A5

BY BILL CLARKE

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DALHOUSIE - While most people were watching the Olympic medal race, Jessie Babin of Dalhousie was busy collecting gold medals for New Brunswick.

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Jessie Babin collected four medals, three of them gold, in the cultural side of the Francophonie games held in Edmonton in mid- August.

Babin was one of six students who represented the province in the culture segment of the Jeux de la Francophonie Canadienne held in Edmonton. She picked up three gold medals and one silver.

This followed her win in the talent portion of the Miss Bon Ami pageant in Dalhousie just weeks before.

The culture component of the games included dance, visual arts, music and improvisation. Babin competed in the visual arts, producing three paintings in time-restricted sessions. In the first, participants had to produce a work based on a sculpture in 150 minutes. The second allowed 90 minutes to produce on on the theme "Les Jeux de la Francophonie." In the third, they had six hours; subject matter was up to the participants.

Babin took silver in the first and gold in the other two. She added a special gold medal in the first based on voting by the participants.

She and the other New Brunswick representative in visual arts grabbed nine of the 12 medals available. That included six of the seven golds available. (Her teammate was Joel Leblanc of Memramcook.)

Babin said that it was the best organized event she'd ever attended, with over 1000 people taking part.

"I would without a doubt be ready to do it again, any day," she said. "Loved it."

She said that it helped her realize that she does have talent and that she is making a good decision by studying visual arts. She'll start a four year program the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design this fall.

"Judging by what I've been told, how well I did in the competition and how people react to my art work, I suppose my images have some sort of ‘wow factor,'" she said. "I feel the competition came at a good time. I now feel confident about starting university on the right track. I have a feeling it'll lead to an interesting career."

Babin was the second princess in the Miss Bon Ami pageant. She is the daughter of Peter and Susan Babin of Dalhousie.