Operation Night Hawk 2009 at Holderville NB is an annual competition in Scouting hosted by Wabanaki Area invited all Scouts, Venturer and Rovers from Sussex to beyond the borders of the United States.

This year the winners were 1st. Ketepec Patrol L – R Jacqueline Brien, Quenton Beddow, Madelaine Bedard (PL) and Curtis Baird.

2nd place was a second patrol from 1st. Ketepec L- R Kayla Boakes, Kaley Watters and Dylan Hebert.
Charlotte-Fundy Patrol placed third.

Scouting New Brunswick presented Adult and Youth Awards in Fredericton at the Delta Hotel on Nov. 7th. 2009. The Youth were presented their Chief Scouts Award, Medal of the Maple and Queen Venturer Awards and they were presented by the new Lieutenant-Governor of NB, Graydon Nicholas.
Nathan Dickens, 1st. Ketepec, was presented his Queen Venturer Award. L – R Nathan Dickens and His Majesty Graydon Nicholas. The Lieutenant Governor invited all the recipients and their families back to Old Government House for a luncheon.

LISTEN TO A FEATURE INTERVIEW WITH DAWN MACINNIS

Dawn MacInnis is a young, professional woman with a beautiful home nestled in the trees overlooking the river and a brand new book. It’s her first stab at being an author and her book is about her first stab at home ownership. The book about the house came together in an unlikely way. Dawn had been chronicling her experiences as a novice home owner ever since she moved into her house in March, 2007. A chance encounter with a local publisher running a contest looking for new authors led to the publication in September of ‘My First House: A Single Girls Journey’.

Dawn’s book covers a year of triumphs, trials and tribulations in her new home. She writes about making the decision to first buy a house and then finding this little gem by the river. Her adventure begins in the spring waiting for the gardens to bloom and knowing nothing about flowers. The summer brings more gardening challenges and insects to deal with. Fall and the vibrant colours of the leaves brings its own pleasures and finally winter arrives with record breaking snow falls and storms. Through it all, MacInnis learns a great deal about, not only home ownership, but also about herself. “I truly believe this was a journey,” says MacInnis.  “I’m a stronger person for it. I have so much more belief in myself now thinking that I can do this. I wanted to share my story. I believe everyone’s meant to travel their own journey and for a better part of a year, this was mine”

MacInnis says writing the book was equally as traumatic as taking ownership of the house. She entered a book-writing contest sponsored by Trinity Publishing. In her pitch to the publishers she said her journey as a first time home owner was good therapy for her and she felt her experiences could help others. They bought it and soon MacInnis had a book deal. She discovered that, as in home ownership, you need a lot of discipline to be a writer. Her book was a year in the making and now that it’s out, she’s pleased with the final product.

MacInnis is also pleased with her choice of living in Ketepec. “I’ve lived in uptown Saint John but I wanted my own privacy and space,” she says. “I had no idea this existed so close to the city. I’m close to the river, surrounded by beautiful mature trees and being originally from PEI I’m drawn to the water and some of my friends from the island have visited and felt this is a little piece of PEI that I was able to find in Saint John, New Brunswick.”

‘My First House: A Single Girls Journey’ by Dawn MacInnis is available from Trinity Enterprise in Saint John.