MALCOLM GLADWELL

Malcom Gladwell, an Elmira native, is a staff writer at The New Yorker and best-selling author of The Tipping Point, Outliers, Blink and What the Dog Saw. Martin, who grew up in Wallenstein, is now dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and author of three books of his own. He’s also been named one of the 10 most influential business people in the world. Both men seemed to check their rightfully earned egos at the door, however, preferring to chat with the captive audience like the boys next door that they once were.

The talk was part conversation, part Q and A, part free-association session following a buffet dinner to raise money for the Woolwich Counselling Centre, the organization which Gladwell’s mother helped to found, serving as its first executive director.

After an enlightening introduction by their mothers, the featured presenters, who both once attended Elmira District Secondary School, took to the stage to discuss everything from the ethics of football, the Canada vs. USA final Olympic hockey game (which Gladwell sheepishly admitted to missing), and more weighty topics such as the economic crisis and Canada’s role in the current war.

“I enjoyed it tremendously but then I am a bit biased,” said Joyce with a laugh. “I found it very interesting to see the way that Malcolm and Roger interacted. They were allowing each other, stimulating each other, engaging each other and enabling each other to come up with their thoughts. It wasn’t just the ideas that you were listening to, but instead, observing a relationship.”

Mary Wilhelm, executive director of the Woolwich Counselling Centre, said the homecoming raised about $30,000 for the agency, much of which will be used for preventive programs in local schools.

Neither Gladwell nor Martin were paid to come and speak, but simply received a warm welcome home.

The students had five hours to build a small functional landscape following drawings and using pavers, wall stone and plants before being judged by industry professionals. The competition is a partnership between the Waterloo Region chapter of Landscape Ontario and the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program.

Charlie Malson of Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School checks the placement of some wall stone during a regional landscaping competition held at Elmira Farm Service Tuesday.

Woolwich played host to a number of budding landscape horticulturists on Tuesday, as St. Jacobs Country Gardens welcomed Grade 9 and 11 students from Glenview Park and Waterloo Oxford Secondary School for workshops and a tour.

The students completed workshops on landscape design, softscape and hardscape before heading to Elmira to see the results of the competition.

Rob Tester, who sits on the board of directors for Landscape Ontario Waterloo Region, has been involved in the education side for a number of years. Ten years ago, there was just one horticulture class in Waterloo Region. Now three or four schools offer the program, and their classes are full.
This is the first year that the high school horticulture competition will be held at the national level, albeit as a demonstration. The winners of the provincial competition in May at RIM Park will advance to the nationals and showcase what the trade is all about.

Landscape horticulturist just became a Red Seal trade a year ago, meaning the trade is held to a standard of excellence that is recognized across the country. The national competition for high school students builds on that.

This is the second year the regional competition has been held at Elmira Farm Service.

“This is a way for them to see what they’ve learned,” Tester said.

All of the judges are industry professionals, so the students are not only being judged by people who know the business, but get exposure to potential employers.

“A lot of these kids will end up working for one of us here.”

“The horses are in the latter stages of their training now,” said Elmira detachment Sgt. Siegfried Peters. “They are expected to be deployed on the weekend of the Maple Syrup Festival if all goes according to plan.”

Two officers from the Waterloo Regional Police were in Elmira Mar. 10, prepping a pair of horses for regular duty. The new unit is set to be deployed at the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival Mar. 27.

The horses around town this past week are not officially on duty yet, as they’re still in training.
Experienced officers have been working with the horses in order to prepare them for everyday riding. The training for police horses takes about 16 weeks and is designed to ensure that the horse will not be spooked easily, build a bond of trust and respect between the horse and its rider, improve the horse’s tolerance to sensory obstacles and improve the horse’s show performance.

“The biggest challenge isn’t controlling the horse as it moves,” explained Const. Ron Derksen, who led the Niagara Regional Police Service when they recently deployed horses in their region. “It’s keeping the animal calm and obedient when directed to stop.”

Since the Waterloo Region pilot project was announced last year, there has been some controversy about the need for such measures in this area, especially given the cost.

“With our heritage in the region, with our Mennonite background, it’s really what we should be doing in Waterloo Region,” said Insp. Steve Beckett, of Waterloo Regional Police in a statement at the time of the launch.

The price tag associated with adding horses to a police force includes the cost of a horse trailer, riding equipment and boarding fees at a stable near police headquarters. Cost of setting up the two-horse program was set at $40,000. Early estimates predicted the horses would cost $20,000 a year to maintain.

The evening of Mar. 5 found five students from the Youth in Action group huddled together for warmth outside of Elmira Pentecostal Assembly, kicking off their night spent outdoors to raise awareness about youth homelessness.

Five EDSS students bundled up and spent the evening outdoors at the Elmira Pentecostal Assembly Mar. 5 to raise awareness about youth homelessness. Two staff members, David VandenBerg and Barb Gaudet (center and right) joined participating students Alyssa Brunkard, Mikayla Stroeder, Tessa Charnuski, Kurtis Rempel and Madeline Charnuski.

The goal of the project was to make students, the school and the surrounding community aware of an issue that so many people don’t fully understand. Mikayla Stroeder, one of the participating students, said she, like many, didn’t even have an idea what the experience might be like.

“We don’t really know how hard a struggle it is for people who are homeless.”

The group decided to make their experience as true to life as possible, bringing with them only cardboard to sleep on and tarp for keeping dry, as well as pledging to leave all electronics behind them for the night – no cell phones or iPods. Even the flashlight they carried was hand-powered rather than battery operated.

“I think most people are pretty addicted to their technology these days, so even just going without that for a night might be tough,” said participating teacher and student advisor David VandenBerg.
When asked about what they might do if given the opportunity to tackle the problems of homelessness, the students offered a variety of ideas – from the creation of jobs, to increasing the amount of affordable housing, and providing more places for people to stay or simply have a meal if they need to.

“But it’s not just about creating jobs and then leaving,” explained participant Kurtis Rempel, rather “continually checking in with people to make sure that their job is going well, that they’re able to afford their housing payments; that they are getting back on their feet.”

The EDSS Youth in Action group, which is affiliated with the charity Free the Children, has been running for two years now. Its focus is on raising awareness and educating members on current issues locally and around the world. Students meet on a weekly basis to fundraise and discuss these issues. Past events have included buying Christmas presents for families in need and attending leadership conferences.

In addition to the night spent outside, students collected non-perishable food items which will be given to Ray of Hope in Kitchener, an organization that supports troubled and disadvantaged youth in the community.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, the students were able to come in out of the cold of the previous night’s activities, a fact that was not lost on participant Madeline Charnuski.

“We all got to go home at the end of the night and take hot showers and warm up,” she explained. “We were also wearing winter clothing and hats and mitts, things that people who are actually homeless might not have access to.”

Regardless of how true to life their experiment turned out to be, Charnuski said the students will have at least a little bit more understanding of the challenges associated with poverty in Canada.
“If I visit Waterloo or Kitchener or Toronto and I see someone who is homeless, I am going to remember this, and I know that this is just a little bit of what they might be going through.”

“Hopefully, this event will encourage students to view the homeless as more than just statistics,” said VandenBerg.

Blue, but not yet bald, participants in the WestJet Go Blue! Go Bald! fundraiser are Mark Bullard, Scott Shillington, Josh Fernandes, Kris Pickett, Erik Wehner and Kevin O’Drowsky. The guys were prepped to shave their heads in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation at the Region of Waterloo International Airport Mar. 6.

This is the third year that the event has happened at the local airport, an event in which community members pledge to raise awareness and funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation by dying their hair blue, and a few weeks later shaving it off completely. The money raised goes towards completing the organization’s mission of granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

West Jet also partners with the organization and donates flights to Make-A-Wish chapters across Canada to help fulfill travel wishes.

Larry Devitt said he expected there would be bugs in a project as large as the $23-million, 113,000-square-foot complex. Staff continues to work with the general contractor and a variety of subcontractors to get the building on track.

“I believe they are making strides to get things improved. I think a lot of progress has been made.”
However, soft ice and the upper-level concession area where a large rollup door is still not in service, for example, make the deficiencies highly visible.

David Brenneman, Woolwich’s chief administrative officer, noted that problems persist. Even though expected, the issues come to the public’s attention and need to be addressed in that light.
“We’re still working through a whole list of things,” he admitted, adding each will be addressed.
While mechanical difficulties will be worked through with contractors, the operations side – staffing, scheduling and programming, for instance – is strictly a township concern. That too is in flux.

For Devitt, the WMC will have to go through an entire year before those issues can be assessed properly.

That also applies to the fitness centre housed at the WMC. Rather than rent the space for guaranteed revenue, the township opted to have more control by paying an outside firm to manage the 2,300-sq.-ft. centre. Woolwich is now perhaps half way to reaching the break-even point on that agreement, having sold about 150 memberships. With membership fees set at $480 per year, the target is 300 to 325. Those numbers are needed to pay for the $132,000 contract council awarded to Personal Best Health and Performance Inc. of Caledon.

The company is being paid $11,000 a month to manage and staff the operation. Under the contract, the company provides a full-time fitness manager, part-time staff to cover weekday mornings and evenings and weekend hours, plus group instructors.

Devitt said that deal was chosen because it gave the township control over the programs offered from the fitness centre. Program registration continues to grow, which should help with membership numbers, he added.

“The program that is being provided is helping us achieve our goals.”

There’s been no leveling off – “more people are signing up every day” – so he remains optimistic even as he notes more memberships are required.

“We’ve got a ways to go to get to our target numbers. This is going to take some time to fully develop.”

Grants totaling $200,000 will come from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The provincial money includes $160,000 for the transition to the Rural Ontario Institute, and an additional $40,000 investment in the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program – a program of The Centre for Rural Leadership that will continue under the Rural Ontario Institute.

The Rural Ontario Institute will officially begin operations on Apr. 1, with a mandate to provide rural leadership development and a mechanism to engage rural and multi-sector stakeholders for the purposes of informing and influencing rural policy development. Three core services will be provided – leadership training, stakeholder engagement and third-party program delivery.

“These resources will ensure the Rural Ontario Institute has a tremendously strong start, right out of the gate,” said Harold Flaming, executive director of The Ontario Rural Council. “We expect initiatives focusing on stakeholder engagement covering a wide range of emerging rural issues and opportunities to benefit from this critical investment in the Rural Ontario Institute. Partnerships with universities and other organizations will be enhanced as a means of more effectively articulating the rural voice on issues impacting rural Ontario.”

The Rural Ontario Institute will soon be announcing its 12-member board of directors, CEO and staff members.

That was 68 years ago. Over the past seven decades, Cassel has turned out thousands of warm, colourful knitted items for family, friends and total strangers. Knitting was a way to keep busy when health problems forced him to take it easy.

Bill Cassel has been whiling away spare moments by knitting for seven decades. Cassel started by making socks but can create anything from sweaters and afghans to the slippers, mittens and children’s clothing pictured here.

There were times when he had more than enough to keep him occupied without the knitting needles. In 1958, he and his wife Theresa bought a small farm and Bill added farming on top of working at BF Goodrich in Kitchener and raising nine children.

Cassel spent 16 years at BF Goodrich, working in the mill room on the equipment used to extrude tread. It was heavy work; the men guessed they handled as much as 40 tonnes of rubber a day.

One day at work, Cassel lost his footing, slipped and broke his back. He spent 14 weeks in a Stryker frame, immobilized and being turned by nurses. He was still able to knit while lying on his stomach, and made socks for all the nurses.

Socks are still his standby, but Cassel also makes sweaters, baby shawls, afghans, toques, mittens, scarves, slippers, dishcloths and lap comforters. Each of his children received a fancy shawl when their first child was born, a tradition started by his mother.

His children, 22 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren also received a hand-tied patchwork quilt. Cassel started making quilts after coming across a stash of Theresa’s quilt patches in the attic. She told him that he wasn’t to throw them away, and that if he wanted something done with them, why not sew them up himself?

By 1972, Bill’s back was giving him too much trouble so the Cassels sold the farm and bought a house on five acres near Glen Allan. By then, Bill was working at Uniroyal Chemical (now Chemtura) as a millwright, repairing pumps, seals and equipment. He didn’t go to school for that trade, but learned to do maintenance on his own. Bill says he’s always had the attitude that there’s nothing stopping him from learning new things.

“If somebody else can do it, there’s no reason I can’t do it as well,” he reasoned.

Theresa is also a knitter, and a few years ago, they both knitted items for Northern Mission, which sent warm clothing to communities in Canada’s Arctic. Bill sometimes sewed tags into his hats and mittens reading “Made especially for you by Bill Cassel,” and his address. It was a special day when they received a letter from students at Inualthuyak School in Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, thanking them for the donations.

Bill and Theresa were childhood sweethearts; they grew up on neighbouring farms in Glen Allan and walked to school together. They’ve been married 57 years – “and three months, 12 days, and about seven hours,” Bill noted on Tuesday.

Now that they’re both retired, handiwork is something they both do to pass the time. He knits while she stitches away at the quilting frame set up in the middle of the living room.

Bill recently took a booth at the Elmira indoor market to display his knitted wares. He also sells little tin men made from aluminum cans and pop can airplanes.

Bill notes that people sometimes balk at the thought of paying $75 for a comforter, not realizing that 100 hours of work has gone into making it. After the materials are paid for, Cassel estimates he’s making 35 cents per hour.

“It’s not a money-making career,” he chuckled. “It’s a hobby to fill in time.”

As chefs, teachers, and mother, we try to focus on healthy food made from scratch. Pizza is no exception, and with March break approaching, why not get the whole family in the kitchen and experiment with some homemade dough and an array of toppings? To cut back on the massive amount of sodium that is in processed foods we prefer a sauce made of some good-quality canned tomatoes (San Marzano brand from Italy is fantastic), or, a simple olive oil and garlic base.

Everyone has their favourite toppings, but no matter what you choose to put on top abide by this rule:  sprinkle toppings sparingly closer to the edge of the crust. This will ensure a crispy, not soggy, crust. If you want extra cheese, bake it once with a small amount of cheese, and then add more and bake until melted.

This dough will make about 2 medium sized pizzas, or 6 mini pizzas. Once assembled, the pizzas freeze really well on a paper plate; just bake from frozen for the same amount of time.

Pizza dough:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp dry instant yeast
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• About 1 1/2 cups water, divided
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• Toppings, as desired
• Extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper, for garnishing

In a large bowl combine the flour, yeast and salt;

Mix together 1 cup of the water with the olive oil and honey; quickly and strongly mix into flour mixture, then gradually add the rest of the water until a ball of dough forms (you may need more or less water); mix together for 3-5 minutes;

Turn out dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes;*

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl; cover with plastic wrap and a clean towel; place in a warm place and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour;

Pre-heat oven to 425°F with pizza stone for about 20 minutes;

Divide dough into desired pizza sizes; roll into balls and place on work surface; cover again with clean towel and let rest until dough has relaxed, about 15 minutes;

Stretch dough with your hands to desired round shape; dress pizza, as desired, and place pizzas on stone directly in oven or on a baking sheet;

Bake for 15-20 minutes; drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper, just before serving.

*To knead turn ball of dough out onto floured surface; fold the top half of the dough into the center; press down with the heel of your hand; turn ball counter-clockwise a quarter turn and then repeat the process again: top half of ball into the center, press down, turn. Kneading in the same direction will help build elasticity in the dough. Knead until the ball is smooth and when pressed with your fingertip will spring back.

Chefs Kirstie Herbstreit and Jody O’Malley are both Red Seal certified chefs. Together they run the company YouCanCook2, specializing in interactive dinner parties. You can also find them cooking at Entertaining Elements in St. Jacobs, where they hold private dinners for eight people. To contact the chefs, visit their website www.youcancook2.com.

The sledge team won gold in 2006 in Turin, Italy, and is looking to claim the top of the podium on home ice.

Forward Graeme Murray of Gravenhurst, Ontario, collides with the US player Andy Yohe. Canada’s national sledge hockey team is looking to repeat as gold medalists at the Vancouver Paralympics.

“You can feel it, the difference. Torino was awesome too, but it’s pretty special being in your own country,” said Elmira’s Jeff Snyder, the team’s head coach. “Everywhere we go in Vancouver, there are Canadian signs and you can really feel the people behind you.”

The team arrived in British Columbia Feb. 27 and went on the road to hold practices in different cities before moving into the Olympic village last Saturday. On Tuesday, they faced off against the Czech Republic in an exhibition game.

Team Canada will meet Italy, Sweden and Norway in the preliminary rounds. Filling out the Paralympic schedule are Japan, Korea and the U.S.

Norway and the U.S. are the teams to watch out for, Snyder said. Canada finished third behind the U.S. and Norway at the world championship this year.

Thirteen players on the 15-member squad were part of the gold-medal Paralympic team in 2006; defenceman Adam Dixon of Midland, Ontario and forward Derek Whitsun of Chatham, Ontario are the only newcomers.

They’ll be using that experience to their advantage, Snyder said; most of their players have been through the hype and excitement of the games before, so they’ll know what to expect.

The coach said the team isn’t feeling any extra pressure to win it all after Canada’s Olympic hockey success, noting that bringing home gold has been their goal all along.

“We came here to win gold. We’d love to complete the hat trick for Hockey Canada, but I don’t think [the pressure is any more than it was before.”

Sledge hockey made its Paralympic debut at the 1994 Lillehammer Games, and it has proven to be one of the most popular sports at the Games. Sledge hockey games featuring Canada and the gold medal game were the first events of the Vancouver Paralympics to sell out.

The sledge team was brought under the umbrella of Hockey Canada in 2005, and Hockey Canada has done a lot to promote the sport and build it at the grassroots level, Snyder said,
Canada’s sledge team also benefitted from Own the Podium, the $117-million dollar plan to see Canada win more medals than any other country at the Olympics. The sledge team received almost $2 million over the past five years, enabling the players to spend more time together at training camps and funding development of new equipment.

Snyder has coached the national sledge team for seven years, and he’s watched the sport grow in popularity and competitiveness over that time.

“I would say Canada, the United States and Norway are a little bit ahead, but that gap’s closing. Japan for sure has improved and the Czech Republic’s really improved fast.”

Before their first game Mar. 13, the sledge team will march into B.C. Place Stadium for the opening ceremony behind team captain Jean Labonté. Labonté was selected to be the flag bearer, the second consecutive time a sledge player has carried the flag for the opening ceremony of the Paralympics.