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YOUR Independent Community Newspaper THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015
Vol. 3 Edition 14
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50 years and going strong Lambton Conveyor celebrates half-century
By Jim Blake jim@chathamvoice.com
Bruce Corcoran/The Chatham Voice
Theresa Campeau and Karen Gleeson of the Ursuline Sisters were just two of the dozens of people on hand Friday to tie a ribbon on the fence surrounding the future home of the Chatham-Kent Hospice. The ribbons sported names of loved ones, past and present. The hospice hopes to be up and running by the end of the year.
Hospice construction underway
By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com
It’s bricks and mortar time for the Chatham-Kent Hospice, but Jennifer Wilson begs to differ. Construction has begun on the building that will house the hospice, but Wilson, chair of the hospice board, said there is one central focus. “It’s all about the people,” she said.
Wilson, speaking at a construction launch ceremony April 17, asked those present to take a coloured ribbon and tie it to the fence around the construction site, but not before writing the names of a loved one on it. “This is for loved ones past and present,” she said. Jessica Smith, executive director of the hospice and neighbouring St. Andrew’s Residence, de-
scribed Friday as “a very exciting milestone.” Wilson agreed. “Six hundred and forty days ago, the staff and volunteers of the hospice came together, and 640 days later we are pouring concrete. How amazing is that?” Jim Laforet, chair of the construction committee, said he expects the foundation to be completed by the middle of May, with the exterior to be
finished by mid-August. “As long as the weather co-operates, we’ll be getting the keys this fall,” he said. Not bad work, considering Wilson and the committee were repeatedly told what they had planned on doing – fundraising and building in such a tight time frame – could not be done in Chatham. Continued on page 2
Run Date: Mar 26, 2015 Chatham Voice (10.333" x 2.143") Full Colour EOR#7017
In 1965, Ray Moorhouse went looking for a grain dryer for his farm near Florence. After going through the process, he thought he could find a better way. That idea has grown into Lambton Conveyor, a multi-million-dollar grain storage and handling manufacturer that celebrated its 50th anniversary last week. The event attracted more than 200 visitors and was as much a family reunion as it was a business event with former employees stopping by for hugs and burgers as well as tours of the firm’s 200,000-squarefoot facility on Arnold Street which it purchased three years ago. Looking back on the firm’s beginnings, Ray, now 79, said he listened to his instinct and his fellow farmers. “I talked to my neighbours and found that there was a real desire for them to control their
post-harvest storage and handling,” Ray said. “The more I looked into it, the more sure I was that there was an opportunity.” Founded as Stor-Mor, the firm established its first storage and office unit in the 1970s, and in 1979 Ray and his son Chris made the jump to constructing their own products under the Lambton Conveyor name. In 1997 the firms amalgamated as Lambton Conveyor and established a dealer network through Canada and the U.S. In 2004 the firm added a facility in Bothwell and opened a plant in China to service the growing Asian market. The latest move came in 2012 when it purchased the former H.E. Vannatter building on Arnold Street in Wallaceburg. Ray’s son Chris, who now heads up the family business, said he was happy that virtually all of the firm’s more than 100 employees came with them to Wallaceburg.
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