Volleyball season is upon us once more here in the Province of Ontario and the eastern towns of Carleton Place and Perth are all set to host the All Ontario Senior Girls’ AA Volleyball Championships, an event that’s expected draw in over 280 students and coaches from the high school departments of schools scattered across Ontario. Recognized by the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations, this annual sporting event will primarily be hosted by Perth’s St. John Catholic High School.

The event will highlight intense volleyball play between 20 of Ontario’s best all girl volleyball teams, which include a number of regional competition winners and two teams from the Eastern Region. The games are set to take place on the 9^th and 10^th of March, and will be divided into four venues in both Perth and Carleton Place.

Shawn Retty, head coach for St. John’s ladies’ volleyball team and one of the event’s organizers commented that the school is proud to be chosen as one of the hosts for this prestigious event. She added that this opportunity not only presents the school’s students a chance to get a close look at the performance of other teams in the region, but will also allow local residents to watch the games and cheer for the home team.

The Lanark County Food Bank is ridiculously busy these days and volunteers working with the charitable institution wonder if the need for help will ever subside.

From January 2009, the number of people in need of assistance has steadily increased as the months passed by, this according to the food bank’s executive director, Natine Kennedy. She also noted that more people have come to the food bank for help, with 519 in January this year, a significant increase to last January’s 402 people.

Kennedy is worried that the trend won’t stop any time soon. If the recession is indeed over, she says her team of volunteers certainly haven’t felt it yet. “It’s a battle here every month”, she adds.

Since December of 2009, more and more people have begun to flock in asking for food and a place to turn in for the night. She said that it’s heartbreaking to see these people, most of whom are embarrassed to be asking for help but are left with not choice.

The food bank is presently tending to 241 adults and over a 100 kids in Carleton Place, while the rest of the clients are from the Almonte, Perth, and Smith’s Falls area.

Residents from the Town of Perth as well as workers from the local branch of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario have a real reason to smile, as a brand new AED, or Automated External Defibrillator was deployed for patients a few weeks ago.

The deployment of this medical device was made possible by the help and donations of Canadian organizations such as the Heart & Stroke Restart a Heart, the Chase McEachern Tribute Fund, and Transamerica Life Canada. The deployment of the new AED means that Perth now has a total of 14 machines which are under the Lanark County PAD program.
According to statistics released by the Heart and Stroke Foundation, over 40,000 Canadians suffer from sudden heart attacks every year, most of which take place at home, at work, or at public locations. For every minute the patient is unattended to, his or her chances of living are reduced by 10 percent.

David Sculthorp, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, hopes that AEDs become common one day, used in even the most remote places in Canada. Only through the help of the community, volunteers, and sponsors like Transamerica Life Canada can this become possible, he added.