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YOUR Independent Community Newspaper
Vol. 4 Edition 17
Don’t touch Tommy! By Jim Blake jim@chathamvoice.com
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Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa. In her reply to Hind, Lyndsie Selwyn, a Senior Conservation Scientist with the CCI said “conservators rarely try to restore a corroded outdoor bronze by making it look new again. Instead, they conserve the corroded bronze, keeping as much of its evidence of age and history as possible.” Chatham councillor Michael Bondy said last week the municipality was awarded a grant for work on the 93-year-old monument after a misspelling of the word “remembrance” came to the attention of the federal Veterans Affairs department last November. “I just got a call out of the blue and we were encouraged to apply for a grant,” he said. “I turned it over to administration and we’re getting some money.” Bondy said the exact amount of the matching grant is confidential since the work will be publicly tendered.
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016
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Searching for her smile By Jim Blake jim@chathamvoice.com
Confusion over whether the British “Tommy” atop the Chatham Cenotaph should be cleaned has a Chatham historian and cenotaph expert concerned the municipality may be ignoring the advice of experts. Jerry Hind said a proposal sent to the municipal heritage advisory committee suggested the statue be hand cleaned and buffed to “remove most weathering and greening.” Hind, who has studied the Cenotaph’s history for a decade and who has authored a threepart series on it, said he was shocked. “The statue is bronze – it’s supposed to be green,” Hind said. “The weathered patina is what provides a historChatham Voice photo ical look to the statue. A local historian is questioning whether cleaning the “Tommy” Look at the Parliament statue at the top of the Chatham Cenotaph will do more harm Building in Ottawa. Is than good. The municipality has received a federal grant for anyone cleaning the maintenance of the 93-year-old structure; however, Jerry green off of it?” Hind believes experts should assess the project before any He was so concerned Continued on page 4 work is done. that he contacted the Run Date: May 5, 2016 Chatham Voice (10.333" x 2.143") Full Colour EOR#7522
A thug may have temporarily taken Cryston Bulckaert’s smile, but she’s determined that he won’t stop her from putting her life back together. Cryston was viciously beaten and robbed last October after her attacker broke into her Wallaceburg home and left her for dead on her kitchen floor while he ransacked the residence. She was so badly injured she was taken to the emergency department at Sydenham District Hospital, where she was stabilized and airlifted to London where she spent days recovering from a broken shoulder and finger, severe head trauma and a mouthful of smashed teeth. “This is what I looked like before,” she said, showing a photo of her and her sister, a beaming smile lighting up the picture. “I was always proud of my smile and he took that from me.” The 32-year-old had just moved into a rented home when she awoke to find a man standing over
her. “It was a Sunday night (October 18),” she said. I was working 16-hour days at two jobs the week before that and I hurried up and went home. I knew I had to get up and work 16 hours the next day. I got in my pjs talked to my sister, did some journaling and went to bed. I woke up to some guy standing there. I’m single so I thought I was dreaming. I went to get up and he bashed me in the head.” That was only the beginning of the attack. “I got up off the couch and ran to the kitchen door. I remember getting the deadbolt unlocked but I couldn’t get the screen door unstuck and he grabbed me and pulled me back in the house. He continued to beat me in the middle of the kitchen. I just kept thinking, ‘I’ve just got my life stable and now I’m going to die’. There was blood everywhere. I passed out and I know he had to carry my son’s bike over my body to get it out of the house as I lay on the floor.” Continued on page 3
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