Contest winner jars memory

I’ve been writing a weekly column, for long stretches two or more per week, since the mid-80s, so well over 35 yearseasily over 2,000 columns.

By far, the biggest response I’ve received from anything offered in this space was from a piece in the late 90s when I wrote about my grandmother’s Westinghouse stove.

There was a tremor of trauma when she finally gave in and decided to replace it - because it started giving off shocks with some regularity.

Otherwise, the postWWII workhouse worked like a charm. Some may recall the model - it had that little plate warming compartment adjacent to one of the two stoves built in.

Happy winner

The Zych children - Nixon, 5, Lexi, 9, and Natalia, 7, were very excited to drop by NewsNow’s office to pick up Lexi’s winnings for submitting her thoughts in the newspaper’s Why I Love My Community contest last month. Lexi chose her favourite pizza place, Domino’s, for her $50 gift certificate. Williscraft - Photo

Building permits tell part of story

Many despise some of the “progress” we see around us in the form of commercial and residential development. It is not so much that there is progress, change and development as much as the style and format of what rolls out.

But, what all need to remember is the development we see is what pays the freight for parks, road, programs and services we see in our communities every day.

One would be hard-pressed to not enjoy a benefit of something that was paid for - fully or partially - by development projects. It is a necessary “evil”.

The Province just needs to allow municipalities to manage it better. M.W.

A highlight of going to grandma’s - aside from the wonders of the basement - was getting Bob’s Fish & Chips (on Hamilton Road) and grandma would have plates warmed to keep the food hot upon return.

I mention this because Why I Love My Community contest winner Jim Love from Smithville said he only submitted anything to a newspaper once before in his life - and that was when I wrote that column about the stove.

It was pretty crazy he mentioned that several decades later, but it still was parked in his memory.

I used to write about my grandmother regularly back in the day. No doubt, she was my barometer and a steadying influence, not just for me, but our entire family.

She lived in her Redan Street home in London from the day she was born there until her death at 104 in 2012.

I still think about her advice provided to me over the years.

I am not really one to swear much.

That goes back to my grandma explaining to me other word options which could be used when one is upset or angry - this, of course, while stuffing a bar of Ivory soap in my mouth when I was about 8 because I said “darn”.

Grandma preferred the “dash” and I only ever heard her say that twice.

Once as a youngster when my grandfather’s hunting dogs ripped up her flower beds in their immaculate backyard. The second time when I got canned by Metroland - which preceded the birth of this publication in 2012. I didn’t tell her when it went down in late January, waiting until we saw her in person for a 104th birthday dinner.

That in itself was remarkable. She packed away a salad, fish and chips and a piece of cake - and she was tiny. At any rate, when I told her I’d been turfed from the paper I created, she said, “Don’t let those dash suckers get you down. Do another one and take them out.” She was irate. Well, nearly 11 years later, we’re still here, and that is a miracle unto itself.

From my earliest recollections to her very last few minutes on the planet - regaling as many family members as the hospital would allow when she had a stroke and when she was returned to her home for her final hours.

I’ve had many requests for more grandma stories - there are a thousand columns worth right there - and I will try to work some in. Honestly, the news front has been so hot for so many years, it is nice to have a moment to cool the jets and expand on some other enduring themes. I hope that continues.

So, thanks for jarring my memory Jim. Maybe next week I’ll cover some ground on my second most commented on column - a Grimsby made topic.

Love-ly prize winners

It was fitting Jim Love, left, of Smithville was one of the random winners of Newsnow’s Why I Love My Community contest. As a winner, Jim chose a $50 gift certificate at Lang On The Water in Grimsby. As well, Linda Emslie of Beamsville chose to get a $50 Beacon Harbourside gift certificate for her prize. Thanks to all those who submitted their comments.

Convoy attendees miscast occupiers: reader Letters

Dear Editor, Re. March 2nd letter from Claude Marcotte: I was dismayed by the writer’s description of the Feb. 2022 Ottawa protesters as an “…out of control mob of permanently disgruntled Confederate flag carrying War Memorial desecrating occupiers hell bent on chaos.”

I watched the TV reports and read the online articles by CHCH news, CHML news and CITY news and, I have to say, if those were my only sources of information then I, too, would have been brainwashed into this opinion.

However, doing some searching on YouTube yielded a number of videos taken by individuals who actually walked through the crowds and I saw a whole lot of ordinary Canadians not being out of control or hell bent on chaos. By far, most proudly carried Canadian flags.

Since Justice Paul

Rouleau’s report was quoted in the letter, I will give you another one.

All of Section 25.2 of the Emergency Commission Report is noteworthy, which includes the following, “… in my view more of an effort by government leaders at all levels during the protests to acknowledge that the majority of protesters were exercising their fundamental democratic rights.

The Freedom Convoy garnered support from many frustrated

Canadians who simply wished to protest what they perceived as government overreach.

Messaging by politicians, public officials and, to some extent, the media should have been more balanced, and drawn a clearer distinction between those who were protesting peacefully and those who were not.” (emphasis added)

So let’s stop hating on the Ottawa protesters.

Barbara Kozarichuk, West Lincoln

Transit model overlooked municipal makeup: writer

Dear Editor,

You’re right, regional transit is like walking a tightrope. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but one wrong step and the whole thing could go sideways.

You were also correct that most people have no idea about how much it will cost them in the end. I think the issue is the powers that be used one system for the whole region, failing to recognize the size and