The Creemore
Echo
Friday, April 1, 2016 Vol. 16 No. 14
www.creemore.com
News and views in and around Creemore
Inside the Echo
Vision on Vimy
Swing Your Partner
SCI going to 100th anniversary next year
Circle, square and contra dance
PAGE 6-7
PAGE 8
Publications Mail Agreement # 40024973
Echo celebrates 15 years of news and views The Creemore Echo is hosting a birthday party April 1 at the brewery Before Facebook… Before Twitter… Before Instagram… There was The Creemore Echo. When the current incarnation of The Creemore Echo was born in 2001, people still relied almost entirely on newspapers for news and information. Fifteen years ago the information landscape looked quite different. Creemore.com was live but technology wasn’t as accessible. This version of Creemore's local newspaper started when retired businessmen Craig Simpson and Phil Stevenson purchased the business from John and Sylvia Wiggins, who were shutting down the newspaper. In the deal, they got Georgi Denison who had already been on staff for a few years. Denison worked through the transition and saw The Echo come back to life after the purchase date of April 1, 2001, first as a double sided one-page print-out with a community
calendar, classifieds and advertising. Denison said the publication kept growing and by 2002, it was eight or more pages with news, photos and contributed articles and in June of that year, they began printing a broadsheet on newsprint. Also that year, The Echo hired Sara Hershoff, who is now publisher. Eventually, The Echo was purchased by the late Jim Vandewater. “I can remember my father describing the staff at The Echo while he was in the process of buying it,” said son Tom Vandewater. “Of Georgi he said, ‘I get the sense that if Georgi quits tomorrow the business will fall into chaos and the town will not have a paper’. Of Sara he added, ‘She is newest employee, has limited experience in newspapers or commerce… but I think she will run the place one day.’” “A huge thank you to all of our team members, both former and current, on producing a high quality weekly independent community newspaper. The Vandewater family is committed to seeing The Echo continue to be an independent voice for Creemore and (See “Connecting” on page 12)
Staff photo: Trina Berlo
Creemore Echo publisher Sara Hershoff and office manager Georgi Denison making party preparations for the newspaper's 15th birthday.
Ice storm downs trees causing power outage
Staff photo: Trina Berlo
A toppled tree blocks a driveway on George Street in Creemore.
FLEET-WOOD DANCE CENTRE Collingwood's Premiere School of Dance since 1994! COMING TO CREEMORE’s STATION ON THE GREEN
by Trina Berlo Downed trees and branches caused by Thursday’s ice storm left many people in the area without power and on clean-up detail over the long weekend and into this week. There were numerous reports of downed wires, trees on power lines and flooding. Mulmur Township road crews, firefighters and local residents worked all day Friday and Saturday to clear debris from roadways. “We’re so treed here, it was a mess,” said Mayor Paul Mills adding that hydro poles were broken and transformers were down. By Saturday evening, Mills said all Mulmur roads were passable, with
the exception of 30 Sideroad, west of 5th Line. “There was a lot devastation and there still is,” said Mills. “It’s going to be a long time getting it all cleaned up.” He said people have been very understanding. “Everybody pulled together, that’s the main thing,” said Mills. The municipality opened warming stations on Saturday and Sunday where people could get a coffee, charge their cell phones and other electronic devices and get water for drinking and to flush toilets. Mills said one person took the opportunity to charge their electric wheelchair. (See “Ice” on page 3)
Taking care of buyers and sellers in Mulmur and the Creemore hills for 39 years
May 3 to 31 Classes (Tuesday nights)
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Sat. April 30 Noon to 3 p.m. Room 1 Station on the Green
• 3 to 6 years: Little Dancers, pre-ballet/jazz • 7 - 10 yrs. ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary • 11 - 14 yrs. ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary • 15 - 18 yrs. ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary August Summerdance • Sept to June 2017 Full Season $30 per month! Discounts for multiple! Instructors: Sierra Maraj and Jonathan Fleet Graduates of George Brown College Dance!
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www.fleetwooddance.net
RCR Realty. Brokerage
Ginny MacEachern
B.A., Broker
The Town & Country Agent with the City Connections 1-800-360-5821• 705-466-2607 • maceachern.ginny@gmail.com www.ginnymaceachern.com