Montague Intermediate Grade 7 student Lily Levesque has received second place in the PEI Association for Newcomers anti-racism competition. Lily wrote a poem about American civil rights activist Rosa Parks. Lily is the daughter of Sandra MacKay of Montague. Jonathan Charlton photo   The Rosa Parks Poem In 1955, when Rosa Parks sat the world was changing with no turning back While she was sitting, she was taking a stand for black people’s rights and a promising new land She understood fairness and what freedom means and like Dr King, she dreamed a dream All of this happened on a normal city bus, Rosa joined the movement and left the ...

Hospice PEI joins over 25 associations across Canada to champion April 16th as National Advance Care Planning Day, a day of awareness and action for Canadians. “Most of us hope to die peacefully and able to communicate with others until the very end, but death usually doesn’t occur this way,” says Dr. Mireille Lecours, the Provincial Palliative Care Medical Consultant for PEI. “Advance Care Planning helps designate others who follow your wishes about end of life care when the time comes when you are unable to make those decisions for yourself”. Hospice PEI offers an education program to assist the public and ...

A recent breakfast at Montague High and Kate’s Cafe saw a total of 114 breakfasts served and raised almost $500. The money will go towards the estimated $45,000 price tag associated with the Canadian Student Leadership Conference MRHS will host this fall. “Kate even donated the tips she got,” Sandra Hicken, a teacher at MRHS and co-organizer of the conference said. The annual conference promotes leadership activities in high schools across Canada and will see about 1,000 participants come to Montague in September. Mrs Hicken said the students who participated in the fundraiser are already well on their way to becoming community leaders. “There were ...

Just one week after fire destroyed Myers Industries’ maintenance shop on Union Road the business is operational once again. Last Wednesday worker Ryan MacNeil heard someone shout “FIRE.” He saw, “one big ball of black smoke. Out of the top, out of the doors, everywhere.” Employees and friends managed to get a tractor, two trucks, and a heavy duty trailer out of the burning structure. “The shop was fully engulfed in less than 10 minutes,” owner Garth Myers said. Most of the tools and other equipment were destroyed. “Thank heavens nobody was hurt,” Mr Myers said. “The outpouring of offers to help is unbelievable.” Maintenance ...

Montague Summer Days has a record $15,000 taxpayer-funded budget but organizers are still asking for donations from businesses. Councillor Peggy MacLeod is looking for a total of around $25,000 to fulfill her ambitions. Those include booking two-time ECMA winner Catherine MacLellan, more impressive fireworks, a piping band from Summerside, professional log rollers and a bouncy kingdom. The idea is to make the festival more fun, interesting and enjoyable for the public and tourists. “I hope to have a better Summer Days this year,” she said. Some of the costs for that sort of entertainment have increased this year, Coun MacLeod said. The budget has fluctuated, she ...

The closure of Mariner Seafoods in Brudenell will leave about 100 plant workers without jobs this spring. Some workers received phone calls from the fish processing plant back in March asking if they’d return to work but a second call early this week reneged on any job offers. Mariner processed snow crab, rock crab, lobster, hake, herring, flounder, and scallops. Beverley Blaisdell of Upton, who worked for Mariner last year, said the news is short notice. “I got a call about three weeks to a month ago asking if I was going back to work,” she said. “It’s very disappointing” Ms Blaisdell has already put ...

Employees at D&G Autobody in New Perth have seen their share of rusty, dented and smashed up cars. For 34 years, the full service collision and refinishing shop has been turning damaged or rusted out cars and trucks into road-ready vehicles that look like new. And now that government has implemented mandatory safety inspections on rebuilt or salvaged vehicles, D&G Autobody anticipates their services will be in demand more than ever. Lorne Butler has been managing the shop for 15 years. He thinks the salvage inspection program is smart move and long overdue. “A lot of people were buying rigs that weren’t being fixed ...

The North East Community Alliance will hold its 1st Annual General Meeting April 16 at 6:30 pm at the Fortune Community Centre and will feature local ambassador and special guest speaker Chef Michael Smith. NECA invites all local residents to attend to help support not only NECA but also the development and growth in this part of the province. “We need to work as a larger and collective community to help with restoration of North East PEI. This is something that cannot be done alone and we need the residents of all the communities to band together to help rebuild this area. ...

This time of year, potholes are a plague on many PEI roads. Maintenance crews can try to fill them in, but the fractures in the pavement inevitably reappear in no time. So there’s better than even odds that you’ve heard and felt that dreaded, spine-snapping ka-thunk while driving down the road. And if that has happened, you may have sustained some damage to the front end of your car, either in the suspension or alignment. The staff at Kings County Chrysler in Brudenell have seen a lot of alignment issues this spring. This is happening at the same time drivers are switching their winter tires ...