Year-in-Review: February

Our annual Year-in-Review series begins today with a look back at January and February 2013. We will be publishing two months of review each day during the remainder of our holiday closure here at the Morinville News. The entire Year-in-Review will be published in our Jan. 8 print edition.

morgan-web2Morinville student off to play ball in Cuba

A Georges H. Primeau Grade 7 student was packing his bags for an opportunity to play baseball where it is a little warmer. Twelve-year-old Morgan Melchert left for Cuba Feb. 1 where he and his teammates played against local ball clubs from Veradero, Matanzas and Havana.

The good will trip was organized by the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association’s (SAMBA) PeeWee AA Cardinals, and allowed the boys an opportunity to visit fellow ball players and to help them out with school supplies and baseball items, things not readily available to the Cuban players.

Melchert began playing ball at the age of five but took a break from the sport after playing for a couple years. He got back on the diamond in 2011 and has not regretted the decision. “Two years ago I started and wanted to play just fun baseball,” he said at the time, adding his parents introduced him to a baseball camp that increased his appreciation of the game. “I started to like it even more. More camps came out and I wanted to go to them. I asked my parents and they let me go. I worked my hardest and got to the triple A team. I tried out and I made that team.”

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Morinville Public Elementary holds its grand opening

It was a day for dragons to dance figuratively and literally Feb. 6. Morinville Public Elementary School, home of the MPES Dragons, held its official grand opening in the school gymnasium with Alberta’s Minister of Education, The Honourable Jeff Johnson, and many other dignitaries in attendance.

After a group of local parents fought for a public school in Morinville for roughly two years, the Sturgeon School Division was given jurisdiction and two modular classrooms on the grounds of the former Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools’ École Georges P. Vanier property. After provincial legislation was passed in 2012 that shifted public and separate designations, the school was given to the division and reopened as a public elementary school last fall. The Feb. 6 ceremony was an opportunity to make the school official with the cutting of a ribbon, the cutting of several cakes, and the coming together of students, parents and dignitaries for a celebration of where the school was and where the school was going.

Morinville Community Library Expanding Its Hours

In response to a survey of library patrons, the Morinville Public Library Board voted unanimously in favour of giving the people it serves what they want. Longer weekend hours began Feb. 16 with an additional two hours on Saturdays on an ongoing basis and Sunday hours added in mid-March. The new Saturday hours were 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Sundays were from noon until 4 p.m. The extended hours were so successful, the board voted again to continue them beyond the summer.

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Community Services new employee looking to serve

There was a new man at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre in February. Allen Jacobson was hired as Morinville’s new Community Development Coordinator / Event and Volunteer Specialist working within the Town’s Community Services Department.
Jacobson’s experience is as long as the title of his new position in Morinville. At the time of his hiring, he had recently returned from many years in Europe (the last 14 in Frankfurt, Germany) where he was involved in teaching at performing arts universities, performing throughout Europe, and setting up festivals, seminars and workshops. Each year Jacobson would return to his native Canada to conduct workshops here. He and his family made the decision to return for good.
In addition to speaking English, French and German – three languages of cultural significance to Morinville – Jacobson is also a geographer and accomplished musician.

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