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The Perth and District Community Newspaper since 1834 January 2, 2014 | 40 pages

www.insideottawavalley.com

Inside

Highway 15 North, Smiths Falls 613-283-1880 www.rallyhonda.com

Interpreter wins award for outdoor teaching

COMMUNITY

By DESMOND DEVOY desmond.devoy@metroland.com

The community enjoys a Christmas celebration. — Page P1

NEWS

Photo by DESMOND DEVOY

Work crews from Toronto and Sudbury worked through Boxing Day to repair the damage done during the Dec. 23 collision between a snow truck and CP Rail train.

Fenik wants to consider rail underpass for Wilson Street By DESMOND DEVOY desmond.devoy@metroland.com

Brock Zeman will be playing at a local pub on Sunday. — Page P4

YEAR IN REVIEW

The Perth Courier looks at the year in review starting in January, ‘13 — Page P11

News – It may be time to consider an underpass at Wilson Street so as to prevent a repeat of the horrific Dec. 23 collision between a CP Rail train and a tandem snow truck. “Is it time to consider an underpass on Wilson?” asked Perth Mayor John Fenik during an interview at his office on Friday, Dec. 27. “Perhaps that’s a discussion for the (transport) minister in the new year,” he said. Other towns with a major railway presence have similar under or overpasses, like the Smiths Falls underpass as Highway 15 enters the town from Carleton Place. The collision occurred at 3:35 a.m. at the railway crossing at Wilson Street, colliding with the tail end of a tandem truck, and pushing it all the way past the Drummond Street railway crossing. It came to rest just behind the Great War Memorial Hospital site of the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital, wiping out guard rails and signals along the way. “Another 3,000 or 4,000 meters, it would have been pushed out to Isabella Street,” said Fenik, who was contacted by his chief administrative officer, John deRosenroll, that morning. “It hit that back end which resulted in the survival of the operator,” he added. Fenik soon arrived on the scene and surveyed the damage.

“I took a look at the site… and they (first responders) responded magnificently,” he said. While the sight of the hard-working rescue personnel, such as the Lanark County OPP, Perth Fire Department, and medical responders was good to see, the sight of the snow clearing contract truck was anything but. “When I saw it, I didn’t think that anyone would survive. If ever there was a Christmas miracle in Perth, that was it,” with the driver being taken to hospital, with minor injuries. CP Rail crews from Toronto and Sudbury worked over Boxing Day and were still at it on Friday, Dec. 27, trying to repair signals and guard rails. A detour was still up late last week diverting northbound Drummond Street traffic on to Harris, and southbound traffic on to Haggart. “The train did not derail, thankfully,” said Fenik. “There were no hazardous materials on hand,” and, as such, the town’s emergency team did not have to be called into service. There was a small diesel spill, from the truck’s engine, but that was dealt with by the fire service. On the day of the collision, Fenik was contacted by Insp. Derek Needham, the detachment commander for the Lanark County OPP. “There was a police presence on both sides of the town,” at the time, said Fenik. OPP, Ministry of Transportation, Transport Canada, and CP Rail investigations are ongoing. Alcohol was not considered to be a factor.

News – Foley Mountain’s interpreter and site supervisor has won an award for her innovative and engaging work with children. Rebecca Whitman won the 2013 Watershed Interpreters’ Network Award at the ‘Rekindle the Spark’ conference in Orangeville, Ont., on Thursday, Dec. 5. The conference was a gathering of educators from Ontario’s 32 conservation authorities, and the award recognized her for “helping teachers and students access exceptional outdoor education programs,” according to a press release from the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority. “It was a very warm feeling to be appreciated within your organization,” said Whitman during an interview from her home near Westport, which she shares with her sons, aged seven and four, and her husband, Jeff, on Friday, Dec. 27. “I was very honoured and a little shocked to be honoured.” Whitman was born and raised in Metcalfe, Ont., and attended the University of Ottawa, where she earned an honours B.A. in biology. She earned her Bachelor of Education, specializing in outdoor education, at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. “I have the best of both worlds,” she said. “As a kid, I grew up in the country, so being outdoors was natural. In university, I found I wanted to work with kids.” She was lucky to land a summer job in the natural heritage education program with Ontario Parks, which led to her life’s calling. “This is what I want to do,” she realized. “This was an, ‘Aha!’ moment. I wanted to take them (kids) outside and discover nature.” During the award ceremony, she was commended for her work in securing special funding for small rural schools to cover bussing costs to and from the mountain. Her decision to help was based on “feedback we got from educators… as to barriers, as to why they couldn’t come

here or come here as much,” which all came down to money, especially for bussing. “This is a barrier for getting people outside,” she said. “The more time we can have kids outside, it’s better for their learning,” and also helpful in creating the “next generation of environmental stewards.” Her innovation was also highlighted in the accolade, such as when more space was needed, and she assisted in an initiative that relocated a heritage barn to serve as a solar-powered outdoor learning centre. She also sought funding for GPS (global positioning systems), snowshoes, interpretive signs, and more, to add to the educational richness of the outdoor experience. She has also latched on to technology to help educators’ lives a little easier, phasing out a cumbersome phone system for an online booking option. Whitman was also on the forefront of introducing tablets into her programming – bringing the natural world and the technical world together. Seeing the children take to the GPS was one such example. “I am amazed at how quickly they catch on with it, with the GPS units,” she said. “The idea is that you are able to enhance their learning experience. My job as an educator is to spark that interest in them.” She gets a lot of chances to work with children, since, of the mountain’s 17,000 annual visitors, about 4,000 are students arriving to take part in full or half-day education programs and camps. Whitman has called Foley Mountain home for the last sixand-a-half years. As an “environmental steward” herself, she tries to practice what she preaches. She and her family enjoy snowshoeing, camping, hiking, cross-country skiing, and growing her own food, which isn’t always easy on a mountain. “It certainly is more of a challenge here than in other places,” she said. “But we seem to make it work.”

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