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May 2, 1997
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

Momentum building for Cabot Celebrations

College of the North Atlantic students will be getting a charge out of Cabot 500 anniversary celebrations thanks to the involvement of Siemens Electrical Canada.

Siemens is providing the components for two 800 amp electrical services for shore entertainment on the 17-port tour by the Matthew, with the units to be assembled by advanced electrical program students at the college's Seal Cove campus, Tourism, Culture and Recreation Minister Sandra Kelly said today.

"An excellent spirit of initiative is becoming apparent as business, academic and community leaders identify opportunities within Cabot 500," she said. "This offer by Siemens has lead to an array of benefits which go far beyond the Matthew tour and the overall Cabot celebrations."

Securing the 800 amp services addresses a major logistical requirement for the Matthew visit. As announced on April 2, each port of call for the Matthew will feature entertainment by the Irish Descendants and a Matthew landfall re-enactment by Rising Tide Theatre. The same stage, lighting and concert-quality sound system will be trucked to each port of call.

"The electrical requirements to stage this show are huge, and given that many performance locations are dockside areas away from ample electrical sources, the power requirements are beyond what some sites can offer," Kelly says.

The problem was addressed when the Cabot celebrations team approached Siemens Electrical, one of the largest electrical component companies in the country, who offered to donate all the electrical components required to build two 800 amp electrical services and related branch panels for power distribution.

Assembling the components also turned out to be no problem, with the College of the North Atlantic's Seal Cove campus taking the job as a project for advanced students in their electrical studies programs.

Kelly says a commendable aspect of the project is the relevance which has been identified by the participants at every level. "This is a tremendous learning opportunity for our students," says Bill Whelan, associate district administrator for the College of the North Atlantic." "This project give us the valuable opportunity to expose our pre- employment electrical trainees to an industrial project that would not be available through regular programming."

Assistance is also coming from the City of St. John's which loaned its own 800 amp service to the college for familiarization of the unit, under the direction of the city's electrical supervisor, Richard Mease, and the provincial department of Works, Services and Transportation is providing an electrical engineer to assist with planning.

To complete the project on site, two apprentice electricians were approved by Human Resources Development Canada under "Job Creation Partnership" to travel with the Matthew tour and help set up and maintain the system.

HRDC Avalon district manager Randy Williams says they are more than pleased to support an essential element of the Cabot celebrations in light of the tremendous long-term potential offered by the province's growing tourism sector.

"The Matthew visit can only help enhance the tourism foundation of many Newfoundland communities," Williams says. "A quality show at all Matthew venues will bring more attention to the communities, and underscore local elements which define each community as a unique tourism destination."

"Such initiatives further enhance the potential of our tourism sector to generate employment," he added.

Kelly added that she truly welcomed the involvement of Siemens Electrical, which laid the foundation for the power project in the first place.

Gerry Neven, national distribution manager for Siemens Electric in Point Clarie, Quebec, said they were quite enthused to contribute in a tangible way to the Cabot celebrations, and wished the Cabot team "the utmost of success in this wonderful celebration."

"With the Cabot foundation that is being laid by corporate and community participants throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, we'll truly be ready for the Matthew as she departs Bristol, England this coming weekend," Kelly says. "We wish her Godspeed and a safe journey to Bonavista as she re-traces the course of history."

Contact: Doug Burgess, Manager of Communications, Cabot 500 Anniversary Celebrations, (709) 729-4247.