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Vol. 7
No. 2
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER - LANARK, NORTH LEEDS & GRENVILLE
FEBRUARY 2020
Choice of paper grocery bags delights Smiths Falls customers Smiths Falls - Chris Must editorial@pdgmedia.ca A Smiths Falls grocery store owner’s recent decision to start offering paper bags to customers has been met with what he describes as an “overwhelming” response. Dan Andress of Andress Independent Grocer started offering the option on Jan. 9 after bringing in a “small” order of 1,000 paper grocery bags. In keeping with Loblaws’ chainwide policy, the store had for a number of years been charging customers five cents per plastic bag if they didn’t bring their own reusable bags. The option to buy a biodegradable paper
bag for the same price proved to be an immediate hit, and the store quickly brought in a full order of 5,000 paper bags which was also quickly used up. Customers can also choose smaller paper bags for their purchases of bulk foods and fresh mushrooms. Andress noted that the paper bags are quite sturdy and can easily be folded up and brought back to the store for reuse. His wife and business partner Wanita said using paper grocery bags was like “coming full circle” back to her early days as a Dominion Store cashier. As in the old days, she added, the bags are fun for kids to draw on and use for crafts.
Photo Left: Dan Andress, owner of Andress Independent Grocer in Smiths Falls, says paper bags like these have been flying out of the store since Jan. 9, when he began offering them as an alternative to plastic bags for customers who need to buy bags for their groceries. Photo credit: Chris Must.
Former Carleton Place Mayoral candidate Jerry Flynn opens up about stepping down Carleton Place - John Kessel editorial@pdgmedia.ca You would almost think he was on the hustings, by the banter between him, the owner and almost every customer in the coffee shop. It was a first-name basis only. He asks a customer how her mother’s doing. But Jerry Flynn stepped out of town politics during the mayoral race about two years ago, suddenly and with a simple explanation, “for personal reasons.” He has never explained that phrase until now. “It was a perfect storm. I was running out of gas. My feelings about politics at the time were in the basement.” While he didn’t use the word toxic, he said his bouts with the eventually defeated mayor, Louis Antonakos, partly contributed to pulling out of the race for mayor. “It affected my health among other things.” At about the same time, Flynn was diagnosed with prostate cancer, from which he
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is now free. He says he became a local politician to help people but the bickering at the local level wasn’t helping anyone. He’s spent time in Carleton Place politics since 2006, holding the deputy mayor’s job until he resigned. Today, Flynn, 71, spends his time volunteering and he has some favourite causes. Being a member of the local Legion for the past 32 years, Flynn has joined the group Hometown Hurts. It helps first responders, military men and women, those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He also does the roll call at the cenotaph every Nov. 11. He’s also on the board of the Carleton Place and District Hospital foundation, raising funds for the hospital. He was named Citizen of the Year last year and “that keeps me out there…helping people… why I entered politics in the first place.” Flynn still keeps up on the
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town’s issues, one of the biggest he says is the inability to attract light industry. “The residential sector is booming, but that’s not the complete answer,” he says. Today’s politics is also substantially different than even when he left, most of which he blames on social media, “People with opinions who have no idea what they’re talking about.” “I use social media for good, good stories and well wishes,” he says. He flashes back to life before politics, when he worked for 35 years as a refrigerator mechanic “before I hit my head and became a politician.” He chuckles at that. Would he return to politics? He thinks for a minute. He knows he has to consult his partner of almost 30 years, Debbie McVie. They’re planning to get married this August. “I know I was adamant occasionally that I wouldn’t run again, but if things look good, I’ll run in the next election. I’ll
Jerry Flynn in the restored Moore House. Photo submitted.
take a look at it to see if the sun is shining,” he smiles at his own piece of philosophy. “I’m enjoying where I am in life and am very excited about being part of the hospital foundation.” He considers one of his best accomplishments is getting the Moore House rebuilt at its present location across from town hall. Flynn supervised the reconstruction on his own time.
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Smiths Falls 247 Lombard Rd.
It’s a historic squared-log home restored to accommodate the town’s Chamber of Commerce and the Roy Brown Society, a small museum honouring a World War I veteran. He makes certain to show anyone what the restored house now looks like. “I knew the family very well as a kid. It was the general store.” You’d swear his chest puffs up just a little.
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