Alyssa Short, chairwoman of North Queens Active Living, details for regional councillors the track and field project at North Queens Community School. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)

A new field and running track will be built at North Queens Community School, thanks to funding from the Nova Scotia government and the Region of Queens.

Regional councillors approved $250,000 this week for the $1.1-million project at the Primary to Grade 12 school in Caledonia.

That’s on top of a planned $800,000 grant from the province.

Alyssa Short, chairwoman of North Queens Active Living, told council at their regular meeting on Tuesday that the field is “almost completely unusable”.

“And so the result is our athletes are not able to train at the school and that has historically been the case.”

Olympic track athlete Jenna Martin went to the school and couldn’t use the field to train, Short said. She had to go to Bridgewater, which is an hour’s drive away.

“There’s very poor drainage, the ground is uneven, it’s compacted,” Short told councillors.

“The water pools up in the middle and so it’s soaked all year round.”

And because it isn’t fenced, ATV riders have further damaged it by “doing doughnuts” in the field, she said.

“It’s to the point that the students are not even able to use the field for recess or for sports or anything.”

The field was built in 1984 with no proper drainage or fencing, Short said. The school’s outdoor classroom is also not safe to use, she said.

The new field will feature a 325-metre track, which is smaller than the regulation 400-metre size. Short said a larger track would have tripled the cost of the project. The field will be fenced, lit and have proper drainage. North Queens Active Living will maintain the field.

“We’ve gone with a natural turf field that will have fencing. And very importantly, it will be a very good quality walking track that will be used by the local community.”

Short said they hope to put the project to tender immediately, and have the work done over the summer and fall so that it will be ready to use next year.

Councillors said the new field and track are vital in a smaller, rural community like Caledonia and the surrounding area.

“I think it’s very important that this project be supported by this council,” said District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins, whose area includes North Queens.

“People out in the country have to travel so far for many things and when you start moving your children an hour one way and an hour back just so they can train on a track after they spend all day in school, (that) shouldn’t be unacceptable. I think we should move forward with this.”

North Queens Active Living had requested $250,000 through the region’s community investment fund. Instead, councillors voted to fund the project from their accumulated budget surplus.

This will be the second new track and field in Queens County. A $3-million, 400-metre rubberized track and artificial turf soccer field at Liverpool Regional High School is expected to be ready by early July.

After the funding was approved, Short told QCCR she’s “absolutely grateful” for the municipality’s support.

“I know the school is going to be thrilled, but I think the whole community is really going to get behind it,” she said. 

“It’s going to mean that athletes who have it in them to become athletes have the facilities to follow through on what they’re capable of. And I think there’s probably been a lot of potential lost in North Queens over many years. And I think that having this facility is really going to have a lot more athletes come out of North Queens.” 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Liverpool Regional High School. Photo credit Ed Halverson

Six Queens County high school students have been awarded bursaries by the Region of Queens.

Each year, the municipality hands out the awards to students at Liverpool Regional High, North Queens Community School and Queens Adult High School.

Winners were announced in four different bursaries this year. Here is a list of the recipients:

Municipal Bursary Award ($3,000)

• LRHS: Ruthie Hartlen
• NQCS: Gabriel Reid
• QAHS: Brittany Whynot

Gertrude Ford Newcombe Achievement Award ($500)

• LRHS: Leah Whynot

Vera Harlow Gordon Award ($500)

• LRHS: Ava Smith

E.H. (Ted) Harlow Achievement Award ($500)

• LRHS: Megan Elliott
• QAHS: Brittany Whynot

Ava Smith and Koen Shand are Grade 12 students at Liverpool Regional High School. They’re helping out with the LRHS Scholarship Auction 2024. (Rick Conrad)

The graduating class at Liverpool Regional High School may be relatively small, but they’ve had a mighty significant impact over the years on students going on to higher learning.

Since 1998, the Liverpool Regional High School Scholarship Auction has awarded more than 400 Queens County students over $500,000 in bursaries to help them pay for their post-secondary education.

The 26th annual auction kicked off on Facebook on April 18. And this year, for the first time since before the pandemic, the fundraiser wraps up with an in-person silent and live auction event on Thurs., May 30 at the high school.

Koen Shand and Ava Smith are two Grade 12 students who are part of the 40-person-strong organizing committee. About 25 of those volunteers are students themselves, which is about half of the graduating class. Parents, teachers and other community members make up the rest of the organizing committee.

“It’s pretty impactful,” Koen says of the auction. “It’s just nice to know that we are such a small town and we do have that support that you might not get from coming from a big city. It’s just nice to know that we have these organizaitons backing us up.”

“I think it’s nice to feel you have a lot of people in your corner,” Ava says,  “you have a lot of people rooting for you. It’s nice to know that you have a big community, a big family here that’s wanting you do well and is going to be there when you need help.”

Koen will be going to Dalhousie University next year to study engineering, while Ava plans to attend Saint Mary’s University and then on to Mount Saint Vincent University for an education degree.

They said they were eager to help out with the auction because pursuing an education is so expensive. They’re both involved with various extra-curricular activities at the school — Koen with the Key Club and various sports teams, and Ava as Nova Scotia International Student Program ambassador and as co-president of the student council.

“This is up my alley, I love helping out with this stuff,” Ava says. “I just think it’s good to get involved and help give back to the community that’s always helped, especially here since it’s such a small community, it’s such a supportive one.”

“My school has given me lots of opportunities, lot of memories, playing sports, doing multiple things,” Koen says,  “and I just think whatever I can do to give back and help our grads succeed.”

Organizers expect to get more than 200 items, in addition to monetary contributions, donated from local businesses and residents for the online and in-person auctions. They’ve already auctioned off dozens of items.

The last time an in-person auction was held, it raised about $20,000. Since it went online, it has raised between $25,000 and $40,000 each year.

Students are awarded bursaries based on need and their contribution to school life. In previous years, about a third of the class received the awards, which ranged from $500 to $2,000. 

“It’s not based on your academics,” Ava says. “It’s based on what you’ve done to contribute to the school and in the community. Which I think is really good because there are lots of kids in our school who might not have honour rolls but are still an active member in our community and an active member in our school. Which I think is great that they are getting money they deserve.

“I think receiving money like this helps to kind of take the weight off a little bit. It’s still going to cover some of your classes, your books, maybe it’s going to cover your meal card, and even though it is obviously not $25,000 to cover your year, anything that contributes helps a lot. It also lessens the amount of student loan you’re going to have to take out.”

Ava and Koen are excited to participate in Thursday’s in-person event. Students will be helping to display the items up for auction, with Al Steele as the auctioneer.

When asked how much people should bid at the event, Koen has some simple advice.

“As much as they want. It’s going to a good cause, so feel free.”

The online portion of the auction is in its last week. You can participate by joining the LRHS Scholarship Auction 2024 public Facebook group.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below