Volume 2 Number 8

View the August 13, 2008 edition on issuu.com

Volume 2, Number 8 – August 13, 2008

Inside: Water special: Jule Kovar, Grand Bend lifeguards, Skip Izon, Purdy’s fisheries.

  • John Byrne interview re: Grand Bend beach lifeguards
    If it is foreseeable, it is preventable. – Lifesaving Society Canada, Ontario Branch This is the third year in a row someone has drowned at Grand Bend, and each drowning happened after lifeguards went off duty. To help prevent deaths in the future, Lambton Shores last fall commissioned a Lifesaving Society report, and recently purchased life rings, ...
  • How much is your child’s life worth?
    View from the Strip By Casey Lessard I didn’t ask Richard and Anna Kovar how much they would be willing to pay to bring their daughter Jule back to life; instead, I’ll put the question to you. If you were able to give money to revive your child, would you pay $20,000, $50,000, $100,000, $1 million? This is ...
  • Jule Kovar tribute: “The house is so quiet without Jule”
    Although he is a neurologist and she is an attorney, Dr. Richard and Anna Kovar live a modest life in a home in Fort Gratiot, Michigan, a borough of Port Huron, just over the bridge from Sarnia. Their daughter Jule drowned August 8, 2007 just north of the pier at Grand Bend beach. Casey Lessard traveled ...
  • Purdys fisheries: A life working on the water
    William Jeremiah Purdy founded Purdy’s fisheries in 1900 with two hoop nets and a dream. The dream is now an important part of Grand Bend and Sarnia’s history. The technology, however, has changed little; today, Purdy’s fishermen use trap nets, which are similar to hoop nets, with both trapping fish alive after they have entered ...
  • Helping Grand Bend pass the test
    Story and photo by Casey Lessard Three years into the Clean Water Now project, Rotary club volunteers and the municipality of Lambton Shores continue to work to make Lake Huron water cleaner. “We were concerned about pollution and the number of beach postings (due to high bacteria),” says Ron Hunt, chair of the Rotary clean water committee. ...
  • The Life Aquatic with Skip Izon
    Skip Izon has been building boats since 1973; the first boat he built was a houseboat built while a student at the University of Western Ontario. He read every book and magazine he could get his hands on and took a three-year correspondence course in yacht design from Stamford, Connecticut. He’s been building boats since, ...
  • Escapism is Bliss
    Story by Casey Lessard If you’re looking for an escape from reality, stop by Sarah Kane’s solo retrospective at Bliss Studio in Port Franks (7617 Riverside Drive, 519-243-3598), running August 11 to September 7. Twenty-five year old Kane, originally of London, sets up dreamscapes involving real people and transforms them through Photoshop before using graphite ...
  • A Funny Thing happening at Playhouse
    By Casey Lessard Drayton Entertainment heads back to Roman times for its next musical comedy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, running August 13 to 30 at the Huron Country Playhouse. “It’s high, high comedy with songs,” says director Rona Waddington. “The story is about a Roman slave who makes a deal with ...
  • A day at the beach
    Keeping the Peace By Tom Lessard Hey kids, who wants to go to the beach? That was a stupid question to ask on a hot summer’s day. I ended up with nine kids loaded into my good-sized car. I put some pieces of cardboard in the trunk for the sand dunes and off we went. In those days, ...
  • A lesson in dishwashing etiquette
    Advice from Mom By Rita Lessard I know we have had a bit of rain in the past couple of weeks, but when it’s sunny and warm after the rain, it is quite wonderful. And although we complain about the rain, my view is, at least we can take consolation in the fact that we don’t have ...
  • Golf tip: spine angle
    Golf Tips By Cameron Rankin Maintain your spine angle during your swing. The correct posture and proper spine angle are the keys to more consistent play. Pivot around your spine on the backswing (close to 45 degrees) maintaining the same angle during it. Your downswing to impact and the follow through should also remain on the same angle ...
  • The Eastern kingbird can be a real tyrant
    Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Family TYRANNIDAE, scientific name Tyrannus tyrannus. Sounds like some type of dinosaur, doesn’t it? It is not what you might expect; this scientific name is that of the Eastern kingbird. You will commonly spot this handsome bird perched on a wire, or high up on a tree or weed stalk catching ...
  • Grand Bend Things to Do – August 13 to 26, 2008
    Community/Charity Every Tuesday 7 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion Bingo Every Friday 5 to 7 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion Meat Draw Tuesday, August 12 to 14 Grand Bend Youth Centre Thrill and Chills Week. Come join us for some cool science experiments, help create a haunted house and then we head off to Canada’s Wonderland! Call 519-238-1155 to register. Wednesday, August 13 8 a.m. to ...
  • Head back to school – online
    Technically Speaking By Tamara Nicola VisitGrandBend.com Over the past few years, the number of colleges and universities offering classes and degree programs online has soared. With rising gas prices and the rural nature of much of Canada, an online education is increasingly becoming an acceptable method of learning for many. Online learning offers the convenience of classroom accessibility 24 ...