Published: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 10:19 PM Updated: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 10:24 PM
Ron Rop | The Muskegon Chronicle
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When you live as far “up north” as Joel Vienneau, there are certain things you can be assured of finding in your hometown.
Cold weather, plenty of snow, pond hockey, good hunting and excellent fishing are all traits of Hearst, Ont., a small town of less than 6,000 people and a “long drive to everywhere.” Hearst is a 12-hour drive north of Muskegon.
Vienneau, the No. 1 goaltender for Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League, is pursuing his dream of playing hockey, but he also misses his time back home in the great outdoors.
“I love to be in the bush to hunt and fish,” Vienneau said.
Among his targets while fishing are walleye, pike and smallmouth bass. Hunting season brings moose, birds and bears. At the age of 14, he bagged a calf moose that tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds.
“The last three years I’ve been playing juniors so there’s no time to hunt and fish,” said Vienneau, who started playing goaltender at the age of 5.
Vienneau is expected to be in net at 7:15 p.m. Saturday when the Jacks host the Indiana Ice.
“We’re only five games into the season,” Vienneau said. “It would be good to get that first home win.”
Vienneau has his sights set pretty high in hockey. He’s commited to playing at the University of Minnesota and he’s hoping to hear his name called next summer when the National Hockey League conducts its annual Entry Draft.
Vienneau, 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, reached as high as No. 14 on the NHL Central Scouting report, but his name wasn’t called during this past year’s draft. That was a disappointment, but he’s determined to keep working.
“I need to play good to be ranked and Muskegon is the place to do it,” Vienneau said. “I just have to play good and keep winning.”
Last season, he led the Kingston Voyageurs to the playoff finals, where they lost in overtime of Game 7. During the regular season, he was 27-4-1 with a .928 save percentage.
“We did good, I think we lost eight games all year,” said Vienneau, who attended an offseason goaltender’s camp in Nashville, Tenn.
That success prompted a phone call from the expansion Lumberjacks.
“We firmly believed when we recruited him and offered him a tender that he had the talent and the ability to be our starter,” Lumberjack coach Kevin Patrick said. Vienneau was one of six players who were signed prior to the USHL draft.
Thus far, Vienneau has played in every game and posted a 1-3-1 record and a 3.98 goals-against-average. Despite the elevated GAA, the last two games have been stellar.
He blanked Sioux City last Friday on 19 shots and allowed two goals in a 2-1 setback the next evening in Fargo.
“His timing and his confidence continue to grow,” Patrick said. “Joel is a talented goaltender who has excellent size and athletic ability in the net. We look for him to be the backbone of our defense.”
Friday, October 22, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Update on Green Initiatives
The following are green initiatives projects undertaken by the community of Hearst.
The construction of our Green Business and Technology Center has begun. It is a 2.8 million dollar project that will house a bioscience lab, a multimedia space and a Green Business Incubator Space. The Regional Information Utility Network office will also be located in that building. The Center will be a green building and will be powered by solar wind, biomass and geothermal energy, and a 10 kW MFIT. The Center will focus on education, small scale research, demonstration, partnerships, business development and incubation in the green business sector.
A total of 10, 10 kW solar PV MFIT projects or installed or being installed, and we have approximately 5 that we know of, that are under review.
The fast growing willow plantation research project with NRCan and SSIC is coming to an end. Results of the research will be released at a tech transfer event being held in Hearst September 28th, 2010.
A 10 MW solar farm will be constructed in 2010.
A 10 MW biomass energy plant (Hearst Bio Energy LP) is awaiting Economic Connection Test from Ontario Power Authority. The owners have developed a process to burn heritage piles in the area.
A district heating study to provide heat to Columbia Forest Products to replace natural gas, and to heat municipal and school buildings along the river is near completion.
The municipality is currently evaluating the possibility of using some roof tops of their own buildings for energy production.
The Municipality has three trained energy auditors, which conduct energy audits in the community.
The local Green House will be installing geothermal energy in one green house for growing vegetables destined to the local market.
Lac Wood Industries is now producing bio fuel in the form of premium wood pellets for the domestic market.
2 local contractors offer solar PV, solar thermal and geothermal supply and installation services and several retailers of renewable energy products.
As part of our Community improvement plan, phytoremediation remediation (using plants to decontaminate) of the former shell bulk plant brown field will be performed.
The town now recycles all plastics (1 to 7), paper, metal, oil, tires, paints and stains (water & oil based), batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and electronic devices.
AGRIVA, a local organization that promotes local food and local products in the area, are very active in the community thanks to a very dynamic group of volunteers. They hold a market every two weeks on Saturday mornings. On average they have 25 local producers that sell their products.
Several green initiatives are being proposed under our Sustainable Development Plan that will be presented to the community in the next month. Such as community composting, bio gas production initiatives, carbon sequestration initiatives, carbon foot print tool for local businesses and industries and eco-industrial network strategy to name a few.
The construction of our Green Business and Technology Center has begun. It is a 2.8 million dollar project that will house a bioscience lab, a multimedia space and a Green Business Incubator Space. The Regional Information Utility Network office will also be located in that building. The Center will be a green building and will be powered by solar wind, biomass and geothermal energy, and a 10 kW MFIT. The Center will focus on education, small scale research, demonstration, partnerships, business development and incubation in the green business sector.
A total of 10, 10 kW solar PV MFIT projects or installed or being installed, and we have approximately 5 that we know of, that are under review.
The fast growing willow plantation research project with NRCan and SSIC is coming to an end. Results of the research will be released at a tech transfer event being held in Hearst September 28th, 2010.
A 10 MW solar farm will be constructed in 2010.
A 10 MW biomass energy plant (Hearst Bio Energy LP) is awaiting Economic Connection Test from Ontario Power Authority. The owners have developed a process to burn heritage piles in the area.
A district heating study to provide heat to Columbia Forest Products to replace natural gas, and to heat municipal and school buildings along the river is near completion.
The municipality is currently evaluating the possibility of using some roof tops of their own buildings for energy production.
The Municipality has three trained energy auditors, which conduct energy audits in the community.
The local Green House will be installing geothermal energy in one green house for growing vegetables destined to the local market.
Lac Wood Industries is now producing bio fuel in the form of premium wood pellets for the domestic market.
2 local contractors offer solar PV, solar thermal and geothermal supply and installation services and several retailers of renewable energy products.
As part of our Community improvement plan, phytoremediation remediation (using plants to decontaminate) of the former shell bulk plant brown field will be performed.
The town now recycles all plastics (1 to 7), paper, metal, oil, tires, paints and stains (water & oil based), batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and electronic devices.
AGRIVA, a local organization that promotes local food and local products in the area, are very active in the community thanks to a very dynamic group of volunteers. They hold a market every two weeks on Saturday mornings. On average they have 25 local producers that sell their products.
Several green initiatives are being proposed under our Sustainable Development Plan that will be presented to the community in the next month. Such as community composting, bio gas production initiatives, carbon sequestration initiatives, carbon foot print tool for local businesses and industries and eco-industrial network strategy to name a few.
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