Message from the President of the United States, to both Houses of Congress, at the commencement of the third session of the thirteenth Congress

Document no. 1 in U.S. 13th Congress, 3d session, 1814-1815. House. September 20, 1814. Read and committed to a committee of the whole House on the State of the Union. Printed by Roger C. Weightman

Message from the President of the United States, to both Houses of Congresses, at the commencement of the second session of the thirteenth congress, December 7, 1813.

Printed by Roger C. Weightman

Report of the Committee of the General Assembly, at their special session, August 25, 1812, on that part of His Excellency the Governor's speech which relates to his correspondence with the Secretary of War, andc

Printed by Walter and Steele

Welland County Records, 1961-1989

The origins of the Welland County Fair date back to the founding of the County of Welland in 1852. A provincial charter was issued in 1853 to create the Welland County Agricultural Society that was to operate the Fair. In 1970, the Welland County Fair became the Niagara Regional Exhibition, and the Society became known as the Niagara Regional Agriculture Society. The Society seeks to “encourage interest, promote improvements in and advance the standards of agriculture, domestic industry and rural life”. The Welland Festival of Arts was developed in 1986 in order to revitalize the town’s economy. An “outdoor art gallery” was created by painting murals on buildings that depicted the town’s heritage, a concept successfully adopted by the town of Chemainus, B.C. The first mural was completed in the summer of 1988, and by 1991 there were a total of 28 murals around the city. The endeavour proved successful: in the years that followed the creation of the Festival, two new hotels were constructed, a third was expanded, and there was an addition to the Seaway Mall to accommodate the increased tourist traffic. Optimist International is a non-profit organization that strives to “bring out the best in kids” . The first Canadian club was formed in Toronto in 1924. The Welland branch of the Optimist Club was founded in 1937. The first Welland County General Hospital opened in 1908. As the population increased, it became necessary to expand the existing facilities. Additions were made to the original structure with an East wing in 1930 and a children’s ward in 1931. However, in the 1950’s, the hospital was operating beyond optimum capacity and the need for a larger facility was clear. It was decided that a new hospital would be built, which opened in April 1960. The new hospital had 259 beds and 51 bassinets. Further additions were made in 1967 and 1978. The County of Welland was formed in 1850 when it was officially separated from Lincoln County, however, the two counties continued to operate together until 1856 when a new County building and jail for Welland County were completed. That same year, the first meeting of the Council of the Corporation of Welland County took place. The final meeting of the Council took place on December 18, 1969. The following year, the County of Welland merged with Lincoln County to form the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Mills in Thorold, Ont., was built in 1846-1847 by Jacob Keefer and is thought to have been one of the largest flour mills in Upper Canada. Ownership of the mill changed several times over the years and previous owners include the Howland family, the Hedley Shaw Milling Company and the Maple Leaf Milling Company. In 1986, the building received a heritage plaque from the Ontario Heritage Foundation, an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Culture and Recreation. At this time, the mill was no longer in operation and was being used for storage by Fraser, Inc. By 2006, the dilapidated building had been redeveloped into18 apartments and 2 floors of commercial space, while maintaining many heritage features. The building is currently known as the Welland Mills Centre.

Closing the Summer Learning Gap for Vulnerable Children: An Examination of a Summer Family Literacy Program for Junior Kindergarten Children At-Risk for Reading Difficulties

The learning gap created by summer vacation creates a significant breach in the learning cycle, where student achievement levels decrease over the course ofthe summer (Cooper et aI., 2000). In a review of 39 studies, Cooper and colleagues (1996) specified that the summer learning shortfall equals at least one month loss of instruction as measured by grade level equivalents on standardized test scores. Specifically, the achievement gap has a more profound effect on children as they grow older, where there is a steady deterioration in knowledge and skills sustained during the summer months (Cooper et aI., 1996; Kerry & Davies, 1998). While some stakeholders believe that the benefits of a summer vacation overshadow the reversing effect on achievement, it is the impact of the summer learning gap on vulnerable children, including children who are disadvantaged as a result of requiring special educational needs, children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and children learning English as a second language, that is most problematic. More specifically, research has demonstrated that it is children's literacy-based skills that are most affected during the summer months. Children from high socioeconomic backgrounds recurrently showed gains in reading achievement over the summer whereas disadvantaged children repeatedly illustrate having significant losses. Consequently, the summer learning gap was deemed to exaggerate the inequality experienced by children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Ultimately, the summer learning gap was found to have the most profound on vulnerable children, placing these children at an increased chance for academic failure. A primary feature of this research project was to include primary caregivers as authentic partners in a summer family literacy program fabricated to scaffold their children's literacy-based needs. This feature led to the research team adapting and implementing a published study entitled, Learning Begins at Home (LBH): A Research-Based Family Literacy Program Curriculum. Researchers at the Ontario Institute designed this program for the Study of Education, University of Toronto. The LBH program capitalized on incorporating the flexibility required to make the program adaptable to meet the needs of each participating child and his or her primary caregiver. As it has been well documented in research, the role primary caregivers have in an intervention program are the most influential on a child's future literacy success or failure (Timmons, 2008). Subsequently, a requirement for participating in the summer family literacy program required the commitment of one child and one of his or her primary caregivers. The primary caregiver played a fundamental role in the intervention program through their participation in workshop activities prior to and following hands on work with their child. The purpose of including the primary caregiver as an authentic partner in the program was to encourage a definitive shift in the family, whereby caregivers would begin to implement literacy activities in their home on a daily basis. The intervention program was socially constructed through the collaboration of knowledge. The role ofthe author in the study was as the researcher, in charge of analyzing and interpreting the results of the study. There were a total of thirty-six (36) participants in the study; there were nineteen (19) participants in the intervention group and seventeen (17) participants in the control group. All of the children who participated in the study were enrolled in junior kindergarten classrooms within the Niagara Catholic District School Board. Once children were referred to the program, a Speech and Language Pathologist assessed each individual child to identify if they met the eligibility requirements for participation in the summer family literacy intervention program. To be eligible to participate, children were required to demonstrate having significant literacy needs (i.e., below 25%ile on the Test of Preschool Early Literacy described below). Children with low incident disabilities (such as Autism or Intellectual Disabilities) and children with significant English as a Second Language difficulties were excluded from the study. The research team utilized a standard pre-test-post-test comparison group design whereby all participating children were assessed with the Test of Preschool Early Literacy (Lonigan et aI., 2007), and a standard measure of letter identification and letter sound understanding. Pre-intervention assessments were conducted two weeks prior to the intervention program commencing, and the first set of the post-intervention assessments were administered immediately following the completion of the intervention program. The follow-up post-intervention assessments took place in December 2010 to measure the sustainability of the gains obtained from the intervention program. As a result of the program, all of the children in the intervention program scored statistically significantly higher on their literacy scores for Print Knowledge, Letter Identification, and Letter Sound Understanding scores than the control group at the postintervention assessment point (immediately following the completion of the program) and at the December post-intervention assessment point. For Phonological Awareness, there was no statistically significant difference between the intervention group and the control at the postintervention assessment point, however, there was a statistically significant difference found between the intervention group and the control group at the December post-intervention assessment point. In general, these results indicate that the summer family literacy intervention program made an immediate impact on the emergent literacy skills of the participating children. Moreover, these results indicate that the summer family literacy intervention program has the ability to foster the emergent literacy skills of vulnerable children, potentially reversing the negative effect the summer learning gap has on these children.

[British Parliamentary papers], Session 24 November, 1812 - 22 July, 1813. Vol. XIV, Correspondence and treaties with foreign powers.

Most of this volume consists of correspondence between high ranking U.S. and British statesmen. E.g., James Madison, James Monroe, The Marquess Wellesley (brother of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington). The discussion centers around the War of 1812. Also includes facsimilies of treaties signed between Great Britain and Sweden, Russia and Sicily.

Program of a Commemorative session of Lincoln County Council, November 19, 1969.

The County of Lincoln dates back to 1798, when the first Lincoln County was formed. It was comprised of the townships of Clinton, Grimsby, Saltfleet, Barton, Ancaster, Glanford, Binbrook, Gainsborough, Caistor, Newark (Niagara), Grantham, Louth, Stamford, Thorold, Pelham, Bertie, Willoughby, Crowland, Humberstone and Wainfleet. The County boundaries were revised over the years, and the formation of Welland County in 1856 left only 7 townships in Lincoln County (Niagara, Grantham, Louth, Clinton, Gainsborough, Caistor and Grimsby). A County Council was also established at this time, which consisted of a Clerk, Warden, and a representative from each township. In 1862, the County Seat was moved from Niagara-on-the-Lake to St. Catharines. In 1970, Lincoln and Welland Counties were amalgamated to form the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

THE ACUTE EFFECTS OF A SINGLE SESSION OF PLYOMETRIC EXERCISE ON MARKERS OF BONE TURNOVER IN BOYS AND MEN

The study objective was to compare the response of bone markers to an exercise session consisting of high mechanical loading (144 jumps) between boys (n=12, 10.2 ± 0.4 years) and men (n=18, 22.5 ± 0.7 years). Blood samples were collected at pre-, 5, 60 minutes post-, and 24 hours post-exercise) to measure bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), amino-terminal cross-linking telopeptide (NTx), osteoprotegrin (OPG) and receptor activator of nuclear factor kb ligand (RANKL). Boys had higher BAP levels at all time points, with an increase 24 hours post-exercise. No such increase was observed in men. Likewise, NTx levels were higher in boys, with a greater increase over time than in men. OPG and RANKL levels were similar in boys and men at all times. In summary, even one session of exercise stimulates bone turnover, as reflected in the increase in both BAP and NTx, in boys (but not men) within 24 hours.