Grey County

OWEN SOUND -- Ontario high school students are concerned about their education and their future. During four days in early March 300 students gathered in Owen Sound to express these concerns.

It was part of Mosaic 97, a conference organized by the Ontario Secondary School Students Association. During the conference, students attended workshops, held forums, wrote reports and talked with leaders of companies and post- secondary institutions. On the closing day, they were visited by The Honorable John Snobelen, Ontario Minister of Education and Training. The students asked Mr. Snobelen questions about the future of education in Ontario.

Some of the issues included large class sizes, losing arts programs and joining school boards (see story on page 1). The students worked on a report that will be sent to the provincial government. The Association is recognized by the government as the official student body of high school students.

This year's conference attracted students from Grey, Bruce, Huron, Perth, Oxford, Elgin and Middlesex counties, as well as the cities of London and Ottawa, Mico Devos, a student at Stratford Central Secondary School, was this year's conference organizer. She says "Mosaic" was picked as this year's theme to reflect the different multicultural groups in Canada..

"It is fulfilling to be able to share information from student to student this way. The skills we learn are useful to help us do anything in everyday life," she says.

Scott Morley, a London high school student, agrees the leadership training is a valuable focus. He is the regional president of the Association and has attended the conference for the last- four years. He hopes the skills he has learned will help him become a politician one day.

"I have no trouble right now dealing with politicians and giving speeches. The skills I've developed have helped me with every aspect of communication."

HANOVER -- Folk singer laura Smith received a standing ovation when she recently played to about 100 people in the area.

She came to Hanover March 4 after being invited by the Walkerton Performing Arts Group. The audience loved listening to some old favorites from her album "b'tween the earth and my soul". She also sang several songs from her new recording "It's a Personal Thing." This new C.D. will be released this month.

Laura Smith was born and raised in London, Ontario, but developed most of her material after moving to Nova Scotia. She has won two East Coast Music Awards and has been nominated for two Canadian Juno Awards. Just before coming to Hanover, she won a Gemini Award (Canadian television) for her performance "My Bonny" at the 1995 Govenor General's Award Gala.

GODERICH -- The former warden of Huron County is now a rich man. Bill Clifford won the grand prize in the Heart and Stroke lottery in February. The prize was $1 million!

Mr. Clifford is currently the Reeve of Goderich. He has been active in local politics for over 20 years.

He was Huron County Warden in 1996. He is married and owns a real estate company.

The cheque was presented to him by Steve Smith, area coordinator for the Perth and Huron chapters of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. This was the first time the foundation held a lottery to raise money for heart and stroke research.

There were 185,000 tickets sold for $ 1.00 each. There were two other million dollar winners and many other smaller prizes. The other two winners were from the Toronto area.

Mr. Clifford said he planned to take a trip with his wife, but didn't think the money would change his commitment to local activities.