Snowmobile season picking up steam

The Guardian

By David Archibald

The past few weeks of snowfall have sent P.E.I snowmobilers into top gear with excellent trail conditions and low prices at dealerships.

The popular Confederation Trail routes have been groomed by the P.E.I. Snowmobile Association (PEISA) and traverse much of the Island from Tignish to Elmira.

While December’s mild weather resulted in a slower start to the season than normal, PEISA president Dale Hickox said the response to this year’s first snowfall has been outstanding.

“I don’t think that I’ve ever seen as much enthusiasm as this year,” said Hickox. “A lot of people are really gung-ho.”

The strong Canadian dollar may also have played a part in this year’s snowmobile rush, contributing to lower prices on sleds at dealerships.

“The prices right now, for what you’re getting, are the lowest they’ve been in years,” said Gary Dunning, owner of Toy Master Motorsports in Winsloe and Red Rock Polaris in North River.

“There are some deals on for new stuff that I’ve never seen before.”

With so much enthusiasm bound to attract new riders, Hickox stressed the importance of being comfortable with the sled before going out on the trail for the first time.

“We give this same advice to all of our members - drive safe and sled sober,” said Hickox.

Permits are required to ride on the trails and can be purchased at all Access PEI sites, Dennis Motors, Reddin Power Sports, Red Rock Polaris and Toy Master Motor Sports.

Regular permits are $225 while vintage permits (sleds made in 1994 and earlier) are $50. Vintage permits are only available at Access PEI sites. The money from the permits goes towards grooming the trails, which PEISA leases from the provincial government.

Year of the Cat brings about nationwide cat campaign

The Guardian

By David Archibald

This is the Year of the Cat, according to the Vietnamese calender, and a network of Canadian cat welfare advocates are honouring the year with a nationwide awareness campaign.

Care for Cats is a collaborative effort to bring the major problems facing cats to the attention of the public.

Started by a Hamilton, Ont. feline practitioner, Elizabeth O’Brien, the initiative seeks to deliver its message through events and theme months.

Veterinarian Anne Marie Carey, from the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown, works with spay and neuter programs across Prince Edward Island to combat cat overpopulation and has been providing O’Brien with information from her research.

She said that while the work she has done has greatly improved cat welfare on the Island, the best way to attack the issue is by raising awareness.

“There is one the thing that fixes cat overpopulation problems and that’s public education,” said Carey. “That’s something we haven’t targeted as much in the past.”

On top of three nationwide theme months in May, September and December, Carey is currently working on plans to host her own public education events at the AVC.

For now, she continues to work with Island groups like the non-profit volunteer organization Cat Action Team, to improve the methods of feral cat reduction.

“There’s a lot of arguments about what the best solutions really are,” said Carey. “I still stand by the trap, neuter and return method (TNR) where the cats are humanely trapped, neutered and then returned to where they were found.

“While it takes a lot of resources and is very labour intensive, it’s certainly a lot better from a public perspective and from a welfare perspective than things like trap and kill programs. I don’t like those.”

In the past, the Cat Action Team has coordinated the campaigns to neuter the stray cats by collecting them, bringing them to clinics like the AVC and returning them after a day of recovery.

Now the AVC is getting more involved with co-ordinating and educating the volunteers.

Meghan Solc, a third year vet student, has been hired as the TNR coordinator for the AVC and is becoming more involved in the organizing and collecting of the cats and following up on the cats after they have been returned.

“She’s actually contacting people who own the barns or look after the colonies the cats came from to see if there’s been any issues with them post-operatively,” said Casey.

“We’ve had very few problems. Part of it I’m sure is attributed to the amount of monitoring that we do and the way that we do our procedures.”

Wildlife official identifies mystery bird

The Guardian

By David Archibald

The small sea birds blown ashore on northern P.E.I. coastlines in wild wind storms just before Christmas have been identified.

Fish and wildlife section manager Gerald MacDougall says the birds as dovekies. They are black and white, smaller than crows, and resembled small penguins with wings.

MacDougall, who used to collect and release the birds when he was a conservation officer, said the recent storms have brought about the largest influx in numbers of dovekies to P.E.I. he seen in his time with fish and wildlife.

Unable to take off from land and only feeding on marine food, the dovekies need to be collected and released at sea in order to survive.

“People say they can’t fly. Well you just can’t throw them up in the air and have them fly away, but they can fly,” said MacDougall. “It’s just a matter of picking them up and getting them back to the water as soon as possible.”

A number of dovekies were seen around Lakeside beach area and easterly towards Campbell’s Cove where more were located. Decreasing levels of ice on the shore could also be contributing to the increasing occurrence of grounded dovekies.

“Normally with the ice conditions they would be a lot farther out at sea. But with no ice there, they’re closer to land,” said MacDougall. “The lack of ice there to push them out farther could be why we’re getting more of them this year.”

In areas of heavy fog, the dovekie can also get disoriented and land unintentionally on land.

Local senior games celebrating 20th anniversary

TRURO – Fun, fellowship and fitness is the name of the game when it comes to the 20th annual Local Senior Games to be held next month in Truro and Bible Hill.
The games, beginning on May 10 and ending on May 14, will offer many casual competitions for those aged 55 or older.
Fran Forman, a 20-year senior games veteran, has been competing since the inaugural games in 1990.
“One of my neighbours talked me into going to a meeting and I’ve been going ever since,” said Foreman, a native of Debert. “I have lots of fun doing it and meet a lot of nice people.”
Forman, 90, is just as active in the games as she was 20 years ago as well. This year she is registered to compete in darts, crokinole and cribbage.
“I don’t go for winning,” she said. “I go for the friendship and companionship.”
Count last year’s cribbage champion Bob Standing as another participant who loves the atmosphere of comradery the games provide.
“I recommend it for any seniors to come out and have a good time,” said Standing, a 72-year-old Truro resident.
He wasn’t giving away any secrets on his success in cribbage however.
“I think it was just the luck of the cards. The way I was getting the hands, they just seemed to fall right into place.”
Standing plans to defend his cribbage championship along with competing in bowling, darts and washer toss.
Another former champ defending his title is 75-year-old Doug Anthony, last year’s crokinole winner.
Anthony doesn’t play crokinole much anymore, but he is always open for a quick game or two if someone offers a challenge.
“I practiced quite a bit when I was younger,” said the Crowes Mills resident who also plans to enter the bowling, casual-walking and cribbage competitions this year. “A lot of it is playing angles. You have to hit your checker so that you can maybe get two at a time or knock their check off and win the hole.”
In total, there are 13 different events on the Local Senior Games schedule including scrabble, crokinole, skip bo (a card game), darts, bridge, dominoes, cribbage, washer toss, auction 45’s, bowling, golf, swimming and casual walking.
Three separate registration sessions will be held: April 16 between 12 p.m and 3 p.m. at the Bible Hill Village Hall, April 19 at 2 p.m. and April 23 at 2 p.m.
Registration is $5 for one event or $10 for two or more events. Participants must be registered by April 26.
For more information contact Les Haley at 897-2511, Helene Smith at 895-6327 or Bob Webb at 897-4679.

Busking the blues away

Seventy-two-year-old Tiny Kennedy has been playing the blues since 1958 and says Truro is one of the most generous and friendly places he has played. Born and raised in St. John, New Brunswick, the well traveled musician has come back to Truro to clear his mind after his wife Eva Haley passed away in February in Matapedia, Quebec.”I couldn’t find another lady like her if I shopped all over Canada,” said Kennedy, who has played with well known acts such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and The Carson Downey Band. Archibald Photo.

Suspicious fire

Truro police are investigating a truck fire from early Wednesday morning on south Young Street. "It's suspicious in nature so the police are investigating that," Staff-Sgt. Randy MacKenzie said. Firefighters and police were called out around 3 a.m. Wednesday to an apartment residence in the 400 block of Young Street. MacKenzie said a 2002 Chevy Avalanche was damaged in the blaze. "The reports are brief because of the nature of the offence," he said.

Burns lands big role

TRURO – A local actor will take part in one of his biggest roles of his stage career thus far this weekend with the showing of ‘Merlin’ at Halifax’s Bella Rose Arts Centre.
19-year-old Wayne Burns is playing the role of King Arthur in Halifax’s Theatre For Young People’s production of ‘Merlin’.
Burns has been involved in theatre since he was 7-years-old and said ‘Merlin’ is one of the most professional productions he has been a part of.
“The cast is really quite plentiful with Halifax talent,” said Burns. “I feel really blessed to be able to be in such a production with such talented people from the Halifax industry.”
The show is geared towards children and will feature many exciting effects including magic, pyrotechnics and sword fighting.
Burns is also involved the Truro Junior High’s upcoming production of ‘Aladin’, which he is directing. ‘Aladin’ will show at Truro Junior High on May 27, 28 and 29.