event

St. Clair Tec Students Heading To SkillsUSA State Competition

Students from the St. Clair County TEC program will be heading to the SkillsUSA state competition held in Grand Rapids next month, after a successful showing in the regionals which took place in January and February.

The students are competing in five different programs which include: Automotive Technology, Collision Repair, Construction Trades, Culinary Arts, and Welding Technology. The SkillsUSA state competition will take place April 14 – 16. 

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization serving more than 310,000 high school and college students preparing for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. 

The competition is an annual event designed to gauge a student’s mastery of various career-oriented skills and showcase the nation’s best career and technical education students.

For more information about the St. Clair TEC program, visit: sctec.org. 

Reporting for WGRT – Choze Powell

SONS Outreach Welding Session II Orientation Provides Youth With Job Skills

SONS Outreach (Save Our Neighborhoods & Streets) will be hosting a welding orientation for youth in the Blue Water Area.

The Your Future Now Welding Session II is presented by The Talented Tenth. It will be a parent/student orientation held on Wednesday, March 8th, at S Custom Welds located at 2401 16th Street (behind Blue Water Glass) in Port Huron. The orientation will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

There is a $50 charge to attend, but students can earn money for showing up to the training courses, which would offset any cost, and end with a profit being earned for the parents/students.

If accepted, students will then begin attending the 10 week welding course starting March 15th. Students will be able to earn incentives, gain mentors, and make new friends, all while learning a valuable skill for future employment. This course is specifically designed for high school students. 

For more information, visit their Facebook page at: SONS Outreach. 

Reporting for WGRT – Choze Powell

Celebrate Irish-American Heritage Month This March

Many Americans can trace their roots back to the country of Ireland with  relatives coming to the U.S. looking for a better life for their families. The month of March has now been recognized as Irish-American Heritage Month.

During the period between 1846 – 1851 over 600,000 individuals arrived in New York, with approximately 70% of them being Irish. This was also the time of the Irish Potato Famine in which roughly one million Irish perished due to a mold that destroyed the potato crop. Approximately another one million relocated their homes with some landing here in the U.S.

Some famous Irish-Americans include Henry Ford, John F. Kennedy, Walt Disney, and Ronald Regan. 

Irish-American Heritage Month began back in 1991 with the goal of honoring the contribution of Irish immigrants and their descendants, in their role in helping to shape the country.

Reporting for WGRT – Choze Powell

March Is Women’s History Month Let’s Celebrate

There would be no life without our hard working mothers giving birth to us all and nurturing us to be the best that we can be. With the month of March being Women’s History Month, WGRT would like to give a big thank you to our female listeners for tuning in to our station.

Women’s History Month is a time set aside to acknowledge and recognize the achievements and contributions that women have made in our society throughout history. 

It began in 1982, designated as “Women’s History Week,” by 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress designated the month of March as Women’s History Month.

Gone are the days when women could not vote, or participate in certain areas of society. We encourage young girls and women of all ages to believe in themselves and to embrace the power of their femininity. 

Reporting for WGRT – Choze Powell

2023 State Of The County Address Held In Port Huron

St. Clair County has a total population of approximately 160,000 people. An annual conference is held to give a review of how the county performed the year before, as well as what the future has in store for the area and it’s residents.

The 2023 State of the County Address was hosted by the Blue Water Area Chamber of Commerce and held at the beautiful Blue Water Convention Center. It featured guest speakers such as County Administrator/Controller, Karry Hepting and St. Clair County Board of Commissioner Chair, Jeff Bohm.

The speakers presented information to a crowd of over 400 individuals, with topics ranging from finances to future plans for the region.

New programs for the St. Clair County Sheriff Department and Health Department were discussed, as well as updates from the Economic Development Alliance (EDA).  There are also new jobs and businesses coming to the area that residents and tourists can look forward to. 

Reporting for WGRT – Choze Powell

The Lawrence House To Hold 2nd Annual Carmen Ziolkowski Poetry Prize

If you live in or near the City of Sarnia, and have an interest in poetry and the arts, you can register to enter the 2nd Annual Carmen Ziolkowski Poetry Prize. 

Carmen Ziolkowski was a member of the Sarnia-Lambton writing community. She studied journalism at Port Huron Junior College and taught creative writing at Lambton College. She also wrote three poetry books. Ziolkowski passed away in 2018 at the age of 94 years old.

The deadline for the poetry event is April 15th. All are welcome to participate, with an entry fee of $10 Canadian, or $5 if you are a member of The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts. Participants can submit up to three poems in English of up to 40 lines each. 

Winners can win up to $500, as well as having their works featured in a special issue of the Uproar Literary Blog. 

For more information, visit: lawrencehouse.ca.    

Reporting for WGRT – Choze Powell