The Voice, November 9 2022

Pelham Cares: Getting Food Drive-ready

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

For Pelham Cares Office Manager

Jennifer Dubé, November is always a hectic time of year, in preparation for the organization’s annual food drive to replenish stock in the food bank. This year’s effort is slated for the week of December 3 through 10.

“Starting on Saturday, December 3, from 9 AM to 3 PM, food drop-

off bins will be available at Food Basics and Sobey’s on Highway 20, Centennial Park in Fenwick, and the Meridian Community Centre,” said Dubé. “We have again joined forces with our club partners, the Fonthill Lions, Fenwick Lions, and Kinsmen Club in staffing the event.”

Pelham’s volunteer firefighters organize an annual Christmas toy drive for Pelham Cares, which is happening the same week as the

food drive.

Many may think that there is no need for a food bank in a relatively affluent town like Pelham, but it’s simply not the case, said Dubé.

“Pelham Cares has seen a 26 percent increase in the number of individuals requiring assistance, and a 54 percent increase in children needing food and clothing.

Throughout the year, 140 to 170 individuals access the food bank each

month, representing almost 60 families.”

Food donations come from individuals, businesses, and organizations, and on occasion government grant money provides for specific programs and projects. But ongoing government financial support is not provided, said Dubé.

The greatest food needs for the

Column Six

Visiting living history

Meaningful remembrance of dark times

BY PAUL MCDOWELL Special to the Voice

Time. We live in the present. We can feel the future with our intentions and hopes, and we can experience the past with our memory. Is time a physical thing or is it of thought? As a 62-year-old Canadian born of British émigré parents, growing up I generally regarded history as boring. Sure, World War II was interesting, but anything before that was dull. The most you could experience would be old, fast-playing blackand-white silent films of World War I. They seemed no more meaningful than Charlie Chaplin to me. We as Canadians for the most part know of Vimy Ridge and how Canada was then seen as a nation unto its own from such a determined victory. But there is so much more than what we normally see, beyond Vimy. Recently, I felt a small part of that beyond.

My grandfather, Ambrose McDowell, was something of a family and local hero from his small coal-min-

Pelham Cares volunteers Debbie Harrison and Wendy Glaab stock shelves at the food bank

DON RICKERS

It may not be perfect, but it’s the best we’ve got: Democracy. That system of governing by the people, for the people. You can make a convincing argument that democracy is a perpetual ideal, never to be to be fully realized, if for no other reason than power—especially economic power—is never distributed evenly, nor given up without a fight. This year, Remembrance Day arrives at a particularly fraught moment not just in Canadian or US history, but in world history. On social media—and in the mouths of politicians around the globe—one can easily find words that prompted the Allies to wage war against Germany, Japan, and Italy 80 years ago. The spectre looms of nuclear war in Europe, where fascist ideologies are on the rise. South of the border, fascist rhetoric is par for the course among Trump-endorsed candidates. If opinion polls are correct—and remember that right-wingers tend not to admit to pollsters how right-wing they are—the US Congress looks poised to take a sharp right turn in Tuesday’s midterms, to the peril of that nation’s democratic institutions. Here at home, of course, we have a Premier who is doing a convincing impersonation of a dictator, stripping the fundamental right of workers to collectively bargain. Guess it’s not a fundamental right after all. A political observer far more sage than I noted last week that had Ford gone after teachers, he might have had a fair percentage of the public with him. But going after the lowest paid workers? The assistants, the janitors? It doesn’t get much more despicable than that, and it’s looking like Ontarians agree. Next up, Ford wants to gut the Greenbelt—some of the most fertile soil in Canada— something he pledged not to touch just a few years back. All-in-all a pretty dispiriting time, and we haven’t even gotten to global warming. So, arriving at the point at long last, in this issue we bring you evidence of humanity’s better angels in what’s probably our strongest Remembrance Day issue ever. Every word is worth reading, and I hope you do. Democracy and human dignity were worth fighting for in two world wars, as they are today—in Ukraine, in Iran, on a CUPE picket line...Closing with a clipping: Thanks to reader Cindy Fishburn for sending in the clipping above, which originally ran in the Kingston, Ontario, Daily British Whig, on Dec. 9, 1918. See you next week. 4

Need to stash the kids? Try Pelham’s Strike Camp

NRPS impaired driving charges

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

On Sunday October 30, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) issued a strike notice with the province, and the Ford government responded by tabling legislation banning a walkout and imposing a four-year contract. Talks to avert a disruption were unsuccessful. In solidarity with CUPE, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union’s 8,000 education workers also walked off the job Friday.

DSBN said no virtual learning would be delivered to students, while the Catholic board offered some work online but no live synchronous instruction. Families were encouraged to consult school board websites and social media for updates on the strike situation.

Pelham families with two working parents were thrown into chaos, but the brainstormers at Pelham Town Hall leaped into action. A quickly organized Strike Camp at the Meridian Community Centre (MCC)

was offered for kids ages four through 13, which attracted a small group of eight youngsters who participated in a range of supervised crafts, activities, and games from 9 AM until 4 PM.

The Town of Pelham’s Active Living Programmer, Brittany MacLeod, said that 14 children registered for Monday and Tuesday, and others are on a waitlist.

“We are trying to expand the program beyond 14 students, so I’d encourage any family requiring the service to register for the waitlist, and we’ll contact them as more spaces open up,” she said.

Gym time is included in the program, so MacLeod encouraged all kids to bring appropriate gym shoes, along with footwear for playing outside.

The daily cost to parents is $45, with an option of a provided lunch for an additional $10.

At press time it appeared that both the labour unions and the Ford government were digging in for a long battle, with no immediate prospect of Niagara schools opening for in-person instruction.

What's That

SIREN

Pelham Fire Department Weekly Calls

The Pelham Fire Department responded to nine calls for assistance from Friday, October 4 to Friday, November 4.

Saturday, October 29

Burning complaint, Balfour St., Station 2

Burning complaint, River Rd., Station 1

Sunday, October 31 Remote alarm, Center St., Station 3

Monday, October 31

Vehicle fire, Hwy 20 E, Station 1

Medical assistance, Station 1

Wednesday, November 2 Medical assistance, Station 1

Thursday, November 3 Medical assistance, Station 1

Friday, November 4 Medical assistance, Station 2

Medical assistance, Station 1

In an effort to bring further attention and deterrence to driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, the Niagara Regional Police Service reports the names of those people who are charged with an alleged criminal impaired driving offence in the Region. None of the following charges have been proved in court. In addition to being charged, these individuals are also bound by a Ministry of Transportation 90-Day Administrative Driver’s License Suspension and are prohibited from operating a motor vehicle on a roadway. The public is encouraged to contact the Niagara Regional Police Service Traffic Safety Hotline or Crime Stoppers to report those who are driving in contravention of the suspension. The following individuals have been charged criminally with impaired driving by alcohol or drugs, driving with a blood alcohol concentration above 80 mgs of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, or refusing to provide a breath / blood sample.

Luca KOVINIC-BUTERA, 20, Niagara Falls

Ardelle H. DUFFIN-SMITH, 78, Pelham

Glendy E. JUAREZ, 40, Niagara Falls Ron IM, 27, St. Catharines

Cassaundra E. ISHERWOOD, 27, Welland

Andrew N. DENOMME, 43, Lincoln

Mohak UPADHYAY, 26, St. Catharines

Cassidy A. DION, 25, Fort Erie Tyler J. GAUTHIER, 23, St. Catharines

Nicholas J. FISCHUK, 53, St. Catharines

The Niagara Regional Police Service is committed to reducing impaired driving offences through education and the apprehension of offenders through enforcement programs like RIDE. Impaired driving is still the leading cause of criminal deaths in Canada and destroys thousands of lives every year.

Brendan YOUNG

825 Canboro Road, Fenwick Winter hours: Mon - Sat, 8 AM to 5 PM (905) 892-8724 Jayne and Jim Berg, and Sandra and John Harding in Santorini, Greece. Τι όμορφο τετ α τετ!

We're all in thistoge erCOVID-19 VACCINE

• Easy prescription transfer • Locally owned and operated • Free prescription delivery • Fast, friendly, courteous service • Free on-site compliance packaging • Seniors save every day (905) 892-1888 Like us on Facebook facebook.com/pch663/pharmachoice.com

Congratulations CARRIER OF THE WEEK! FRESH OFF THE FARM ALL YEAR ROUND

Indulgence Bakery

Pelham Street Grille

Peter Piper’s Pubhouse

DeVries Fruit Farm

Beamer’s Hardware Pelham Libraries

Bob’s Boys Antiques

PharmaChoice Pharmacy Fonthill Fitness

Fenwick Pie Company McDonald’s

Duffin Appleworks Fonthill Legion

Semenuk’s Gas Bar

Shoppers Drug Mart

Tim Horton’s Giant Tiger

Fonthill LCBO

Zee Lube Express Care Food Basics

Minor Bros Stores

Avondale Stores A-1 Market

(905) 892-8690 PUBLISHER’SCORNER by Dave Burket Voice on vacation! WHETHER ACROSS TOWN OR ACROSS THE GLOBE! Email your photo holding the Voice to: office@thevoiceofpelham.ca SPONSORED BY FREE Delivery or curbside pick-up of all items

~ Call (905) 892-8690 Attention! PAPER ROUTE AVAILABLE 1 Paper Route Available in FONTHILL! ROUTE 11 CONCORD ST, OAKRIDGE BLVD, EVELYN CT103 HOMES Great for students, children, adults, seniors, and everyone who likes fresh air and exercise. NEW! Support your local service clubs

Boggio's IDA

Legion veteran banners fly in Fonthill

ber through mid-November each year, to pay tribute to local veterans, deceased veterans, and active service members.

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 613 in Fonthill is continuing with its Honour Our Veterans Banner Program as an ongoing legacy that pays tribute to all Canadian and Allied veterans and active service members.

Honour Our Veterans banners are displayed on utility poles along Pelham Street in downtown Fonthill, as well as along Wellspring Way lamp posts, from mid-Octo-

The local program was the brainchild of Fonthill Legion member and veteran services chairman for Branch 613, Rick Hatt, who was travelling through Mount Forest, Ontario in November of 2018 with his wife, and noticed banners on poles on both sides of the road, depicting local veterans.

“We had to stop to take pictures, pause, and remember,” said Hatt. “It made quite an impression on me, and I could hardly wait to get back home and to propose a similar veteran banner program to the Fonthill Legion.”

Pelham Town Council readi-

ly agreed to partner with the Legion for the program. Each fall, Town staff place the banners, then remove them later for storage. The Town also coordinates vintage military aircraft fly-bys each Remembrance Day, supports the annual Poppy Campaign, and helps the Legion apply for various grants.

OnePromo, in Hanover, Ontario, manufactures the banners. For each one produced, the company donates $10 to the Legion’s Homeless Veterans Program.

“Through the banner program, we hope to engage the community in honouring and remembering our local veterans throughout future generations,” said Hatt.

Each banner honours a specific veteran with a connection to Pel-

ham, and includes their name, era of service, branch of service, and the name of the banner’s sponsor.

The cost of sponsorship for a banner is $185. Currently, the Fonthill Legion displays 21 double-sided banners (42 veterans).

Application forms are available at the Town of Pelham municipal office, or by calling Rick Hatt at 905-892-6100 or 905-933-0169, or contacting him via email at hattrich@sympatico.ca.

The deadline for applications for next year is June 2023.

Banner Veterans

Edward Allison, Bill Alsop, WM Ashby, Frank Ball, Fred Bates, Earl Bender, Walter Balszynski, Byard Boyes, William Christo-

pher, Keith Crick, James Davis, John Dawe, Joseph Despres, Donald Dixon, Harris Dixon, Edmond Duguay, Herbert Dwyer, Harold Erion, George Flintoff, Harold Freeman, Paul Garrell, Rowland Gillap, Alan Goodbarne, Herschell Hatt, Patricia Hazlett, Aaldert Heddema, Garland Keith, Charles Ker, Bud Ker, William King, Gordon Lasky, Hector LeBlanc, Roy Lovell, JM McClellan, Sean McClintock, Clyde McCombs, Lloyd McCombs, Oren McCombs, Belson McInnis, Archie Pearson, Donald Peters, William Pitkin, Henry Sams, Donald Saunders, John Stratichuck, Jim Summersides, Jack Sutton, Joseph Terescsik, Donald Urquhart, Robin Wallis, David Wragg, Eric Youngblut.

Lest We Forget

"Throughout history, so many have stood up, raised their hand, and said 'yes' when called upon. Thank you to all of Canada's veterans and those who continue to serve."

Mayor Marvin

Junkin

on behalf of Pelham Town Council and Staff.

COTÉ'S COMMENTS Larry Coté

The gift of gratitude

One of the weaknesses we people succumb to can be diagnosed as taking things for granted. That is an unbecoming behaviour and especially when it hurts others if they are unjustifiably ignored. Take a moment and I bet you will come up with someone or group you have unintentionally ignored. Any such list is much longer than the limits of this column, or the pages of this newspaper. To illustrate my point, what follows here is a mere sampling of those inexcusably taken for granted.

Take the police as an example. While those who break the law don’t much like the police, law-abiding citizens should acknowledge how their police service keeps them safe from harm day and night. They keep peace and order in sometimes difficult conditions and events. They help to prevent criminal activities so the citizenry is not harmed by unsavoury elements. However, many of us take those in our police services for granted. We should be regularly acknowledging how grateful we are for their service and commitment to keep us safe from being vic-

timized. Next time you see a cop give him or her a wave or a thumbs up. That gesture could help you both have a better day.

Another group we take for granted and should more often express our gratitude for are those in the education

acknowledge more often is our local farmers. What a great bunch they are to provide us with unquestionably the best produce one can buy. These folks don’t work by the hour, but by the day and night. Caring for crops of all sorts is onerous labour and in spite of that complexity taken for granted. The next time you encounter a farmer be sure to give them a friendly wave and the biggest smile you can muster. Like most of us, they also like to be recognized for the goodness they bring to our lives.

community. You know that little rapscallion down the street? His teachers have to deal with such misbehaviour all day while trying to teach well-behaved children their ABCs. If you think dealing with your little ones tires you out, think about having to manage 20 or 30 of them for hours each day. Giving your kids’ teacher a little bag of homemade fudge or any such token is deserved and will help their day be a better one.

The next group we should

The medical community is not being ignored here as those members are regularly top of mind to most people and especially so throughout the pandemic. Unquestionably, they should be given a lengthy standing ovation. Well, as you can see there are many individuals and groups that make our lives more livable and yet are often taken for granted. If on occasion you are recognized for some contribution you have made, consider passing along such a gesture to others you encounter. After all, they also deserve the pleasant feelings you experienced when being recognized. 4

Letters Lest We Forget

Do you know where this quote comes from? I am first-generation Canadian. I have heard about war since I was a little girl. My parents were from northern Italy and were children during WWI. My mother, Elvira, lived on a farm. She saw her brother die from an infection after he was wounded in an explosion. He was ten years old. One day, she and all her family were put against a wall by a German sergeant. He held a rifle with a bayonet attached to the end under her mother’s, my nona’s, throat and threatened to kill her if her father, my nono, didn’t provide food for his men. They were hungry. My nono told him that he had given them all

CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

Member of Federal Parliament Electoral District: Niagara West Dean Allison, MP 4994 King Street Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 Dean.Allison@parl.gc.ca 877-563-7900

Member of Provincial Parliament Electoral District: Niagara West Sam Oosterhoff, MPP 4961 King St. East, Unit M1 Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 sam.oosterhoffco@pc.ola.org 905-563-1755

Members of Niagara Regional Council Councillor Marvin Junkin mjunkin@pelham.ca 905-658-2987

Councillor Diana Huson diana.huson@niagararegion.ca 905-324-3094

Town of Pelham 20 Pelham Town Square P.O. Box 400  Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0 905-892-2607

Mayor of Pelham Marvin Junkin mjunkin@pelham.ca 905-658-2986

Members of Pelham Town Council

Ward 1 Councillor Marianne Stewart mstewart@pelham.ca 289-821-0840

Councillor Wayne Olson wolson@pelham.ca 905-933 6033

Ward 2 Councillor Ron Kore rkore@pelham.ca 905-933-3805

Councillor John Wink jwink@pelham.ca 905-892-4475

Ward 3 Councillor Lisa Haun lhaun@pelham.ca 905-892-5877

Councillor Bob Hildebrandt bhildebrandt@pelham.ca 905-892-5647

SERVICES:

he had—chickens, cows and grain. The only thing left were the oxen. Because the sergeant had come so many times to the farm, he believed my nono, and spared their lives.

My father, Giovanni, was a town boy and he talked about being hungry and afraid all the time during this period.

My father’s family came to Timmins in the late 1920s as there was work in the mines and they were basically starving in Italy. My father, however, had to stay behind as he had to do his mandatory military service first. He was an Alpine soldier. They all

CONTACT: (289) 897-8366, info@fosterfootcare.com 209 RR 20, Fonthill

OFFICE ADMINISTRATION

Lori Gretsinger

CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR Don Rickers

"We should be regularly acknowledging how grateful we are for their service"

I finally finished reading all of the November 2 Voice, a newspaper that honestly cares about its readers and the community it serves. It’s almost as good as turning the clock back an hour.

In no particular order of appreciation I will start with, “The Balanced Life,” by John Swart, outstanding advice that matches its title. Larry Cote and needed “behavioural guidelines.”

“Shake It Up”— terrific health tips by Rob Shook. Rob Weatherby’s “Faith Lift,” always relevant and interesting. The incredible “plate-licking-quality” waffle brunch served at the Fenwick Fire Hall by the fantastic volun-

teers of The Friends Of Maple Acre Library on Saturday morning. The “Opposition Group” volunteering their time to preserve the beauty of our community. The Poppy Campaign reminding us all of the importance of history and especially those that gave their lives for our freedoms we enjoy today. We need to know where we were to better choose where we are going and that we can get there.

Readers please support your local businesses. They help keep all our property taxes lower. Amazon and online shopping do not.

P. Bryant Pelham

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out to the farm and supported us this year. Your continued support is amazing, we've seen old friends and made new friends. Thank you for supporting local and hope to see you all again soon.

Sherry Rusin Country Boys Fenwick

Poppy Campaign and Remembrance Day Service

As we enter the month of November, Branch members have been meeting regularly since the beginning of September developing and finalizing our plans for the annual Poppy campaign and Remembrance Day service.

We know that in previous years in late October and early November, the citizens of Pelham have pinned a poppy to their lapels and then on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, they have paused for two minutes to honour and remember those who have served and continue to serve our country. For that, our Branch members and especially our veterans say, “Thank you.”

will be livestreamed courtesy of Niagara College’s students and staff from the Broadcasting- Radio, Television and Film (BRTF) program. The live stream link

LEST continued from previous page

were Brownshirts and his general was Mussolini. He marched before Mussolini in Milan. He finally joined his family in Canada in 1930 then brought my mother and brother over just before WWII started in 1939.

In 1942, the RCMP came and took him away for a couple of days because he was the “enemy”—a Brownshirt. When he built our house in Timmins, he mixed the shirt in with the cement for the front stairs so it would never to be found again. He always said that Canada is the best country in the world. However, my parents never forgot what happened to them during WWI and told us children about it. The fear of war has stayed with me since.

So, what has this got to do with “Lest We Forget”?

In Grade 8, at E.W. Farr Memorial School, our teacher and principal, R.D. (Mac) MacArthur required us to learn and recite one million lines (okay, maybe 200) of memory work. One of my choices was Recessional by Rudyard Kipling. This was the first time I heard the phrase “Lest We Forget.” I don’t know why I chose to

memorize this poem. As a 12-year-old, I really didn’t understand the meaning but I remember that it made me feel sad and I thought it was about war. Then as an adult, when I heard those words again, I knew they were from the poem I had memorized.

Searching online recently I found that Kipling had written it in 1897 for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The poem has five stanzas. The first one begins with the speaker talking about the battles that Britain had fought and that all British people should remember them. This stanza and the rest, except the last, ends with “Lest We Forget.” So, here we are, in 2022, Russia is at war with Ukraine and there is so much turmoil in this world! We are so fortunate to live in Canada. We are so “free” that we can even protest the government’s and health officals’ mandate to get a vaccine to save our lives and our families’ lives.

Go for a walk in Fonthill, down Pelham Street, Peace Park and around the Meridian Centre and look at the banners. Reflect on the sacrifices made by all these people who went to war for our freedom. Take a minute

and remember them.

Go and buy a Poppy and celebrate all the freedoms we have as Canadians.

As my Father, Giovanni, said, “This is the best country in the world.” Let us never forget.

Vilma Moretti Fonthill

This year, the members of our Talbot Trail Branch have decided to hold one Remembrance Day service. This service will take place on November 11, beginning at approximately 10:45 AM, in Veterans Park on Legion grounds.

We invite the residents of Pelham to attend our service. If you wish to watch our service in the comfort of your home, the service

is https://bit.ly/3sZIYGc

Weather permitting, there will be a fly-by during the service, sponsored by our Town of Pelham.

Our annual Poppy campaign is underway and encompasses the period of October 28 to November 11 inclusive. Members of the planning committee have canvassed businesses and organizations who have

accepted Poppy collection boxes in previous years as well as new businesses and we are pleased to advise that approximately 150 collection boxes have been distributed to businesses throughout the Town. We are also pleased to announce that Pelham Hills Pharmacy is this year’s Poppy Campaign kick-off sponsor. We are asking the citizens of Pelham for your continuing support of our Poppy campaign which raises funds to sustain a variety of programs and initiatives to assist veterans and their families as well as sponsoring cadet and youth programs and making available bursaries for the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of our veterans. We also make financial donations to entities like Camp Maple Leaf, a not-for-profit sleepover camp for children of military families; the Homeless Veterans program, the Niagara Health Foundation and the Juravinski Cancer Centre through our Pop-

"Our branch members and especially our veterans say 'Thank you'"

COMMON DECENCY

Coren Tunnel of hatred and cruelty leads to loss of self

I’m not a fan of Jordan Peterson. I’ve always found his views to be surprisingly disappointing and sometimes downright harmful. Put simply, I just couldn’t see this emperor’s new clothes. He’s also sometimes used irresponsible hyperbole, and some of his followers are cultish and abusive. I know, because I’ve been on the receiving end of their brutal certainty.

There are many people who feel far more strongly, especially those in the trans community. They believe that his writings have caused them enormous damage. Others believe that his self-help theories have transformed if not saved their lives.

But two years ago, Peterson’s daughter issued a video explaining that her father was severely ill, and in trying to withdraw from an addiction to benzodiazepine tranquillizers had developed a paradoxical reaction, had been suicidal, and eventually placed in an induced coma. He was being treated, she said, in a Russian clinic after various hospitals in North America had misdiagnosed him. The background to all of this was a history of depression, an autoimmune reaction to food, and then, tragically, Peterson’s wife’s being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Frankly, it all seems rather strange, and while Peterson now seems well and active, I can only assume that he did indeed go through such a terrible time. It sounds horrible.

Some years ago my parents died, too young and also too close together. I always regarded myself as tough, but this shook me more than I knew. I was prescribed Clonazepam. It helped a great deal but, as I had been warned, I became depen-

dent. It took me more than six hellish months to come off the thing. I say this as someone who has experienced agonizing rugby injuries, and while reporting from a war zone was shot at and saw a soldier killed two feet in front of me. In other words, I know pain and I know trauma. This was far worse.

Yet as soon as Peterson’s condition was made public, social media was drenched in celebratory and mocking comments: Peterson deserved it, they hoped he would die, this was karma (that’s not really what it means), and so on. The ghouls were out in force, in their dark dance of Schadenfreude.

B22389 Gnr. W.J. Brown 19. Army Fld. Reg. 55 Bty. R.C.A August 6, 1944

Dear [Rev.] Hampson, From the bloody battlefields in France where the shells and bombs are dropping all around I’m answering the letter I received from you about a week ago. Its been very busy and I haven’t had time to write.

Well putting all kidding aside it is a grim battle over here and the shells are landing close. It is only by the good grace of God that we are still alive and by your prayers at home.

I was on a relatively low dose yet when I initially tried to come off cold turkey I went into what I suppose was shock. After that I would cut my tablets by a quarter every three weeks, and each time I did so there would be days of what felt like small electric jolts in my head, lack of sleep, mental turmoil. My wife and children were loving and supportive, and I’m not sure how I would have coped without them. While it was a horror story, I think of it as a lesson in experience, helping me to empathize with those going through the same or similar.

And empathy is surely the quintessence of all this. We need to try to feel what others feel, and thus stand with them in an emotional solidarity. That is the human way, and for me the Christian way.

I understand that there is a certain inconsistency involved, in that Peterson has long emphasized strength and fortitude, and I’m not suddenly saying that I support his views. On the contrary, my point is that his views are irrelevant and that it’s his need that should inform our reaction. How we respond in fact says far more about us than it does about Professor Peterson, and our humanity is measured not by how angry and self-righteous we become, but how communal and caring we grow to be. Mere self-interest makes us kind to those we consider on our side, something far deeper and revealing leads us to be generous to those we find objectionable. The first is instinct, the second is grace — something we must never forget.

This applies to everyone, and far too often today there are people who seem to relish the pain of those with whom they disagree. No, it just won’t do! We can argue and debate all we like, but once we travel down the tunnel of hatred and cruelty not only are our arguments lost but so is our dignity. We see this grim horror on social media every day and it is dismantling public discourse and intelligent dialogue. Extremes of left as well as right play the sordid game and they cause far more damage than they likely imagine. It has to change, for all of us. 4

We thought our time in here had really come when a shell landed within a few feet of our tank and we were sitting on that side, but as luck would have it, it didn’t explode. On invasion day as we were coming in and was right near the beach our rudder on the craft broke and we had to go back out to get it fi xed, in return the bridge that took our place on the beach received two shells in the middle of it. Since then we have come up against almost everything that they could throw at us and came out on top.

Your prayers are being answered I’m sure and I’d like to thank you personally for that.

The food over here was very grim for a long time, but is beginning to improve a lot now. I’m glad to hear the church and [Summer] School attendance is still holding up, as it must be pretty hard for the people to get to the services.

It is Sunday over here but to us on the Battle front its just another day. No Services of any kind and just sitting here waiting to kill some more Jerries, before they get us. I hope and pray that this war will stop before too long, while I am still in one piece and while all our friends are still in good health. Since I’ve been into the army I’ve never been sick. Since I came overseas I’ve never been on sick parades. I’ve never had as much as a cold. On the barge coming here, nearly all the fellows were sick including the sailors, but not me. I don’t know what [it] is, but I have managed to skip all of these things.

We went back of the lines for four day’s rest the only rest we’ve had since the invasion and we just came back yesterday. I don’t mind coming back because I’d like to see it finished and to do my little part that is expected of me to do.

Well I guess I’d better close now. Hoping to hear from you next month.

Au Revoir As Ever, Bill

This is one of many local wartime letters now on display at the Maple Acre library branch, in Fenwick, through November. Stop in for a visit to read more.

Rev. Michael

Our humanity is measured not by how angry and self-righteous we become, but how communal and caring we grow to be

Letter to Ford

You are showing all the characteristics of a dictator these days. You are a total disgrace to the memory of your late brother Rob, who was a compassionate and good-listening leader. Soon it will be Remembrance Day and I wonder how the courageous soldiers would feel seeing the Canada they gave up their lives for paved over with reckless regard by a politician?

Hamilton and surrounding area residents have worked exceptionally hard to get their message across of not expanding the boundaries, not paving over precious farmlands and wetlands, etc. But you are simply acting too ignorant to take their request into your heart. You seem not to have any concept of climate change or the connection with destroying nature. You are disrespecting the whole entire farming community.

The housing hype has not been thought through, rather it is being rammed through by you and your developers while in the meantime you about to affect the health and lives of all Canadians.

We need food to live and clean air to breath. Where do you get the right? Have you forgotten you were elected, not anointed?

Faye Suthons Welland

No apologies for Catholic support

Tom Crawford is entitled to his opinion about whether or not I should be Trustee in the Catholic School Board [“Religion in schools, and handguns,” Letters, Oct. 26, p.5], but his attempt at describing the Catholic Church as “obstructionist” when it comes to the development and championing science is laughable.

If we’re going to indulge in dueling books, I suggest he read Rodney Stark’s book, “Bearing False Witness.” Rodney Stark was a Protestant professor of sociology at Baylor University (recently deceased, RIP) with no love of the Catholic Church. Yet in his research of the original documents relating to several subjects when it came to the Church, he was startled to discover that much of the anti-Catholic myths that he had absorbed were untrue, indeed, “fraudulent.” Only one of them is about Galileo. In my experience, Galileo is about the only person anti-Catholics throw up all the time to “prove” that the Catholic Church is “anti-science.”

Stark writes, “As for Galileo, he never spent a day in prison, and he didn’t really get in trouble for his science… but for arrogant duplicity.” Further, he writes, “Moreover, the great scientific achievements of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were not made despite the Church; they were the culmination of normal scientific progress that took place through the centuries in the universities founded, controlled and staffed by the Church.”

Entire books have been written about the accomplishments of churchmen in advancing knowledge so I won’t list them here, but I’d also recommend, “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization” by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Therefore, I make no apology for saying what I did.

Irma Ruiter Fonthill

Fonthill man $100,000 richer

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

Regular lottery ticket player Rodney Manuel has had modest payoffs in the past, but nothing like the reward he received on an Encore ticket in the Lotto Max draw held on July 29.

The 45-year-old human resources worker matched the last six of seven numbers on his ticket, and thought he had won $100. Closer examination of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) app he accessed to check on

his ticket indicated that it was actually a $100,000 windfall.

“My wife was the first person I told, and she didn’t believe it. I sent her a screenshot of the app to prove it,” said Manuel in an OLG press release. “It’s a surreal feeling.”

He plans to use his winnings for home renovations. Manuel purchased his winning ticket at Giant Tiger in Fonthill.

PEOPLE AND POLITICS

by David Siegel

Welcome to Town Hall, Part 1: The Good News

he Town of Pelham has a new Town Council. This is the time when members of council feel pride at having been elected, and hope for all the great achievements that a new council will accomplish. The pride and hope are justified because council has a great deal of authority over the municipality, but there are limits to that authority. This is the first of a two-part series that will discuss both the positive things that council can do and some of the limitations on its authority.

Let’s begin on a positive note by discussing what council can and should be doing. First and foremost, a council has an opportunity to be a place-shaper. This phrase was coined or at least popularized by Sir Michael Lyons in his report on local government in the United Kingdom in 2007.

Place-shaping refers to the role that council plays in creating the broad environment in which residents live. It refers not only to physical structures like buildings and roads, but also to a sense of community and belonging that people experience in a community. Council has a major role in shaping this place called Pelham.

At the beginning of a new term, all members of council should spend some time thinking about what they want Pelham to look like ten or 20 years from now, and relating that to what they need to do in the next four years to go down the road toward that longer-term goal. As soon as meetings begin,

council will be asked to make all sorts of detailed decisions about specific situations. These details are important, because those small decisions add up to major changes. However, council should not get so distracted by these minor decisions that they forget their role in place-shaping.

One way to get on a broader track in the face of distractions is to have a strategic plan. A strategic plan identifies the specific priorities that an organization wants to focus on in the long, medium, and near terms. It is a way of keeping the organization on track in the face of day-to-day distractions.

In the case of local government, it is also a way for council to provide guidance to staff about where council wants the municipality to go.

This is also a good time to discuss with staff the activities that are permitted within the scope of the municipality, and those that are beyond the grasp of a local council. It is important that councils and local residents understand these limitations.

The most difficult part of a strategic plan is identifying the three or four priorities on which the council wants to focus. In any municipality where there is a large number of issues, the temptation is to identify 15 or 20 priorities.

However, having 15 priorities really means that you have no priorities.

The list of realistic priorities needs to be kept reasonably short.

In discussing place-shaping, Lyons pointed out that council has

direct control over some things such as municipal infrastructure and planning decisions, but council could accomplish a great deal more by working with civic organizations such as neighbourhood groups, recreation associations, business groups, and service clubs. Council has a strategic position that allows it to provide leadership in place-shaping to all these local associations.

Many councils begin their term by preparing a strategic plan for the municipal corporation. That’s important because it gives a council some direction, and it gives staff guidance about what council wants to accomplish. However, what about a strategic plan for the entire municipality? What about bringing together all those civic groups mentioned above to talk about a strategic plan for the entire community? What sorts of changes could the municipality and these groups accomplish by working together? What should the municipality do to move toward those goals? What can XYZ service club do to contribute to the overall goal?

The beginning of a council’s term is a great time to think about all the opportunities that lie ahead. A municipal council that approaches its four-year mandate with a positive attitude can accomplish a great deal. However, next week’s article will strike a somewhat different tone by focussing on some of the limitations that councils face. 4

David Siegel is Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Brock University.

ATLANTIC

continued from Page 13

and Luftwaffe.

A Canadian woman in the inner circle with codebreaker Alan Turing was Nancy Adair, who was born in England but raised in St. Catharines. She joined the teams of mathematicians at Bletchley Park decoding the Enigma machine, and was bound by the Official Secrets Act.

“Occasionally, somebody in Canada sent Nan a package of powdered milk chocolate, which she boiled up and shared with her fellow cryptanalysts,” recalled Barris. “It was a real treat, since chocolate was severely rationed in Britain during the war years. When the hot chocolate and the conversation ended, everybody put their cups away, but the slightly paranoid Turing, the greatest mathematical mind in Britain, wiped his mug clean, then put a chain through the handle and locked in to a wall.”

Ralph Frayne was a Pelham native and WWII veteran of the Battle of the Atlantic. The Voice reached out to Frayne’s daughter, Sandra, who still lives on Effingham Street.

“Dad was profiled in a 2016 book entitled Too Young To Die: Canada’s Boy Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen in the Second World War,” said Frayne. “He was a big kid at age 14, standing five foot eleven inches. Dad lied about his age, and enlisted in the army. He was dismissed once his true age was discovered. He later joined the Merchant Marine, and then the Canadian Navy. He served aboard a Flower-class Corvette called HMCS Arvida before becoming a gunner aboard the destroyer HMCS Haida in 1943, at age 17.”

Haida survived the war, and

is currently docked in Hamilton Harbour as a war memorial.

Sandra Frayne said that her father spent time on a tanker while in the Merchant Marine, travelling to the Caribbean to pick up fuel. After witnessing other tankers in the convoy explode after being hit by torpedoes, “Dad decided to join the Navy, where he could shoot back. He got frostbite in the North Atlantic so bad that he never had to shave the left side of his face. He ended up deaf from the cold and gun blasts, because they didn’t use any ear protection.”

Seaman Ralph Frayne SUPPLIED

While on a Murmansk Run through the Barents Sea, Frayne said her father and some sailor pals dropped off medical supplies at a Russian hospital, and were greeted by the horrific sight of stacks of dead bodies, stripped of clothing, that couldn’t be buried because the ground was frozen solid. The image haunted Frayne for years afterwards.

By the end of the war, Ralph Frayne was suffering from shellshock, said his daughter. He came back home to Niagara, and finished high school in St. Catharines. From there he attended the University of Toronto, and earned a law degree at Osgoode Hall. His distinguished law career spanned 63 years, and included stints as president of the Lincoln County Law Society, and winning the Upper Canada Law Society Medal. Through it all, Ralph Frayne enjoyed many years of farming at the family homestead, Windwood Farm, in Beamsville. He retired in September of 2014, and died in May of 2015, age 91.

Protest over annual Short Hills deer hunt

Indigenous treaty-right harvest in its tenth year

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

Short Hills Provincial Park is closed for six days this fall for a First Nations deer harvest, in keeping with a longstanding treaty between the Haudenosaunee Con federacy and Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

The park was closed on October 12 and 25, and also on November 5. Future hunt dates are November 23, and December 3 and 14.

The event has been controver sial since its inception, and has attracted animal rights activists who routinely picket the park’s en trances while the hunt is in prog ress. They believe provincial parks should be sanctuaries for wildlife, and should be reserved for nature seekers and the general public, not hunters.

The Ministry maintains that it prioritizes public safety by clos ing the park and monitoring access points during the hunt, establish ing safety protocols and procedures for hunt participants, and directing hunters away from park boundaries where they meet private property.

Indigenous harvesters use ar chery equipment during the hunt, rather than rifles or shotguns. Ar rows are deemed safer than firearm ammunition in that they do not travel as far, but as hunting tools they are also less likely to provide a quick and humane kill. The result,

in some cases, are wounded deer left to linger in pain for days, al though Indigenous hunters main tain that they track every wounded animal.

Dr. Craig Zavitz and his wife Robin, who reside on Roland Road abutting the park and have repeat edly voiced their concerns about the hunt, opined in a recent letter to their MPP, Sam Oosterhoff, that it is “impossible to secure this very porous park surrounded by almost 100 private properties. Hikers and walkers have for decades entered this park from the roadside or pri vate land, and this has continued throughout the last 10 years of this hunt.”

The Zavitzs have documented infractions of the safety protocol, which they say include trespassing

and hunting on private property, having un-encased bows on pub lic land, and ignoring hunt zone markers. Members of the public consistently and unknowingly en tering the park during the hunt, undetected by the Parks staff, they insist. A paucity of hunt-in-prog ress signage, and insufficient Min istry staff on site to monitor the park’s boundaries, has exacerbated the issue of risk to the public, say the Zavitzs.

They assert that the hunt safety protocol provides a false sense of security to appease politicians and the public. The issue of liability continues to go unaddressed.

The Ministry, through annual aerial surveys, has estimated the deer population around Short Hills to be about 500, while the 1600-

acre park’s carrying capacity is 50 to 60 deer. Animal rights activists dispute this number, suggesting the deer population is much less, and decreasing due to the First Na tions hunt, which harvests 50 to 120 deer each year.

White-tailed deer are not an at-risk species in the province. The Canadian Wildlife Federation estimates the species population at 400,000, and notes on its web site that a robust herd can almost double its numbers in a good year.

Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Re sources and Forests online data showed that almost 190,000 deer tags were issued in 2020, resulting in a province-wide harvest of just under 53,000 deer.

In Niagara’s three Wildlife Man agement Units (WMUs) which al

low a three-month bow-hunting season, some 5000 hunters an nually harvest about 1600 whitetailed deer on Crown or private land outside of Short Hills Provin cial Park.

Niagara Regional Council has gone on record as fully supporting the relevant treaty rights related to the deer harvest.

“Today, 17 trucks entered the park around 5 AM, so probably 34 hunters,” said Robin Zavitz. “It was 25 degrees, and sadly, dozens and dozens of hikers were turned away from the park.”

Information on the First Na tion deer harvest at Short Hills is available from Greg Wilson, Ontar io Parks Southwest Zone Manager, at 519-873-4616, or Greg.Wilson2@ ontario.ca

Animal rights protesters at the Pelham Road entrance to Short Hills Provincial Park last Saturday

DON RICKERS

REMEMBRANCE

py Fund. More information on the uses of the Poppy Fund can be found at www. on.legion.ca

If you are inclined to support our campaign in 2022 without accessing the Poppy collection boxes, you can send us a cheque payable to the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 613. We also accept payment at our Branch via cash, credit card or debit card. You may also send an e-transfer to: br613rcl@cogeco.net Under the “comments” section, please insert “Poppy Fund donation.”

Please note the best time to visit the Branch is between the hours of 12 noon to 7 PM each day. Finally, there are three “Poppy tap boxes” available for use during this year’s campaign. They are located in the Meridian Community Centre, Sobeys, and the Fenwick Pharmacy.

On behalf of all our veterans, we thank you in advance for your continuing support of our Poppy campaign. Pelham residents have always responded favourably to community-based initiatives, and we are hoping you will do so again for our 2022 Poppy campaign!

Members of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 613 Fonthill

Member of Parliament for Niagara West

continued from Page 5

POPPY POLS Volunteering to canvas for this year’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch 613 Poppy Campaign were Pelham Mayor Marvin Junkin and Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Olson, who set up shop outside Food Basics last Saturday RICK HATT

ing town in the North of England. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his gallantry on March 29, 1918, during World War I, in leading a charge to win back from advancing German forces the village of Mézières in France. I nev er knew him. He died of coal-min ing-induced cancer before I was born. My father had a record of his citation, and it hung in our home.

My father passed away at 96, eighteen months ago. It was then that I decided to learn more about Ambrose and the events at Mézières. Combing through numerous his tory books, websites, and records one can build much of the story. As I learned more, I became more intrigued and awed by what hap pened. And ultimately, surprised and humbled by his actions, by the sacrifices of others and, most sur prisingly, by the role of Canadian soldiers at the time.

My wife Darlene and I were re cently on vacation in Europe and before setting out on this trip I thought it would be good to revisit where Ambrose had been. Darlene had the idea that I try to contact Mézières to see if we could learn anything before our visit. First, how do I even pronounce it? Sec ond, where is it? There are multiple Mézières in France. After some re search, I found it in the Picardy Re gion in Northern France, now called Mézières-en-Santerre. A pleasant village of 500 or so people a few kilometres east of Moreuil, a town of 5,000, which is in turn a few ki lometres east of Amiens, a city of 134,000. Travel back into the past with me if you would… March 21, 1918. After years of stalemate on the western front lines in France, the Germans now have more forces to use as they have ceased hostilities with Russia. They launch Operation Michael, and with massive and devastating forces, in just a week they have advanced the front line westward by 30 miles.

March 28, 1918. Ambrose Mc Dowell’s unit, the 11th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, find themselves chased out of the area around Mézières and seek refuge in a nearby forest. It’s the night before Good Friday, the moon is full, but it is raining and cold. Some 130 men huddle in those woods overnight hiding from the enemy. The next day, their new captain decides to at tack and try to take back Mézières.

At 4 PM on Good Friday, March 29, 130 men, including Ambrose, charge out of the wood and enter the ex pansive pasture between them and the village. Racing across that deadly open area— easy for enemy gunners to see—some 100 soldiers are cut down by machine gun fire. As men are falling and wavering, Ambrose charges on in the face of this hail of lead and makes it to the village. Others are inspired by his example and charge on, but only he and 19 comrades make it in. It is not to last. The occupying forces are too strong and the British have to retreat. Only about three soldiers, including Ambrose, make it back.

The next day, March 30, 1918, the Durham Light Infantry 11th Battal ion are now in retreat as all allied forces are withdrawing. If the Ger mans capture Amiens, just down the

road, they will control the rail lines to Paris. The next set of woods, out side Moreuil, offers little hope—the Germans have seized that area too.

As if on cue, some 200 Horse Mounted soldiers from the Cana dian Calvary Brigade charge from across the field around Moreuil and recapture the woods, impeding the German advance. Combined, the

Allied forces hold the line and pre vent the capture of Amiens, less than 30 km away. Nearly 150 Cana dians are wounded or killed in this action.

It’s now 104 years later. Dar lene and I visit Mézières in October 2022 and are greeted by their town leadership. Mme. Ellen Petit of Mézières had arranged a wonderful

and respectful reception for us. Her daughter, Sarah, was a gift to us as translator, helping us all connect. Mme. Petit had arranged for local officials to be present.

At the local cemetery honour ing the war dead, we were pre sented with a bouquet of flowers commemorating “Our Canadian Friends.” Feeling overcome with

emotion, I laid the flowers at the base of the memorial. Just 300 me tres behind me is the very forest and intervening pasture Ambrose and his fellows had been 104 years before. We hold a minute of silence. All of us quietly feel a tear or more in our eyes.

We all then drive several kilo metres to a memorial dedicated to Canada outside of Moreuil Woods. There, another half dozen French citizens have come out to greet us. They hold two large Canadian Flags: the Red Ensign and the Maple Leaf. We all stood in another moment of silence to the fallen. Afterward we joined together in singing Le Mar seille and then O Canada. It doesn’t end there. Darlene and I are then taken into Moreuil, where the May or greets us and we learn of the im portance of Canada’s role in basi cally saving the town and stopping the German advance in the spring of 1918. Mayor M. LaMotte presents us with a plaque commemorating “The Battle of Moreuil Wood-Valor Canada.”

Even the local newspaper came to interview us. So many people there were so warm, welcoming and honouring of us in memory of Ambrose and the Canadian soldiers. M. Armand Prin, the journalist who interviewed us, said it so well: “Thank you for reviving the need to never forget all that we owe to our ancestors, to all those soldiers from so far away, especially from Canada, who fought for our freedom.”

Jean Paul Brunel was a local his torian and expert of the Battle of Moreuil Wood, and took us to the very site where the battle occurred. To this day, it seems like storybook stuff, the stuff of corny movies: fighting to the last man, bravery in the face of almost certain death, re treating, feeling cornered and then, from seemingly out of nowhere, the Calvary arrive and save it all.

D

arlene and I now feel a strong connection with many people from Moreuil, Mézières, and area. Certainly a debt of gratitude. For honouring us, my grandfather Am brose, the fallen, and Canada. We now have friends for life thanks to Ellen Petit. From the all the terrible death and struggle of war, friends can emerge, even over a century later.

Are coincidences and time mean ingful? I was born 42 years to the day after the Battle of Moreuil Wood. My dad passed away on Good Friday April 2, 2021—103 Good Fri days after his father Ambrose had fought in Mézières.

At Vimy, the majestic Canadian Memorial stands tall. Darlene and I paid homage there as well. As the mist and sun rose that morning, we learned that the Canadian rendering of honour does not include garlands, or strong soldiers, or even any de piction of weapons. On the one side we see statues of a mourning moth er and father. At the front, stand ing alone, looking down sadly from Vimy Ridge, is Mother Canada. I saw the sun rise from behind her head that morning and felt humbled by the past and hopeful for the future.

If time is experienced in the here and now as thought, if intentions of the future rely on lessons of the past, then let us remember for the sake of the future.

Let Us Not Forget. 4

Top left, Moreuil City Hall. Top right, Ambrose McDowell. Centre, inside Moreuil City Hall, from left, Huguette Demorsy, René Metz, Sarah Petit, Bernard Huyez, Mayor Dominique Lamotte, Bertrand Demouy, Darlene Mcdowell, Paul Mcdow ell, Ellen Petit, Jean-Paul Brunel, and Dominique Nochez. Above, Moreuil's memorial centennial plaque PAUL MCDOWELL

Heroism at sea in World War II

Author Ted Barris' new book details the Battle of the Atlantic

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

To refer to journalist and historian Ted Barris as a prolific Canadian writer would be an understatement.

Battle of the Atlantic: Gauntlet to Victory is his latest book, his twentieth, and details the longest continuous military engagement of the Second World War, lasting 2,074 days, which claimed the lives of some 4,000 men and women in the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Canadian Merchant Marine.

The battle of Vimy Ridge in WWI is often referenced as a coming of age for Canada as a country, but the Battle of the Atlantic was a much longer struggle in which Canadians played a critical role in the Allied victory in Europe in WWII.

Many of Barris’ books are based on wartime events, and have won accolades. The Great Escape: A Canadian Story won the 2014 Libris Award as Best Non-Fiction Book in Canada. Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid Against Nazi Germany received the 2019 NORAD Trophy from the RCAF Association, and Rush to Danger: Medics in the Line of Fire was listed for the 2020 Charles Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction in Canada.

The retired college journalism professor was at the Fonthill Legion recently, at the invitation of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association - 434 Niagara Wing, and enthralled the audience with an animated and informative lecture on Canada’s significant role in sailing and escorting ship convoys from Maritime ports, laden with critical civilian and military supplies, across the perilous Atlantic Ocean to Liverpool in Great Britain.

Canadian convoys also made the treacherous Murmansk Run through Arctic waters to deliver food and weapons to Russia.

“In 1939, Canada had a grand total of 13 ships,” said Barris. “That’s it. Within six years, we had 405 ships, and by the end of the war, Canada had the fourth largest navy on the planet.”

Canada’s fledgling shipbuilding industry produced at an unprecedented rate, delivering almost 900 cargo vessels and warships and thousands of landing craft, while employing 126,000 civilians.

By May of 1940, the Nazis had pushed the British Expeditionary Force to the coast of France at Dunkirk, said Barris, but a hastily assembled flotilla of military, commercial, and civilian vessels rescued almost 340,000 English and French soldiers from the beaches. Shortly thereafter, the Germans commenced mass bombing of London and other cities in the British

Isles (the “Blitz”) and Nazi surface ships, submarines (U-Boats), and aircraft harassed Allied ships as they made the hazardous crossing of the North Atlantic.

The German Navy, or Kriegsmarine, relied heavily on its fleet of U-Boats, organized by German Admiral Karl Doenitz into hunting groups called “wolfpacks,” to sink the convoys that were providing a vital lifeline to Britain.

“One of the chief Canadian weapons in the Battle of the Atlantic was what British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called ‘cheap and nasties,’ meaning cheap to build, but nasty for the Nazi subs,” said Barris. “They were named Corvettes, and were fitted with a fourinch gun at the bow, and depth charge rails on the stern. These sturdy vessels were originally designed as whaling ships, with reliable steam engines. Canada undertook a massive construction plan to build Corvettes on direct orders from C.D. Howe, the ‘Minister of Everything,’ who commanded the Canadian government budgets and fundraising required to build the ships.”

Corvettes were 200 feet long with a 33-foot beam, said Barris. They were agile and fast, and could out-turn a U-Boat. They also had approximately the same living space as a suburban bungalow.

“Can you imagine 100 men inside your bungalow for three weeks at a time, without showers? Not fun,” said Barris with a laugh. “These guys were all cooped up in these little tin cans, bopped around like corks in the stormy North Atlantic. If they didn’t get seasick, it was miraculous.”

Conditions in German and Allied submarines were similarly fetid.

Barris chose to focus on human stories in his book rather than simply wartime statistics and events, and highlights Canadian veterans, many who recounted their own tragic and heroic experiences during interviews. His presentation was punctuated by video clips from National Film Board propaganda movies (many narrated by a young Canadian actor named Lorne Greene, whose deep baritone on the 10 o’clock CBC news during the war was referred to as “the Voice of Doom”), along with Hollywood spectacles like Greyhound (starring Tom Hanks as the commander of an American destroyer escorting convoys) and The Imitation Game (featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the British intelligence code-breaker).

Canadian naval officer Lieutenant Commander Desmond Piers, who was born in Halifax and attend-

ed the Royal Military College at Kingston, was one naval warrior that Barris profiles in his book. After some early service in the Royal Navy, Piers returned to Canada and was in charge of the destroyer HMCS Restigouche In November of 1942, his destroyer, along with five corvettes in support, was escorting 42 merchant ships when they were surrounded by a wolfpack of 16 U–Boats. Despite their best efforts, a third of the convoy was sent to the bottom of the Atlantic.

Many attacks took place in the mid-Atlantic, known as the “Black Gap” or the “Black Pit,” which was a stretch of ocean beyond the range of Allied aircraft tasked with providing aerial coverage for the convoys. U-Boats preferred to attack on the surface rather than underwater, since their speed was dramatically reduced when submerged. Under cover of darkness, they would infiltrate convoys, and sink ships with both torpedoes and their deck gun.

Emboldened German submariners stalked the coastal waters of Canada and the United States, inflicting heavy damage to cargo ships and oil tankers. In 1942, German U-Boats entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, torpedoing 21 ships, including the ferry SS Caribou, which sank with the loss of 137 passengers. It was the first time Canada had seen war waged in its inland waters since the War of 1812.

In 1942, the British government was so desperate and unsure of its fate that in enacted Operation Fish, which involved shipping all of Britain’s sterling silver and gold bullion from the English Treasury to Montreal, in case the Isles were overrun by the Nazi war machine.

By 1943, the tide was beginning to turn, said Barris, due to a series of factors.

British intelligence, led by mathematician and cryptanalyst Turing at Bletchley Park, had cracked the German Enigma code, allowing the Allies to track German communications and U-Boat movements. New longrange aircraft were developed that allowed a greater scale of aerial coverage of the Atlantic, and Allied naval military tactics evolved to allow warships, using advanced sonar detection— known as “ASDIC” on British vessels— to hunt down the marauding subs more successfully. By mid 1943, German U-Boat losses had skyrocketed, and convoys

were able to manage the Atlantic crossing with greatly reduced trepidation.

The human tragedy of the Battle of the Atlantic was of a staggering proportion.

“During WWII, Canadian fatality rates were one in forty-seven in the Navy, but much higher — one in eight — in the Merchant Navy,” said Barris. “They were the unsung heroes of the Battle of the Atlantic. The Merchant Navy totaled about 12,000 men, and in five and a half years, despite heavy losses, they managed over 25,000 trans-Atlantic trips, delivering the equivalent of 90,000 tons of freight every day of the war. Three hundred and thirty seven convoys left Halifax, 177 from Sydney. The losses were 2233 ships and 1300 sailors. Their sacrifice was not fully recognized until 1992, when Merchant Navy veterans were granted the same status as Royal Canadian Navy

veterans.”

The losses suffered by the Kriegsmarine were much higher still. Of the 40,900 German sailors who served in 830 U-Boats, 25,870 were killed. That’s a 75 percent fatality rate, the highest of any branch of service on either side during the war. By 1944, the lifespan of German submariners at sea was 100 days, said Barris.

One of the merchant mariners lost in the North Atlantic, whose story is included in Barris’ book, was this writer’s uncle, 24-yearold Ken Rickers, who perished along with almost two dozen other sailors when his freighter, the Empire Sailor, was sunk not far off the coast of Nova Scotia. He was a victim not of wounds suffered in combat, or drowning, or hypothermia, but of the poisonous phosgene gas that his own ship carried as cargo, and which was released on impact from a

U-Boat torpedo.

The Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (popularly referred to as the “Wrens”) was created in 1942. Margaret Los, of Toronto, was one of 7000 who enlisted, and explained her decision to Barris in an interview.

“Three-quarters of the male population of my generation went off to war, which in some ways was fortunate for women, because we were allowed to take jobs that had always been exclusively the domain of men,” she said. “Don’t ask me why the Navy appealed to me. I come from Toronto, which is not a navy town. I didn’t have a navy background in my family at all, but the Navy appealed to me as an opportunity to go places and see things and to travel. And another thing was that when you looked around Toronto, there were five girls to every man. If you were sent to Halifax, there were ten men for every girl.”

Los became a member of an exclusive group in Moncton, New Brunswick, known as the “Listeners,” who used high-frequency radio direction finding gear (nicknamed “huff-duff”) to eavesdrop on transmissions between U-Boats and their bases in occupied France and Germany. The information would be passed along to Bletchley Park in North London, where teams of cryptanalysts would decode the messages using German Enigma machines, used for communication by the German Army, Kriegsmarine,

Ted Barris speaks at the Fonthill Legion

DON RICKERS

by John Piccolo

What can you do in off season to become a better golfer? First thing is get a lobotomy. The biggest issue with the vast majority of golfers is they interfere with their ability to do what they already know how to do. “The intended effect of a lobotomy is reduced tension or agitation” according to a posting on the internet. “and many early patients did exhibit those changes.” Most golfers are too tense and get very agitated. Problem solved. Some side effects however, “such as apathy, passivity, lack of initiative, poor ability to concentrate, and a generally decreased depth and intensity of their emotional response to life” may be drawbacks.

Not sure that isn’t how most of us are living our lives anyhow, so doubt we notice much of a change. I’m sure Doug Ford will have “Lobotomies are Us” clinics up and running at a location near you very soon. If you are not that

committed to improving, here are a few less drastic measures. (If someone comes up with a reversible lobotomy, they will never go hungry setting up shop at the nearest golf course.)

Work on your short game! You need to be rather comfortable financially to purchase a golf simulator and work on your swing all winter but setting up a little putting and chipping area is simple. You can fi nd hundreds of suggestions online costing very little that don’t need much space. Obviously most are going to be limited to how far they can putt, and there won’t be feedback on the distance of your chips, but you can ingrain proper technique and then work on precision when you get back outside. Putting and chipping is a huge percentage of your score and so many of you are so bad it drives you nuts (particularly chipping). This should not be happening. It is so simple physically that anyone can get good at it. Not everyone has the

physical make-up to hit the ball a long way. Genetics, shape, size, injury, all can get in the way of your ability to do that. Everyone who has at least one arm can get really good at the short game.

Firstly get it out of your head that you need to “perfect” your technique. Within a wide range of parameters there are many ways to putt well. Generally you have to stand comfortably and be able to swing your shoulders back and forth like a pendulum. A student remarked to me recently as I demonstrated a putting stroke that I must have very strong hands to keep so quiet during the stroke. Au contraire, I replied. First of all, if you want to know what my hands look like just take a peek at some of the skeletons that decorated neighborhood homes this festive Halloween season. You do not need particularly strong hands, you just need to swing in rhythm. If you rock your shoulders smoothly back and through, it is quite easy to

keep your hands quiet. If you are jerking them back and forth, they will be trying to fl ip and flop.

By the way, you want quiet hands to keep the motion as simple as possible. The fewer moving parts the easier it is to adjust for speed. Just use the length of your stroke. Simpler to lengthen or shorten your stroke than to also try to decide how much wrist pop to add to the equation. This is where the indoor practice comes in. The more time you spend hitting putts of various lengths the more intuitive it becomes and the less thinking necessary, which is like having that lobotomy without the side effects.

For chipping you can use the same setup, but just tilt toward your intended target. Stand up for a putt and then lean toward the target until your head and hands are over the foot nearest the hole. Then you just use the same technique as putting. A seven or eight iron to keep the ball low. Pitching wedge to hit it medium high, and

sand wedge or lob wedge for maximum loft. There are many ways to learn how to chip and then you can add in pitching and all kinds of other factors. If, however, you are one of the many who have absolute fear and loathing for this part of the game, this is a very simple way to gain confidence and stop being afraid of getting closer to the hole. Remember, it is never your job to get underneath a golf ball, or help, or scoop it in the air. It is your job to make solid contact and let the club do its job. The leaning is what facilitates the solid contact. You likely won’t have space to work on distance control but if you learn to hit solid chips consistently you can focus on distance when you head outside. Enjoy, good people. Hope you got off your arses and voted. 4

John Piccolo is a golf instructor and runs Piccolo’s Custom Golf Shop at Eagle Valley Golf Club in Niagara Falls. You may email him at picgolf@vaxxine.com

BALANCED LIFE

continued from Page 18

bags, because I didn’t have a dog. I was a bit confused though when the article stated it was imperative that I clean up after both my dog and myself. Reading a little further on, the article’s author clarified that he was referring to coffee cups and snack wrappers for people.

I didn’t need a leash, as neither myself nor my imaginary dog were in heat at the moment, and I had an

official yellow card to prove my vaccinations were upto-date and the rabies shot I’d gotten to cycle in Africa was still valid.

Wearing dog tags didn’t seem to apply, yet after a remark by someone that all the dog owners remembered the animals’ names but not their owner’s names, a woman suggested the owners too could wear collars and tags. No one responded. Perhaps the suggestion was a bit kinky for this group.

Etiquette rule number

Welcome to FONTHILL BAPTIST CHURCH

ten, “Do a pre-workout,” spoke to me until I realized it was the dog that was supposed to do the workout so that it wouldn’t arrive at the park over stimulated and unhinged.

Protocols in hand, I approached the double gate to enter the park. A greeting committee of six or seven dogs immediately approached, tails wagging, anxious to meet my accompanying dog. Seeing none, they gave me a cursory sniff for treats or whatever, and quickly left without interest or incident.

Their owners were a little more apprehensive of the dog-less guy approaching. Their lively banter went quiet as I pulled up a chair. It didn’t help when I announced that I was from the Voice and was doing an expose on Pelham dog park culture, then brandished my digital sound recorder.

The day was saved when a long-time friend in the group, Mike, acknowledged he knew me, indubitably at great personal risk.

Mike announced that the group had already solved the world’s problems at their

daily dog park town hall meeting before I arrived, and had moved on to reviewing new Netflix shows and discussing the paperwork necessary for dogs to travel to United States.

The dogs took turns positioning themselves in front of me, expecting the “new guy” to display his ear- scratching and shoulder-massaging skills. I failed the test, only one returned for additional scratches.

Apparently CSLFDP is one of the better leash-free parks in Niagara. Mike added that in his opinion this park was Niagara’s most chill, with the same people and pups coming regularly enough to get to know each other.

realize the park wasn’t a den of conspirators, a dog peed on the leg of Connie’s chair. The overspray, or whatever dog parents call it, appeared to splash on her shoes and tights. Totally nonplussed, she simply looked up at the group and stated, “That’s what the laundry’s for.”

Sunday, Nov. 13, 10:30 am - International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Sunday, Nov. 27, 10:30 am - first Sunday of Advent

Saturday, Dec. 24, 2:00 pm - Christmas Eve Service

Sunday, Dec. 25, 10:30 am - Christmas Day Service

Saturday evenings, 7:00 pm (except last of month) - International Café

When I asked if there were ever problems with the dogs being aggressive, Carol responded, “I’ve never really seen a problem with the animals. No, it’s usually with the people. The dogs will work it out, they get along fine. It’s usually with the parents.” I was waiting for someone to add, “Just like at my kid’s hockey games.”

Everyone (the humans that is—it was hard for me to know exactly what the dogs were thinking)— agreed attending CSLFDP was a godsend during the pandemic. “It was the most normal place you could go,” said one. “We didn’t wear masks, we just stayed apart. I really looked forward to coming every day because of my sanity.”

Just as I was beginning to

Shoulders shrugged around the circle, and Jack, the little pug that methodically peed on everyone’s feet each visit, was mentioned with hushed wariness. That reminded someone of Coco, the Jack Russell or maybe she was a beagle, whose high-pitched, fire-sirenlike whine from the car window always announced her arrival at the park. Benny, or a spotted, droopyeared beagle looking like Benny, was impatiently turning excited circles outside the gate, anxious to join his buddies and adopted parents inside.

And so it went, until the big German shepherd—I missed his name, the one who had returned to me many times for an ear scratch—stared up with his big brown eyes, then clamped his teeth over my audio recorder. Message delivered. I thanked everyone for sharing their time and stories, ensured them that it would be pseudonyms only, and departed.

As I drove home past E.L. Crossley I realized that a classroom isn’t the only place one can get educated. CSLFDP had just granted me a fun course in Dog Park 101. 4

ANOTHERROUND

Despite this global warming fall, the end is near

PREVIOUSLY IN KILLER ON THE KAME (Stop! If you are new to the story, the best way to catch up is to read previous episodes on the Voice website. Spoilers below!) Out walking her beagle Milo, Emma Brennan comes across a crime scene—a dead body at a construction site in East Lofthill. When she gets home, she tells her husband Matt that it’s the same man who came to their house the day before, selling insulation. Matt remembers the man acting oddly in their basement with a metal detector. On a hunch, Matt takes a sledgehammer to the basement floor and discovers a buried toolbox filled with slender gold bars worth about a million dollars. Detective Sergeant Janice Cleary and Detective Constable Trent Frayne, of the Niagara Constabulary Service, are assigned to investigate the homicide. They determine the victim’s identity: Leonard Bouchard, recently released from prison, who had a history of thefts from construction sites. Cleary and Frayne soon deduce that Bouchard had targeted only certain new homes in an East Lofthill neighbourhood. They head out to interview Emma and Matt’s next door neighbour, Kim, a realtor, who seems to know more than she’s saying. Likewise, when the detectives speak to Emma and Matt soon after, they too appear to be hiding something. Later, Matt angrily tells Emma not to worry—he has everything under control. Detective Sergeant Cleary has a hunch and decides to follow it.

On the Niagara Constabulary Service organization chart, Superintendent Richard Gawley was listed right under the Deputy Chief as head of the Emergency and Investigative Services branch, which in turn was divided into more groups, one of which was Major Crimes, and included in that was Homicide, Forensic Services, Polygraph, Fraud, and Crimestoppers. Each had its own budget and its own operational plan and Gawley worked very hard not to play favourites.

Which is why the Superintendent kept Detective Sergeant Janice Cleary waiting outside his office for ten minutes before ushering her in to take a seat across the desk. And why he began the meeting by asking her, “How is the investigation coming along?”

Cleary knew the game, and her role.

“We’re gathering a lot of information that will be collated later today. We may have to circle back to some of the earlier respondents. Would you like to be looped in?”

Gawley’s expression fl irted with a scowl, and he started to say something sharp, but his management training hit the antilocks and stopped him short. Instead, he paused briefly before continuing.

“I had a video call with Superintendent Price with the OPP this morning. He has a fi le on our deceased Mr. Bouchard.”

Cleary nodded. “We all have a fi le. He has a record.”

“Superintendent Price is going to oversee the approach to Bouchard’s known associates.”

“The ones he was in prison with?”

“There are ongoing operations,” Gawley said. “Some involve undercover and confidential informants, so there won’t be direct communication.”

Cleary could hear the relief in Gawley’s voice. She was glad he’d gotten past her sarcasm so quickly even though

By John McFetridge

she wasn’t sorry she’d taken that tone. If she ever showed up for another performance review she’d expect to hear something about her communication skills, but the way she was going she’d retire before that meeting ever happened.

“So it’s really been taken away from us?”

“It has become part of a larger investigation.”

“And our role has been redefi ned?”

“Look, Cleary, there are procedures to be followed.”

He was losing his cool so Cleary stood up. “I understand, sir.”

As she walked out the door she heard him telling her to “coordinate with forensics,” and something about collating and distributing the fi les to the appropriate recipients.

Frayne was waiting in the conference room. The map with the coloured pins was still on the wall.

He saw her expression. “So, do I take this down?”

“No, leave it.”

“We’re still on this?”

“Of course we are.”

“Are we going to Kingston?”

“That’s going to be handled by someone else.”

Frayne made a face.

“They say it’s part of an ongoing investigation so they have to be careful who they talk to, who they tip off about what they know.”

Frayne patted his notebook. “Okay, well, we got a call on the tip line. Can we follow it up?”

Cleary nodded. “Of course. What is it.”

Frayne smiled.

“Where Bouchard’s body was found? Guy saw a car stop there at about two o’clock that morning. Wants to tell us about it.”

E

As they pulled into the East Lofthill parking lot Cleary gestured at the McDonalds. “You know, this plaza could be in any city in any province in this country. We could be in Calgary. A few miles outside Halifax.”

“And?”

“There must be thousands of these, the same bland style trying so hard not to look as cheap as it is, the same chain stores, the same SUVs in the same cramped parking lot.”

Frayne turned sharply, rubbing tires against a curb.

“You got the cramped thing right. But the people are different, anyway.”

Cleary watched a morbidly obese man leave a pita joint carrying two takeout bags, hobbling to his car, knee cartilage ground to dust by thirty years of fast food and canned beer.

“Are they so different?”

Frayne parked and looked at his watch. “We’re early, you want a coffee? Tim’s, Mickey D, or Starbucks.”

“So many choices.”

Frayne fl ipped up his sun visor. “No one wants to admit it,” but the Mickey D’s is the best.” His phone beeped as he opened the door. He swiped down. “He can see us now.”

“That’s nice of him.”

They got out of the car and walked to the gym, the last unit in the plaza. As they got to it the door opened and a man stepped out, pulling on a parka over his workout clothes.

Frayne stopped typing on his phone. “Hey, are you Darius?”

“Yes, you’re Constable Frayne?”

“Detective Constable, this is Detective Sergeant Cleary.”

Darius held out his hand but switched to a fi st and bumped Frayne and then Cleary. “My handshaking days are over. Nothing personal.”

“I’m right there with you,” said Cleary. She nodded toward Starbucks. “You want to get a coffee?

Darius checked his watch and squinted apologetically.

“I’ve only got a few minutes. We can talk here if that’s okay.”

Frayne pulled out his notebook. “That’s fi ne. Can you tell us what you told the officer when you called the tip line?”

“Sure, yeah, of course.” Darius stepped away from the

A joyous celebration took place on October 1, 2022 as Trent and Stephanie (McLellan) Murphy were married. Congratulations Dr. Murphy and Dr. McLellan. Your families wish you a lifetime of happiness and are so proud of you both!

Photo: Emily McCracken Photography

“Is

“No, it’s still public, keep going.”

Public maybe, but it had been a long time since it was paved. Frayne slowed to avoid a bunch of potholes. Lucky he did. One second the road was clear the next second a massive deer was at a dead stop right in front of them. Eyes black as coal. Frayne slammed on the brakes. It was the largest doe Cleary had ever seen—a chestnut and white giant—tail standing in alarm. It vanished as fast as it appeared, almost clipping the bumper jumping into the bush on the other side.

“Jesus” said Frayne. “Too close.”

Cleary tried to see where the deer had gone. “The worst part would’ve been the paperwork. Damage to vehicle— ninety minutes, minimum.”

The bush darkened the deeper they entered. Mustard-yellow confetti fluttered down from the maples— another good front pushes through and they'll all be bare figured Cleary.

She saw the bend ahead. “Thing is, I don’t know if this place even has an address.”

“Everywhere has an address,” Frayne said. “You taking us to Cuesta Verde?”

“What?”

“It’s where the family lived in Poltergeist.” Cleary looked at Frayne. “Poltergeist?”

“Yeah, it’s a movie about—”

“I know what Poltergeist is”

“An old time classic, right?”

“Old ti—” Cleary sighed. She’d been in her last year of high school when it came out. She’d nearly wet herself shrieking one second and giggling the next.

“I caught the end last night. There’s a street sign in one of the last shots, ‘Cuesta Verde,’ and I remembered that cuesta is Spanish for a steep hill. Like the Lofthill Kame?”

“You speak Spanish?”

Frayne smiled. “Lo hago bien, señora. Two Latin girlfriends in a row. Self-defense.” He shrugged. “Also took it at school.”

“Dios mío,” said Cleary, but she was impressed.

They rounded another curve.

Cleary tapped the dashboard. “Here, pull in here.”

They plunged down a dip then lurched up the other side into a yard fi lled with old cars, trucks, campers, and the shells of a couple of school buses. Two shipping containers rotted next to each other under a row of pines. A oneand-a-half-storey Cape Cod stood on the other side of the clearing, paint fl aking from twin dormers bugging out of a roof missing half its shingles.

Frayne parked near an upside down wheelbarrow and jabbed at the house. “I know this place, I served a warrant here. Must’ve been six, seven years ago.”

Cleary unbuckled. “Wouldn’t be surprised. Wait here.”

An old man came out of the front door, pulling on a leather coat whose texture matched his face. He yelled at Cleary. “We’re closed, get lost.”

Frayne muttered to himself, “This was open once?” He cracked his window to hear.

Cleary walked a few more steps, then stopped.

“Hey, Gerry, it’s me, Janice.”

The old man squinted. “What the hell do you want.”

“It’s good to see you, too.”

“I haven’t seen a cop in years, Don’t want to now.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep your name out of it.”

“I’m not in anything to be kept out of.” Motion.

Under the pines.

A barrel-chested Rottweiler bolted from behind the shipping containers, headed for Cleary.

She took a few more steps toward the man. “You remember how you were getting involved in construction equipment—bulldozers and such—about fi ve years back.”

“Who told you that?” The man clicked his tongue. The dog skidded to a stop and stood next to him, growling. It was missing an ear.

“Your name came up in some interviews.”

The geezer’s eyes bulged like he’d been punched in the stomach. “What the hell you talking about?”

Frayne got out of the car, keeping an eye on the dog. His sidearm held fi fteen rounds. He figured he’d need four, maybe fi ve. These kinds of dogs. They don’t give up until they’re down for good.

“Yeah, someone talked about you.”

The man spit on the ground. The Rottweiler watched Frayne’s slow stroll toward Cleary.

“They lied.”

“Don’t you want to know what they said?”

“Whatever they said was a lie.” His face had gone red.

Frayne stopped a few feet behind Cleary. He knew she knew he was there. He did a quick recon of the yard. No one else visible. Only one road in. A metal shed groaned in the wind.

“The thing is, Gerry,” Cleary said, “your name doesn’t have to come up now.”

“No reason it would, I’m not doing anything now, and I didn’t do nothing then.”

Cleary looked at the dog, then back at the man.

“That’s right, you didn’t. Why not?”

“What do you mean, why not?”

“Why didn’t you go through with it—then?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You can tell me now or we can hand you over to the OPP. They’ve got themselves a shiny task force. I understand they are highly motivated.”

Cleary waved her hands, wider and wider, taking in the vehicles, the heaps of pipe and scrap metal, the house.

“They’ll rip this place apart.”

She regarded the dog. A long strand of drool was proving the theory of gravity.

“Where’s his ear?”

“In a dead Doberman’s gut.” The man shook his head. “You damned cops are all the same.”

“Why didn’t you go through with it?”

“I wasn’t involved. Some guys came and talked to me.”

“Who was that?”

“I only knew one of them. He’s the reason it didn’t go past talk.”

“How so?”

The guy looked at the ground. The Rottweiler inched forward.

“From what I heard he was the inside guy—he was working construction and then. I don’t know. The thing was planned. We were ready. Then he disappears. Gone. Not a fart since.”

“And you don’t know his name?”

The man shrugged. “Carm. Carmine.”

“The name Leonard Bouchard mean anything?”

“Never heard of him.”

Cleary let a few seconds pass. She nodded. “There you go. That wasn’t too hard.”

“So now we’re done. You best be on your way, before something happens that’s outta my control.”

He turned and spit again, and started walking back toward the house.

The Rottweiler stayed. It cocked its head just so, like it was straining to hear something—something like a command.

Cleary headed for the car, leaving Frayne to walk backwards, not breaking eye contact with the dog, which he realized too late probably wasn’t the best choice.

At the house the man pushed open the door and turned to look back at the dog and Frayne.

“Fritz,” he said.

The Rottweiler tensed, staring directly at Frayne.

Frayne heard Cleary close the passenger door.

The geezer raised a hand. He snapped his fi ngers.

“Not today.”

The dog blinked. Frayne was no canine expert, but he knew a disappointed brawler when he saw one. Fritz turned and walked back toward the shipping containers, stopping to lift a leg on a pile of wood chips.

Frayne opened the door and slid into the car, his pulse racing. A buddy he went to the academy with had to take out a German Shepherd once, totally justified, but it broke him up for long time.

He watched Cleary watching the house. “That was mostly bluff, right? The OPP stuff?”

Cleary shrugged. “You play enough poker you start seeing the same tells time after time. Old Gerry, here. He was crap at trying to hide a crap hand. He got too angry too fast. I figured there had to be something.”

“You think he was telling the truth?”

Cleary looked at the computer screen. “Missing person, Carmine Rizzolo, last seen April 6th, 2019, in Niagara Falls.”

“Stealing construction equipment?”

“Let’s head back, see what we see.”

Frayne started the car and swung it around.

Cleary swiped at her phone, checking email. “Now you can use your fancy GPS, hombre. Unless you left breadcrumbs we can follow back to civilization.”

by John Swart

Centre Street Leash Free Dog Park

Something had to be afoot. Seven people sitting in mismatched plastic chairs or balanced on a dusty, sloping picnic table, basking in glorious early-November sunshine, and not a dog in sight. Any clues to the real purpose of this assembly were equivocal. Two of the attendees were barely engaged, dozing off or perhaps squinting to avoid the sun’s brightness, yet one member of the group was speaking animatedly, arms gesticulating to emphasize whatever point he was making.

As I cycled uphill past the Centre Street Leash

Free Dog Park (CSLFDP), it was clear that something was happening. These folks were a different breed. The results of our municipal election had been accepted without contention, yet dog food prices were soaring, up 47.9 percent in two years for one brand. My mind needed answers, and I was prepared for the dogged work required to get them.

I called my dog park contact George, and explained my vexation. What was going on at that place, tucked quietly behind the brow of the escarpment, out of sight and mind to all except those few lonely travellers who journey along that deserted

exposÉ

section of Centre Street? I needed to know.

His reply was a casual, “Not much.”

Then George remembered there was the girl from Niagara Falls who came to the park with her mom and dog Gizmo. She wore a live snake around her neck, but never allowed it to slither away leash-free, so the dogs were cool with it.

He next recalled the woman who brought her cat to the dog park. No one ever discovered whether it was the woman or the cat that first hatched plans to use Pelham’s CSLFDP to initiate an Equal Rights for Felines protest to spotlight Niagara’s need for exclusive cat parks. Dean Allison didn’t invoke the Emergencies Act so no troops arrived, Sam Oosterhoff was not withstanding much of anything at that particular moment,

and all the dogs in the park were chill with the idea, so long as it wasn’t in their back yard. The one-cat protest was considered a success.

And there was Millie, the Goldendoodle who loved to race against cars. She’d wait at the fence by the road, and whenever a dog parent drove away from the park with one of her friends, Millie would dash along the fence beside them. Most drivers played along, allowing her to match their speed inside the park as they drove away. George, his dog Bailey’s face pressed against the SUV window, would instead blast out the parking lot and up the hill. Millie would take

off, and once she was in full stride, George would jam on the brakes and stop for exactly eight seconds, confusing Millie and undoubtedly any driver who happened to be behind him. It was a good time for all.

Perhaps I’d been barking up the wrong tree, and what I’d witnessed wasn’t a dog park conspiracy. The best way to know the truth would be to go undercover, but I didn’t have a dog.

Next afternoon, I stepped out of my car into the warm and sunny CSLFDP parking lot. There were nine other vehicles, and a group of people seated in an approximate circle in the large dog section of the park. Numer-

ous assorted and tail-wagging dogs lingered about.

In preparation for this visit, I’d done an internet search to learn what was expected of dogs and people attending a dog park. Reading and complying with each individual park’s rules was a priority in etiquette protocol. The CSLFDP’s sign appeared to be missing, but then I noticed it on the ground tipped against the fence. It had been ripped off its mounting posts, perhaps to make it easier for short dogs to read.

Not many of the rules applied to me, like the one requiring mandatory poop

Voice HOROSCOPE

ARIES – Mar 21/Apr 20

Try to focus on all of the things that are going right in your life right now, Aries. Avoid focusing on those things that have gone wrong. A new perspective is all you need.

TAURUS – Apr 21/May 21

This week you need to slow down and smell the proverbial roses, Taurus. You’ve likely been moving at breakneck speed and you can’t maintain this momentum. Take a break.

GEMINI – May 22/Jun 21

Gemini, when someone presents an idea to you, use your intuition to determine if you should get involved. You can trust your gut on this decision.

CANCER – Jun 22/Jul 22

Cancer, even if you are in control of a situation, delegate some of your tasks to others and lighten your load. It’s good to build a team of people you can trust and rely upon.

LEO – Jul 23/Aug 23

Leo, if there is not much excitement happening around you right now, drum up some of your own. Try to schedule a social gathering before people get busy with the holidays.

VIRGO – Aug 24/Sept 22

Virgo, if you can’t change your current situation, learn to live with things until you can see new horizons. You may need to grin and bear it for a bit.

LIBRA – Sept 23/Oct 23

Libra, you’ve already taken an important step, now you just have to fine tune and finesse a situation. Figure out what works for you and then make your move.

SCORPIO – Oct 24/Nov 22

It’s not time to throw in the towel just yet, Scorpio. Keep working every angle and exhaust all avenues. You may find a way to make things work to your advantage.

SAGITTARIUS – Nov 23/Dec 21

There’s a strong crowd of people rallying around you lately, Sagittarius. Harness their collective energy to pull yourself through a challenging situation.

CAPRICORN – Dec 22/Jan 20

You may need to take a few steps in one direction before you figure out that the other path is the way to go, Capricorn. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

AQUARIUS – Jan 21/Feb 18

Aquarius, just when you’re ready to move out the door, someone is trying to pull you back inside. Be firm with your resolutions. If it’s time to move on, then do so.

PISCES – Feb 19/Mar 20

Pisces, you won’t make any strides if you are not willing to take a few risks. Explore some new possibilities in the days to come.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS

NOVEMBER 6

Ethan Hawke, Actor (52)

NOVEMBER 7

Lorde, Singer (26)

NOVEMBER 8

Gordon Ramsay, Chef (56)

NOVEMBER 10

Taron Egerton, Actor (33)

NOVEMBER 11

Demi Moore, Actress (60)

NOVEMBER 12

Ryan Gosling, Actor (42)

Phil Callaway, laughstyle evangelism

Phil Callaway is a Canadian Christian humorist, speaker and author. The title above (which he coined) describes his style of evangelism well. It sounds a bit like an American from the deep south trying to pronounce “life-style evangelism.” What is it about this unassuming guy that makes him tick (and others laugh)?

The happy side Callaway was born in 1961 in Three Hills, Alberta (located about halfway between Red Deer and Calgary). Besides its three hills, the town is known to many Canadian believers as the home of Prairie Bible Institute (now College), founded in 1922 by L.E. Maxwell.

Callaway was educated at this school where his parents worked on staff. He was not a very good student. But one teacher noticed he had a gift for communication and making fellow students laugh. He could have easily been dismissed as the “class clown” but this teacher saw something more in him. He encouraged Callaway to take his communications course and the young student began to flourish.

Callaway eventually began writing a column called “Family Matters” for the school magazine, “Servant.” The column has been translated into numerous languages including Chinese, French, German, and Norwegian. It began appearing in other magazines and led Callaway to begin writing books for children and families using generous doses of humor.

Callaway married his high school sweetheart, Ramona, in 1982. They have three grown children and ten grandchildren. Many of his stories are about his own marriage and family life.

Among his 20-plus books are “Honey, I Dunked the Kids” (1993), “Daddy, I Blew up the Shed” (1994), “Making Life Rich Without Any Money” (1998), “Who Put The Skunk In The Trunk?” (1999), “Parenting: Don’t Try This at Home” (2006), “I Used To Have Answers… Now I Have Kids” (2010), and “Tricks My Dog Taught Me About Life, Love, and God” (2015).

His books led to invitations to speak at churches and conferences. At first, he refused due to fear of public speaking (hard to believe now). But with God’s help, he overcame this and

now speaks about 100 times a year, mainly in North America but also around the world. He also appears on national radio and TV shows.

Callaway uses humor to inspire and teach, not just entertain. “I love to make people laugh. I’ve seen them fall off chairs when I speak. But I also like to tell them why I’m not in a home weaving baskets somewhere and it’s because of faith and hope.” In 2013, Good News Broadcasting launched a four-minute daily radio program across North America featuring Callaway

Here’s How It Works:

Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

FAITH LIFT by Pastor Rob Weatherby

drive include canned goods (stews, pasta, beans, meats, and fruit), mayonnaise, school snacks like juice boxes, baking items and mixes, and hamburger helper.

Personal care products in need include hand and body lotion, razors, feminine thin pads, pull-ups (toddler training underwear), facial tissues, paper towels, and toilet paper.

Dubé said that food bank clients come in once a month on Friday mornings for non-perishables like soap and personal hygiene products, condiments, infant care items, pasta, cereal, and peanut butter. Frozen chicken, ground beef, milk, eggs, and margarine are available, as are fresh, dried, and canned fruits and vegetables. In-season, local farmers donate apples and cherries, lettuce, cucumbers, and other veggies. Even dog food is available, contributed by pet stores such as Fonthill PetValu.

Non-perishable items can be left in the front porch box at Pelham Cares’ building on the northwest corner of Rice Road and Highway 20, outside of regular business hours. Donations of fresh and frozen products are gratefully appreciated during regular office hours.

“We offer a welcoming place, free of judgement,” Dubé stressed. To qualify for the food bank, one simply needs to be Pelham resident, and demonstrate need.

Clients back up to the garage door at Pelham Cares, pop their trunk, and load up to five boxes each month of non-perishables, plus fresh food.

The office is staffed Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM until noon.

New volunteers have been welcomed to assist with such daily chores as food sorting and packing, administration, driving clients to medical appointments, and community and bulk-food pick up, said Dubé, who is always looking for ways to stretch dollars.

“Giant Tiger in Fonthill has partnered with us, providing bulk food orders. They have been wonderful in allowing us to cut some costs,” she said.

described his faith journey.

“With no government funding, we pay into a membership with the food bank Feed Ontario, that enables us to receive dry and frozen food in bulk. We also receive gift card donations, which are given out with our holiday hampers, and are also used for bulk food ordering.”

New volunteers are always needed for the food drive, said Dubé. Those interested in helping may call Pelham Cares at 905-892-5300, or email to info@pelhamcares.org

that?’).”

called “Laugh Again.”

The hard side

But life hasn’t all been a laughing matter for Callaway. His book “Laughing Matters” tells the story of how he battled bitterness in the wake of his wife’s epilepsy and numerous grand mal seizures. He has also written about Huntington’s disease, which claimed the lives of his wife’s siblings. Callaway’s father died of Alzheimer’s and his mother suffered from dementia.

In an interview with Christian country singer Paul Brandt, Callaway

“I’ve traveled the world, I’ve searched the literature. Nothing has answered my questions like the life and words of Jesus. I’m not into religion, I’m into a relationship with him.”

Then Callaway told this story. “Several years ago, I was in a Seattle airport washroom during an earthquake (what a place to die!). I’d been on a trip to check out a job offering three times my current salary. I’d been dreaming about a step up the ladder, about all the stuff I could buy, all the prestige I could have. But the earthquake shook me hard. (As the place shook, the guy in the stall next to me yelled, ‘Did I do

“Back on the plane, I wrote down my definition of success on an airline napkin: ‘I will consider myself a success when I’m walking close to Jesus every day, when I’m building a strong marriage and performing meaningful work. I’ll consider myself a success when I’m making others homesick for heaven.’“

“That’s my life mission and I can’t believe how much fun I’m having following it.” 4

Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor who heard Phil Callaway in person in Sudbury several years ago. He didn’t fall off his chair (he was sitting in a pew).

Voice RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

If you’re looking for new windows and doors or siding, soffit, fascia and eavestrough; it’s a great time to buy. North Star energyefficient windows are built in Canada and will save you money year round. North Star windows help keep your home cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Call or visit our showroom today for a FREE ESTIMATE on your home! FINANCING AVALABLE

Cooks can step out of their chicken soup comfort zones and try this recipe for “Roasted Pumpkin Soup With Pumpkin Crisps” from “The Complete Mexican, South American & Caribbean Cookbook” (Metro Books) by Jane Milton, Jenni Fleetwood and Marina Filippeli.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup With Pumpkin Crisps Serves 6 to 8

3 to 3-1⁄2 pounds pumpkin

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 3-inch piece of fresh ginger root, grated 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1⁄2 teaspoon ground turmeric Pinch of cayenne pepper

4 cups vegetable stock Salt and ground black pepper 1 tablespoon sesame seeds Fresh cilantro leaves, to garnish

For the pumpkin crisps Wedge of fresh pumpkin, seeded 1⁄2 cup olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Prick the pumpkin around the top several times with a fork. Brush the pumpkin with plenty of the oil and bake for 45 minutes or until tender. Leave until cool enough to handle.

2. Take care when cutting the pumpkin, as there may still be a lot of hot steam inside. When cool enough to handle, scoop out and discard the seeds. Scoop out and chop the flesh.

3. Heat about 4 tablespoons of the remaining oil (you may not have to use all of it) in a large pan and add the onions, garlic and ginger, then cook gently for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the coriander, turmeric, and cayenne, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin flesh and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes until tender.

4. Cool the soup slightly, then puree it in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return the soup to the rinsed out pan and season well.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the pumpkin crisps. Using a swivel-blade potato peeler, pare long thin strips off the wedge of pumpkin. Heat the oil in a small pan and fry the strips in batches for 2 to 3 minutes, until crisp. Drain on paper towels.

6. Reheat the soup and ladle it into bowls. Top with the pumpkin crisps and garnish each portion with sesame seeds and cilantro leaves.

FAITH LIFT continued from previous page

Volunteers Graham Jackson and Brenda Wild stack shelves DON RICKERS