A Charlotte County Christmas…

By CHUCK BROWN
(With apologies to John Mason Neale and Good King Wenceslas)

Good King Jed Purcell looked out, over good St. Stephen
Potholes they lay all about, deep and most uneven.
Brightly shone a thought that night, though the banks were cruel
When a premier came in sight, setting costs for fu-u-el.

“Hither Hendrik, stand by me, King Jed told his town clerk
Yonder premier, what’s his deal? Why is he such a jerk?”
“Worship, he’s from Fredericton, capital of N.B.
He’s the guy who rules this place, you can call him Shaw-aw-ny.”

“Will he help us fix the roads, if we ask him nicely?
And my heat bill is a load, could he come de-ice me?”
Mayor and clerk they set off fast, to ask for some money,
But the premier told the two, go jump into Fu-un-dy.

Our friends in the U.S.A., way across the border
Aren’t so friendly now-a-days, always snapping orders.
We just want our milk and gas, no need for a report.
There’s one question they must ask, Do you have a pa-ass-port?

In St. Andrews, Johnny Craig, fretted over water
He spoke out on everything, cause he thought he oughta
Jamer’s quarry, L-N-G, any cause he’ll take it
If he doesn’t understand, he’ll just have to fa-ake it.

Cruise down country, there you’ll find, fish and chips and Doucet
He’s got energy to burn, and Lord knows we’ll use it.
St. George is the new boom town, everything is there now.
Subway, cop shop even Tim’s, in that tiny tow-ow-own.

Look way up to Ottawa, Harper’s still in power.
Our man Thompson’s by his side, for at least the next hour.
But the others want them gone, formed a coalition,
Call it courage, call them fools, but they’re on a mi-i-sion.

Back here in our small-town homes, we’re just glad it’s Christmas
If we were anywhere else, surely we would miss this.
Friends and family warm our hearts, and in peace we can sleep
And we’re thankful for their warmth, cause that oil ain’t che-ee-eap.

FEEDBACK

Good morning all the way from Calgary AB ,where its a cool -14 brrrr !! I want to thank you, so much for putting The Saint Croix Courier online. I'm getting a paper
sent to me too and I can catch up on news here. I'm missing home at times and wonder what's going on, this way I don't have to wonder (oh so much). I can come on here and see it. It's a treat I will enjoy having and I don't have to watch the calories ahah.
Keep up the good work, Keep up the great pictures.
Have a good day
Kelly G

You may already be a senator!

Hey, the prime minister just handed out a whack of appointments to these $134,000-a-year, pension-for-life, indexed-for-inflation positions. You could be one of them!

DVD REVIEW: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

3.5 stars out of 5

JOHN GARDNER
This Week on DVD

The Emperor is dead, or is he?
The first emperor (played by martial arts expert Jet Li) of China has it all. He has conquered the seven kingdoms. He has built a system of defences, and can field a million man army, but it all only lasts so long.
Enter the comely witch played by Michelle Yeoh. Lusted after by the emperor, and won by his general. The emperor gets the ultimate prize, eternal life, but at a cost.
Skip ahead a couple thousand years to the late 1940s. Rick and Evelyn O'Connell have retired from the life of excitement they once knew. It's been over 20 years since Rick and Evelyn first battled the mummy in The Mummy. Rick (with Brendan Fraser in his third appearance as the adventurer) is learning how relaxing fishing can be while Evelyn (now played by American actress Maria Bello) is promoting her second book and struggling with her third. Their palatial English manor house is as comfortable a place as you can imagine for relaxing with your feet up, but the couple is bored with the genteel life.
The O'Connell son, Alex, is off at university. Or so his parents think until they run into him in his uncle Jonathan's bar in Shanghai (John Hannah reprises the role, with comedic flare). Alex is now making some very exciting discoveries of his own, and is just about to announce to the world what he has found – a discovery so great that he will no longer be known as Rick and Evelyn's son, but they will be known as his parents.
Now, with all the major players together for the first time in the movie, the real fun begins. The mummy is trying to raise his army again and the O'Connells are trying to stop him.
The chase scene through the crowded streets of Shanghai is made all the more lively by a moving pyrotechnic display, a 2000-year-old emperor driving a cart with killer hubcaps, and a fresh take to the term “headless horse man”.
Director Rob Cohen makes ample use of the classic scenery that is China. The Great Wall, the terra cotta army, even the 1940's style China map. There is no mistaking where this is. That having been said, you also have to remember that although Cohen takes advantage of the history of the region, this story in no way pretends to be historically accurate. The Terra Cotta Army does exist, but was not found until 1974. The Great Wall did exist at the time of Emperor Han, but was rebuilt into what we would recognize today about 1,400 years later. It was also interesting to note that one of the most unbelievable things in the movie was the various traps which protected the tomb, even though they did exist, and to this day slow work on excavating the site.
Although Bello was panned in her role as Evelyn, not having seen the first two mummy movies, I could not compare. Personally I thought she worked very well.
The movie has a very strong flavour of Indiana Jones with it's1940s adventuring spirit. The excavations were monumental in scale, with more weapons built into the scenes than a James Bond Aston Martin. I am giving this movie 3.5 stars, just because of the pilot with no self-respect. Yetis doing happy dances, and a yakking yak.
The movie is listed as PG-13 for violence.

Movies for this week on DVD are provided by Movie Gallery in St. Stephen.

Vincent Massey Elementary holds Christmas concert

For more pics, see the Saint Croix Courier, Tuesday, Dec. 23

Barb Rayner photos

Hey kids!

Guess what SANTA BROUGHT!

COMMUNITY SUPPORTS WOUNDED SOLDIER, FAMILY

John Gardner/Courier
Lisa McKinney, centre, holds one of the many yellow ribbons being worn in the community as a show of support for her boyfriend, Pte. Christopher Deering, who was wounded last weekend in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. Friends Erin Gullison, left, and Jessica Brown helped make the ribbons.


By KATHY BOCKUS
kathy@stcroixcourier.ca

ST. STEPHEN – Yellow ribbons have sprouted up all around town tied on lampposts, street signs, porch pillars and trees.
The ribbons are a message of support and prayer for Chris (Rooney) Deering, son of Greg and Patty Deering, who was seriously wounded in a blast from an improvised explosive device on Saturday, Dec.12 that killed three other soldiers on duty with him in Afghanistan. All four were based at CFB Gagetown with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment.
Leah Nixon, her husband Norman, and friend Heather Wilcox, were out in the middle of a major snowstorm Wednesday, Dec. 17, tying ribbons on basically everything that wasn’t moving.
Their children, Zack and Samantha Nixon and Joel and Megan Wilcox, were on the same school wrestling teams with Deering for years.
“They’ve all been such a tight knit group for so long,” said Leah Nixon. “My oldest son Zack and Chris grew up together. They’ve been wrestling together for years. They graduated together. They’re very close.”
Nixon said Deering’s nickname from his wrestling days is “Rooney”, a name his friends still use while they are frequently e-mailing or chatting on Facebook with him while he is in Afghanistan where he was shipped in early September.
“They’re all so tight,” said Nixon.
She said Deering’s wrestling family has been very concerned about him since they found out about his being wounded.
Nixon said she felt she wanted to do something to show the members of the Deering family that people were thinking about them so on Wednesday morning she called Wilcox and said, “Let’s go ribbon tying.”
The two women bought out all the yellow ribbon to be had at the Wal-Mart and Mardens stores in Calais and, with the help of Nixon’s husband, started tying ribbons.
They started at the cenotaph on Milltown Boulevard and worked their way down that street, up King Street and along Union Street, the street on which the Deerings live, fingers freezing but pushed by determination. They made their way to St. Stephen High School and tied some ribbons there.
“We just feel so helpless. All our kids are hurting right now,” said Nixon, adding that because of the years of friendship, it sort of feels like it’s her son lying in a hospital bed in Germany.
“We want to show the family we’re thinking of them,” she said. “By tying the ribbons we feel like we’re doing something. We’d like to rally the community to do the same. Get some positive energy focused. Tie a ribbon and say a prayer.”
She said all Deering’s wrestling buddies are talking about travelling to Halifax to see him, if that’s where he is sent following his medical treatment in Germany.
“When that flight comes in his (wrestling) family is all going to be there,” she said.
The yellow ribbons are spreading. Teachers at schools in the community have donned tiny yellow ribbons on their collars, shirts or sweaters. SSHS students have made some to wear as well.
Deering’s girlfriend, Lisa McKinney, said the support from the community is overwhelming.
“All the support has been amazing and there are so many people in the town, including family and friends all over Canada, wishing Chris a fast recovery. We appericate all the thoughts and prayers but keep them coming, because there will still be a lengthy recovery when he’s back in Canada,” she said.
One St. Stephen woman is even decorating her Christmas tree with nothing but yellow ribbons.
Crystal Madsen is an aunt of Kayla Madsen, the St. Stephen woman whose boyfriend, Pte. Justin Peter Jones, was killed in the same bomb blast that wounded Deering.
Jones was from Newfoundland but spent most of his off duty time in St. Stephen with Kayla and her family.
“My tree has been up and there wasn’t an ornament on it,” said Madsen on Thursday. “I told my daughters this morning that I thought it would be appropriate to decorate the tree with yellow ribbons, not just for Justin, but for all the boys, in their memory and in their honour and in hopes for Chris Deering at this time.
“I think it would be a good idea if everybody put at least one yellow ribbon on their Christmas tree,” said Madsen.
Madsen described the fallen soldier as “just amazing.”
“He had a smile for everybody. My whole family fell in love. It’s a big loss. This boy who is so amazing, he’s just gone.”
She said the song by Jo Dee Messina entitled, If Heaven Was Needing A Hero is the song now that the family thinks of when they think of Pte. Jones.
Kayla flew to Trenton, Ont., where she met up with Pte. Jones’ parents for their son’s repatriation ceremony when his body was returned to Canada on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
“She’s holding strong right now because she’s a soldier’s girl. He was the most positive thing that could have happened to her and now he’s gone,” said Madsen.
Before she left for Trenton, Kayla said she and Pte. Jones had plans to be married when he finished his tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Lieut. (Navy) Brian Owens, the public affairs spokesperson for CFB Gagetown, said he could not formally release the name of the injured soldier or any information on his condition.
However he did talk about the battalion and their role.
There are 100 members of the 2nd battalion, RCR in Afghanistan as a security company for the Kandahar provincial reconstruction team, comprised of different agencies, both military and civilian, working on the development side of the Canadian mission in that country.
The reconstruction team determines what is needed, said Lt. Owens, things like wells, ditches, roadways, schools and other infrastructure “anything to help the people get back on their feet.”
“It’s a complex process to find out what’s needed,” said the lieutenant. He said local communities determine what projects are needed.
He said it is the job of the 2nd Battalion, RCR, to ensure the safety of the workers and other personnel involved in the reconstruction because there “is still that element that is averse to the development of Afghanistan.”
Deering’s company is due back from its six month deployment in February
“We do pray they come through without any more deaths and injuries, but it is a possibility,” said Owens.
He said it has been a very hard week at the base.
“The deaths of three soldiers hits the battalion very hard. Everyone knows everybody.” He said the military’s main concern now is to take care of the families of the fallen and injured soldiers.

War hits home

Pte. Christopher Deering, the son of Patty and Greg Deering, of St. Stephen, was injured in a bomb blast Saturday that killed three Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Three killed, one wounded in blast
Saint Croix Courier
December 16, 2008

By KATHY BOCKUS
kathy@stcroixcourier.ca

ST. STEPHEN – An explosion in Afghanistan Saturday, Dec. 13, that claimed the lives of three soldiers stationed at CFB Gagetown in Oromocto and injured a fourth, has rocked the worlds of two local families.
One young woman is mourning the loss of her boyfriend of two years while a mother and father are anxiously awaiting news of their wounded son.
One of the soldiers killed, Pte. Justin Peter Jones, of Newfoundland, was the boyfriend of local resident Kayla Madsen, who is the daughter of Connie Madsen.
The injured soldier, Pte. Christopher Deering, is the son of Patty and Greg Deering, of St. Stephen. He is expected to make a full recovery from injuries he sustained during the same bomb blast that killed Jones, Cpl. Thomas James Hamilton, and Pte. John Michael Roy Curwin.
All four soldiers are members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment. The vehicle in which they were travelling struck an explosive device on a road in southern Afghanistan.
Deering’s father said his son and the other soldiers were on patrol investigating a report that an improvised explosive device was being planted on a highway outside of Kandahar City.
His parents declined to reveal the extent of Deering’s injuries except to say they were multiple.
“They expect a full recovery,” said Greg Deering. “He’s got a lot of injuries, multiple injuries.”
“He’s had multiple injuries, there’s no question,” said Patty Deering.
She said the military has been incredibly helpful keeping the family informed of her son’s condition.
Mrs. Deering said that her son was scheduled to be evacuated from Afghanistan by air to a medical facility in Landstuhl, Germany on Monday, Dec. 15, around 6:30 p.m. AST. In Germany, Pte. Deering’s condition will be assessed by a United States medical team through various diagnostic tests, she said.
After the assessment, his parents say they have been told Chris will be sent to a hospital in the Atlantic provinces, and mentioned Halifax or Moncton as two likely choices.
“It depends on where his needs will be best met,” said Mrs. Deering. “I don’t think he’s mobile.”
Monday afternoon, Madsen was on her way to the Fredericton Airport and a flight to Toronto where she would meet with the parents of Jones.
“We’re going to Trenton tomorrow so they can bring back his body,” said Madsen.
The bodies of Jones, Cpl. Thomas James Hamilton and Pte. John Michael Roy Curwin, all from 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment based at CFB Gagetown, were scheduled to return home to Canada on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
Madsen said she last spoke to Jones Friday night, the day before his death.
“Just the way he was getting on, he obviously knew it was a dangerous mission he was going out on,” she said.
She said when she heard about the explosion and the deaths, “I had a bad feeling that something had happened.”
Madsen said she spoke with Jones’ family and asked that they call her with any news.
“His father called me and said he was dead,” said Madsen.
“I called up the military to see if it was true, hoping to God that it wasn’t,” she said. “They put me on hold, but I could hear them talking in the background saying ‘she already knows’.
“They came back on the line and said someone would call and explain what happened.”
Madsen said she was told officially that the vehicle in which the men were travelling ran over an IED, but she said she later spoke with one of the soldiers who had been with Jones.
She was told the soldiers were taking turns on who would get out of the vehicle and walk along the road, looking for IEDs hidden in culverts or other areas.
“So the boys got out of the vehicle, the LAV, but Justin and Hamilton and Curwin and Deering stayed in,” said Madsen. A LAV is a light armoured vehicle.
“If they were out of the vehicle they wouldn’t have got killed,” said Madsen.
Madsen said she and Jones were not officially engaged, “but that’s all we talked about.” The couple had been together two years and Jones had spent many weekends in St. Stephen with Madsen’s family and friends. Jones called her mother “mudder” in his Newfoundland accent, Madsen said, adding “we always had a laugh or two.”
Madsen said when Jones came home on leave Nov. 15, he gave her a little frog that was supposed to contain a ring. But he explained to her he hadn’t been able to find the lover’s knot he was looking for since they were only available in Dubai.
“He was very romantic,” she said with a laugh. “He gave me a necklace instead and promised me when he came home he would marry me.”
Jones turned 21 on Nov. 24.
“It’s still hard to believe,” she said. “He’s been talking the past week now that he’s going to get out of the military.”
Madsen said she’s running the gamut of emotions from mad to sad and back to mad again.
“Right now, I’m more mad than anything,” she said. “It’s weird. He was my life and I was his. He’s made that awfully clear to numerous people. I keep getting messages and stuff.”
Both of Deering’s parents said it was hard not being with their injured son and as of Tuesday morning they were making travel plans.
Greg Deering said his son is “seriously injured” and did not want to comment further.
Master Warrant Officer Douglas Libby, of the 1st Canadian Field Hospital unit at Petawawa, is home from Ottawa visiting his parents in Old Ridge. Libby is the former company sergeant major of the military hospital in Kandahar.
He said Deering is in excellent hands whether he has been treated by Canadians or Americans in Afghanistan.
Libby said trauma casualty care personnel or a medic travels with each patrol in the field.
That person would have provided the initial first aid after the explosion, said Libby, and called for either an airlift or a road move for the injured soldier.
Injured soldiers are taken to the nearest medical unit where an assessment would be done on the extent of injuries and a decision made on whether surgery is necessary.
The wounded are then transferred accordingly.
“Sometimes members are transferred to an American facility (in Afghanistan) if it is closer,” explained Libby.
He said the weather plays a major role in that decision, with the frequent sandstorms at this time of year, as well as what gun fights or fire fights would be raging in the area.
Once a wounded soldier is treated at a forward operating base (FOB), he or she is airlifted to another medical base where life saving surgery or surgery to save limbs is performed.
Cosmetic surgery or further surgery to aid in rehabilitation takes place at Landstuhl, Libby said.
Libby said the military frequently flies family members to be with their injured loved ones.
He said one could perhaps read between the lines if the military has told Deering’s parents to stay put for the meantime.
He said Deering’s physical injuries would heal in time, but said the mental trauma Deering has suffered from being injured in a blast that killed three comrades will need attention too.
Deering is a 2006 graduate of St. Stephen High School and was active in wrestling competitions throughout his middle and high school years.
His mother thinks the close family type atmosphere of the wrestling community is what prompted her son to seek a further feeling of brotherhood in the armed forces.
She said she and her husband tried to dissuade their son from joining the military, saying try university first.
Deering went to the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton for a year, but really made up his mind to join the armed forces.
“He felt drawn to it,” said Mrs. Deering. “We had a plan all ready for him. He just didn’t bite,” she added with a laugh.
“Christopher is doing what he wanted to do,” she said. “It really is a calling.”
The Deerings have two other sons, Jeremy, 24, who lives in Ottawa, and Nicholas, 21, who lives in Fredericton, neither of whom is in the military.
It was about 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, when two military personnel showed up on the Deering’s doorstep in St. Stephen.
While Mrs. Deering agreed that it was a terrible feeling to see the men at her door, she stated.,“My gosh it could have been a hundred times worse.”
“My soul, we’re lucky. We get to still have him.”
She said she never in her dreams expected to have to go through something like this.
Mrs. Deering said the military support for her family during this ordeal has been second to none.
“The communication is just incredible, they are so supportive,” she said.
She and her husband appreciate what they have described as the incredible support they are receiving from friends and the members of the community.
“I think it’s just incredible how many people praying, and are continually asking how they can help,” said Mrs. Deering.
New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham issued a statement on the death of the soldiers from Gagetown. He said it was with great sadness that he learned Sunday morning of the deaths of three soldiers who were members of a Quick Reaction Force with the Canadian Forces’ provincial reconstruction team.
“They were killed ensuring that the way was clear for their fellow soldiers to continue to help the people of Kandahar and province to rebuild their communities and their lives,” said the premier.
“Their sacrifice will not be forgotten.”

Water rates rising

THE TOWN OF ST. STEPHEN is proposing an increase of 13.5 per cent in utility billing, which means the average annual residential water bill of $405 will jump $55 to $460.

In today's LOOKING BACK column we note that 60 years ago the rates jumped from $10 per year to $12.

Do the math - in 2068 your water bill will be approximately one kajillion dollars.

QUARRY OPERATOR EYES EXPANSION

... And opposition lines up to fight it.

IN TODAY'S COURIER WEEKEND

The Play's The Thing opens Friday

SSHS Tackles Lighting Issues In Theatre
This Years Drama Production Part Of Greater Cause



Friday Decmeber 12th will mark the first of three shows of the 2008 Fall Drama Production at St. Stephen High School called "The Play Is The Thing". Written by teacher, Mr. Neil Grant, the play depcits the story of a young man who, after showing up late for auditions to a play, gets trapped in a world of music and theatre and is desperatley looking for a way out.The production is unique this year because in addition to having current students fill roles in the play, alumni are also returning for a few cameo appearances. The performance will happen on Friday Decmeber 12th and Saturday Decmeber 13th, both shows at 7PM and a Sunday matinee at 3PM (Decmeber 14th). The general admission is an $8 minimum donation

This will be the Drama Groups 36th production but this time the production directs it's focus at not only providing the opportunity to the students of the High School to partake in the arts, but is also fundraising for their lightining system and theatre upgrades. Last year the lighting system in the theatre took a turn for worse, as it completely shut down, leaving the tech crew, and directors with very little to work with in terms of lights.Since that incident, a Campaign was initiated to help raise funds for to purchase the new lighting system, and all equipment needed to go along with it.

The Save Our Theatre Campaign was an initiative which was given life last year with its first fundraiser being the successful Charlotte County's Got Talent. More fundraisers will take place and the managers behind the campaign hope to be able to realize their goals of a new lighting system in the near future. Total cost of the upgrades are estimated to cost $50,000.00.

RUMOUR BUSTERS

RUMOUR BUSTERS
Living in a small community, you know just about everything about everyone and they know everything about you too.
And sometimes when people don’t know what you’re up to… THEY MAKE IT UP!
The Saint Croix Courier wants to help. If there’s a rumour going around about you and you’d like to clear it up with the truth, let us know.
Send your rumour-busting info to:
editor@stcroixcourier.ca or fax to 466-9950. You can also write it down and mail it or drop it in the mail slot at the Courier office. Please include your name and phone number.
GUIDELINES: Keep it simple, keep it short, keep to the point. Please don’t comment on ongoing legal issues. Do not libel or defame others (sorry, but rumour busters is all about YOU and clearing your own good name). Not all submissions will necessarily be published and all submissions are subject to editing for length or content. Submissions may be published in print and/or online.

DO NOT ENTER

We're getting reports from the RCMP that drivers are confused by the new four-lane highway and are entering via the off ramps.
Be careful out there...

SILVERKINGS GM HAS ADVICE FOR NEW CHARLOTTE COUNTY TEAM

BLACKS HARBOUR SILVERKINGS GENERAL MANAGER ANDY MORAN reacts to news that the Port City Thrashers are coming to St. Andrews...


"It's good for the rivalry and great for the league. They better get tough
if they want to play Charlotte County Hockey.
"A couple of weeks ago I was
sending e-mails back and forth to Murray Knox when the Thrashers were first
thinking about making the move and I told him the style of hockey you're
playing isn't going to work down our way, and he said 'what do you mean?'
and I said, because you guys have no toughness, you go up and down the
rink, you don't check, you don't take penalties, that's not what people
want to see. It's senior A hockey. If you want to go to the bingo hall
it's next door."

BREAKING NEWS

SPORTS REPORTER JEREMY TOWNES has just received confirmation that the Port City Thrashers of the Southern Hockey League are moving to St. Andrews. The St. Andrews Thrashers play their first home game in their new home rink this Sunday, Dec. 14 at 1 p.m. VS the Nackawic Hawks.

Word is the team could make the move permanent for next season and adopt the name St. Andrews Senators, a tribute to one of the town's prominent hockey teams of the past.

The move means Charlotte County now has three of the league's six teams and it should turn the Battle of Charlotte County into an even more intense affair than ever.

For details, see the Saint Croix Courier, Tuesday, Dec. 9.

Santa Claus is Coming to the Border Town

SANTA'S HELPERS BONUS PICS