The Creemore
ECHO
Friday, February 19, 2021 Vol. 21 No. 08
www.creemore.com
News and views in and around Creemore
INSIDE
The Great Outdoors
Respect the rules of Conservation Areas PAGE 7
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Family partners in new restaurant, store by Trina Berlo A new restaurant has opened at the top of town. The new venture is a three-way partnership between Angus residents Marcel and Pamela Venne, and her brother James Dewitt, of Waubaushene. They have named the restaurant Dewennes, a portmanteau of their last names. The restaurant opened on Feb. 4, although operations were limited during the lockdown. Current restrictions have impacted the opening, but this is actually the second time the family has opened a restaurant during the pandemic. They also operate the Riverside Hideaway restaurant in Coldwater, set in the village’s historic grist mill, built in 1833. That restaurant opened in July under different circumstances, said Pamela. She recalls, at that time patios were open for dining and they had a plan for opening day when suddenly the province began allowing indoor seating. “We were overrun,” said Pamela, adding that they ended up expanding the patio to meet the demand.
Staff photo: Trina Berlo
Marcel and Pamela Venne (from left), and James Dewitt have taken over the restaurant and convenience store in Creemore's north end, opening Dewennes, a playful hybrid of their last names. Pamela said she first discovered the village of Creemore after riding her horse in the Dufferin forest. She and other riders came to the restaurant for brunch after their traiil ride. She said she has many years of experience working for the corporation that owns Kelsey’s and other chains,
working her way up through the industry from dishwasher to manager. Her husband is retired from the military, and they have seven children between them. Dewitt is a contractor and completed an extensive renovation of Riverside Hideaway before it opened. More recently she asked a real estate
friend to let her know if anything became available in Creemore and an opportunity led her back to that same restaurant. Pamela said they are leaning on the staff from the other location as they get established. The plan is to offer breakfast and carry over some of the favourite menu items from the other restaurant such as spinach cheese dip, stirfry, steaks, pasta Alfredo and fish dishes. The family has leased the restaurant and convenience store. They had hoped to operate the gas bar but it is inoperable at the moment and would need a large investment to get it going. They have opened up a doorway between the store and the restaurant, and are working out what to offer. Dewennes is now open for breakfast on the weekends. The dining room opens at 8 a.m. but seating is limited to 10 indoors with a maximum of four per table, due to public health requirements. To make a reservation, call 705-5200060. Dewennes is located at 7535 County Road 9, Creemore. Find them on Facebook for hours and full menu.
Council opts to discuss halls in closed session by Trina Berlo Clearview councillor Thom Paterson tried to convince fellow council members to discuss community halls in open session Wednesday, but to no avail. It is assumed the discussion was about how to proceed with accessibility renovations at six township owned halls that need work to make them compliant with standards required by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). “I feel perfectly comfortable with this council discussing it and with the full view of the public,” said Paterson. “It really would make the next discussion
with the hall boards so much easier if they heard the pros and cons and the thinking that went on with this council in terms of how to resolve this difficult situation. I would ask, do we need to go in-camera?” Councillors held the in-camera session during a special council meeting to discuss a “Community Halls Review.” The reason for the closed session was, to form “a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board.” “There very well could be some discussions and some negotiations
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with some local hall boards,” said clerk Pamela Fettes, adding that staff saw this as an opportunity for council to have a discussion amongst themselves to get on the same page before presenting their thoughts to the hall boards. “Any decisions that are made would be made in a public forum,” said Fettes. Clearview council is opening a new round of discussions about making the municipality’s community-run halls fully accessible. Council received an updated engineer’s report in March estimating it would cost between $5.1 million and $8 million to renovate six halls – Avening, Sunnidale Corners, Nottawa, Duntroon,
Brentwood and Dunedin – depending on the level of accessibility, including fees for architectural, engineering, and project management, as well as kitchen upgrades to become fire code compliant. Council commissioned an update of a 2012 Hall Board Facility Assessment Report so it would have current figures. The 2012 report estimated a cost of $710,000 to make all six halls accessible. Council was in-camera from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. At the end of the meeting, Mayor Doug Measures said the conversation would continue with the hall boards, and that a meeting date would be set.