SEPTEMBER 2020 EDITION
Message from DDB by Earl Taylor Chair, Downtown Development Board About two years ago, we adopted the Love Where You Shop tagline to describe Downtown St. Thomas. Along with this went a number of sub categories such as: • Visit Our Shops • Savour Our Drinks • Eat Our Food • Attend Our Events Downtown St. Thomas is The Place To Be! • In late June, five sidewalk patios were installed to complement the many other patios already in place. These patios will remain in place until late October, so get out and enjoy them. • The City will install 12 designated accessible parking spaces in the William Street to Ross Street section of Talbot Street. The curbs have been cut and new concrete ramps have been installed to allow easy access from your car to the sidewalk. Watch for the blue accessible road markings to be installed soon. • Could St. Thomas become known as the mural capital of Canada? Next time you are Downtown, checkout the many new murals popping up everywhere, courtesy of a gracious donation by the Estate of Donna Bushell-Evans. And don’t forget to take a selfie at the Wings mural on the Post Office facade. • Thanks to our summer students, the sidewalks have been swept and 35+ bags of garbage removed over the last 6 weeks. It’s an ongoing concern but with your help, we can keep our Downtown litter free. • There are so many great things happening in Downtown St. Thomas and I hope you continue to enjoy reading about them in our Downtown Vibe.
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Local Health Update by Steve Bond, Pharmacy Manager Yurek Pharmacy 519 Talbot Street
In the last edition of Downtown Vibe, we looked at local rates of obesity and inactivity compared to the provincial average and discussed ways we could set goals to improve our health. We are blessed that our local health unit measures a variety of health outcomes including chronic diseases like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). COPD is a chronic lung disease which leads to shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing. It encompasses diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis and is linked to cigarette smoking in 8090% of the cases. Overall, rates of hospitalization and deaths are higher in our community when compared to the province at whole. This is not surprising as the rates of daily smokers are higher in St. Thomas/Elgin and since this is the leading cause of COPD, it stands to reason. At all stages of COPD, smoking cessation can show improvement in symptoms. This is particularly true in the early stages of
From the Editor’s Desk by Kenzie Bonnett Hello to all, and welcome to our second edition of The Downtown Vibe! The downtown community is truly remarkable and we look forward
the disease. If you are considering quitting, speak to your healthcare professional (doctor, nurse practitioner, or pharmacist) about options to increase your chances of quitting. Some pharmacists can prescribe anti-smoking medications and studies show that having a healthcare professional aid you in quitting greatly increases your success rate! Medications may be prescribed to help with symptoms and to prevent flare-ups (brief intense worsening of the disease). These may include inhaled medications, and tablets such as bronchodilators (which open the airways), steroids (to reduce inflammation) and antibiotics to treat infections. Another way to help prevent flare ups is to get your influenza and pneumonia vaccines regularly (and for the record, you CANNOT get the flu from a flu shot). Flu shots are available free of charge every fall from a variety of sources including your local pharmacy and pneumonia vaccines can be provided free of charge from your doctor or nurse practitioner. Together, we can take steps to lower the incidence of COPD, to reduce the chance of going to the hospital and prevent local residents from dying. Take care of yourselves
to sharing more of its highlights. This publication celebrates the authentic ‘vibe’ that reverberates throughout our cherished Downtown. To contribute to The Downtown Vibe, please contact me at kenzie.bonnett@ rogers.com. We look forward to hearing from you!