration groups and colts, when observed up to 12 months of age, for weight, wither height, rump height, or cannon home circumferences. The early castration colts had greater knot and hock-to-ground increases than the older colts and exhibited less aggression, penile extension and erection (Huesner et al. Equine Nutrition & Physiology Society, 1997).
Manitoulin News and Views
- The annual Pesticide Education course is set up for March 10, 1999, at the Spring Bay Hall. Time is 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Notices for your 5-year renewal should arrive by mail. For more information contact the Ag. Office in Gore Bay.
- Please contact the Ag. Office to advise us of your organization meeting dates. We can post those to our office web site. Realizing that the busy winter meeting schedule is fast approaching, notice of annual meeting dates would also be appreciated.
- Sympathies are extended to the family of Mr. Clifford Morphet who died in a recent farm accident. Everyone – please take extra time and caution when working with and around farm machinery and other equipment.
- A recent study by Dr. Harlan Ritchie of MSU looked at profitability of various management and marketing alternatives for spring-born calves over a seventeen year period. Ten management systems were evaluated ranging from �calves and weaning� to �feedlot after backgrounding�. What struck me as interesting is that our typical local management meshes well with the �peak� years Ritchie studied. Attention to the things we do well in our region is important to long-term financial stability. Please contact the Ag. Office for a copy of the study or to engage in a �friendly� debate over its findings.
GM Donates $60,000 in Vehicles to MSS
Neil Zacharjewicz
WEST BAY – In a time of budget cuts, sometimes schools have to take the initiative to maintain and improve the programs they offer. That kind of initiative paid off for Manitoulin Secondary School (MSS). Now the school is in possession of $60,000 worth of General Motors (GM) vehicles to be used in the technology department.
According to technology department head, Paul Skippen, �the vehicles are to be used for testing. They have to be completely disassembled at some point. (GM) want them unusable when we are done.� He added once the vehicles have been disassembled and examined, and are no longer useful to the program, they will be shipped to the wrecking yard, and the paperwork will be forwarded to GM to confirm the vehicles� destruction.
MSS received a 1998 Intrigue, valued at $31,203 and had been driven eight kilometers, and a 1998 Safari All Wheel Drive, which is valued at $28,830 and had logged only four kilometers. Skippen noted the vehicles cannot be used on the road.
The donation became available to the school after Skippen contacted the GM offices in Oshawa, where he spoke to Rosemarie Kapitzki, with GM public relations. He informed her because of the reduced budget the school was faced with, due to government cuts, the technology department budget had been decreased by $5,000, and wondered if GM might be able to help out. Skippen confessed he had been thinking of a donation in the form of tools, and was surprised when the company offered them a car. The donation increased further when Kapitzki called Skippen and informed the company also had a van available if they were interested.
McQuarrie Motors and ACME Motors both contributed funds towards the cost of having the vehicles transported to the Island, Skippen said. He suggested it is very nice to see industry and community businesses pulling together to help out a school in one of the smaller areas of the province, as they would in a larger area. He also indicated the donation never could have happened without the support of Principal Roy Eaton, who has been very supportive of the technology department.
The new vehicles provide incentive for the students in the technology department, he suggested, as they are provided with the opportunity to work on the latest vehicles to hit the road. They tend to take more interest and far more care when working on something newer, he said.
�We try to keep all of the high schools and colleges up to speed with the newer vehicles. It brings out new technicians that have a little bit of moxie about our vehicles,� said Boe Hladysh, manager of public relations for GM. �During my running around in the schools in the last couple of years I have noticed they are very, very behind. They had 50s and 60s vintage vehicles sitting in there, and you cannot teach kids on that and expect them to be interested in the automotive industry, because today everything is electronics.�
Hladysh pointed out that to enter the Automotive Services Education Program (ASEP) put on by GM, the student has to have a Grade 12 education in math, science, physics, and reading comprehension. �I am very pleased with the generosity of GM, and of our two local businesses, ACME Motors and McQuarrie Motors, in paying for the delivery of the vehicles from Oshawa. The donation of the vehicles will be a great asset to the students who are taking the transportation technology program,� Eaton said.