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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2021
Vol. 8 Edition 33
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Ontario reopens further
Touching up the WISH Centre
By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com
Pam Wright/The Chatham Voice
Kyle Lewis and Jordan Banman of J.C. Power Wash spruce up the paint at Chatham’s WISH Centre, trying to finish the job before winter weather sets in.
Sr. volunteers shine, earn award
By Pam Wright Local Journalism Initiative pamwrightlji@gmail.com
Vera Moore is emblematic of what it means to be a volunteer. She’s provided a helping hand at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance for more than two decades, caring for patients and families.
But the COVID-19 pandemic brought a whole new twist to Moore’s volunteer experience. She’s not alone. The longtime volunteer was one of 120 area seniors who helped deliver 118,000 doses of vaccine to area residents by assisting with running the COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic at
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the John D. Bradley Centre. For their efforts, Moore and 119 of her colleagues were recently awarded the Chatham-Kent Senior of the Year award for 2021. The 78-year-old Charing Cross resident started working at the clinic after getting her first shot at the centre.
“Someone said they needed volunteers,” the Union Gas retiree told The Voice recently, so she stepped up to help. Due to pandemic protocols, volunteers had been barred from helping at the hospital, so Moore jumped at the chance to help at the clinic two to three days per week.
The experience at the Bradley centre, said Moore, was unlike anything in the past. Moore said the shifts weren’t “cut and dry” workdays, as conditions at the clinic – which ran seven days a week for months – were always changing.
Continued on page 5
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Full-capacity indoor events are a reality once again in some places, with others set to follow suit in the near future. Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the announcement Friday afternoon. “We’re sticking with what’s worked for the province. We’re slowly lifting public health measures over time,” he said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. “The next step is on Oct. 25, we are lifting capacity limits and distancing requirements for restaurants gyms and casinos where proof of vaccination is required.” Denny Vervaet, co-owner of Red Barn Brewing Co. near Blenheim, welcomed the news. “It should give us more opportunity to be normal. We’ve never done normal yet,” he said. “We opened up right in the middle of it (the pandemic).” Red Barn opened July 1, 2020, selling beer right out of its brewing room. That fall, they opened their patio, and two months later, the doors opened for limited access to their tasting room. However, a month later, those doors closed again as the province went into its second lockdown. Continued on page 2
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