The Chatham Voice, Sept. 25, 2025 by Chatham Voice

Wheatley water plant still offline

By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com

The repairs at the Wheatley Water Treatment Plant have missed their deadline.

At the Sept. 18 Public Utilities Commission meeting, Darren Galbraith, general manager of the PUC, said the project was hoped to be finished at the end of August. It is now anticipated the work will be completed in November.

“Originally we anticipated rehabilitation would be done by Aug. 31. There have been some delays,” he told the commission. “We really didn’t anticipate the scope of the work required.”

The plant suffered a fire in September of 2023. The facility suffered extensive smoke and water damage

Initial expectation was for there to be long delays, as it was estimated just getting a new

pump – which was the size of a desk – was going to take 12 to 18 months. The plant’s electrical system had to be pulled, tested and reinstalled as well.

A temporary water treatment plant has been handling the task of supplying Wheatley and area with water, after the PUC

SATURDAY 25TH OCTOBER, 2025

5pm | Dinner 6:30pm

had received treated water from Leamington immediately after the fire.

“We’ll be going back on Leamington’s water system again... We just need to get ahead of the winter months”

- PUC’s Darren Galbraith

Galbraith said the temporary plant is going offline next month.

“We’ll be going back on Leamington’s water system again,” he said.

He explained the reasoning is because winter

is coming.

“We have to prepare for winter. Unfortunately, the treatment trailers, we rent them by the month. Because of delays, there will be some extra costs incurred,” he said. “We just need to get ahead of the winter months.”

West Kent Coun. Lauren Anderson, a member of the PUC, thanked Leamington for its ongoing support in this matter.

Renovation work continues at 99 McNaughton West

of 2024, resulting in two people facing charges.

Fourteen left to go.

That’s the number of apartments at 99 McNaughton West in Chatham are still undergoing renovation.

The building was ravaged by fire in August

The remediation efforts to date have seen 106 units renovated to this point, according to municipal officials.

The municipality recently provided an update on what has transpired to date. The recovery process has been a collaborative effort involving multiple municipal departments, including Fire & Rescue Services, Health and Human Services, and Infrastructure and Engineering Services.

All major mechanical systems in the building have been fixed or replaced. Facilities staff, with the support of contractors, have worked to bring the building back to code, ensuring it meets all safety requirements.

Mike Neuts: 519-692-4116 | neutsmike@gmail.com

Tony Drouillard | tony.drouillard@hotmail.com

Dava Robichaud | davarobichaud59@gmail.com

One portion of the building reopened 85 days after the fire, followed by a second about a month later. A third section has reopened as well, while the final area has seen all first-floor units reoccupied as work continues on the units on the second floor.

It’s anticipated they will be ready Nov. 1.

“The restoration process of 99 McNaughton West has been a massive undertaking and I’m proud of the progress that’s been made to bring residents home,” said C-K Mayor Darrin Canniff in a media release.

The Chatham Voice

Pain Court’s rich heritage celebrated

By Jim Blake jim@chathamvoice.com

The faith, resilience, and determination of the Francophone settlers who built a community that has thrived for more than two centuries were celebrated recently with the unveiling of two plaques in Pain Court.

A crowd of nearly 100 gathered at the intersection of Creek Line and Winter Line Road for a ceremony celebrating both the past and future. The intersection is significant as the community’s first church, rectory, chapel, and cemetery were located there. The two plaques (in English and French) were installed through the efforts of the Chatham-Kent Heritage Network. Network Chair Lisa Gilbert said the dedication of residents to their heritage has resulted in the “maintenance and rejuvenation” of French-Canadian culture.

French-speaking settlers from Detroit and the Montreal area set up along the local creek in the early 1800s. Many original settlers received title to their property for their service in the War of 1812.

Father Eugene Roy, former pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in the community, told those assembled that the name Pain Court came about because the early settlers could only clear enough land to grow a small quantity of wheat, thus producing “short breads.”

Paul Roy, the patriarch of the prominent Dover Township family, said Pain Court is unique in its place in Francophone culture, but also praised the community as one that has always wel-

comed others.

“The Belgians, Dutch, Polish, Hungarians, and Czechs came to work on the farms,” and in turn became valuable members of the community.

“I went to school with many children who became trilingual because they knew the language of their homeland, and learned French and English.”

He said several notable people came from the community, including Joseph Caron who served as the former Canadian high commissioner to India and former Canadian ambassador to China and Japan; and former world heavyweight boxing champion Arthur Pelkey.

Gilbert said the heritage network has installed 18 plaques throughout Chatham-Kent and has plans for three more in October

and would like to see future tours of historical sites in the community.

With three more plaques left to install next month, Gilbert is hopeful for future tours of historical sites in Chatham-Kent.

She told the crowd, “It’s so important to have people such as yourselves actually standing here. Making physical contact with people, talking. Some of them are your neighbours. Some of them are people that maybe you’ve never met before.”

Mayor Darrin Canniff echoed her words.

“People who don’t know the history of Pain Court can come here and pick up on that,” he said. “That’s the idea, bring people to Chatham-Kent … not let the history of our communities disappear.”

Jim Blake/The Chatham Voice

Paul Roy, a member of the Chatham-Kent Heritage Network and a prominent member of the Pain Court community, speaks during the unveiling of heritage plaques in Pain Court recently.

Landfill concerns reach feds

By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com

The federal government is reviewing complaints over plans to establish a landfill site within a kilometre of Dresden.

Mississauga-based York1 Environmental Waste Solutions

Ltd. intends to revive a dormant dump site at 29831 Irish School Rd.

In early June, the province passed its Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act 2025. As part of that bill, York1 would no longer be required to undergo an environmental assessment for the Irish School Road property.

Local residents and the municipality are vehemently opposed to opening a landfill so close to Dresden.

In the effort to get the landfill stopped, the citizen’s group Dresden C.A.R.E.D. and the municipality have submitted documentation to the federal government under the Impact Assessment Act.

“We need to consider all areas of jurisdiction here. We want to make sure there has been a fulsome review of it. Unfortunately, that’s not happening at the provincial level.”

- C-K’s Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor, deputy CAO for Chatham-Kent, and the municipality’s top legal mind, said the

feds sought more comments on the matter and the municipality delivered on Sept. 15.

“We’re pointing to the aspect of the York1 proposal that would cross over to federal aspects.

There are overlapping federal and provincial environmental issues,” he said.

“There is also the impact on indigenous nations’ rights.

“We need to consider all areas of jurisdiction here. We want to make sure there has been a ful-

Correction

In an Aug. 28 story in The Chatham Voice, we said the old Southwestern Regional Centre was a psychiatric hospital. It was in fact a facility that worked with the developmentally disabled.

The Voice regrets the error.

some review of it. Unfortunately, that’s not happening at the provincial level,” Taylor added.

He credits Dresden C.A.R.E.D for taking the lead on this effort.

“It’s actually Dresden C.A.R.E.D. members who made the request (under the Impact Assessment Act) first, with the aid of CELA, the Canadian Environmental Lawyers Association,” he said. “Council also authorised staff to make a similar request to the federal government.”

The purpose of this Impact Assessment Act, according to its federal government website, “is to prevent or mitigate significant adverse effects within federal jurisdiction — and significant direct or incidental adverse effects — that may be caused by the carrying out of designated projects, as well as significant adverse environmental effects … that may be caused by the carrying out of projects … by establishing processes to anticipate, identify and assess the potential effects of those projects in order to inform decision making under this or any other Act of Parliament in respect of those effects.”

Taylor said the legislation is a process where the federal government can determine whether there needs to be more study on an issue. He doesn’t know when federal officials will respond.

York1 also plans to build a regenerative recycling facility at the Irish School Road site to repurpose an assortment of materials to be used in other construction proj-

ects.

A leachate ponding system will be built as well.

York1 has said it will operate the facility from Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. accepting up to 6,000 tonnes of waste daily. Earlier plans posted by the company stated there could be as many as 700 trucks travelling to the site each day.

Chatham Voice file photo

The community group Dresden C.A.R.E.D. and the municipality have submitted documents to the federal government over the York1 proposal to operate a landfill site just north of Dresden.

The Chatham Voice

Opinion

Sign of the times

The sign reads: “Respect private spaces. No unauthorized audio or video recording.”

And it’s situated in the middle of a public greenspace.

Well, a greenspace that hosts a homeless encampment.

The signage was erected last week at the PUC property on Grand Avenue East in Chatham, where an encampment of tents went up in mid-July.

Seeing this sign has led to an uproar on social media by some members of the public.

However, signs can say so much, yet also so little.

We understand the public being offended by such a sign. It appears pretty demanding for people to put their cameras away at a spot that happens to house walking paths and soccer fields. Are you supposed to not take pictures of your kids playing soccer? Or of your husband or wife pushing your child in a stroller? Keep snapping away, folks. We’re behind you 100 per cent on that. As journalists, we know that anything you can see with the naked eye from and into a public space is open season in terms of still-image or video capturing.

In terms of the homeless encampment, it is our take on the matter that if you capture images of the exterior of the tents, there is no Charter violation taking place. It’s what you can see from a public space.

However, shooting video while purposefully walking through the encampment, opening tent flaps to shoot inside a tent, that’s a different matter.

According to Dave Taylor, Chatham-Kent’s deputy CAO and head solicitor, the signage was installed in an attempt to give encampment occupants some element of respect.

“It’s really trying to respect the privacy that you would hope unhoused persons would have with having to live in a tent,” he told The Voice. “There’s a question over a reasonable expectation of privacy. Let’s not have people taking pictures inside a tent.”

A reminder that not all homeless are criminals, nor is every one of them an addict. And even if they have been convicted of a crime and are addicted to illicit drugs, they still have rights. Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a blanket item. It covers everyone. Even those who don’t have a home of their own.

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C-K councillors faced with a double standard

Editor: They are standing up for our community despite the consequences.

A few Chatham-Kent councillors have hallmarked themselves to the taxpayers by demonstrating their duty of loyalty and care, their legal and ethical obligation by challenging administration. When councillors attempt to hold administration accountable are met with sanctions from the integrity commissioner, are they truly free to represent the citizens?

The role of council is not merely advisory, but a fiduciary responsibility to act on behalf of the citizens to manage the assets of Chatham-Kent and provide oversight of administration by directing administration as a whole or by directing administration via the CAO.

Elected officials hold a higher authority than appointed administration. Reports have found a few councillors in viola-

tion of council’s code of conduct. Such findings seem to stem from earnest efforts by these councillors to hold administration account able.

It seems these councillors, simply by doing their job – to represent the public – has become a punishable offense.

It seems the council code of conduct is being used, not as a guide for ethical behavior but as a means to silence our elected representatives.

Our administration has its own code of conduct, governing how administration must behave, however, administration enforces its own code.

Why is the administration’s code of conduct not subject to the same strict enforcement as councils code?

This double standard undermines the very purpose of an elected council. Government

management appears to be intentionally stripping the power of elected representation so they can run things. Government could expand the integrity commissioner’s mandate to include investigating the conduct of senior municipal staff or specific administrative actions that show violations of staff code. I suspect this won’t happen solely because they want control over elected representation and subsequently us. If elected officials cannot challenge administration without fear of reprisal, the balance of power is broken. There then is no need for an elected body, no representation for citizens, such becomes an administration’s world, to do as they want rather than what the people rely on their elected officials to control.

Continued on page 7

Administration should have third-party oversight too

Continued from page 6

The management side of government has created easy legislative steps to sanction elected officials, via an integrity commissioner, all the while, government management has created costly roadblocks for the public to hold administration accountable. It strongly appears

“Why

administration is misinterpreting the spirit and intent of the code of conduct. A healthy and functional government requires open and, at times, robust debate between elected and administrative officials. To stifle such is to undermine the very principles of accountability and good governance the

code of conduct is meant to uphold. The integrity commissioner’s interpretation of the code may be too broad and restrictive, removing elected authority away from council, placing administration more in a position for control rather than effective management governed by responsible scrutiny.

Placing more nails in our democratic coffin, folks, the province has introduced Bill 9, the Municipal Accountability Act 2025, providing added authority for the integrity commissioner to recommend removal of a councillor for code violations.

When questioning senior staff, my experience

is unequivocal, they are adverse to transparency. One councillor suggested training for council. Council should adopt a standard to ask staff for clarification in a manner not perceived to question staff’s integrity but compels staff to be complete, comprehensive, accurate, transparent and able to substantiate staff claims.

John Cryderman Chatham

Editor’s note: According to the Ontario Ombudsman, “Integrity commissioners are intended to perform the functions assigned by a municipality in an independent manner.” They operate independently of municipal staff or councillors.

Fall is the Perfect Time to Explore Retirement Living”

As the air turns crisp and the trees begin their brilliant display of colour, fall in Ontario often feels like a breath of fresh air. After the heat of summer, September brings with it a comforting rhythm with harvests, cozy sweaters, and family gatherings. But for many older adults and their families, autumn is also a time of reflection. It’s the season where the questions begin to creep in: What will another winter mean for me or someone I love? The reality is that the beauty of fall is fleeting. Soon the days will be shorter, the nights colder, and the responsibilities heavier. For seniors living alone, this can mean increased risks: icy sidewalks that make a simple walk to the mailbox dangerous, worries about heating and home maintenance, and the loneliness that often grows as winter settles in. These are not small

concerns. They’re the real, everyday challenges that families often find themselves worrying about...sometimes too late.

That’s where St. Angela’s Meadow Retirement Lodge comes in. Located in the heart of Chatham, St. Angela’s offers more than just a lifestyle; it offers peace of mind. Here, residents enjoy the freedom of independence without the burdens of winter. Daily chores are taken care of, delicious meals are prepared by our culinary team, and most importantly, care and community are always close by. Instead of worrying about the “what ifs” of the season, our residents spend their days connecting with others, enjoying activities, and truly living life on their terms. But perhaps the most important thing to know is this: exploring retirement living does not mean making a com-

mitment, far from it. At St. Angela’s Meadow, we welcome families and individuals to come in for a friendly chat, take a tour, and ask questions— without pressure. It’s an opportunity to learn about who we are, what we offer, and how we may be able to support you or someone you love, now or in the future.

Many people wait until winter creates an emergency, whether it’s a fall, a hospital stay, or the growing strain of isolation, before considering retirement living. We encourage you not to wait for a crisis. By exploring your options in advance, you’ll have the time and clarity to make an informed decision, should the need arise. And if that time isn’t now, that’s okay. Our doors remain open, and our team is always ready to have another conversation down the road.

Fall is a season of preparation. Just as farmers bring in their harvest and families ready their homes for the months ahead, this is the perfect moment to prepare for your future. Visiting St. Angela’s Meadow is simply one more way to do just that; a chance to see what life here could look like, to picture the comfort and security available, and to know you have options before winter’s challenges arrive. So, before the first snowfall catches you off guard, take the opportunity to reach out. Explore St. Angela’s Meadow Retirement Lodge. No pressure. No commitment. Just a conversation about what’s possible. Because the best time to plan for tomorrow is today.

Visit us at 20 Merici Way, Chatham, ON, or give us a call at (519) 352-5225. We’d love to get to know you.

CKHA trims near the top

By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com

In an effort to streamline operations and reduce its operating deficit, the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance has carved eight managerial positions out of its leadership tree. Included in the reduc-

tions are two vice-president positions, one director, two managerial spots, two supervisory positions and the spiritual care provider.

Adam Topp, president and CEO of CKHA, said following an organizational review of operations, it was determined

the hospital had to run more efficiently.

“There is a lot going on; a lot of competing demands; a lot of integration going on,” Topp said.

“We’re trying to meet the demands of the community.”

Eliminated are:

• Vice-president of

NOTICE OF COMPLETION

Municipal Class Environmental Assessment

Southeast Chatham-Kent Water Distribution System Municipal Class Environmental Assessment – Schedule ‘B’ September 22nd, 2025

The Study

transformation;

• vice-president of mental health and addictions;

• director of professional practice and organizational development;

• a managerial position in support services;

• a managerial position in clinical operations;

• a supervisory position in community operations;

• a supervisory position in medical device reprocessing; and

The Public Utilities Commission for the Municipality of Chatham-Kent (CK PUC) has completed a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (MCEA) study for the Southeast Chatham-Kent Water Distribution System. This MCEA Study assessed the capacity requirements and provided recommendations on the existing South Chatham-Kent water treatment plant and water distribution system to accommodate increasing water demand and supply to the Ridgetown-Highgate Communities. The study was completed in accordance with the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act and will follow the Schedule ‘B’ planning process of the Municipal Engineers Association MCEA document as amended in March 2023. The recommended works include:

• New 250 mm watermains along Scane Road, Mitton Line and Talbot Trail.

• New 300mm Blenheim to Ridgetown Transmission Main.

• New 4.55 ML Blenheim Reservoir and Booster Pumpstation.

• New Ridgetown Elevated Tank.

• New 600mm Transmission main on Charing Cross Road.

• Increase treatment capacity at the existing South Chatham-Kent WTP.

• Increase pumping capacity at the existing South Chatham-Kent WTP HLPS.

• Re-chlorination facility at the new Blenheim BPS and possible at new Ridgetown ET

A Project File Report has been prepared and a copy will be placed on public record on October 6th, 2025 to November 7th 2025 for thirty (30) calendar days.

Project Report for Public Review

The Project File Report can be reviewed by members of the public and/or any other interested party on the Municipality of Chatham-Kent Lets Talk website, at https://www.letstalkchatham-kent.ca/ck-water-distributionsystem

If there are any outstanding concerns or issues with this project during the 30-day review period, please address them to the Public Utilities Commission (Ali Akl, CK PUC) and consultant (Paul Adams, AECOM) staff listed below and we will attempt to seek a mutually acceptable resolution.

• the spiritual care provider. The moves, which Topp said weren’t provincially mandated, are anticipated to cut about $1 million per year out of the CKHA’s operating budget.

CKHA officials declined to name names, citing privacy concerns.

Topp said none of the job cuts were due to performance issues, but stressed it was a result of the restructuring.

“This had nothing to do with the people in the roles, but rather how to move the organization forward,” he said. “The whole idea was to make us a little more streamlined.”

Not all positions were filled at the time of the reductions, Topp said. The vice-president of mental health and addictions, for example, was vacant. And it had become redundant.

He added the organization still has a $5-million deficit.

The oversight for mental health and addictions at CKHA will fall to Caen Suni, vice-president of clinical programs and operations, Topp said.

“Caen having that role, he’s got the gamut of all clinical operations now,” Topp said.

The chief human resources officer and the executive lead for equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism will both now report directly to the CEO, Topp said.

“We wanted to raise the profile of human resources. Most of our money is spent on people,” he said.

“That position was a shared position with the Lambton Kent CMHA (Canadian Mental Health Association). They hired their own CEO now, so we eliminated that position on our books,” he said. “The position still exists withing the community (through CMHA). We still stay very well connected with CMHA.”

Under Section 16 of the Environmental Assessment Act a request to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for an order to require the City to undertake a higher level of assessment may only be made on the grounds that the order may prevent, mitigate or remedy adverse impacts on the existing Aboriginal or Treaty rights of an indigenous community. Requests under Section 16 can be made to:

Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks 777 Bay Street, 5th Floor Toronto ON M7A 2J3 minister.mecp@ontario.ca

Director, Environmental Assessment Branch

Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks 135 St. Clair Ave. W, 1st Floor Toronto ON, M4V 1P5 EABDirector@ontario.ca

Ali Akl, P.Eng., PMP. Project Engineer Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission Municipality of Chatham-Kent 325 Grand Ave East Chatham, ON N7L 1W9 alia@chatham-kent.ca Paul Adams Environmental Planner AECOM Canada Limited 250 York Street Suite 410 London, ON N6A 6K2 paul.adams2@aecom.com

If no issues or concerns are raised by October 7th, 2025, the project will be considered to have met the requirements of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment and may proceed with detailed design, tendering and construction of the recommended works as outlined in the Project File Report.

This Notice of Completion was first issued on September 22nd, 2025 Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy

Black shale concerns impact turbine plans

By Michael Bennett Local Journalism Initiative

The Ridgetown Independent

Public feedback led to the decision by Capstone Infrastructure Corporation to reduce the size of its proposed wind farm in Howard Township.

Megan Hunter, Capstone’s senior manager of communications, said concerns from citizens over the possibility of black shale in the original area of the proposed Crossfield Wind Farm forced the company to take a second look at the location.

“We listened to what folks had to say and went back and did some more homework, and so we have significantly reduced the project study area,” Hunter told the

Ridgetown Independent News at its second community open house at the Willow Ridge Golf & Country Club in Blenheim on Sept. 8.

The new area for the proposed Crossfield Wind Farm is solely in the former Howard Township., runs between Victoria Road and Orford Road west to east, Selton Line and Reeders-Teetzel Lines north to south.

The original project area included Harwich and Howard Twps, starting near Communication Road to the west, to Duart Road to the east.

Hunter said the new area will consist of a maximum of 18 turbines with a capacity up to 110 megawatts, down from the 3035 turbine footprint that Crossfield had pursued

for a 200-megawatt wind farm.

Crossfield laid out its plans at an open house on June 26, also at Willow Ridge, and has posted updated information on its website.

In response, the CK Concerned Citizens Group hosted an information session at the Ridgetown Br. 243 Legion on July 31.

Dr. Keith Benn, a professional geoscientist from Port Lambton, and several residents in the Dover and Chatham Twp. area shared their nightmarish experiences of their private water wells being contaminated as a result of ground turbulence created by the installation and operation of industrial wind turbines in the 2010s.

Attendees were told that

the same Kettle Point black shale that was blamed for the water well contamination in North Kent is also located in Capstone’s original proj-

Continued on page 11

Chatham Voice file photo

Capstone Infrastructure has opeted to downsize its proposed wind farm in East Kent after learning of the potential for black shale to be a problem in some areas.

New area black shale free: company

Continued from page 10

Hunter said Capstone conducted geotechnical and hydrological studies on the soil and subsurface in both project areas.

She said the investigation showed there is no black shale in the new project area.

“We tried to do our best to minimize any potential impacts,” Hunter said.

“Although many more studies will still have to be done if (the project) moves forward.”

Hunter also said Capstone will be using gravity foundations, which would only go about three metres into the ground, unlike the pile foundations that were used in North Kent that went deeper into the bedrock.

“So, for both those reasons, we think it’s a significant improvement in terms of addressing folks’ concerns,” Hunter said. She added that more studies will have to be conducted to determine the exact locations of the turbines if their project is approved.

The next step for Capstone is to make a pre-

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Mel Wakabayashi honoured in book

By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com

A former Chatham Maroon skated his way to unsung hero status.

Mel Wakabayashi is the focus of a chapter in author Doug Levy’s book, “Hero Redefined: Profiles of Olympic Athletes Under the Radar.”

The Seattle author is in town this week to talk about the book and attend the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame ceremonies where Wakabayashi was enshrined in 2005. He passed away two years ago.

Levy’s book centres around stories of individuals who were unsung heroes; people who made an

impact on their respective sports, but not for hoisting a trophy or medal.

As a fan of the Olympics, he wanted to focus on stories away from the medal podium.

“In the U.S., we’re very focused on the winners. The theme of unsung heroes was really interesting to me,” he told The Voice.

“A couple of athletes in the book were the drivers for that.”

Neither athlete was Wakabayashi, but Levey said his tale was captivating.

“I took a couple of athletes I knew I wanted to profile and I researched a lot of other Olympic games and examples of sportsmanship. Mel’s sto-

ry really interested me.”

Wakabayashi, born in 1943, was brought into this world in an internment camp in B.C. and then moved to one in Northern Ontario. Japanese Canadians were rounded up during the Second World War and sent to these camps.

Chatham-Kent housed an internment camp just north of Rondeau Provincial Park on Talbot Trail.

But it wasn’t just spending time as a toddler in a camp that caught Levey’s attention. It’s what Wakabayashi did despite the many hurdles placed before him that garnered the interest. His family moved to Chatham after

the war. He played for the Maroons in the early 1960s before lacing up the skates for the University of Michigan, earning MVP and first team All American honours.

The Detroit Red Wings signed him in 1967, but he never made it to the NHL level.

Instead, he opted to head to Japan to play professionally there.

“He fell in love with the game of hockey at a time when (NHL) hockey was not a friendly place to non-Caucasian players,” Levy said. “So, he goes to Japan and really raises the level of that game in that country.”

In 1980, it was Wakabayashi who coached the Japanese men’s Olympic hockey team.

“I saw him as a really quiet hero who really changed the game of hockey for an entire country,” Levy said. Wakabayashi, along with brother Herb, had a lasting impact on the sport.

“The game of hockey before and after Mel and Herb came and went was very different,” Levy said.

“The Wakabayashis left it in a better place than they found it. That’s a pretty

good indicator (of being unsung heroes).”

As for the two Olympic athletes that inspired Levy’s book, one was Swiss marathoner Gabriela Andersen-Scheiss, while the other was U.S. runner Manteo Mitchell.

Andersen-Scheiss persevered through dehydration to limp to the finish line of the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon in Los Angeles in 1984.

Mitchell was a 400-metre relay runner.

Both encountered adversity in their respective events.

Andersen-Scheiss was

39 when she raced at the Olympics. It was a hot, humid day, and she missed the final water station as she ran.

“She got severely dehydrated. She entered the stadium and looked like she was going to faint,” Levy said. “And yet she didn’t.”

Rounding the track despite severe leg cramping, Andersen-Scheiss’s final staggering steps that day defined perseverance, and with a full L.A. Coliseum crowd cheering her on, she managed to cross the finish line.

Continued on page 13

Contributed image

Author Doug Levy’s book, “Hero Redefined,” s a series of stories of Olympians who were unsung heroes, including Chatham’s own Mel Wakabayashi .

Harvest market time in Blenheim

Continued from page 12

Fast forward to 2012.

Mitchell, in a qualifying heat at the London Olympics, took off from the starting line as per normal, being the lead in the fourman team. But at the 200-metre mark, halfway through his stage, he heard something snap.

“He knows that something is very wrong,” Levy said. What was “very wrong” was the fact Mitchell had fractured the fibula in his left leg. He somehow

managed to complete his section of the race, passing off the baton to the next runner.

“These are fantastic stories about people wo did uncommon things,” Levy said of his book.

The author will be at Turns & Tales at 11 a.m. on Sept. 25 for a book-reading and signing event.

He’ll then take in the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame ceremonies that evening at the Bradley Centre.

Doug Levy

Andrew Thompsett/Special to The Chatham Voice

The weather co-operated and folks came out in droves to enjoy the Blenheim Fall Harvest Market in the heart of the South Kent community recently.

The Survivors’ Flag

The Survivors’ Flag is an expression of remembrance, meant to honour residential school Survivors and all the lives and communities impacted by the residential school system in Canada. Each element depicted on the flag was carefully selected by Survivors from across Canada, who were consulted in the flag’s creation. Visit https://nctr.ca/exhibits/survivors-flag/ to see the elements and significance of the flag.

September 30 Listen. Learn. Reflect. National Day of Truth and Reconcilliation.

495 Grand Avenue West, Chatham 519-352-0440

Orange Shirt Day

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Join us and hundreds of others across Canada and wear an orange shirt on Tuesday, September 30th to honour the children who survived the Indian Residential Schools and remember those that didn’t. Every Child Matters. We will wear orange shirts in recognition of the harm the residential school system did to children’s sense of self-esteem and well-being, and as an affirmation of our commitment to ensure that everyone matters. Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in May 2013. It grew out of Phyllis’ story, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually. The date was chosen because it is the time of year that children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year. Orange Shirt Day is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities, to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come. Wearing an orange shirt and promoting the slogan, Every Child Matters, is an affirmation of our commitment to raise awareness of the residential school experience and to ensure that every child matters as we focus on our hope for a better future in which children are empowered to help each other. Let’s not forget the children, but honour them on September 30th. Visit

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was officially recognized by the Government of Canada in 2021 as a result of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. This is a day to lean in, listen, and learn about the ongoing impacts of colonization, including residential schools. It’s a day to learn the ‘truth’ of our shared history, and about how we can create pathways towards reconciliation and healing in our personal and professional lives.

Events happening in Chatham-Kent

Friday, September 26

2:00 PM

Survivors Flag Raising, Civic Centre, Chatham

Information booths

1:00-3:00pm

Partnership with Maawnjidimi Indigenous Network, Ska:Na Family Learning Centre, 7 Generations Indigenous Cultural Friendship, The Municipality of Chatham-Kent.

Friday, September 26

9:00 AM - Noon

Sacred Fire Invitation

CKHA, Wallaceburg Site Front Lawn

325 Margaret Ave.

• Traditional Opening

• Lighting of the Sacred Fire

• Speakers on Intergenerational Trauma

• Moments of Personal Reflection

• Light Refreshments

459 St. Clair St., Chatham • 519-351-2040 •

76 Main St. E., Ridgetown • 519-674-3141•

141 Park St., Blenheim • 519-676-3451• www.mckinlayfuneralhome.com

Tuesday, September 30

10:30 AM

Healing Walk & Gathering

Wallaceburg Library to Civic Square Park

Join us on this important day for a meaningful walk and ceremony to honour the children who never returned home and the Survivors of residential schools.

Ceremony Time 11:00am

Tuesday, September 30

Tilbury Branch & Wheatley Branch

Chatham-Kent

Public Library

Stop by during open hours to make your own Orange Shirt pin

Supports

You are not alone.

Reach out if you need support.

Hope for Wellness Help Line offers immediate help 24/7 to all Indigenous Peoples in Canada. 1-855-242-3310 (toll free) or online chat www.hopeforwellness.ca (External link)

IN-KIND

Tuesday, September 30 A Day to Listen Tune in to your favourite local radio station to learn about moving reconciliation forward in a meaningful way.

National Residential School Crisis Line provides 24/7 crisis support to former Residential School students and their families. 1-866-925-4419 (toll free)

20 Sandy St., Chatham 519-354-6360 • 1-800-265-0598

Ursuline Sisters of Chatham www.ursulines.org

Withoursolidarityandprayers fortheNationalDayof TruthandReconciliation

Ready to fight fires?

Andrew Thompsett/Special to The Chatham Voice

A potential future Chatham-Kent firefighter mans the wheel of this C-K fire truck during the Chatham-Kent Crime Stoppers Children’s Safety Expo recently at the Bradley Centre in Chatham.

The tenors are coming Saturday!

Three familiar voices are joining forces to perform Saturday in Chatham.

Chatham’s 3 Tenors are returning to St. Andrew’s after their sold out show in 2024 to sing the music of Broadway.

Andrew Derynck, Xander Bechard and Colin Bell, all natives of Chatham-Kent, will present their Broadway’s Best concert at 7 p.m. in the St. Andrew’s sanctuary as part of the Spotlight Series of the Performing Arts at St. Andrew’s.

The program will include solos, duets and trios of Broadway favourites from shows such as Pirates of Penzance, Sound of Music, Hamilton, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and more.

Director of music at St. Andrew’s, Devon Hansen, will accompany them on St. Andrew’s Yamaha concert grand piano.

The 3 Tenors are graduates of Chatham-Kent Secondary School where they performed in school choirs and musicals. All of them have won Chatham Kiwanis Music Festival awards.

Derynck hails from Jeanette’s Creek. He attended Wilfred Laurier University where he received his Bachelor of Music degree and Opera diploma. He has sung with several companies across Canada, most recently as Roberto in Opera Niagara’s production of Le Villi. Bell was born and raised in Chatham and holds a Master’s Degree in Opera from the University of British Columbia. He has performed in various productions at University of Western Ontario and UBC and in concert in Germany and Czech Republic. He also has participated in master classes for several well-known vocal teachers.

Bechard, a native of Chatham and a graduate of the Bachelor of Music Performance Program at Wilfred Laurier University, has participated in various

theatre and music productions as well as being a performer and private vocal instructor at Whole Tone Music in Kitchener-Waterloo. This year he is performing in Shrek the Musical with Drayton Entertainment. Tickets can be purchased at the church office or standrewschatham.org.

NOTICE OF THE PROPOSED ROAD CLOSING Notice is hereby given that at a meeting of the Council of the Municipality of ChathamKent on October 6, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Civic Centre, 315 King Street West, Chatham, Council will consider, and if approved, may pass a by-law to stop up and close part of the road allowance from Balmoral Line in the community of Pain Court:

• Property Identification Number 00776 0066, Part of Road Allowance Between Concessions 2 & 4 Geographic Township of Dover West, Municipality of Chatham-Kent, being Part 1 of Part of PIN 00776 0066 as depicted in 24R11566

At this meeting, Council will hear any person or their solicitor or agent, who claims that their land will be prejudicially a ffected by the bylaw and who provide a written submission by email to the Clerk’s office (ckclerk@chatham-kent.ca) noon on October 6th. For further information, please contact Amy McLellan, Manager, Revenue at 519-360-1998, Ext 3185.

At this meeting, Council will hear any person or their solicitor or agent, who claims that their land will be prejudicially a ffected by the bylaw and who provide a written submission by email to the Clerk’s office ( ckclerk@chatham-kent.ca) by noon on October 6th. For further information, please contact Amy McLellan, Manager, Revenue at 519 -360-1998, Ext 3185.

The Chatham Voice

Arts, culture open house

It’s open season for culture in Chatham-Kent.

On Oct. 1, the Chatham-Kent Museum, Kiwanis Theatre, and Thames Art Gallery open their doors and invite the community to a Chatham-Kent Arts and Culture Open House at the Chatham Cultural Centre from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This free, family-friendly event will showcase the programming opportunities available across these venues.

Visitors will be exposed to interactive activities, exhibitions, and behind-the-scenes tours that highlight the experiences that CK Arts and Culture has to offer.

Admission is free, and all ages are welcome.

Expanded hours for TAG, museum

The Thames Art Gallery and the Chatham-Kent Museum have expanded hours the operations are open to the public.

The locations will be open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This change reflects a continued commitment to accessibility, community engagement, and providing enriching cultural experiences for all visitors, officials said in a media release.

For more info, visit chatham-kent. ca or contact the gallery and museum through social media @tagck and @CKMunicipalMuseums.

Carving out history

Contributed image

From left, Lambton-Kent-Leamington MPP Steve Pinsonneault, artist Mike Winia, Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff and East Kent Coun. John Wright celebrate the Winia’s latest carving to be put on display in Chatham-Kent. Located in Thamesville, it is a tribute to the historic 1812 Battle of the Thames that took place on the Thames River running through Thamesville.

The Chatham Voice

DUMP THE DUMP CHATHAM-KENT

With the passing of Bill 5, Premier Ford and his government have given themselves sweeping new powers to exempt any person or business from the law.

They’re already using this power to push through an expansion of the Dresden Dump without an Environmental Assessment. This expansion threatens to leach toxic substances into local rivers, creeks and farmland.

A full assessment is crucial to protect our water and communities. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS ARE

Rondeau pavilions’ memories live on

By Michael Bennett Local Journalism Initiative

The Ridgetown Independent

It has been 45 years since the last of the three Rondeau Pavilions hosted live musical entertainment. But thanks to local historians and Rondeau Park residents, the memory of those pavilions will last forever.

The “Era Of Rondeau Pavilions” plaque was unveiled recently in front of a crowd of more

than 200 people in the Rondeau Joe’s parking lot, just outside the park gates.

It is the latest of 16 historical plaques that the Chatham-Kent Heritage Network has erected over the last three years.

The plaque depicts the history of the three former dance halls – Bayside Pavilion, Lakeshore Pavilion and Rondeau Pavilion – that in their day drew thousands of people to the park to lis-

ten and dance to live entertainment.

Many established stars performed in the pavilions, such as Pat Boone, Guy Lombardo, and Bill Haley and the Comets –as well as up-and-coming stars like Bob Seger, Mitch Ryder, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, Lighthouse, April Wine, Blood Sweat and Tears, the Stampeders and MC5.

The pavilions were also a stage for local acts to perform, from the Gar-

diner Family Band in the original pavilion to the Chateau Gai Orchestra, Woody Herman, Les Thompson, Johnny Downes and many others.

What most baby boomers will remember about the pavilions is the record hops, with Rondeau A-Go-Go DJs Bill Saunders and Paul Dusten spinning the tunes to the packed hall in the mid1960s.

Continued on page 21

These young ones enjoy some hydration while being part of the annual Terry Fox Run recently in Dresden.

event raised more than $142,000 to help fund cancer research. Over the past 30 years, the Dresden Terry Fox Run has raised in excess of $1 million.

Contributed image

The

Plaques commemorate Rondeau’s pavilions

Continued from page 20

“Patrons came from Chatham, Windsor, London, Sarnia ... and we had many Detroit cottagers here,” said Mark Santavy, who, along with Mark Van Raay, compiled the text for the plaques from their many years of historical documentation on the Rondeau Park area.

“Many long-term friendships and relationships developed on the dance floor of the pavilions.

“Numerous couples who became acquaint-

ed in that building later married, and we have a few of them here,” Santavy said as he pointed out to the crowd.

Lisa Gilbert, chair of the Chatham-Kent Heritage Network, was among those teens who remember the good old days of the Rondeau Pavilion.

“Everybody here ... or many of us here, let’s say of a certain age ... remember the one that was right here,” she said, pointing to the site of the third of the three pavilions that

VILLAGE ON THE THAMES

used to be near the current Rondeau Joe’s.

“Three generations or more of people – not just from this area, but they came from farther away – had the benefit of having a wonderful dance pavilion to come to in the summertime,” Gilbert said.

“The dance halls were the backbone of the

time when Rondeau was alive with music, dance and plenty of people,” Van Raay added.

Continued on page 23

By: Wednesday, October 22, 2025 at 11:59 pm

Big-name artists used to play at Rondeau

Continued from page 21

“The dance halls were an integral part of culture during this time.”

The original Bayside Pavilion, which stood at the site of the current park store, was built by Isaac Gardiner, Rondeau Provincial Park’s first superintendent, in 1896.

Van Raay said the Gardiner Family Band was a regular fixture in an era where more local acts performed, the likes of Harold Ronson and his Lion Tamers Orchestra, the Bobby Jacks Band and the Ridgetown Brass Band.

The Bayside Pavilion was the summer place to be until 1939, when it was changed into a picnic pavilion.

The Lakeshore Pavilion replaced the original facility, built by Lee Simpson and his partner Archie McDiarmid, as more than 5,000 people attend-

ed the grand opening in 1939.

The Ridgetown Kiwanis Club played a major role in the operations of the Lakeside Pavilion. This second pavilion was located by the public beach.

“I’m old enough to remember two of them,” said David Colby, president of the Rondeau Cottagers Association, which sponsored the CKHN’s Era of the Rondeau Pavilions plaque. “The Lakeside Pavilion was a beautiful wooden structure, and it had a lunch counter, Saturday dances with orchestras and guest orchestras, and some very famous big band leaders played there, like Guy Lombardo and many, many others,”

Colby said. “When I was a kid, we had movie nights on Wednesdays and Sundays, and it was so much fun.”

The Lakeside Pavilion burned to the ground in 1973.

Maurice Smyth, who managed the Rondeau Lakeside Pavilion and also owned and operated the Pyranon Ballroom in Chatham, had visions of an even bigger pavilion.

Smyth masterminded the Rondeau Pavilion as he commissioned the construction of the new facility, which was opened on June 25, 1958, outside the park gates near the current Rondeau Joe’s.

“Record hops were all the craze in the late ’50s, early ’60s, and our two original Rondeau A GoGo DJs can attest to that,” Santavy said, as he pointed out Saunders and Duston. “Live entertainment started taking over in the late 1960s, and Maurice had a great eye for entertainment.”

Santavy said Smyth em-

ployed booking agents Art Wolfenden and Nick Harris, who brought in many up-and-coming American and Canadian acts – the likes of Seger, Ryder, Blood Sweat & Tears, etc. - to play the Rondeau Pavilion.

“This is the pavilion that most people still living today remember,” Gilbert said. “It was immediately popular, not only with local people, but also with many who came from Windsor and Detroit and some even from Toronto. It was not unusual for the line to form before the doors opened, and snake all the way to the park gates.”

Towards the late 1970s, however, Smyth sold the pavilion, and the new owner did not have the same contacts to bring in live entertainment.

The last band believed to play the Rondeau Pavilion was Zon on July

20, 1980.

The Rondeau Pavilion suffered the same fate as

the Bayside, as it was lost in a fire later in 1980.

Community Events

Thursday, September 25, 2025:

• Author Doug Levy will be at Turns & Tales at 11am in connection with his book “Hero Redefined” featuring Chapter 10 of Mel Wakabayashi.

• The Chatham Legion, corner of William & Colborne St. Chatham open 11:00am–9:30pm. Kitchen open for lunch 11:00am–1:30pm. Come check out our daily specials. Senior Euchre starts at 1:00pm. 7:00pm: Networking / Wine & Cheese, come and see what our wonderful community support groups offer to the Chatham Kent community. Everyone is welcome.

• Join us every Thursday afternoon from 1-4 at the Merlin Legion for a Music Jam. Bike Night from 4-9pm. Donations are welcome so bring out your singing voice, instruments, and bikes. Come to have a great afternoon and evening!!

• Lunch at the Chatham Moose Lodge, 850 Richmond St from 11 AM until 1:30 PM. Daily specials and menu items available. Everyone welcome.

Friday, September 26, 2025:

• Come join us at The Chatham Legion, corner of William & Colborne St. Chatham from 11:00am–9:30pm. The kitchen is open to serve lunch from 11:00 am–1:30pm. Supper will be served from 4:00–6:00pm. No orders after 5:30pm. Tonight’s specials are Liver & Onions or Fish & Chips, $14.00(HST included). Take out is also available by calling 519351-8733 or 519-351-5639. Member appreciation Friday Dinner will be $7.00 - proof of membership expected. 5:15 pm is our weekly Catch-The-Ace draw (tickets can be purchased at the bar). Fun Darts at 7:00pm. 7pm-10pm BBQ on the Patio, & you will be entertained by Allen James. In the event of bad weather, entertainment will move inside. Everyone welcome.

• Join us at the Merlin Legion for a Homemade Spaghetti dinner! Dinner include dessert for $10 - tax included. Chicken strips and fries are also available. Served 4:30-7pm. Take outs also available. Contact 519-689-4884 for more information.

• Come for a free movie at 6:30pm with CK Pride at Bill’s Place, community space, 48 Centre St., Chatham. We’ll be watching the classic James Dean film, Rebel without a Cause.

• Friday night supper at the Chatham Moose Lodge, 850 Richmond St is a Chicken Parmesan dinner with pasta, salad and a bun. Dine ins $14 and pickups $15. All meals are served at

6pm. Please call 519-352-8291 to order. Everyone welcome.

Saturday, September 27, 2025:

• Morning Breakfast Program at First Presbyterian Church (corner of Fifth St. and Wellington). A delicious and nutritious breakfast served free of charge from 9:30am-11:00am, serving indoors, no take out. Wheelchair accessible.

• Come join us at The Chatham Legion, corner of William & Colborne St. Chatham from 10:00am–9:30pm. Line Dancing lessons from 10:00am-12 noon. Meat draws at 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30pm. The kitchen is open from 3:00pm–5:45pm. Come out and check out our menu. Entertainment by D.A.M. band from 4:30-9:30pm. Everyone welcome.

• Bill’s Place Community Space Drop-In. Come spend some time in a 2SLGBTQIA+ safe space 48 Centre St., Chatham. Hang out and have a chat, have a coffee, do your homework, ask a question, read a book, or find out about our programs and upcoming events. No RSVP needed! Come & go as you please. All ages & allies welcome. 11am-2pm.

• Fall Clothing Swap at Bill’s Place, 48 Centre St, Chatham. Join Us for a Free Event, Ages 14+. Step into a welcoming space where judgment is left at the door. Our closet is brimming with clothes, and it’s your turn to dive in! If you are looking for specific sizes or kinds of clothes please let us know ahead of time at info@ckpride.com! There’s no requirement to bring items to participate. 12-2pm.

• Performing Arts at St. Andrew’s present Broadways Best - Chatham’s 3 Tenors at 7:00pm at St. Andrew’s Church - 85 William St. S., Chatham. An extraordinary evening of Broadway’s Best with Chatham’s 3 Tenors - Andrew Derynck, Colin Bell & Xander Bechard. Tickets ($30) available at the church office or online at www.standrewschatham.org/events. For further information www.standrewschatham.org/ events or call 519-352-0010.

• “Swing into Fall” with The Brass Factory Big Band. Glencoe Ag Hall, 268 Currie Street, Glencoe. Showtime 7:00 pm; Doors Open 6:30 pm. Free Admission; DONATION ONLY. In support of FCHS Foundation (Newbury Hospital) Info: fchsfoundation.ca; 519-784-4274.

• Booked For The Afternoon Featuring Rick Fehr. 1pm. Tickets $5 (members) $7 (Non-Members) Call (519)627-8962 for tickets, Wallaceburg and District Museum. 505 King Street, Wallaceburg

Sunday, September 28, 2025:

• Merlin Legion Classic Country Jamboree from 1:30pm-5:30pm followed by a Perch Dinner 5pc $20 and 3pc is $15. No Frills meal & Hamburgers also available. So bring your dancing shoes and don’t miss the fun event. Please contact 519-476-5870 to book your spot. Take outs also available $5 entry with musicians/singers free.

• Witches Lair Escape Room. Sept 29th - October 30th. $15 per persongroups of 4-6. Wallaceburg and District Museum. 505 King Street, Wallaceburg. Book Online: https://www.wallaceburgmuseum.ca/book-online. Wallaceburg and District Museum. 505 King Street, Wallaceburg.

• Breakfast at the Chatham Moose Lodge, 850 Richmond St from 9am until Noon. All meals are cooked to order. Everybody welcome.

Tuesday, September 30, 2025:

• Come join us at The Chatham Legion, corner of William & Colborne St. Chatham from 11:00am–9:30pm. The kitchen is open to serve lunch from 11:00am–1:30pm. Today’s special is Spaghetti with meat sauce. Come play Euchre at 1:00pm or spend the evening playing Shuffleboard or Euchre starting at 7:00pm. Everyone welcome.

Wednesday, October 1, 2025:

• Sprucedale United Church Broasted Chicken Dinner – 493 Victoria Ave., Chatham. Includes all the fixings. 4:30-6:30 pm – drive-thru only. Adults $25.00 – Children Under 12 $10.00. Tickets must be purchased in advance and picked up prior to the event. Please email sprprov@gmail.com with your information or call the Church office at 519-354-0060 and leave a message.

• Come join us at The Chatham Legion, corner of William & Colborne St.Chatham from 11:00am–9:30pm. The kitchen is open to serve lunch from 11:00am–1:30pm. Our daily special is Meatloaf Dinner. Come check out our other daily specials. We have Fun Darts at 7:00pm. Everyone welcome.

Witches Lair Escape Room. Sept 29th – October 30th. $15 per person –groups of 4-6. Wallaceburg and District Museum. 505 King Street, Wallaceburg. Book Online: https://www.wallaceburgmuseum.ca/book-online. Wallaceburg and District Museum. 505 King Street, Wallaceburg.

Send events to bruce@chathamvoice.com or michelle@chathamvoice.com

Fun Stuff

39. Indian god of dissolution

40. People of Scotland

41. Leak slowly through

42. Rock icon Turner

43. Midway between south and southeast

CLUES DOWN

1. Large hat covering 2. “From what is earlier” (Latin)

3. Celtic

4. Retirement region

CLUES ACROSS

1. Gas usage measurement

4. Muslim mystic

8. Towards the mouth or oral region

10. Monday (Spanish) 11. Frame for a coffin

12. Rub out 13. John __, English educator l467-l5l9

15. Small round particle 16. Chilean seaport 17. News service 18. Pay for dinner

21. Glamorous city

22. Subway rodent

23. “The Raven” author

24. Buddhist festival

25. Cost, insurance and freight (abbr.)

26. Indigenous person of Thailand

27. “The Blonde Bombshell”

34. Series-ending episodes

35. Bluish greens

36. Aquatic mammal

37. Unit of measurement

38. Eye membranes

5. A way to change posture

6. Touches

7. A small island

9. Rubbish

10. A citizen of Laos

12. A place to dance 14. 19th letter of Greek alphabet 15. Mild expression of surprise

17. 17th letter of Greek alphabet

19. Descriptions

20. Men’s fashion accessory 23. Thieves of the sea

24. Prohibit

25. Card game

26. French and Belgian river

27. Underling

28. Downwind

29. Type of medication

30. German city

31. Animal disease

32. Martini ingredients

33. Get away from

34. Stuffed (French)

36. Type of precipitation

Scary moments in tribute swim

By Michael Bennett Local Journalism Initiative

The Ridgetown Independent

Jane Baldwin-Marvell and her teammates eerily experienced the fury of a Great Lakes storm last month while they were honouring the 29 mariners who perished when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank 50 years ago.

The Ridgetown woman and her teammates – Lisa Pickering of Cobourg, Karen Kreusel of Dearborn, Mich. and Noah Heilbrun of Bend, Ore. – were nearing the end of their Lexington-to-Port Huron leg of the Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Swim on the night of Aug. 23. They were the 15th of the 17

four-person teams who swam the route the ill-fated freighter was supposed to complete before it sank in hurricane-force winds from a violent storm on Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was carrying 26,000 tons of taconite pellets from Superior, Wis., bound for the steel plants in Detroit when it sank 17 miles from Whitefish Bay.

“I vaguely remember it as a child, hearing about it on the news,” Baldwin-Marvell said of her memory of the Fitzgerald’s sinking as she was living in Toronto at the time.

She moved to Ridgetown 20 years ago

The Edmund Fitzgerald Me-

morial Swim began in late July at the site of the ship’s sinking and ended on Aug. 27, at the Belle Isle Yacht Club as the last of the 17 teams completed the final stage of the 411 miles of the ship’s intended journey. Each participant carried taconite pellets in their swimming gear, symbolic of the delivering the Fitzgerald’s cargo.

Baldwin-Marvell’s team began their 19-mile leg of the swim at Lexington Beach around 7 a.m., as they swam about a half-kilometre out on Lake Huron from the shoreline.

The swimmers took turns spending 30 minutes in the water followed by 90 minutes on

NOTICE OF THE PROPOSED ROAD CLOSING Notice is hereby given that at a meeting of the Council of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent on October 6, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Civic Centre, 315 King Street West, Chatham , Council will consider, and if approved, may pass a by -law to stop up and close part of the unopened road allowance from Creek Road in the community of Pain Court:

• Property Identification Number 00787 0257, Part of Road Allowance Between Concession 1 & 3 (Not Open) Geographic Township of Dover, Municipality of Chatham-Kent, being Part 2 of Part of PIN 00787 0257 as depicted in 24R11576

At this meeting, Council will hear any person or their solicitor or agent, who claims that their land will be prejudicially affected by the by-law and who provide a written submission by email to the Clerk’s office (ckclerk@chatham-kent.ca) by noon on October 6th. For further information, please contact Amy McLellan, Manager, Revenue at 519-360-1998, Ext 3185.

the support boat Sea Delight in the relay-style event.

“It was a long day, we had to swim against the current and through two- and three-foot white caps,” said Baldwin-Marvell, an elementary school teacher who moved to Ridgetown 20 years ago.

She was nearing the end of her final shift, with the Bluewater Bridge in the distance, when she noticed Jim’ The Shark’ Dreyer, the event organizer, frantically calling for her to get

out of the water.

“I was about 20 minutes into my seventh swim, I was noticing the pretty sunset and how the sky was a lovely colour, but I didn’t realize that a storm was sneaking up behind us,” Baldwin-Marvell said.

Baldwin-Marvell said a couple of minutes after she got out of the water, they were engulfed by a severe storm with heavy rain, lightning, fierce winds and high waves.

Continued on page 26

Remembering lost mariners

Continued from page 25

The Sea Delight sheltered in place but at one point its anchor lifted,

Ruth Lillian Walters

causing the boat to drift eastward towards the shipping lanes. “We almost got blown

95, Wednesday, September 10, 2025 Life Transitions

Wayne Robert Clark

71, Saturday, September 13, 2025 Life Transitions

John Edward Pardo

74, Tuesday, September 16, 2025 Life Transitions

John Thomas Czerczyk

67, Tuesday, September 16, 2025 Life Transitions

Terry Lee Meredith

78, Tuesday, September 16, 2025 Life Transitions

Douglas Bernard Simmons

72, Tuesday, September 16, 2025 Life Transitions

James "Jim" Edward Nottley

74, Wednesday, September 10, 2025 Nicholls Funeral Home

into the shipping lanes; we were right on the edge and had a freighter bearing down on us,”

OBITUARIES

Lindsay Glover

40, Thursday, September 11, 2025

Nicholls Funeral Home

Terry McDonald

70, Monday, September 15, 2025

Nicholls Funeral Home

Maurice Norbert Lauwereys

88, Thursday, September 18, 2025

Nicholls Funeral Home

Cam Innes

95, Friday, August 29, 2025

McKinlay Funeral Home

Doreen Van Every

84, Friday, September 12, 2025

McKinlay Funeral Home

Louis Faubert

75, Thursday, September 11, 2025 McKinlay Funeral Home

Terry Neill

91, Monday, September 15, 2025 McKinlay Funeral Home

Baldwin-Marvell said.

The Sea Delight crew was able to stabilize the support boat and ride out

Cathy Garlick

69, Tuesday, September 16, 2025

McKinlay Funeral Home

Brandon List

53, Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Hinnegan Peseski Funeral Home

Roland Joseph Béchard

82, Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Hinnegan Peseski Funeral Home

Peter Dyck Knelsen

61, Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Badder Funeral Home

Robyn Ashley McCall

33, Sunday, September 14, 2025

Badder Funeral Home

David Alexander Ashby

75, Thursday September 11, 2025

Blenheim Community Funeral Home

Vinton Snary

62, Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Alexander & Houle Funeral Home

Cathy VanEerd

89, Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Alexander & Houle Funeral Home

See full obituaries at chathamvoice.com/ obituaries

the rest of the storm.

“We thought it would blow over, but we were stopped for over two hours,” Baldwin-Marvell said.

She said her teammates and crew couldn’t help but think about the Edmund Fitzgerald and Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” song as they rode out the storm.

“‘Does anyone know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours,’” Baldwin-Marvell said, reciting a line from Lightfoot’s song.

“That’s what I was feeling.”

Once the storm subsided, the team opted to complete their stage in the dark rather than stop and finish in the morning.

tered into the lake after the ceremony, as per her family’s request.

“It was a moving moment,” Baldwin-Marvell said, as she had never met Stassen but knew her by name from the event planning.

The memorial swim ended two days later as Stage 16 went from Port Huron to Algonac and Stage 17 from Algonac to Belle Isle.

Baldwin-Marvell and most of the 68 swimmers and crew attended a special service on Aug. 28, at the Maritime Church of Detroit – depicted as the “musty old hall” in Lightfoot’s song.

Members of the memorial swim team read the names of the 29 men on the freighter, each followed by the ringing of a bell – just as it happened 50 years ago when the “church bell chimed ’til it rang 29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald,’” in Lightfoot’s song.

Baldwin-Marvell completed her final 10 minutes before a teammate swam the final 30-minute shift as they reached their destination at the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, near the Bluewater Bridge, around 11 p.m. – about three hours later than expected.

When they got to the beach, the swimmers and crew held a ceremony to honour Sandy Stassen, a Michigan resident who was supposed to be on the team but tragically died on June 9.

Kreusel, Stassen’s replacement, carried her ashes in her visibility buoy, which was scat-

The bell rang a 30th time in memory of the 30,000 mariners who have lost their lives on the Great Lakes.

“It was very poignant, very beautifully done,” Baldwin-Marvell said of the service.

For Baldwin-Marvell and the other memorial swim participants, the church service was the first opportunity to meet members of the other 16 teams and create friendships that will last a lifetime.

Classifieds

In memory of Christine Hancock

Our family wishes to express our deep appreciation to everyone who offered such kindness, support and messages of sympathy and comfort. We especially wish to thank Alexander-Houle Funeral Home, CK Health Alliance, CK Hospice, Deacon Chris Masterson, and Retro Suites/Suite 46 for their compassionate and truly loving support. With love from the Hancock / Nelson Family

Birthday

8871 Doyle Line - Lots of Variety! All weekend long - 9am-4pm. Tools galore, pots, pans, bicycles. Come & see, you’ll be surprised!

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Lost Lift Chair

$300, Stair Lift

$400. Phone 548996-7453.

Faubert: Louis Philippe Joseph It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Louis Faubert, with family at his side at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance on September 11, 2025 at the age of 75. Born in Pain Court, Louis was the son of the late Solomon and Laureatte (née Quenneville) Faubert. Beloved husband of 48 years to Marietta (née Roy). Loving father to Nicole (Kao) and Natalie Faubert. Dear brother to Paul (Diane), Claire (Dan), Rosalie (Wayne) and Francis (Mildred). Predeceased by siblings Carmelle and Pauline. He will be missed by many nieces, nephews and friends. Louis was a very proud and innovative farmer, recognized as one of the first in his area to adopt no-till farming practices. He had deep love for the outdoors and cherished family vacations up North where he also enjoyed hunting and fishing. Louis was a true handyman and there was nothing he couldn’t fix. Known for his open door policy Louis warmly welcomed his friends and family, always ready for a good chat over a cup of coffee on the porch. He was generous with his time and always willing to lend a helping hand. Louis’ wishes were to be cremated and to have a private celebration of life at a later date. Donations made in memory of Louis to the Chatham-Kent Hospice Foundation, The Salvation Army or a charity of your choice would be appreciated by the family. Online condolences may be left at www.mckinlayfuneralhome.com.

McKinlay Funeral Home, 459 St. Clair Street, Chatham. 519-351-2040

Announcement

4 Bridgestone Winter Snow Tires on rims. Tire size ARP23565 R17. Tread 7/32, tire wear. Good condition. Asking $300. Phone 519-3542814.

Silk Cemetery Saddle Arrangements. Everyday/ Holidays. Readyto-go. Many colours available.

$40. 519-354-3411

Services Offered

Chatham Baptist Chapel “Come Out, Join Us” Sundays 11am and 7pm. Wednesdays 7pm, Friday 7pm. Old Hymns and KJV Preaching Go to chathambaptistchapel.com to watch sermons.

Hospital Bed

$700, Lift Chair

$300, Stair Lift

$400. Phone 548996-7453. Call today to place your ad 519-397-2020!

Wanted

Wanted to Buy: Antiques, costume jewellery, gold, silver, coins, military, furniture, tools. We Buy All - Paid Cash. 519-7278894.

Brandon List

Passed away at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance on September 17, 2025 at the age of 53. Born in Chatham, son of the late Carol Brown (2022) and Jerry List (2025). Loving father of Keenan Howes and Brandon Seed. Dear brother of Shane List, Gerry List, Ryan Brown, Darcie Brown, Tracie Brown, Staccie Brown, Tyrone List, Darryl List, Chasity List, Tasha Cobey, Autumn Hamil and Brian Hamil. He will also be sadly missed by his many nieces and nephews. Sadly missed by his aunts and uncles. Brandon enjoyed working with his friend Frank LaMarsh who kept him busy, Brandon was also funny and loved his family. Brandon also enjoyed working at CDN Metal Fabrication Ltd. A special thanks to the staff at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. Burial will take place in Maple Leaf Cemetery on Monday September 22, 2025 at 11am. Donations to R.O.C.K Missions would be appreciated. Online condolences welcomed at www.peseski.com

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