http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/ Arts & Life brought to you by Tbnewswatch.com Sun, 26 May 2013 00:24:38 GMT 5 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/images/tbnewswatchlogo.JPG http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/ http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=281516 Ryan Mackie hopes his sons will follow in his footsteps. As regional manager for a local mining lab, he has watched the mining industry grow in Thunder Bay over the past five years. On Saturday, he had a chance to show his two sons all the industry has to offer as they checked out the first Mining Day at Marina Park. “Getting them into it,” Mackie said. “It will hopefully help them pursue it later in life.” While only four and six, his sons were more interested in the bouncy castle and helicopter that were part of more than 40 booths at the event, Mackie said they were also interested in the drills and other equipment on display. Organizer Bob Chataway said getting the public to see an industry that’s helping the region grow is important because most of the activity happens in the bush. “We thought we’d bring the show to town so people can see what actually goes on,” he said. Some companies, like Cliffs Natural Resources, estimate that there could be 100 years of mining in the region. That’s why it’s important to introduce the industry to young people Chataway said. They could start off with a summer job as a student and eventually become a professional in the industry. “It’s a good career,” he said. Sat, 25 May 2013 17:02:36 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=281516 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=281280 Jacline Abray-Nyman’s presidential vision is to tackle the root causes of social problems. The United Way Centraide president and CEO addressed a crowd of about 200 people Thursday at the United Way of Thunder Bay’s President’s Luncheon at the Valhalla Inn. “People have known the United Way for a long time. We’re almost 100 years old in Canada and people remember the United Way in its old model, which was we fundraise. We raise the money, we give it away,” Abray-Nyman said. The organization has changed dramatically since its inception. “We really are a convener and a collaborator. We pull people together, different agencies and organizations. Government we pull together. We can pull together universities and colleges and school systems, boards of education, police and other social services to see what are those core issues,” she said. “Really convene the right people around the table to develop programs to really address the root causes of those problems,” she added. There are more than 100 United Way branches across the country and they each work autonomously as non-profit organizations run by a local board of directors. Abray-Nyman said the Thunder Bay United Way has been incredibly successfully, raising $2.5 million and investing that in the community in the last year. “The United Way invests in community impact,” she said. “These aren’t simple problems.” She noted not only does the United Way play a key role in bringing parties together, but it also makes sure to invest wisely by making evidence-based investments and fundamentally changing communities for the better. “The United Way across the country raises and invests over half a billion dollars in 100 communities across the nation. Canadians have come to know us and count on us,” Abray-Nyman said. Fri, 24 May 2013 10:18:25 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=281280 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=281156 The Quetico Centre near Atikokan is getting new life as a private high school. Education worker Michael Heaton has purchased the facility, and plans to have Quetico College School up and running by the fall. Quetico Centre was a top-notch retreat and conference facility before it went into receivership in 2006.  Since then it's been mostly vacant, except for a few special events and activities. Heaton purchased it for $1.3 million, and has been busy getting it ready for September. The Toronto native spent five summers at the Quetico Centre in the 1970s, and also started his teaching career in Atikokan. He says the facility will have 30 students and seven teachers, and will be the only private high school in Northwestern Ontario. Along with a beautiful setting, Heaton says it's perfectly suited for a school. Heaton also plans to add a BMX park for students to use. Tuition for the school will be $39,500 per year, which Heaton says is in line with private school tuitions in the Toronto area. (Thunder Bay Television) Fri, 24 May 2013 01:14:09 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=281156 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280954 Chris Inniss doesn’t think he would have been able to put together a good business plan when he was in high school. Now in charge of small business for TD in Thunder Bay, Inniss was one of five judges for Thunder Bay Ventures’ Enter the Den: High School Business Plan Competition Wednesday afternoon at Hammarskjold High School. Inniss was impressed with what he heard from the five finalists. “It’s really cool what some of the kids are doing and will do soon,” he said. “Some ideas I wouldn’t have thought of.” The students were being judged on a number of criteria including the quality of their overall plan, how realistic the financials were and any challenges they could foresee. “We were surprised of what we thought of that they had an answer for right away. They’re really hitting the key issues,” said Inniss. The caliber of applications the annual competition receives had been steadily improving each year, said Johnny DeBakker, chair of Thunder Bay Ventures’ education committee. “We’re really excited that our past winners have gone on to start their businesses or continue their existing businesses with money they’ve won from this event and are actually doing quite well,” he said. The purpose of Enter the Den is to raise the awareness of entrepreneurship amongst young people, said DeBakker. “We’re trying to sort of promote the idea that people don’t need to go out and get a job, you can go out and create a job,” he said. “There are a lot of different avenues available for people to get funding to start these careers.” “Your creative ideas can turn into cash for the rest of your life,” he added. The first place winner receives $1,500. Second place gets $1,000 and third place takes  home $500. DeBakker said they can use the money however they like – for their business, for post-secondary education or even to celebrate a job well done. Wed, 22 May 2013 17:14:15 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280954 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280859 A group of volunteers is trying to keep nearly 100 acres behind the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital as clean, public green space. Winston Loh, Dan Morrison and Joanne Valley all began cleaning up the area behind the LPH about a year ago. They organized a cleanup event last year that had about 25 people participate. The volunteers cleaned up various trash, discarded bottles and gifts from the local pet population. The trio hopes to keep the space near Boulevard Lake untouched, but there’s a plan to turn the clearing into residential space once the LPH closes its doors for good. The decision to move ahead with any development will ultimately fall onto the province. Loh said they hope to convince the province to keep it as green space. “As we’ve seen in the last couple of years there does seem to be a shortage in housing and we know city planners are trying for more dense and urban intensification,” he said. “We’re in an agreement with that. We’d really like to see an intensification of the urban fabric in this neighbourhood but we would like to see that before coming into a green space and cutting down trees in order to build houses on it.” Loh is also seeking help from the city in order to change the zoning. Although Thunder Bay has a lot of green space, Loh argues that the city only owns a few that are near homes. He believes the area behind the LPH is used more compared to other green spaces such as Centennial Park. “It is in walking distance for people,” he said. “People can come out here and walk their dog after work. In other areas it isn’t as easy to do that.” The group plans host another clean up event on Saturday at 10 a.m. Wed, 22 May 2013 10:40:05 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280859 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280946 Bob Maine is looking at a row of houses where he used to run. The first student president of Hammarskjold High School remembers that when the school first opened 50 years ago, it didn’t have a gym. Instead the physical education classes were held across Clarkson Street. For football practice, they’d have to be bused to nearby Lakehead University. “I remember a lot of water leaks, lots of things weren’t set up yet,” he said Wednesday as hundreds of current students gathered with former classes to celebrate the school’s 50th. “There’s been some great changes to this building and it’s nice to be back and walk around and see the students that are here now.” Of course Main had plenty of opportunity to visit the school over the years as basketball coach for Churchill. But Wednesday was important for the retired teacher to reflect on all that’s been accomplished since he left. Current president Emma Tranter said it meant a lot to hear stories from people like Main. “It feels awesome to be part of something like this…a history I care so much about,” she said. For Tranter and her fellow students, the school is about way more than just a place to go every day. The people and the events make it a huge part of their lives. “Everyone who comes here every day I couldn’t imagine a better place to come and learn,” she said. And while it’s a long way off, Tranter is looking forward to being remembered as the 50 th anniversary president when the school celebrates a century. “I love this school and I can’t imagine missing something as important as that,” she said. Students gathered in front of the school for a photograph before celebrating the milestone with a barbeque. The school has a much larger celebration planned for this summer. A 50th anniversary reunion is scheduled for Aug. 16-18 with a variety of events being planned. Former students are encouraged to register online to participate. Wed, 22 May 2013 17:21:51 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280946 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280497 Chris Hadfield is back on earth following his mission on the International Space Station, but the astronaut's charm has students across the country still looking up at the stars. Kelly Green teaches Grade 6 at Odgen Community Public School. She decided to incorporate Hadfield’s popular YouTube videos into her science lesson plan back in October in hopes of engaging her pupils more. Using a smartboard, the teacher shows all the various videos Hadfield posted online from the space station. “They were so wowed that they could see somebody in a cupola and in the background is Earth,” she said. “That was really amazing. My kids didn’t know what ISS was at the beginning. Now that he is back on Earth, we can take things further. We’re following the effects on his body, how long it is going to take him to recover. I think there’s still a lot more to come.” Hadfield also caught the students’ attention when he joined Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies to sing from the ISS. Green said that captured the hearts of her students. “I had one girl who said that she felt so sad after listening to the song because she was feeling how he must feel being away from home,” she said. “They really connected with that.” Most schools are starting to incorporate inquiry based learning, which encourages students to ask more in depth questions. Green says Hadfield’s space mission helped in achieving that goal. But it wasn’t just science that Green used Hadfield for. She also used the famous YouTube song for her students to look at the various poetic devices and many of the children’s art pieces, which hung across the classroom, featured space. “He’s purposely connecting with the kids,” she said. “He’s relating what’s going on in a way that’s at their level and anyone’s level. He’s done an amazing job.” Jadyn Jensen, a Grade 6 student in Green’s class, said he thought he knew a lot about space but that was before he learned about what Hadfield was doing at the ISS. The 11-year-old said he surprised to learn how often people go up into space. “It’s just interesting on how people use to think that space travel would never be possible and now it is super possible,” he said. “The songs had a lot of information in them about space travel and they were just interesting. The song was great.” Jadyn’s classmate Alistair Fuzzen also thought the Barenaked Ladies song was good and added that his father was a big fan of the group. The 12-year-old said he learned that the Hadfield’s space shuttle traveled faster than a speeding bullet and then orbits the Earth about 14 times. He added that it was interesting to know that people do go into space and hoped that in the future humanity could go even further in space exploration. Mon, 20 May 2013 11:03:38 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280497 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280749 The Youth Dragon Boat Festival set for Saturday has been cancelled because of high water levels and flood threats. The Lakehead Canoe Club cancelled the event after consulting with the City of Thunder Bay and the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority. Boulevard Lake is at high levels and the Current River isn’t expected to crest in another 24 hours, making it unsafe to run practices this week or hold the festival on Saturday. Organizers regret they have to make this decision and know the participants will be disappointed. Twelve teams were registered. Tue, 21 May 2013 15:07:50 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=280749