Senior in training

Charlotte Conrad of Sturgeon stretches after her Sunday morning walk. Mrs Conrad is training for the half marathon in Ottawa on May 30.

Charlotte Conrad of Sturgeon starts out on her daily walk on a sunny Sunday in April. Mrs Conrad is training for the half marathon in Ottawa on May 30.
Senior in training





By Charlotte MacAulay

She can be seen walking the roads around Sturgeon, but she’s not just taking a leisurely stroll, she’s in training.
On May 30, Charlotte Conrad will join her two daughters and thousands of other people in Ottawa to participate in the 35 annual Ottawa Marathon, which is a fund raising event for the Ottawa region hospitals.
Mrs Conrad, a retired teacher and her husband Sterling who is retired from the Air Force lived in Ottawa before they retired in 1996 to Mr Conrad’s old stomping grounds on the Old Wharf Road.
The Conrad’s still have family in the Ottawa region and when they go visit Mrs Conrad and her daughters often take walks together.
It was on one of these walks that they decided to participate in the marathon.
Mrs Conrad will be participating in the half-marathon leg of the event, a total of 21 km.
Most days Mrs Conrad goes for a walk, but since February she has been on a strict training schedule that rotates from day to day.
One day she will do a 14 km walk from her home on the Old Wharf Road to Ferrez Farms and back. The next day she will do a shorter more intense walk and the third training element is hill training. Mrs Conrad usually goes to Cambridge to do this. She has to go up and down the hill seven times at a fast pace.
“It’s good to follow a schedule.
“I think I will be in good shape for the Marathon this year.
“Last year when I finished the race I could have kept going I wasn’t tired at all,” Mrs Conrad said.
This is the second year Mrs Conrad has been in the marathon, but she has always been competitive and physically active from a young age.
“I can remember when I was in elementary school we use to practice for the track and field meet by the wood pile.”
The saw dust was a good soft place to land when practicing for the ‘hop, skip and jump’ and the long-jump she said.
She has a shoe box full of ribbons from winning meets in school. In high school she was an avid softball player and she broke the javelin record one year.
During her teaching years Mrs Conrad always stayed active and encouraged her children to do the same.
She participated in numerous 5km runs over the years.
Mrs Conrad’s zest for a healthy lifestyle goes beyond her own physical well being.
Since moving to PEI she has become active in several community groups.
“When I first came I thought it would be a good way to meet people.
“You could sit home and knit all day, but you can’t meet anyone that way,” Mrs Conrad said.
Every week Mrs Conrad holds an exercise class for the residents at MacKinnon Pines community care.
“It gets them out of their rooms and moving around.
“Everyone should be doing whatever they are able to do,” Mrs Conrad said.
Mrs Conrad took part in an Island annual event in the past.
She is a breast cancer survivor and was a member of the sunflowers relay team and in the past has participated in numerous relays.
These days she is an active member of the 50 plus club where she teaches crafts and helps with the line-dancing class.
Gardening is another favourite pass time of Mrs. Conrad. It’s good for the body and the mind she said.
Mrs Conrad’s words to live by “Always stay active, you can’t spend your life moping around.”

Jet-lag makes for good fishing

Katie Doucet, the four-year-old granddaughter of Barbara and John Webster of the Millburn Road caught a three pound 19 inch trout on opening day.
Katie is visiting her grandparents from Pangirtung, Nunavut.






By Charlotte MacAulay

Her first catch on PEI was no small potatoes for Katie Doucet of Pangirtung, Nunavut.
Katie, the four-year-old granddaughter of John and Barbara Webster of the Millburn Road, went fishing with her Grammy on opening day of the PEI angling season and hooked a three pound 19 inch trout within minutes of putting her line in the water.
Mrs Webster said she baited Katie’s hook and before she could get her own on, Katie had a bite.
“She reeled it in a bit, but lost it, so I baited her hook again and she hooked it again right away,” Mrs Webster said.
“We had to haul it in and let the line go three times before we could get it in the net,” she said.
“It was really big and messy,” said Katie.
Even so she can’t wait to go out again.
Katie and her grammy had a bit of a late start on opening day because the day before Katie had travelled all day changing planes four times to get to PEI from her home in Nunavut.
This is the perfect time for a visit and they will be making lots of trips to Long’s Spring for more big trout said Mrs Webster.
“Only a few of us know where Long’s Spring is and I’m not giving out directions to anyone,” Mrs Webster said.
The trout are big there. The Websters usually only catch one or two a day. “We don’t want to take more than we can eat,” she said.

1700 residents still without a family doctor in Souris

By Charlotte MacAulay

All effort is being made to continue recruitment of doctors for the Souris area said Arlene Rose, Public Health Primary Care Coordinator(East) for the department of Health and Wellness.
In February Dr. Tamer Toma and Dr. Soha Rizk announced they were moving their practices to Nova Scotia leaving two doctors and one nurse practitioner to cover the community’s health care needs.
Dr Ambrose Kennedy was able to take on some of the patients left without a family doctor.
The rest have two options said Ms Rose.
“They have the opportunity to see the nurse practitioner or they can access the walk-in clinics,” she said.
So far they have been able to keep the clinic open everyday Monday-Friday and every second week-end.
Although the doctors hours haven’t been increased, they are on call for the inpatients at the hospital more often than before.
Some physicians have been inquiring about the recruitment and the department is working on getting someone to fill in on a temporary part-time bases, said Ms Rose.
“We do have one physician who has made a verbal agreement to sign on for a two-year term in the near future, but no contract has been signed as of yet,” she said.

Just one more cast

By Charlotte MacAulay

All the poles are ready and the dew worms were dug up last week said Gordon Gallant, Montague.
Mr Gallant is an avid fisherman to say the least and he is ready for April 15, the day angling season starts on PEI.
“Where there’s water and fish I’m there.
“I’m always ready,” Mr Gallant said.
He started fishing when he was about nine years old.
“Back then I’d just get a stick out of the woods and tie a string to it.
“There was no such thing as a reel.”
The improvements since then have made it easier to catch fish , said Mr Gallant.
Even so some times it takes hours to catch something.
“If I go to a place I know there’s big ones and fish, I’d stay all day to get just one.”
Mr Gallant has the patience to sit and wait when he knows there will be a big pay-off in the end.
“It’s quite a thrill when you hook a big one and have to fight them.”
Mr Gallant use to fish both trout and salmon, but he doesn’t enjoy the catch and release that is now mandatory in the salmon fishery.
“When I catch a fish I like to take it home and eat it.”
He said the best way to cook a trout is to dip it in flour and then into the hot oil in the frying pan.
What Mr Gallant and his wife Helena don’t use they can always find someone who would like a feed of trout.
These days grandson’s Max and Willis VanWiechen are usually Mr Gallant’s fishing partners, but in the past there have been many times when Helena and their four children would join him on the water.
“They didn’t have much patience for me.
“When the boys were growing up they’d say, ‘Let’s go home Dad,’ and I’d say ‘just one more cast.’”
Mrs Gallant confirms this story.
“I’ve heard ‘just one more cast’ a lot more times then I can remember,” she said.
Mr Gallant has been retired for 15 years so fishing is isn’t just a hobby anymore, it’s a way of life.
“There’s not too many days you’ll find me home during the fishing season.
“I miss it during the winter, but the fishing shows on TV help me through.”

Retired in Souris

Therese Peters has retired after working 26 years at Access PEI in Souris.
Therese Peters received a certtificate of merit from the government in October 2009 for all her years in the cuivil service. She retired after working 26 years at Access PEI in Souris.
By Charlotte MacAulay

The disbursement of government services in Souris have changed a lot over the years, and there has been one employee who has stayed with the service centre through those changes.
But the familiar face of receptionist, Theresa Peters won’t be a part of it anymore. She retired in October of 2009 from her job at Access PEI.
Everyday for 26 years she pointed clients in the right direction and greeted fellow workers.
“I’m really going to miss the contact with people especially when I enjoy talking with people so much, Mrs Peters said.
Although she will miss the day to day, Mrs Peters is happy she will be able to spend more time visiting her family.
She had five children who all have families of there own.
“I have 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren who I’m sure will keep me busy,” she said.
Mrs Peters daughter Tammy is happy her mom will be able to come and visit now without having to rush back to work.
“We are really proud of her for all she has accomplishments and we’re glad she’s going to take the time to spend more time with us.”
Mrs Peters has never travelled much, being busy with work, and since some of her children live off Island, she is looking forward to future excursions.
Mrs Peters has done office work all of her adult life as before working at the service centre she and her husband, the late Joey Peters has a trucking business out of their home in Souris West.
She has seen a lot of changes in the workplace over the years.
The service centre being moved to it’s present location on Green Street in the 1990s, the move from type writers to computers and the biggest was the amalgamation of government services to form Access PEI to name a few.
Mrs Peters said her job never really changed that much over the years.
“I was always still the one clients went to first and in the later years I used e-mail more than letters, but in the end I still had the same amount of contact with people,” she said.
Mrs Peters said she was never one to party, but she is looking forward to seeing people at an open house being held in her honour at St Mary’s Hall Main St, Souris on Friday April 16, from 6-9 pm.

Montague town council gets a raise

By Charlotte MacAulay
charlotte@peicanada.com

At the monthly town council meeting all but one councillor voted in favour of raising the money councillors and mayor receive for their work on council.
A motion was put forward on April 26 by Finance Chair, John MacFarlane, to raise the remuneration $500 each bringing the numbers up to $4,500 per councillor and $6,000 for the mayor.
Councillors Peter Doucette, Marion Robertson, John MacFarlane, Peggy Whitlock and Janice MacBeth all voted for the motion while Deputy Mayor David Mabon voted against.
Coun Mabon said he thinks a survey should be done to compare municipal remunerations in the smaller towns in PEI.
One obtained by the Graphic shows as of April 1, 2010, Montague remuneration for councillors was 60 per cent higher than Souris, Georgetown , Alberton and Kensington.
Coincidentally Souris council voted on the same night to raise their remunerations bringing their numbers to $3,500 per councillor and $5,000 for the mayor.
Coun Mabon recalled getting $800 his first time on council many years ago and said that was a good exchange for his work.
“I’m voting against the raise.
“I’m well satisfied with what I get,’ Coun Mabon said.
In discussions before the vote councillors Peter Doucette said the town is growing and they work hard to make that happen.
“We’re valuing the contribution we make to municipal affairs.
“All the improvements in the town don’t happen by accident,” Coun Doucette said.
All the remaining councillors agreed and said they do the work and earn the money they receive.
Coun MacBeth said there is no comparison between Montague and the other smaller municipalities on PEI.
They don’t have the population or the infrastructure Montague has, she said.
“I’d do it for less, but if the money is there we deserve it,” said Coun Macbeth.

Private sector taking over golf course

By Charlotte MacAulay
charlotte@peicanada.com
The Northumberland Community Development Corporation (NCDC) has sold the Eagles View golf course.
Previous members of the course received a letter dated March 18, 2010 part of which it states “NCDC is proud to announce that they have finalized a deal that will see the golf course turn over into the private sector. Additional details on NCDC’s new parteners will be provided shortly.”
There has been no further communication with members, but the Graphic has found the only director of the purchasing company is Sterling Stewart, President of Black Eagle Construction in Mirmichi New Brunswick.
Neither Jamie Richards, chairman of NCDC or Mr Stewart wanted to comment on the deal or say if any changes will be coming to the course.
Eaglesview is a nine-hole par 36 course that was opened by the NCDC in 2002.
The course was constructed around and over MacLures pond, the Province’s largest body of fresh water.
In addition to the course the NCDC runs walking trails and an interpretive centre in the area.
It is unclear at this time whether these assets are part of the deal.
It is due to open on May 1 as in previous years said General Manager Gary Sheehan.
The course has wintered well and the greens are in great shape for the season, Mr Sheehan said.
He said he doesn’t know at this time of any changes in operations happening with the new owners.