April 25, 2019

FREE LOCAL DELIVERY

GARDEN CENTRE NOW OPEN LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED

ON ALL PATIO FURNITURE & BBQ’S

Vol 23 |•Issue 30 ELMIRA CANADIAN TIRE 325 ARTHUR ST. S., ELMIRA 519-669-2727

Limited time offer.

See store for details.

LIVING HERE

GG award for Scouting volunteer Brian Soehner People. Places. Pictures. Profiles. Perspectives.

CONNECTING OUR COMMUNITIES. P R OV I N C I A L B U D G E T

PAGE 20

FRI.

SAT.

SUN.

130

50

60

150

80

80

VOLUME 24 | ISSUE

17

APRIL 25, 2019

LO C A L I S S U E S

GRCA scramble to rework budget in light of immediate provincial cuts

BY VERONICA REINER vreiner@woolwichobserver.com

Provincial cuts have forced the Grand River Conservation Authority to adjust its financial forecast.

The “natural hazard” transfer payment from the province was cut almost in half, the agency learned earlier this month following the release of the Ford government’s first budget.

“They advised as well that the reduction took place immediately,” said GRCA spokesperson Lisa Stocco. “For us, it’s about a 48 per cent reduction with respect to what was received in 2018.”

The new allocation will be about $450,000 instead of almost twice that amount, as originally expected.

Revenue for the GRCA comes from various sources – 44 per cent is self-generated through user fees, such as park admissions and nature centre programs, while municipalities fund 33 per cent. Around nine per cent comes from reserve funds.

Despite the drastic cut, government grants make up 10 to 15 per cent of the GRCA revenues. Since the agency’s budget was just approved in February, it will need to GRCA | 04

Local mayors and MPs met with the Prime Minister to discuss priorities in the Waterloo Region. Left to right: Wellesley Mayor Joe Nowak, Kitchener South MP Marwan Tabbara, Woolwich Mayor Sandy Shantz, regional Chair Karen Redman, Kitchener Centre MP Raj Saini, Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, Justin Trudeau, North Dumfries Mayor Sue Foxton, Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky, Cambridge Mayor Kathryn McGarry, Cambridge MP Bryan May, Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger and Wilmot Mayor Les Armstrong. [SUBMITTED]

Local mayors talk issues to PM

Prime Minister Trudeau takes time with local mayors in two-day campaign-style stop in the region

BY VERONICA REINER vreiner@woolwichobserver.com

Local mayors shared local priorities with the Prime Minister as Justin Trudeau made a campaign-style stop in Waterloo Region last week.

Woolwich Mayor Sandy Shantz and Wellesley Mayor Joe Nowak were among the local represen-

tatives who joined a discussion at Kitchener City Hall on April 17. They were joined by regional Chair Karen Redman and their counterparts from the other municipalities.

“I think each of the seven mayors had an opportunity to discuss something that was particular to their area,” said Nowak. “The rural mayors had mentioned

broadband [Internet], was one issue that we discussed. We also expressed the need for natural gas out in the rural areas.

“I got the sense that the Prime Minister was well aware of some of these concerns. I think that the intent from his point was to reaffirm his commitment to rolling out some of the infrastructure money that they had

committed,” he said, referring to the mid-March joint municipal-provincial-federal $30 billion, 10-year funding model, with the first stream directed towards rural and northern infrastructure projects.

Also taking part were local MPs Bardish Chagger (Waterloo), Raj Saini (Kitchener Centre) and MarCONSULTATION | 04

H C L U M & L I O S SPRING IS HERE, ORDER YOUR

Showroom, Retail & Commercial Sales: 650 Weber St.N.Waterloo@ Benjamin

TODAY!

519.888.9992 StoneLandscapes.ca

TH E O BS E RV E R | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019

02 | C O M MUNIT Y NE WS

STOP WAITING. START DRIVING.

YUKON

TERRAIN ACADIA

SIERRA HD CANYON

SIERRA CREW CAB

2019 TRUCK OF THE YEAR

INTRODUCING THE CANADIAN EXCLUSIVE

NEXT-GEN 2019 GMC SIERRA GET

0

CREW CAB ELEVATION

%

OR, LEASE FOR $239 BI-WEEKLY, THAT’S LIKE:

+ $3,150

FINANCING FOR UP TO 72 MONTHS

$

TOTAL VALUE¸

119 3.9

%

@

LEASE RATE

WEEKLY

• • • •

355 HP ECOTEC3 5.3L V8 ENGINE HEATED SEATS & HEATED LEATHER-WRAPPED STEERING WHEEL + REMOTE START 20" GLOSS BLACK ALUMINUM WHEELS & MATCHING GLOSS BLACK GRILLE 8" COLOUR TOUCH SCREEN WITH GMC INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM

FOR 24 MONTHS WITH $3,999 DOWN PAYMENT¤

2019 TERRAIN ALL-WHEEL DRIVE BLACK EDITION

95 1.5

0

LEASE AN SLE 2.0L MODEL FOR $191 BI-WEEKLY, THAT’S LIKE:

$

% FOR 48

@

WEEKLY

LEASE RATE

$

MONTHS WITH DOWN PAYMENT ഞ

• STANDARD 19" GLOSS BLACK ALUMINUM WHEELS & BLACK EXTERIOR ACCENTS • 2.0L ENGINE DELIVERS 252 HP AND 260 LB.-FT. OF TORQUE • STANDARD HEATED FRONT SEATS & REMOTE VEHICLE STARTER SYSTEM

GMC PRO GRADE PROTECTION:

COMPLIMENTARY 2-YEAR/ 48,000 KM LUBE-OIL-FILTER MAINTENANCE 2

5-YEAR / 100,000 KM POWERTRAIN COMPONENT WARRANT Y COVERAGE ON 2019 MODELS 3

2019 TERRAIN DENALI ALL-WHEEL DRIVE

114 1.5%

LEASE FOR $229 BI-WEEKLY, THAT’S LIKE:

$

@

WEEKLY

LEASE RATE

0

$

FOR 48 MONTHS WITH DOWN PAYMENT ഞ

• 19" BRIGHT MACHINED ALUMINUM WHEELS AND CHROME DENALI ACCENTS + GRILLE • 2.0L ENGINE DELIVERS 252 HP AND 260 LB.-FT. OF TORQUE • STANDARD HANDS-FREE POWER LIFTGATE

AVAILABLE BUILT-IN 4G LTE WI-FI ® HOTSPOT (DATA PLAN REQUIRED)4

GMCOFFERS.CA

¤ഞ2 See dealer for details. Credits vary by model. Dealer may sell for less. Factory order may be required. Limited time offer which may not be combined with certain other offers. Offers may not be redeemed for Cash and may not be combined with certain other consumer offers. ¸ Eligible 2019 Next-Generation Sierra 1500 Crew Cab Elevation. Offer available to qualified retail customers in Canada for vehicles financed and delivered between April 2 and April 30, 2019. Financing provided, on approved credit, by TD Auto Finance Services, Scotiabank® or RBC Royal Bank. Participating lenders are subject to change. Rates from other lenders will vary. Representative finance example based on a new 2019 Next-Generation Sierra 1500 Crew Cab Elevation. Suggested retail price is $57,575. $0 down payment required. $54,925 financed at 0% finance rate (0% APR) equals a monthly payment of $763 for 72 months. The financed amount includes $3,150 credit, which consists of $2,650 Cash Delivery Allowance (tax exclusive) and $500 Option Package Discount (tax exclusive). Cost of borrowing is $0 for a total obligation of $54,925. Freight ($1,895) and air conditioning charge ($100) included. License, insurance, registration, PPSA, applicable taxes and dealer fees not included. ®Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. TD Auto Finance is a registered trademark of The Toronto-Dominion Bank. ¤ Offer available to qualified retail customers in Canada for vehicles purchased and delivered between April 2 and April 30, 2019. Lease based on suggested retail price of $57,575 including $2,650 Cash Delivery Allowance (tax exclusive) and $1,700 Dealer to Consumer Credit (tax exclusive) towards the lease of an eligible 2019 Next-Generation Sierra 1500 Crew Cab 4x4 Elevation model. Bi-weekly payment is $239 for 24 months at 3.9% lease rate (3.9% APR) on approved credit to qualified retail customers by GM Financial. The $119 weekly payment is calculated by dividing the bi-weekly payments. Payments cannot be made on a weekly basis. Equivalent weekly payments are for informational purposes only. Annual kilometer limit of 20,000 km, $0.16 per excess kilometer. $3,999 down payment required. Payment may vary depending on down payment trade. Total obligation is $16,393. Freight ($1,895) and air conditioning charge ($100, if applicable) included. Taxes, license, insurance, registration and applicable fees, levies, duties and, except in Quebec, dealer fees (all of which may vary by dealer and region) are extra. Option to purchase at lease end is $40,303. ഞ Offer available to qualified retail customers in Canada for vehicles purchased and delivered between April 2 and April 30, 2019. Lease based on suggested retail price of $38,285/$44,195 including $450/$450 Cash Delivery Allowance (tax exclusive), $1,932/$0 Option Package Discount and $1,500/$1,500 Lease Cash (tax exclusive) towards the lease of an eligible 2019 Terrain SLE 2.0L All-Wheel Drive Black Edition/2019 Terrain Denali All-Wheel Drive model. Bi-weekly payment is $191/$229 for 48/48 months at 1.5%/1.5% lease rate (1.5%/1.5% APR) on approved credit to qualified retail customers by GM Financial. The $95/$114 weekly payment is calculated by dividing the bi-weekly payments. Payments cannot be made on a weekly basis. Equivalent weekly payments are for informational purposes only. Annual kilometer limit of 20,000 km/20,000 km, $0.16/$0.16 per excess kilometer. $0/$0 down payment required. Payment may vary depending on down payment trade. Total obligation is $19,830/$23,783. Freight ($1,895) and air conditioning charge ($100, if applicable) included. Taxes, license, insurance, registration and applicable fees, levies, duties and, except in Quebec, dealer fees (all of which may vary by dealer and region) are extra. Option to purchase at lease end is $16,080/$20,330. 1 Before you buy a vehicle or use it for trailering, carefully review the trailering section of the Owner’s Manual. The weight of passengers, cargo and options or accessories may reduce the amount you can tow. 2 Whichever comes first. Limit of four complimentary Lube-Oil-Filter services intotal. Fluid top-offs, inspections, tire rotations, wheel alignments and balancing, etc., are not covered.

Conditions and limitations apply. 3 Whichever comes first. Conditions and limitations apply, see dealer for details. 4 Visit onstar.ca for vehicle availability,coverage maps, details and system limitations. Services and connectivity vary by model and conditions as well as geographical and technical restrictions. 4G LTE service available in select markets. Requires active connected vehicle services and a data plan to access the vehicle’s built-in Wi-Fi hotspot. Accessory Power must be active to use the Wi-Fi hotspot. Data plans provided by AT&T or its local service provider. Credit card is required for purchase.¸ Comparison based on wardsauto.com 2018 Large Light-Duty Pickup segment and latest competitive information available at time of printing. Excludes other GM vehicles. + Before you buy a vehicle or use it for trailering, carefully review the trailering section of the Owner’s Manual. The weight of passengers, cargo and options or accessories may reduce the amount you can tow. ௫ Full functionality requires compatible Bluetooth and smartphone, and USB connectivity for some devices. Data plan rates may apply. ȍ At time of posting, detailed map coverage is available for most major urban areas of the United States and for certain metropolitan areas of Canada (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Windsor, London, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax). Coverage is significantly limited outside these areas.

OPEN YOUR CAMERA. SCAN THE CODE. SEE THE SIERRA IN ACTION.

O BS E RV E R X TR A. C O M | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | 03

PROFITS SLOTTED IN Creating community connections starts and ends with our readers.

News tips are always welcome.

PAGE THREE

Phone: 519-669-5790 ext 103

The Township of Centre Wellington got $587,180 richer last week thanks to fourth-quarter (January to March) non-tax gaming revenue payment from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation for hosting Elements Casino Grand River. Centre Wellington has received more than $31.4 million to fill its coffers since the facility first opened in 2003.

FROM THE ARCHIVES Hot on the heels of the refurbishing of the Howard Avenue water tower in Elmira, the tower on Floradale Road is now being overhauled. Work started last week and is expected to run through June. The tank is now offline while crews work on maintenance and painting.

From the April 27, 2013 edition of The Observer

Online: observerxtra.com/tips

H U R RY U P A N D WA I T

Stuck in traffic jam before they even get behind the wheel Privately run Kitchener DriveTest facility had a 94% failure rate for wait-time requirements, provincial data show

BY FAISAL ALI

fali@woolwichobserver.com

Getting your driver’s license exam at the local DriveTest this weekend, and you’d be well advised to bring along a book – or maybe more than one – to help cope with the wait.

The region’s lone DriveTest facility, a privately run centre that provides government services, including G1 and G2 examinations, consistently failed to meet its daily requirements for timely service, a freedom of information request has found.

Data obtained from the Ministry of Transportation showed that in 2017, the Kitchener DriveTest missed its target for waittimes on 239 days out of a total of 252 working days – a failure rate of 94 per cent. That was considerably worse than the two nearest DriveTest centres in Guelph (137 days) and Stratford (71).

“This is terrible,” said Mike Green, who had come with his wife early last Saturday to take a G1 knowledge test. The test itself took under 15 minutes to complete on a computer, but the couple were stuck at the centre for almost five

hours.

“It seems really disorganized,” he said, expressing frustration at the situation.

Wait-times – or the time spent waiting in line to receive service – are meant to exceed no more than 20 minutes for 90 per cent of customers on any given day.

In practice, they seemed to range considerably for G1 examinations at the Kitchener centre. On an average Saturday, customers interviewed noted they could spend as little as half-an-hour on the entire process, from waiting in line to completing the test (which has no set time limit) to receiving their license, while several said they spent between 45 minutes to an hour for the same.

For Green, who came on the Saturday after Good Friday with his wife, the wait was five hours long.

The couple came in at 9:30 a.m., and might have expected a longer-than-average wait because of the long weekend; they certainly could not have anticipated still sitting in the cramped office past 2 p.m.

It took two-and-a-half hours of waiting just to write the test at one of the several computer stations

at the DriveTest, and then another two to three hours to wait for the results of the multiple-choice test, said Green.

Rich Girard, another customer at the DriveTest, had come in with his son for a G1 examination. They had been waiting for three hours, he said, before his son was called in to take the test. Girard described the experience “awful”, and besides the long wait time, criticized the test's price ($160), as well as the cleanliness of centre.

Two others spoken to on April 20 raised similar points, including the state of the facility’s washrooms.

Interviewees noted staff were courteous and helpful, however, but were largely of the opinion that more staff, and more space, was needed.

The Kitchener DriveTest first opened its doors on Ottawa Street in 2000, and has for the past 19 years provided service to the region’s ever growing population. Asked how the DriveTest had changed to meet the increased needs of its population and redress wait-times, a Ministry of Transportation spokesperson pointed to longer operating hours instituted

People wearily waited for service at the Kitchener DriveTest last Saturday. The Easter long-weekend saw the centre inundated customers, with wait-times for G1 examinations stretching up to five hours for some. [FAISAL ALI / THE OBSERVER]

in December 2017, and upcoming renovations to the location.

“On the Victoria Day weekend, the Kitchener DriveTest Centre is undergoing a complete office renovation to improve the customer waiting area with increased seating capacity, to shorten wait times by adding two additional front counters ... and increase knowledge test room capacity,” said spokesperson Bob Nichols in an email.

While drivers’ examinations are typically the purview of the province, the Ministry of Transportation licenses out the service exclusively to a global service delivery company, Serco, which pays the government for the privilege.

The company boasts a speciality in providing services to governments, with a diverse portfolio ranging from defense contracts to rail transit management, communications and healthcare.

By the end of its contract, the company is expected to pay $207 million to the province “to collect fees, operate and manage the DriveTest Centres across Ontario,” said Nichols.

Serco is given exclusive DRIVETEST | 05

TA K I N G I T TO T H E N E X T L E V E L

Pair of local highschools qualify for robotics championship in Detroit

BY FAISAL ALI

fali@woolwichobserver.com

Once more, the province’s high school robotics teams brought out their creations for another bout in the arena last weekend, but this time with the stakes raised significantly.

A total of 66 teams competed in the FIRST Ontario Provincial Championships, held at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, including two contenders from Woolwich.

Elmira District Secondary School and Woodland Christian High School met their share of challenges over the four day event, but came through with a ticket to the world championship

in Detroit, which kicks off this week.

“We performed probably not as great as maybe we had expected,” noted Andrew Veldhuis, a mentor with the Woodland robotics team, the CyberCavs.

“We did rank 10th out 40 in our division, which wasn’t too bad. We thought we could do better but tenth isn’t anything to complain about, really.”

Elmira, meanwhile, ranked one spot higher in ninth place but soon found trouble in the playoffs, in the form of the CyberCavs, no less.

“We ended up ninth in our division, which was respectable, but then we were chosen to be part of

the third alliance [and] we lost in the quarter-finals.

So the first round of the playoffs,” said Barbara Gaudet, a team coach and teacher at EDSS. “The upside to that was we lost against the CyberCavs and the [Kitchener Waterloo Youth] Rebels, so two other Waterloo-Wellington teams.”

For the playoffs, teams must form into alliances of three; and once again, the CyberCavs and Elmira’s team, Sir Lancerbot, found themselves on opposite ends of the arena.

Sir Lancerbot teamed up with Burlington Central High School and Craig Kielburger in Milton. But trio was ultimately knocked

The Woodland Christian High School robotics team, seen here at an earlier competition in North Bay, was one of two from Woolwich to compete at this year’s FIRST Robotics Provincials. [SUBMITTED]

out of contention by the CyberCavs, who this year found themselves joining in familiar company.

“What was interesting with our alliance is that 2702 [Kitchener Waterloo Youth Robotics], our cap-

tains who picked us, they were our mentor team way back in 2013. And when we picked the Owen Sound team, our team had mentored their team. So it was a bit of a grandfather, father, son kind of thing going

on,” said Veldhuis.

The Woodland CyberCavs’ alliance bested Elmira’s, advancing to the semi-finals before they finally met their match and were eliminated.

ROBOTICS | 04

TH E O BS E RV E R | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019

04 | C O MMUNIT Y NE WS

GRCA: Agency forced to make quick adjustments as province moves on cuts to curb deficit in its first budget FROM 01

Both EDSS and Woodland will once more be heading to world championships in Detroit this week. [SUBMITTED]

ROBOTICS: A big opportunity for both schools FROM 03

“In eliminations in quarter-finals, we were alliance six against alliance three.

Alliance three actually had Elmira,” said Veldhuis.

“We actually did manage to beat them. We lost in semis, but that gave us easily enough points to qualify for worlds.

“That was the biggest thing for me,” he added.

“Qualifications were a bit rough for us. We were a little unsure how the rest of it was going to go. But the alliance we ended up with was a whole lot of fun, it turned out way better than

we expected. So it was a strong finish for our team.”

Both teams did more than enough to earn themselves a straight shot to the World Championships, with the EDSS contingent departing for the Detroit-based competition on Wednesday. The Lancerbots were also singled out at the provincials for the Entrepreneurship Award, given in recognition of the business and financial sides of the team that make building an expensive robot even possible.

By the end of the provincials, the Sir Lancerbots

ranked 17th out of 173 in Ontario, while the CyberCavs ranked 12th overall.

“Which is really good,” said Veldhuis. “So I think we’re pretty pleased with how it ended.”

The world championships in Detroit began April 24 and runs through Saturday.

“We’re pretty excited,” said Gaudet of the EDSS team, which will be playing in the Tesla Division at the competition. “We think that we have a very good opportunity in that division, from what we can tell.

So we’re very excited.”

be adjusted in light of the cuts.

“Right now, staff are incorporating the funding reduction into our financial forecast, and that will be presented to the board ... on April 26 at the general membership meeting,” said Stocco. “They will discuss at that time the impact of the reduction and how to address it.”

The cuts affect organizations across the entire province. Conservation Ontario did note that it would particularly impact “smaller and more rural conservation authorities.”

Before the reduction, a total of $7.4 million was shared among 36 conservation authorities across Ontario. Stocco said that despite cuts, the GRCA remains dedicated to its mission.

“What I can say is that the GRCA remains committed to its priority of protecting life and minimizing property damage related to flooding and erosion,” said Stocco. “Our flood management program plays a key role in keeping our watershed communities

safe and building resilience to climate change as well.

We remain steadfast in that commitment.”

The GRCA manages water and other natural resources on behalf of 39 municipalities and almost one million residents of the Grand River watershed.

Expenditures are focused on projects to reduce flood damages, improve water quality, maintain a reliable water supply, protect natural areas and biodiversity, and more.

Currently, the province is consulting with stakeholders and the public on the core role of conservation authorities online at the Environmental Registry of Ontario. The goal is to make amendments to the Conservation Authorities Act, introduced in 1946, to clearly define the core mandatory programs and services provided by conservation authorities. It is open to public comments until May 20.

“Ontario’s current fiscal challenge requires public sector organizations at all levels to find ways to make government spending more effective and effi-

cient,” said Justine Lewkowicz, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in an email to the Observer.

“Conservation authority revenue comes from various sources. Generally, less than 10 per cent of overall conservation authority funding is provided by the provincial government.

Our government is committed to balancing the budget in a responsible manner to protect what matters most – health care, education, and other critical public services.”

Stocco said it was not clear how exactly this would impact day-to-day operations, such as a reduction in staff or requesting additional funding from municipalities. There will be more clarity in the coming months, and after tomorrow’s board meeting.

“The bottom line is there are still many things that are unclear and unknown,” said Stocco. “I think as some decisions are made, there will be some greater clarity from the province, which will then help the GRCA in its decision-making.”

CONSULTATION: Local representatives have their say in brief meeting during Trudeau's visit to the area FROM 01

wan Tabbara (Kitchener South-Hespeler) “Basically, it was just a very candid conversation about boosting levels of government, advocating for investment in Waterloo Region,” said Redman, expressing her approval with the recent federal govern-

ment’s investment in the region.

“When we talk to our federal counterparts, especially the Prime Minister, we know we can take sort of that bigger view. So we talked about the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor and how we’re a very active partner with

the GTA.” While the meeting lasted just an hour, a wide variety of topics were discussed.

“We talked about the importance of the airport, we talked about the importance of transit and connectivity, the all-day, two-way GO [train],” said Shantz. “We talked about

stable funding, which of course is more of a provincial jurisdiction, but money flows from the federal government to the province for certain things. We talked about agriculture and technology.”

The mayoral meeting wrapped up Trudeau’s

SMOKED BBQ PORK CHOP DINNER at Gale Presbyterian Church

Now Open Saturdays Until 3!

WED. MAY 8th

4:45pm - 7pm Continuous Serve Eat in or Take out

Pork chop, mashed potatoes, vegetable, coleslaw, roll, pickles, pie, beverages & all the trimmings

ADVANCE TICKETS PLEASE

$

16Adult$7 Child Under 12

Church Office: 519-669-2852 or Lee: 519-669-8217

10 Barnswallow Dr., Elmira | 519-669-2852

FEATURE ITEM:

PORK CHOPS 2.49 CENTRE CUT

$

/lb Reg.$2.99 /lb

CHICKEN LEGS SEASONED TOP

1.99 /lb

$

5.99 /lb

Reg.$7.49/lb

3.99/lb

Reg.$4.75 /lb

SIRLOIN STEAK

$

DELI SLICED

$

HAM KIELBOSSA

2065 Floradale Rd. Elmira, ON. Our plant is 100% Gluten Free

Reg.$2.69/lb

PHONE: 519-669-2300 TOLL FREE: 844-669-2300

HOURS: Tuesday - Friday 8am - 6pm Saturday 9am - 3pm Sunday CLOSED

HEAVENLY EATS

Vacation Bible School 2019 Elmira/Floradale Mennonite Churches (at Elmira Mennonite Church) “Who’s my Neighbour” July 22nd – July 26th • 9 am – 11:30 am Free of charge. Register in advance at: elmiramennonitechurch@golden.net

Gale Presbyterian Church August 19th – 23rd • 9 am – 3:30 pm Cost is $65.00/child. Register in advance at: milly.siderius@galepresbyterian.com “Flying High for the Glory of God” July 15th – 19th • 9 am – noon Cost is $30/child or $75/family (ages 4-11).

Register in advance at the Parish Office 519-669-3387

Every Friday from

May 3rd – Sept 27th 4:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Rotates each week at participating churches: St Teresa of Avila Elmira Pentecostal

bouring Wilmot Township for lunch at the Imperial Market Eatery, and led a town hall meeting in Cambridge. He attended a Liberal fundraiser breakfast in Waterloo Wednesday morning, then capped off his stay with the mayoral meeting before going back to Ottawa.

St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church

FOOD TRUCK FRIDAYS

Trinity United Gale Presbyterian

busy two-day stay in the region. Just the day before, he announced a $52.4 million investment for three tech hubs in the province called the Scale-Up Platform, with $18 million allotted to the Kitchener tech hub, Communitech.

He visited the neigh-

Elmira Mennonite St Paul’s Lutheran

Find the schedule of Churches and Trucks on our

Heavenly Eats Facebook Page

Woodside Church “Roar” July 8th – 12th • 9 am – noon (full), 1:30-4:30 pm Cost is $25 per child. Register online at: woodsidechurch.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | THE O BSE RVE R

C O M MUN IT Y N E WS | 05

DRIVETEST: Province acknowledges there's a problem, but won't discuss penalties, moves to improve service FROM 03

right to offer certain key services to Ontarians. But as part of its agreement with the government, the company must satisfy certain service requirements, or key performance indicators, with wait-times being among those obligations.

Failure to meet the key performance indicator incurs a monetary penalty on the company “for each business day where

the 20 min wait time has been exceeded,” though the amounts levied to the private company have been kept confidential by the ministry.

The province would not reveal the penalty values, nor how much it had charged Serco in 2017 for its 239 wait-time performance failures, saying the information had to obtained through another freedom of information

POLICE REPORT

request.

Asked about the excessively long wait-times on April 20, the spokesperson noted a technical issue the previous business day (April 18), resulted in some 35 additional people being forced to return on Saturday. The people were granted priority pass tickets, and most returned on Saturday, adding to the already heavy demand on April 20.

SCRAMBLE FOR EGGS

Paramedics and police responded early Tuesday afternoon to a 911 call that turned out to be a medical issue at 33 Industrial Dr. in Elmira. [VERONICA REINER / THE OBSERVER]

Turkey season; conservation officers will be in the field

The downpour Saturday did nothing to dampen spirits at the Optimist Club of Elmira’s Easter egg hunt at Bolender Park, which was well attended this year. [FAISAL ALI / THE OBSERVER]

GOOD DEEDS ARE IN THE CAN

Hundreds of volunteers were hard at work this week at the Mennonite Central Committee’s mobile meat canner, which docked at the Elmira Produce Auction Co-operative on Monday. The group hopes to can 48,000 pounds of chicken, [FAISAL ALI / THE OBSERVER] which will then be sent around the world to people in need.

Provincial conservation officers will be out this spring enforcing hunting regulations, with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry reminding hunters to be mindful during the upcoming wild turkey hunting season in Ontario.

While in the field conducting inspections, conservation officers will ask hunters for their licences and to inspect their firearms.

In a release this week, the ministry issued a list of reminders: At no time can you shoot from or across a roadway.

Always handle firearms with care and attention.

Never drink alcohol or take impairing drugs while hunting.

It is illegal to have a loaded firearm in or on a vehicle, or discharge from a vehicle (including an all-terrain vehicle). There are a few exceptions noted in the Hunting Regulations Summary.

Don’t wear red, white or blue beneath your camouflage, those colours show up on turkeys and you may be mistaken for one.

Set up to call in open areas where you can see 40 to 60 yards.

Sit against a tree or rock as wide as your back. This provides a shot-proof barrier covering your entire back and with a view 180 degrees to your front.

If you see another hunter approaching your calling post, don’t wave your hands. Sudden movement could be mistaken for a turkey flushing in the brush.

Whistle or speak out in a normal voice.

Keep your shotgun’s safety on until you are absolutely sure of your target and beyond.

The ministry also stress-

es that hunters have landowner permission when hunting on private lands.

Always ask for permission before entering private land, including to retrieve game.

Plan ahead and get permission from the landowner well in advance of your trip.

Don’t assume you have permission this year just because you had permission last year.

Ask the landowner what activities are permitted on their property.

Do not use off-road vehicles, camp, damage vegetation, construct a permanent structure (tree stands, blinds or platforms) or store personal property

APRIL 19 ■■9:19 PM | A 34-year-old St. Agatha man was driving a silver Honda southbound on Notre Dame Drive near Wilby Road when a deer bolted across the road, striking the front driver’s corner of the vehicle. The vehicle sustained significant damage but the driver was not injured.

APRIL 20 ■■4:09 AM | A 36-year-old Listowel man was driving a black Dodge pickup truck westbound on Ament Line in Wellesley Township when he lost control of his vehicle, entered the north ditch and struck a hydro pole. The vehicle came to rest on its roof. The driver sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene by EMS and fire. Waterloo North Hydro crews responded to secure the downed lines and restore power to the area that was in darkness for several hours.

Police kept the road closed for a few hours while the work was carried out.

on their land without permission.

Ask the landowner where certain activities are allowed to avoid disturbing the landowner’s neighbours, pets or other animals such as livestock.

Ask about any other special concerns – if the landowner’s family is likely to be in the woods or fields and where the property boundaries are located.

PLAYSAFE: Don’t Let It Happen to You The War Amps new “kids-tokids” safety video, featuring stories from young amputees who have lost limbs in accidents, delivers the hard-hitting but positive message: “Spot the danger before you play!”

Visit waramps.ca/ playsafe for the video and safety resources.

O BS E RV E R X TR A. C O M | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | 6

THE MONITOR

VERBATIM Keep the conversation alive on topics of relevance to the community; write a letter to the Editor.

Deadline: Tuesdays 4pm

“This government had an opportunity to stop auto insurance companies from gouging Ontario drivers. Instead, the Ford Conservatives voted down the Lower Automobile Insurance Rates Act, ensuring auto insurance companies can keep overcharging drivers in Ontario.”

MPP Tom Rakocevic slammed the Ford Conservatives for voting down his private member’s bill.

Online: observerxtra.com/write-a-letter/

Only 31% of 11- to 15-year-olds feel emotionally supported by their friends, 32% by family and 35% by teachers.

Belonging is strongly related to these relationships, but is also affected by poverty, cultural identity and other factors. Widening income inequality has contributed to more difficult and disconnected relationships.

UNICEF Canada's Canadian Index of Child and Youth Well-Being

O U R V I E W | E D I TO R I A L

A

Debt numbers reveal a downward spiral, lack of foresight as they already don’t make enough to cover their bills and debt payments.

The numbers indicate deteriorating financial stability for many.

Easy credit and low interest rates have fuelled the borrowing, with total consumer debt now surpassing $2.2 trillion.

Our debt outstrips our incomes – there is roughly $1.80 in credit-market debt for every dollar of household disposal income.

Mortgage debt reached nearly $1.44 trillion to end 2018, while consumer credit and non-mortgage loans combined to total $769.4 billion. Canadians on average are paying about 15 per cent of household income to service debt.

Low borrowing costs have made it easier for consumers to

lmost half of Canadians are $200 away from insolvency in any given month, meaning even a relatively small unexpected expense could be a tipping point.

Worse still, the situation has been in place for some years, worsening slightly over time as wages stagnate, costs rise and household debt continues to rise.

A quarterly survey of Canadian household released this week shows more Canadians are hovering close to financial insolvency at the end of the month: 48 per cent of Canadians say they are $200 or less each month away from financial insolvency, an increase of two points from the last quarter. This includes one in four (26%) who say they have no wiggle room at month-end, G LO B A L O U T LO O K

service their debts. What happens if rates start to rise, however? Such worries are likely behind the Bank of Canada’s reluctance to raise rates after a series of increases.

It’s our spending habits that have got the better of us: bigger homes, new cars, electronic toys and so on. Our wants are limitless, while ability to pay for them is not.

Worse still, our real incomes and net worth are in decline, meaning we’re borrowing just to maintain the status quo.

So, even as household debt climbed relative to our incomes, we had less than we did last year.

The survey, based on polling done by Ipsos, notes the average Canadian estimates it will take seven years to get out of their non-mortgage debt, with

about 15 per cent assuming they’ll never get out of debt.

Caught between falling incomes and growing household debt, we’re using borrowed money to finance day-to-day expenses rather than consumer goodies.

Studies have repeatedly indicated a trend, with more than half of indebted Canadians borrowing just to afford daily living expenses such as food, housing and transportation.

This is no accident, as our standard of living has been in decline for decades, propped up by massive amounts of borrowing. Long gone are the days when rising productivity in the economy was shared among pretty much everyone – that was when the “rising tide lifts all boats” arguments still held water – replaced by most of the

benefits going to the few.

While it’s true we have much more stuff than was the case in the more-prosperous postwar years, that’s an illusion brought on by there simply being more stuff to have. And readily available credit to buy it, and buy it now, patience no longer being a collective virtue.

Clearly debt is a problem at the individual level, just as it is with governments. The key to changing the situation rests not only with cuts and austerity – we should, however, be saving for the future – but with seeing actual economic growth that moves us away from a dependence on consumerism as its fuel.

Polls show we’re concerned about debt, but there’s still far more talk than action.

T H E V I E W F R O M H E R E | S C OT T A R N O L D

Ukrainians have nothing left to lose

U

kraine has a new president, and he’s a comedian! Oh, wait a minute, that’s not such a big deal. Guatemala was the first country to elect a comedian as president: Jimmy Morales, back in 2015. Although Morales turned sort of serious once he took office: he’s a rightwing nationalist who supports the death penalty and opposes abortion. Whereas Volodymyr Zelensky hasn’t turned.

Right through the presidential election campaign in Ukraine, Zelensky avoided speeches. Mostly he just toured the country with a comedy troupe, performed in skits, and did stand-up.

And he’s not just a comedian, he’s a Jewish comedian, the very best kind. His

GWYNNE DYER GLOBAL AFFAIRS

style is south Ukrainian, sort of vaudeville, with a distinctive Jewish inflection, and people love it.

Congratulations to Ukraine, by the way, for having Jews as both president and prime minister (Volodymyr Groysman) at the same time, in the heart of traditionally anti-semitic Eastern Europe, and not even making a fuss about it. But what is Zelensky going to do for Ukraine now that he has been swept SEE DYER | 07

JOE MERLIHAN

PUBLISHER Ext 107

STEVE KANNON

EDITOR Ext 103

FAISAL ALI

DONNA RUDY

NIK HARRON

VERONICA REINER

PATRICK MERLIHAN

CASSANDRA MERLIHAN

REPORTER Ext 102 REPORTER Ext 101

SALES MANAGER Ext 104 PRINT/WEB MANAGER Ext 105

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Ext 109 GRAPHIC DESIGNER Ext 108

Letters to the Editor: editor@woolwichobserver.com | observerxtra.com/write-a-letter The Observer is the independent community newspaper serving the communities within Woolwich and Wellesley Townships in Waterloo Region. The Observer is published every Thursday. The Observer is located in Elmira and was founded in 1996.

Out selling the budget and ramping up for a fall election, the PM is in real jeopardy of developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

20-B ARTHUR ST. N., ELMIRA, ON N3B 1Z9 Phone: 519-669-5790 Toll Free: 1-888-966-5942 Fax: 519-669-5753 Online: observerxtra.com Social Media: /observerxtra @woolwichnews /observerxtra

SUBCRIPTIONS Annual subscriptions within Canada are availabe for $35 + hst. Contact the office or visit www.observerxtra.com/subscriptions DISTRIBUTION CONCERNS Concerns about local distribution can be addressed online at: www.observerxtra. com/home-delivery. For immediate issues please call 519-894-3000.

GENERAL POLICIES The Observer newspaper and website user policies can be found online on our website at: www.observerxtra.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must be exclusive to The Observer, include name, address and phone number and less than 300 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. The Observer declines unsigned letters, announcements, poetry and thank-you letters.

PRESS OVERSIGHT The Observer belongs to the National Newsmedia Council, a self-regulatory body governing Canadian newspapers. Toll free: 1-844-877-1163 or info@mediacouncil.ca.

Complaintants are encouraged to address concerns with the newspaper Editor first.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS The Observer is a member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA), News Media Canada and The Greater KW Chamber of Commerce.

COPYRIGHT All content produced by The Observer is protected by copyright. No portion in print or online is to be reproduced without specific permission of the publisher. Reproduction rights can be obtained from Access Copyright located at 1 Young St., 1900 Toronto, ON M5E 1E5 | 416-868-1621

© 2019 Cathedral Communications Inc.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | THE O BSE RVE R

C O M M E NT & O P IN IO N | 7

LO C A L V I E W P O I N T

The little people snipe at each other as the oligarchs pull strings

T

hat we marked Earth Day this week is in large part due to the environmental movement that sprang out of the activist decade, the 1960s. Much of the credit for the ecological consciousness of the day came from Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book, Silent Spring.

Today, the perils of toxic chemicals and the need for regulation are common knowledge, but at the time Carson’s findings, which focused on the harm caused by certain classes of pesticides such as DDT, was met with the same kind of corporate propaganda that exists to this very day, as witnessed in the climate change “debates.”

Carson’s research was a game-changer, revealing the dangers to public health, the untruths of industry and the lack of oversight from governments that just took the word of corporations. The movement that followed was directly responsible for the regulatory framework that emerged in the U.S., including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and, eventually, the likes of the Environmental Protection Agency. Each of those efforts to protect the public was met by corporate efforts to undermine the process.

The fight against environmentalism followed the playbook for attacking efforts to curb the tobacco industry, introduce civil rights and a host of other reforms that were hallmarks of the decade. It’s a playbook that continues to be refined today, largely by those in the pay of the wealthy, from academics to politicians instructed in how to confuse the issue or lie outright if all else fails.

The early gains made by those looking to protect the public met with a backlash from the corporate class, which took to stealth in spending massive amounts of money over many years to bend

the rules in their favour. That included the likes of setting up ersatz charities, foundations and think tanks – many with ambiguous or disingenuous names and stated goals – that allowed them to secretly funnel their money into self-serving interests while gaining tax write-offs in the process.

The sordid history of such tactics, exemplified in the likes of Charles Koch and Richard Mellon Scaife, was painstakingly documented in Jane Mayer’s 2016 book Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. In it, she shows the efforts of wealthy corporate owners to bypass government and the public interest in favour of their own bank accounts. It’s a decades-old battle, one that rages on today in

To the Editor, The left hand knows not what the right does.

Less than a month ago, Doug Ford’s Conservatives announced that all Ontario high school students will have to complete a minimum of four credits using online courses in order to graduate. This is a blow to any number of students who have difficulty learning without extra assistance.

Last week that same government announced cuts of 50 per cent to library services across the

EDITOR'S MUSINGS

the form of the Trump administration packed with unqualified shills who do their best to undermine their own departments, from stripping away environmental protections to weakening education and workers’ right, among a host of other malfeasances.

Mayer points to a 1971 memo written by Lewis Powell, the future Supreme Court justice, as the impetus for the corporatists counteroffensive against the pro-

L E F C O U RT L A N D | JAC K L E F C O U R T

addition to a thriving corporate law practice, he held seats on the boards of over a dozen of the largest companies in the country, including the cigarette maker Philip Morris. So in the spring of 1971, Powell, who was then sixty-three, had watched with growing agitation as student radicals, antiwar demonstrators, black power militants, and much of the liberal intellectual elite turned against what they saw as the depravity of corporate America. Powell believed American capitalism was facing a crisis.”

The manipulation – bribery, lying and outright corruption – of would-be oligarchs are what should be angering citizens. Instead, fear-mongering and misdirection have created a divisive and partisan electorate, allowing the downward spiral to continue.

Sure, Americans in particular are angry and scared. But the anger is directed at the wrong targets. Supporters of the authoritarian right movement who vote for fringe candidates do so in direct opposition to their own best interests. There’s the obvious stuff – the so-called grassroots organizations created and funded by the likes of the billionaire Koch family, which has been working for decades to undermine the public good for its own benefit. Then there’s the underlying issue of corporatism and consumerism-trumps-citizenship, far more difficult to get on the agenda, let alone resolve.

The problems in the U.S., and to a lesser extent in Canada, are complex. Partisan sniping and sloganeering won’t help. Apparently, that’s the best we can do. That’s why we have pundits yelling on TV. Ersatz politicians using homey platitudes. And issues reduce to the lowest common denominator.

We can expect the polarization to continue as long as we’re kept distracted and cowed enough to avoid looking behind the curtain.

DYER: Ukrainians hope electing a comedian was no joke ... on them

LO C A L V I E W P O I N T

■■ Ford’s opposing policies will be tough on disadvantaged students

STEVE KANNON

gressive gains of the 1960s.

“Powell was the author of a brilliant battle plan detailing how conservative business interests could reclaim American politics. In the spirit of Hannibal, it called for a devastating surprise attack on the bloated and self-satisfied establishment, which regarded itself as nonpartisan but which the conservatives regarded as liberal. Carrying out this attack would be an alternative opinion elite that would look like the existing one, except that it would be privately funded by avowedly partisan donors intent on implementing a pro-business — and, critics would say, self-serving — political agenda,” she writes.

“Powell’s ties to corporate conservatives were manifold. In

province. Another significant number of Ontario students will be disadvantaged by this due to financial need and/or lack of availability of high-speed internet. They will have to rely on, and be able to get to, their local libraries for access to their compulsory online courses.

It would be interesting to know the thought processes or lack thereof that would lead Ford and his ministers to implement these two completely incompatible regulation changes.

It seems as though the government is working hard at setting Ontario’s most disadvantaged students up for failure.

Paul Marrow, Winterbourne

FROM 6

into office with a landslide majority (73 per cent)? Nobody actually knows, and this may include Zelensky himself.

When Zelensky did offer more than jokes, in the short videos he released from time to time during the campaign, it still wasn’t policies. More like mood music, really.

“He’s from a family of Jewish Soviet intellectuals from a Russian-speaking industrial region [in eastern Ukraine],” Vyacheslav Likhachev of the National Minorities’ Rights Monitoring Group in Kyiv told the Haaretz newspaper. “He has repeatedly made fun of over-the-top [Ukrainian] national patriotic discourse.”

“Zelensky might make

some symbolic gestures toward nationalist sentiment to fend off accusations that he’ll sell us out to Russia,” Likhachev continued, “but that seems unlikely to me.

He probably realizes that it’ll be hard for him to win over the most nationalist-oriented part of society, so he’ll wash his hands of them so as not to alienate the majority.”

That will be a welcome change after five years of the pompous nationalist bilge of billionaire Petro Poroshenko, who won the presidency in 2014 after a popular revolt overthrew the pro-Russian stooge Viktor Yanukovych.

In a video Poroshenko released just before the sole presidential debate in Kiev’s huge Olympic Stadium last Friday, he tried

to play the patriotic card: “There’s no room for jokes here. Being a president and supreme commander is not a game ... it means being responsible for the people, for the country.” It would have sounded more persuasive if Poroshenko had done something about the corruption that has made oligarchs like him rich.

Zelensky’s response was lethal: “I’m not your opponent. I’m a verdict on you. I am the result of your mistakes.” And by a majority of almost three-to-one, Ukrainians voted to put their future in his hands.

Although, to be frank, most of them doubt that he can really deliver the future of peace and prosperity that they hope for.

The only evidence they have of Zelensky’s

dedication, honesty and wisdom is the television series he writes and stars in, ‘Servant of the People.’

It’s a heart-warming story of a humble high-school history teacher whose rant about the dreadful state of the country is secretly recorded by his students, and goes viral when they upload it to YouTube. So he is elected president of Ukraine.

Zelensky is not a highschool teacher; he is a show-business millionaire with his own production company. He may be just as warm and sincere in person as Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko, the former teacher and accidental president whom he plays in ‘Servant.’ (It’s one of Ukraine’s most popular SEE DYER | 11

O BS E RV E R X TR A. C O M | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | 8

ON-COURT PROWESS We're keeping score about local kids in sport in our communities. Submit your team results and photos online.

Online: www.observerxtra.com/score

The EDSS badminton Lancers posted a fifth-place finish in WCSSAA senior division. The senior boys’ and senior girls’ teams each finished third in their events.

Both teams qualified for CWOSSA, with the boys finishing second to qualify for OFSAA on May 2, the first EDSS squad to do so in more than 20 years.

BACK ON THE PITCH The EDSS girls’ soccer team defeated KCI by a score of 3-2 on Apr. 17. The senior boys’ team, however, were edged out 1-0 in a match the following day against GRCI, suffering a setback when a goal was called back in the second half.

Deadline: Tuesdays by 4pm

C O M P E T I TO R S I N F I N E F O R M

Elmira Karate Dojo to host CNGK tournament Sunday

BY VERONICA REINER

vreiner@woolwichobserver.com

A variety of martial arts skills will be on display in Elmira this weekend as a local club hosts the 34th Canadian Annual Naha-te Goju Karate (CNGK) tournament.

More than 100 martial artists of all ages and experience levels from all across Ontario will compete at Riverside PS Sunday in the event hosted by Elmira Karate Dojo and Elora Karate Dojo.

“We have students that are as young as five participating, and we have students that ... our oldest one is in his late-50s; he will be participating as well,” said organizer and martial artist Barb Lamble.

“We do have quite a range of people. We have students that are pretty much beginners with less than a year of training experience, and then we’ll have black-belt level students competing as well.”

Students will be evaluated on their performance on a scale from 1-10.

The marks are added to throughout the day – competitors with the highest scores will earn themselves medallions featuring the CNGK symbol ... and bragging rights.

Members of the Elmira Karate Dojo will be among the competitors at this weekend's tournament hosted in Elmira.

Participants will try their hand at non-contact sparring, and performing a kata, a detailed, choreographed pattern of movements that are generally practiced to memorize and perfect the action being executed.

“If you pick a kata that’s more exciting to see, that might get better marks than a kata that’s a little less exciting,” said Lamble.

“So something that’s really dynamic – lots of kicks, and kyah’s tends to do better than one that’s maybe not quite so exciting.”

N OT S O G R E AT O U T D O O R S M A N

T

he wild turkey season opens in Ontario this week and that means there will be times when even the strongest of relationships are strained.

That time is typically at 4 a.m., which is when most eager hunters get up and start making enough commotion to, and I quote, “Wake the dead.”

Clearly, this is an exaggeration by the person playing the role of the dead person, often quite convincingly I might add.

Despite the hyperbole, I think, due to the strongly worded advice of several marriage counsellors I have known, it is the duty of the hunter to realize

While the atmosphere is generally friendly and inclusive, Lamble noted that things tend to get a little more spirited in the higher rankings.

“I would say it’s a mix.

The black belt division tends to be a little more competitive,” said Lamble. “We tend to go a little harder with each other as black belts than the sort of lower ranks do.

“I really like the camaraderie that we have with the different schools. I would say our tournament is known as a friendly

[VERONICA REINER / THE OBSERVER]

tournament. Every dojo has its own unique way of presenting their art.”

The tournament has been hosted consistently in Elora, because the tournament’s founder, Kyoshi Jay Purdy, was head of the Elora Karate Dojo. Purdy has been involved with karate for more than 50 years in Ontario and decided to hand off the reins of hosting the tournament to Lamble.

Lamble noted that the location in Elmira is a more personal choice. Her husband, Kyoshi Mike

Robertson, was just graded up to a 7th-degree black belt this year.

“So we thought in celebration of that it would be really exciting to bring the event home to our local community,” explained Lamble. “My son goes to school at Riverside, and he will be competing.

He’s very excited. He’s an orange belt, and he’s very excited to be able to participate at his own school.”

“We do have students from all of the local schools participating; it’s

not just Riverside. It’s just an excellent school, so we decided it would be a nice thing to do. Also because our son goes there, it’s good to support the community that way.”

Participants are divided by age, from peewee (age 6 and under) up to adults (16+) and belts of all shades, including white, yellow, orange, green, brown, blue, and black to keep a level playing field.

The CNGK tournament will take place at the Riverside PS gym on April 28, starting at noon.

Getting the bird with an early start

STEVE GALEA

NOT-SO-GREAT-OUTDOORSMAN

that sleep is very often far more important to your partner than wishing you luck before you go turkey hunting. Who knew?

Once you accept that, you can begin to understand why the person you just woke up is not nearly as happy as you are – despite that you have clearly explained that turkey season has arrived.

With that in mind, allow

me to offer a few timeless tips to ensure that your turkey season doesn’t result in any more sleep loss than necessary, which is generally what happens when you have to sleep in the shed for an entire season.

First, I think it is critically important not to practice turkey calling in the house at 4 a.m., which is counterintuitive since we all know you can never practice too much.

But, trust me, it’s better to head out into the woods with a little less practice and a fully functioning call than with a lot of practice and a call that needs reassembly or possibly

removal from your larynx.

Next, although the joy is real, it’s probably best not to run around in circles in the bedroom at 4 a.m. bellowing “It’s turkey season!

It’s turkey season! Rejoice turkey season is here!”

Sometimes, no matter what people tell you, they often don’t want you to communicate in an open and honest manner. But they always want you to turn off your alarm.

Believe it or not, the best thing to do is lay out all your gear the night before so you don’t have to run into the bedroom and say, “Have you seen my camouflaged face mask?”

This is a silly thing to ask

because, if they tell you they have seen it, it’s not really working is it?

Also, if your spouse says no, regardless of how great your relationship is, you will forever harbour a nagging suspicion that he or she knew exactly where it was but didn’t tell you because they wanted to wear it that day. That’s not healthy.

This is why it’s best arrange your gear in a neat and orderly fashion the night before and then rise as quietly as possible, slip out of bed and put your gear on in the dark – which means you’ll notice 80 per cent of it is on backwards come first

light.

Better yet, sleep in your hunting clothes – although this might also cause some discord, or nightmares, if you happen to hunt in a ghillie suit or have restless leg syndrome and wear your boots too.

Either way, the next step is to slip downstairs and breakfast silently. I would suggest soft toast and the quietest jam you have in the house. Then try to sneak out the door without forgetting anything so that the dog doesn’t bark when you re-enter.

Do this and you will have a lawyer-free turkey season, provided they cough up that camo mask.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | THE O BSE RVE R

LO C AL S P O RTS | 9

Woolwich Juvenile squad goes toe-to-toe with AAA teams Team’s success was part of a strong year for the township’s minor hockey organization, including several playoff runs

BY FAISAL ALI

fali@woolwichobserver.com

It was a great year for Woolwich Minor Hockey, as some 600 players on 38 teams gave their all to Canada’s national pastime.

Whether it was in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) playoffs, which saw the Minor Midget A team claim another championship this year, down to the local leagues, which saw four young teams claim the Grand River local league championships, the Wildcats kept up a strong front across all ages and skill-levels.

Not to be overlooked, however, were the young men at the older end of the spectrum, the Juvenile A squad. Showcasing years of training in minor hockey and a strong feeder system within the Woolwich Wildcats, the Juveniles were the top team in the OMHA A division.

“This season was pretty good. The last like five seasons that we've had have been pretty successful.

We've won OMHAs two years out of five, and we've been in the finals every year but one,” said Gavin White, head coach for the Wildcats’ eldest rep team.

The team picked through their competitors one-byone during the playoffs last month, but finally met their match in the finals by the AAA team, Ennismore RYC. This year, the OMHA amalgamated the A, AA and AAA Juvenile divi-

sions, significantly raising the level of challenge for the Wildcats’ A team.

“Yes there was, definitely,” said White of the jump in difficulty. “We noticed when we went to play Ennismore, we didn't know about this until the playoffs started so it was hard to prepare ourselves for it.”

Nonetheless, the Woolwich boys persevered over the next highest A team nipping at their heels, the Erie North Shore Storm, in the semi-finals of the OMHA playoffs.

“We went to Game 5 against Erie North Shore, which has been a rival of ours for the past probably ten years in juvenile, so it's always a really tough series. It's like Toronto and Boston, right?” said White, alluding to the playoff battle that concluded Tuesday night in Boston’s Game-7 victory.

“It's always really tough and hard hitting, and there's really few goals. So we ended up going, out of the five games we went to overtime two out of the five. And then Game 5, we won 1-0 so we almost went into overtime, it was pretty close.”

Woolwich clinched the victory, but would have no such close calls against the AAA team from Ennismore.

“They were just one step ahead of us, one second ahead of us. And it kind of got in our heads. That was a hard part getting around that,” says White. The Ennismore team knocked

“Those players sure play at their own level no program is measured by Woolwich down with three love the game, and they more than wins and losses, matter their age or experistraight wins in the OMHA play hard, and that's what ence, while programs like but rather by the impact Finals. Their next meeting makes it at the end of the First Shift help to keep the on the players. The many at the OHF Juvenile Chamday all worthwhile,” said sport accessible to even teams under the Wildcats pionships in Toronto (April Moyer. more people. banner means players can 13) would fall similarly flat for the Wildcats.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Still, with some AAA action under their belt, the team now knows what it needs to do to compete in the big leagues. The juvenile team encompasses three age groups, with the about two-thirds of the team eligible to return next year to try again.

“Now we get to see what The Next Linwood Clinic: we have to do next year to rd be not only the single A champions of Ontario, but from 4 pm - 8 pm also the AAA champions of Ontario, and kind of bring at Linwood Community Centre ourselves to the next level,” 5279 Ament Line, Linwood, ON N0B 2A0 said White.

One Kilometre south of Winterbourne The strength of the older on Waterloo Regional Rd. 23 teams is in some ways a Regional Rd. 23 | 519-664-3701 reflection of the development of the younger players, and by extension, the strength of the Wildcats program both on and off the ice.

“We had a pretty successful year as far as championEngineers and Contractors Linwood | Heidelberg | Wroxeter ships go,” said WMHA president Rob Moyer. In the lo519-698-2082 | 1-800-265-8735 | www.jfm.ca 3000 Ament Line, Heidelberg • 519-699-4646 cal leagues four teams, the Midget LL#3, Atom LL#3 and both Bantam LL#1 and LL#3 claimed Grand River local league championship wins. The Major Atom A’s • Quality Drainage and Minor Midget MD won Stratford Systems Listowel 500 Wright Blvd the Tri-county Champi515 Maitland Ave. S • Backhoe Service 519-271-2111 or onships, while two teams 519-291-3276 A family tradition since 1921 1-877-699-0601 were iced at the OHF’s, Arthur, ON • 519-848-3113 • 877-669-1440 Visit southwestvets.ca the Midget A and Juvenile www.martindrainage.com teams.

However, Moyer points TOWNSHIP OF CALL 1-888-2DONATE or VISIT www.blood.ca for more information or to book an appointment. out the success of the

Give Blood ... to save lives.

Friday, May 3 , 2019

Steed and Evans Ltd.

TOWNSHIP OF

WELLESLEY Amos & Naomi Weber Tours 326 Arthur St. S. Elmira, ON N3B 2P4

WELLESLEY TOWNSHIP OF

WELLESLEY WELLESLEY TOWNSHIP OF

COME JOIN US ON OUR ANNUAL

BIRD WATCHING TOUR May 11, 2019 BUS LEAVES ELMIRA 6:00 AM RETURNS TO ELMIRA 8:00 PM

WEEKLY SPECIALS

NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS

Specials from April 29th - May 4th

The Second Installment of the 2019 Interim Tax Bill Is due May 1, 2019

“AA” or Better

Sirloin Steaks

Taxes are payable at the Township of Wellesley Municipal Office (4639 Lobsinger Line) by cheque, money order, cash or debit; after hours mail box at the Township Office (no cash allowed in mailbox), at Financial Institutions located within the Township of Wellesley, Telebanking, Internet Banking or by Pre-Authorized Payment. Credit Cards are not accepted.

7.99

$

BRING YOUR FRIENDS ALONG FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL AMOS WEBER 519-501-9256

NOTE: Persons who have acquired properties and have not received a tax bill should contact Fiona at the Municipal Office 519-699-3943.

Failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve a taxpayer from responsibility for payment of taxes, nor from penalty for late payment.

$10.49 /lb.

Store Made (10 pc.)

Turkey Pepperstix

Postdated cheques for the due dates are accepted.

Office Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday

Tax Payments may also be mailed to: Township of Wellesley 4639 Lobsinger Line R. R. #1 St. Clements, ON N0B 2M0

REG. PRICE

4.99

$

REG. PRICE

$5.49 ea.

Store Made (12 x 4 oz.)

Beef Burgers

15.99

$

REG. PRICE

$16.99 ea.

Center Cut Fresh

Pork Chops

2.79

$

REG. PRICE

$3.29 /lb.

Store Made No Nitrite

Turkey Weiners

3.49

$

REG. PRICE

$3.99 /lb.

Store Made Deli Sliced

Fire Roasted Red Pepper and Olive Loaf

5.99

$

3031 Lobsinger Line, Heidelberg 519-699-4590 Mon. - Wed. 8-6; Thurs. - Fri. 8-8; Saturday 7:30-5 Visit us online at www.stemmlermeats.ca

REG. PRICE

$6.99 /lb.

O BS E RV E R X TR A. C O M | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | 10

INSURANCE WOES

IN NEED OF A HAND With household debt and higher interest rates, first-time homebuyers across the country indicate that they are looking for help from friends and family when purchasing a home. First-time buyers in Atlantic Canada expect to pay the lowest average price at $326,700, whereas buyers in Ontario and British Columbia are planning to pay at least $100,000 more ($443,705 and $445,294, respectively).

Let's keep the local economic engines firing? We want to shine a light on new local enterprises.

Online: observerxtra.com/enterprise

Drivers in Alberta are seeing the country’s steepest increase in insurance rates – 11.22% since last year.

In Ontario the average cost of auto insurance is up 9.06%: men are paying 8.73% more than in Q1 2018 and 9.46% more than last quarter, while women are paying 11.03% more than in Q1 2018 and 6.35% more than last quarter.

Pollara Strategic Insights

G OV E R N M E N T H A N D O U T S

Fed dollars to boost region's tech companies Communitech is one of three Ontario incubators to share in the $52.4 million announced during PM’s stop in the region

BY VERONICA REINER

vreiner@woolwichobserver.com

Justin Trudeau’s post-budget, pre-election stops across the country turned into a boon for the tech sector when the Prime Minister stopped in Waterloo Region last week.

Part of Trudeau’s twoday visit included announcing funding for three technology groups in Ontario, including Communitech, which positions itself as the hub for tech companies in the region.

The government will spend $52.4 million through FedDev Ontario on what is called a “ScaleUp Platform.” It is to be distributed over five years in Waterloo Region, Toronto, and Ottawa. Kitchener-based Communitech will receive $18 million.

Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District gets $17.5 million, and Invest Ottawa benefits $16.9 million.

The goal is to create 18,000 skilled jobs in the province.

Chris Plunkett, Communitech’s vice-president of external relations, said the money would be directed

I

towards long-term growth.

“We’re working on helping high-growth companies become even larger,” said Plunkett. “We’re helping them by building out their sales processes, providing strategic advice, helping them with investment, and with a lot of their talent acquisition and organizational structure. So it’s not a direct ‘you take the money and hire jobs with it’; it’s really about growing companies, so you have long-term jobs in the region and across Ontario in the tech sector.”

Labelled as the first of its kind, the Scale-Up Platform will support 30 companies in southern Ontario to grow and achieve revenue objectives of $100 million or more by 2024. It is also expected to generate $11 billion in revenue, as well as attract $4 billion in investment. Plunkett said this will help Communitech go above and beyond original revenue goals for start-ups.

“We’ve done a lot over the years helping start-ups get to that $5, $10, $20 million in revenue. We kind of tap out on how we can help them around that point,”

PM Justin Trudeau joins in a selfie at the Communitech announcement last week in Kitchener. [SUBMITTED - ADAM SCOTTI]

said Plunkett. “So focusing on how we build up that expertise at Communitech that we can continue to provide them that help as they go past $10 million in revenue.”

The organization plans to hire a team that will provide help and advice to rapidly growing start-ups, as well as talent in human relations. Plunkett noted that

the group’s growth coaches are often overbooked.

Communitech notes it has helped to transform the regional economy over the past decade by supporting more than 3,000 companies in the creation of 16,000 jobs and attracting $1.7 billion in investment.

A portion of the funding will also benefit partners of Communitech, including

the University of Waterloo’s Velocity Program and Wilfrid Laurier University’s Incubator Pad. Each will use the funding for what benefits their specific program.

For example, Velocity will be using the funds to build a larger lab space.

“Velocity has plenty of companies that use what we call deep tech – science and biology areas – so they

need more research lab space, and more ability to help companies. The thing with deep tech companies is they take longer to grow – it takes longer to develop the product,” said Plunkett.

“They need to be able to have that space and that capacity to help some of these companies in the more advanced science COMMUNITECH | 11

Time to pay the piper for winter's ice woes

don’t remember a worse winter for ice than the one that just passed. I can only imagine how much salt road crews used to try keeping us safe, let alone how much municipalities and homeowners, including me, spread on hazardous sidewalks.

Now, like every spring, it’s time to pay the piper.

Except this year, the piper may have to go toe-to-toe with Premier Doug Ford.

Here’s why.

Road and sidewalk salt has to go somewhere.

When ice melts, some of it departs as runoff through municipal drains, en route to local streams, rivers and lakes, where it ends up as a pollutant.

OWEN ROBERTS FOOD FOR THOUGHT

That can be a problem.

As the province notes, one destination for that salt

Elmira arket M s ’ r e m Far

is the Great Lakes, which provide drinking water to more than 70 per cent of Ontarians. Their watersheds are home to more than 30,000 species of fish, birds and other living things. Ontario’s 250,000plus lakes, including the Great Lakes, contain about one fifth of the world’s fresh water.

Nature can handle a measure of salt. But as populations increase and density rises, we are trending in the wrong direction.

Salt is a good-old-days, mostly effective solution for which no one has found a modern, affordable or convenient solution. Green de-icing approaches put forward – such as pickle brine,

cheese brine, beet molasses, vinegar, garlic juice, alfalfa meal, coffee grounds and urea – are yet to widely catch on in municipalities.

But change is coming.

The province seems to be getting more serious about this matter. True, the timing is kind of odd, given winter is over. Plus,

Opening May 4th, 2019 Weekly Market - May until the end of October EVERY SATURDAY • 8AM - 1:30PM

ROBERTS | 11

Loca t Mapl ed: e Par St. Besidking Lot Harde Home ware

Specializing in local products.

For more information call

New Vendors Welcome!

FRUITS & VEGETABLES

|

MEAT

|

BAKING

|

WOOD CRAFTS

|

BEDDING PLANTS

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | THE O BSE RVE R

BU S IN E S S V E NT URE S | 11

COMMUNITECH: Feds dole out the cash to tech sector FROM 10

ROBERTS: Looking to find alternatives to road sale FROM 10

areas. They’ll be using the money to build out a 3,500-square-foot lab in their space that will have a lot more high-end scientific equipment.”

Regional Chair Karen Redman welcomed the announcement.

“Sometimes I despair that the Canadian dream is to do something innovative, grow your company, and sell it to an American,” said Redman. “This will allow us to have a good idea, start your company, grow your company, and keep upscaling your company because we will now connect investors and provide the capacity that these

Employees of innovation labs at Communitech pose for photos with Trudeau during his visit last week.

[SUBMITTED - ADAM SCOTTI]

start-ups need to continue to be sustainable, growing entities and employers in

Canada. And that excites me. I think it’s money very spent.”

DYER: Things are certainly not good in Ukraine FROM 07

series, and is now nearing 50 episodes). Or he may not be.

Journalists are now working their way through all the box sets of ‘Servant of the People,’ trying to glean some clues about what the new president has in mind. But that’s a thankless task, because a lot of the show is sheer fantasy (like the sequence where the frustrated Holoborodko machine-guns the entire

parliament).

Ukrainian voters are not fools. They know they are buying a pig in a poke. But they calculate that things might change if Zelensky becomes president, whereas they certainly wouldn’t change if any of the usual suspects won the presidency. And things are certainly not good now.

Ukraine has become the poorest country in Europe – far poorer than Russia.

Millions of Ukrainians have

left the country seeking work in Poland or Russia, and the low-intensity war against the Russian-backed separatists in the east drags on endlessly. No post-Soviet leader of Ukraine has made even a dent in the corrupt rule of the oligarchs. Indeed, most of them have been oligarchs themselves.

So why not vote for Zelensky? Most Ukrainians feel that they have nothing left to lose.

the government’s position on the environment, particularly related to matters such as endangered species and greenhouse gas, is not convincingly positive.

However, it seems to have a thing about the Great Lakes, or at least says it does. And whatever its impetus, it appears to have its eye on sustainability related to those bodies of water.

For example, on Tuesday, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Rod Phillips and Grand Council Chief Glen Hare co-chaired something called the Great Lakes Guardian Council. It includes leaders from municipalities, First Nations and Métis communities, environmental organizations and science.

The council is charged with discussing challenges and opportunities around the Great Lakes. The province convenes it as part of its so-called Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan.

After the gathering, the province said participants were updated on issues such as excess road salt, as well as plastic pollution, harmful algae and sewer overflows in waterways.

In fact, the province’s

communications office circulated this quote from participant Elizabeth Hendriks, vice-president of freshwater conservation for WWF-Canada, specifically about road salt: “Road salt provides safer winter roads and walkways, but excessive use is polluting our waterways.

This toxic substance builds up in our rivers and creeks making them uninhabitable for freshwater wildlife.

We are working through the council and with partners in business and government to limit road salt use in a way that ensures both safe roads and sidewalks and safe, healthy freshwater ecosystems year-round.”

As part of the Environment Plan, Ontario will

It’s not too late!

We still have your back this tax season.

1.866.822.9992

rlb.ca

Kitchener • Guelph • Fergus • Orangeville

60 ANNIVERSARY SALE TH

20

•PANSIES •HOUSEPLANTS •PERENNIALS •POTS •WINDCHIMES •AND LOTS MORE...

release a water discussion paper in the coming weeks to engage the public in a dialogue about key actions that can be taken to better protect water resources.

Among other things, I’m anxious to read what it says about road salt. I’d encourage municipal managers everywhere to check it out, because who knows what directions or limits it might suggest. And the way things are going, those directions could be law before you know it.

Such discussions are timely. Local waterways are brimming with melt water. Making sure it’s not a downstream pollutant is important … as is research and planning, so prevention and remediation can be done right.

April 25thst to May 1

%OFF

EVERYTHING

YES! even off the sale price

FREE DRAW Fill out ballot at nursery Draw date May 1st

1 ST PRIZE - $1200 Value

Includes a $1000.00 Belgian Shopping Spree

2 nd PRIZE 3 Rd PRIZE

Includes a $700.00 Belgian Shopping Spree a $500.00 Belgian Shopping Spree

(DOES NOT INCLUDE GIFT CERTIFICATES)

SPIN & WIN Sat. Apr 27 • 10-4 S u n. Apr 28 • 10-4

Take a turn at our Spin & Win for $1 All Proceeds to the FOODBANK OF WATERLOO REGION

Hours: Mon to Fri 8-8, Sat 8-6, Sun 10-5 2615 Victoria St. N, BRESLAU (on HWY 7 between Kitchener & Guelph)

519-648-2608

www.belgian-nursery.com

O BS E RV E R X TR A. C O M | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | 12

KINDA BLUE

TALKING CHICKENS

RURAL CONNECT

We're in the heart of agriculture science and innovation in Canada.

Make a connection to producers, scientists and entrepreneurs.

Dr. Ian Duncan of the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph has been named the recipient of the 2019 Frederic A. McGrand Lifetime Achievement Award from Humane Canada.

The honour acknowledges outstanding contributions to animal welfare. Duncan was one of the first people to develop a scientific approach to "ask" animals what matters to them, and how much it matters.

The federal government this week announced it will give $1.6 million to the Canadian division of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America (WBANA Canada) to market and promote Canadian wild blueberries internationally to existing and emerging markets in the United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Japan, China and South Korea.

Mushrooms are among the trendiest foods The popularity of mushrooms is on the rise in 2019 – the delicious fungi are the upcoming food of the year.

Fresh mushrooms, for example, are seen as a good choice for low, ener-

gy-dense diets due to the fact they have high water content, they are low in fat, and they contain valuable fibre. Mushrooms can help keep meals light and healthy.

Foodies remind us that by adding mushrooms to some of our favourite meals, we instantly lighten the dish by lowering calories, cholesterol and saturated fat.

The technique is easy.

In a classic family dish, for example, blend finely chopped, umami-rich mushrooms into a portion of ground meat. Or, mix mushrooms into burger patties for a full-bodied burger

that tastes great at a fraction of the calories.

Plus, blending meat and mushrooms together helps bring another serving of vegetables to the plate, adds volume to meals and ex-

 Custom Machining & Repairs  Spline Cutting  Large Turning  Keying (Internal & External)

• Quality Drainage Systems • Backhoe Service

SPECIALIZING IN:

CNC Turning & Milling

A family tradition since 1921

Arthur, ON • 519-848-3113 • 877-669-1440 www.martindrainage.com

MACHINE & REPAIR INC.

• FERTILIZER (Agricultural & Commercial) • SEED GRAINS & GRASS SEED • SOYBEANS • BAGGED PINE SHAVINGS • SOIL TESTING • LOCAL FREIGHT

RYAN WEBER 519.669.2198 63 Union St., Elmira www.rytechmachine.ca

tends portions. Not only can you slide those veggies past picky eaters, but they’ll also be asking for seconds.

You can find more ways to blend mushrooms and meat at www.mushrooms.ca.

Cell: 519-574-4141 | Office: 519-669-2045 | Fax: 519-669-3845

There’s a tool for that.

Stop by Our Retail Store & Browse Through Our Selection of:

OPEN MON. TO FRI. 7:30AM - 5PM 100 Union St. Elmira 519-669-0524 www.woolwichrentals.ca

New & used equipment: feeders, drinkers, cages, nests 6880 Line 86, RR#4 Elmira, ON N3B 2Z3

Hours: Mon. – Fri. 8-5, Sat.8-3, Closed Sun. & Statutory Holidays

Egg supplies: cartons, flats, crates, candler, scale

519-669-2225

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | THE O BSE RVE R

RUR AL C O N N EC T | 13

Tapping into new markets for Canadian maple syrup The federal government plans to spend some $2.2 million to promote Canadian maple syrup to international markets, earlier this month announcing new funding to the Maple Syrup Producers of Quebec.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food says the spending will allow the maple syrup sector to expand and diversify exports, and seize opportunities for Canadian maple syrup in existing and emerging markets in the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and China.

In United Kingdom, advertising and promotion activities will be developed, including

new recipes to help raise awareness about maple products. The partnership established with the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, including renowned chefs, and the academic network will allow the link of maple products and gastronomy.

Similar promotional activities will be developed in Germany.

A feasibility study on electronic commerce will be conducted in Japan in order to put an action plan in place. As well, a market research survey will be conducted in China to identify online marketing practices and strategies to promote regular consumption of maple products.

Maple syrup was front and center at the recent ESMF, and a new government grant aims to promote the industry.

“Canada’s maple syrup producers are known throughout the world for producing delicious, high-quality products.

This investment will further strengthen existing markets and create potential to expand into new international markets, while

growing our economy and creating well-paying jobs for our middle class,” said minister Marie-Claude Bibeau in a release an-

nouncing the funding.

The funding will be provided under the agri-marketing program of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five-year, $3-billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen the agriculture and agrifood sector.

The Canadian maple industry produces about 78 per cent of the world’s maple syrup and is the world’s leading producer of maple products. The province of Quebec alone accounts for 90% of Canada’s maple syrup production.

In 2018, Canada exported an estimated $405 million worth of maple products.

AAFC researchers discover new bacteria in soil that can detoxify deoxynivalenol (DON) During particularly wet and rainy conditions – like the ones experienced across many Canadian farm fields in 2018 – some species of fungi thrive and produce toxins that contaminate wheat, barley, and corn. One of the most common fungal toxins affecting these grains is deoxynivalenol (DON), also known as vomitoxin.

Once contaminated with DON, grain is difficult to detoxify because DON is resistant to heat treatment and regular processing methods.

In addition, grains contaminated with DON are unfit for human consumption.

Grains contaminated with small amounts of DON can be used as food for ruminants, like cows, but higher levels make the grain toxic for animals as well, resulting in illness and weight loss.

Either way, grain contaminated by DON represents an economic loss for farmers in both domestic and international markets.

“Vomitoxin, or DON, has been a serious issue for corn and other cereal crops for

a long time,” says Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) scientist Dr. Ting Zhou. “With no satisfactory solutions, we decided to try a new and creative approach.”

What they discovered is a new bacterial species in soil that produces two enzymes that converts DON to a non-toxic form. The AAFC researchers’ innovative approach to convert DON by biological methods provides a viable route to detoxify DON at different stages of harvest. With several possibilities for both the delivery

method and application, this could significantly reduce/eliminate the negative aspects of DON to various industries.

“The DON detoxifying bacterium and enzymes provides an innovative technology to solve this persistent and devastating problem. They can be applied in both pre- and post-harvest treatments to effectively reduce DON contaminations, which is new,” said Zhou.

Compared with previous discoveries of bacteria that can detoxify DON con-

taminated grain, the new bacterium is better because it doesn’t necessarily need DON as a food source to grow, it can grow at lower temperatures, and can grow in the presence of oxygen.

This makes it well suited to industrial applications as there is potential to add the bacteria, or just the two purified enzymes, to harvested grain in storage to reduce

contamination to levels acceptable for animal feed.

This research serves as a foundation for the development of a feed treatment to detoxify DON, particularly in liquid-feeding systems, to levels acceptable across the board.

“Enzymatic detoxification of toxins such as DON safeguards our food and animal feed supplies resulting in

major economic benefit to Canadian farmers,” noted Dr. Sankaran KrishnaRaj, director of research development and technology transfer at AAFC. The department notes the next step is to partner with industries in order to develop commercial products (microbes and enzymes) to combat this ongoing problem.

Let’s Talk RESEARCH! Wintermar Grains needs new varieties to offer growers viable production contracts

Tel. 519-664-2291 Fax 519-664-3491

80 Northside Drive, St. Jacobs, Ontario N0B 2N0

www.freyshatchery.com

WHERE TIRES ARE

A SPECIALTY

By collaborating with other organizations – AAFC, GFO, SeCan and U of G – and with royalties from seed, including new collection methods, we will get results.

NOT A SIDELINE! Contact us today: craig@cribit.com julia@cribit.com 519-664-3701

We Stock Farm, Industrial, Truck, Passenger, and Even ATV and Lawn & Garden Tires.

Call Us for Tires!

FARM • TRUCK • INDUSTRIAL • ON THE FARM SERVICE 35 Howard Ave. Elmira, ON Monday - Friday Saturdays

8am - 5pm 8am - 12 noon

519-669-3232 www.oktireelmira.com

O BS E RV E R X TR A. C O M | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | 14

THE PLAY'S THE THING

Your local hub for our creative communities. Let us know when inspiration strikes.

Elora Community Theatre is now holding auditions for its sixth season of Shakespeare in the Park. This year’s production will be the Merchant of Venice, to be performed at Bissell Park, Elora, July 5 to 7 and 12 to 14. There’s a session tonight (Thursday) from 7-9 p.m. at the ECT workshop, 1010 Rivers Edge Dr., West Montrose.

Online: observerxtra.com/showtime

PIECING IT TOGETHER The featured quilt, Little Brown Church, from this year’s New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale will be on display at various locations in the region prior to the event, including a stop at the St. Jacobs Mennonite Church from May 21 to 23. With more than 3,000 pieces, the quilt was designed by Julene Fast, pieced by a group of women from Hawkesville Mennonite Church and quilted by Pix Martin. Little Brown Church will join 209 other new handmade quilts to be auctioned at sale on May 24 and 25 at the New Hamburg Fairgrounds.

O N STAG E / L I V E M U S I C

Stringing together a new take on Don Thompson’s music The dean of jazz musicians has new arrangements for a May 3 concert with the Penderecki String Quartet

BY STEVE KANNON

skannon@woolwichobserver.com

A professional musician for the better part of 60 years, Don Thompson still loves to get up on stage an perform, especially when he’s excited to get to play with other great musicians. He’ll be doing just that May 3 when he comes to Kitchener’s Registry Theatre.

Along with guitar virtuoso and long-time collaborator Reg Schwager, the show will feature a unique pairing with the Penderecki String Quartet.

He’s written special arrangements of his own compositions to take advantage of the quartet’s sound.

“I’m really excited by this. They’re master musi-

cians, really world class,” he says of the local group during a call from his Toronto home. “I can’t tell you what a big deal it is.”

That’s high praise from someone known as the dean of Canadian jazz musicians. The multi-instrumentalist, multi-JUNO Award winner has set the standard for decades with his melodic, swinging style, and immaculate technique.

Thompson began his professional career in Vancouver in 1960. In 1965 he joined the now legendary John Handy Quintet and moved to San Francisco for a two-year stay. During that time the quintet performed extensively throughout the United States and Canada and recorded two albums for Columbia Records.

One of these, John Handy Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival, became one of the most popular jazz albums of the 1960s. While living in San Francisco he also performed with Maynard Ferguson, Frank Rosolino, George Duke and Denny Zeitlin.

He eventually settled in Toronto in 1969, making it his home base ever since.

He played with groups fronted by the likes of Rob McConnell, Moe Koffman’s group and George Shearing, taking part in scores of recordings, including many of his own compositions.

He’s also taught generations of students.

The first half of next week’s concert will feature Thompson on piano and Schwager on guitar doing

Township of Woolwich

GREENING INITIATIVE

Kick Off the Woolwich Greening Initiative

by Planting a Tree!

MAY 4 • 11AM-1PM • BOLENDER PARK Trees, Fun, Food and Info! • Local Lunch Provided Watch a big tree being craned into place Help plant a tree to make Elmira greener

Learn why native plants make life easier for you and are important to the environment

Get a voucher to plant your own tree!

Donate $5 to the cause and receive a $50 voucher to buy a native tree at a local nursery *Limited to first 75 participants. Details at event.

Tree vouchers generously provided by:

TOYOTA BOSHOKU CANADA, INC.

Don Thompson will be joined by award-winning guitarist Reg Schwager for next weeks' show. [SUBMITTED]

the popular musical numbers and Broadway hits of the likes of Cole Porter, Richards Rogers and Jerome Kern. The second half will feature his own music arranged specifically for the Penderecki String Quartet (Jerzy Kaplanek and Jeremy Bell on violins, Christine Vlajk on viola, and Katie Schlaikjer on cello).

“In the first part, they get to hear some wonderful stuff that they’ve heard before,” he said of the classic tunes to be offered up to the audience. “And the second half will be music they’ve never heard – no one has, because it’s all new. I haven’t even heard it, because we’re doing full rehearsals next week.”

Thompson adds he’s eager to hear the sound of piano, guitar and strings.

“It’s all music that I’ve written, some of it a long time ago,” he laughs. “I can hear it my head, but I’m eager to rehearse it.”

He’s no stranger to classical music, but is looking forward to adding the chamber music feel to his songbook.

And he’s no stranger to

the sound of music running through his head.

In fact, he learned all kinds of music before playing it. Having grown up in Powell River, BC, a remote logging village, there was little chance to learn formally. In reality, there were few people he could even play with. To get his fix, he listened to the radio and recordings, committing them to memory before he first picked up an instrument – bass guitar would be his introduction, joined later by the piano and vibraphone.

“I learned every note – I knew it in my head.”

Having started listening to music intently as a child and then working to become a musician himself, Thompson notes he learned all kinds of music before he even thought about writing it.

“I played for a long time before I started writing,” he says, attributing the years of learning to love and appreciate music in helping to develop the perspective needed to write it down.

It’s an effort that paid off. In 2007, Thompson was winner of the National

Jazz Award Instrumentalist of the Year and, for the second consecutive year, Musician of the Year. In 2009 Don was honoured by the National Jazz Awards with three wins: Record of the Year, Small Jazz Group of the Year and Composer of the Year. An Officer of the Order of Canada, he received the Oscar Peterson Award from the Montreal Jazz Festival.

His career has allowed him to play with some of the genre’s finest musicians, parlaying what he’d picked up in his early years, when he essentially taught himself, into a style that would make him Canadian jazz royalty.

“I played with some fantastic musicians. They never gave me any formal lessons, but I learned tons and tons from them,” he says.

Don Thompson and Reg Schwager, with special guests the Penderecki String Quartet, bring the “It Might as Well be Spring” show to The Registry Theatre on May at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $30, available by calling 519-578-1570, online at www.registrytheatre.com or at the door.

O BS E RV E R X TR A. C O M | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | 15

Classified Ads, Auctions, Real Estate, Public Notices, Obituaries and Family Album Announcements Office: Phone: Fax: Email:

20B Arthur St. N., Elmira 519-669-5790 Ext. 104 519-669-5753 ads@woolwichobserver.com

Deadline: Wednesdays by 10am

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

Classified Ad - Text Ads

Placing Classified Advertising

Residential: $9.00 per 20 words (extra words: 20¢ per word) Commercial: $15.00 per 20 words (extra words: 30¢ per word)

Classified advertising will be accepted in person, email, phone or fax during regular office hours. All classified advertising are prepaid. Ask about the Service Directory, Real Estate and Family Album advertising.

Classified Ad - Display Ads Phone: 519-669-5790 Ext. 104

Observer advertising rates, policies and specifications are available at: www.observerxtra.com/media-kit

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

Please call Donna for a quote.

CARPENTERS AND GENERAL LABOURERS NEEDED

JOIN OUR TEAM! Frey’s Hatchery has an immediate opening for a motivated general laborer. Seasonal April to September.

Duties include: chick handling, egg handling and clean-up.

Competitive wage.

Email resume to staff@freyshatchery.com or call Marty at 519-897-3209 for more info.

Full Time Days Furniture house delivery team.

Must be able to lift heavy items.

Furniture delivery and setup in customer homes (no appliances).

Email resume to marshall@furniturehouse.ca or apply in person at 30 Benjamin Rd. Waterloo.

HELP WANTED EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

SERVICE TECHNICIAN ESM Farm Equipment Ltd. is accepting resumes for the position of service technician whose responsibilities will include to assemble, pre-deliver, perform maintenance and to repair products sold and serviced by ESM Farm Equipment Ltd. Today's technician needs not only mechanical knowledge, but expertise in electronics, hydraulics and computers to service today's high-tech equipment. Preference given to those with previous experience.

Only applicants to receive interviews will be contacted.

LOOKING FOR LOCAL WORK? YOU’VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE.

We are looking for Carpenters and General Labourers to join our team! We offer competitive pay, steady year-round work and great employee benefits. If you’re a team player and looking for an excellent environment to work in, we’d love to hear from you!

Resumes can be emailed to tess@hfhinc.ca or give us a call at 519-821-2040.

Check out our website at www.hfhinc.ca.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

HELP WANTED

Lorentz Farms Ltd. Looking for a responsible employee to run pellet mill and computer controlled drying system. Must be mechanically inclined and able to run loader and to drive truck in yard to load and unload trucks.

Resume and references can be faxed to: 519-699-4469, call 519-575-8441 or 519-577-2889

HELP WANTED

Need a gig that pays?

Check out our help wanteds!

Please send your resume to the attention of Neil Martin

ER SERV HE OB K IN T WOR FIND

P.O. Box 43, 7293 Line 86, Wallenstein N0B 2S0 Phone: 519-669-5176 | Fax: 519-669-1997 Email: neil@esmfarmequipment.com

CNC, PLASMA AND PRESS BRAKE OPERAtors wanted. Sheet metal fabrication experience an asset. Willing to train.

Marfab Mfg. Inc., located in Wallenstein. Please call 519-669-8584. Ask for Mahlon.

HEAVY EQUIPMENT MECHANIC NEEDED. Welding an asset.

519-577-7101.

FOR SALE

ANTIQUE FURNITURE AND DISHES. LADIES clothing in small sizes.

Call 519-669-4626.

to be held at 2215 Herrgott Rd. Wellesley Twp. (corner of Herrgott & Hessen Strasse, 1 mile south of St. Clements), For Donna Lynne & the Late Ted Lamont, on Saturday, April 27th @ 10:00 a.m.

AUCTIONS Gerber Auctions Ltd. 519FRI. APRIL 26 AT 5:00 699-4451 or 519-698-0138 PM - TOY AUCTION OF precision; literature; SAT. APRIL 27 AT 10:00 Nascar; banks; trucks; AM- CLEARING AUCtractors; machinery and tion sale of tractor; much more held at the St. machinery; household Jacobs Community Cen- effects; antiques; and tre in St. Jacobs for area miscellaneous items collectors. Jantzi Auc- for Beatrice Wideman tions Ltd. 519 656 3555 at 4093 Temperance Rd www.jantziauctions.com Elmira. Jantzi Auctions Ltd. 519 656 3555 www.

AUCTION SALE OF jantziauctions.com TRACTOR, STARCRAFT Fishmaster boat, lawn AUCTION SALE OF mowers, tools, collect- FARM MACHINERY, ibles, household goods horse related equipment, and miscellaneous items, and miscellaneous items, MATTRESS AND BOX SPRING, NEW, NEVER used, still in sealed bag.

Sacrifice $195. Delivery available $35. 519-6358737.

Must have clean driver’s abstract, be physically fit, and be able to drive standard transmission.

Perfect for retired person. Local freight, Toronto, London, Stoney Creek areas

Call: 519-574-4141 or Fax resume to: 519-669-3845 or Email: haffnertrucking@rogers.com AUCTION

DAVID CARSON FARMS & AUCTION SERVICES LTD. SAT. MAY 4TH – 12 Noon – Goat & Sheep Consignment Sale. Offering Milking & Meat Goats & All Varieties of Sheep. To Consign please contact Carson Farms 519-291-2049

WED. MAY 8TH – 11:30 A.M. – Grade

Holstein Milking Dispersal for Krick Farms & A Dairy Sale. Offering registered and grade, fresh and springing young Holstein cows and heifers. Open & Bred heifers will start at 11:30 A.M. prior to the Dairy Sale.

Consignments Welcome!

FRI. MAY 10TH – 9:30 A.M. - Machinery

Consignment Sale. On offer will be tractors, haying & harvesting, tillage & seeding equipment and misc. items also Hay & Straw.

SAT MAY 11TH– 11:00 AM – Beef Cow &

Calf Sale. Offering cows, breeder bulls, and cow/calf pairs. Cull cows at 11A.M. followed

by Stocker sale. Consignments Accepted!

Carson’s Auction Service R.R.#3 Listowel, ON N4W 3G8

Tel: 519-291-2049 | Fax: 519-291-5065 Website: www.davidcarson.on.ca | Email: info@davidcarson.on.ca

Excavator, Forklift, Construction & Shop Equip RETIREMENT CLOSE-OUT

AUCTION for

Maloney & Pepping Construction Limited 25 Hahn Crt, STRATFORD, Ontario

CLASSIFIED LISTINGS HELP WANTED

Part time DZ Driver wanted.

to be held at 1961 Alps Rd. North Dumfries Twp. corner of Alps Rd. and Dumfries Rd, 1 road south of Highway 97 (Cedar Creek Rd.), Halfway between Ayr & Cambridge, For Mill Creek Stables, on Monday, April 29th @ 10:00 a.m. Gerber Auctions Ltd. 519-699-4451 or 519-698-0138

WED. MAY 8 AT 9:45 AM - CLEARING AUCTION sale of furniture; antiques; tools; household effects; and miscellaneous items held at the St. Jacob's Community centre in St. Jacobs for an area estate with additions.

Jantzi Auctions Ltd. 519 656 3555 www.Jantziauctions.com

SAT. MAY 11 AT 10:00 AM -SURPLUS INVENtory auction of parts; equipment; hoists; electrical parts; tools; skids of inventory held at 275 Union St in Elmira for Engineered Lifting Systems and equipment.

Jantzi Auctions Ltd. 519 656 3555 www.jantziauctions.com

SAT MAY 4 AT 10:00 AM - CLEARING AUCTION sale of car; tractor; miscellaneous items; household effects; and antiques to be held at 906909 Township Road 12 , Plattsville for Gerald and Beverley Gottvald. Jantzi Auctions Ltd. 519 656 3555 www.Jantziauctions.com

AUCTION SALE OF ANTIQUES, BUTCHER related items, household goods, tools and miscellaneous items, to be held at the K.W. Khaki Club, 2939 Nafziger Rd, 2 miles south of Wellesley, on Saturday, May 11th @ 9:30 a.m. Gerber Auctions Ltd. 519-699-4451 or 519-698-0138

TUES MAY 14 AT 7:00 PM - ONLINE ONLY auction opens including literature; rock and roll records; belt buckles; ephimara; nascar; military items; and much much more. Closed Tues May 21 at 7:00 PM Jantzi Auctions Ltd. 519 656 3555 www.jantziauctions.com CONT PG. 16

Sat May 4th 9:30 am 2007 CAT 320D Excavator & Hydraulics 2006 CAT TH460B Tele Forklift 2008 BOBCAT Tl 90 Skid Steer 2013 Silverado 1500 LTZ Crew 4x4 2011 Silverado 3500 LTZ Crew Diesel 4x4 Buckets, Breaker & Vibrator Packer* Diesel Welder 25kva Diesel Generator* 185cfm Compressor*

16’ Dump Trailer * 38’’ Concrete Floor Saw * Abr Saws Scaffolding * Alum Planks * 75- 4x8 Form Plywood Core/Mag Drills * Hammer Drills* Gambion Crate Crimper Concrete Vib’s * Log Splitter * Port Bandsaw * Torches Water Pumps* Diesel Plate Tamper* Generators* Sand Blaster *Ladders* Grinders* Rebar Bender S/Steer Plow & Posthole Auger * Concrete & Chainsaws Welder* Drill Press *Compressor* Wrenches* Sockets Whaler Jacks * Power Tools * Fuel Tank * Steel Boats Total Station Surveyor* Survey Levels & Equip 2- Seacans* Lumber* Ties & Wedges* Culvert Pipe Z75 Steel Pilings * Safety Signs, Barrels & Barricades

No BUYERS Premium or Penalty!!!

Partial List ONLY!!!

VIEWING: Friday May 3rd, 2019, 1 pm to 4 pm TERMS: $500 Deposit on Each Major Item, or as announced

M.R. Jutzi & Co PROFESSIONALS IN THE ORDERLY LIQUIDATI0N & APPRAISALS OF COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, CONSTRUCTION, MUNICIPAL VEHICLES & EQUIPMENT BRESLAU, ONTARIO, NOB LMO

www.mrjutzi.ca

519-648-2111

TH E O BS E RV E R | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019

16 | C L AS S IF IE D NOTIC E S

R E A L E S TAT E S E RV I C E S

SUE ALLI

Solid Gold Realty (II) Ltd., Brokerage Independently Owned and Operated

Sue From SALES REPRESENTATIVE

226-750-9332 suefrom17@gmail.com

Alli Bauman

NEW PRICE

$774,000

Saturday, April 27th, 1 pm- 3 pm 30 Parkside St, Drayton

SALES REPRESENTATIVE

519-577-6248 allibauman17@gmail.com

OPEN HOUSE

OPEN HOUSE $484,900

Drayton - Welcome to 30 Parkside St. in Drayton! Beautiful single detached home, built in 2006, has much to offer! 3 bedrms, 4 bathrms, ensuite & walk-in closet, some new flooring, upper floor laundry, appliances included, walk-in pantry, mudroom, gas fireplace, open concept feel, finished basement with wet bar, double car garage with ample parking, huge deck, large corner lot....with all of this and more, don't wait to preview this home! Call us today!

Sunday April 28th 1-3pm

117 Timber Trail, Elmira

ELMIRA - Elegant 5 bedroom home with in-law suite and separate entrance. Located in Elmira’s South Parkwood area, this 2016 Emerald home is sure to impress you. Starting from the large front foyer into the beautiful custom kitchen with huge island, bright dining rm & spacious living rm. Conveniently located off the garage is the main floor mudrm, laundry rm and 2 piece bathrm. The covered deck with built in speakers makes hosting a delight. With many tall windows throughout, natural light shines through this home giving it a fresh feel. The upper floor has 4 good-sized bedrooms with a 4 piece bathroom, a 3 piece master ensuite and walk-in closet. The lower level has been cleverly utilized as a one bedrm in-law suite with a separate entrance, sound proofing, separate laundry, & beautiful kitchen of it's own! There is also a unique storage space under the garage. Need a space for your home business? This might just check the boxes. Come see this beautiful home for yourself, you won't want to miss it!

SOLD $699,900

$425,000 Elmira - This detached bungalow is perfect for a small family or empty nesters. Enjoy the open concept living room, dining room & kitchen with loads of counter space and storage. The main bathroom boasts a jet tub for a spa like experience. The basement has a large rec room as well as an office/den space with a 3 piece bathroom and separate laundry room. There is plenty of parking for all of your guests who will enjoy your back yard next to green space with a giant deck. Roof and solar panels /2018. Appliances included.

3 Arthur St. S., Elmira | 519-669-5426

SELLING? CALL US FOR A FREE MARKET EVALUATION.

Bonnie

Brubacher

BROKER

Elmira - Looking for a spacious home nestled on a quiet, sought after street in Elmira? Then this just might be the one for you! This home offers 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, an airy main floor with large beautiful kitchen plus island and a finished basement with office and full bathroom. Fall in love with the spa-like newly remodelled ensuite bathroom (March 2019) and the heated floors through out the entire house. The 71 foot wide lot provides a large driveway that can fit 3 vehicles wide! The oversized double car garage has extra storage space in the attic and stairs leading right into the basement. With the private rear yard and newer deck, summer lounging will be a must!

519-669-3192

Bert Martin Re/max Solid Gold Realty (II) Ltd.,

Shanna

BROKER

Rozema

BROKER

DIRECT: 519-572-2669 3 Arthur St. S. Elmira

A portion of each sale commission is donated to The Woolwich Community Services.

Monique

OFFICE: 519-669-5426

Roes

HELPING YOU IS WHAT WE DO…

519-747-2040

OPEN HOUSE | SAT, APRIL 27TH

BEAUTIFUL HOME WITH POOL

2 PM  4 PM • 29B RIVERSIDE DRIVE, E, ELMIRA (ONE WAY STR)

$639,900 KIWANIS PARK LOCATION! Enjoy it this Summer. Great outdoor pool with with two level deck, hot tub, fenced yard & shed. Interior offers a unique 5 level open concept layout, 3 bdrms, 3 bathrooms including a master ensuite. Lovely kitchen with island, appliances and newer backsplash, separate dining area open to the lower level rec.room. 2nd floor family room has a gas fireplace and access to the upper deck. NEW MLS

BUNGALOW WITH A VIEW

$519,900 ELMIRA Calling all Retiree's/Empty Nesters. 5 years new, 1275 sq ft open concept mainfloor with walkout to deck and walkout basement to patio. Picturesque greenspace view of Bolender Park. Mainfloor Master and den and laundry, cherry cabinets, breakfast island and large pantry. Fully finished basement with gas fireplace and 2nd bedroom. 3 full baths. NEW MLS

IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT SELLING OR BUYING THIS SPRING/SUMMER, NOW IS THE TIME TO CONNECT WITH US, YOUR LOCAL REALTOR TO KEEP YOU INFORMED ON MARKET CONDITIONS. ELMIRA OFFICE: 90 Earl Martin Dr., Unit 4 | www.YourFamilyTeam.ca

WE DO DIFFICULT MORTGAGES.

Charming one Bedroom, 3 bath town house/bungalow, in the quiet town of Elmira.

Features, gas fireplace in Living room, main floor Laundry, finished basement, and an a�ached double car garage. Move in Ready …

Excellent re�rement home, or first �me home buyers …

This one will not last long!

66 ANNA STREET, ELMIRA

MLS# 30728374

ADDRESS: 3 Arthur St. S., ELMIRA | DIRECT: 519-503-2753 EMAIL: leonmartin@remax.net

#1

NEWS SOURCE IN THE REGION

We will go to your home.

• 1st, 2nd & 3rd mortgages • Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Farms & Land • Good Credit, Bad Credit, Self-Employed

Don Madill Frank Rowley Austin Ainslie Nicholas Seibert

#M08004349 519-743-5361 #M08005026 226-921-0365 #M18002432 519-498-4905 #M19000535 519-497-0271

Call for your FREE Property Evaluation

$479,000 COUNTRY BUNGALOW Features 3/4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, large living room, walkout from kitchen/dining area, main floor laundry, Walk up from basement to rear yard.

Large rec room with wood burning stove. View the peaceful countryside from the private rear deck or the front porch. Only 25 minutes to Waterloo.

MLS. Call to Bert to view.

Serving the community for 27 years!

ORGANIC FERTILIZER FOR SALE. SULFUR 90 AND SULfate Potash. Call George Haffner Trucking at 519-574-4141 or 519669-2045.

RON'S DRYWALL AND RENOVATIONS. OVER 35 YEARS EXPErience. Please call 519-496-7539 or email ron.spncr@gmail.com

SPRING YARD CLEANUP, MOWING AND GENERAL LAWN ROLEX, OMEGA, TUDOR, BREIT- care available. Call Allan at ElmiING ETC. SILVER & GOLD COINS, ra Lawn Care 519-570-6808. jewellery, diamonds, sterling COMING EVENTS cutlery or R & R records . Honest prices. Call Terry @ 519-242-6900 or gallamore@golden.net SEEK & FIND COMMUNITY RUMMAGE SALE. ST. MATRENTALS thew's Church, 131 Flaxmill Dr. ELMIRA - LARGER 1 BEDROOM Conestogo. May 4, 8 a.m. - 2 AVAILABLE AFTER MAY 15. p.m. Bake sale and treasures for Non smoker, no pets. Viewing and everyone. renovations after May 1. Very quiet, clean building. For more informa- THE ELMIRA COMMUNITY tion contact 519-669-2212.

WIDE GARAGE SALE IS SET for May 11, 2019.

TRADES & SERVICES WANTED

Kitchener (Lic. #10300)

www.themortgagepeople.ca | 1-800-361-5114 CLASSIFIEDS CONT. FROM PG 15 FARM SERVICES

Thinking of Selling?

Your referrals are appreciated!

THE MORTGAGE PEOPLE

$499,000

www.remaxsolidgold.biz

EMAIL: bert@remaxsolidgold.biz

SALES REPRESENTATIVE

Solid Gold Realty (II) Ltd., Brokerage | Independently Owned and Operated

Brokerage

Independently Owned and Operated

ICE SALT & ICE MELT - ICE SALT COMES IN 20 & 40KG'S, BAGGED PINE SHAVINGS Ice melt comes in 20kg bags. Call AGRICULTURAL SPRAY LIME, George Haffner Trucking, 51922.5kg. bag; feed grade lime, 574-4141 or 519-669-2045.

25kg. Delivered. Call George Haffner Trucking, 519-574-4141 KILN DRIED CORN & CORN or 519-669-2045.

SCREENING DELIVERED BY Einwechter. Minimum 15 ton lots.

FERTILIZER AND SEED GRAIN Call George Haffner Trucking - AT COMPETITIVE PRICING. 519-574-4141 or 519-669-2045.

Call George Haffner Trucking, 519-574-4141.

GENERATOR REPAIRS. JOHN AT 226-622-4598.

MARK'S SMALL PICK UP TRUCKING. 5LBS TO 2000LBS, all Ontario, Quebec and cross border. Trailer and boat towing. Reasonable rates. Call 519-577-2518.

SMALL ADS, BIG IMPACT. THE OBSERVER CLASSIFIED ADS

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | THE O BSE RVE R

C L AS S IF IE D N OTIC E S | 17

REALTY LTD., BROKERAGE INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED

519.500.1865 (Direct) 519.747.0231 (Office)

Dale R. Keller Sales Representative

410 Conestogo Road, Unit 210, Waterloo, ON N2L 4E2

www.KellerSellsRealEstate.com | dale@kellersellsrealestate.com

$409,900 | Drayton

SOLD

Nice open concept bungalow on a good sized lot backing onto schoolgrounds.

3+2 bedrooms and 2 full baths for the growing family. Enjoy the gas fireplace in the finished rec room. Lots of storage. MLS Call Dale direct.

For a free, no obligation, consultation on Buying or Selling, call Dale direct at 519-500-1865.

BROKERAGE

R.W. THUR REAL ESTATE LTD. Office:

519-669-2772 45 Arthur St. S., Elmira www.thurrealestate.com

BRAD MARTIN Broker of Record, MVA Residential Res: 519.669.1068

JULIE HECKENDORN Broker

Cell: 519.588.7562

LET OUR 60+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WORK FOR YOU! 10 RAISING MILL GATE, ELMIRA

NEW LISTING

$465,900

Great opportunity for a single family home.

20’ long liv room (partial cathedral ceiling) w/gas fireplace & sliders to deck & fenced yard. Open concept to kitchen & dining area. 2 pc. washroom on the main floor.

Upper level offers a large master bdrm w/sitting area &walkin closet, 2 bdrms& 4pc bath. Rec. room is framed, insulated & wired. R.i. for 3pc. bath. Central air. New garage door. New MLS

212 PARK AVE. W., ELMIRA This spacious home is great for a young family! Fenced yard. Open concept great room (gas F.P. &hdwd. floor) to a large dining area w/walkout to deck & fenced yard. Lots of cupboards, granite countertops. Main floor laundry & 2pc. bath. Oversized master bdrm., ensuite&walkin closet. Fin. rec. room (gas fireplace), games area/4th bdrm., office & 3 pc. bath. Updated windows throughout.

Shingles replaced in 2018. MLS

$619,900

44 PINTAIL DR., ELMIRA Sought after area…You’ll love your backyard backing to acres of wooded parkland, nestled in the trees. Custom built, 4 bdrm. home with huge master bdrm, ensuite& two closets.

Open wood staircase. Maple kitchen w/ island open to family room with high ceiling & gas fireplace. Large D.A. Formal L.R. & D.R. Stairs from garage lead to the fin. basement.

Rec.rm w/oversized windows & gas fireplace, bdrm./office & bathroom. MLS

$819,900

21 BUR OAK DRIVE, ELMIRA

From $509,900

Choose your finishes in this TWO bedroom open concept townhome with everything on one level! 9’ ceilings. Lots of custom cabinetry incl. island & granite countertops. Gas fireplace & w/o from liv. room. Spacious master w/walkin closet & ensuite. Open staircase w/wood stairs.

14’ wide garage (w/10’door). 2 units avail. (model avail. to view). EXCL

6854 MIDDLEBROOK RD. Agricultural farm property in Woolwich Township! Situated on 88 acres with 66 acres workable, with some spot tile drainage. The farm backs onto a creek and approx. 10 acres of bush area.

There is a 1.5 storey, turn of the Century log house. The main floor has an eat-in kitchen, L.R., bedroom/office & 4 pc. bath. Upper level has 4 bedrooms. Rear $1,700,000 addition consists of summer kitchen with side entrance. The house will require extensive renovations. A separate shed, 24’ x 30’ with concrete floors and 5 box stalls for horses, built in 1986. The property boasts a unique ‘castle’ like structure made of concrete block, brick & fieldstone construction, multiple levels and windows atop with stunning views of the surrounding Grand River valley & countryside! MLS

CALL FOR YOUR

P.O. Box 158

24 Church St. W. Elmira, Ontario N3B 2Z6

FREE MARKET EVALUATION

COMMITTEE OF ADJUSTMENT – NOTICE OF HEARING Pursuant to the Planning Act and Ontario Regulations 197/96 and 200/96 On May 13, 2019 at 5:30 p.m. the Committee will meet to consider the following applications.

All persons interested in the applications may attend and may contact Nancy Thompson regarding meeting details or visit the Township Webpage – Township Services – Mayor and Council – Agendas and Minutes and select the applicable meeting date.

The Committee will also consider submissions for or against the applications if submitted to the Township or of877-969-0094 Woolwich noFax: later than 5:00 p.m. on Emergency: May 7, 2019 (Note that this date is Phone: 519-669-1647 519-669-1820 After Hours 519-575-4400 www.woolwich.ca before the meeting). Submissions can be forwarded to Jeremy Vink at the address noted at the top of this page, by email jvink@woolwich.ca or by fax 519-669-4669. Any submissions received will be included in a comment package and presented at the meeting. Any submissions received will be included in a comment package and presented at the meeting.

This information is collected and maintained for the purpose of creating a record that is available to the general public at the Committee of Adjustment hearing. Please note that while the Committee may redact some personal information such as email addresses and phone numbers, your submissions will otherwise be made public in their entirety.

MINOR VARIANCE APPLICATION A 12/2019 – Ryan and Jamie-Lyn Rozema, 28 College Street, Elmira ZONE / USE: Residential Mixed Medium Density (R-4) / single detached dwelling and a shed PROPOSAL: The applicant is requesting relief from Section 12.4 to reduce the required westerly side yard setback from 1.2 metres to approximately 0.6 metres to permit the addition of an attached garage.

MINOR VARIANCE APPLICATION A 13/2019 – Shannon McTaggart, 591 Katherine Street North, West Montrose ZONE / USE: Agricultural (A) / single detached dwelling with attached garage and an accessory shed PROPOSAL: The applicant is requesting relief from Sections 6.4.1 c) and 6.10.2 a) to reduce the building line setback from the centre line of the road (Katherine Street North) from 23 metres to approximately 16 metres in order to permit the construction of a 112 square metre shed in the front yard. The existing 264 square metre barn is proposed to be demolished.

CONSENT APPLICATION B 6/2019 – Cleason Martin, 6452 Middlebrook Road ZONE / USE: Agricultural (A) / single detached dwelling, mobile home, livestock barns, driving sheds and buggy shed PROPOSAL: The applicant is requesting permission to sever an irregular shaped parcel of land, being approximately 24 hectares in area and convey it as a lot addition to the rear of the adjacent lands located at 1296 Balsam Grove Road to create a 77 ha parcel. The proposed retained lands will be approximately 42 hectares. Both the proposed retained and severed lands are zoned Agricultural (A) and contain family operations.

NOTICE OF THE DECISION: Within 10 days of the meeting, a copy of each decision will be sent to owners, agents, those who submit written comments, and people who sign the register at the meeting. If you wish to be notified of the decision of the Committee of Adjustment in respect to an application, you must submit a written request (to the Secretary-Treasurer – Nancy Thompson ext. 6040) or sign the register at the meeting. This will also entitle you to be advised of a possible Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

APPEAL OF MINOR VARIANCE AND CONSENT APPLICATIONS: Anyone in opposition to a decision may appeal the decision to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. The Tribunal may dismiss an appeal without holding a hearing if the appellant did not make oral or written submissions to the Committee of Adjustment before a decision was given, or does not provide a reasonable explanation for having failed to make a submission to the Committee.

Apply to Join the Technical Advisory Group Today!

The Township of Woolwich is looking for engaged citizens who are passionate about supporting our community with strong related professional experience to join the Technical Advisory Group.

The Technical Advisory Group meets a minimum of six times a year to obtain, provide and review technical advice or recommendations to the Remediation Advisory Committee regarding remediation of Elmira’s former municipal aquifer and any other environmental contamination.

For detailed information about the committee and how to apply as a volunteer, please visit www.woolwich.ca/committees or contact the Council and Information Services Office at 519-669-6004.

The application deadline is Friday, May 10, 2019. Appointments to the Technical Advisory Group will be approved in May 2019 for a term ending June 2024.

Interested but want more information? Contact Sarah Goldrup, Council and Committee Coordinator, by phone at 519-669-6004 or email at sgoldrup@woolwich.ca.

WELCOME TO THE HOME FOR REAL ESTATE IN WOOLWICH AND WELLESLEY TOWNSHIPS.

Community Information Page

®

BUYING OR SELLING – GET THE LATEST OPEN HOUSE DATES EVERY WEEK.

“PROUDLY REMEMBERING OUR PAS T; CONFIDENTLY EMBRACING OUR FUTURE.”

TH E O BS E RV E R | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019

18 | C L AS S IF IE D NOTIC E S

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES

THOMPSON’S

Auto Tech Inc. Providing the latest technology to repair your vehicle with accuracy and confidence.

519-669-4400 30 ORIOLE PKWY. E., ELMIRA www.thompsonsauto.ca

GENERAL SERVICES

CALL TO BOOK! TODAY.

TIRE

WHERE TIRES ARE A

SPECIALTY, NOT A SIDE LINE. VAN AND MINIBUS TRANSPORTATION “Specializing in small group charters”

Farm • Auto • Truck Industrial On-The-Farm Service

5196695557 Elmira, ON

Visit our website! countrymilebl.com

35 Howard Ave., Elmira

519-669-3232

Various sizes & rates

CLEAN • DRY • SECURE Call

519-669-4964

THIS SPACE IS FOR RENT

100 SOUTH FIELD DRIVE, ELMIRA

HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES COMMERCIAL • RESIDENTIAL

LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED

ST. JACOBS

GLASS SYSTEMS INC. 1553 King St. N., St. Jacobs, ON N0B 2N0

Furnaces • Air Conditioners Water Heaters • Fireplaces

• Store Fronts • Thermopanes • Mirrors • Screen Repair • Replacement Windows • Shower Enclosures • Sash Repair TEL:

We service all makes and models Maintenance Starting at $99

519-664-1202 / 519-778-6104 FAX: 519 664-2759 • 24 Hour Emergency Service

CALL TIM OR SCOTT TO BOOK AN APPOINTMENT

Call 519-206-0336 www.koebelhcm.com

RESIDENTIAL & AGRICULTURAL

Driveways • Sidewalks • Curbs • Patios Finished Floors • Retaining Walls • Steps Decorative/Stamped and Coloured Concrete www.marwilconcrete.ca

519-577-0370

HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES

AMOS INC

R O O F I N G

- Design and build -

AGRICULTURAL | RESIDENTIAL FRAMING • ROOFING RENOVATIONS • EAVESTROUGHS

• Specializing in residential re-roofs • Repairs • Churches A Family owned and operated business serving KW, Elmira and surrounding area for over 35 years.

WORKMANSHIP GUARANTEED

DESIGN CENTRE

KITCHEN, BATH & WINDOW FASHIONS

Blinds, shades, drapery & more • Custom cabinetry made in Canada Free In-home consultations • Our experienced designer will help you work within your personal taste and budget

Call someone you can trust - your local Home Hardware Popular Brands Available

BLANCO, MAAX, MIROLAN, STEEL QUEEN

CALL JAYME FOR YOUR FREE ESTIMATE.

22 Church St. W., Elmira

519.501.2405 | 519.698.2114

Wayne Martin | 519-504-2016 darwayconstruction@icloud.com | Alma, ON

Tel: 519-669-5537 or 1-844-866-5537 STORE HOURS: M-F: 8-8, SAT 8-6, SUN 10-5

In Business since 1973 • Fully Insured

HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES

John Schaefer Painting FREE ESTIMATES Interior/exterior Painting, Wallpapering & Plaster | drywall Repairs

519-503-6033 (CELL) 519-669-2251

36 Hampton St., Elmira

OUTDOOR SERVICES Since 1998

“25 years in Business”

CONSTRUCTION INC.

Visit our website

www.biobobs.com or call today!

519-648-3004

or

800-232-6396

(519) 569-0772 • Commercial & Industrial General Contracting • Specializing in Concrete Work & Excavation • Retaining Walls

info@trappconstruction.ca www.trappconstruction.ca

• • • •

Stamped Coloured Concrete Demolition Bin Service Machine Bases

Concrete Breaking & Removal

HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES

Steve Co.

Plumbing and Maintenance Inc.

RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • INDUSTRIAL

For all your Plumbing Needs.

24 HOUR SERVICE Steve Jacobi

ELMIRA

519-669-3652

The Right Window Treatment Can

Save you

Randy Weber

ECRA/ESA Licence # 7000605

www.rwelectricltd.com 18 Kingfisher Dr., Elmira | 519.669.1462

•Final grading •Lawn repair & complete seeding well equipped for large stoney areas •Spike Aerator/Overseeding •Natural & Interlocking Stone •Retaining Walls, Walks & Patios •Help for Top Water & Drainage issue

Murray & Daniel Shantz

ALMA, ONTARIO | PHONE: 519.846.5427

GENERAL SERVICES

Blinds

by Elite or Mera

In home consultations Wide selection of styles & fabrics 1011 Industrial Crescent St. Clements | 519-699-5411 www.LetUsFloorYou.ca

• Residential • Commercial • Industrial

FREE

INSTALLATION When you buy 3 or more

Hours: M-F 8:30 - 5:30 Sat 9:00 - 3:00

Evenings By Appointment

MarCrest Backhoe

BIKE SALES & REPAIRS PROFESSIONAL BIKE MECHANIC ON STAFF

Septic Installations · Tile Repairs Small Footings · Silo Footings

Maynard Martin 2512 Kressler Road RR1 St. Clements, ON N0B 2M0

Tel. 519-699-0507

SEE US FOR

Window & Screen

REPAIRS 22 Church St. W., Elmira

519-669-5537

STORE HOURS: M-W 8-6, TH-F 8-8, SAT 8-6, SUN 12-5

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | THE O BSE RVE R

C L AS S IF IE D N OTIC E S | 19

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS

$

*

/

(

7

)

$

8

1

$

(

5

(

&

5

,

0

2

/

(

3

$

,

1

7

(

1

(

'

(

0

&

,

6

8

1

7

7

(

,

1

1

$

1

&

$

%

$

+

(

/

/

0

$

(

'

,

7

5

(

7

6

<

1

/

2

6

$

/

/

2

7

7

(

$

6

(

(

5

5

(

'

2

1

/

<

(

5

8

&

7

8

5

(

3

8

2

6

5

<

8

/ 8

3

6 /

(

$

7

(

6

$

8

5

8

6

'

8

1

7

,

7

3

8

5

6

$

/

,

5

5

(

2

,

6

6

/

2

(

1

1

( 9

(

/

5

$

'

(

5

(

$

8

5

,

*

$

0

(

7

(

2

5

(

5

.

&

*

5

$

5

0 2

,

( 6

6

(

5

,

6

'

5

(

7

6

8

7

7

(

8

$

(

3

(

8

$

$

5

1

+

'

8

2

3

1

*

3

/

$

2

/

5

8

'

1

,

(

$

7

(

2

6

0

2

*

*

3

$

$

F A M I LY A L B U M

1

+

0

,

6

5

3

2

(

2

9

/

6

3 (

6

'

Planning a special event?

Get the word out!

IN MEMORIAM

OBITUARY

Weber, Ada Passed away peacefully on Thursday, April 18, 2019, at her home, RR 2, West Montrose, at the age of 87 years. Wife of the late Elmer Weber (2012). Mother of Eileen Weber of RR 2, West Montrose, Martha and Delton Martin of RR 3, Harriston, Lloyd and Laurene Weber of RR 4, Elmira, John and Lorna Weber of RR 2, West Montrose, Verna and Jesse Gingrich of RR 2, West Montrose.

Also survived by 24 grandchildren and 43 great-grandchildren. Sister of John and Selinda Gingrich. Stepsister of Saloma (Mrs. Emanuel) Reist and Adeline (Mrs. Sidney) Brubacher, and stepsister-in-law of Minerva (Mrs. Elam) Wideman. Predeceased by son Laverne Weber, four grandchildren, parents Amos and Sara (Brubacher) Gingrich, brother Melvin, sister Lena, stillborn sisters Lovina and Anna, stepfather Menno Wideman, two stepsisters, and two stepbrothers.

Visitation was held on Saturday, April 20, 2019 from 2-5 p.m. and Sunday, April 21, 2019 from 2-5 p.m. at the home of John Weber, 1094 Northfield Dr. E., West Montrose, where a family service took place on Monday, April 22, 2019 at 9 a.m. then to Winterbourne Mennonite Meeting House for burial and public service. Arrangements entrusted to the Dreisinger Funeral Home, Elmira.

www.dreisingerfuneralhome.com OBITUARY

CEMENTS UM ANNOUN FAMILY ALB

BOOK AN AD: observerxtra.com/advertising-media-kit

#1 NEWS SOURCE IN THE REGION

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES GENERAL SERVICES

FLORADALE SELF STORAGE 1551 FLORADALE ROAD ELMIRA, ON. N3B 2Z1

CLIMATE CONTROLLED

226-266-5525 www.floradaleselfstorage.com

E-Mail: floradaleselfstorage@gmail.com

GENERAL SERVICES

Martin, Wilma S. Passed away at the age of 71 years on Monday, April 22, 2019, at the home of David and Vietta Weber, RR 3, Listowel, after courageously battling the emotional and physical effects of Lewy body dementia. Lovingly remembered by her siblings Lloyd and Vera Martin of Elora, Aden and Susie Martin of Clifford, Fern (formerly Mrs. Tilman Martin) and Melvin Weber of Linwood, Erma and Mervin Weber of Palmerston, 25 nieces and nephews, and 70 great-nieces and great-nephews. Predeceased by her parents Cleason and Mary Ann (Snyder) Martin, brother Fermon and Amy Martin, infant sister Erla, sisterin-law Lydia Ann (Mrs. Aden) Martin, brother-in-law Tilman Martin, greatniece Alayna Weber and great-nephew Tilman Weber. Visitation for relatives and friends was held on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 from 2-5 and 6-8:30 p.m. at the Dreisinger Funeral Home, Elmira. A family service will take place in the funeral home chapel on Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 9 a.m., then to Elmira Mennonite Meeting House for burial and public service.

www.dreisingerfuneralhome.com

DEATH NOTICES

NAFZIGER, EDNA - Passed away peacefully to her eternal home on Sunday, April 21, 2019 in her 84th year at Knollcrest Lodge, Milverton.

She was born in Wellesley Township.

519-669-1278

www.groprolawncare.com

100% LOCAL

OBITUARY

Stroh, Luke

Horst, Helen (nee Weber)

In loving memory of Luke, who passed away, April 25, 1996. 23 years ago you left us, your memory is as dear today as the hour you passed away. Forever remembered and always loved by Mom and his late Dad, brother Skye and Charolette, Aunt Dianne and the late Uncle Brian and Uncle Scott and Aunt Michele, four cousins Cody, Jesse, Lucas and Isabella, Grandparents Irene Hamilton and the late Ken Hamilton.

OBITUARY

Israel, Marion Louise (nee Goodwin) 1931 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2019 Passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 20, 2019 at St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s General Hospital, Kitchener, at the age of 88 years. Marion Israel was the beloved wife for 63 years of the late Kenneth James Israel (2016). Devoted mother of Alan (Susan Woodruff) Israel, Sandra (John) Kendall, Barbara (Albert Loberg) Israel, and Carole (Terrence) Reeves. Cherished grandmother of her ten wonderful grandchildren, Emily (Gordon Kennedy) Israel, Evan (Michelle Barbosa-Macedo) Israel, Eric Israel; Heather (Scott Weber) Kendall, Laura (Scott) Van Doormaal, Ian Kendall; Christine Loberg, Robert Loberg; Jack (Allegra) Reeves, Thomas Reeves, and three great-grandchildren, Bennett and Lillian Weber, and Sullivan Van Doormaal. Survived by sister Donna (Douglas) Mann, and sister-in-law Jean Goodwin. Lovingly remembered by her nieces and nephews. Predeceased by her parents Charles and Gladys (Strangway) Goodwin, and brother Ronald Goodwin who wait for her in eternity. She will be sadly missed by her many friends and all her bridge buddies. Marion graduated from the Ontario School of Nursing in 1951, worked as a nurse for over 40 years, travelled many places in her lifetime and was an active volunteer in her community. She was a longtime member of West Montrose United Church. She lived a full and happy life.

Special thanks to the staff at Chartwell Elmira, Grand River Hospital, and St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s General Hospital. Thank you to Dr. Pham and the staff at Woolwich Community Health Centre, and to Sam at Total Health Pharmacy, for their care of Marion during her last years. The family received relatives and friends for memorial visitation on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at the Dreisinger Funeral Home, 62 Arthur St. S., Elmira. A memorial service will take place on Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 11 a.m. in the funeral home chapel, with reception to follow.

As expressions of sympathy, donations to Operation Smile Canada Foundation (childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cleft lip surgery), or West Montrose United Church Memorial Fund would be appreciated.

www.dreisingerfuneralhome.com

Passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 21, 2019 at Derbeckerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Heritage House in St. Jacobs, at the age of 89 years. Beloved wife of Nelson Horst for 67 years. Devoted mother of Colleen Ekins, Audrey and David Matthews, Linda and John Cress, Barb and Stephen Hall, Peter and Bonnie Horst. Dearly loved by her grandchildren Nicholas, Bonnie, Jennifer; Nicole, Ashley, April; Stefanie, Ryan; Matthew and Carly, and by her 11 great-grandchildren. Lovingly remembered by her sisters-in-law Lena Nafziger and Reta Horst. Helen was the last surviving member of the Gordon and Verna (Eby) Weber family. The family received relatives and friends at Calvary United Church, 48 Hawkesville Rd, St. Jacobs on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 from 1:00 p.m. until service time at 3:00 p.m. Interment was held in the adjoining cemetery, followed by a reception in the church hall. A special thank you to all the staff at Heritage House as well as Dr. Whitby for the exceptional care given to Helen. As expressions of sympathy, donations to the MS Society would be appreciated by the family.

www.dreisingerfuneralhome.com OBITUARY

Cunningham, Irene Charlotte Passed away peacefully at St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s General Hospital, Kitchener, on April 19, 2019, at the age of 95.

Irene (nee Rabethge) Cunningham was the beloved wife of the late Donald Cunningham (2001). Loved mother of Bev and Murray Lorentz of St. Clements, and Marilyn and Jim Brearley of Elmira. Loving grandmother of Steve (Lori) Lorentz, Kathy (Paul Dobbs) Lorentz, Cherie (Glen) Letson, Alissa (Richard) Wright, Alanna Brearley, grandsonin-law Jason Wellerdt, eight greatgrandchildren, and two great-greatgrandchildren. Dear sister-in-law of Dora Rabethge. Predeceased by her granddaughter Kari Lorentz-Wellerdt, and siblings Evelyn (Stan) Hohl, Alma (Howard) Heimpel, Blanche (Roy) Doering, and Laverne Rabethge.

Irene was the last remaining charter member of the Ladies Auxiliary of The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 469. Visitation was held on Tuesday, April 23, 2019 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at the Dreisinger Funeral Home, Elmira.

The funeral service took place on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 11 a.m. in the funeral home chapel. Interment was in Elmira Union Cemetery followed by a reception at the Elmira Legion. As expressions of sympathy, donations to the Poppy Fund Branch 469 or Chateau Gardens Auxiliary would be appreciated.

www.dreisingerfuneralhome.com

O BS E RV E R X TR A. C O M | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | 20

POWERING GREEN Be involved in community activities, events & support local initiatives. Tell us about what's happening and about the people in your neighbourhood.

Online: observerxtra.com/tips

During Earth Week, the Electricity Distributors Association (EDA) lauded local distribution company (LDC) members on dramatically exceeding provincial energy savings targets set out in Ontario’s 2015-2020 Conservation First Framework. According to the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the body that manages Ontario’s power grid, LDCs enabled customer savings of more than 5.8 TWh of electricity, enough to power more than 640,000 homes for a full year.

ON THE TRAIL The Goderich to Guelph Rail Trail hosts its latest “Donate & Dine” fundraising event Apr. 25, this time in Goderich. Spring having arrived, the organization is kicking into gear for another season along its 127 km stretch. www.g2grailtrail.com

VO LU N TA RY AC T I O N S

Scouting out a spot for his latest accolade

Elmira’s Brian Soehner to be presented this weekend with a Governor General’s award for volunteerism

BY FAISAL ALI fali@woolwichobserver.com

It’s hard to say just how much of an impact Brian Soehner has had on the community of Elmira. A leader and mentor for more than five decades with the 1st Elmira Scout Group, the venerable Scout has had hand in raising generations of area children.

During his 54 years with the Scouts, most recently as commissioner, Soehner took hundreds under his wing, imparting his knowledge of the outdoors and nature, and his love for volunteerism to the youth of the community.

“Fifty years now I've been involved,” said Soehner.

“And I've enjoyed it so very much, working with the young people that I just stuck with it. They were a real pleasure to work with.”

A Cub and Scout in his childhood, Soehner went on to become a leader with the Scouts and Venturers, eventually taking on the roll of commissioner for the local Scouting group.

For his dedication and commitment, Soehner is being recognized by the highest authority in the land with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers, which will be presented at a ceremony in Elmira this weekend.

“Frankly, I'd never heard of it before, so I was quite surprised,” admitted Soehner, who was nominated for the award by his fellow Scouts. “At first, I didn't realize what it really meant.

Now that I've had time to read up on it, it's quite an honour.”

Brian Soehner will receive the Sovereigns’ Medal for Volunteers for his many years of dedication to the Elmira Scouts. [FAISAL ALI / THE OBSERVER]

The Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteerism is given out to Canadians in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to their communities, done without expectation of any returns. But what makes the award such a particular honour is not just what it represents, but who it represents.

The medal is given out by the Office of the Governor General, acting on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, Canada’s head of state. It joins other such notable and prestigious distinctions awarded by the office including the Order of Canada and the decorations

for bravery.

“I got a call back in December,” Soehner recalled.

“The lady said ‘I'm from the Governor General's Office,’ and I said ‘Oh.’ I didn't know anything about it of course.

She said, ‘Don't worry you're not in trouble.’ I thought that was pretty funny.”

The award is often handed out by Canada’s Governor General in person, but because arranging a meeting can take months or years, the group decided on a smaller ceremony instead.

For Skip Maher, a longtime friend and fellow Scout leader in Elmira, one

of Soehner’s greatest accomplishments is the how he helped the support the youth under his care through their most formative years. Whether he was taking groups on cross-country road trips, or attending international Scout jamborees, Soehner gave his charges memories and experiences to last a lifetime.

“As a child growing up, you always place your parents, at different times, high on the list of influences in your life. But not all the time do you do that. You [also] have Scout leaders or hock-

Spring is a great time to get your car’s alignment inspected. As you hit rough roads & drive through pot holes left by a cold winter, it is possible that your vehicle could be out of alignment.

This can make driving more difficult and shorten the lifespan of your tires.

– Ken Neary

ey coaches, and teachers at the school,” said Maher, who himself was drawn into the Scouts with Soehners’ encouragement.

Soehner was one of those key influences, says Maher.

“There are a lot of different influences that help young people, and I said it before, help them find their place. Or a path to go down and see where it goes.”

Former Scout Bill Thuroo grew up knowing Soehner.

Through their 47-year history, Soehner went from first being a teacher and Scout

leader to eventually becoming a friend, along with several other leaders from Scouts.

“I was one of Brian's Scouts in the early ’70s,” said Thuroo. “It's really funny when you think about it. Because here you are as a kid, and you have this adult. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever figure that these men would be my friends that long.”

Without Soehner’s influence, the Elmira Scouts, and those impacted by the organization, would not be what it is today. “I think it would be a different organization, no doubt about it,” said Thuroo.

There’s no shortage of good leadership at the Elmira Scouts, but what makes Soehner unique is the longevity of his involvement with the organization.

While Soehner has been forced to cut back his involvement with the Scouts for health reasons, he still lends a hand whenever possible, helping to maintain the grounds and providing his decades of wisdom to successive leaders.

It is for his tireless volunteerism that Soehner will be recognized at a ceremony this Sunday at the Elmira Legion. The award will be given out at 6:30 p.m. The ceremony will be preceded by a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the Scouts at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at Read's Decorating Centre in Elmira, or by contacting Philippe Bertrand at scouterphilippe@ gmail.com.

Two locations in Elmira to serve you better

20 Oriole Parkway E. | 47 Industrial Drive

Tel: (519) 669-1082

www.leroysautocare.net

Accredited Test & Repair Facility

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | THE O BSE RVE R C H E F ' S TA B L E

Asparagus makes a fine pairing with grilled salmon

L IV IN G H E RE | 21

COMMUNITY EVENTS CALENDAR

“A GOOD JOB DONE EVERY TIME”

APRIL 25 LIONS BINGO AT LIONS HALL, ELMIRA, 7 P.M. HOSTED BY Elmira Legion Ladies Auxiliary.

Kleensweep Carpet Care

I

t’s asparagus season, so a fine time to enjoy the sweet hint of honey and fresh thyme in this easy salmon grill that takes only a few minutes to prepare, and not much longer to cook.

Pick the perfect asparagus. Look for asparagus that are crisp and have bright green spears with tightly closed tips. To store, stand spears in 2.5 cm (1") of water or wrap ends with damp paper towel. Cover, refrigerate for up to four days.

To get rid of the asparagus’ woody ends, bend each stalk near the bottom end and it will break off at the right spot.

You can easily transform this meal into tomorrow's lunch salad; make extra salmon and serve it on a bed of greens.

Honey Grilled Salmon and Asparagus 1 Tbsp. sodium-reduced soy sauce 2 tsp. canola oil 2 tsp. liquid honey 2 tsp. packed brown sugar

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves 1/2 tsp. fresh-ground pepper, divided 4 salmon fillets, about 150 g/5 oz each 1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed Half a fresh lemon

3. Lightly spray asparagus with cooking spray and place on preheated and oiled grill on medium high heat. Grill, turning a couple of times until tender crisp. Add salmon fillets and grill for 5. Discard marinade. Turn salmon over and grill for about 5 minutes longer or until fish flakes easily when tested. (Use a digital food thermometer to check that salmon has reached an internal temperature of 70°C/158°F.) 4. Serve with asparagus.

Squeeze lemon over asparagus just prior to serving. Serves 4.

APRIL 27 MARYHILL KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS VEGAS NIGHT AT THE Bridgeport Rod and Gun. Doors open at 7 p.m., Fun begins at 8 p.m. Free admission. Fast food available. Many generous prizes to be won at the Big Wheel.

•Mattress Cleaning •Residential •Commercial •Personalized Service •Free Estimates

APRIL 29 PRACTICAL TIPS FOR CARING FOR SOMEONE WITH Anxiety, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Woolwich Community Health Centre, St. Jacobs. Learn in the moment tips as well as longer term strategies, while also caring for yourself.

West Montrose, ON

T. 519.669.2033

COLLEEN

Cell: 519.581.7868

Truck & Trailer Maintenance

1. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, oil, honey, sugar, thyme and half of the pepper.

2. Place salmon in a shallow dish. Pour marinade over top of salmon, spreading evenly.

Cover and refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes, turning once if possible.

Rugs and Upholstery

Cardlock Fuel Management

COMMERCIAL 24 CARDLOCK FUEL DEPOT HOUR M&G MILLWRIGHTS LTD. • Design • Installation • Custom Fabrication

MATERIAL HANDLING & PROCESSING SYSTEMS

519.669.5105 1540 FLORDALE ROAD P.O. BOX 247, ELMIRA

www.mgmill.com

NANCY KOEBEL

Bus: 519.744.5433 Home: 519.747.4388

Yard

· SALE · MAY 11 Save the date!

CLOTHES - BOOKS - HOUSEWARE - FURNITURES SHOES - TOYS - MUSIC INSTRUMENTS, ETC.

ELMIRA

RRSPs, RESPs, RRIFs, LIFs and Annuities.

652 Waterbury Lane, Waterloo 24-HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE

TOTAL HOME ENERGY SYSTEMS

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL

YOUR OIL, PROPANE, NATURAL GAS AND AIR CONDITIONING EXPERTS VERMONT Castings

11 HENRY ST. - UNIT 9, ST. JACOBS

519.664.2008

Repairs

Service

All Makes & Models Everything Vacuum

9 Church St. E., Elmira

519-669-8362 www.elmiravacuumelectrical.ca Monday - Friday, 9am-5:30pm

•

Saturday, 9am-3pm

Quality & Service you can trust.

MAY 4 KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS SPAGHETTI DINNER AT ST. Teresa of Avila Parish Hall, Elmira. There will be continuous seating from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Take out will be at 6 p.m. Adults $12, 12 & under, $6, take out $12. Advanced tickets available until May 2 at the parish office 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or call 519-669-3387.

WOOLWICH GREENING KICK-OFF , 11 A.M. TO 1 P.M. AT Bolender Park, Elmira. Join us for the launch of the Woolwich Greening Initiative. Help plant some trees and learn some tree facts. Light lunch provided. For more information contact Ann at aroberst@woolwich.ca, 519-514-7027.

21 Industrial Dr., Elmira 519.669.2884 | martinselmira.com

MAY 5 MAYBURRY WALK TO BENEFIT A NEW HOSPICE BUILDING across from RIM Park. Join us at 2050 University Ave. E., Waterloo. Registration at 1 p.m., walk starts at 1:30 p.m.

Walk 3km around the site of the new hospice building site.

Food truck and t-shirts available.

MAY 7 START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT CANNABIS WITH your children. Explore why they try it and continue to use it, the health impacts, signs of addiction, legislation and where to turn for help. This workshop is for parents only.

6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Woolwich Community Health Centre, St. Jacobs.

Education and Treatment

Your First Step to Better Hearing

519-669-9919 charlene@bauerhearing.com 25 Industrial Drive, Elmira

MAY 8 SENIORS' LUNCH CLUB AT BRESLAU COMMUNITY Centre at noon. Community Care Concepts invites you to join us for a light lunch and fellowship. $7. Please call 5196641900 by noon, May 6 to sign up.

Individual life insurance, mortgage insurance, business insurance, employee benefits programs, critical illness insurance, disability coverage,

unity m m o C

MAY 1 YOUNG AT HEART CLUB. JOIN US AT THE ST. CLEMENTS Community Centre, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for cards and games.

Free refreshments and friendship.

Vacuum Sales,

MOOD AND FOOD. LEARN ABOUT THE CONNECTION between food choices and emotional wellbeing. Presented by dietitian, Jenny Harrison, using Ontario Telemedicine Network. 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Woolwich Community Health Centre, St. Jacobs.

MAY 9 EVERGREEN SENIORS' FELLOWSHIP AT WOODSIDE Church, Elmira at 10:30 a.m. "Comedy Magic" Bringing joy and laughter to your day. with Danny Hamil, illusionist.

Words from scripture: Pastor Dan Allen. $7 donation includes hot lunch.

SANYO CANADIAN

MACHINE WORKS INCORPORATED

33 Industrial Dr., Elmira 519.669.1591

Woolwich Township Ward 1 Councillor

MAY 10 DONATE PERENNIALS AND BULBS, 6 P.M. TO 8 P.M. AT Eldale Machine and Tool parking lot, 3 Industrial Dr., Elmira.

The plants will be sold the next day at a Fundraiser for the Elmira and District Horticultural Society. Please pot and label plant.

The Community Events Calendar is reserved for non-profit local events that are offered free to the public. Placement is not guaranteed. Registrations, corporate events, open houses and similar events do not qualify for free advertising. See complete policy online. All submissions are to be made online at www.observerxtra.com/event-list.

New to the Community?

Do you have a new Baby?

It’s time to call your Welcome Wagon Hostess.

Elmira & Surrounding Area

SHARON GINGRICH 519.291.6763 | psgingrich@hotmail.ca

How can I help you?

519.514.6051

pmerlihan@woolwich.ca

www.merlihan.com

Woolwich

Healthy Communities healthywoolwich.org

The place to get involved.

• Volunteer Opportunities • Projects & News • Sub-Committee updates

TH E O BS E RV E R | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019

22 | LI VI NG HE RE O B S E R V E R C R O S S WO R D

The Observer Crossword looks to challenge you and get your brain firing on all synapes. This crossword is only published in The Observer handcrafted exclusively for our audience. Happy word-smithing!

ACROSS 1. Shoelace tips 7. And circumstance 11. Piano Glenn 16. Animals 17. Best. Day. ____.

18. More fitting 19. Make counteraccusations 21. Adjust, as laces 22. Margarine, fancily 23. Cozy hotel 24. One step beyond!

26. AKA lanchanjiangosaurus 30. NOT French 33. "___, humbug!"

34. I ____ have eyes for you 35. Andean land 36. They're smart, just ask them 40. Cinema, off the beaten path 41. Bowel cleanout 42. Dnamic partners in crime fighting 43. Decide, oppress, wave politely 45. Resigns 47. "Don't give up!"

49. Comedian 53. Elaborate network of vessels

55. Ghost train 57. Prepare cheese for pizza 58. Presenting as biological gender 61. Extinct, armoured dinosaur 64. "Do ___ others as..."

66. Pig party 67. Gloomy 68. Little bird 69. Capsella bursa-pastoris 73. Examine by touch, medically 74. Conscientiously objecting slugger 75. Sail constellation, supernova remnant 79. Apportion 80. Capitulated 84. Bait 85. Eye ring 86. Charioteer constellation 87. Blew it 88. ___ gin fizz 89. Shooting star DOWN 1. ___-American 2. Highlander 3. Surname, variant of Lucy 4. Join

5. City, ancestral home of Ji dynasty of Zhou 6. Formative, influencing 7. Latin feather, stylus 8. Egg cells 9. Big Apple attraction, with "the" 10. Bicuspid 11. Irish coppers 12. Reveal what's inside 13. Speaker, perhaps of truths 14. Unproductive time 15. Mr., Casey and Finnegan 20. Crept closer 25. The lunatics are in charge of this 27. Decreases, like a heat shield 28. Infamous 29. African antelope 30. Multicoloured, like a piper 31. Green gables, Frank, Hathaway 32. STEAM would be artfully better 37. Arabic for "commander" 38. Stop filming!

39. Sayings, often spray painted

44. Almond 46. Sharp-pointed instrument 48. "Silent Night" adjective 50. Mario ____ 51. Decorative case 52. Medical advice, often 54. Bed-wetting, formally 56. Hunk 58. Longshore drift formation 59. Asthmatic's device 60. Starry 62. "Crikey!"

63. Between Guyana and Guiana 65. Counter 70. Profoundly unloved 71. Gramatically analyze 72. Turn inside out 76. Ashtabula's lake 77. Step on this, curse your kid 78. Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA 81. Universal resource locator 82. Carnival city 83. Expected

BRAIN FOOD

Planes, trains and automobiles rated for efficiency Q. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high,â&#x20AC;? the familiar song intones. What do you know about rainbows?

And are you enlightened about the flaming rainbow bridge?

A. Did you know that no one sees the same rainbow? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because any rainbow you see will be centered around an axis running from the sun behind you, â&#x20AC;&#x153;through the back of your head and out your eyes to your head shadow on the ground,â&#x20AC;? says Gemma Tarlach in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Discoverâ&#x20AC;? magazine. A person next to you will also see a rainbow but she will

have her own unique axis.

Rainbows occur when sunlight â&#x20AC;&#x153;pinballsâ&#x20AC;? in and out of water droplets as refraction splits white light into a spectrum of colors.

Though the gradation of color is continuous, we as organizing humans divide the spectrum into distinct bands. Interestingly, the number of perceived colors seems to be culturally based: Aristotle and some early Islamic scholars saw three colors, though not the same three. Roger Bacon and early Chinese scientists described five, but not until the 17th century did Sir Isaac Newton establish seven as the accepted

As to the flaming rainbow bridge, Norse mythology describes a rainbow that worthy souls would cross into Valhalla. A modern folk tale imagines that beloved pets, upon their deaths, would cross the bridge to an idyllic place to await their owners.

Q. When cutting-edge lasers are put to work on denim jeans, what might be the end result?

A. Holes, fraying and fading to give jeans the worn look, with CO-2

BILL&RICH SONES STRANGE BUT TRUE

lasers doing the job â&#x20AC;&#x153;faster, more precisely, and almost effortlessly,â&#x20AC;? says Autum Pylant in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Photonics Spectraâ&#x20AC;? magazine. To achieve this trendy appearance, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;previously labor-intensive process that required the use of sandpaper, rotary tools and chemicals to hand-finish jeans can be cut from 20 minutes down to 90 seconds.â&#x20AC;?

As Ken Lipton, managing director of industrial laser company Rofin-Sinar, explains, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Using lasers on denim reduces chemical and water use needed for stonewashing and bleaching, is less toxic, and provides improved fabric quality after processing.â&#x20AC;?

Incorporated into the finished stage of the jean-making process, the laser beam â&#x20AC;&#x153;modifies the surface of the fabric, designing shading, rips and even intricate patterns without damaging the texture of the fabric.â&#x20AC;?

Q. Comparing planes, trains and automobiles,

what is the most efficient mode of travel?

A. It depends on the length of the journey â&#x20AC;&#x201D; local grocery store or halfway round the world â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the meaning ascribed to â&#x20AC;&#x153;most efficient,â&#x20AC;? says Vaclav Smil in â&#x20AC;&#x153;IEEE Spectrumâ&#x20AC;? magazine. Strictly from the standpoint of energy consumption (mega-Joules per passenger-kilometer, or MJ/pkm), a gasoline-powered Honda Civic with one passenger and a typical commercial airline flight are roughly equivalent at 2 MJ/pkm. A state-of-the-art high-speed train, on the other hand, STRANGE BUT TRUE | 23

Easter bunny had competition distributing chocolate this week

OBSERVER SUDOKU

number, linking these to notes on a Western musical scale.

BY VERONICA REINER

HOW TO PLAY: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 only once. Each 3x3 box is outlined with a darker line. Numbers are preplaced to get you started.

vreiner@woolwichobserver.com

Lincoln Heights PS student Earl Kelly is celebrating sweet success after achieving the goal of selling 30 boxes of chocolate as part of his schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fundraising drive, most of them outside the Food Basics grocery store in Elmira earlier this week. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My mom gave me the idea,â&#x20AC;? said Earl of the inspiration behind the initiative. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a whole lot of fun.â&#x20AC;?

The money will go towards a new time clock in the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gym. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Earl is unbelievable,â&#x20AC;? said chocolate fundraiser volunteer Brenda Guse. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Earl Kelly was a chocolate-selling machine after setting up shop outside an Elmira store.

very amazing. They know that when they sell a box of chocolate, they raise $90, but then the product has to be paid for. So it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work out to be that much, of course. Earl himself would have raised some

$1,200. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unbelievable.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never seen a kid do that many â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen kids do a lot, but never that amount.â&#x20AC;?

As of Monday, Kelly has sold 24 boxes of Laura Secord chocolate to passersby, with an ultimate goal of 30

[VERONICA REINER]

boxes. He achieved that goal which, not including the cost of the box, would have raised $2,700. He has a full kiosk set up, featuring signs explaining the purposes of the initiative along CHOCOLATE | 23

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | THE O BSE RVE R

CHOCOLATE FROM 22

with types of chocolate – including caramel, mint, milk, raisins and assorted, priced at $3 apiece.

He sells these chocolates under the watchful eye of his father, Dave Kelly. Dave said it was Earl’s genuine enjoyment for doing so that kept things rolling smoothly.

“We went out on the weekend, and we sold them all. He said ‘I like this. Can I do some more?’ I said ‘sure,’ so I sent word back to the school, and they started sending the chocolates home,” said Dave on Monday. “And he said ‘You know something,dad? I want to go for 30 cases.’ And right now he’s almost at 25, all by himself.

L IV IN G H E RE | 23

“He’s doing really well.

The top seller in his school he is.”

The chocolate fundraiser is an ongoing tradition at Lincoln Heights PS. The top sellers are awarded various prizes – each first-, secondand third-place, and five participation prizes were awarded with a stuffed animal. First received a $150 gift card, second was awarded a $100 gift card, and third got a $50 gift card.

“We’re very proud of Earl with all that he did this year at the school,” said Guse. “I never knew him before but I got to know him during the time of the chocolate campaign, and he did an amazing job.”

STRANGE BUT TRUE

We have photos to share.

FROM 22

performs ten times better, something like 0.2 MJ/ pkm. An electric car (like the Chevy Volt owned by one of the column’s co-authors) falls in between, achieving about 0.8 MJ/ pkm with single occupancy.

Travel time also needs to be factored into efficiency estimates. The French high-speed train connecting Lyon to Marseille covers 280 km (170 miles) in just 100 minutes, downtown to downtown.

“In contrast, scheduled commercial flight time for about the same distance – 300 km from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Boston’s Logan Airport – is 70

minutes.” Add another 45 minutes for the ride from Manhattan to LaGuardia, 45 minutes for checking in, and 15 minutes for the ride from Logan to downtown Boston, for a total of 175 minutes.

Concludes Smil, “In a rational world, one that valued convenience, time, low-energy intensity and low-carbon conversions, the high-speed electric train would always be the first choice for such distances.”

Get Yours!

is one of life’s r e p a p e th in Being nt. e it with a repri v li e R . ts h g highli hoto-reprints p / m o .c a tr rx observe GET IT IN THE

Bill is a journalist, Rich holds a doctorate in physics. Together the brothers bring you “Strange But True.” Send STRANGE questions to sbtcolumn@gmail.com

WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE

PLACES OF FAITH

9OU !RE )NVITED 7//$3)$%

9OU RE )NVITED 4HIS 3UNDAY 35.$!9 3%26)#%3

! ! \

10:00 am: Worship

St. James Lutheran Church

Sunday, April 28th

Pastor: Hans J.W. Borch Proclaiming Christ through Love and Service

60 Arthur St. S., Elmira 519-669-5591

10:45 am

The Gospel According to Isaiah Speaker: Andreas Dimond

Discovering God Together

4522 Herrgott Rd., Wallenstein www.wbconline.ca • 519-669-2319

NURSERY PROVIDED

SUNDAY SCHOOL

Zion Mennonite Fellowship 9:30 am Sunday School 10: 45 am Worship Service 47 Arthur St., S. Elmira • 519-669-3153 zionmenno.com

Speaker: Ron Seabrooke

Elmira Mennonite Church

Woolwich-Grey Ministerial Pulpit Exchange Dave Tiessen preaching

58 Church St. W., Elmira • 519-669-5123

Service at 10:30am Rev. Paul Snow

REACH OUT. KEEP FAITH ALIVE, ADVERTISE HERE.

[ sundays 10:30am ]

REACH WITH LOVE. TEACH THE TRUTH. SEND IN POWER. 290 Arthur St. South, Elmira • 519-669-3973 www.ElmiraAssembly.com (Across from Tim Horton’s)

www.OBSERVERXTRA.com

www.ecelmira.com | 519.669.5030 2 First St W, Elmira

Looking for a faith community that's close to home? Start here. If you want to see your church listed here and want to reach over 12,000 homes every week call Donna at 519-669-5790 ext104.

Internet speeds up to 1 Gig, local service and fair prices

Fibre to the Home Have you heard? Mornington Communications is bringing true Fibre to the Home to Linwood, Hawkesville and Bamberg. You’ll soon be able to access great Home Phone, unlimited Internet with speeds up to 1 Gig and crisp HD Television channels.

Construction is starting in the next few weeks! Construction crews will be working hard to connect Linwood, Hawkesville and Bamberg residents. Watch for more details in the mail, on our website or find us on Facebook.

HEARING ASSISTED

TH E O BS E RV E R | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019

24 | TH E BAC K PAGE

THIS WEEKS DEALS! APRIL 25-28 4 DAYS ONLY!

THUR

FRI

SAT

SUN

9-9 9-9 9-6 10-5

K TOC

K TOC

IN S

PRINTED TILES NEW!

2

HEXAGON 8” TILE

3

$ 99

FLOOR OR WALL

HOT NEW PRODUCT!

/ SQ FT

REG 6.99

/ SQ FT

REG 5.99

K TOC S N I

K TOC S N I

6MM THICK SPC CLICK

1

FROM

DISTRESSED LAMINATE

SWISS-MADE LAMINATE

89

/ SQ FT

FROM

1.59

HOT BUY!

/ SQ FT

REG 3.99

BARN BOARD LOOK K TOC

K TOC

IN S

CLICK ENG. HICKORY

3/4” THICK ENG.

HARDWOOD

3

1

$ 57

¢

FROM

IN S

6MM THICK CLICK VINYL

1

IN S

IN S

$ 97 FROM

K TOC

K TOC

IN S

HARDWOOD

3

$ 77

$ 77

$ 37

$ 99

100% WATERPROOF

100% WATERPROOF

HANDSCRAPED

7” WIDE!

FROM

/ SQ FT

REG 4.99

K TOC

/ SQ FT

REG 3.99

K TOC S N I

IN S

2-TONE FRIEZE CARPET

1

FROM

NEW! SUPER SOFT CARPET

1

$ 67

PLUS NO TAX!

PLUS NO TAX!

/ SQ FT

REG 3.99

WWW.

FROM

/ SQ FT

FROM

REG 6.99

K TOC S N I

$ 67 FROM

FROM

/ SQ FT

REG 3.99

REG 10.99

CK

TO IN S

MDF PRIMED WHITE BASEBOARDS 3 7/8 ” 5¼” 5½”

67¢ $1 57 $1 67 / LIN FT

/ SQ FT

/ LIN FT

/ LIN FT

48” LAMINATE STAIR TREADS

45

$ FROM

99 EACH

79.99

TREAD & RISER INCL

.COM

1362 VICTORIA ST N. KITCHENER 519.742.9188 | M-F 9AM-9PM SAT 9AM-6PM SUN 10AM-5PM