2 - Southpoint Sun
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
LDSS grad publishes book about Lebanese roots
Random drive-thru testing took place at the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Complex parking lot on Thursday, June 11. The lineups were manaegable for most of the day, as seen to the left. At right, Leamington’s Katie Omstead gets swabbed in her vehicle. Almost 5,000 people have been swabbed across the county in the past two weeks. Sun photos
Random testing visits Leamington LEAMINGTON — The Windsor Essex County Health Unit brought its random drive-thru testing set-up to Leamington on Thursday, June 11. The parking lot at the newly named Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre was filled with barricades, cones and cards, as drivers made their way through the line to get swabbed for COVID-19. In recent weeks, the WECHU began the random testing at different sites across the county and city of Windsor. After ten days and 4,916 people be-
ing tested across the county, there were eight confirmed positive results. Local healthcare agencies collaborated to create and facilitate the drivethru testing to meet the mandate from the provincial government to get as many Ontarians tested as possible. According to the WECHU, the random testing was conducted to provide a sense of the prevalence of COVID-19 within Windsor-Essex. It provides better quality data for analysis, planning and intervention through random sampling of the community.
By Mark Ribble WINDSOR — Jim Nehmetallah was born in Tourza, Lebanon in 1961 and came to Canada in 1967 as a six-year-old when his family settled in Leamington. The graduate of Leamington District Secondary Schoo went on to St. Clair College, The University of Detroit and Queens University as well. He gave up his career in mechanical engineering to pursue a career as a secondary school teacher in Windsor. About 15 years ago, Nehmetallah began a search for his great-grandmother, who was also from Tourza, but left the village to escape from a bad marriage and make a new life along the shores of the Detroit River. “What began as a per-
sonal project about my own family’s history, soon became a massive genealogical undertaking,” he said. Over those 15 years, Nehmetallah managed to trace the family trees of everyone who came from Tourza, including those who stayed and those who left the village in the Holy Valley. “Along the way, I have collected an oral history of the place — it’s stories, legends, and Maronite saints,” he said. Also along the way, he’s compiled and published a book called ‘Finding Susan: From Tourza to Detroit.’ Nehmetallah has been married for 36 years and they have four children. They are part of a large extended family and he is proud of his Lebanese-
JIM NEHMETALLAH
Canadian roots. He has developed a passion for genealogy through this project and is enjoying helping others explore their roots. Finding Susan: From Tourza to Detroit is available at https://jimnehmetallahgenealogyinc. square.site/ or by contacting Jim directly at 226-260-0321. He is offering a discount for Father’s Day.
Windsor takes action to support migrant workers
WINDSOR — The City of Windsor announced Tuesday that they are offering their Isolation and Recovery Centre for offshore workers to properly isolate if tested positive for COVID-19. Mayor Drew Dilkens said the city is offering the facility, which has staff to monitor the health and well-being of those who are there, as well as ensuring patients remain on-site. “What we’ve heard over the weekend is that it is challenging to appropri-
ately isolate COVID-positive workers on farm sites,” said Dilkens. “Public Health officials have indicated that the need to isolate after a positive test result has become a barrier to increased testing of the migrant population. The City of Windsor is taking immediate steps to remove that barrier and I’m repeating my call for full testing of the temporary foreign worker population in Essex County.”
Congratulate Your Grad
in the Southpoint Sun on July 1st, 2020!
This special edition of the Southpoint Sun will honour the Graduating Classes of 2020 Kindergarten, Middle, Elementary, Secondary and Post-Secondary School.
$
75
.00 + HST
(payment may be made by e-transfer, Visa or MasterCard)
Please email the following information to sun@southpointsun.ca
2020
1. 2. 3. 4.
Grad photo (or other photo) Graduate’s name School Plans for fall (optional)
5. Congratulations from 6. Name and phone number of person submitting announcement
Deadline to submit announcement: Wednesday, June 24, 2020
