The building sat empty for nearly four years after township staff moved to their new building on Church Street, and Mayor Todd Cowan is pleased that it was bought by a local business owner.

“I’m impressed, not just because Juliane is local, but also because Juliane has a vision for that building,” he said.

The former Woolwich administration building in downtown Elmira was recently sold to Juliane Shantz. The historic structure has sat empty ever since township staff moved to the new building on Church Street in 2008. [james jackson / the observer

Built in 1912, the building served as a post office then briefly as a police station. Starting in 1966 it served as township hall and municipal administration building until 2008. Additions have been made to it over the years to increase the amount of space, notably the rear addition in 1985, but the building has always maintained a distinguished presence in downtown Elmira.

That presence was the main selling point that the township and their real estate company Coldwell Banker pushed on this property, starting last fall when the township assembled an advisory task force with the goal of selling the property.
“It’s something that stands out. It’s not just a box on the street,” the mayor said.

In the end Shantz and one other bidder placed an offer on the building, with a third coming close, Cowan said. Real estate laws prohibit the details of the sale to be made public prior to the closing date at the end of June, but the township was asking $625,000 for it.

“When we looked at the tenders we didn’t accept the highest bid for the building,” said Cowan. “We also more or less did a questionnaire to ask what they see with the building and where do they want to go.

“We did the same thing a year ago with the swimming pool. We had two offers on the table, one was to bash it down and put up condos, and the other one was the Waterloo Region synchronized swimming. That offer wasn’t the highest one, but they had the best vision from a community point of view”

Those concerned with how the sale will impact the façade of the building need not be: the original portion of the 11,687 square foot building was designated a historical structure in January of 2010, meaning the clock tower and its original mechanism from 1914 is protected, along with the triangular-shaped gables, the keystones over every window and doorway, along with the square-cut doorways, said Peter Benninger of Coldwell Banker.

“I think it was really important to establish that the person that was going to buy it did have a vision, and did have an interest in keeping it as an historic building,” he said.

The review got underway this past week with meetings of the standing committee on general government on May 7 and 9 and it continues next Monday and Wednesday. The all-party committee has allocated a mere 12 hours to the hearing of deputations and presentations over those four days, and has not given any time to travel to affected communities such as Woolwich Township.

“What’s most troubling is that these dates are all in Toronto,” said Kitchener-Conestoga MPP and PC environmental critic Michael Harris. “We are concerned about that and our caucus has called for the committee to consider taking these deputations out to areas where aggregate extraction occurs.

“As you are well aware, it does not happen in Toronto.”

On Wednesday PC member Laurie Scott tabled a motion to committee members to seek the authorization of the house leaders to allot more time to the review by having the committee meet in June after the House rises for as many days deemed necessary to hear from all stakeholders, to take the committee on the road to affected communities, and it would also allow the committee to visit current, proposed, or decommissioned aggregate sites.

The motion was supported by all committee members but still must be passed by the three house leaders – Liberal John Milloy, Gilles Bisson of the NDP and PC Jim Wilson – to take affect, and it must be done soon, since this past Wednesday was the deadline for presentation requests related to the evaluation of the aggregate act, which is currently scheduled to wrap up next week.

The review was formally approved unanimously on Mar. 22 by all three parties unanimously, following through on a Liberal election promise made last September by then-Liberal incumbent Leeanna Pendergast.

While the opposition NDP and Conservatives form a majority on the committee, Harris said that up until now the New Democrats and Liberals have formed a de facto majority to “stonewall” the attempts of Harris and Scott to expand the review and get it on the road.

What’s just as troubling for Harris is the way the government advertised the meetings through ads in just a few newspapers, including the Globe and Mail and Ottawa Citizen, last Monday.
“They had ads the day of when deputations were to begin. They’ve given little to no notice to people, so we’re disappointed,” Harris said.

One of the communities likely to be impacted by and changes to the resources act is the historic settlement of West Montrose, home of the last remaining covered bridge in the province and the BridgeKeepers who have fought against proposed quarries in their community.

The promise of the review was actually made by Pendergast and Milloy on a plot of grass beside the bridge.

One of the BridgeKeeper’s spokesmen said that the poor manner in which the meetings were advertised and the fact the committee is not visiting affected communities could skew their findings. The only reason they knew the meetings were to get underway was via an email from Harris last Friday.

“It certainly raises the risk that they’re not going to get much significant input from the rural communities where much of the aggregate production happens,” said Tony Dowling. “The early indication was that the review was probably going to go on the road and go across the province, so yeah, we were surprised.”

Minster of Natural Resources Michael Gravelle, however, said that the standing committee and his government are committed to being actively engaged in the review, and that the scheduling of the meetings and whether or not they travelled was in the hands of the committee members, not the MNR.

“It’s a very interesting issue, in the sense that the standing committee themselves make the decision about when the committee sits, how long the committee sits, how many days it sits, and they make decisions related to those issues,” Gravelle said.

“It’s not a decision of the ministry.”

The precedent of a standing committee travelling around the province to consult with municipalities and stakeholders is normally reserved for pre-budget consultations, said Woolwich Mayor Todd Cowan, who has years of experience in Queen’s Park, yet he believes that this topic is of such vital importance to communities that travelling should be part of the review.

“I feel that you don’t just want to hear from the Ontario Stone, Sand and Gravel Association, Gravel Watch, and the other big players; I think you need to hear from the municipalities on this.”

Cowan, along with Dowling and other community groups, are trying to schedule a deputation for next week, but should they not get a spot in the already-crowded schedule, the government is accepting written statements until this Wednesday at 5:00 p.m.

“When you look at the magnitude of the review of the act, and the magnitude of how many people would want to be at that table, there are a lot of people that would want to be at that table and who have every right to be there and would have a very good argument,” said Cowan, who said this review is more than the Liberals going through the motions of following through on an election promise; he believes real changes can still come from it.

“I don’t think they’re doing it just because they said they would. I do think they’ll listen and make some changes, much like the FIT (Feed-In Tariff) and microFIT review last year.”

Combined with the totals from other food drives and campaigns across the township, WCS is confident it will have adequate supplies to support those in need over the summer months.

“This is such a great drive for us to hold in the springtime because in the summer people tend to go to the cottage, out doing other things and perhaps not shopping as much and we don’t get a lot in the way of donations over those months. So this drive allows us to top everything up now a lets us get through the summer,” said Don Harloff, executive director of the WCS.

Mladen Perkovic, left, Monique Lippert and Jozef Olejarz from Chemtura Co. brought food donations and a cheque for $1,000 to the WCS on Monday. [colin dewar / the observer

“We are always looking for community events to participate in and I saw the Dig In for the region’s food banks and thought this would be a good thing for our employees to be a part of,” said Monique Lippert of Chemtura.
Plant manager Jozef Olejarz said he would contribute $500 on behalf of the company for each bin the employees managed to fill, resulting in a $1,000 donation to WCS.

“We had a great turn out for this event,” said Lippert. “We haven’t done anything like this for a few years because of the recession. We were focused on business and now that it looks like the recession is ending or is over we are looking forward doing more for the community.”

Students from John Mahood PS participated in a school-wide food drive as part of Hunger Awareness Week, with their Dream Big initiative bringing in more than 2,000 items of food, which were dropped off at WCS on Tuesday.
“We wanted to raise awareness in the school,” said Jenn Catton, a Grade 2 teacher at the school. “This project has really brought the kids and their families together and we have more food than we expected. It is a great life lesson for the students to help others in need especially on the local level.”

With the amount of food received from the Dig In over the weekend and the food still coming from other sources WCS will be in better shape than they were at this time last year.

“Our stocks do go down over the year. Typically Christmas and Easter are our biggest time for food donations and the spring Dig In really helps us get through the summer months until Thanksgiving,” said Harloff.
For more information about the food drive or to help volunteer contact WCS in Elmira at 519-669-5139.

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.”

“I wanted to do something for the betterment of someone else,” the 18-year-old explained.

After chatting with a family friend, Horst learned about Katimavik (Iqaluit for “meeting place”), a national volunteer service organization formed in the late 1970s for youth aged 17-21. According to the Katimavik website, the mandate of the program is to impact youth positively by contributing to their development, to impact communities positively by putting volunteers to work in the community, and to impact the country positively by exposing youth to regional, cultural and linguistic diversity.

Kristen finishes the task of painting a local daycare centre. [submitted photos

In April the group flew north to Iqaluit, Nunavut, where they’ve volunteered in schools, women’s shelters and soup kitchens, and were an integral part in organizing the annual festival of Toonik Tyme, a celebration that welcomes the sun back to their land after months of very limited sunlight.

The group will remain in Iqaluit until the end of June, and there are hundreds of similar groups of young adults across Canada right now doing similar work in other communities through the program.
“It’s like a gift. I can’t believe I’m able to do this,” she said of the experience during a phone interview from Iqaluit.

Yet Horst and the rest of the Katimavik volunteers are the last of their kind. In the federal budget tabled at the end of March funding for the group was completely cut.

Page 269 of the budget outlines the reasons for those cuts; “The government is eliminating the Katimavik program, as it reaches a relatively small number of participants annually at a relatively high cost per participant.”
Katimavik receives almost all of its funding from the federal government, and as a result it is (mostly) free for participants. Katimavik hopefuls pay an application and participation fee, as well as a transportation deposit, but the vast majority of the funding – some $15 million annually – is provided by the government, and is used to cover costs ranging from transportation and housing to food and other basic necessities.

Federal funding comes from the Department of Canadian Heritage and from the Stratégie d’action jeunesse 2009-2014 initiative in Quebec; with costs in the range of about $2,000 per month per student, and about $380 million of taxpayer’s money over the past 30 years, Minister of Canadian Heritage James Moore said it was time to end the program.

“Ending funding for Katimavik is one of the easiest decision I’ve ever made,” the minister said.

The cuts have come despite the fact that the federal government has a funding agreement with Katimavik that runs until next March. Liberal MP Justin Trudeau, former Katimavik chair and current member of the Canadian Heritage committee in Ottawa, says the fact that the government is cutting its funding before the current agreement expires is “mean-spirited decision” and a “slap in the face” for the hundreds of youth preparing for the next round of trips, which was set to begin in July.

“The government didn’t say ‘we won’t renew the funding agreement in 2013’ they said no, we’re cutting off the funding now,” said an impassioned Trudeau in a phone interview from his Ottawa office.
“It’s a tremendous slap in the face.”

Katimavik was created under Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government out of a desire to help solve Canada’s unity problem. Launched in 1977, youth from across Canada cycled through three different communities where they lived together and worked at non-profit organizations, while also learning about the country’s cultural diversity.

The program flourished during its early years, reaching a peak of about 5,000 participants in 1985-86. When Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservative party won a majority government in 1984, the program was cut two years later, prompting Katimavik founder and Liberal senator Jacques Hebert to go on a 21-day hunger strike, to no avail.

Hebert then worked to ensure that Katimavik would survive by turning it into an outdoor recreation training centre in his home province of Quebec, until the Liberals were elected to a majority government under Jean Chrétien in 1993.
The following year Youth Service Canada helped form a 66-person pilot program to restore Katimavik as a national program, and the year after that the Department of Heritage agreed to provide ongoing funding, allowing the number of projects and participants to triple.

The program once again grew in popularity; in 2005-06 some 1,150 youth participated in 105 communities across Canada, and since its inception more than 31,000 youth have taken part in the program.
Yet Trudeau laments that Katimavik has failed to reach the lofty status his father had envisioned when it was first created some 35 years ago. The elder Trudeau wanted it to become a nation-building program that challenged youth to become active, engaged and committed citizens to this country, and while it has met those goals, it has failed to attract the number of participants he had hoped for.

“The one thing he always said to himself and Jacques Hebert was ‘don’t give me a program that is going to benefit a couple hundred kids per year,’” said Trudeau.

“That was his vision for the program, and unfortunately it’s never quite gotten to the numbers that we’d like to.”

When Stephen Harper and the Conservatives defeated Paul Martin’s minority Liberals in 2006, funding for the program was cut by 25 per cent. In October of that year the government announced a three year funding agreement in the sum of $15 million per year, down from previous levels of close to $20 million under the Chretien government.

The impacts of those cuts were felt immediately. To balance their budget, Katimavik was forced to reduce the number of participants each year to about 1,000,  and the program was shortened from nine months to six.

Finally Katimavik – which up until then had been free – was forced to begin charging fees for participants, including a $300 non-refundable participation fee to cover accident insurance and other administrative costs, and a $350 travel deposit that is paid once volunteers are accepted to the program, and is reimbursed at the end of the program upon successful completion.

Anyone who quits the program or is asked to leave for violating behavioural standards is not reimbursed the $350.

It was during this time of cuts that Trudeau began to see the writing on the wall for Katimavik, and he heard rumblings across Parliament Hill that if the Tories ever achieved a majority government, Katimavik would be cut.
This past year the Canadian Heritage department conducted a summative evaluation of the Katimavik program, and other than a few efficiencies here and program tweaks there, it met the overall funding goals of the government.
“Minister Moore told me a couple years ago that he was going to cut Katimavik as soon as he could,” Trudeau said, despite the fact that Moore’s own government agency said it was a quality program.

While Trudeau maintains that the Tories have cut Katimavik out of political spite and because it was established under a Liberal government and by a former Liberal senator, the government says that just isn’t the case.
Moore failed to respond to numerous requests for an interview for this story, but Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht was able to speak on the subject. He fully supports his government’s decision to pull the plug on the program, and reaffirmed their position that it was a poor use of taxpayer’s money.

“Obviously, for some individuals, it has been a good program and I’m not negating the fact that some good has come out of this program for those individuals and the areas that they have served,” Albrecht said.
“My primary concern is the high cost of it.”

He said in an era of financial belt-tightening in all facets of government spending, perhaps it was time for Katimavik participants and alumni to fundraise and attract private and corporate sponsorship to keep their program alive, rather than rely on a government handout for “99 per cent” of its funding.

“I’ve worked with dozens and dozens of young people who have gone on different trips and raised funds for that. Part of the training and development is that willingness to go to someone, explain what they are doing, sell it to them and convince them that this is a good investment of their money.

“To me that is the big piece that this program is missing.”

Yet Trudeau counters that argument by saying the economic, social and cultural benefits generated through Katimavik in communities like Iqaluit more than make up for the costs of the program. The former school teacher also said that youth who attend Katimavik make better life choices with regards to post-secondary schooling, saving the country millions on subsidized education costs.

In its financial statement from 2010-11, Katimavik estimates that the 1,462 youths that participated that year generated almost $11 million worth of volunteer hours across Canada by helping 500 different community partners in 64 communities.

“Just from that standpoint it’s a pretty good program, and the benefit to young people would more than make up for the remaining $4 million,” Trudeau said.

The Liberal MP also drew comparisons to the cadet program, which Katimavik was partially modeled on when it was formed. The cadet program costs the government about $200 million a year to operate and attracts about 50,000 youth at a cost of about $4,000 per month – or twice the cost of Katimavik – and yet the cadet program saw no cuts in the last budget, he said.

“I think the cadets do great work and it’s an excellent program … but so does Katimavik, and it does it for cheaper and it helps the community as well. On a basis like that you can’t make a comparison,” Trudeau said.

Albrecht, however, maintains that the Canadian government is shifting its youth funding priorities to other more efficient programs such as the YMCA, Encounters with Canada, and the Forum for Young Canadians, all of which will reach more young people than Katimavik can.

“We’re investing $105 million, which will allow 100,000 young people to learn about Canada through the Canadian Heritage Department,” he said.

Rumours of the cuts began circulating among Katimavik volunteers a few weeks before they were made public and while Horst was still in Calgary. When the announcement of the cuts was made official on Mar. 29, they sprang into action, writing letters to their respective MPs and to the Prime Minister’s office to request the program be saved and they contacted the media to get the word about the work they are doing.

“This is something that I’m passionate about and I’m a part of this program and this choice by the government affects me directly, so it’s taught me a lot about using my vote and having my voice heard,” said Horst, who said she now knows that she wants to be a teacher and is heading to Fleming College in the fall to begin her studies – thanks to Katimavik.

When word of the cuts reached Iqaluit, Horst said everyone in the community was heartbroken because of how much they rely on the volunteer work that Katimavik provides them. Having seen their impact on the community with her own eyes, Horst knows the investment is well worth it.

“It may be a lot of money to spend on one teenager, but it’s not just that teen which you’re putting the funding towards, it’s all the people in the community that are impacted too,” she said.

Horst and Trudeau were also hesitant about the idea of asking more participants to pay more out of their own pockets in an effort to keep the program running; both echoed the same sentiment that by asking families to pay even a few thousand dollars would limit the number of people able to take part.

“This way it’s something that is open to everyone,” said Horst. “Adding the cost of Katimavik and future school costs, and subtracting six months of income, it would have looked really overwhelming.”

Trudeau will continue to fight for the survival of the program, but he knows it’s an uphill battle to change the mind of this Conservative government. He vowed that when the Liberal party returns to power in Ottawa not only will Katimavik be reinstated, but opportunities for young Canadians will be massively expanded.

In light of the recent spending scandal encompassing Conservative MP and Minister for International Cooperation Bev Oda, as well as the Department of National Fefence and its questionable F-35 contracts, Trudeau said the message those scandals are sending to Canadians is a true indication of Tory priorities.

“There is a real narrative of what this government is willing to spend on … versus the kinds of investment in our future that everyone knows makes a huge difference.”
Albrecht, however, is all but certain that Katimavik is finished.

“The likelihood of this program being revived or put on life support I think is very, very slim.”

Rett Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by normal childhood growth and development, but followed by the slowing of development, slowed brain and head growth and intellectual disabilities. People with the condition also exhibit autistic-like behaviour.

“She loves hockey. She’s liked hockey forever. I have two older sons and they never wanted to go to a Ranger game or a hockey rink,” said Taryn’s mother Sandy. “She’s been into hockey since she was little, but there’s never been a hockey team around for her.”

That changed about 18 months ago when Sandy learned about the Cambridge Ice Hounds, a hockey program run in partnership with the City of Cambridge and Special Hockey International that provides adults and children with developmental needs the ability to participate in hockey programs just like any other person.

SHI started back in 1970 in North York and features modified hockey rules. According to the organizations website there are no age groups or tryouts, and participants will learn how to hold a stick, how to skate, how to handle the puck and how to take a shot. There is also no icing, no offside and no body checking.

Taryn is enrolled in the junior learn to skate program with the Ice Hounds, and the team is one of 13 Special Hockey International clubs in southern Ontario.

The family had the experience of a lifetime last month when Taryn and 18 of her Ice Hounds teammates participated in the 18th annual Special Hockey International Tournament from Apr. 12-20 in London, England. It was Taryn’s first time on an airplane and her first time overseas, milestones she won’t soon forget.

The team played four games spread out over two days, and had the chance to travel around and see the sights during the rest of their trip.

“We saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, we went to Stonehenge, Hampton Court, and Westminster Abbey, and the Princess Diana memorial in Hyde Park,” said Sandy.
“Taryn adapted well to the travel, but it killed me with all the luggage and lugging the hockey bags,” she added with a laugh.

All the players received medals for the participation in the tournament, as well. Kitchener is set to host the next Special Hockey International tournament in next April, and Sandy said they’re expecting anywhere from 70 to 80 teams to attend from Canada, the United States, and the UK.

Given the growth of the organization around the world and right here in southern Ontario, she hopes Elmira could find a way to create a team of their own. She said there would likely be enough players to draw from in the hockey-mad community.

“It would be nice if they had one in Elmira at the new arena. They have a sledge hockey team here so maybe they just don’t know about it, and they would likely have enough for a small team just to get them started.”
For more information visit www.specialhockeyinternational.org or www.cambridgeicehounds.com.

Organized by the GSS Network, the awards are handed out annually two a pair of faith-based communities in Waterloo Region.

Committed to the environment, Trinity United Church adopted several conservation methods throughout the church including installing energy-saving light fixtures and a low-flow toilet retrofit. The church also composts and has a no pesticides policy. Last summer the organization installed a 10kw solar array, helping to produce energy.

Elmira Mennonite Church is one of two churches in Elmira that will be presented with the Green Sacred Spaces Award on May 12 for its contributions towards making a more sustainable environment. [colin dewar / the observer

Elmira Mennonite Church (EMC) has shown their appreciation for the environment through numerous environmentally-themed worship services and stewardship-themed Sunday school classes. The church underwent an energy upgrade, installing additional insulation, programmable thermostats and energy efficient lighting. It has also adopted a rigorous recycling program using green bins and rain barrels. The church has also installed a 7.2kw solar array to the roof of the building to produce energy.

“We are trying to meet the standard of being environmentally sound and we have always been a church that focused on being good stewards of the earth while advocating living a simple lifestyle,” said Pastor Steve Janzen of EMC. “We were very glad to learn that we will be receiving the award.”

There were three main criteria that had to be met to be eligible for the award which included completing an energy retrofit, mirco-FIT or community garden. Involvement in outreach programs in the community; educating other faith communities and engaging in local sustainability and energy conservation educational events.

“These two faith communities were chosen because they both showed very adventurous leadership, both of those churches installed solar panels last year and both hold environmental events and help educate members of their community about environmental issues,” said Jane Snyder of the GSS Network.

This year’s local recipients will receive the award at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Kitchener during a event called Powerful Investing: Plug in Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Opportunities in Waterloo Region, where a panel discussion will be held about community power.

For more information about the Greening Sacred Spaces Network, go to www.greeningsacredspaces.net/waterloo.

On Apr. 21 the Kiwanis Music Festival held its final concert performance at Woodside Bible Fellowship in Elmira [Colin Dewar /THE OBSERVER

The Jack Price Memorial Scholarship of $100 for Senior Piano: Will Allen

Scholarships of $50 for Senior Piano: Nia Kang, Abigail Hamann, Thomas Chapman, Sonya Martin, Cassia Deering, Danielle Johnson, Noah Steinmann, Ciaran Fast-Sittler
The Elmira Kinnettes Trophy and Scholarship for $150 for Junior Piano: Tony Domzella

Scholarship of $75 for Junior Piano: Irian Fast-Sittler

Scholarships of $50 for Junior Piano: Savannah Weber, Alice Wang, Sam Domzella, Michelle Lin, Mercedes Weber, Jasmine Thuroo, Ryan Woo, Roselynn Metzger, Matthew Beaudoin-Hayes, Cameron Beaudoin-Hayes, Connor Koster, Jaron Bowman

Scholarships of $50 for Strings & Flute: Grant Mundell, Shannon Metzger and Aidan Reid

Scholarships of $50 for Vocal: Linde Nabrotzky, Jodie Gunn, Jasmine Thuroo

Adjudicators:
Strings & Wood: Kelly Parkins-Lindstrom
Senior Piano: Janet Fothergill
Junior Piano: Clayton Scott
Voice: Bethany Horst

“We have partnered with schools across the township; the program allows students make a difference one tree at a time,” said Inga Rinne, chair of Trees for Woolwich. “Students will receive a hands-on learning experience, teaching them the environmental benefits of planting and nurturing trees.”

The official launch of the tree-planting season begins Saturday (today) as the organization will be holding its “Church Challenge” and are looking to have over 50 people from several Elmira church congregations get together to plant 235 trees on a bare two acres of township land off South Field Drive. The site will be forested with a variety of native pine, spruce, maple, oak and hackberry.

Elmira Kiwanis Club members Jim Stewart, John Kendall, Jim Schwindt, Ernie Robertson, John Craig, Tom Hendrick, Allan Poffenroth, Paul Henderson, Mark Wemp and Hugh Weltz were out planting trees along Riverside Drive on Apr. 21. [colin dewar / the observer

On May 12 the industrial area of Elmira will see much-needed trees sprout up in two areas. Scouts will gather at their new building at the end of Oriole Parkway to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Elmira Scouting. Part of that celebration will involve the planting of 100 trees.

Down the road at the corner of Oriole Parkway and Union Street, Woolwich Rentals will partner with Trees for Woolwich to care for 55 trees that will be planted to green an empty corner lot. Members of the Woolwich Community Lions, who have supported Trees for Woolwich financially, will also lend hand with the planting, joining other community members who appreciate the importance of trees in the community.

As always the Elmira Kiwanis will continue its annual program to green up the streets of Elmira by planting another 50 trees on the streets and boulevards.

“There is a lot of activity right now and it’s just the beginning,” said Rinne. “The township has only half the tree cover that is considered ideal. These public plantings gives everybody the pleasure of planting a tree as it can be very satisfying but it also reinforces the importance of planting trees.”

Trees will be planted on public and private land over the next few months. One of the group’s main goals is to construct natural windbreaks along roads and between fields.

For more information or to volunteer contact the organization at Treesforwoolwich@gmail.com.

“It almost feels like it has come too fast,” said Kim Denstedt, a member of the congregation for 23 years and who, along with Lee Coulman, co-chaired the relocation steering committee.
“It’s a day of mixed emotions, for sure.”

The service last Sunday had to be developed from scratch by Rev. Linda Bell, who has been with the church since 1994, as there were no guidelines for moving from one church to another.

“Most of them are about dissolving a congregation, or amalgamating two congregations, or opening a new church, none of which we were doing,” she said following the final service that saw a packed house overflow into the main foyer.
She said she tried to strike a balance between those who cannot wait to move to the new location – “of which there are many” – and those who still feel the nostalgic tug of the old church and may be reluctant to say goodbye.

She wrote what she called the Rite of Transition and in it she entrusted 10 symbols of the church, ranging from the cross and baptismal bowl to the pulpit bible, to members of the congregation to keep at their homes for the week and to bring to the inaugural service at the new location.

Members of the congregation were also supplied with reusable cloth bags and were asked to take home a bible and praise book from the pews and to return them at the next service, the beginning of which will include a tenor soloist singing “Bless This House.”

During the song, Bell will ask for the sacred items to be returned to her one by one to symbolize the completion of the move.

Rev. Linda Bell, who has been with Gale since 1994, is overseeing the move from the old church, situated on a quarter-acre lot on Cross Street and built for just $450 back in 1868, to the new site on Barnswallow Drive, which cost upwards of $3.5 million. [JAMES JACKSON / THE OBSERVER

The search for a new location began in 2003 when the church launched what it called their Voyage of Discovery to determine if it would be feasible to find a new location for the church. Much has changed in Elmira since builder Hiram Martin and an architect were selected to build the church at the site in 1868.

Now, the church is landlocked and after building a new addition in 1986 it has nowhere to grow. There is no parking available except on the street, and the church is difficult for visitors to find.

The new site is certainly much larger and in a more visible location. Situated on about 3.5 acres of land, the new church is approximately 10,000 square feet on the main floor, with an extra 4,000 square feet of space in the basement – nearly double the approximately 8,000 square feet of total space available to them in the old church.

There will also be 110 parking spaces, a new dishwasher in the kitchen, and numerous other perks that the congregation is excited about.

This move didn’t come cheap, however. The land cost upwards of $300,000 per acre to purchase, and the building itself cost about $2.5 million to build – a considerable increase over the $450 it cost to build the original church back in 1868 on land that had been donated four years earlier by Robert Kenning.

Part of the costs were offset by an anonymous donation of $1 million near the beginning of the project, and the rest was realized through tireless fundraising campaigns such as pie baking, selling gift cards, talent auctions and summer galas.
“We thought the million dollars would buy the land and part of the church, but it barely paid for the land,” said Denstedt. “That’s a lot of pies.”

The church has been sold to a local couple who intend to use it as a dance studio and a residence, and Bell said she was happy to learn that they didn’t intend to simply tear the building down.

“It’s really nice to know that there is going to be music. It’s a different use of music, but it’s still music, and there will still be joy and movement.”

The first worship service will be held at the new location at 10 Barnswallow Dr. in Elmira at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow (Sunday).