Main River means a lot to Thomas Chaulk and he hopes a lot more people will soon learn more about the piece of paradise located on the Northern Peninsula.

The Grade 5 student from Elwood Elementary School in Deer Lake chose the river, which was granted Canadian Heritage River status in 2001 after a 10-year effort to gain the designation, for his project in the Western Newfoundland Regional Heritage Fair held in Corner Brook Saturday.

Chaulk’s was among the top 20 projects from the 185 on display at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell College gymnasium and one of two selected for the Parks Canada Award for outstanding research and presentation of a project of national historic significance.
While there were other award winners, the two Parks Canada Award winners’ projects will go on public display at special events marking the Capt. Bob Bartlett celebrations planned for this summer.

“I love going there and every time I go there I learn new things,” Chaulk said of his project, titled “Exploring and Discovering Main River.”

His project described how the river earned its Canadian Heritage River status, which was granted amidst public debate about timber harvesting operations taking place in its watershed. He also described why he enjoys going there himself and what he does when he’s there.

“I love salmon fishing and that’s what I love to do there the most,” he said.
Ironically, it was his cousin, Kaley Chaulk, who was the other Parks Canada Award winner selected to have her project displayed during the Bartlett celebrations this summer. A Grade 4 student at Elwood, Kaley’s project was on the moose and was inspired by her pop, who is a wildlife officer.

“This was very exciting because this was my first time doing the heritage fair,” she said.
One of the Chaulk projects will be on display in Norris Point when the Bowden, a replica of Bartlett’s historic vessel, visits there Aug. 10-12. The other project will be displayed in Corner Brook when the Bowden visits Aug. 14-16.

“That’s pretty cool because then more people will get to see my project and learn more about Main River,” said Thomas Chaulk.

The top 20 projects, as selected by the judges, received medals from the heritage fair committee. Andrea Bennett, whose project “Peek Into the Past” focused on Aboriginal Day, was the winner of the RBC Aboriginal Heritage Award.

“I think it’s great a lot of people realized how important Mi’kmaq culture is to our community,” said the Grade 8 student from Our Lady of Mercy School in St. George’s who dressed in aboriginal attire for the fair.

The Corner Brook Museum and Archives, meanwhile, had planned to select a pair of student projects to go on display there this summer. The judges were so impressed by the quality of the projects, however, that they decided to select 10 projects to be exhibited.

Other award winners included Michelle Taylor from J.J. Curling Elementary in Corner Brook, who won the HBC Explorer’s award for her “Viking Children” project; Michael Walsh from St. Boniface School in Ramea, who won the CN Veteran’s Award for his military project on “The Blue Puttees”; Marta Croll-Baehre of Presentation Junior High School in Corner Brook, who won the McCain Literacy Award for her project “Internment of Japanese Canadians;” and Andrew Rideout of G.C. Rowe Junior High School in Corner Brook, who won the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador award for his project on Rising Tide Theatre.

The three co-winners of the Laurier Lapierre Award were Rebecca Hulan from E.A. Butler All-Grade School in Robinsons for her Newfoundland and Labrador coastal boats project; Kody Budden of St. Thomas Aquinas School in Port au Port for his Our Lady of Perpetual Help project; and Irha Sikander from Stephenville Middle School for her project on Spanish flu in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1918.

One student who participated in the heritage fair will be selected to represent the Western School District and join seven other students from Newfoundland and Labrador at the national heritage fair in Ottawa in July. That lucky student will not be named until Thursday.

gkean@thewesternstar.com