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www.gregmonforton.com Volume 3, Issue 13
Weekend Weather Thursday
H 19º L 13º
Friday
H 13º L 1º
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Meat canners getting ready for 14th year in Leamington By Bryan Jessop
Saturday
H 11º L 3º
Sunday
H 9º L 1º
As reported from Environment Canada www.weatheroffice.gc.ca Harrow AAFC
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The ‘can do’ attitude is returning to Leamington. For the 14th year the Mennonite Central Committee’s annual meat canning project is making a local stop, beginning April 30 and running until May 4. The Meat Canner Leamington committee has again made arrangements to bring the canning machine to the H.J. Heinz grading station on Sherk Street, where hundreds of volunteers will converge to can 38,000 pounds of chicken by hand over the five-day period. The canner will be supervised by four qualified canner operators — also volunteers — for each day’s hours of operation; 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. For the first time, the Leamington committee will be canning chicken. Originally, the group utilized beef, but the mad cow scare of the early 2000s forced them to switch to turkey. This year’s switch was motivated by the faltering economy convincing more consumers to purchase turkey, which in turn drove up its prices. Another change for this year’s program is the schedule. In the past, the canning process covered a four-day range to can 30,000 pounds of meat compared to 2012’s five-day stretch that will allow the preparation of the extra 8,000 pounds in collaboration with a group from Elmira. When the Leamington group first started 14 years ago, it canned 15,000 (Continued on Page 3)
www.southpointsun.ca
Martens one of 28 Canadians to receive Caring Canadian Award By Bryan Jessop
Years of lending a helping hand both locally and abroad have earned national honours for a Leamington man. William Martens, who retired from Leamington District Secondary School as a chemistry teacher in 1996, was one of 28 Canadians to receive the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award. The honours were highlighted during a ceremony in Ottawa’s Rideau Hall Tuesday, April 17, conducted by the Right Honourable Governor General David Johnston. The Caring Canadians Awards have been an annual event since 1995 and this year, were the first to be handed out by Johnston. “It was a first-class event,” said Martens. “It was very well done and extremely well organized — they did Canada proud. The Governor General was very gracious. It was a wonderful experience.” For the three years from 1963 to ’66, Martens volunteered his services with the Mennonite Central Committee to teach chemistry in Ilorin, Nigeria, the only time he has lived outside of the Leamington area. Afterwards, he taught English as a foreign language at bible and church colleges in Kigoma and Mwanza, Tanzania. Within these two communities, he taught at three separate institutions, 13 times in Kigoma and 10
times in Mwanza for four to five weeks each annual trip. He has made the voyage to Africa every year since the early 1980s and continues to do so one or two times per year. Locally, Martens has volunteered with the Canadian Food Grains Growing Committee and the Mennonite Meat Canner Leamington Committee. For the latter, he has coordinated hundreds of volunteers for shifts of canning meat by hand to benefit the citizens of underprivileged countries around the world. He has also helped integrate hundreds of refugees into Canadian society by teaching English as a second language. While teaching at LDSS, Martens coached a chess team that went on to win numerous regional and provincial tournaments. Currently, the 71-year-old retiree is still playing chess and is teaching a local family the Canadian Citizenship Course in preparation for its citizenship test. He also continues to offer his time in support of Leamington’s United Mennonite Church. The Governor General’s Caring Canadian Awards were conducted in conjunction with National Volunteer Week, April 15 to 21. The 28 nominees were treated to complimentary airfare, hotel accommodations and a luncheon for the ceremony, where each recipient was given a certificate and lapel pin. The pins depict a maple leaf with an integrated heart above an outreached hand,
William Martens displays the certificate and lapel pin he received during the Apr. 17 Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award ceremony at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall. (SUN Photo)
symbolizing the Canadian people’s spirit, the openheartedness of volunteers and boundless generosity, respectively. Although the awards were first bestowed upon Canadian citizens in 1995, 2012 marks the first time in several years that anyone has been chosen for the honour. The criteria for nominees was changed last year. Martens was informed of his nomination through a phone call received about one month prior to the ceremony. His name was sub-
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mitted for nomination by Anna Klassen, who recruited three individuals - each well known to Martens - to write letters of recommendation and submit them to the Governor General’s office. “I didn’t believe it at first,” Martens said of receiving the call from Ottawa. “At first, I thought it was a crank phone call. I feel honoured to be nominated. I can think of many others who should receive an equal award. It feels good to be acknowledged.”
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