McDowell school alive with heritage: What do the people of Pontiac, the Montreal Canadiens, the Canadian beaver and the Hilton Mines all have in common?

They’re the titles of the projects of grade five students at Dr. S.E. McDowell Elementary School chosen to compete at the regional heritage fair in Hull in May.

The school’s gym was alive with heritage Friday for judging. Only four of the displays lining the gym walls were chosen to go on to the regional fair.

Those chosen to represent the school at the Museum of Civilization were Justin Murray, Danny Hobbs and Steven Cahill for their “Montreal Canadiens” project; Lindsay Hamel for her project entitled “The Canadian Beaver”; Samantha Twolan and Andrea Hobbs with “The Hilton Mines”; and Jeff Drisner and Miranda Greer with “Pontiac People”, put together by Muriel Davies’ class.

Dry conditions keep firefighters busy: Grass fires and a bush fire requiring water-bomber support kept firefighters on their toes over the weekend.

“When you have a few days of sunny conditions, you can have a lot of forest fires because it’s dry,” said Gerard Lacasse of the Quebec Fire Protection Society (SOPFEU), in Maniwaki.

There were more than 50 fires in the province reported to SOPFEU over the weekend alone, mainly in the western part of the province where conditions have been dry.

The local fire streak began with a small grass fire behind the village cemetery in Shawville Thursday, which could have been avoided had someone taken a second to stomp out their cigarette, firefighters suspect.

Caldwell Notes by Hermonie Sharpe: The cottagers at Norway Bay are starting to arrive, that is, the ones who close up for the winter. The summer cottagers are now preparing for the 24th of May but the way the weather has been, it has made them have itchy feet to start their summer early. Well whenever you come, we are always glad to have you back.