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ARNPRIOR
Chronicle Guide Proudly serving Arnprior and surrounding area since 1879
132nd Year , Issue 27
July 5, 2012 | 56 Pages
www.yourottawaregion.com
Listen up on 17 Renfrew County lobbies province on need to continue four-laning Hwy. 17 on day another motorists dies Steve Newman Steve.newman@metroland.com
Donna Hicks would like to see a Habitat for Humanity home built in Arnprior. – Page 5
Arnprior’s 150 foal has a name, actually three names from which to choose. – Page 31
EMC news - There’s no mistaking the urgency of expanding Highway 417 well into Renfrew County, up to and beyond the City of Pembroke. A County of Renfrew delegation of public works director Dave Darch, Warden Bob Sweet and Arnprior Reeve Walter Stack spent more than 75 minutes arguing their case before Ontario Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli and staff at Queen’s Park June 27. Their arguments included safety — in the face of ongoing fatalities along that corridor — and economic development. Offering verbal support was RenfrewNipissing-Pembroke MPP John Yakabuski, on the same day that another death occurred along the two-lane Highway 17 that runs through Renfrew County. Expansion of the four-lane Highway 417 has reached into the southeastern end of Renfrew County, at Arnprior, where reconstruction work continues. But some officials, including Renfrew Reeve Audrey Green, have cynically indicated they’ll embrace Hwy. 417’s expansion into the Renfrew and Pembroke area when it happens in another few decades. The death of Pembroke resident and Renfrew Victoria Hospital employee Jessica Fitzgerald on Wednesday morning (June 27) represented the 37th traffic death on the county’s Highway 17 since 2009.
That reality wasn’t lost on the delegation members, who offered their assessment of the Queen’s Park meeting. The three provided a post-mortem summary during the June 28 meeting of Renfrew County council. “There is no funding in the five-year plan for us (from the province),” said Stack. “But I quite honestly have to say, in the number of meetings I have had like this, I got a very strong sense that Minister Chiarelli understood what needs to be done, and was sincere about trying to do what he could do, to try to keep the focus on the twinning of Highway 417. “He certainly understood the safety issues ... one of the comments he made was not a commitment, but an offer, to go and see if he could find the funding to complete the EA’s (environmental assessments) to twin the highway right to Pembroke.” Stack also noted that Chiarelli also said the county needs to provide a business plan (or economic development plan) that describes future economic development are expected because of the twinning (or extension) of Highway 417. While addressing county council, Stack reiterated what he said at Queen’s Park, namely how Arnprior’s businesses have greatly benefitted from the twinning of Highway 417 to the southeastern end of the country. See HWY. Page 2
PATRIOTIC POLKA DOTS POLKA Photo by Derek Dunn
Arnprior School of Dance members Paige Kearney and Rachel Boersma perform a dance duet at Arnprior’s Canada Day festivities Sunday. For more on Canada Day, see Pages 12, 13 and 15.
New name and look for area health services Fly-in for vittles Sunday Theresa Fritz Theresa.fritz@metroland.com
It’s not every day the graduating class valedictorian is 77 years old. But Michael Donnelly went back to school after a ‘wee’ break of 60 years. – Page 33
EMC news – There’s a new name and a new look to reflect health care services in the Arnprior area. Arnprior Regional Health (ARH) was officially launched last Thursday evening, recognizing changes in health care taking place not only in Arnprior but in the surrounding communities. Acting as an umbrella for services, Arnprior Regional Health includes Arnprior District Memorial Hospital, The Grove Nursing Home, the Primary Health Care Centre and Assisted
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WHITE PINE FESTIVAL
Living, as well as linkages with partners across the region. The unveiling took place on the lawn of The Grove, where the first of several news signs was unveiled featuring the new logo. “This is really cool,” said board chairman Jay Johnston. “This really makes a whole lot of sense.” According to ARH CEO and president Eric Hanna, the time was right to make the change in order “to be ready to the type of changes happening in the health care now.”
EMC events - The Arnprior aviation community is inviting local residents to participate in what has become a major summer event in the area. The annual fly-in breakfast at the Arnprior Airport attracted close to 1,000 people and 50 to 60 planes last year and there is no reason to expect it will be any less popular this year. The breakfast runs from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. this Sunday, July 8. Area pilots will drop in to the Arnprior airport to show off their aircraft, chat with the public and enjoy a hearty breakfast. Proceeds from the breakfast go to airport improvements, aviation initiatives and Community Living’s Unity Run.
See ARNPRIOR Page 4
See BREAKFAST, Page 2
Join us inTiger theparking Giantlot Tiger parking Join us in the Giant all summer long lot for a BBQ Proceeds all gong to the 3rdlong Annualfor White Pine Festival summer a BBQ Hot Dog Proceeds going to $2 the 3rd Annual Hamburger $3 White Pine Festival Sausage $4
Hot Dog $2 Hamburger $3 Pop & Water $1 Sausage $4 Pop & Water $1 Potato Chips .50¢ Potato Chips .50¢
www.arnpriorwhitepinefestival.ca