Longtime Mayerthorpe contest judge retires, EEE students awarded

Article content

Community members gathered at Elmer Elson Elementary School on Friday morning for a Legion assembly, during which several students were honoured.

Article content

Students received certificates and cash for their Remembrance Day posters, poems and essays, and Jacqui Kezar, a retiring judge in the annual contest, was saluted.

“I loved doing this, and would still be doing it, but my eyes have played out,” Kezar told the attendees.

“It was so enjoyable to see all the good work through the years.”

Kezar, 92, told the Mayerthorpe Freelancer she retired as a teacher in 2007 after 46 years, starting out at 18 in a one-room schoolhouse.

“Teaching was my favourite thing I ever did,” Kezar told attendees.

Legion Past President Terry Nelson said Kezar judged the posters and essays from EEE for more than 20 years.

The Legion presented Kezar with a Jake’s Gift poster, to be displayed at the school.

Article content

Poppy Chairperson Jon Arsenault led the Legion assembly at EEE on Friday.

“Mayerthorpe always shows up really strong (in Remembrance Day contests),” Arsenault told the students. 

“That’s because of you kids.”

Arsenault noted the local junior essay winner Mesa Adams also placed first at district-level. 

The district includes Onoway, Cherhill, Whitecourt, Edson, Stony Plain and Spruce Grove, Nelson said. 

“That shows you the level of what these students have achieved,” Nelson said.

The local winner in primary black-and-white poster, Jaya Haun, placed second in districts, Arsenault said. Tobias Enns, the local primary colour poster winner, placed third in districts. 

Local junior colour poster winner Einar Buruma placed third in districts, Arsenault said. 

Article content

Meanwhile, junior black-and-white poster Hans Burns placed first in districts and third at command-level (all Alberta and the Northwest Territories), Arsenault said. 

EEE student Brooklynn Nelson also came to the front of the assembly for the unveiling of her black-and-white poster from last year, which Arsenault said was exhibited in Ottawa.

2023 Mayerthorpe contest winners

Primary black-and-white poster 

1. Jaya Haun 

1. Teagan French 

1. Brooklynn Nelson 

Junior black-and-white poster 

1. Hans Burns 

1. Lynden Hagman 

1. Ella Nelson 

Intermediate black-and-white poster 

1. Rayel Chittick 

1. Cassidy Patterson 

1. Hayley Daffurn 

Primary colour poster 

1. Tobias Enns 

1. Cynthia Zerb 

1. Lane Szybunka 

Junior colour poster 

1. Einar Buruma 

1. Ainsley Milburn 

1. Emery Gendreau 

Intermediate colour poster 

1. Felix Burns 

1. Arrisa Boyle 

Senior colour poster 

1. Fallyn Adams 

Junior essay 

1. Mesa Adams 

1. Theodore Arseneault 

1. Ella Nelson 

Intermediate essay 

1. Rourke Burns 

1. Megan Kohut 

1. Keira Price 

Senior essay 

1. Madelyne Hansen 

1. Brooklynne Messerschmidt 

1. Fallyn Adams 

Junior poem 

1. Gunner Benson 

1. Elias Hoople 

1. Dallas Mitchell 

Intermediate poem 

1. Arrisa Boyle 

1. Megan Kohut 

1. Jewel Oconnor 

Senior poem  

1. Madelynne Hansen 

1. Fallyn Adams 

1. Brooklynne Messerschmidt

Article content