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SaTuRDaY, JuNE 11, 2011
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Lots of love for the bus at public meeting
Robin in the Hood Festival forced to surrender to weather
Steve Kannon public meeting about the future of bus service in Woolwich quickly turned into a love-in Tuesday night, as supporters called for Grand River Transit route 21 to be made permanent. Some 50 people attended the meeting at the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira, with nary a dissenting voice heard: speaker after speaker praised the service and urged officials to expand it, perhaps running a larger loop through Elmira. The meeting was organized by the township to get input from the public prior to making a recommendation to Waterloo Region about the fate of the service. Started in April 2009 as a oneyear pilot project, the service has twice been extended. However, after the end of this year, Woolwich will have to begin paying for the service – some $450,000 a year – or it will be cancelled. GRT numbers show ridership is growing, but it’s hovering around the minimum of 25 boardings per service hour. In 2010, daily ridership was 309, up from 245 in 2009. The
» COLIN DEWAR
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t wasn’t King John, the Sheriff of Nottingham or Sir Guy of Gisbourne that kept Robin Hood away from Elmira, it was the weather. A severe thunderstorm in the region knocked down trees, took out power and forced the cancellation of the Robin in the Hood Festival’s Saturday program. Organizers of the event decided for safety reasons to cancel the event, the first time in 11 years. “We got hit with a huge downpour, all of our costumes were soaking wet, our set pieces were wet, the grass was wet so we couldn’t have any of our
fights and we couldn’t run any of our electrical equipment,” said DJ Carroll, organizer of the festival. “There is nothing we could do: it was just time to pack it up. We hated it, but all it takes is one person to get hurt and then no more festival, ever.” During the storm tree branches fell hitting some props and just missing vendor tents in Gibson Park. “We had tree branches that were hanging dangerously by pieces of bark,” said Chris Duncan, who portrays Little John. “We lost our footbridge when the creek in the park
> SEE FESTIVAL ON Pg. 05
A RAINY KNIGHT Lincoln Kleinknecht, 4, dressed as a knight, looks out
the main doors of a castle that was erected for the Robin in the Hood Festival. Organizers cancelled the event last Saturday because of bad weather.
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