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Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 46 Issue 06
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.10% 3 Year GIC - 2.25% 5 Year GIC - 2.65% Daily Interest 2.00%
Friday, February 8, 2013
Mapleton contributes for transportation to forum on rural poverty in Wellington
Alma plunger party a hit once again Plunger Toss champs - The annual Alma Plunger Toss was held on Feb. 2 with 56 teams vying to claim the throne as champions of the event. ABOVE: The winning team was “The Upper Deckers” consisting of, from left: Jared deVries, Matt Fines, Kenny Barnes and Dallon McMahon. The second place team was “Bunged Up,” while “The Lolly Pop DW” finished third. submitted photo BELOW: Potty Rockers - Phil Givens, Daniella Sorichetti, Jacob Sorichetti and Sean MacDonald participated in this year’s Alma Plunger Toss on Feb. 2 at the Alma Cow Palace. photo by Mike Robinson More coverage on page 6
by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON – Council here has agreed to contribute $300 toward the cost of transportation to help local residents attend an event to increase awareness of and access to social services in Wellington County. Mapleton council received the request for funding from event organizer Mary Crome, a Wilfrid Laurier University social work student interning at the Legal Clinic GuelphWellington, at the Jan. 22 meeting. “Because I know well the nature of poverty in Wellington County and how, in many cases, poverty and homelessness can seem invisible in the county, I am putting together an event specifically designed to answer some of the challenges faced by rural residents of Wellington County who are living with poverty,” Crome stated in a letter to council. The event, called Wellington County Community Connect (WCCC), will be held on March 22 at the Arthur arena, a venue chosen for it’s central location within the county, from 10am to 6pm. Crome explained WCCC will be a public open house/ trade show highlighting social resources. The event is designed to give people who are living on less in the county access to a wide range of support services under one roof. Such ser-
vices include housing, income, employment and parenting support, as well as counselling services. The event will also feature free massage, haircuts, manicures, food, hygiene and clothing giveaways. “The focus will be on service delivery as much as is possible, so that guests may leave with a task completed and arms full,” explained Crome. She said the event will provide an opportunity for involvement by numerous sectors of the community. “Guests will have access to the services needed in a format that allows for one-stop shopping. Service providers will have a much-needed opportunity to network, while performing outreach. Community members will have an opportunity to volunteer. Businesses will have an opportunity to give back to and invest in the community. The faith communities will have an opportunity to operate in the community by partnering with WCCC.” Crome noted that needs assessments have highlighted transportation as a barrier in Wellington County, so a “collaborative transportation plan” including a partnership with local school bus companies has been arranged. “I want residents of Mapleton to have access to this event,” she stated, noting the Town of Minto has already agreed to donate $300 toward the cost of bus transportation.
Wellington North has donated the use of the venue, valued at $631. Crome said the target audience for the event includes families and individuals living on low incomes and “the working poor” as well as the homeless and those at risk of homelessness. In her letter, Crome points out a rural homelessness study prepared for Wellington County in September, 2011 indicates the problem in rural areas is “largely concealed and hidden.” That report notes poverty is the main trigger for homelessness and identifies several factors of poverty that are unique to rural areas. These include: - a lack of infrastructure (no emergency shelter); - lack of essential services and location of such services in large urban centres; - travel difficulties; - limited affordable housing; - lack of appropriate social housing and; - shortage of well-paying jobs. “Overall, it appears that homelessness is a challenge, but not a priority issue in the community. More concerning is that the triggers that lead to homelessness - poverty, substance abuse, lack of wellpaying jobs, lack of affordable/ suitable rental housing – are on the rise,” the county study concluded.
Benefit game raises $1,200 for MADD PALMERSTON - Members of the Wellington County OPP participated in the first annual Kate McNally Memorial MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) hockey game on Jan. 25. The event took place at the Palmerston and District Community Centre, with the evening kicking off with a free skate from 5:30 to 6:30pm, followed by the hockey game. The OPP team consisting of members from the four detachments in Wellington
County as well as surrounding detachments, took on the much younger Norwell District Secondary School hockey team. “Both teams played extremely well and were cheered on by fellow students and officers, parents and local residents,” OPP officials state. The event raised over $1,200 which is the most ever raised for any MADD fundraiser in Wellington County, says Marco Kennema, president of MADD Wellington County.
The event was held in memory of Kate McNally, a former Norwell District Secondary School student who was killed three years ago by a drinking driver. “The Wellington County OPP along with MADD Wellington, Kate’s family and friends and students from the Norwell District Secondary School would like to thank everyone that contributed to making the event a huge success,” states a Jan. 31 press release from Wellington OPP.
Councillor questions winter maintenance costs By Patrick Raftis MAPLETON – Councillor Neil Driscoll wants to make sure the township isn’t getting a snow job when it comes to the cost of winter maintenance in local parking lots. Despite extremely mild winter months the township’s accounts presented for payment at the Jan. 22 meeting
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included two invoices from local contractors for winter snow removal, one for $559 for the Mapleton Medical Centre and another for $1,440 for snow removal in Glen Allan. “When we opened these tenders, I expressed my concerns with the type of equipment being used and the price per hour,” said Driscoll, add-
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