The well-loved restaurant the Common, located at 80 Wellington St., is asking for community support following a fire that caused significant smoke damage throughout the space.
Owners Cassandre Frost and Tim Otsuki were on vacation when they received a midnight call in March from their neighbour, Jamie Crosby, owner of Lovage, who reported seeing smoke billowing from outside the restaurant.
By the time fire and police arrived, the fire had extinguished itself. But the extensive smoke damage was just the beginning of a string of unexpected challenges the restaurant would face.
While insurance is covering most of the damage, Frost and Otsuki say the incident revealed costly code compliance issues that weren’t previously known.
The kitchen exhaust system, for example, was found to be non-compliant with current standards and now requires a $150,000 upgrade, including a new permanent and accessible ladder for safe cleaning.
Frost added that beyond the damage and mounting repair costs, they’ve also experienced the loss of some unique and sentimental items – including a crystal chandelier that recently went missing and hasn’t been recovered.
Despite receiving applications from coast to coast to fill the vacant top staffer position, the City of Stratford’s next chief administrative officer (CAO) won’t have to be flown in from far away.
On July 21, during a special city council meeting, council unanimously voted to appoint Stratford resident André Morin as its next CAO.
Morin, who is currently the director of corporate services and treasurer with the Town of St. Marys, has an extensive history working in municipal government. He got
his start in his hometown of Atikokan before moving his family down to southwestern Ontario and working as the director of corporate services and treasurer for Stratford from 2012-17. He was interim CAO in Stratford in 2016. Additionally, he was the regional manager of municipal and stakeholder relations at the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.
Speaking with the Times the morning after the news broke, Morin said that he was balancing his emotions. It is a wonderful accomplishment after a long and thorough process, and he was overall excited to share the news.
“Today’s been a very up and down day,” Morin said.
Lincoln Ikeicher, 11, and Weston Smith, 12, enjoy a sunny afternoon at the Stratford skate park while Jett Smith (not pictured), watched from the sidelines.
(AMANDA MODARAGAMAGE PHOTO)
Former treasurer André Morin named Stratford’s new CAO
“Sad in lots of moments, happy in other moments. And, again, I got a lot of friends here in (St. Marys), but also a lot of friends with the city, so lots of messages coming through … It’s done and it’s real now, so I can start thinking about how I get St. Marys where I want it to be before I leave and start my journey with the City of Stratford.”
As treasurer for St. Marys, his department is in the middle of preliminary work preparing the 2026 budget for council deliberations in late 2025. He is confident that he and the team will be able to get the draft budget to a “really good spot” before he leaves.
Leadership and vision are two key components of the position, which is widely regarded as the most important staffing position in city hall. As Morin explained, his leadership style focuses on open communication and consistency. It will be his job to make sure that every staff member is “rowing the same way.”
“It doesn't matter what position you hold, where you're at, we need to be all going in the same direction, not opposite directions
– which makes municipalities a little bit challenging, because you can argue about 100 different lines of business, all trying to do a little bit of something different.
“… But that's my job, is to make sure that everybody knows which direction we're trying to go and what resources, what issues, that I need to solve along the way to make sure that that happens. So I tend to lead by example, try to do as much communication as I can. But again, really, it's (about) being genuine in that.”
In terms of vision, Morin revealed that while he may have his own thoughts looking at the city from the outside, he wants to wait to share those thoughts until he can dive into the organization. He added that as CAO, his job is to chiefly execute council’s vision more than anything.
Stratford has undertaken many large, long-term projects, including but not limited to its keystone Grand Trunk renewal project, and when asked if he has an idea of how staff can balance those projects with the day-to-day work of city business, Morin explained that as a chartered professional accountant with extensive experience in municipal finance, he’s hoping
that lens can be useful.
“I'm hoping that … we can start to look at efficiencies, but also really try to take a look at those big items and find out how, from a long-term perspective, we can make those successful.”
Morin has lived in Stratford since he took a position with the city in 2012. He said that he and his wife were looking to move from Atikokan, a northern Ontario town of 2,600 people, to a medium sized city that they could live and raise their young children. After working for a number of years with the city, there was an opportunity to apply for the open CAO position in 2016, but knowing the level of dedication the role necessitates, he passed on it. This time around he knew that it was the right decision.
“The big thank you goes to my wife and the kids, for all they do and all that support,” Morin shared.
Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma said that the city received 75 applications from across Canada – from British Colombia to Newfoundland. Overall, he and the selection committee were very impressed with those that put in applications and were
very pleased to move forward with Morin. Out of those 75 applicants, the committee narrowed it down to nine and then two, before ultimately recommending Morin to city council.
“We are very pleased to welcome Mr. Morin to the position of chief administrative officer for the City of Stratford,” said Ritsma in a media release. “He is very familiar with the city, and we are looking forward to his leadership.
“A huge thank you to former CAO Joan Thomson for her 40 years of service to the city, and thank you as well to director of building and planning Adam Betteridge for his excellent service as interim CAO over the last five months.”
During the special meeting where Morin was selected, Coun. Bonnie Henderson thanked Betteridge for his work as well – though she and the public were reminded that he is still acting CAO for the next month and change. Morin takes over the position effective Sept. 2.
“That’s not done yet,” Ritsma joked about Betteridge’s continued work. “I don’t want him to walk out the door tonight.”
Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner visits Festival City to help organize opposition to Bill 5
“I loved Stratford before I came, and I love it as I spent the day here,” Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner told reporters on the evening of July 17. “There are a lot of great things happening here.”
Schreiner was invited to the Festival City by Mayor Martin Ritsma that day, after having “good conversations” about productive partnerships between the provincial and local governments.
While in the Festival City, Schreiner visited Vicwest, a prominent employer devoted to being carbon neutral, some of the affordable housing projects in Stratford and some of the farmland on the edge of town, as housing and agriculture remain two key issues he and the Greens are concerned about.
After his tour, Schreiner joined supporters on the lawn of the Falstaff Family Centre to discuss a central concern of him and other Ontario residents: the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, more commonly known as Bill 5.
As he said, although the bill received royal assent on June 5, he believes there is still an opportunity for opposition.
“We’re seeing people across Ontario organizing op - position to Bill 5, and in the same way, Bill 23 passed to open the Greenbelt for development, and about a year later, the premier backtracked on that and had to intro -
duce legislation to reverse (the decision) … We're seeing the same concerns with Bill 5, and we're seeing the same kind of opposition grow.”
After speaking with supporters as the sun set, Schreiner fielded questions and spoke about how to organize opposition and make a difference as individuals. As he reiterated to reporters after, Schreiner said that it’s about communication.
“People talking with neighbours. Why am I concerned about Bill 5? What steps am I going to take to kill this bill? Some of the other events like this we’ve been doing … sign campaigns, petition campaigns, letter writing campaigns, rallies, going into their churches, their workplaces, talking to their neighbours.
“I remain optimistic that we are building the kind of movement we need to build,” Schreiner went on to say, after being asked if he was confident that opposition will be fruitful. “And I also remind people that Doug Ford has never had more than 20 per cent of eligible voters vote conservative in any of the three elections he's won, partly because voter turnout has been low, and partly because he gets like 40 per cent of the people who actually come out to vote.
“So he's actually never had more than 20 per cent of Ontarians actually vote conservative. So that gives me hope that the other 80 per cent of eligible voters out there will come out and vote and will vote for a party like the Green Party. And so that's what keeps me going.”
CONNOR LUCZKA Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Mike Schreiner speaks to supporters on the lawn of the Falstaff Family Centre on July 17. The Ontario Green Party leader was invited by Mayor Martin Ritsma to tour Stratford and see what initiatives the city and its residents and businesses are undertaking.
(CONNOR LUCZKA PHOTO)
The Common Stratford asks for community support
“There’s a story behind all these pieces here in the restaurant,” she said. “A lot of antiquing up and down the Huron coast went into finding and sourcing pieces specific for the space.
“It’s been a bit of a heartbreaking rollercoaster. Not only have we had this setback from the smoke and fire, but we’ve also lost a few sentimental items just from having so many people in and out of the restaurant over the last few months.”
Now, the pair is turning to the community they say has always been supportive, asking for a little help while they work to reopen.
“We thought we’d be back open in a month. But here we are, four months later, and we’re still dealing with unexpected issues,” said Frost.
“We definitely need the support, but we don’t want people to just give us money – we want to give something back,” added Otsuki. “We’re calling them sponsorships. You can essentially buy gift cards
to support us, and once we’re fully up and running, you can come back in and use them.”
Frost said she’s long envisioned hosting patio parties, formal dinners and themed events like a Holly Golightly party. While the fire has brought challenges, it’s also sparked the motivation to launch these long-dreamed-of gatherings to help with fundraising.
“We’re trying to see the silver lining. What this has done is light a fire under us to host the events we’ve always talked about,” she said. “We’re planning dinner parties and cocktail events to help raise funds.”
The couple is still moving forward with reopening plans, including a revised menu and service style recently approved by the City of Stratford.
They’ll be hosting patio parties, selling gift cards for future use, and encouraging guests to book reservations for upcoming August events, which will be shared on their social media channels.
13-year-old Hamilton girl drowns at Wildwood
STRATFORD TIMES STAFF
stratfordtimes@gmail.com
A 13-year-old Hamilton girl has died following a weekend swim at Wildwood Conservation Area, according to the Stratford Police Service.
Police say that just before 7 p.m. on July 20, the service was contacted regarding a young female being lost in the water at the beach in the conservation area.
A search was conducted by police and the St. Marys Fire Department and approximately one hour later the female was
located under the water within the designated swimming area.
Lifesaving efforts were made; however, the female was unable to be saved, and she passed away as a result of drowning. She has been identified as a resident of Hamilton who was visiting the conservation area with family.
The Stratford Police Service thanked everyone present for assisting with the search and recovery of the victim and expressed condolences to the family, friends and loved ones who have been impacted by this tragedy.
The Common restaurant is seeking community help after a fire resulted in an additional $150,000 in costs to upgrade the ventilation system.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Editorial
Lessons from the snowbank
CONNOR LUCZKA Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
I got my first job in journalism before I graduated from Fanshawe College’s broadcast journalism program. It was a full-time, permanent, salaried job offer at a legacy community newspaper, the Listowel Banner. My program directors gave me the go ahead to accept it, saying that they would fudge the grades for my final few months in school so that I didn’t need to worry about anything other than my career. My director, legendary broadcaster Jim Van Horne, smiled at me before I left the radio station that random afternoon.
“You’re ready,” he said, and the next day I started my first job.
The commute was an hour and a half. One way. And on my very first day I got a speeding ticket. Strike one. Then, the first story I wrote that week resulted in a very passionate phone call. The newsmaker was quite angry that I quoted her saying that she became emotional when she cut the ribbon opening her store, the realization of a lifelong dream. Strike two.
That same week, driving in what can be best described as a jalopy tied together with zip ties and thoughts and prayers, I spun out in freezing rain just outside of Monkton. I spent press day in the ditch without cellphone service, reflecting on my decisions while bumper-deep in a snowbank.
When I eventually got towed out and walked into the
office at 2 p.m. that afternoon, my editor said to me, “Oh, you came in today? You know you don’t need to come in when the weather is this bad.” Strike three.
That afternoon, looking at my bank account, I decided to actually do the math on the precious salary they offered me. I was making minimum wage.
Do I get a fourth strike? Maybe I should have stayed in school a little longer.
I’m writing all of this because that’s what this profession is, hurdles and complications. Especially in those first few years. If not for Fanshawe, I don’t know if I would have been able to adapt to the challenges, circumstances and stories presented to me at the time. Or, at least, I don’t think I would have been able to adapt as well.
A few months ago, Fanshawe announced that it was gutting many of its programs and classes due to a lack of international enrolment. While the broadcast journalism program which I graduated from will still go on, next year will be the broadcast radio program’s last at Fanshawe College.
The news was a complete shock to me. Even now I can’t imagine the journalism program without the accompanying radio students working with us hand in hand to keep the radio station running with music and news. I met a lot of talented people in my time working for the station, including CJCS’s afternoon host Kate Ahrens, who was often opposite the booth glass from me during my newscasting shifts.
Just before the program was axed, the student union’s
Letter to the Editor
Ontario’s Bill 5 threatens the health of our children
I find it incredible that we are ignoring the enormous threat Bill 5 poses to children.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association calls Bill 5 a “power grab,” and it’s one that can directly hurt children. With the creation of “special economic zones” permitting the suspension of basic labour standards, including those relating to child labour, workplace safety, minimum wag-
Restoring small-town journalism, one community at a time!
STRATFORD TIMES
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president announced in March its decision to shutter the student-run newspaper, the Interrobang. In an utterly deplorable decision, the newspaper’s contributors will be shown the door and its few full-time employees will cease to produce award-winning student journalism, instead producing social media and promotional content for the same union which decimated it. What a sign of the times. With these two decisions, I really worry about the young students with aspirations of being reporters. The opportunities they will have to learn, stretch their muscles, and –most importantly – fail, will be significantly diminished. Our jobs aren’t exactly difficult, but they are complicated. Young journalists need to have the opportunity to be wrong and to learn from being wrong. As much as I cringe from those early mistakes – whether I upset a newsmaker or wound-up in a snowbank – I would not be where I am today without Fanshawe.
At the most recent Ontario Community Newspaper Association retreat, I had the pleasure of speaking with an editor of a paper much like ours in a community not to far away from Stratford. He lamented that there is hardly any real journalism programs left in the province and that finding qualified journalists right out of school is a lost cause. I disagreed. Each year, young journalists desperate for a chance to work leave their programs with an empty résumé and a hunger for experience. They just need a chance to fail upward.
And hopefully not wind up in a snowbank in the process.
es, and hours of work, children may not only be drawn into harmful work, but they could also be harmed by the resulting toxins and pollution resulting from easing or removal of regulations..
The bill dismantles the Endangered Species Act and weakens habitat protections, impacting the clean air and water and green spaces critical for children’s physical and mental health. Children, especially infants, toddlers, and those in utero, are particularly susceptible to environmental toxins and disruptions. The bill also removes key enforcement powers and bypasses local and municipal oversight. How will our communities be able to advocate for the protection of their children?
Arguably, the Ford conservatives could turn entire cities into special economic zones, with weakened protec-
tions for all. What’s even worse, Bill 5 will make it easier to push forward large-scale high-emission projects, intensifying our climate change risks, from floods to heatwaves, to which children are most vulnerable.
It’s no wonder Indigenous people are arguing strongly against this bill. Indigenous children face a particular threat from Bill 5. It undermines mandatory consultation with Indigenous Nations, infringes treaty rights and cultural heritage and threatens the clean land and water needed for cultural practices, food and recreation. They are standing up for their children.
Protecting our children should be our first priority. With all this at stake, how can we tolerate this bill?
Sharon Collingwood Stratford
Mitchell woman hoping farm fresh app will increase in popularity
LEE GRIFFI
Pamela Morgan is a big fan of anything fresh from the farm in Ontario, and she hopes the app she created will reach more farmers and members of the public.
Farm Fresh Finder is available for download Apple and Android devices and it allows users to search for everything from markets to butcher shops and beyond. Morgan said the idea for the app came from family trips during her younger years.
“We used to go camping quite a bit across Ontario and we would always look for farm stands, fresh produce, pick-your-own farms, that kind of stuff. I have a passion for agriculture and a love of fresh food.”
The app went live in 2023 and was
developed by a company from London. Morgan, a Stratford native, explained over 600 vendors have signed up for the free marketing opportunity.
“My goal is to get as many as I can from Perth, Oxford and the surrounding counties and then grow it outward. I do have a lot of places up north and Ottawa way, but it’s just connecting consumers to fresh, local foods.”
Categories include meat, cheese and eggs; beer, wine, cider and spirits; syrup, honey and baking; flower farms and nurseries; experiences and farmers’ markets. Morgan said the easiest way to search for what’s near you is to use the map feature within the app.
“Whatever location you are in you can find what’s close to you, bakeries, flower farms, all that stuff. When you click on the map you will see all the different icons representing what is avail-
able nearby.”
The app cost $10,000 and Morgan explained she hopes to be able to make at least some of that money back once there is enough traffic on it. The app is listed on the Foodland Ontario website.
She added it’s more important than ever to support local these days.
“We’re in such a rich agricultural area and there’s so much to be found and so many hidden gems people don’t know about. This is a good way to find them. It’s growing quickly.”
Morgan works as a library program-
mer at the West Perth Public Library in Mitchell but explained growing the app is almost a full-time job.
“I’m doing this on the side but it’s a lot of work trying to keep up with it. A vendor interested in signing up can go to the website and select ‘add a listing’. They can post their address, hours of operation, contact information and any other relevant details. Pictures can also be posted and again, everything is free.”
More information on the app is available at https://www.farmfreshfinder.ca/.
Times Correspondent
Donation expands AED access in Perth County
Perth County Paramedic Services was honoured to receive a generous donation of three automated external defibrillators (AEDs) from Kickstart My Heart earlier this year.
An AED helps restart a heart that has stopped beating properly during sudden cardiac arrest. It analyzes the heart's rhythm and, if needed, delivers an electrical shock to restore a normal heartbeat.
“The earlier you can do it, the better the survival rate,” said Mike Adair, chief of paramedic services. “Having accessible AEDs in the community is essential to cardiac safety.”
The donated AEDs will be added to Perth County’s regional Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) program, which places and monitors AEDs in publicly accessible locations across the region.
The latest AED model now includes a screen that displays visual prompts to guide users through each step. This can be particularly helpful for individuals who are hearing impaired or overwhelmed in an emergency.
“When someone is going into cardiac arrest, it can be very overwhelming with everything going on around you,” said Scott Rutherford, commander-in-chief. “Some people may not hear the prompts. With the new device, the screen is able to walk you through using the AED with visuals. It's just that one extra step to support people in using the AED efficiently.”
Through the PAD program, AEDs are currently placed at 94 locations across Perth County, including city halls, recreation centres, pools, libraries and other public buildings.
“More AEDs translate to a better chance of survival for people in our communities,” said Rutherford. “If it's available, it can be used. If it's not available, it can’t.
“We know that the chance of survival significantly increases when people have access to AEDs. That's why a program
York
like this is so important.”
Although using an AED can seem intimidating, Rutherford said paramedics want the public to feel confident in using them – because it could mean the difference between life and death.
“If you come across someone who’s unresponsive, just go get (the AED),” he
said. “The machine, once turned on, is very easy to use and walks you through each step.
“I’m not worried about the cost of replacing the system – I’m worried about the person you could save. So just get it and use it.”
Adair added there’s no harm in using one, even if you’re unsure.
“You don’t need to worry about using it wrong or on someone who doesn’t need it,” he said. “Each machine only shocks two of the most fatal heart rhythms, so it cannot hurt anyone who doesn’t need it.”
Kickstart My Heart is a charitable organization formed in 2024 by the Otto family to raise funds for public defibrillators. The initiative was inspired after an AED saved 18-year-old Cole Otto’s life during a cardiac event at the Mitchell baseball diamonds in 2023.
“After the incident with Cole, we felt compelled to take action to ensure more people can benefit from access to life-saving AEDs,” said the Otto family. “It was important to us to make a positive impact out of a frightening experience that could have ended much differently had an AED not been available.”
Adair said the PAD program is always looking to expand and improve.
“We are grateful for this generous donation to our PAD program,” he said. “It is our goal to make these life-saving devices readily available across the region.”
Future plans include modernizing the program and creating a digital map so community members can easily locate AEDs in their area.
Perth County Paramedic Services also offers an AED loaner program for special events. For more information, contact Perth County Paramedic Services directly.
Perth County Paramedic Services Chief Mike Adair and commander Scott Rutherford display one of the newly donated automated external defibrillators (AEDs) gifted to Perth County by the charitable organization, Kickstart My Heart.
(AMANDA MODARAGAMAGE PHOTO)
AMANDA MODARAGAMAGE Times Reporter
Stratford’s Diane Sims (CM) reflects on Order of Canada investiture ceremony at Rideau Hall
After finding out she had been named a member of the Order of Canada late last year, Stratford journalist, author and advocate Diane Sims (CM) officially received her medal from Governor General Mary Simon at Rideau Hall during the official investiture ceremony on June 25.
Sims, who is living with end-stage multiple sclerosis (MS), uses a motorized scooter to get around and has been approved for medical assistance in dying (MAiD), has been a staunch advocate both for accessibility on a local level here in Stratford and nationally for MAiD, having recently been appointed an honorary champion for Bridge C-14, an organization that provides peer-to-peer support for Canadians, their caregivers and their loved ones before, during and after MAiD.
On top of her work in journalism, which
includes her fearless piece, “How I Plan To Die,” published in Maclean’s Magazine in June 2023, Sims has also written several books, most recently her unflinching memoir, Living Beyond the Shadow, which she released late last year.
For Sims, the trip to Ottawa wasn’t as simple as it was for some of the other Order of Canada honourees who joined her at Rideau Hall. She was accompanied by her husband, Dennis Thomas, as well as her personal support worker who helps her daily at home in Stratford.
“We got to Ottawa on June 23 and they paid for my support worker; they flew her down,” Sims said. “ … we needed a double bed for my ceiling lift, but I needed the accessible washroom for makeup and brushing my teeth and all of that. So, they had connecting rooms; my support worker stayed in the accessible room – we kept the connecting door open – and I (slept in the adjoining room).
“When Rideau Hall is paying the bill, they take excellent care. The general manager (of the Four Points Sheraton in Gatineau) saw me every day, asked what we needed and … she was just excellent with us.”
The day of the ceremony itself was a long one. With rehearsal scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Sims and her support worker had to begin her morning routine at 4:30 a.m., but it was all worth it as she and Thomas drove across the Alexander Bridge from Gatineau into Ottawa and approached Rideau Hall.
“All we had to do was go over the bridge, turn left on Sussex and take a beautiful little drive down Sussex,” Sims said. “The gates to Rideau Hall were open and the guards were at the gate checking off our names. It felt wonderful looking at all the trees that had been planted and the lovely gardens. They had a nice, accessible spot for us very close to the door and there’s a ramp going in. We were met by the events coordinator and ushered into a waiting room.”
After each of the honourees had a chance to learn their cues and find their marks at the front of the ceremonial hall, the investiture ceremony began in earnest and Sims had the moment she had been waiting for since last fall.
“The ceremony started at 11 a.m. and we were waiting in the Tent Room, which is a beautiful room and the ceiling is like a tent, red and white,” Sims said. “That’s also the luncheon room and I think that’s where they have dinners. The ceremony started and the governor general made some opening remarks, and then the Rideau Hall officiant who was reading the citations began calling names. I went up and I bowed before (Simon) and I winked at her, and she smiled at me. Then I went over to the other (mark on the floor) and they read my citation, which was very humbling.
“Then back to in front of the governor general, and that’s where she pinned (my medal) on me. It’s beautiful. Pictures don’t do it justice because the intricacy of the work is beautiful. It felt unbelievable, just unbelievable, because I felt I didn’t deserve
it. It was so humbling, but I felt like this was out of this world.”
Following the ceremony, the honourees were taken back into the Tent Room for the luncheon. When lunch was served, there was a minor mix-up for Sims as she was served a plate of vegetables, none of which are included in the very limited diet she is able to eat. Sims said she told Rideau Hall staff about the mix-up; they apologized profusely and then the chef came out personally to figure out what he could prepare for her.
“(The events coordinator) brought the head chef back to me and he said, ‘What can I make for you?’ … He made me shrimp and scallops on rice with a nice spicey sauce because he said to me, ‘I understand you like spice,’ so they obviously pulled up my record. I had some cooked beets, which I can have, and some pieces of parmesan cheese. When he brought the plate to me, he said this parmesan cheese is from Monforte (Dairy), which is near Stratford,” Sims laughed.
“And I said, ‘I know Ruth (the owner),’ and he started laughing. While I’m up at Rideau Hall, there I am eating Monforte cheese.”
Sims said she enjoyed her lunch so much, she asked for more and ended up being so full, she passed on the beautiful array of cakes and other desserts available to her and her fellow honourees.
After lunch, Sims said the honourees had an opportunity to chat with one another and pose for photos with each other and the governor general. While posing for a photo with Simon, Sims said she gave the governor general a copy of Living Beyond the Shadow, which Simon promised to read in its entirety.
And Sims’ day didn’t end there. After a few hours of rest back at the hotel, Sims and Thomas celebrated with friends and supporters at a book-launch event at Perfect Books on Elgin Street.
The event was her first opportunity to wear her Order of Canada medal after it was presented to her, and she said she enjoyed every minute of it.
GALEN SIMMONS Regional Editor
Back home in Stratford, Diane Sims (CM) proudly shows off her Order of Canada medal.
Newly appointed member of the Order of Canada Diane Sims poses for a photo with Canadian Governor General Mary Simon.
(GALEN SIMMONS PHOTO)
(DIANE SIMS PHOTO)
Huron Perth Public Health releases 2024 annual report
Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) has released its 2024 annual report, offering a detailed overview of the programs and services delivered across the region, with a stronger emphasis on immunization efforts compared to the previous year’s post-pandemic focus.
This year’s report outlines HPPH’s ongoing vision to optimize health and well-being by taking action to protect and promote population health, prevent disease and enhance the quality of life for residents.
“The HPPH 2024 Annual Report includes updates on core public health programs and services likely familiar to our community, such as infectious disease control, immunizations, and Healthy Babies Healthy Children,” said Dr. Miriam Klassen, medical officer of health.
“Our report also describes several
new initiatives that leverage technology, partnerships and the latest evidence to achieve public health goals. These include leading the infection prevention and control (IPAC) hub to support congregate settings, widely sharing our social connection primer and launching a new opioid monitoring tool.”
As mandated under the Ontario Health Protection and Promotion Act, HPPH followed up on suspected and confirmed outbreaks of gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses in long-term care and retirement homes.
In 2024, 73 outbreaks were declared in these facilities. Of these, 104 were confirmed cases of influenza. There were 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19, which resulted in 14 deaths between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024.
HPPH provided 102 in-school immunization clinics across Huron-Perth for routine Grade 7 and Grade 10 vaccines, resulting in 3,640 total immunizations.
In response to vaccine access gaps, two COVID-19 clinics were held in St. Marys, identified as an underserved area.
On the environmental health front, HPPH expanded its “Check What We Inspect” disclosure website. In 2024, institutional food service kitchens were added, allowing the public to view inspection results for hospitals, childcare centres, long-term care homes and retirement homes.
Looking ahead, HPPH plans to include inspection results for personal service settings (hair salons, aesthetics, tattoo studios) and recreational water facilities (pools, spas, splash pads, wading pools) on the site in 2025.
Health promotion efforts this year focused on healthy eating, alcohol and substance use, reproductive health and enforcement of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. Of the 163 total complaints under the act, roughly 81 per cent came from
schools, primarily due to student vaping infractions.
The report also highlights HPPH’s commitment to equity, anti-racism, diversity and inclusion. The Health Equity Team developed the HPPH Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Lens to help staff embed these principles into programs and services throughout the region.
In 2024, the Healthy Smiles Ontario program reached 7,400 children in junior kindergarten, senior kindergarten, and Grades 2, 4 and 7 across the region.
The Healthy Babies Healthy Children program, including its Anabaptist Community Work initiative, expanded to two sites in Huron County.
The report also touches on improvements in communication, website development, surveillance, health assessment and research.
For more information or to read the full report, visit www.hpph.ca.
Shovels in the ground for new peopleCare long-term care home in Stratford
Construction is officially underway at the site of the new 288-bed peopleCare long-term care home on Vivian Line 37 in Stratford, following a groundbreaking ceremony held on July 17.
The state-of-the-art facility is expected to open its doors to residents in 2027.
“This is more than just building a beautiful new home for seniors,” said peopleCare chairman and CEO Brent Gingerich. “It’s about investing in Stratford and in the wellbeing of this community for generations to come. Through this home we’re creating jobs, supporting families and delivering the exceptional care and experiences our residents deserve.”
The home’s design will feature nine resident home areas (RHAs), each offering a more intimate and familiar living space for up to 32 residents. RHAs will include both standard and private rooms, each with access to dedicated balconies.
Amenities will include therapy rooms, a chapel, walking paths, dining and activity lounges, and a full-service barber and salon.
Last week’s celebration brought together community partners and local leaders, including Minister of LongTerm Care Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae and Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma.
“It is great to welcome peopleCare back to Stratford and celebrate the ground-breaking of their new long-term care home,” said Rae. “Our seniors helped build our province and country, and our provincial government will be
there to support them in their golden years. This redevelopment will ensure that more of our seniors have access to health care close to home.”
The event also included second-generation leaders Mary and O’Derald Gingerich, along with Bob and Myrna Schlegel, who co-founded the original peopleCare Stratford home. Their son, Kirby Schlegel, attended the ceremony as a development partner.
“It was a proud family moment, with their son Kirby Schlegel also in attendance as a development partner on the
project,” read a statement from peopleCare.
“This is a bit of a full circle moment for me,” said Kirby. “I grew up watching my mom and dad make a difference in healthcare. Their commitment to seniors’ care shaped the values I carry with me today.”
The new home will help reduce pressure on existing long-term care facilities in the region and free up hospital beds for acute care patients.
“Our government has a plan to improve long-term care, and a key part of
that plan is building modern, safe and comfortable homes,” said Kusendova-Bashta. “Today marks a significant milestone for the community of Stratford. When construction is complete, 288 residents will have a modern, comfortable place to call home.”
In Huron, Perth and Oxford counties, the waitlist for long-term care is nearly double the number of licensed beds currently available.
The Stratford project is supported by the province through the Construction Funding Subsidy top-up.
AMANDA MODARAGAMAGE Times Reporter
AMANDA MODARAGAMAGE Times Reporter
A rendering shows the outdoor space planned for the new peopleCare long-term care home in Stratford, which is expected to welcome residents in 2027.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Avondale welcomes renowned Dr. Michael Ungar virtually for presentation on resilient children
Just in time for the upcoming school year, Avondale United Church and local community partners will host an event where parents, caregivers, coaches, educators and other members of the community can learn how to ensure kids become resilient.
Avondale United Church, in partnership with the Kiwanis Club of Stratford, the Huron-Perth Centre of Children and Youth and the Canadian Mental Health Association of Huron-Perth, will host a “Raising Resilient Children”: A Family, School and Community Approach – A Virtual Evening with Dr. Michael Ungar on Sept. 10 starting at 6:30 p.m.
Ungar of Dalhousie University is the founder and research chair of the Resilience Research Centre and is known for writing “Nine Things All Children Need to be Resilient,” which are:
• Structure
• Consequences
• Parent-child connections
• Lots and lots of strong relationships
• A powerful identity
• A sense of control
• A sense of belonging
• Fair and just treatment
• Physical and psychological safety
Ungar will be joining virtually over video call and anyone interested in learning more about his tips for
raising resilient kids can either attend in-person at Avondale United Church or virtually via Zoom.
Avondale hosted a similar event back in February called “Raising Resilient Children and Youth: It Takes a Village,” where Ungar’s principals were applied. The event came after community engagement coordinator Aleah Graff and congregation member Terri Sparling said there were around 40 attendees who liked the event and the teachings, but they wanted to hear it from Ungar directly.
“Anybody can give him the most difficult situation, and he will find a way to weave those nine things so that that person leaves feeling like they've really got something to grab a hold of,” Sparling said.
Barbara Schoch, treasurer of the Kiwanis Club of Stratford, said the organization’s priority is supporting children. The event will help parents teach children how to stay strong in challenging times, especially given the past few years.
"In our world today, raising resilient children is incredibly important. They've gone through so much stress with the pandemic. Our world is such upheaval in a lot of ways and just to give the parents and the caregivers and the professionals the tools to work with these children is just fantastic,” she said.
Anyone looking to register for the free event can send an email to eventsavondale@wightman.ca by Sept. 5, and must indicate if they are attending in-person or virtually.
Draft procedural bylaw changes headed to open house for public feedback
tem; and the possibility of a regular open forum preceding meetings or hosting a semi-regular town hall.
After about two years in development, the review of the procedural bylaw (the bylaw which governs the structure of Stratford city council meetings) is nearing completion – but before it goes to council for final approval it heads to an open house for public feedback.
On July 21, council held a special meeting to go over the draft recommended changes, as presented by clerk Tatiana Dafoe. As she said, its been a long process and it isn’t over yet.
“We've done a lot of work to put our recommendations forward,” Dafoe said. “We're looking for some feedback from yourselves, and then once we have that feedback, that's when we'll draft a fully new procedural bylaw, and that's what's going to go forward to a future public meeting to get additional feedback from the public … We will prepare another follow up report with any additional provisions or changes, and then work to have the bylaw adopted hopefully at the end of this year, with the implementation by 2026.”
Some of the key changes recommended include, but are not limited to, the date, location and times of meetings, as well as a rehaul of the various committees of council; the structure of meetings, including the possibility of having hybrid meetings that would allow public delegations, city staff or councillors to attend digitally; the length of citizen deputations; the implementation of a digital vote manager sys-
Another big change recommended by the clerk’s office was to change from a threestep process (where items move through a subcommittee composed of five councillors, a standing committee composed of 10 councillors and then final council approval) to a two-step process where council would meet at the committee level once before a recommendation moves onto council for final approval.
The reasoning, the clerk argued, was that although the three-step process allows for three opportunities for an issue to be discussed, it can also take six to eight weeks for a decision to be made.
Coun. Brad Beatty, who has served on council for a number of terms, praised the recommendation.
“It was exciting when I saw this,” he said. “… We get enough conversation at the committee level that removing where we're having five voices listening at subcommittee and going to 10 – let’s just cut to the chase. Go to the committee of council then to council. That two-step process (is) much more streamlined, much more efficient.”
Coun. Cody Sebben disagreed. He made a motion to keep the three-step process, though it died on the floor with no seconder.
Council did agree on a number of changes to the draft recommendations. For instance, originally it was recommended
that the time for council meetings would alternate between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., with the idea being that having different times would allow for members of the public with differing work schedules to participate in council; however, councillors largely felt that the differing times would confuse the public and voted to keep the meeting times in the evening.
One of the most contentious changes for council, however, was the proposed change of cutting a delegate’s time from 10 minutes at the podium to five minutes.
Some councillors, like Coun. Lesley Biehn, thought it was not the right message to send to Stratford residents.
“We’re elected to these rules for the purpose of representing people,” Biehn said. “So I think hearing them is part of that job and I just don’t like the idea of communicating that we want to hear less. I just think that it's very important to keep that space open for people to participate.”
“I think brevity actually helps people’s arguments,” Coun. Larry McCabe replied. “And given five minutes to hone their argument, to really hit the key points … The people who I've felt to have been most effective delegators to council have had a really strong, clear argument to make, and it helps us make decisions.”
“We want lots of input,” Coun. Mark Hunter reasoned. “But we also want meetings to run efficiently.”
In a razor-thin vote, a motion to reverse the recommendation and include the full 10 minute timeframe in the draft bylaw
was defeated 5-5. Sebben, Biehn, Coun. Geza Wordofa, Coun. Bonnie Henderson and Mayor Martin Ritsma supported keeping the original 10 minutes, while Beatty, McCabe, Hunter, Coun. Taylor Briscoe and Coun. Harjinder Nijjar were in favour of the five minute limit (Coun. Jo Dee Burbach was absent).
After the lengthy debate on the changes reached a conclusion and council was asked to direct staff to create a draft procedural bylaw, Sebben said that he was “discouraged” by the events of the meeting and couldn’t in good conscience support that action.
“I think there are so many things that I am not okay with,” he said.
He was evidently the only councillor who felt that way, as a motion to move forward with the draft recommendations passed with him as the lone holdout.
Although there were aspects of the recommendations that Henderson disagreed with, she supported the motion, saying that she was hopeful that the final bylaw will be informed by the public and one final discussion by city council.
As Dafoe said at the beginning of the meeting, no final decision was to be made on the procedural bylaw that evening, rather that the meeting was to be the first of many steps to finalize the review.
To review the draft changes presented to council, visit: https://calendar.stratford. ca/meetings/Detail/2025-07-21-1830-Special-Council/e81ecebb-b572-4644-9513b317014336cd.
EMILY STEWART Times Correspondent
(ALEAH GRAFF PHOTO)
CONNOR LUCZKA Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Local business launches city wide creative project to capture the spirit of Stratford
ALEX HUNT Times Correspondent
Stratford means something different to everyone and #howucstratford invites locals and visitors to show their version of the city.
investStratford and Kevin September, owner of Our Stōr(y) located on 7 George St. W, have launched a month-long initiative to invite locals and visitors to answer the question on how they see Stratford.
“What is the character of Stratford, what’s beautiful about Stratford? The word culture, what does that mean?” said September. “The whole idea is that you could ask anyone in this town about what any of this mean, you will get a different answer.”
Open to all ages, the initiative invites people to take their time and explore Stratford through a creative lens. Participants are encouraged to seek out notebooks and QR codes scattered around the city, including inside Our Stōr(y), and reflect on how they see Stratford. Whether it’s through a drawing, a short note, or a thoughtful message, everyone is welcome to contribute.
“I’ve been doing some reading lately and having lots of discussions. The thing that keeps resonating from these conversations is that creativity,” said September. “Creatives need to be invited to more discussions whether that be policy or any number of things. These individuals can often surprise people in how quickly they solve a solution.”
Stories and creations can also be shared through social media using the hashtag #howucstratford. All participants are encouraged to provide their email to receive an invite to a celebration event set to be hosted in the fall.
September, who opened Stōr(y) 14 months ago, is excited about the collaboration with investStratford on the new initiative. His shop already showcases and sells work by local creatives, making it a natural hub for celebrating community voices.
“The idea for this place has always been to celebrate our region and share local stories through the
artists and makers that create here,” said September. “In this store I feature works from creators that live locally, everything is from a creator local to the area. There’s work from people that work at the theatre.” With #howucstratford, September hopes to deepen
that mission. By inviting the community to reflect creatively on what Stratford means to them, he aims to spark conversation, connection and pride in the local voices. It’s about sharing stories and realizing how many different ways there are to see a city.
Labour Day at the museum to highlight local movements towards workers’ rights
In early September, there’s a chance to learn more about labour history on Labour Day at the museum.
The Stratford Perth Museum and the Stratford and District Labour Council will host Labour Day at the Museum on Sept. 1 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The free event will feature indoor and outdoor activities, weather-dependent, including a barbeque, live music, and a labour day history walk with between six to eight storytellers. The event will also feature signs with labour history in Stratford and area and labour-related film screenings with material from the National Film Board.
"The purpose of this really is to celebrate Stratford and Canada's labour history through a fun, inclusive, and engaging day of some pop-up exhibits,” said Kelly McIntosh, general manager of the Stratford-Perth Museum.
Labour Day at the Museum will also tie in existing exhibits to Stratford’s labour history. For example, the 1933 Stratford General strike where the military had to be involved to call off the strike.
Gary Goulding, the labour council’s sergeant at arms, came to Stratford from Newfoundland and Labrador after seeing in a newspaper that there were jobs available in Stratford. Goulding worked at Kroehler Manufacturing and became involved in the unionization of Kroehler Furniture and Manufacturing.
"They took care of people. They may not have paid them as much, but they would have Christmas parties and they would get them on a train and load them up and take them out to Goderich beach in the summer,” McIntosh said. “This was an era of how big companies treated their employees, they had newspapers, so Kroehler survived that era they managed to make it through unionization and kept a lot of that good family vibe going until they closed in the early 90s."
July 24 Bob & Carol Darling, St. Marys $50.00
July 25 Michelle Luckhart, Shakespeare $50.00
July 26 Mark Romphf, Stratford $200.00
McIntosh was approached by members of the Stratford and District Labour Council about the initiative, who wanted to create something akin to Labour Day parades of the past. Although McIntosh grew up just outside of Stratford, she has fond childhood memories of attending the parades.
“It brings back memories of this fun day. I knew I was going to get lots of freezies and get to play games, and they want to bring it back and celebrate it on Labour Day at the Stratford-Perth Museum, so we're super lucky that this is happening,” she said.
McIntosh said that Labour history, like any history, can teach us about how it is possible to make changes, no matter how difficult it is to get there.
"We're learning more and more. We have to take a look at our history to look at the difficult points where our society, our communities, had to look at a problem … and really looking at how hard it was for change,” she said. “That's one thing that history demonstrates, is how hard it is to change and then in those moments, where people are able to band together and push through and make change happen that is better for everyone, we can see that it is actually possible to do it.”
Kevin September, owner of Our Stōr(y), is joining with investStratford to invite the community to ask the question, “What is Stratford?”
EMILY STEWART Times Correspondent
Billiard
Anyone in search of a little more fun at home should look no further than Joyland’s Billiard & Games Warehouse in Stratford.
For more than four decades, Barry Cooper – the owner of Joyland – has made a career out of bringing fun and entertainment to all kinds of indoor spaces, first providing coin-operated pinball machines, pool tables and other games to bars and restaurants, before turning his attention to all the possibilities that exist for home-entertainment spaces.
“As times changed and evolved, different things happened. Non-smoking (laws), cost of rent (increases) and, therefore, the locations didn’t want that equipment, because it takes up so much room,” Cooper said. “So, then, we decided, since we had extra time, we could start selling home stuff. So, even back in 2000, we were doing home set-ups for people looking for pool tables, pinball machines, and more.
Five years ago, he opened a storage facility and started looking at opportunities to utilize the retail space in the building. Initially, the store focused on the items Cooper knew best. Visitors could explore the selection of pool tables, foosball tables, ping pong tables, pinball machines and shuffleboards, and Cooper would then assist them in choosing the perfect pieces to suit their home space – including essential neon signs and other fun man-cave furnishings and décor.
Approximately six months after Joyland opened their retail space, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, ush-
ering in a golden age for those in the home-entertainment industry. As everyone began looking for something to do at home, Cooper saw a surge in business and he continued to expand his offerings based on that demand.
While the sale of some of those big-ticket items have slowed since the early days of the pandemic, it has picked up in a big way in other areas.
“We’re still selling darts, dart supplies, puzzles, boardgames,” Cooper said. “… They’re a yearround thing. Our biggest seller is the darts. As soon as Luke Littler – a 16-year-old guy who won a world championship against some of the biggest players in darts – all of the sudden, we had a surge in young players coming in to buy darts. They think, ‘Oh, anybody can do this? Man, I’m going to go get a $60 set of darts.’”
The other aspect of Cooper’s business, boardgames and puzzles, came somewhat out of leftfield and wasn’t something he was not familiar with. A friend of his who had just closed their retail business after 35 years was instrumental in assisting Cooper to expand the business. His expertise in retail displays and sales was a huge asset to the success of Joyland.
While Cooper isn't an expert on every game in the store, he prides himself on having knowledgeable staff who understand the games Joyland has on the shelves and to be able to recommend to customers what boardgames they might enjoy.
Joyland is still very much a hidden gem in Stratford, but more and more people – whether they are pool or darts players, boardgame enthusiasts or puzzlers – are beginning to discover it and word of mouth is spreading quickly.
For more information, visit joylandsbilliardandgames.ca or, better yet, stop in and see it for yourself at 64 Linton Ave.
GALEN SIMMONS Regional Editor
Barry Cooper has all the fun and entertainment you need in your home at Joyland’s Billiard & Games Warehouse at 64 Linton Ave. in Stratford.
(GALEN SIMMONS PHOTO)
Stratford brings in $130,000 for hospice care services
ensure that residents can live in comfort when coming to the end of life.
They walked, they fundraised and they delivered.
Supporters of Rotary Hospice Stratford Perth exceeded the donation goal and raised over $130,000 for this year’s Hike for Hospice.
“I’m incredibly proud of the community,” said Lucie Stuart, director of fund development and stewardship at the hospice. “It's the power of many. All that adds up and we beat that goal of $130,000. I’m incredibly proud of the community, thank you all for coming through once again.”
Stuart said that the turnout at the was a beautiful moment, with a walking team bringing in $25,000. With many others bringing $5,000 to $7,000, all accumulating to the $130,000-fundraising goal.
Proceeds will be used to provide care and suitable equipment at the hospice and will
“There are so many worthwhile causes in our area, there are worries about the economy, the rise of high jobless rates, and tariffs,” said Stuart. “With so much in the world going on, it’s amazing to see this support from the community.”
After the hike’s success, Rotary Hospice Stratford Perth is now focussing its efforts on the next major community event, with their seventh annual Handbags for Hospice fundraiser. The event will feature a cocktail evening of bidding through the silent auction, along with some finger foods and golden ticket prizes.
The event is set to take place at Best Western Arden Park Hotel on Oct. 16.
“Originally, the event was handbags and over the years it has evolved, and we have been adding different items that ap -
peal to different price ranges,” said Stuart. There’s a fun element where the guests arrive and can purchase our golden ticket for $100 each and the
drawn winner can pick an auction item of their choice.”
Stuart said that last year’s winner won a resort getaway trip to Collingwood. Hospice
volunteers also created origami envelopes and paper purses. The auction also featured gift certificates and donated wine bottles.
“There is a time set in the evening where we pause the live auction and we take a moment where we remind ourselves why we have gathered and a family member will share their story on their personal experience with the hospice,” said Stuart.
Last year, proceeds from the fundraisers were raised to develop the hospice’s new Serenity Garden, which had its groundbreaking last Monday evening. The fundraiser goal for this year is currently being kept under wraps.
As Rotary Hospice Stratford Perth looks ahead to its next big night giving, the momentum from the Hike for Hospice serves as a powerful reminder of the community’s ongoing commitment to compassionate end-of-life care.
ALEX HUNT
Times Correspondent
Hike for Hospice becomes community success with $130,000 raised.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Chocolate Barr’s Candies fundraiser a sweet deal for hospice and a tribute to legendary chocolatier
Derek Barr and his wife Jacqueline are in the midst of a fundraiser for Rotary Hospice Stratford Perth to raise money in memory of good friend and mentor Rhéo Thompson who recently passed away.
The Champ, a sweet confection created by Derek Barr specifically for the fundraiser, is a chocolate bar made with fudge, sweet soft caramel and roasted peanuts.
As Barr said, it was the late Thompson which started him in his career. Thompson and Barr’s father were close friends and Derek would often find himself at Thompson’s store.
“So, basically after years of doing that, helping out Rhéo in the shop during high school and elementary school, I went off to college. After college, I didn’t end up working for what I went to college for and I was on my way to go join the military when Rhéo offered me a position as an apprentice,” said Barr.
In that moment, Derek’s life and future found a new path. Thompson was a citizen of the city, a man who took to many causes. He passed on to Barr his knowledge of the business and his sense of civic responsibility.
Following in the very large footsteps of Thompson, Chocolate Barr’s Candies opened in 2003. As was with his mentor, who loved the city, Derek and wife Jacqueline have been philanthropic too by supporting charities and assisting fundraisers. As such, they were inspired to raise funds for Rotary Hospice in memory of Thomspon.
Shelp Help: Sunrise on the Reaping
HEATHER LISTER Stratford Public Library
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins @SPL YA Fic Colli
Sunrise on the Reaping is another triumph for Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins. This is her second prequel to the original trilogy, and she once again immerses the reader in the dystopian world of Panem.
The central character in this story is Haymitch Abernathy, and readers will of course remember him from the original trilogy as the deeply troubled mentor to Katniss and Peeta. Here, the author conjures up the character of a young Haymitch perfectly, and we learn why he became the tired and jaded man we encounter in the novels set in the future.
Sunrise on the Reaping takes place twenty-four years before the first Hunger Games novel, when Haymitch is only sixteen years old, but readers will recognize the same moral fortitude we see later in the older man as he provides for his widowed mother and younger brother.
The story begins with a young Haymitch inadvertently becoming a substitute tribute for another boy, and before long he finds himself shipped off to the Capitol to fight in the fiftieth Hunger Games. The odds are certainly not in his favour, but his determination is unshakeable.
The story of Haymitch is one that Hunger Games fans needed to be told, and we finally find out what makes Haymitch the way he is.
What better way to raise money than with sweetness in the form of The Champ?
“One of the things that he liked to do was a butter cream and mix peanuts in them,” explained Barr. “He never sold them; they were just for his consumption. So we were trying to think of a way to honour him and remember him and I always thought that was one of those chocolates that he always loved so we tried it with butter cream but it was just too sweet, so we added a gooey caramel – but it was still a little too sweet so we added fudge … put together, it balances out.”
The chocolate bar is called The Champ because that was the nickname given to Thompson, and his loving wife of many years, Sally, was “Mrs. Champ.” In business, they were a team, just as Barr and his wife Jacqueline are today.
“My wife Jacqueline keeps things going. She’s the mind behind everything. She’s the driver and deserves a lot of credit for what goes on. She was responsible for the packaging and everything else that goes into this. I do all the candy work, and she does all the work behind the scenes.”
The Champ chocolate bar sells for $8.99 with the entire amount to be donated to Rotary Hospice. The fundraiser will continue until the end of August and Chocolate Barr’s Candies is located at 55 George St. W.
The Rotary Hospice provides a peaceful, comfortable home with 24-hour specialized palliative care for those at end-of-life as well as support for those in their circle. It provides a needed alternative to institutional care facilities and home care.
By Jake Grant
1. What Canadian province has the most earthquakes?
2. Alphabet Inc. is the parent company of what corporation?
3. What two colors is Poland's flag?
4. What is the name of the bear in The Jungle Book ?
5. In tennis, what word is used for a score of zero?
6. Which U.S. state was the first to join the union after the original 13 colonies?
7. Which band released the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ?
8. What colour is Mike Wazowski?
9. What vitamin is commonly found in citrus fruits like oranges?
10. When was the first Academy Awards held?
LISA CHESTER Times Correspondent
It tastes even better than it looks. The Champ chocolate bar was created in memory of Rhéo Thompson, the legendary chocolatier who recently passed. The bar is sold as a fundraiser for Rotary Hospice Stratford Perth in which 100 per cent of the proceeds will be donated.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Fresh from their honeymoon, owners of Taylor’s Deli bring new ideas straight from Italy
CONNOR LUCZKA
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
After running their new, booming business for only six months, Amber and Stewart Taylor did what many new business owners would baulk at: they closed their doors for nearly a month.
While they had just opened Taylor’s Delicatessen at its downtown location at 118 Downie St., they were also newlyweds and seriously contemplating whether or not they would be able to go on a honeymoon while their new business was only in its infancy.
Ultimately, they knew it was the right decision.
“A lot of people know our love story,” Amber explained. “So, they were rooting for us. But the fact that we were also in Italy and we were sharing that experience on social media, and then coming back with menu items … people were excited for it.”
Amber and Stewart shut down the deli on June 12 and traveled across much of Italy, staying in Rome, Venice and Bologna in particular, before returning and reopening on July 3, selling freshly made sandwiches once again. Regulars will also note some new menu items, inspired by their sojourn in Italy.
The “Della Verde” is only four ingredients: focaccia, mortadella, burrata and pesto. As Amber said, it was one of the
foods in Italy that she was routinely ordering wherever they went. Since putting it on their menu, the Della Verde has become one of their best-selling sandwiches.
“But we definitely have some other cool ideas, naturally we’ll roll out,” Amber said.
While the first new menu item is very Italian-inspired, Amber said the next few ideas will be “on brand.” The Italian deli style is the foundation of their business, she explained, but they have always had other items that may be a little more leftfield that have earned their spot on the menu, inspired by the lived-experiences of everyone in the building.
“We have perogies, which are a huge hit,” Amber pointed out. “Vira is from Ukraine … and for her interview she brought in perogies. She’s still learning English, and it was like ‘These need to be on the menu.’ And she makes them with so much love, you know?”
Amber explained that the financial aspect of shutting down was a factor that made them pause, but they were incredibly grateful for the community’s support.
“We have had such incredible support,” she said. “Everyone knew we got engaged, that was the story, and everyone was so excited about us growing partners … financially it wasn’t an issue.”
“Amber and I are planners,” added Stewart, before saying that the break seeming-
ly helped their reputation, comparing it to when there is a break in a burgeoning relationship that makes people yearn for their partner more – to which Amber agreed.
Taylor’s Deli opened in January of this year. Stewart, who had worked as a fine dining chef in Stratford for many years prior, wanted to bring American, Mediterranean and French charcuterie to Stratford and his then-fiancée wanted to support his vision – thus the deli was born.
During their soft launch, as reported in the Jan. 24 edition of the Times, Stewart proposed, coinciding the launch of their business with their matrimonial union.
“It was a big thing for Amber and I to have the same last name,” Stewart previously told the Times. “It was a promise there. It was Saturday morning when I proposed and we had all our family and friends there. It was wonderful.”
Since then, they have garnered a huge following from residents and visitors alike. While they appreciate the business that tourists and social media influencers offer, Amber said that they remain devoted to their neighbours more than anything.
For instance, at the end of the day they take whatever fresh bread that didn’t get sold to the Stratford Connection Centre. They donate to local silent auction fundraisers, and this year they plan to sponsor a local hockey team.
“Whatever we can do to give back,”
Amber summarized.
Taylor’s Deli is open Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and open on Thursdays and Fridays until 7 p.m. With files from Alex Hunt, Times Correspondent.
Chef Stewart Taylor holds up a sandwich in front of the iconic Pantheon in the heart of Rome during his honeymoon with wife Amber Taylor. Now back in town, the couple have reopened their popular Taylor’s Delicatessen with new menu items inspired by their trip.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
L’Arche Stratford drives change with fifth annual golf fundraiser for new community hub
ALEX HUNT
Times Correspondent
It’s more than a golf game; it’s a swing towards inclusion.
L’Arche’s Stratford annual fundraiser returns with live music, a silent auction and a mission to expand its support for people with disabilities.
The annual golf tournament will shoot off Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. at the Stratford Municipal Golf Course, followed by a 4 p.m. after party held at the Ritsma Farm. The after party will feature a barbecue dinner, live music and a silent auction.
“The first year we had a significant number of golfers and each time, it’s grown,” said Christopher Cantlon, board member and chair of the fundraising and events committee at L’Arche Stratford. “People have been very generous and very helpful with this. There will be some very interesting bottles of wine at the silent auction, as well as some exciting gift certificates for dinners and wine tastings.”
Proceeds accumulated from the event will carry on to support the construction of the new community hub on 426 Britanna St., as part of L’Arche Stratford’s Be Belong Become capital campaign. The 15,000 square foot building is set to finish with eight living spaces for residents, offices for staff, along with activity rooms to expand on programming.
Cantlon expressed that last year, the event brought in around $8,500 and hopes to exceed that amount at the coming tournament.
Seaforth musician entertains
Seaforth’s Jason Lamont shared an afternoon of old musical favourites with the residents of Chartwell Anne Hathaway Retirement Residence in Stratford on Friday, July 11.
The 25-year-old musician played to a full house. Jason’s strong, rich voice and skilled guitar playing held the crowd’s attention for his entire performance. Jason played classic songs like “The Crystal Chandelier” by Charley Pride, “I Hear the Train a Comin’” by Johnny Cash, “The Green, Green Grass of Home” by Tom Jones, and “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell. Residents clapped, sang along and tapped their toes to the beat. Several audience members shouted out requests, including “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash and “King of the Road” by Roger Miller, which Jason was happy to play. He also sang “Happy Birthday” to residents with recent birthdays, and even led a sing-along of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” in honour of the Blue Jays.
Blind since birth, Jason began his musical journey at the W. Ross Macdonald School in Brantford. A visit to a local jam session in Mitchell with his grandmother Carol Francis helped Jason discover his passion for performing. Encouraged by local musician Ted Schinbein, Jason performed “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” by Kitty Wells for the first time. He took guitar lessons from Schinbein, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Jason now plays what he calls the “retirement home circuit,” travelling from Seaforth to Hensall, Brussels, Kincardine and Stratford, performing for seniors across the area. He performs five to six times each month. While he’s gained many fans along the way, his biggest supporters remain his parents, Tracy and Ray Lamont, and his grandparents Marg and Bruce Lamont and Glen Francis. His grandparents drive him to his shows, make song suggestions, and cheer him on every step of the way.
Jason is also a talented dancer. In 2023, he took part in Dancing with the Stars in Goderich, a fundraiser for Victim Services Huron Perth, where he impressed the crowd with his waltz and two-step.
When he's not performing, Jason runs his own small business, J’s Bicycle Repair, a Seaforth-based shop he owns and operates. Relying on his keen sense of touch, Jason provides full-service bicycle repairs, refurbishments and part replacements. The shop is located at 151 Main St. N, Seaforth, Ontario, and he can be reached at jsbicyclerepair@gmail.com.
Anne Hathaway resident Jillian Adams thanked Jason, saying, “Your performance was lovely and very refreshing. Thank you for a wonderful Friday afternoon.”
“I’ve been singing the same songs for quite a while,” Jason said with a smile. “It works.”
Jason ended his set with a medley of singalong favourites including “You Are My Sunshine,” “This Land Is Your Land,” and “When the Saints Go Marching In,” promising Anne Hathaway residents that he would return for another performance in October.
and that includes the assistants who help them, offices and houses are separate,” said Cantlon. “The idea behind this project was to consolidate all of that. We will still have the houses and the eight living spaces will be fully accessible”
Cantlon said that with the additional space, the organization will have opportunities to offer more programming for members. He hopes that L’Arche will be able to accommodate more individuals that are currently queued in the Huron-Perth waiting list which has exceeded into the high numbers.
“The point of the golf tournament is to introduce the wider community to the L’Arche core members, it's a matter of bringing people together and enjoying life. This provides a deeper understanding of human nature,” said Cantlon. “We are now at the point where there is a whole lot of work behind the scenes, with the grants and other components coming together, we are finally excited to have the shovels in the ground.”
“L’Arche Stratford currently has six homes, and we support 26 core members
Since 1973, L’Arche Stratford’s mission is to ensure that individuals with developmental disabilities are given the opportunity to form meaningful relationships. With operations that cover the care of 26 people in six homes and 50 through various programming and activities, the organization continues to make an inclusive impact on all community members.
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Golfers from previous years enjoy a sunny day of giving and making a difference. The fifth annual tournament takes place this year on Aug. 14.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
DIANE DANEN Times Contributor
STRATFORD SPORTS
Mike Hitchcock captures SOO silver in Brantford
Times Regional Reporter
Mike Hitchcock, a native of St. Marys who currently resides in Stratford, won a silver medal at the Special Olympics Ontario (SOO) Provincial Summer Games’ golf competition, hosted July 11-12 at the Wayne Gretzky Municipal Golf Course in Brantford.
Hitchcock, who competed in the M2 division, one of three divisions in the competition, described the experience of the weekend in glowing terms.
“It was awesome to win another medal,” Hitchcock told the Times. “It was really hot all weekend. It felt like 40 degrees, but I don’t mind (golfing in that heat).”
Everyone who knows Hitchcock knows he is a very bright personality who is seldom seen not in a positive mood, which he carried onto the golf course, leading to his strong performance.
“You just go out there and do your best. When I went out the first day, I shot 48 on the front nine, and then on the back nine, I shot 43 to get me to 91, and I was in first place in the M2 division. And then, the second day, I shot a 96 to bring home the silver medal.”
Hitchcock’s friend and caddy Ross Snider commented on Hitchcock’s well-known positive vibe.
“Mike has a nice confidence, which has served him well,” Snider said. “His demeanour on the course helps him do well. He had two very good playing partners, and they all kept each other focused and positive. He’s able to keep that positivity when things aren’t going his way, and he’s obviously gifted athletically. He always tries his best and never gives up. He’s an awesome young man, and great to be around.”
While there were some ups and downs during the two-day tournament, Snider cited several aspects of Hitchcock’s game that led him through it.
“His chipping and putting were very good,” Snider said. “They saved Mike many times. The first day, he got started well on hole number one. He teed off well and got onto the fringe of the backside of the green. Then, he had a few double bogeys, which were frustrating, but he held his composure well. Then, he made a par, and he got all of his confidence and swagger back, and from there, he played very well. He also made a birdie on hole 15, which I think carried him the rest of the way.”
Snider added the silver medal-winning performance
was look down at my arm,” Hitchcock said, pointing down to the words ‘never give up’ tattooed on his left forearm. “And I never gave up and did very good because of it. Just keep working, look at the arm, and I say, ‘Never give up.’”
That demeanour has led to Hitchcock being one of the most universally beloved figures in Stratford and St. Marys, which leads people to make incredible efforts to show their support. One such example involved Dave Cassone, who formed a friendship with the silver medalist through their involvement with the Stratford Fighting Irish hockey team.
“Dave is involved with the Fighting Irish, and he was keeping track of how Mike was doing through Ross,” said Larry Hitchcock, Mike’s father. “On the Saturday, Dave drove down to Brantford just to see Mike, wish him good luck, and watch him tee off, and then Dave said, ‘Well, I’ve got to go home.’ He drove all the way down just to wish him good luck, and Dave said, ‘What Mike does for (the Fighting Irish) in terms of morale, this is nothing for me to come down here.’”
Both Snider and Hitchcock mentioned two coaches, Chris Peixoto of the Stratford Country Club and Chris Dickenson of Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, as having helped develop Hitchcock’s game.
“(Peixoto) is a very good coach for me,” Hitchcock noted. “He took his time and helped me with new swings and a new stance. He helped me straighten the ball out.”
was a significant improvement from the last time Hitchcock played the Brantford course, even though he sensed Hitchcock was feeling a bit of pressure.
“He won’t say he was, but I think that he was a bit nervous,” said Snider. “All actions told me he was a bit nervous. He knew that he was in tough in the division that he was in. It was a struggle all day with the heat. Mike likes to move fast. But, he was the leader in the M2 division, and he shot 13 strokes better than he did in his provincial qualifier.”
According to Hitchcock, he didn’t have to look very far to find the inspiration to keep battling through adversity.
“I got a little bit upset sometimes, but all I had to do
Dickenson and Hitchcock became acquainted during Dickenson’s time at the Stratford Municipal Golf Course, with the two continuing to work together after Dickenson moved to the Stratford Country Club. The connection remained when Dickenson began working at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, where he continued to help Hitchcock develop his game.
“(Dickenson) really helped with my short game,” explained Hitchcock. “He helped with my chipping and putting. He really helped me get my chipping going and my play from the bunkers.”
Hitchcock made sure to mention the people and businesses whose support allowed him to compete at the SOO Provincial Games, his sponsors.
“If I don’t have the sponsors, I would not be able to go and win the silver medal,” said an appreciative Hitchcock. “I wouldn’t be able to go to any sport without sponsors. A lot of people donate a lot of money and time to help me, and to all my sponsors, I say thank you.”
Stratford Tennis Club hosts Super Set Singles
STRATFORD TIMES STAFF
stratfordtimes@gmail.com
The 2025 Super Set Singles Tournament on July 12 at the Stratford Tennis Club brought together some of the most competitive and entertaining tennis seen this season. From early upsets to closely contested finals, the day was packed with action and wicked temperatures.
The Men’s ‘A’ draw displayed a high-level showdown between Mark Barton and David Nickel. Nickel advanced to the final after taking down Spencer Trachsel, who had cruised through his earlier rounds, dropping just a single game before the semis. Trachsel came out firing, grabbing a 3-2 lead, but Nickel’s smart shot selection and early ball striking turned the mo -
mentum. Nickel reeled off four straight games to seal the deal with a 6-3 win.
On the other side of the draw, Barton faced off against Jason Erb in a tactically rich semi-final. Both players blended patience with aggression, waiting for their moment to attack. With the set tied at 5-5, Barton broke Erb’s serve and then held serve to win 7-5.
The final between Barton and Nickel was anticipated to be a battle of equals, but the brutal heat and Nickel’s earlier matches took a toll. Barton stayed composed and energetic, executing his game plan with sharp precision to take the championship in a commanding 6-2 victory.
The ‘A’ consolation final saw Tony Stanic take on Tyson Aitcheson in a tense, pressure-filled match. Aitcheson came out swinging with impressive
groundstrokes and big serves, but Stanic responded with crafty, relentless slice play, rarely hitting topspin and keeping the ball out of Aitcheson’s strike zone. Stanic’s unique style paid off as he edged out a 6-4 win over Aitcheson.
Tyler Jantzi was unstoppable in the Men’s ‘B’ draw, defeating Adam Prospero 6-0 in the final. After a tough firstround loss to a top seed in the ‘A’ draw, Jantzi bounced back with a vengeance, not dropping a single game in the ‘B’ bracket. Many agreed he could have made a deep run in the ‘A’ consolation had the draw been different.
In the ‘B’ consolation final, Josh Heaton defeated Nick McCabe 6-1, showcasing one of the most dynamic serving displays of the tournament. With a mix of flat rockets, slicing angles, and high-bouncing kick serves, Heaton con-
Tournament
sistently held serve and kept the pressure on his opponent.
The Women’s ‘A’ final featured Lisa Westlaken and Monica Eickmeyer, each coming off strong with 6-2 semifinal wins. Westlaken’s athleticism and booming forehand led the charge in the final. Interestingly, she mentioned spotting Barton’s fully extended arm on his forehand in his Men’s ‘A’ semi-final and used that as inspiration, adding it into her own game to great effect. The adjustment paid off as she claimed the title with a solid 6-3 win.
Sandie Ennett reigned victorious in the Women’s ‘A’ consolation, defeating Johanna Billings 6-2. Billings impressed with piercing backhand winners and consistent pressure, but Ennett’s speed and ability to hit deep
SPENCER SEYMOUR
Pictured is Mike Hitchcock with the silver medal he won at the Special Olympics Ontario (SOO) Provincial Summer Games’ golf competition, hosted July 11-12 at the Wayne Gretzky Municipal Golf Course in Brantford.
(SPENCER SEYMOUR PHOTO)
Stratford Tennis Club hosts Super Set Singles Tournament
consistently made the difference in the end.
The most suspenseful match of the day belonged to the Women’s ‘B’ final between Jenn Nickel and Maria Donkers. Nickel came in as the underdog but rose to the occasion in a nail-biter that drew a large crowd. Up 5-4 at one point,
Nickel held her own as the set reached a 7-7 tie, forcing a tiebreak. Donkers showed great composure and intelligent aggression to edge out Nickel 8-6 in the tiebreak.
The Stratford Tennis Club issued a huge thank you to all the participants, spectators, and volunteers who made the day such a success.
Left: Pictured from left to right are Jenn Nickel, Maria Donkers, Lisa Westlaken, Sandie Ennett, and Johanna Billings. The women competed in various women’s division finals in the Stratford Tennis Club’s Super Set Singles Tournament on July 12.
Above: Pictured from left are Josh Heaton, Nick McCabe, Adam Prospero, Tyler Jantzi, Mark Barton, David Nickel, Tony Stanic, and Tyson Aitcheson. All of the pictured players made up the men’s divisions finals of the Super Set Singles Tournament.
boys & girls
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS)
Nationals salute their graduates, finishes regular season
MICHAEL WILLOUGHBY Times Correspondent
The Stratford U22 Nationals 2025 season is winding down, but their endurance has reached the highest level. Dating back to the Mitchell Tournament on June 27-29, the Nationals have played a total of eleven games in fourteen days.
In the Veteran's Day game, they had their party spoiled by the Inter County Baseball’s top team, the Hamilton Jr. Cardinals, on home soil by the score of 11-1 on July 8.
Before the game, the Nationals honoured their four graduating players. Owen Aikey, Ken Neabel, Spencer Eidt and Trent Dearden were given a ceremonial pregame entrance and placed on top of the batting order.
Manager Brian Hawley expressed his appreciation of the graduates for their contributions to the program.
“We had four kids who are graduating from the program at the end of this season, and we're just so very proud to have them in the program,” Hawley said. “They're not only good ball players, they're quality young men, and so we're just really happy to have them, and we wish them well moving forward as they go into the world and hopefully get married, have some kids,
have a good career, have a good life.”
After a scoreless first inning, Hamilton scored two runs before an RBI from Connor McIntosh put the Nationals on the board and cut the Cardinals' lead to 2-1 through two innings. But the Cardinals
flexed their dominance as they scored one run in the third, a home run in the fourth, a two-run homer in the fifth, and a five-run bashing in the sixth, leading to the win by way of mercy rule after seven innings.
“We're in a tough spot here. That's the
best team in the league, and, you know, got a few guys that play us college ball. We're on the tail end of 10 games and 11 nights, and we're tired. We need a day off. And it showed tonight,” Hawley said.
“We had a pretty good start. I thought we played them well early on, typical stuff, though we had that one bad inning where they got five or six on us and stretched it out. We're going to keep going. The guys are tough. So we'll move forward best we can.”
The Nationals lost 18-3 to the Red Sox in Brantford on July 10. At the 22U Innisfil Tournament, Stratford began the tournament with a 4-4 draw against the Halton Hills Eagles on July 11, but split the two games on Saturday against Innisfil (8-5 loss) and Ancaster (11-10 win) to finish the tournament with the record of one win, one loss, and a tie.
Stratford concluded their home play in the regular season in a 14-4 loss to the Kitchener Panthers at National Stadium on July 17. The Nationals wrapped up the regular season with both losses on the road in a doubleheader to the Cambridge Cubs on July 20.
With the regular season wrapped up, the Nationals have a much-needed time off before defending their OBA 22U B championship on Aug. 8-10 in Listowel.
Owen Aikey throws the pitch against the Hamilton Jr. Cardinals at National Stadium on July 8.
(MICHAEL WILLOUGHBY PHOTO)
Stratford Skating Club announces adult skating program
stratfordtimes@gmail.com
Are you looking to learn to skate? Do you want to improve your skating skills or learn figure skating skills?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, then the Stratford Skating Club (SSC)/NSSA Inc.’s new Adult Skating Program is for you. This program is designed for adult skaters of all skating abilities.
The program will be broken up into different groups of adult skaters. Groupings will be done by skating ability and the goals of skaters. Adults will be able to move between groups throughout the season as skills progress and goals change.
then allow the adult skaters to work on those skills with some independent skating time.
program) at this time.
Registration forms can be found at www.stratfordskating.ca. Online registration can also be done through this site. If you have any questions, you can contact the SSC at stratfordskating@gmail. com or 519-275-2379. STRATFORD TIMES STAFF
The sessions will be taught by expert NCCP-certified professional skating coaches. The club’s coaches will provide groups with some instructional time and
Sessions will take place on Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 10:20 p.m. at the William Allman Arena. The 12-week fall session runs from the end of September until Christmas, while the 12-week winter session runs from January to March 2026. Registration is also open for a combined fall and winter season (full 24 weeks of
Take the time for yourself this skating season. Learn a new sport, or new skills in a sport you already enjoy. Register today with the SSC/NSSA Inc.
Gallery Stratford to host readings of Bessie and Maddy by author and former CBC Radio broadcaster
Gallery Stratford will host author and former CBC Radio broadcaster Cathi Bond July 27 as she reads from the first two books in her ongoing A Woman of Good Standing trilogy.
Bond’s first two books in the series, Bessie and Maddy, along with the third book, which she is still writing, tell the stories of three women from three successive generations of the same family as they grapple with the societal expectations of their day. Bond said she wanted to bring the books to Stratford, first because she has visited the city many times and knows its reputation for embracing culture and the written word, and second because the characters in her first two books spend a lot of time in rural southwestern Ontario, so many of issues they deal with may be familiar to readers in Stratford and the surrounding Perth County.
“(Fanfare Books) has been stocking my books and I’ve been spending a lot of time in Stratford, and it’s just such a wonderful community,” Bond said. “It’s very cultural but still a lot of fun, and I think people, particularly in southwestern Ontario, would be very interested, especially in Bessie, since most of the action takes place (in the region) during the Great Depression and World War II.”
Beginning in the Great Depression, Bessie tells the story of a struggling nation and ends with the heart-breaking personal sacrifices made during the Second World War. At its centre is Bessie Barnes, a mother of two, determined to be seen as a woman of good standing within her rural community.
Bessie’s personal world is suddenly upended when Edward, a young historian she met at a dance when she was only 19, turns up on the family’s door-
step penniless, only to discover that he’s her absent brother-in-law. While trying to be a perfect wife, perfect mother and a perfect neighbour, Bessie, pushed to her breaking point, comes to realize that ultimately, all that is required of her is to be true to her own heart.
“Nobody goes to Stratford (in the story), but all the action happens around Ayr and Paris, which is pretty darn close,” Bond said. “So, it gives you an idea of what women had to do to get noticed and to help their families. It’s the first novel in the trilogy … which is told from the perspective of three different women from the same family at three separate points in historical Canadian times.”
Maddy, meanwhile, begins in 1968 and focuses on Maddy Barnes, a happy, small-town teenager. Maddy grows up
spending weekends in her grandfather’s barn, a place where only the strong and brave survive. At just 13, a sudden, unforeseen tragedy causes Maddy's father to disappear into a world of loss and sorrow. Alone, Maddy falls in love, but that love is unrequited and sends her fleeing to Toronto where she joins a world of street kids, speed freaks and a violent dealer named Hermann.
With no one to save her but herself, Maddy falls deeper into a dark place of sex, drugs and danger, while finally coming to terms with a truth she can no longer ignore: a desire for women, and a life lived on her terms.
Without giving too much away, Bond said the third book takes place in the early 1990s, again in downtown Toronto, and deals directly with the AIDS crisis.
“I’m gay and I lived through a lot of that,” Bond said. “… I do a good reading and I’m up for any questions that anyone might ask me. The first book has a B-story line; it’s the daughter of Bessie and her husband, who turns out to be gay. … And in the second book, Maddy realizes when she’s very young that there’s something wrong with her; nobody talked about being gay back then. I know because I lived through it. I didn’t even know there were other gay people than me until I heard “Walk on the Wild Side” on a jukebox, and it was like the heavens parted and the birds sang.”
Bond said she hopes members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Stratford and the surrounding rural areas can relate to some of the themes in all three books, especially those focused around growing up gay in a rural setting.
Bond’s readings will take place from 2-4 p.m. at Gallery Stratford. For more information on Bond and her books, visit www.cathibondauthor.com.
GALEN SIMMONS Regional Editor
The book cover for Cathi Bond’s first book in the A Woman of Good Standing trilogy, Bessie
The book cover for Cathi Bond’s second book in the A Woman of Good Standing trilogy, Maddy
(CATHI BOND PHOTOS)
Blyth Festival review: Quiet in the Land offers a unique and overlooked perspective on local and national history
SIMMONS Regional Editor
To me, the mark of a good play – or any piece of art for that matter – is that it leaves me with a new way of looking at the world around me, or that it shifts my perspective to one I may have never considered otherwise.
Director Severn Thompson’s production of playwright Anne Chislett’s 1981 play, Quiet in the Land, for the 2025 Blyth Festival does exactly that. First produced for the Blyth Festival 44 years ago, Quiet in the Land is being presented this season on the Byth Festival’s outdoor Harvest Stage, the perfect setting for a story steeped in local history and a culture based around honest, hard work, steadfast faith in Christianity and a quiet pacifism that most of us who don’t follow the Amish way of life don’t know much about.
In my other life as a journalist and resident of Stratford, I’ve had precious few interactions with members of the local Amish and Mennonite communities in the surrounding rural townships. I’ve reported on issues affecting those communities a few times and I’ve interacted with members of those communities who own or work at local businesses. From the outside, it has been difficult to understand their way of life.
Through this production of Quiet in the Land, which frames the age-old conflict of long-held tradition against progressive change with a story about a father and son at odds over how to keep their people safe
and a community on the brink of collapse unless its leaders adapt to changing times, I now have a better understanding of the culture, daily life and motivations that drive these communities to seek isolation and separation from the rest of the world. With simple-yet-versatile wooden set-pieces on stage, and the natural tree line at the back of the Blyth Community Centre property as a backdrop, I found myself easily transported to the closeknit Amish farming community somewhere near East Zorra Township set in the later years of the First World War. The cor-
respondence read by characters on stage sent from other like-minded communities in nearby places like Baden and Wilmot, as well as the introduction of military conscription and the characters’ journey to Toronto to refuse military service on religious grounds, gives this play a wonderful grounding in local and national history, which I very much appreciate. As the conflict between characters remains close to home and without much in the way of action or special effects, this production’s emotional depth rests entirely on the shoulders of its remarkable
cast. The onstage development of relationships between characters like Christy Bauman (Randy Hughson) and his son, Yock Bauman (Landon Doak), as well as the lopsided love triangle of Yock, Kate Brubacher (Shelayna Christante) and Menno Miller (Richard Comeau), does much of the heavy lifting necessary to earn the emotional heft of the confrontation between the characters at the end of the second act.
The entrenched friendship between Christy and Zepp Brubacher (James Dallas smith), who support one another despite their growing division over how to lead the community forward, serves as important context to the conflict between father and son, between Christy and the rest of the community, and between the Amish people and the everchanging world beyond their fences.
Hughson, a veteran actor with 13 seasons at the Stratford Festival, is a worthy lynchpin for this story, bringing the authoritative presence and the almost sad resignation to remaining stagnant in the old way of life that his character needs to motivate the actions of the other characters on stage and drive the story forward.
As the light fades at the end of this production, I feel sorry for Christy despite the fact his character has shown little if any growth from beginning to end, or a willingness to at least try and understand the viewpoints of those he loves. The misery he feels is of his own making.
Quiet in the Land runs at the Blyth Festival until Aug. 23.
Gallery Stratford’s Arts Alive inspires kids through interactive art and emotion
ALEX
HUNT Times Correspondent
This summer Arts Alive kids’ camps are giving the children of Stratford more than just art lessons, they are helping them find their voice through creativity.
Going on the third week of programming, Arts Alive kids’ camps had made a triumphant return since its COVID-19 pandemic hiatus. Emma Blowes, Arts Alive camps manager at Gallery Stratford, said that parents are already asking to enroll their kids for next summer.
Enrolled in Studio Art at the University of Guelph, Blowes and her team of camp councillors take pride in educating kids on the value of expression, gallery etiquette and discovering creativity from within.
“Each week we have something different; we try to keep it fun and educational. We are teaching the campers various forms of art expression,” said Blowes. We also work on different skills that the kids might not learn in a school setting, we have them working with different mediums like clay and understanding that there are lots of different forms of art.
Children's age groups range between
four- to six-year-olds and seven to nine. Blowes said that her and the team combined the groups to ensure that all campers receive the same creative and educational experience.
The day begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 4:30 p.m and will run five days a week until the end of August. Blowes says that she's supported by an incredible team that bring an assortment of skills and experience that range from animation and prop design.
“Our main message that I like to get out there is that we’ve always had at the gallery is that art is for all to enjoy, which I feel really goes well with Arts Alive,” said Blowes. “We want to make sure our campers have the space to feel welcome and ready to create new things as well as interact with creative people and gain the value that art is important.”
Blowes said that the camp councillors provide a hands-on interaction experience with the children through one-on-one instruction. Free time is also provided for the kids to channel their inner creativity and bring their interests to life. Outdoor time is also provided for the kids allowing them to draw in creativity inspirations
from the surrounding elements.
“We also take (them) through the gallery and teach them etiquette and how to use the space and explain to them the different art terms,” said Blowes. “We try to keep it educational and fun so that they have a space to create, it can be hard to teach art when you're so young and we try to teach
them in interactive ways for them to understand.”
As Arts Alive continues through the summer, Blowes and her team remain committed to fostering creativity and curiosity in every camper by blending hands-on art instruction with exploration and fun.
GALEN
George Meanwell, Landon Doak, Randy Hughson, James Dallas Smith and Richard Comeau in the Blyth Festival’s 2025 production of Quiet in the Land
Kids get hands-on with art at Gallery Stratford during the Arts Alive kids summer camp.
(BLYTH FESTIVAL PHOTO)
(ALEX HUNT PHOTO)
Gallery Stratford mixes collage creativity with legacy fundraising
Between glue sticks and bowties, Gallery Stratford is inviting the public to make art and celebrate history through drop-in collage sessions and a sealed-bid auction for a legacy quilt.
Running alongside Gallery Stratford’s current exhibition, And Yet…Here We Are, is a sealed-bid fundraiser for a oneof-a-kind quilt honouring Stratford legend Tom Patterson.
Designed by textile artist Lesley Andrew. A quilt entitled “Tom’s Ties” originally part of the 1999 Quilt Project supporting breast cancer survivors, now sits as the centrepiece of a sealed-bid fundraiser at Gallery Stratford. Donated by Dr. David Williams, the quilt features bowties from Stratford Festival founder Tom Patterson, with proceeds from the auction supporting gallery operations. The signatures of Tom and his wife Pat are embroidered within the piece, capturing a deeper element of Stratford’s history.
“It's a beautiful legacy piece from Stratford’s history and now it serves as a fundraiser opportunity to help the gallery,” said Robert Windrum, curator and artistic director at Gallery Stratford. “Currently, the gallery is struggling financially we need every stream of revenue that we can and part of it is through philanthropy, donations, being entrepreneurial, and interesting fundraising opportunities,”
The fundraiser will conclude on the final day of the gallery’s permanent collection exhibition on Oct 5. With the highest bid to take home the quilt and the history that lives with it.
“We’ve always thought of our summertime as our tourist time, but this exhibition and this quilt are as much for the locals as for the tourists,” said Windrum.
“It is celebrating the permanent collection of the gallery and its history, like the quilt. It’s the history of Stratford.”
For a more interactive way to support the gallery, visitors can join the Casual Collage Collective on Tuesday nights. A drop-in program starting at 6 p.m. where participants can pay $20 for a two-hour session or a 15 per cent multi-pass discount for four sessions and create their own artwork using a variety of materials provided.
“In the world today, I feel like there is so much that people need to express and get out of the cycle of social media and the breaking news of the next crazy thing,” said Windrum. “This allows you to stop and focus on being creative and doing something that’s expressive coming from within you, that’s powerful.”
Windrum refers to the program as a gateway drug into the arts, explaining that it’s designed for adults without an artistic background to jump into their creativity and make something of their own. The concept also supports previously established artistic individuals to continue to discover their own way of expressing their creativity.
Gallery Stratford invites the community to engage with art in meaningful ways, through history, hands-on creativity and collective support. Whether bidding on a legacy quilt, crafting collages on a Tuesday night, locals and visitors are helping sustain the gallery’s future while celebrating the stories and spirit that define Stratford.
Robert Windrum, curator and artistic director at Gallery Stratford stands next to the “Tom’s Ties” quilt and expresses his excitement on the historic fundraiser
ALEX HUNT Times Correspondent
MusicBarge to support United Way Perth-Huron
Stratford Summer Music’s MusicBarge program will support the community through a partnership with United Way Perth-Huron (UWPH).
The summer music series returned at the Boathouse on 30 York St. on July 18 and will continue throughout the weekends through to Aug. 10 – and will be collecting monetary donations. The program, which features regional musicians like York Street Thought Process, The Bookends, The Maria Soullis trio and the Bayfield Ukelele Society, will match 50 per cent of donations, up to $5,000, for UWPH.
"We're really excited to work with them again this year,” said Ryan Erb, UWPH executive director. “We've had success in the past of drawing more people to watch this beautiful celebration that happens in our community, wonderful music on many weekends in the downtown, such a great location and while people are down there, they can make a donation that helps both summer music and the United Way."
Erb added that the partnership will also help Stratford Summer Music gain more attendees checking out local and regional music.
"It's such a great example of where we can have win-
win, right? We can encourage more people to be there. We can encourage more people to know more about summer music,” he said. “That's one of the powers that we have as an organization with a fairly significant reach."
Donations to the local United Way will support organizations in the region addressing mental health, housing, domestic violence, and homelessness.
A UWPH press release from Nov. 14, 2024, announced that Stratford Summer Music provided $2,088 to support the region’s United Way annual campaign, from both MusicBarge and a donation from the Bayfield Ukelele Society.
MusicBarge performances will continue Friday to Sunday at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. from July 25 to Aug. 9, and conclude on August 10 with a performance starting at 2 p.m. The MusicBarge stage is docked to the Avon River at the Boathouse. Parking is available in the York Street parking lot and there are paved, wheelchair accessible paths along the river.
EMILY STEWART Times Correspondent
(CHAD ALBERICO PHOTO)
Discover balance and harmony through Tai Chi with Louise Liu
LISA CHESTER Times Correspondent
Louise Liu has been practicing martial arts in one form or another since she was a young child of seven living in China. One form, Tai Chi, she would practice, but it was not her focus until a couple of years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese art that has been practiced for thousands of years and takes on several forms.
The form that Liu teaches is Yang style, 24 form at the entry level and 42 form at the intermediate level. Yang style Tai Chi is known for its large, graceful movements and health benefits. This style emphasizes balance, relaxation and fluidity making it accessible to all ages and fitness levels.
Prior to the pandemic, she was working excessively in computer and information technology and found she needed a way to slow down, rediscover an inner calm and balance.
“I felt like (work) was so much, and I felt like I could pick (Tai Chi) up again. I was travelling a lot and had teams in many countries, but I could
do Tai Chi anywhere. So, for a few years I started practicing, then COVID hit and I was in Canada, so I stayed all these years in Canada and diligently practiced Tai Chi,” she said.
Wanting to share all the benefits she has experienced from Tai Chi, she started leading groups demonstrating and practicing the moves together. There are both mental and physical benefits to practicing Tai Chi in any of the styles.
Mentally, practicing Tai Chi has meditative qualities to it. Physically, the slow movements require muscle strength. Tai Chi increases blood flow which is good for the cardiovascular system. The controlled breathing improves the respiratory system while increasing flexibility and improving balance.
This summer, during the months of July and August she can be found in Upper Queen’s Park by the waterfall on Sunday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Many have had the pleasure and opportunity to have already learned some Tai Chi moves from Liu and are invited to the park on Sundays to practice in a free session. Of course, the invitation is
“It is a flat and safe place. There are also the concerts on Sunday evening so after we practice, we can go and listen to the music too,” said Liu. Additionally, she teaches at the YMCA all year round. She is particularly excited with the Tai Chi Fan sessions she is currently leading for teens, free of charge. Come September until December there will be sessions of Tai Chi with the Stratford Lakeside Active Adults Association to look forward to. Louise Liu is a certified Tai Chi coach and personal trainer passionate about sharing the benefits of Tai Chi with the public who invites one and all to experience the harmony, balance and peace it brings.
Louise Liu demonstrates Tai Chi as part of the Stratford Public Library’s Voices of the World series. The elegance and grace in the movements bring many mental and physical health benefits to practitioners worldwide. Now, residents can join Liu on Sunday evenings at Upper Queen's Park in July and August. Novices and experts alike are welcome.
Author Stephen T. Lewis takes a deep dive into the life and music of Richard Manuel
sionately explores the life and music of the man in a way that had not been accomplished before.
The new biography by Stephen T. Lewis, Richard Manuel: His Life and Music, from The Hawks and Bob Dylan to The Band, is a book by a fan for a fan.
Lewis says that he was blessed with parents that had great music taste, and he was introduced at an early age to the likes of The Beatles and Dylan, and from there The Band. Growing up, The Band was one of his favourite groups, and he watched the Scorsese film The Last Waltz with intense interest.
“A local video store had it on VHS and some friends and I got it as obviously everyone we liked was in it: Neil Young, Eric Clapton, The Band and Bob Dylan. At that early juncture I was intrigued by Richard. I was like, ‘Who was this guy who was like the joker?’ … So that planted the seed,” shared Lewis.
This inspiration led to more interest in The Band and Manuel’s part with them. Lewis started to take a deep dive into his life and found that yes, there was more to Manuel than people knew, but this was more than a blog post. It was more than a series of posts. It was a book that pas-
“The impetus of me being older, was I saw the Robbie Robertson documentary Once were Brothers,” Lewis said. “I had hoped for a lot of Richard and was disappointed. I realize it was his movie, but I felt this guy is in desperate need of a proper treatment analysis, one of my deep dives. … I’m blown away. I’m sitting in Stratford, Ontario right now talking about Richard Manuel. This is exactly what he needed, a proper tribute and a recognition of his talent and his humanity.”
Over four years, Lewis worked around his schedule and researched, interviewed and wrote. Key people that he spoke with were family, friends and fellow musicians who all remember Manuel with love and admiration. Some of the key people interviewed include John Till, childhood friend Charles Kelly who gave great insight into Richard’s life growing up and how he came to love the blues, Eric Clapton, Richard’s family and friends in Stratford and even Van Morrison contributed by email with a great
story about Richard.
“It’s a testament to why it had to be done, everyone I asked was like, ‘Yes!’ … More than one photographer said to me, ‘What am I going to do with these pictures except contribute them to a project about Richard? This is where they need to go.’ This gave me the feeling that I’m doing the right thing,” said Lewis. Already, something that Lewis is over the moon about is people are talking about Manuel. To get him back mentioned in the scope of music is what he wanted to accomplish. It is the book the Lewis would have wanted to read about Manuel.
The most powerful or emotional part to write was when he came to the end. Everyone knows how it ends but somehow he had hoped he could find a different ending.
“I have had people tell me it was abrupt … We know that he was a damaged person at that point in his life and there was nothing anyone could do about it and I didn’t want a finite focus. I just wanted to say this is how it ends. I wish it had ended differently, and I knew I couldn’t control that, so I just had to say what came to
mind,” said Lewis.
Manuel was not a self promoting kind of guy, very self deprecating, so Lewis hopes that while he would be really embarrassed, he would also be happy that someone took the time to do this.
“I wanted to give the people that read this credit. I wanted to show a picture and then let you decide what’s going on here. This guy is by far one of the best R and B blues singers that has ever walked the earth. Canadian, American, British, it does not matter, and I think when you have people like Van Morrison, Eric Clapton and John Hammond agreeing with these things, there’s no debate. He was one of the most important singer/ songwriters that influenced The Beatles and the Stones. They moved an entire segment of music from psychedelia to Americana or homegrown music. This guy was an integral part of that, one of the most important musicians. I feel that was in dire need of a reassessment and recognition,” concluded Lewis.
Copies of Richard Manuel: His Life and Music, from The Hawks and Bob Dylan to The Band can be found at Fanfare books or at Amazon.com.
extended to newcomers to the art. There is something special
in practicing Tai Chi outside in stunning surroundings.
(LISA CHESTER PHOTO)
LISA CHESTER Times Correspondent
Rwanda produces "big three" and myriad of memories for Canadian traveller during safari
The massive white rhino passed within 20 metres and continued southward, the makings of a credit card commercial in her wake.
Our rental vehicle cost a chunk, elevated suspension and four-wheel-drive invaluable on Akagera National Park’s driving trails. A Kayonza Café breakfast of samosas, meatballs, beignet and excellent Rwandan coffee ran $6 Canadian. And our paperless entrance fee came in at $100 U.S a head.
But less than a half-hour into our African safari, the $40-U.S-per-day services of local guide Firmin Hirwa had already proven priceless.
“Rhino!” he exclaimed, pointing off in the distance.
In rapid Kinyarwanda, Hirwa passed directions to our Canadian host, Rwandan expatriate Jean-Claude Munyezamu. Pausing to let a young black mamba slither past, Munyezamu turned, heading back the way we had come. Hirwa expertly gauged the rhino’s path and pace, asking Munyezamu to stop and then back up 20 metres, a cape buffalo hoof from the previous evening’s lion kill banging off our left, rear wheel well.
Transfixed, we sat silently as the rhino covered the final 100 metres, angling directly in front of us and ambling onward, graceful for all her bulk.
“My name means lucky and today we are just that,” Hirwa said as our collectively held breaths released in awe and admiration.
We were on safari not in a zoo – but he and Akagera had delivered.
My unlikely path from Beaconsfield, Ont. to Akagera National Park, Rwanda led through a feature story with Munyezamu. A survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, he arrived in Canada as a refugee, settling in Calgary. Munyezamu started a soccer program to improve his public-housing neighbourhood, ultimately morphing into Umoja Community Mosaic. The notfor-profit added a culturally sensitive food bank, after-school programs, leadership for young women and a popular community sewing circle.
Inspired during a 2022 visit to Munyezamu’s former village Kabura, Umoja initiated diasporic outreach bringing school uniforms, sports equipment, fresh water and a basketball/volleyball court to the community’s Umurava Primary School. A second fresh-water source for the village centre and improving a road rendered impassable during the rainy season are ongoing goals.
“Come to Rwanda,” said Munyezamu, who makes it a practice to share annual visits.
Beginning with family members, 20 out of 20 (a random yet illustrative number) people expressed significant reservations about a destination primarily recognized by Canadians as the site of horrific genocide.
Deeply respectful and desiring to learn how Munyezamu chose reconciliation over revenge, reassured by his declaration of safety and with a side hustle figuring out how my wife could check "African safari"
affordably off her bucket list, I only somewhat nervously boarded Ethiopian Airlines.
Full disclosure: my newspaper career was spent covering sports, council, knocking together happy features and building an outdoors column, not international political commentary. I will not be starting now. Anyone seeking the 60,000-foot overview is encouraged to source alternatives.
My view of a very different Rwanda than I might have expected – "Rwanda Now" if you will – is the ground-level account of a person sharing something of what he experienced.
It began with a tour of the Kigali Genocide Memorial, presenting an intense, no-holdsbarred, matter-of-fact and more-balanced account than I might have anticipated. It encompassed Rwandan history, colonialism and other factors leading to genocide. That and the aftermath included victim exhibits, survivors’ personal accounts and importantly, ongoing efforts to reconcile and rebuild following unspeakable horror.
The memorial’s website (https://kgm.rw) includes an option to sign up for a virtual tour.
My day-one impression of Rwanda was that of a nation on the move with sidewalks full of bustling, uniformed students (school is free to Grade 9), mothers with babies, delivery people, joggers and well-dressed professionals headed to work. Personal, people-moving and transport vehicles own a share of the road based on size, but motorcycle taxis prized for their ability to skirt traffic dart everywhere as Munyezamu compares them to “a pack of wild dogs.”
On rural highways, “Sophia” photo radar units (so named after a famous smart robot) text transgressors significant fines, thereby lowering previous levels of vehicular carnage. Bicycles remain key to the transportation system for everything from additional humans (the cheapest taxi) to cans of milk, furniture and produce like crates of chickens or up to a half-dozen bunches of bananas to market. Riders dismount to push huge loads up Rwanda’s purported “thousand hills,” the latter a serious underestimation.
Crossing Kigali streets requires either “Rwandan instincts” or common sense. There is little doubt however, should the worst occur, the mess would be cleaned up quickly. Rather than providing social assis-
tance, the country offers paid employment including street sanitation, Kigali’s graffiti-free byways regularly swept clean as a result.
We stayed inside a classic two-bedroom apartment with ensuite bathrooms, kitchenette, WiFi and gated 24-hour security costing $300 U.S a week. An omnipresent streetside ATM equivalent seen everywhere from downtown Rwanda to isolated mountain villages sat outside. In essence, independent contractors under brightly coloured umbrellas staff desks holding thousands of Rwandan francs. The most remote corner of the country is well-connected by cell service exceeding that at our rural Canadian countryside. Clients present a code on their phone to proprietors who hand over cash, receiving a transaction percentage for their efforts.
The ATMs and the fact one sees women walking alone on city streets late at night allayed pre-trip fears. Munyezamu recommended protecting one’s cell phone from crimes of opportunity in busy markets for example, but overall, personal safety was not a concern.
We breakfasted a short stroll away, past a medical centre typically filled with mothers and young children, part of universal health care our host says is provided via a variable geared-to-income contribution. A six-egg Spanish omelette at Emmanuel Ntuyenabo’s Good Mood Coffee Shop cost the equivalent of a toonie, with a burger and fries costing $5. Ntuyenabo’s is partially farm-to-table, its rural base a progressive multi-hectare operation employing 11. In terms of agriculture, the lush nature of Rwanda’s hilly landscape was a surprise, in effect much of the country is a multi-crop garden. There are ongoing efforts to modernize smaller subsistence operations of under an acre.
Food was very affordable, chicken curry, rice and salad at the Kayonza Cafe running $14 Canadian, another $10 on top at Hotel de Mille Collines – the Hotel Rwanda. As a general rule of thumb, the more white people you see, the more it will cost. There definitely is a tourist versus local price Munyezamu helped us avoid on most occasions.
We mzungu (white people) were a curiosity, mildly so in Kigali, more so in Kabura where students crowded around, curious to discover what mzungu skin or hair feels like.
Soccer was queen; incredibly talented kids
in sandals playing on every bit of available space with homemade balls historically made from banana leaves tied up in twine, evolved into plastic cores. Presenting a factory-made ball to a kid in a Vancouver Canucks jersey drew a crowd approaching 100, seemingly from nowhere, within five minutes.
Travelling the countryside offered striking contrasts: farm labourers hand-milling rice backdropped by subdivisions, translatable to Canadian counterparts, speaking to a growing middle class; women carrying stacks of fruit or vegetables on their head, corralling a baby on one hip while chatting on a cell phone held in their other hand; Kigali mansions, the modern 10,000-seat BK Arena hosting Masai Ujuri’s Giants of Africa basketball tournament in both 2023 and 2025; and construction cranes busy as the capital begins to grow up, compared to neat and tidy plaster-faced and painted, baked mud-andstraw brick houses more prevalent in rural areas.
Progress includes rebuilding Akagera in conjunction with African Parks from devastation caused during the genocide and, subsequently, the 40,000 cattle accompanying returning refugees. Sharing profits and hiring locally encouraged regional support which, with regular patrols, has drastically reduced poaching. Animal populations have also been bolstered by a combination of transplantation and reintroduction. Lions came back in 2015, rising in number to an estimated 60 today, and rhino in 2017, re-qualifying Akagera as a “Big Five” (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and cape buffalo) park. We would finish with a “big three,” the penultimately shy leopard and elephants –approached with caution at the best of time – remaining elusive. Beyond rhino, buffalo and lions, we saw multiple species including amphibious hippos, giraffe, herds of impala, topi, zebra, waterbuck and feisty warthogs among them, along with “life list” African birds.
It’s beyond arrogance to feel one can figure out a country in a couple of weeks, particularly viewing through a North America bias rather than African lens, despite our privilege in accompanying Munyezamu to places foreigners don’t go. But my consistent impression that, regardless where you are, whether you’re mzungu or otherwise, “People are pretty much people,” was only reinforced. In other words, the great majority of us are just trying to pay our bills, have a little fun, feel safe and secure, and believe in some form of a better future for our children. And that Rwanda seems to be striving to build opportunities that, through an accident of privileged geographical birth in Canada, we tend to take for granted.
Unquestionably, the nation faces ongoing challenges, but an initial sense of a narrative moving forward, a country and its people seeing the potential benefits and being willing to put in the work required, was not changed. Neither was the thought it’s a pretty good place for a tourist to experience Africa. And even if the elephants and leopards didn’t cooperate, that only provided one more reason to return.
JEFF TRIBE Times Correspondent
A female white rhino passes close by our vehicle in Akagera National Park, Rwanda.
(JEFF TRIBE PHOTO)
Festival to dedicate 2026 production in honour of late-Michael Blake
STRATFORD
stratfordtimes@gmail.com
A Stratford Festival alum known for his variety and depth has passed away.
“It is with deep sadness that we mark the passing of actor Michael Blake, our dear friend and much valued colleague,” a July 22 post on the festival’s Facebook page reads. “Michael was one of the most gifted actors of his generation. He played an extraordinary variety of parts and did so with an ability and ease that was rare.”
As the festival noted, Blake was a member of the Stratford Festival company for 10 seasons and was also an accomplished theatre, film and television actor beyond the city. In total, Blake performed in 25 productions in Stratford, from an unforgettable Othello to a heartbreaking Macduff in Macbeth, to many other memorable and commanding characters.
Most recently, he played First Lord Dumaine in 2022’s All’s Well That Ends Well and Edmund in 2023’s King Lear
“Each part he played was powerfully realized,” said artistic director Antoni Cimolino. “His work was true and realistic. His portrayals had an integrity that was
compelling. It drew you into his reality. We will all remember Michael both for his art and his person. He was a member of our artistic family and he will be deeply missed.”
The festival will dedicate a production in the 2026 season to Blake’s memory.
Stratford Festival extends 2025 season with Annie, Macbeth, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Anne of Green Gables
STRATFORD
stratfordtimes@gmail.com
With what artistic director Antoni Cimolino previously called a “strong start” to the 2025 Stratford Festival season, the festival has announced an extension of four of this year’s standout plays.
Annie has now been extended for an additional six weeks, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels has been extended for four weeks and Macbeth has been extended for three weeks, as has Anne of Green Gables
The 2025 season was originally sched-
uled to close out on Nov. 2 with Macbeth and Annie, but is now slated to end on Dec. 14 with a final production of Annie in the heart of the holiday season.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels closes on Nov. 23, Macbeth closes on Nov. 22 and Anne of Green Gables closes on Nov. 16.
This season also features As You Like It, The Winter’s Tale, Forgiveness, Sense and Sensibility, The Art of War, Ransacking Troy and Dangerous Liaisons
For more information, visit https://www. stratfordfestival.ca/Media/NewsReleases/2025-07-09/2025-Season-Extension.
What is aging with G.R.A.C.E? Gratitude, resilience, attitude, courage and education
Let’s review some myths of aging. For years, I’ve heard that “if one looks good, they will feel good.” Or, “you’re only as old as you feel.” And, then there is “just do it!” Which myth or reality is closer to the truth that you believe in, live by and find the most helpful? It is important to explore the relationship between attitude, graceful aging and physical health, which can be called aging with G.R.A.C.E: gratitude, resilience, attitude, courage and education.
To reach a graceful aging
process, it seems that personal strength, or faith in ourselves if you will, is immeasurably important to approaching the next stage regardless if that is from age 40 to 50, 50 to 60, or beyond.
Let’s explore applying the aging with G.R.A.C.E concept in more detail.
Gratitude
Thankfulness as a concept seems more connected to religion or spirituality at first consideration. But being thankful, or feeling gratitude, is an essential part of acceptance and satisfaction. It’s a kindness we can allow for ourselves. Having gratitude, for your life, gifts, family, whatever you hold dear, allows for celebration of being alive.
Resilience
We have all faced adversity, and many of us have faced both personal and physical adversity. At times, we seem to know or intuit what to expect when there is loss in life, or disappointment, and we overcome it. Physical resilience is often far more diffi-
cult to achieve, especially given our busy, moving world and our expectations for ourselves as wells others in our lives. To feel sick or physically compromised is often seen as unacceptable, as though we should be able to power through the worst illness. To be resilient we should strive to accept our weaknesses and then rise above it.
Attitude
Attitude is a key influencer for all human interaction. Approach a sales clerk and see how long it takes you to assess her/his attitude about the job, the merchandise, the weather, your smile or even the phone call they were on before you came by. Her/his attitude is observable, and can drive future interactions to a negative and harmful place. Think of a situation recently where you could feel your attitude, and feel some negativity in it, or annoyance. Did you reframe it into a more logical and perhaps humorous exchange? Try it. Your smile alone will be soothing, and the fact that you will know that you
made a choice to reframe it positively will have an impact.
Courage
Courage is imperative to aging well. The media bombards us with ads for drugs to help us not feel old or not look old. It can be difficult to frame aging as anything but negative. It takes courage to confront myths, to ask a relative about their aging path, the pitfalls and how they cope with feeling as if they are alone in the aging process. This aloneness takes courage to endure.
Education
It’s perfect that the E occurs at the end. Information is vital, especially as we age. It’s important for you to stay informed. Speaking with friends and acquaintances about their positive health experiences can be valuable in choosing your professionals. If the services you require or desire are not in your town or area, consider what you can do to recreate or join with the professionals who can assist. That should be a discussion you have with our current doctors as well as friends, family and col-
leagues – other people know all kinds of things that can add to your knowledge and therefore education.
Aging with G.R.A.C.E is not just a philosophy. It's a powerful, intentional approach to navigating the aging process with dignity and vitality. By embracing gratitude, we foster appreciation for life’s gifts. With resilience, we rise after setbacks and face physical and emotional changes head-on. Our attitude influences not only how we see the world but how the world responds to us. Courage allows us to challenge harmful myths about aging and bravely face transitions, while education equips us with the tools and knowledge to make informed decisions that support our well-being.
To age with grace is to live with purpose, curiosity, and self-compassion, at every stage. Maybe we should all commit to nurturing these five qualities in ourselves and encouraging them in others, so we can continue aging not only gracefully, but wisely and vibrantly.
IRENE ROTH
Times Freelance Columnist
TIMES STAFF
TIMES STAFF
The late Michael Blake as Edmund in the 2023 Stratford Festival production of King Lear. The festival announced Blake’s passing on July 22, writing on its Facebook page that he was one of the most gifted actors of his generation.
(DAVID HOU PHOTO)
OH, THE PLACES WE’LL GO: Five star dining in a lake-side village
Waskesiu, Sask., is not exactly a bustling urban centre. The permanent population of this resort town, located within Prince Albert National Park, is something stretching bravely toward 100 people. Of course, that multiplies geometrically in high-tourist season when thousands of visitors arrive in Waskesiu to enjoy the lake, the forests, the zip lines and the art galleries and shops that are rather typical of a tourist resort. What is definitely not typical of a lakeside community of this size is the restaurant located a short stroll from the beach – Restaurant Pietro, a five-star foodie delight that is a stunning surprise for any casual visitor like me.
I was in Waskesiu during a really fine golfing trip hosted by Tourism Saskatchewan. Our last two days of golf were at Elk Ridge, just south of Prince Albert National Park, so our hosts took us to dinner at Restaurant Pietro. When I saw the town, I was ex-
pecting a tourist-town, pub-style menu.
What we got instead was one of the dining highlights of my life. The fare is described as “quality, local food made with love.”
Restaurant Pietro is the creation of three culinary partners – Gary Gagne, Garry Findlay and Chef Evan Niekamp. The restaurant was founded 12 years ago and, from the outset, has been committed to providing a superb, eclectic
menu and top-notch service.
The concrete evidence of that can be summed up in two words: “Caesar Salad.” I don’t know when you last had a Caesar salad done right, made at your table by an expert, but when the process unfolds before you, it’s a work of art.
At Pietro, it’s Gagne – who explains that he’s the unpretentious one, with only one “r” in his name – who prepares the salad. He brings a loaded tray of ingredients, chats and tells stories as he works, and ul-
timately presents diners with the best Caesar salad they are likely to taste anywhere.
And then he admits that he doesn’t eat Caesar salad. After decades of making them – thousands and thousands of them –he’s content to leave that pleasure to his customers!
He’s also content to share his Caesar secrets with anyone. When I expressed appreciation for his work, he brought a cookbook to the table and it included his own recipe for Caesar salad. And he was happy to let me grab a photo, so now I possess the recipe, if not the expertise.
One detail that impressed me was there is almost as much attention given to the creation of the croutons as there is to the other elements or the salad. And that in microcosm is the secret to the wonder that is Pietro’s – attention to every detail! Another example; it’s a smallish restaurant, but Chef Evan insists on butchering their own top-tier steaks on site!
The other Garry – he of the “pretentious two Rs” – is the wine expert, but is also very happy to wait on tables. Like his two partners, he is a devout believer in their enterprise. When he first came to Pietro’s, he knew a good thing when he saw one and insisted that he be more than an employee – he would be a partner or nothing.
He told me that the remote location of the five-star establishment makes for a perfect lifestyle. The partners and their staff work hard during tourist season, and then are free to vacation or work elsewhere the rest of the year. Findlay spends several weeks skiing in the winter months.
And yes, the staff does work
hard. The place is full all the time; reservations are essential. But the staff I saw all seemed to be enjoying themselves. That includes the kitchen staff. I was invited to step into the small cooking area where the magic happens, and even the guy washing dishes was laughing.
The food? I started – wisely –with Caesar salad, and then took Findlay’s recommendation, a haddock special. I know; ordering an ocean fish in land-locked Saskatchewan may seem silly, but it was amazing, served with lobster and shrimp, risotto and fresh asparagus.
The wine? I bucked tradition and went for red, even with fish, and the merlot was terrific. Most of the wines on their menu are $20 per glass. The wine list draws high praise from customers who post reviews online.
My dessert choice was a white chocolate crême brulê. Enough said.
There is a paragraph on the restaurant’s website that is so apt that I am going to risk being accused of plagiarism and quote it directly.
“It takes more than exquisite cooking to make a memorable meal. Set in beautiful Waskesiu, we at Pietro believe an intimate atmosphere in the right location, personal and attentive service and great company are what separates a delicious dinner from an unforgettable experience.”
And that it was. Unforgettable.
Paul Knowles is an author and travel writer, and former President of the Travel Media Association of Canada. To contact Paul about travel, his books, or speaking engagements, email pknowles@golden.net.
The unpretentious entrance to Restaurant Pietro.
PAUL KNOWLES Times Freelance Columnist
The feature of the day at Restaurant Pietro, as recommended by Garry Findlay.
Gary Gagne with all the ingredients for his amazing Caesar salad.
(PAUL KNOWLES PHOTOS)
Musings: Stuck on stage
It is 1973 in New York City and Rosemary Radcliffe has lost her voice. She is a cast member in Sisters of Mercy, a semi-autobiographical revue of Leonard Cohen’s poetry and music. Opening night is almost upon them and cast members are stressed.
Cohen himself is at rehearsal and noticing Rosemary’s terror, comes over to where she is sitting. “He pulled up his chair to mine, tenderly took my face in his hands, and intoned over and over, ‘Give me your pain … give me your pain …’ while he caressed my temples!”
The pain subsided and Rosemary resumed rehearsals. “I’m not sure why it worked,” she laughed. “Perhaps because he was Leonard Cohen?”
Acting is not always fame and happiness; it’s very hard work and frayed nerves. This was true of Rosemary’s stint at Second City at The Old Fire Hall in Toronto. “We would do a scripted, rehearsed show for an hour and a half and then ask for audience suggestions for our improvisations.”
“Someone might shout ‘King Tutt!’ or ‘a beggar!’ We had fifteen minutes to create comedy combining those suggestions. I would always ask John Candy or Eugene Levy to improvise with me; they were wonderfully imaginative.”
But it was nerve-wracking for everyone; if Gilda Radner sensed that a skit was not going well, she would say, “I think I hear my bus!” and leave the stage. Time in front of the audience depended on the cleverness of one’s backstage ideas.
I interviewed Rosemary at the Boathouse in Stratford. She lives in Perth County and gardens and
STRATFORD TIME S
writes poetry for the St. Marys Poetry Circle and Poetry Stratford. She delights in coaching other poets in presenting their work to its best advantage.
Her earliest influences? Rosemary cites her mother, a visual artist and poet, a stage mother who gifted Rosemary with singing, piano and dance lessons. She stuck her on the stage at the age of six, encouraging a future theatrical life.
Rosemary hoped to audition for the National Theatre School, but her father, a practical man,
could not see its value. “Instead, I studied radio and television arts at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and ran a classical music show on CJRT. I learned through experience, growing my career like a daisy blooming in a sidewalk crack.”
After Second City, Rosemary worked in a CBC series called Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins, then played Rosie in the CBC’s children’s series Coming Up Rosie, where she reunited with Second City actors John Candy, Catherine O’Hara and Dan Aykroyd.
From 1978 to 1980, Rosemary played Tina, the girlfriend of the “King of Kensington,” (Al Waxman). In 1985 and 1987, Rosemary played Mrs. Barry in Kevin Sullivan’s mini-series, Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, starring Megan Follows and the venerable Colleen Dewhurst. Rosemary says, “My son cried when he saw me; they had dyed my hair black!”
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Worship With Us
For years Rosemary studied piano at the Royal Conservatory, Toronto; What accomplishment pleases her most? In 1982, Hey Gorgeous, a musical she composed with librettist Nika Rylski that won the Eric Harvie award for best new Canadian Musical and was performed in Charlottetown. She says, “Nothing is as thrilling as hearing an orchestra play your music.”
So in a sense, Rosemary improvised as she navigated a career. Despite being “stuck on stage,” she is a pioneer of Canadian comedy and made memorable contributions to Canadian arts. Congratulations on a journey well-travelled.
Mark Hertzberger is a former social services supervisor, human resources manager, conflict mediator, and literacy practitioner. He has since freed his mind and now writes poetry and occasional opinionated columns. Mark has lived in Perth County for 27 years, the last 12 of which have been in Stratford where he resides with his wife, novelist Yvonne Hertzberger.
Other memories include being bundled in furs riding through snow in a sleigh, filming in Ontario’s historic houses and wearing authentic Victorian clothing and lace corsets. “Impossible to breathe!” she says.
MARK HERTZBERGER
Times Freelance Columnist
Ready, Set, Play! producer Pat McKinna brings free family arts festival to the museum
Stratford has a reputation for the arts of all kinds and now the arts are being brought to the public for a free event at the Stratford Perth Museum Aug. 14 from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. The day will feature many different art forms from theatre to singing to dance and even fencing.
This is an interactive opportunity to try out the different aspects of performing and visual arts presented by some of the outstanding artists that grace Stratford locally. The festival is intended for everyone and no skill or previous experience is required. This call out goes to the curious and creatives among the community. Come alone or come as a family, there is sure to be something to pique the interest of participants, explained producer Pat McKinna.
“This open house is inviting anybody in town a chance to participate, whether it’s a chance to learn or to do it,” McKinna said. “The schools have all been approached: the three dance studios, Playmakers theatre, Michelle Giroux’s program at Falstaff Family Centre (Flight Studio). I discovered while doing this that we have a fencing club, and it’s a big deal! The community is recognizing the appetite for something like this and how much fun it will be to just let people come and try stuff, so free dancing lessons, free fencing lessons, free singing and more.”
Starting at 10 a.m. there will be a musical instrument petting zoo from Long & McQuade with members of the Stratford Concert Band on hand to assist in trying out the different instruments. OnStage Dance, Infinity Dance and Stratford
Dance Company will be on hand with free lessons. For those of the acting trope, there is “Read a Scene” courtesy of Lois Burdett and Theatre Games courtesy of Playmakers. The Stratford Fencing Club will be on hand to give free lessons and renowned Stratford music teachers will
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be present. For those more into the visual arts, there will be drawing lessons as well.
While the festivities end at 4 p.m., participants are encouraged to stay for the culminating performances of the two workshops of the two preceding days.
$ Cash Paid $ for your RECORDS and LPs. Jazz, Blues, Rock, Pop, Folk, Soundtracks, and more. Selectively buying CDs, Cassettes, Turntables, and Stereo Equipment. For more information: DIAMOND DOGS MUSIC 114 Ontario St. Stratford / 226-972-5750
WANTING TO BUY – All collectibles including sports cards, beanie babies, Funko pops and stamps. Highest prices paid. Free appraisals. Are you downsizing or need an estate clean out? We can help. We are at the Pinery Market at Grand Bend every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call or text Stan anytime 519-868-3814.
Fair value offered for your vinyl records, cassette tapes & hifi components. Please contact Sound Fixation, 519801-5421, 4 George St. W, Stratford.
I WILL PAY CASH FOR ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES – Coca Cola Pepsi any pop company, Brewery items Kuntz, Huether Labatts etc. Old radios and gramophones, Wristwatches and pocket watches, Old fruit jars Beaver Star Bee Hive etc. Any old oil cans and signs Red Indian Supertest etc. Any small furniture. If you are moving or cleaning out stuff please contact me - 519-570-6920.
The two workshops that are to be held at the museum Aug. 12 and 13 are suitable for all ages and great for the entire family.
The two summer workshops unite the talents of legends Diana Leblanc and Christopher Norton, wife Wendy Edwards Beardall-Norton and McKinna. One workshop is a micromusical, Animal Farm and the other is the newest play by Lois Burdett, Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way!, courtesy of 80DaysPublishing and Burdett. Burdett is a retired teacher who pioneered a method to teach Shakespeare to youth and make it easy and accessible.
“We do these two workshops on the Tuesday, Wednesday, and the performance of it will be Thursday from 5 to 6 with hopefully people who have been there who have been having fun doing all the other things, to be an audience for them,” said McKinna.
The day doesn’t end there either. From 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. will be a Battle of the Bands courtesy of Lauren Neilson who has built a great reputation as a teacher and singer/songwriter.
“This day was going to end at 6 o’clock with the end of the workshop shows and she said she was thinking of bringing back the Teen Scene which will bring the adolescents into it so she will be doing the Battle of the Bands; this is all her.”
There will be food trucks on site for those who get hungry, and the Museum is licenced. For more information, or to register for workshops visit mckinnamanagement.com or stratfordperthmuseum. ca. Bands wishing to perform in the Battle of the Bands can access the registration form on mckinnamanagment.com.
Hundreds of shade trees, fruit trees, apples, pears, peaches, plums, sweet and sour cherries, apricots, nectarines, blueberries, haskapp grapes, raspberries, elderberries etc. Lots of spruce, pine, cedars for windbreak and privacy hedges. Sizes 1-8 ft. in containers ready to go. Flowering shrubs and much more. Mon-Sat 7:00am to 6:00pm Martin's Nursery, 42661 Orangehill Rd Wroxeter, ON N0G 2X0 (1 Conc. North of Wroexter on Belmore Line)
LISA CHESTER Times Correspondent
Fencing is just one of the many forms of participatory arts that will be featured at the Ready, Set, Play! Festival to be held Aug. 14 at the Stratford Perth Museum.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Why do fish swim in saltwater? Because pepper makes them sneeze!
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