A new home for those who sell them

Real estate is an investment and one that Ken Cameron, broker and owner of the Re/Max Solid Gold in Elmira, firmly believes in. Cameron has relocated his Elmira real estate office to the corner of Arthur and Church streets, buying the property and setting up a larger shop to have a greater impact on the community.

“We were operating out of leased space and what we had was more of a storefront with a maximum capacity of two agents. There was no privacy for the agent and their clients to meet and discuss confidential matters and I was really sort of hamstrung with respect to growing Re/Max in Elmira because we did not have space for them,” said Cameron.

For the last four years Cameron has been watching for the perfect opportunity to increase the company’s exposure and give the agents that work in the office a real professional location to work from.

The company has moved into the building that was long-time locale of Reichard’s  Dry Goods  – and most recently home to Inspiring Accents – renovating and redesigning the space to become more client friendly.

“When this location came available I thought it could turn into something good for me,” said Cameron. “I have a lot more space here than I need for my current five agents, but I expect within the next four or five years we will have 10 or 12 agents working here.”

Cameron said this type of real-estate office is something that Elmira needed and believes that Elmira is going to be the place to be in the next 10 years.

“I would not have invested in this if I did not think there will be a big future for real estate and development in Elmira. I wanted to be on the leading edge of it and I think we have positioned ourselves to be right where we need to be.”
The new location has seen some heavy foot traffic, especially when the offices opened in early January.

“We do get good walk in traffic at this location, but that has always been the case here in Elmira,” said broker Bert Martin, who works in the office. “We are right at street level and have a good exposure for people and it allows them to see who we are and what we are doing.”

Cameron has been in the real estate business for 27 years and has owned Re/Max Solid Gold for 12 years. Over the years he has experienced many ups and downs in the housing market. Unlike the global market over the last few years the recent recession did not affect business for the realtor.

“The recession did not seem to affect the real estate market across the region,” he said. “We have come through it just fine. My theory on it is that our market has always increased steadily, year over year, at four or five per cent in home values.”

The reported end of housing bubble is not something Cameron believes to be true.

“There may be some larger centers in Canada that may experience some pain down the road but I went through a real estate recession in the early 2000s and, over the course of three or four years, properties might have lost 10 per cent of their value but once the market turned around they basically got it all back.”

The real game changer for Cameron and his employees has been the online real estate market as more people turn to listing on their computers instead of walking into real estate offices. Before people arrive at the offices they already know what is available and are capable of viewing a property through photos and videos on real estate websites.

“Five or 10 years ago we may have got five or 10 per cent of our leads through the internet where now it is probably close to 60 per cent come directly from the internet,” said Cameron.

The new office space is 2,200 sq. ft. and offers the current five sale representatives their own offices, meeting rooms. There are plans to develop a conference room in the lower level of the building.

“For the agents that work here it offers them maximum exposure in town on one of the main four corners of the downtown area,” said Cameron. “It also gives them a more professional appearance to the public and when people come through the front door I hope they like what they see. We have tried to make it consumer friendly.”

The office is holding an open house on May 17 to create more exposure in the community. The grand opening will be held from 2-8 p.m., with everyone invited to stop by.

It’s official: they’ve got Skills

When it comes to photography and culinary skills, two of the very best in the province can be found in Woolwich Township. Kristi Rex and Stacia McLean, both residents of Breslau and Grade 12 students at Grand River Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, were gold and silver medalists respectively at the Skills Canada Provincial Finals held at RIM Park on Apr. 30- May 1. Rex won gold for photography, while McLean took home the silver in the culinary portion of the event.

“That was my first time competing in the photography competition, so I wasn’t expecting to place at all,” said Rex, 17, who beat out 30 other competitors from across the province.
“I was thoroughly surprised.”

McLean, 18, failed to make it past the qualifiers in last year’s Skills Canada competition and had a similar sentiment for her second-place finish this time.
“It was surprising. I wasn’t expecting it,” she said.

Skills Canada was founded in 1989 as a national, not-for-profit organization that works with employers, educators, labour groups and governments to promote skilled trades and technology careers among Canadian youth.

There were three components to the photography contest. The first was each competitor had to submit a portfolio of their work, the second was an interview portion with the judges, and the third was a practical test of skills broken down into three challenges. One was a before-and-after test where they had to edit a ‘before’ photo to look like an ‘after’ photo that they had been given.

The second portion involved photographing someone else at the competition – be it a judge, a spectator, or another competitor – and tell a story with that photo shoot.
In the final portion they were given a standard piece of paper and were told to take a creative shot with it.

“I folded mine in different ways and played with the shadows and exaggerated the shadows and put it in black and white,” Rex said.

The competitors were given six hours to complete their assignments and Rex completed the assignments using a Canon Rebel DSLR.

For the culinary competition, McLean had 3.5 hours to make a complete three-course meal from scratch by herself. The first course was minestrone soup, the main course was a beef roulade with braised cabbage, potatoes, and steamed broccoli, and the dessert was chocolate mousse.

“I had known the menu since February because the first competition was at the beginning of March, so I had time to practice and perfect it and get all the nerves out,” she said.
Rex said she was first exposed to photography in her Grade 11 communications technology class, and it was her teacher who encouraged her to enter this year’s contest.
Her passion led her to apply for photography at Humber College, which she will be attending in the fall with the hopes of establishing a successful career in the future.

“Eventually I’d like to do freelance work and travel and take pictures all over the world, but to start off I’d like to work in a studio as an assistant photographer.”

McLean started cooking when she was very young. Her father owned his own catering business and bistro, and eventually opened a kiosk in the airport. It was his death about two years ago, however, that really pushed her into culinary.

“That was the moment where I decided that I really wanted to do this.”

“I was the only one cooking in the household, so I was kind of forced to, but I wanted to.”

She also intends to turn her passion into a career as she will be attending Niagara College in the fall for Culinary Management.

“The head judge was actually my professor this fall, so it was cool to meet him and now he’s seen what I can do, rather than just being another student,” she said.
“Now he can say ‘oh it’s the silver medalist.’”

Neither student can proceed to nationals this year as there is no photography competition and only the gold medalist from the culinary competition moves on, but both say their experience at provincials has given them an enormous boost.
“It’s definitely given me confidence in photography and it showed me that I can work under pressure,” said Rex.

“I wasn’t sure of that, but in the competition I was really calm and that surprised me. It just shows that when you’re doing something you enjoy, you’re OK with that pressure.”

With BBQ season here, try something bold

The sun is shining; the birds are chirping; now it’s time to spark up the old BBQ. Instead of going with the traditional steaks, burgers or that old standby, the hotdog, why not try something new? Say, BBQ Almond Crusted Trout with Wasabi Butter & Asian Inspired Chick Pea Salad?

This recipe may be a little out of your comfort zone but after giving it a go you will have the confidence you need to be more creative every time you fire up the barbecue throughout the summer.

Our recommended side dish is crisp and refreshing and should be served cold. Making this a few hours ahead of time is ideal along with the wasabi butter. Wasabi butter goes well with numerous dishes, especially fish, so be sure to make at least a little extra. Try it on your favorite cut of steak. It’s also great on popcorn and gives traditional mashed potatoes some serious attitude.

All of these ingredients are easily found at your local grocery stores, so no need to fret about having to find exotic ingredients. Always remember to wash your produce thoroughly.

This healthy, feel-good summer time dish is quick to put together and will be sure to impress your family and friends.

Chickpea Salad

• 1/4-cup oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 medium red pepper, diced
• 3 sprigs of green onions, chopped
• 1/4- cup celery, diced
• 1/4- cup carrots, diced
• 1 medium sized raw baby bok choy, thinly sliced
• 28 oz can chick peas, washed and strained
• Chopped cilantro to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sized mixing bowl add oyster sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and ginger and wisk together to create vinaigrette. Then combine remaining ingredients, cover and place in the fridge for up to 2 hours.

Wasabi Butter

• 1/4-cup salted butter, room temp.
• 1/4 tube of wasabi paste
• Pinch of black pepper

In a small dish, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly and then set aside.

Almond Crusted Trout

• 4 6-oz trout fillets, skin on
• Oyster sauce to glaze fish
• 3/4-cup of sliced blanched almonds
• Salt and pepper to taste

Turn one side of BBQ on low and other side on medium to high heat until BBQ is preheated to 400 degrees;

Thinly coat trout with some oyster sauce, followed by a bit of salt and pepper. On top of the glaze, press a generous amount of almonds to fully cover and so almonds are sticking to the fish;

On the low heat side of your grill, place fish skin side down (fish does not get flipped). Cook for 6-8 minutes;

Finish with a dollop of wasabi butter on fillet immediately after it’s removed from the grill and serve alongside chickpea salad.

Woolwich goes outside township, country to fill new position

A new Woolwich staff position pushed for by Todd Cowan has been filled by a young woman with no local government experience, but known to the mayor. On Apr. 26, Saskia Koning, a South African citizen who was in Canada on a work visa, began her job as an executive assistant. She was selected from more than a hundred applicants to fill the three-year contract position that pays almost $50,000 a year, plus a generous complement of benefits that add another 30 per cent to the cost.

The job involves providing administrative support to the mayor and council, along with some communications functions, such as writing press releases. Its creation was approved by council earlier this year.
Of the large number of applicants, the mayor and CAO told the newspaper she was the most qualified.

Questioned about the hire, chief administrative officer David Brenneman said privacy laws prevented him from discussing specific details of  her employment and the necessary federal government paperwork.

“What I can reiterate though is that the Township of Woolwich as a corporation follows and did follow a standard and legal recruitment process, the contract employee Saskia Koning is legally permitted to work in Canada, and further that the township is in compliance with applicable Canadian law and will continue to meet said obligations.”

In order to take the job and remain in the country prior to the imminent expiry of her previous work permit, she would need clearance from Immigration Canada based on a labour market opinion (LMO) from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, according to HRSDC.

“Businesses must recruit Canadians before hiring temporary foreign workers. When all reasonable efforts to hire domestically are unable to meet acute short-term labour market needs, eligible employers can seek an LMO to hire temporary foreign workers,” explained HRSDC spokesperson Lisa King.

“A number of factors are taken into consideration by HRSDC/Service Canada as part of the LMO application process, including whether the temporary foreign worker is likely to fill a labour shortage as well as the efforts the employer made to recruit and train Canadians or permanent residents.”

King added the department was unable to discuss a specific employer or employee, directing questions about citizenship issues to Immigration Canada, which hadn’t replied to specific inquiries prior to press time.

The new position was approved in February as part of the 2012 budget. A subsequent job posting solicited applications until Mar. 23. The LMO process outlined by HRSDC typically takes two to three months, after which a work permit could be issued by Immigration Canada. Koning was on the job Apr. 26.

Brenneman said he couldn’t discuss if the township went through the LMO process, citing privacy issues.

“I’m not aware of any concerns that would prevent her from working.”

He stressed, however, that the hiring followed standard procedure.

The mayor was involved in the hiring process, but the township has no policy about hiring friends of current staff or council members. In keeping with provincial rules, Woolwich does have a nepotism policy governing the employment of family members, said Brenneman.

Cowan, acknowledging a friendship with the young woman, said her hiring was “happenstance,” noting he had been approached by others also interested in the job.

“I think there were 116 or 120 résumés, so before they even got to the interview stage they were vetted by the HR person and, I think, David (Brenneman). There was a screening process. When it got to me, there was only two people that I had actually talked to before,” he said.

“We follow an open and transparent process, and that’s what was done here.”

He dismissed concerns the job went to a young,  non-Canadian, saying the $43,000 to $53,000 pay range essentially made it an entry-level position that qualified candidates would not have applied for.

“That’s not an issue. I feel the process was open,” he said of Koning’s citizenship. “We were just looking for the right person at the right pay, because we know that we weren’t paying the big dollars.”

At almost $50,000 plus full benefits, however, the position pays about 50 per cent above private-sector averages for administrative assistance jobs – about $35,000 – and much more than entry-level offerings, which run closer to $25,000. Executive assistants, with more experience and responsibility, can earn closer to the range offered by the township, according to figures available from federal employment websites.

Citing his own experience, including time at Queen’s Park, Cowan noted executive assistants can earn more than $100,000.

“I used to be an EA in the private sector and I made considerably more than this, so it’s an entry level,” he said of the newly-created position. “Anybody hiring to do what (Koning) was hired to do would be making $75,000.”
Brenneman declined to discuss whether the township even considered lowering the pay scale for someone with little experience, sticking instead to the $43,000-$53,000 range.

Buy Local! Buy Fresh! campaign goes mobile with Blackberry app

Businesses are increasingly turning to mobile technology to spread their message, extending the usefulness of the devices and providing convenience to the people who use them. To that end Foodlink will be launching its recently developed Local Food App on May 23 as an extension of its popular Buy Local! Buy Fresh! map.

“The app just seemed like a logical extension to what we already offer with our paper map and online local food finder and we have made some real good connections here in the community,” said Anna Contini, manager of Foodlink Waterloo Region. “The app enables the user to search for any local food products in Waterloo Region and access the database information all on their mobile device.”

The app allows users to interface with Foodlink’s existing database, providing live up-to-date information, as well as directions to farms, markets and retail outlets using GPS mapping technology and Google maps API integration.
Currently the app is a free download for Blackberry devices, offering instant access to local food sources.

“Initially the app is just for Blackberry, with the plan to make it available on other devices,” said Contini. “This is the test period and making it available for Blackberry users made sense for the Waterloo Region.”
Foodlink will also be launching the 11th edition of the Buy Local! Buy Fresh! map, a year-round guide directing people to more than 70 local farms, farmers’ markets and other businesses that produce and sell local foods. This year the launch will take place at the Elmira Farmers’ Market on May 26.

The Elmira Farmers’ Market is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this month and it seemed like a good fit, said Contini.

“We chose the market because of the authenticity of the Elmira market. Their slogan of ‘We Make It, Bake It, Grow It’ relays the message that without exception everything is local at this market,” said Contini.

The Elmira outdoor market features a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, preserves, maple syrup and home baked goods. The market is located behind the Elmira Home Hardware on Church Street; it runs every Saturday morning from May to October.

Foodlink’s map and mobile app are part of a larger campaign that champion local food and local farms that includes the annual Taste Local! Taste Fresh! as well as a comprehensive website that includes a local food blog, farm profiles, on-line newsletter and local food recipes, she explained.

Copies of the new 2012 Buy Local! Buy Fresh! Map are free and available at all public libraries across the region, as well as selected food retailers, restaurants, markets and other local businesses. A full listing of map pick-up locations as well as downloading details for the free app can be found at www.foodlink.ca.

Breslau homeowner hopes to turn one lot into three

A Breslau homeowner hopes to turn her one-acre Breslau property into three lots. As a first step, she’s seeking the zoning change needed to move in that direction. That bid was discussed Tuesday night at a public planning meeting in Woolwich council chambers.

Linda Pletsch’s application seeks to rezone the property at 116 Woolwich St. S. to R-4A from R-1 to permit greater density. After that, the property would be converted into three lots, with the existing home remaining on the largest portion, fronting on Woolwich Street. Two new, smaller lots would front on Joseph Street, explained Natalie Hardacre, a planner with the IBI Group representing the owner.

The smaller lots, with 50-foot frontage, would tap into water and sewer lines from the neighbouring Riverland subdivision, putting them on full municipal services.

She said the infill development would be in keeping with township, regional and provincial policies.

Director of engineering and planning Dan Kennaley said the township’s engineering department has identified some concerns with the plan, including grading issues that would have to be addressed before a severance could proceed.
Grading issues are what prompted neighbour Eleanor Snyder-McKee to object to the rezoning application.

She argued raising the grade on Pletsch’s property, required to bring it up to the elevation of Joseph Street, would see homes on the two new lots tower over her Berlin Street property.
“The development would put the back part of my property in a hole,” she said.

The loss of privacy and resulting drainage issues would lead to a drop in her property’s value, she argued, adding the new homes in the Riverland subdivision have already had a negative impact on her home.

As the May 1 meeting was for information only, council made no decision on the zoning. A planning department report will come back to council at a later date, after staff has reviewed the application and any comments from the public, Kennaley said, telling Snyder-McKee that her concerns would be taken into consideration at that stage.

Township backs CPAC call for more action on cleanup

Worried groundwater decontamination efforts are moving too slowly, the township wants an Elmira chemical company to do more. It’s also calling on the provincial government to step up to help protect the Woolwich’s interests.
To that end, council this week passed a resolution requesting the Ministry of the Environment press Chemtura to remove contaminated source material in order to meet the 2028 timeline for remediation of the aquifers under Elmira. The township also wants the province to review the funding formula outlined in a 1991 agreement between the MOE and Chemtura.

In that agreement, the province outlines some financial contributions to the cleanup effort, including paying one-third of the cost of the collection and treatment system, to a maximum of $3.9 million and covering half the annual operating costs of the treatment system, to a maximum of $1.2 million. The township wants the township to review the funding formula and to make money available to the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC) to pay for studies, consultants, legal advice and other experts.

It also wants the province to establish a trust fund that would continue to pay for groundwater cleanup if Chemtura fails to meet the 2028 deadline.

“Currently there is no penalty for missing the deadline. We want to assure those still working toward this cleanup in 16 years from now that they will have resources for the process, and to give a little more incentive to Chemtura to actually clean up the contaminants by removing them,” Dr. Dan Holt, the new chair of CPAC, told councillors Tuesday night.

Based on the work of Dr. Gail Krantzberg, a professor of civil engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton and groundwater expert, CPAC wants Chemtura to remove contaminants from the soil rather than simply continuing to pump and treat the groundwater.

A lack of oversight of the project and no penalties for missing the cleanup date are good reasons for a review, said Holt.

“We feel strongly that this had produced a situation where there is no real oversight regarding the cleanup of contamination of Elmira’s drinking water. Neither one of the two parties involved in this agreement holds the other responsible and therefore there is no real authority to enforce the control orders governing this cleanup process.”

Coun. Mark Bauman, council’s new representative on CPAC, said the issue extends well beyond Elmira’s aquifers, which are no longer in use, with drinking water piped in from Waterloo. Digging up the contaminants removes the threat of toxins making their way into the nearby Canagagigue Creek, then the Grand River and, ultimately, Lake Erie and the Great Lakes basin.

Twp. seeks “presenter” status at biogas hearings

Having opted out of joining the formal appeal against a biogas plant proposed for Elmira, the township will seek “presenter” status in the upcoming Environmental Review Tribunal hearings. That will allow Woolwich to air its concerns about the project, over which it had no say following the province’s introduction of the Green Energy Act.

Dan Kennaley, Woolwich’s director of engineering and planning, staked out that position at Tuesday night’s council meeting, winning the endorsement of council.

By shying away from full participant status, the township avoids any legal costs, but gets to outline its concerns about the facility to be built by Woolwich Bio-En Inc., he said.

The project will use an anaerobic digester to convert organic material into methane that, in turn, fuels a generator to create electricity. On top of traffic concerns, the township has determined the plant is not compatible with the zoning of the Martin’s Lane property just north of downtown Elmira.

As well, the township wants guarantees there will be proper enforcement of rules should there be any problems, such as odour complaints, stemming from the operation of the facility, Kennaley said.

The concerns identified by the township will be rolled out by the Elmira Bio Fuel Citizens’ Committee, which appealed the province’s March approval of the project to the Environmental Review Tribunal. The group is looking for public support at an ERT hearing starting at 10 a.m. May 8 in the banquet hall at RIM Park, just across the Woolwich-Waterloo border on University Avenue East.

The altnerative-energy project won provincial approval in late-March, despite reservations on the part of the township and some residents, who aired concerns about the potential for odours and the impact of increased truck traffic. The operation will be fed by waste material, including livestock manure, food waste, used cooking oils and other fats and the like. A diesel generator converted to work with methane will generate electricity to be sold back into the grid, while steam heat produced could be sold to neighbouring industries.

The $12-million facility would generate 2.8 megawatts of renewable electricity – enough to power 2,200 homes – and 3.4 mW of heat.

Woolwich plans “no stopping” zone

Cars will no longer be allowed to stop on a portion of Snyder Avenue in Elmira, Woolwich’s latest manoeuvre in the ongoing traffic woes around John Mahood Public School. The township has been trying to discourage traffic congestion caused as parents drop off their kids each morning. Parking prohibitions, stepped up bylaw enforcement and even greater police presence have failed to eradicate the problem.

With the addition of “no stopping” signs along the west side of Snyder Avenue, from First Street to Second Street, the goal is to eliminate unsafe conditions near the intersection of Snyder and First, township clerk Christine Broughton told councillors meeting May 1.

Stopped cars that force other drivers to swerve around them while kids are getting in and out of vehicles make for unsafe conditions, she explained.

While sympathetic with the goal, Mayor Todd Cowan argued the problem belongs to the school and the Waterloo Region District School Board, not the township. With each new measure, Woolwich is essentially letting the board off the hook, he said.

“This is really not our issue,” said Cowan, noting he and Ward 1 councillors Julie-Anne Herteis and Allan Poffenroth would be hearing from parents unhappy with the new restrictions.
“Parents, they will be ticked. We’re going to get the fury and the wrath.”

But Coun. Mark Bauman, agreeing the problem lies with the board, said the township has to put the children’s safety ahead of any other consideration.
“That safety concern trumps the inconvenience it will cause councillors,” he noted.

Herteis, who voted for the changes, predicted the “no stopping” provisions would likely just move the congestion elsewhere, as parents scramble to find a place to drop off their children near the schools.
“We’re going to get complaints on Second Street.”

Bauman pointed to a similar issue last year in St. Jacobs, where the parents were asked to drop their kids a block away from the school.

“It won’t hurt the kids to walk two extra blocks,” he said, noting parents would have to leave a couple of minutes earlier to give the kids time to walk the last bit.

A longer term solution, however, will involve action on the school board’s part. Cowan cited similar issues that used to occur at St. Teresa of Avila school, also located on First Street. When prohibition and control measures failed, the board built a kiss-and-drop location for parents and their children.

In the absence of action from the board, the township has installed “no parking” zones around the school. Last June, Woolwich council voted to close off access to a municipal parking lot adjacent to the nearby tennis courts in order to direct drivers further west on First Street to a lot at Gibson Park, where a second entrance was built to help with traffic flow. Finding that arrangement inconvenient, however, many parents continued to use prohibited areas closer to the school. Traffic and parked cars also spilled over onto nearby residential streets, raising the ire of residents, who’ve not been shy about complaining to the township.

It remains to be seen what effect the latest move will have.

To speak or not to speak?

“To be, or not to be, that is the question.”

Pop quiz: Who said that?

Half marks if you said Shakespeare. Full marks if you said Hamlet. Bonus points if you said the words are those of Hamlet, prince of Denmark, from the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare.

That’s how Maggie LaRonde begins her very animated and enthusiastic speech about the great Bard for the provincial finals in public speaking held through the Royal Canadian Legion.

The 15-year-old home-schooled student from Breslau has been preparing her speech since last October, rewriting it several times. The initial draft came in just under nine minutes, which was two minutes too long for the Legion’s public speaking contest.

“It takes a while to write it and draft it because of the time limit on the Legion speeches. I really had to cut it down and revise it. I start really early so I have a lot of time to make any corrections or revisions that may be needed, plus I like to memorize it since I find cue cards a distraction,” said LaRonde.

The Legion usually draws its public speakers from schools but the art of public speaking is disappearing from the class rooms, said Maggie’s mother Lori.

“Schools value the concept of being able to speak in front of people, but the work that goes into it for teachers to teach kids to write a speech and then put aside the time to listen to 20 kids speak for three minutes. It is huge, and they don’t do it anymore,” said Lori. “It really has become parent driven.”

Having two home-schooled children, Lori has had to do a lot of the leg work to get her daughters, Maggie and her little sister Jackie, into the public speaking contest.

“The home school associations value (public speaking) and put on a lot of meets. That has helped the girls perfect their skills, but I have had to make a lot of phone calls to find out which branch is holding a public speaking meet and then entered my children into it,” she explained.

Public speaking is not new to Maggie, who has been participating in the Legion contests for years. She has managed to develop the perfect pitch for her speeches, realizing over the years that informative speeches with only hard facts are often over looked for a more entertaining fare with little substance.

Choosing to speak about Shakespeare was a bit of a risk for Maggie, who wanted to keep her audience informed but still entertained.

“I really enjoy reading his plays. Not a lot of kids today share my interest in Shakespeare but I wanted to show Shakespeare as I see him as a playwriting genius whose stuff is really good if you just take a moment to read it,” said Maggie. “I have some facts and some funny comical moments in my speech and that mixture seems to be working for me.”

Maggie has won four levels this season in public speaking. Her first win came in February at Branch 50 in Kitchener and she continued to dominate the stage by winning and advancing at zone in Hespeler, district in Palmerston and at area in Toronto. She competes at provincials in Niagara Falls today (Saturday).

This is the first time she has made it to the provincial level, where she will be competing against four other contestants in her category which gives her a one-in-four chance of winning.

“I am not that nervous just more excited for the opportunity and the chance to win the $1,000 grand prize.”