Submitted by
Kendall Olsen

Students from McCrosson-Tovell and Riverview Schools had excellent results at the District Science Fair held Saturday, April 28th at J.W. Walker School. More than fifty students participated from both the public and separate boards in five grade categories. In the grade seven category Courtney Hansen took first place with her project “Bulb Wise” which looked to find out if florescent lights and LED lights save as much money as they say they do. ( They do!) Karl Drackert placed second in the same category with his project on measuring the sugar content of a liquid using a laser pointer, while Saragh Fraser placed third with her project “What You Drink Is Not What You Think.” Emily Fraser placed third in the grade six category for her project “Fat” which looked into the amount of fat in a variety of foods. Skylar Arpin placed first in the grade five category for her project entitled “Is Breakfast Important” which, after looking at student performance on tests, concluded that breakfast is very important. Alexis Holland’s project which compared the effectiveness of lip balms as measured by their ability to keep leaves from shriveling received an honourable mention. Congratulations students on your fine work.

Submitted by
Martin Williams

On Friday May 11, approximately one hundred students from schools across the district met at Donald Young School’s chess tournament.
Five hundred games of chess were played to determine who would take home the medals. It was great to watch the intense battles of strategy unfold. Not only was it a chance to play against students from other school clubs, but it also was a great opportunity to learn about using tournament clocks and to receive tips and coaching from peers and other coaches.

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Eight local families have been meeting for the past two months to learn ways to build stronger families now and into the future.
As part of a program coordinated through Riverside Health Care’s Community Counselling office in Rainy River by Counselor Hal Wilhite, the Strengthening Families for the Future began on March 20th.

By Maria Vandenbrand
Pine River 4-H

This week the Pine River 4-H club had 3 meetings. The first one was at Sundwall Gardens on Wednesday. The group discussed how and what plants need to grow and then we got a tour of the green house. The second meeting was on Saturday. We had 3 lessons that day. The first one was “Our Place In The World”. During that lesson the club talked about human resources and made home-made paper. The second lesson was called “Let’s Talk”, where the club discussed communication and played the game “Telephone”, also known as the gossip game. The last lesson on Saturday was “All About Animals”. The club did an animal food quiz and skits about what you need to keep care of different animals. The last meeting was on Sunday but it really wasn’t a meeting but more of an Achievement Program. The club and their families came together for a potluck, gave a little presentation on what they learned and had a quiz on what they learned. Altogether it was a good introduction to 4-H. We are hoping to have a summer session of hands-on outdoor activities.

By Melanie Mathieson Gardening Guru

Planting a vegetable garden is very rewarding for both the beginner and even the most seasoned gardener. And a garden full of vegetables isn’t that difficult to create.

By Pastor Mark Mast
RR Ministerial

This past Friday evening I took my family to see the acclaimed Hollywood movie Amazing Grace.
The film opens at the close of the 18th century in Great Britain. William Wilberforce (a junior member of Parliament in the House of Commons) has repeatedly presented bills to eliminate African slave trade, only to have them voted down by his colleagues. Eight years of fruitless effort promoting abolition have left Wilberforce demoralized, discouraged and depleted.

By Al Lowe
Contributor

This is a curious little duck, in very many ways. No other is anything like it, nor even comes close.
It is a western species, ranging mainly from southern Manitoba to BC, and north and south from there. There is a fairly good sized population in Northwestern Ontario, and it breeds sometimes in parts of southern Ontario as well.

By Gary Sliworsky
Ag. Rep.

In the last year and half we have seen commodity grain prices jump to a level where many can actually see profit. This has been fueled by the tremendous growth of the biofuels industry in the U.S., bolstered by the Bush administrations ambition to reduce reliance on foreign energy. Ian McDonald, Applied Research Coordinator, OMAFRA, wonders where we will five years from now.

By Jack Elliott
Contributor

Scientists estimate the Sturgeon Family has been around for over 60 million years. That makes them contemporaries of T. rex and other creatures from the Age of Dinosaurs.

By Howard Hampton
MPP Kenora-RR

Anybody reading the news out of Queen’s Park can be forgiven for thinking that the only thing that was happening was that the government was on its heels trying to defend its indefensible year-end slush fund.