ILI Vol. 15, No. 14 ExChange viSit was a success Whitby has beent twinned with the Mon-t treal suburb of1 Longeueil for some 17% years now but for the( first time last week,r those twinning activitiest were expanded to in- clude school children. For four days last week, 42 grade 6 studen- ts from Longeueil's Joseph de Serigny School were hosted by 55 grade 6 and 7 studentsj from Whtiby's St. Theresa's Separate School. According to Patricia Belcourt, the St. Theresa teacher in charge of the exchange, the 97 children were taken on tour of this part of Ontario that included visits to the C.N. Tower, the Metro Zoo, the On- tario Science Centre, the McLaughlin Planetarium and the General Motor's plant in Oshawa. The visit gave the children an added bonus - there were no classes for four days. "We haven't had time," Belcourt told thej Free Press at a roller skating party for the children at Wheelies. "It is a cultural, linguistic exchange." Most of the Quebec visitors have managed to speak with their On- tario host familles in English quite nicely, especially when one considers that for many of then, this was their first time away from home alone, she said. Ghislaine Cote- Provost, the English specialist at Joseph de Serigny, agreed. "They have very much enjoyed their visit," she said, "We've had no lonely people...but they were all very busy." Cote-Provist added that Whitby's long association with Longeueil was one of the deciding factors in her school's decision to visit St. Theresa's. The ex- change is being organized by the Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Can- da (SEVEC) Both classes had to raise some of the money needed for the trip themselves. The studen- ts at St. Theresa's held a French spell-a-thon while those from Joseph de Serigny raised their money with various ac- tivities over the Christ- mas holidays. Before coming to Whitby, the Longeueil students exchanged at least two letters as well as photographs with their local counterparts and spent six months preparing for the visit. The Whitby youngsters will pay their return visit to Longeueil on May 27 when they will be treated to visits to La Masion du Radio- Canada and the Weston Company bakeries, to a swim in the Olympic Pool, a ride on the Mon- treal Metro as well as a visit to Longeueil City Hall where they will meet with the mayor of that community. Cote-Provist also said that parents with students at her school are anxious to hold another exchange visit next year. Blaze c laims life of Wednesday, April 3, 1985 24 Pages New friends Jeffrey Gaudet, Il (left), of St. Theresa's Separate School is seen here with his partner from Joseph de Serigny School in Longeueil, Quebec, Christian Gaboury, il at a roller skating party held at Wheelies. When asked what his favorite part of his visit to Whitby was, Christian replied "the C.N. Tower". Both boys said that they really enjoyed the visit and Jeffrey is looking forward to the return visit in May. Free Press Staff Photo Meeting the mayor The last official stop of their four-day visit to Whitby was a tour of the Whitby Municipal Building where they met with Mayor Bob Attersley (seated in the centre). The children were shown a film on Whitby and administrator Bill Wallace offered a few words of of ficial greetings in French. Seen in the photograph above with Attersley, who is showing a profile of Whitby published in the Mar ch edition of Business and Finance in Ontario are (from left to right): Isabelle Dufour and her Whitby partner Carolyn DeCambra; and, Christian Rock and his Longeueil partner Martin Dufour (who said he's no relation to Isabelle). Free Press Staff Photo> girl, 2 A tragic fire claimed the life of a two-year old Whitby girl during the early hours of last Friday morning. Cassandra Porter- Salvaterra was pronounced dead at the Dr. J.O. Ruddy General Hospital after being rescued fron the bur- ning house at 105 Rossland Rd. W. by firefighters. It was the second fire related death in Whitby this year. According to a spokesman for the Whitby Fire Depar- tment, the blaze broke- out after improperly connected wiring leading to an electric baseboard heater near the master bedroom on the main floor of the house ignited nearby combustible materials such as paper, drapes and clothing. The spokesman said that the victim's oldest sister, Tammie, 16, was the first to become aware of the fire. She escapted from the house through a second floor window and then called the fire department. She was babysitting at the time and suffered shock and smoke inhalation. She was treated and released from hospital. After arriving on the scene, firefighters were told that there were still two children left in the house. Firefighter Don Ferguson then entered the house and located the victim's other sister, Lee-Anne, 10. While escorting her out of the house, the two encoun- tered a "flash-out" - a tern firefighters use to describe a sudden burst of fire and heat. Both were knocked to the floor, recovered them- selves and proceeded out of the building. Ferguson then went back into the home, found Cassandra and brought her out to an awaiting ambulance. She died a short time later, probably of asphixiation. Lee-Anne suffered from first and second degree burns to arious parts of her body. She was reported to be in stable condition at the Oshawa General Hospital last Friday mornng. Ferguson suffered second and third degree burns to both his hands. He was treated and released at Oshawa General Hospital The fire department has estimated the damage at $35,000 although the spokesman added that most of the interior of the house as well as its contents were completely destroyed. Fire crews from both the Brock St. S. and Manning Rd. stations responded to the blaze and it was a half-hour before they had it under control. At one tiue, the scene was responded to by 20 firefighters and four pieces of equip- ment. Despite the tragic loss, the spokesman had~ nothing but praise for the crews' efforts. "They did the best they could, they've got nothing to be ashamed of." Private funeral ser- vices were held for Cassandra Monday morning in the chapel of Resurrection Cemetery. An Oshawa real estate agent is spearheading a drive to help Cassan- dra's parent, John and Sandra, get re- established after their loss. The family is currently living in a local motel. Anyone wishing to donate items of clothing, furniture or even money is asked to contact Suzanne Barkley of Royal LePage Real Estate at 571-0600. The Frank Real Estate office on Brock St. N. is also ac- cepting donations. Our office will be closed Friday In honor of the Good Friday holiday, the of- fice of the Whitby Free Press will be closed this Friday (April 5). The deadline for Em porium ads and for community - organiza- tions wishing to submit news items and coming events will be tomorrow at 4 p.m. The deadline for classified ads, including auctions, will be next Monday at noon. The deadline for display ad- vertising will be next Monday at 2 p.m. The publisher and staff of the Whitby Free Press would like to take this opportunity to wish all of its readers a safe and happy Easter. 1