Fish Friend Article - Western St

The Blow Me Down Elementary Cross Country Skiing School League held its final tournament this week to wrap up a nine-week after-school program for students Grade 4-6 in the Corner Brook area.

The final sessions include an individual ski race on Monday and a four-person relay race on Tuesday. Tuesday’s races were followed by an awards banquet in the lodge.

The purpose of the after-school program is to provide a life-long fun and fitness activity to elementary-school age children. The tournament was sponsored by Cross Country Canada, who provided each of the 120 participants with a hat autographed by Canada’s Olympic nordic ski team.

Individual medals were awarded to the top three finishers in the individual races for Grades 4, 5 and 6 boys and girls divisions. Medals were also presented to the members of the top three relay teams at each grade level. All skiers who participate in the races scored points for their school.

The school with the highest point total is declared league champion. The league championship trophy was presented to J.J. Curling Elementary who collected the highest number of points of the five participating schools. Second place went to C. C. Loughlin Elementary, who narrowly beat out third-place finisher Humber Elementary. St. Peter’s Academy in Benoit’s Cove finished fourth, while Sacred Heart Elementary finished fifth

The discovery of a heart defect in a newborn baby boy more than a decade ago eventually saved his life, but perhaps more miraculously, his father’s too.

When he was just five days old Jonathan Wheeler was taken to Halifax, N.S. for heart surgery to repair a condition known as transposition of the great arteries. The aorta and pulmonary arteries are reversed. All the parts are there, but the oxygenated blood goes to the wrong place and the lack of oxygen can cause damage to the heart muscle.

When he was nine years old, an unrelated condition was detected, leading him back into surgery to get a mechanical valve. Jonathan suffered from Marfan Syndrome, an enlarged aortic valve.

The untimely deaths of Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman and collegiate basketball player Chris Patton were the result of undetected Marfan Syndrome.

Marfan Syndrome is an inherited disorder of the connective tissue which affects many organ systems — in this case the heart. The search was on to find out if he indeed inherited the condition. Turns out he did — from his father.

Joe Vater had lived his life in Frenchman’s Cove the same as most fishermen, working his hand to the bone — manual labour was second nature to him. Ironically enough — without any knowledge, signs or symptoms — that’s exactly the type of work ethic that could have killed him. Like his son, Vater had an enlarged main valve. It was measured at 49 millimetres, while normal is 35 millimetres.

Vater still has a lot of mixed emotions regarding the whole situation.

“It’s lucky for me that Jonathan got what he got, because he is OK, and now I am OK,” he said.

Trip of a lifetime
Vater’s surgery last year postponed his son’s wish through the Children’s Wish Foundation. However, just last month, the family took that trip to Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

“The best part was going to Sea World,” the 12-year-old Grade 7 student at St. Peter’s Academy said. “I don’t usually get to go see all the dolphins and everything.

“I like the big rides and everything, and I got to see Mickey, Minnie and Goofy.”

Through the provincial Children’s Wish Foundation, the foursome, which also included mom Kelly Wheeler and cousin Jessica Wheeler, were shuttled to the front of lineups and provided escorts to different parts of Disney World.

“It was the trip of a lifetime,” Vater said, adding it was helpful in being able to put their physical well-being out of mind for a week.

“We are thankful for the wish, but I wouldn’t want to have another child just to get a free wish. If I could change his health and strength, I’d give it back, yes indeed, and more besides.”

Jonathan, who qualified to receive a wish because of his chronic illness, continues to be monitored every six months. He is unable to play any physical sports or do things such as skiing, and that is perhaps the most difficult thing for him.

“It is really, really hard,” he said. “I am more of an outdoor person and want to play hockey and everything.”

Kelly said it is difficult to listen to her son blame them sometimes for holding him back or not letting him do certain things.

“He questions why and says we don’t want him to do anything,” she said. “But, we tell him it is not us, that we do what the doctors say is best. We tell him we are not doing anything to try to hurt him or keep him from it. It’s just to help him.”

Vater, who himself has to refrain from heavy lifting, says his message to his son is there is always someone else in a worse condition.

For one week though, all their worries and concerns were laid to rest. The family, who had only been off the island previously for medical visits to Halifax, said they are going to turn vacations into a regular thing.

The students of St. Peter’s Academy were feeling the Olympic spirit Monday.

While participants in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. were probably sleeping, a makeshift torch parade brought the student body of the south shore of the Bay of Islands school out into their own Olympic venue for a day.

It may have been just the back of their K-9 school yard, but the spirit was alive and well during Olympic Healthy Commotions Day as students participated in tug-of-wars, snowshoe races, GPS sessions and treasure hunts. It wasn’t all about sport and athletic endeavours though, as traditional and cultural heritage practices were on full demonstration as the students learned about culture and sustainability too.

“Having the Olympics in Canada gives us a chance to say that we can be just as fit and athletic as all the other countries in the world,” Grade 7 student Katelyn Connolly said Monday. “I think that is a great opportunity for us.

“I feel like it is right here in my own backyard.”

For a day in Benoit’s Cove that feeling was common among the students, staff and people from the community that came out in support of the event. St. Peter’s Academy is one of four schools in the province chosen to represent their school districts in hosting on Olympic Day, an event funded by the provincial government. Each of the Olympic Commotion events will be filmed and could be highlighted as part of the medal ceremonies at the Olympics or Newfoundland and Labrador Day.

“I really liked seeing the little kids play tug-of-war and take part in the snowshoe races,” Samantha Jesso, another Grade 7 student, said. “They were trying really hard to get it.
“Besides missing classes, it is fun to support the Olympics and know that all the schools are coming together as a big team.”

It wasn’t just the students and staff who played a hand in the event, physical education teacher Gord Casey said it was a community effort. Residents came out to hold various demonstrations such as aboriginal drumming, fire starting, and igloo and lean-to construction.

“I think it is fun,” Haley Deluney, a former student of the school who volunteered to help out, said. “Hopefully other parts of the world will get to see Newfoundland on TV, that is pretty cool.”

Deluney said she has caught the Olympic fever this year because the Games are on home turf, and she enjoyed the fact the young students at St. Peter’s got a taste of that Monday.

“They are so excited,” she said. “They are just running around and doing whatever they can.”

Casey said it is easy to see the whole country has engulfed the Games and the people of the south shore are only proud to be given the opportunity to play a role in it.

“Even though we are far from the Vancouver Olympics, it is happening in our country and kids are really attached to the various activities that are on the go,” he said. “By doing this, we thought it would be a good opportunity to tie fair play and sportsmanship into an activity we do on a fairly regular basis.

“For the last week or so, we have been doing many projects in the school and tying them into the curriculum objectives.”

Museum will showcase resettlement in Bay of Islands; Centrepiece will be nine-foot-long fibreglass model of Woods Island

Humber Arm South -

Visitors to the south shore of the Bay of Islands will have a new attraction to drop in on this summer.

The Town of Humber Arm South is planning to open a museum in Benoit's Cove in June.

The museum will focus on the resettlement of nearby Woods Island back in the early 1960s and will be located in a house which was actually moved from Woods Island across the bay to Benoit's Cove.

The idea was hatched by the municipality last August and the house, originally owned by Victoria and Peter Hackett, was purchased by the town not long after. Six people have been working to restore the building as close to its original condition as possible, while three more have been employed to research the history and gather artifacts.

The museum, which will be open seasonally, will employ summer students as interpreters.

"We would like to attract more tourists to Humber Arm South," said town clerk Marion Evoy. "Right now, they are probably just skipping through town because there's not much here other than the scenery and the day park. We're hoping this will get them to stop in town and stay a little while longer."

Evoy has been impressed with how the project is unfolding. The researchers have gathered about 1,500 photographs which show what life on Woods Island and in the collective communities which make up Humber Arm South - Benoit's Cove, Halfway Point, John's Beach and Frenchman's Cove - was like prior to 1961. There will also be a number of donated artifacts on display to tell the area's story.

The centrepiece of the entire exhibit may be a nine-foot-long fibreglass model of Woods Island which is still under construction. Researchers have plotted where all the homes used to be located on Woods Island and the model will replicate that part of the story.

"Most of us didn't realize how much history there was on Woods Island, how prosperous it was and how nice the homes were until we started looking at some of the pictures," said Evoy.

In a press release issued Monday, the provincial government announced funding for the nine jobs created by the restoration and research projects was made possible by the Job Creation Partnership program, which is part of the Labour Market Development Agreement transferred from the federal to the provincial government last November. The province provided a maximum of $146,283 for the projects while the Town of Humber Arm South is contributing $49,097.

"I would like to commend the Town of Humber Arm South for sponsoring these projects, which will enhance communities in the Bay of Islands," said Human Resources, Labour and Employment Minister Susan Sullivan.

The Job Creation Partnership program allows non-profit community-based organizations, municipal governments and businesses partner with the provincial government to address local priority needs.

"In the long term, these projects will enhance tourism to the area and will help showcase the Bay of Islands," said Terry Loder, the Tory legislature member for Bay of Islands.