Stettler Independent, April 23, 2014 by Black Press Media Group

Serving the Heart of Central Alberta for 107 years

VOLUME ONE-HUNDRED EIGHT

PM40011853 R08546

NUMBER SEVENTEEN

STETTLER, ALBERTA

April 23, 2014

PRICE — $1.09 Plus GST

STACEY LAVALLIE/Independent reporter

The Gracenotes, who received highest mark in vocal, open up the festival with a rendition of “The Seal Lullaby.”

Full-house for annual music festival STACEY LAVALLIE Independent reporter After a week of performances and competitions, the top acts brought their shows to the Performing Arts Centre in Stettler on April 15. The show saw the best acts in the various categories – speech, vocal, band, piano, musical theatre and dance – performed before a packed audience. Awards were also presented to the performers who were recommended up to provincials. In Musical Theatre, Chloe Shingoose, Dacia Gramlick, Jaycee Davidson and Aaryn Lynham advanced. In Vocal, Aiden Kobi,

Emma Webowesky, Dacia Gramlick, Thecla Wiart, The Gracenotes and the Rhapsody Girls and Tiny Tenors advanced. Miranda Peterson, Shayla Schultz and Jennifer Taylor advanced in piano, and Meg LaRose, Big Valley Grades 5 & 6, and Stettler Elementary Grade 2AH/2DB advanced in speech. The performances at various points had the audience silent in rapt attention or outright laughing. The Gracenotes, a vocal choir, opened the show with a performance of The Seal Lullaby, followed by Black Rode the Wind. The quiet, sad-sounding lullaby was offset by the jaunty sound of the sec-

ond performance. The sulky, pouty and foot-stamping performance of Taylor Roth, Emily Whipple and Kiersten Brittan, as their characters refused to say goodbye, had the packed house chuckling in laughter, but Dacia Gramlick’s strong, operatic voice silenced any remaining chuckles. Her voice, without the aid of a microphone, carried to the furthest levels of the audience without an issue. In “I Really, Really Love You,” Jaycee Davidson, who received the highest mark in musical theatre, used her voice, facial expression and gestures to perform a oneperson act of a stalker in

love with her obsession. The performance started out sweetly, with Davidson at a table singing about love, but degenerated into a crazy, arm and leg flailing performance that showed the character’s dip into insanity. The second half of the show opened with the amazing performance by Issac, Schubert, Rosanne and Roy Hernando. The four played the piano all at once, but throughout the performance of the song, individuals would get up and undertake certain tasks. At one point, only one person was left on the piano – throughout the song, members of the act rode a unicycle, dusted, juggled, applied makeup,

poked and prodded their sibling, and more. Gramlick again wowed the audience with a chilling musical theatre performance. As she paced the stage to a cradle, carrying a child, she sang about how the child looked like his father, who had left them. When the song completed, the audience was stunned into silence, as the beautiful song’s words made it clear the mother couldn’t love her child because of the resemblance to the father, and it had broken her heart. Jennifer Taylor, who took highest mark in piano, impressed the audience with her performance of Bach’s Prelude

and Fugue in B flat major. As her hands danced over the keys, the audience listened in rapt silence. Closing the show as they had opened it, the Gracenotes once again took stage. Unlike the choral opening, the musical theatre act that closed out the show was a humourous performance of “Trashin’ the Camp.” More than 700 entrants competed in the ten-day festival, which has grown from its original three-day format when it started in 1969. More than 100 volunteers annually contribute their time to make the festival flow as seamlessly as possible, and more than $10,000 are given out in scholarships.

Stettler’s fifth graders score big in science fair

Contributed photo

Authors of successful results at the Central Alberta Regional Science Fair: Back row (l to r): Cassidy UnKauf, Hanna Moon, Faith Shuckburgh, Kyla Johnston, and Carly Jones; front row (l to r): Jaden Norman, Chloe Strohschein, Rylee Frank, Katie, Satre, Nicholas Deaver, Emma Werbowesky, Elisa Collard, and Hailie Ripley; missing is Jenna Vowles.

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Submitted Stettler Elementary School fifth graders achieved spectacular results at the Central Alberta Regional Science Fair (CARSF) on Friday and Saturday, April 11 and 12, at the Bower Place Mall in Red Deer. They won a gold medal, two silver medals, four bronze medals, and certificates, as well as other prizes. The students competed in the grade 5/6 category, and had seven of the top 12 projects. “We are proud of our students’ excellent results. They were competing against a total of 26 projects that were the best from across central Alberta,” said grade 5 science teacher, Rob Howell. “Our students successfully competed against many students a grade ahead of them. Their adherence to the scientific method, and their effective use of technology allowed them to compete at such a high level.” Howell was speaking on behalf of fellow Grade 5 science teachers Carmen Fox, Bonnie Lynn, and Stefan Olafson. Faith Shuckburgh won a gold medal, a certificate, and an award from the Red Deer River Naturalists for her project on “Five seconds to a stomach ache.” She grew bacterial cultures from food that had fallen on the floor.

Hailie Ripley and Jenna Vowles won silver medals, certificates, and $50.00 each from the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) for their project on “Brawny Bridges. Rylee Frank and Katie Satre won silver medals and certificates for their project on “Cool mint.” Winning bronze medals and certificates were Jaden Norman and Chloe Strohschein for their project on “Water effects”; Elisa Collard and Emma Werbowesky for “Who wants popcorn?”; Nicholas Deaver for “Sports drinks: Are they worth it?”; and Cassidy UnKauf and Hanna Moon for “Stormy tsunamis.” Kyla Johnston and Carly Jones won an award from the Red Deer River Naturalists for their project on “Melting ice.” “Students integrated knowledge from all core subjects to create their project. They then had to analyze what the information and data they collected meant to reach conclusions that had practical applications to society,” Howell said. “We were pleased as staff to see the passion our students showed in completing their projects. The skills they have learned will serve them well as they progress through life.”