By BILL BRADLEY
Sudbury?s reputation as one of the world?s largest and most prosperous mining communities is something all citizens should be proud of, say Sudbury Mining Week committee members.
?We?re still known as the nickel capital of the north and when I see the kids being educated about mining I feel good,? said Deputy Mayor Louise Portelance, who was at Sudbury?s mining monument in Bell Park Thursday at a kickoff media conference promoting Sudbury Mining Week May 23-30.
?I also am glad to see more women represented here. Mining is no more just a male occupation.?
Portelance, along with Chairwoman Marlene Moore of Metso, an equipment manufacturer, Elaine Hull, of the Sudbury Mining Week Committee and spokesperson for Falconbridge, and teachers Lenna Rhodes and Valerie MacMenemy, joined a large number of students at the kickoff.
Staged at the bronze mining statue, the kickoff celebrated the past, present and future contribution mining makes to this community.
A book, Inside a Geologists Bag, written by Lenna Rhodes, was also launched.
?The purpose of the book is to get more elementary students on board with mining. We?re encouraging kids to act out their dreams by imagining themselves as geologists, ? said Rhodes.
There was a dramatic presentation of Sudbury Rocks, If You get My Drift, by Grade 10 Sudbury Secondary school drama students. Sudbury writer Val McMenemy wrote Sudbury Rocks.
Production choreography is being organized by Sudbury Secondary student Andrew Kurnew.
?I?m so impressed with Lenna?s book and the Sudbury Rocks presentation,? said Portelance.
?I want everybody to know Sudbury Rocks with Dynamic Earth opening, the continued success of the Sudbury Neutrino Laboratory and the worldwide respect and recognition of our re-greening efforts.
The fact is we are becoming a cluster centre of mining research and development companies such as the deep mining consortium.?
Portelance also noted the importance of the upcoming Mining and Environment Conference .
