Coming up on the CHMA daily news roundup:
Virtual convocation highlights
Vaccinating elm trees
and forest fire season is here.
But first:
No new cases of COVID-19 were reported yesterday in New Brunswick.
The province’s one active case is still under investigation.
The case is related to the child of two health care workers from outside Campbellton who showed symptoms on May 19th, after having returned to a newly reopened daycare in their community.
Staff and families from the daycare are now isolating for 14 days.
New Brunswick Public Health released a total of 286 new test results Monday.
82 of those results came from the South East region.
Over the past week, the rate of testing in New Brunswick has fallen below the goal of 2300 tests per week set by Chief Medical Office of Health Jennifer Russell.
Just under 2000 tests were reported in New Brunswick in the past seven days.
AUDIO clip Honour Song
That was Joan Milliea and Manuella Caravantes from the [El-si-book-took] Elsipogtog First Nation, singing the Mi’kmaq honour song to open Mount Allison’s virtual conferring of degrees ceremony yesterday afternoon.
In lieu of the usual festivities for convocation this year, the university pulled together a virtual ceremony to honour the grads of 2020 in absentia.
Names of all grads were read and displayed in a live video stream.
2020 Valedictorian Nigel Verret delivered a heartfelt speech, thanking the faculty, staff, alumni and the town of Sackville.
Then, Chancellor Lynn Loewen addressed the grads, and touched on the unique circumstances they are facing.
AUDIO clip Lynn Loewen
you’re graduating at a time as you know where there’s more uncertainty than any of us could have predicted even just a few months ago, the plans you made may no longer be quite so clear, the path you expected to follow, not quite so evident. But when we look back at the examples history’s given us, we often find that the greatest progress and our most compelling triumphs come out of our most challenging times. Canada has come through many crisis before and we will come through this one as we put humanity first. Looking to our strengths of accessible education, universal health care and our willingness to make individual sacrifices for the benefit of our society as a whole. We will succeed. Ca va bien aller
Mount Allison President Jean Paul Boudreau opened and closed the ceremony, and took the opportunity to say goodbye to a longstanding member of the Mount A community who is moving on this summer.
AUDIO clip Goodbye John
There is one person that I do want to single out today as I close. This is the person leaving mouse University who you all know and love, the Reverend john Perkins. After 27 years, Reverend Perkins is moving on to a new chapter in his life in Ottawa and will be greatly missed at Mount Allison. John, thank you for the profound impact you’ve had on the personal and spiritual lives of thousands of Allisonian’s over these years. You will be missed here.
And finally, four Mount Allison grads performed the university’s Alma Mater song together, each from their own home. Here’s pianist Jennie Del Motte and singers Isaiah Yankech, Sarah English, and Laura Scaravelli singing for the Class of 2020:
AUDIO clip Alma Mater song
A Sackville businessman is launching a pilot project to preserve elm trees in southeastern New Brunswick and northern Nova Scotia.
Kevin Anderson, who owns Woodpecker Tree Care in Sackville, is planning to preserve about 30 trees this year with a vaccine that prevents Dutch elm disease.
So far, the towns of Sackville and Amherst are sponsoring the project along with Mount Allison University, some private businesses and a few homeowners.
Anderson is hoping more sponsors will sign up to preserve individual trees over a five year period.
He estimates that it would cost about one hundred dollars a year to vaccinate a large elm tree.
Anderson is calling his project The Maritime Elm Protection Initiative and is setting up a website to provide more information and solicit donations.
New Brunswick’s forest fire watch says that despite a burn ban, the Department of Natural Resources and volunteer fire departments have responded to more than 70 fires since May 18.
Yesterday, firefighters responding to a bush fire in the Irishtown Nature Park in Moncton. That fire is now out.
Currently two forest fires are burning out of control, according to forest fire watch, one near Mirimachi and one near Edmundson.
The burn ban is in force across all counties of New Brunswick.
And finally on today’s roundup, Mahalia Thompson-Onichino pays a virtual visit to Derrick Dixon of Hounds of Vintage, a clothing shop in downtown Sackville which has reopened for business.
AUDIO clip
That was the CHMA daily news roundup.
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