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tartan tttstftnj air conomomng systems 191wesngbnelw7 itrihm 4711748 craftsmanship tlif imiilli tribune community for free 2 propern j eyaiuatioh 1 cailiammtt 6404960 remax imperial realty ltd serving whitchurchstouffville uxbridge and area a metroland community newspaper wednesday june 1 1988 rouge badge ot course twenty boys from st johns school of ontario battled winds and strong currents to canoe the rouge river this is the story of their perseverence brian snelgrove correspondent twentyone paddles slice through the rough water in perfect har mony the three wooden canoes lurch forward as the travellers fight strong currents and a biting westerly wind moments later the canoeists ease onto the sandy beach of milne lake park wet cold and exhausted they are also triumphant the paddlers who landed at the park last wednesday afternoon are students from saint johns school of ontario in claremont accompa nied by three teachers the 18 grade 9 students were completing a twoday school project which had begun under sunny skies at 9 the previous morning they set off from the mouth of the rouge river at frenchmans bay in pickering historical trip k this wasnt really a canoe trip as much as it was an historical trip explained headmaster mike maunder we were trying to dupli cate an event which the students read about during one of our history i classes t in 1794 documents show that william berczy the founder of mar- r had tried to establish a trade route from lake ontario to mar- fiham he continued in fact reports suggest that he paddled the rouge river identical to the 20mile course that weve just completed ij the students researched the feasibility of this at public libraries discussed it with local historians and conservation authorities and talked to government engineers the school decided to see if we could recreate a feat that supposedly occurred almost 200 years ago x the journey was not really unique for the students or staff at saint johns every year for the past six or seven years the school has embarked on a canoe trip usually in the early autumn previous sites have included georgian bay french river and quetico provincial jark this is the first time however that the adventurers have chosen a local destination ideal location daniel horner left russell marshall brian albisser and darren sayers paddle upstream on the rouge river near markham the boys are stu dents of st johns school of ontario in claremont they take a canoe trip every year this years was an 18mile trek up the rouge river from frenchmans bay in pickering we considered the humber and don rivers maunder continued but they arent really canoe routes besides the historical signifi cance and recent political debate surrounding the rouge river made it an ideal location the students were very keen on the idea the trip was by no means an easy feat according to the headmaster who also teaches history at the school the journey consisted of appro ximately six miles of paddling six of portaging and six of pulling and scraping the canoes over rocks and through shallow water the route took the students north into scarborough and the rouge hills around the metro toronto zoo past new subdivisions and golf courses and finally to the entrance to milne lake billy bishop headed up the student team which did most of the research for the project but was unable to take part due to a broken wrist i didnt think they would get it done he said its extremely rocky if berczy did do it he probably used flat narrow boats not canoes brian albisser coordinated the fourman student map team and took part in the actual trip we thought it would be like a walk around the block he commented it sure wasnt we mapped out the exact route and distance 188 miles the por tage locations the break spots overnight camping and so on one of the portages ended up being three or four miles long through heavy bush im beat my socks are soaked you never could keep dry it was great for this group of kids continued maunder they really pulled together as a unit somebody would stumble and fall theyd pick him up and keep going student rob fordham of mar kham thought the trip would en tail more paddling we ended up dragging the canoes and portag ing a lot he said ive never carried a canoe before its ex tremely tiring the historical significance not withstanding the future of the rouge river has become a con temporary political issue that was the second aspect of the trip explained maunder we also study current issues such as urban development the political process is important and this gives the students an oppor tunity to assess the pros and cons of the situation and make their own decisions most students had mixed feelings about their experience from a so cial or political perspective we saw lots of wildlife beav ers racoons geese and so on said rob i think they should leave it as it is needs cleaning chris hodgson another student participant agreed they should preserve it he said its very scenic with lots of fish and birds fellow canoeist brandon mcdo nald wasnt so sure theres tracks and animals he ex plained but they could change some parts of it theres also dumps and rustedout abandoned cars on monday the students had an opportunity to express their views and learn more about the political issues at a public meeting on rouge river development at markham district high school theyve also invited local resi dents to come out tomorrow to grace anglican church where the boys will answer questions about their journey theyll be avail able from 730 pm while the future of the rouge is still open to debate the successful trip has not cleared up an equally muddled past did berczy and his men paddle up the shallow rocky rouge river no way said brandon i dont think he could have ever used it as a trade route its pretty rough we found a map which showed a sketch of a proposed canal route dated in 1796 countered the headmaster the governor at the time john graves simcoe was against the idea as it would detour traffic from the hub at york toronto the canal never happened but it is possible that berczy made the trip up the rouge berczys journey the trip by saint johns stu dents has demonstrated that de bate and controversy surround ing the rouge is not exactly a re cent phenomenon this trip was a combination historical and political awareness event explained lynda hutt director of public relations for the school it really is education in action twentyone cold weary canoeists would agree im going home for a long hot bath concluded alaunder it was a terrific experience but i wouldnt want to do it all over again tomorrow brian early photo above left lugs two backpacks along a portage stu dents at st johns school of ontario canoed up the rouge river to markham in the centre photo chris hodgson scott card daniel horner todd price and staff member michael hutt carry a canoe the 18mile route included 6 miles of portaging getting ready to push off photo above right are from left daniel horner staff member paul edwards brian albisser and michael hutt the boys successfully completed their journey last wednesday tammy timms left ii and her sisters shannon 9 and danielle 8 danced in rock around the clock the ance 88 jim thomas ballantrae dancers shine by kate gilderdale friday nights performance 88 which featured the ballantrae studio of music and dance and friends was a delightful program of dance magic and lively music director loretana maiuri had her team of youngsters displaying their talents in both ballet and jazz routines the baby bunnies with three- and fouryearold students michelle darby andrea hoover elizabeth mariani hannah norrie kristina pyziak dawn van seters leah turner and anna warren had the audi ence smiling with their hopping and skipping and their occasional missed cue a breezy jazz routine called hands up got the evening off to a flying start students jill avery kylie gornall michelle leonard tracey leonard danielle timms shannon timms tammy timms and kathy twiddy ended their dance with a cheery message inviting the audience to sit back and enjoy the show four senior students heather avery lianc beam michelle reis and natalie rcid performed a softly lyrical ballet entitled falling leaves while brooke biggs stacey biggs joanna fast courtney morehouse and jessie tinker entertained with the exuberant spoon full of sugar nineyearold rebecca morrison proved that she could both dance and act in the fastpaced solo kiss polka both rebecca norrie and kathy twiddy danced with poise and grace in the flowing gavott with nancy cummings richardsons talented highland dancers erin churchill jenny lunncy kathcrinc shearman and vicky williamson adding dash and lightning to the stirring accompaniment of bflcdldcs country ballet featured jill avery alcxisc dodd rebecca norrie and kathy twiddy dancing with energy and cnthusism to the strains of who s afraid of the big bad wolf while shakespeare the magician wove his skilful magic for the audience the final dance was the spirited rock around the clock and the evening ended en a high note with and spectators joining vocal forces in the carpenters sing a song r6n jretirefelgr5 s a two bands compare notes c12