The Voice, June 23 2020

Council docks Mayor 45 days’ pay page 3 New MCC ice tech set to save big page 11 Watch out for the hornets page 12 EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

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Vol.24 No.25

June 24, 2020

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“Jazz Up the Park” nears finish Now all that’s needed is provincial permission to party

Column Six

Blasts 35 years ago echo today Investigation continued to haunt Fonthill man—and his family

BY JOHN CHICK

Special to the VOICE

BY VOICE STAFF While there won’t be music in the air around the Fonthill Bandshell this season, organizers are singing the praises of volunteers, sponsors and community just the same, thanks to the near-completion of the work involved in the volunteer Bandshell Committee’s Jazz Up The Park project.

Anyone who has visited or driven past

Peace Park in recent weeks will likely have seen one of the last pieces of work involved in upgrading the Bandshell area: installing new light bollards in and around the structure, thanks to the crew from BZ Electric, and Bandshell volunteers.

While the sod-laying took place last November, just before the early snow began to fly, the irrigation system has now been tested, the resulting grass is lush and green, and

the benches have been installed along the accessible pathway at the top of the bowl. In fact, the Fonthill Lions recently donated a bench, which will be installed over the summer. All donors from across the community, corporate and individual, will be honoured for their contributions with the installation of a donor wall during the summer months.

See BANDSHELL back page

Thirty-five years ago this Tuesday, on June 23, 1985, a bomb in a suitcase exploded in a cargo area at Narita International Airport, outside Tokyo. The blast effectively cut one of two Japanese luggage handlers in half at his torso, and killed both instantly. Fifty-five minutes later, almost 10,000 kilometres away, a second bomb went off, this one in the cargo hold of an Air India Boeing 747, flying off the coast of Ireland. The explosive decompression of the aircraft at an altitude of 31,000 feet completely tore off some passengers’ clothes. The plane broke apart in stages, with the wreckage plummeting into the Atlantic Ocean.

All 329 people on board were killed. The cause of See COLUMN SIX Page 16

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Page 2

The Voice, June 24, 2020

THE VOICE POLL MAYORAL PUNISHMENT

PUBLISHER’S CORNER

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

by Dave Burket

At its last meeting, Pelham Town Council opted to exceed the Integrity Commissioner’s recommended sanction against Mayor Marvin Junkin for technical violations of the Town’s Code of Conduct. The Integrity Commissioner recommended that the Mayor receive a letter of reprimand. Council added a 45-day pay suspension, or about $4000.

Was this too little? Too much? About right?

Putting on the squeeze: Hey! What’s with the incursion into my little corner here, guys? The nerve! Okay, I’ll keep it brief...Rack ‘em up: The Voice rack that’s been at Fonthill Sobeys since 2007 or so has mysteriously gone missing. See the wanted poster below...Slightly more believable: The new ice cooling system at the MCC (story, p. 11) is apparently the real deal, even with the Doc Brown, “flux capacitor”-sounding tech attached to it. You’ll see what I mean...Packed with goodness: Ironically, since I have so little space to tell you about it, I think that this is one of our best issues in awhile, in large part due to contributor John Chick’s Column Six. You’ll remember it long after putting these pages into the recycling.

Also striking are this week’s letters to the editor, as well as Don Rickers’ piece on hornets you don’t want to meet in a dark hallway (p. 12)...And then there’s council: Story on page 3, editorial on page 4. Enough said...Okay, another Back to the Future reference: Doc Brown to Marty—”Whatever you do, kid, don’t set that thing for 2020...” Enjoy the sun: Summer’s definitely here. ♦

Take the poll and let us know! www.thevoiceofpelham.ca/45days

THE VOICE POLL Results THE QUESTION If offered, should the Fonthill Bandshell Committee accept donations from local cannabis producers to help cover the costs of the Committee’s improvements to the Bandshell?

No 16% Yes 84%

ONLINE YOU ANSWERED 84% Yes, 16% No. 112 votes recorded.

ADVISORY: While safeguards are in place to eliminate multiple votes, this is a self-selected poll, meaning it has no scientific validity compared to a formal random survey undertaken by a professional polling firm.

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PREPARING FOR PRIDE Eight Town staffers joined Mayor Marvin Junkin ahead of LGTBQ+ Pride Month and the raising of the rainbow flag, which flew earlier in June outside Town Hall.

From left, Communications and Public Relations Specialist Marc MacDonald, Pelham CAO David Cribbs, and Junkin. MacDonald recorded remarks by the Mayor for inclusion in a Pride Niagara video, which also featured statements from other Niagara municipalities.

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needs home delivery? We offer doorstep delivery of Library items for those in need. Give us a call and we’ll set this service up.

For those who prefer to access their reading materials digitally, Pelham has purchased e-book copies of the most popular titles in OverDrive (Libby). This means shorter holds lists on these titles for Pelham residents. We have also purchased a selection of juvenile/teen titles to complement summer reading. If you want to read a book immediately and can’t find it in OverDrive, our subscription to Hoopla offers Pelham Library card holders a full range of reading materials without the wait.

Entry into the Library buildings for residents is now permitted for limited computer access. Workstations will be sanitized between users. Call 905-892-6443 to reserve computer time. You will be required to wear a mask if you need assistance from Library staff at your workstation.

If you would like to borrow materials from the Library, there are three ways to do so: place a hold, email admin@ pelhamlibrary.on.ca, or call our staff during curbside hours. (Fonthill: 905-892-6443 / Maple Acre: 905-8925226) Fonthill Branch curbside hours are Monday 11 AM – 4 PM, Tuesday 2 PM – 7 PM, and Friday 10 AM – 4 PM. Curbside at Maple Acre is on Thursday 1 PM – 6 PM.

} David and Carolyn Comfort, at The Jekyll Island Resort in Georgia!

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In an effort to bring further attention and deterrence to driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, the Niagara Regional Police Service reports the names of those people who are charged with an alleged criminal impaired driving offence in the Region. None of the following charges have been proved in court.

In addition to being charged, these individuals are also bound by a Ministry of Transportation 90-Day Administrative Driver’s License Suspension and are prohibited from operating a motor vehicle on a roadway. The public is encouraged to contact the Niagara Regional Police Service Traffic Safety Hotline or Crime Stoppers to report those who are driving in contravention of the suspension.

The following individuals have been charged criminally with impaired driving by alcohol or drugs, driving with a blood alcohol concentration above 80 mgs of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, or refusing to provide a breath / blood sample.

Christine M. LAVEY, 42, Niagara Falls Andrew T. MACKEY, 21, Sudbury Paul A. J. LIGHT, 40, Niagara Falls NY Justin D. BEAUPIT, 27, Thorold Jeffery W. READ, 30, St. Catharines The Niagara Regional Police Service is committed to reducing impaired driving offences through education and the apprehension of offenders through enforcement programs like RIDE. Impaired driving is still the leading cause of criminal deaths in Canada and destroys thousands of lives every year.

The

continued from Page 7

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Voice 905-892-8690 Find the Voice at these locations: Indulgence Bakery Mossimo’s Pelham Street Grille Peter Piper’s Pubhouse DeVries Fruit Farm Beamer’s Hardware Pelham Libraries Bob’s Boys Antiques PharmaChoice Pharmacy Fonthill Fitness Fenwick Pie Company McDonald’s Duffin Appleworks Fonthill Legion Semenuk’s Gas Bar Shoppers Drug Mart Tim Horton’s Giant Tiger Fonthill LCBO Zee Lube Express Care Food Basics Minor Bros Stores Avondale Stores A-1 Market Boggio's IDA Sobeys South Pelham Grill on Canboro Shell on Hwy 20 Circle-K I'm just as curious as you are! It's all explained on p. 10!

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The Voice, June 24, 2020

Page 3

TOWN COUNCIL NEWS

Council exceeds recommended punishment for Junkin Meeting features false statements, apparent violation of Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, grant money rejected, an angry Wink, and pop-up patios

BY VOICE STAFF During its June 15 meeting, Pelham Town Council voted to suspend the Mayor’s salary for 45 days while additionally reprimanding him over an Integrity Commissioner investigation into complaints brought forward by Councillor Ron Kore earlier this year.

In late 2019, embattled cannabis producer CannTrust indicated to Junkin that it might be willing to donate $25,000 toward revitalization of the Fonthill Bandshell.

Instead of bringing the offer to council in open session—which, in fact, he was not required to do— Junkin informally polled council members in person and by email to gauge their interest in accepting a donation from a company that had become a local pariah. All councillors told Junkin that accepting the offer was a bad idea—despite the fact that the offer was not being made to the Town, but to a private organization, the Bandshell Committee, over which council has no authority.

Kore subsequently accused Junkin of attempting to broker a “back-room deal,” initially taking his complaint to the Voice,

but without being willing to proceed with it. He then opted to file formal complaints with both the Town’s independent Integrity Commissioner, and with the Ontario Ombudsman’s office.

As reported at length in last week’s issue, in an investigation costing Pelham taxpayers just over $18,000, the Integrity Commissioner found that Junkin had made a number of technical violations of the Town’s Code of Conduct. However, the commissioner concluded that, “it is not our view that the Mayor did so for nefarious purposes; rather, we accept that the Mayor likely intended to avoid the potential for public discourse over a potential donation which may never materialize.”

The commissioner recommended that Junkin receive a reprimand as punishment.

Yet in what has become an ongoing pattern of rejecting the advice of specialists, Councillors Bob Hildebrandt, Lisa Haun, John Wink, and Marianne Stewart voted to dock Junkin’s pay for 45 days on top of the reprimand.

Before discussion over punishment began, Kore announced that

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Councillors Lisa Haun, left, and Marianne Stewart.

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due to an unstated conflict of interest, he would not participate in debate over the consequences of investigations that he himself had caused to occur, and disconnected from the video conference.

Yet a moment later, Councillor Bob Hildebrandt read aloud a statement written by Kore, on Kore’s behalf.

This appeared to directly violate the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, which forbids a council member from taking part in discussing a topic about which they have declared a conflict.

Such a council member “shall not attempt in any way whether before, during or after the meeting to influence the voting” on the issue being debated.

Either no councillor noticed that Kore and Hildebrandt were apparently violating the Act, or didn’t care.

When asked later in the week whether Hildebrandt’s reading of Kore’s statement was permissible, CAO David Cribbs told the Voice that his answering the question, “would constitute provision

of legal advice, which I can only provide to the Corporation of the Town of Pelham.”

Kore did not reply to a Voice request to describe what his conflict of interest was. Hildebrandt did not reply when asked why he agreed to read Kore’s statement in his absence.

The Mayor also exited the video conference before debate over his fate got underway, but not before letting council know how he felt.

“I’m embarrassed to be connected to a council, much less head of a council, which has paid this amount of money to have the Integrity Commissioner and the Ombudsman pass judgment on what can only be described by any stretch of the imagination as frivolous complaints....Quite frankly, I’ve had enough. I’m not going to participate in any more discussions. I’m now going to bid council, and the senior staff that is left, goodnight.”

The added 45-day salary suspension was Haun’s idea, and she defended her decision to lay the extra punishment on Junkin by admonishing the Mayor for leaving the meeting early.

“He’s opted to leave the meeting and doesn’t seem to have any apologies to make whatsoever,” she said. “Had I had the opportunity with him to discuss this, it may have had a different outcome.

But clearly, he has no remorse and no apologies to make.”

Hildebrandt concurred.

“I was hoping there would be a more apologetic and conciliatory position taken by the Mayor,” he said.

Junkin did apologize—to the public—in last week’s Voice for any oversights, saying he should not have conducted an informal poll of councillors regarding Cann Trust’s offer.

During the debate, Haun seemed to suggest that the $18,430 investigation bill was due in part to Junkin not being qualified or willing to participate in mediation. In fact, mediation was offered to both sides and accepted by Junkin.

“The Mayor whole-heartedly supports the concept of mediation and looks forward to a time and date for this to occur,” read an email sent by a Town administrative assistant to the Integrity Commissioner on March 9.

Kore rejected mediation. He has not responded to Voice requests to explain why.

Haun also falsely asserted that parties to mediation must first “admit” wrongdoing.

“As far as mediation, in order to have mediation, you have to have two parties, that, one of them has to admit, or both really have to have a compromise, they have to admit there’s some wrongdoing,” said Haun.

Mixing the present with the past, Haun continued, “In this case, the Mayor very clearly doesn’t believe he’s done anything wrong, so mediation really didn’t seem like it would in [sic] anything that would have ever been feasible. So, naturally then, instead of mediation, it goes to an investigation.”

Haun did not respond when See COUNCIL Page 15

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Page 4

The Voice, June 24, 2020

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

OPINION

The opinions expressed in submitted commentary and letters to the editor are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Voice of Pelham.

The Voice of Pelham is a 1211858 Ontario Limited publication David Burket, Publisher 2-1428 Pelham St., P.O. Box 1489, Fonthill, ON L0S1E0

As We See It Pelham council needs to catch up with Pelham residents

I

f there’s anything that the last two weeks of missteps and miscalculations have conclusively demonstrated, it’s that Pelham Town councillors are tragically behind the curve when it comes to understanding what Pelham residents expect of them.

There is a growing case on council of acute blindness on the matter of cannabis, and borderline malevolence on the matter of the Mayor.

To all reasonable observers, the Integrity Commissioner’s report on Mayor Marvin Junkin’s handling of a vague donation offer by a local cannabis producer was a big bong full of nothing. Brock Political Science Emeritus Professor David Siegel called it a mountain made of a molehill. Bandshell Committee chair Gayle Baltjes said the volunteer organization was happy to accept donations from anyone. The investigator himself concluded that nothing “nefarious” occurred, and that Junkin had simply made misjudgments while trying to make things easier for council, the committee, and residents. He accordingly recommended that Junkin receive only a reprimand.

Against this advice, Town Council, following the lead of Councillor Lisa Haun,voted to dock Junkin a month and half of his salary— roughly $4000.

Of course, none of this exasperating waste of time would have come about if Councillor Ron Kore hadn’t filed his flimsy complaints.

It didn’t have to be this way—or this expensive.

Kore refused repeated opportunities to take his case directly to the people through the Voice, as extensively documented in our coverage last week. He refused lower-cost mediation. Instead, by his choosing the route

seemingly calculated to create the biggest political headache and amount of public embarrassment for the Mayor, it’s hard not to conclude that Kore’s apparent goal wasn’t justice, but retribution instead. This oneway personality conflict­ must end—as must its continued enabling by other councillors.

We are only a year and a half into a four-year term. Dysfunction serves no one.

Even after declaring a conflict of interest at last week’s council meeting—conveniently meaning he didn’t have to face the Mayor directly— Kore managed to get his digs in through a statement read aloud by Councillor Bob Hildebrandt. This appeared to be in clear violation of the Ontario Conflict of Interest Act. The irony is almost too much. Even as they were debating Junkin’s punishment for minor violations of the Town’s Code of Conduct, councillors sat silently as provincial legislation was violated in real time before their eyes. As cherries on top, Lisa Haun and Marianne Stewart made false statements to rationalize their vote to ding the Mayor that $4000.

On the larger topic of CannTrust’s potential charitable contribution to the Bandshell, well, the residents of Pelham are just fine with it— as conclusively shown in a Voice poll conducted over the weekend. And why shouldn’t they be? There is no reasonable rationale to refuse charitable donations from legally operating businesses who wish to give.

Likewise, readers have almost unanimously condemned council for ignoring the Integrity Commissioner’s recommended reprimand of Junkin. Is Marvin Junkin perfect? Far from it, like the rest of us. It’s long past time for this council to move beyond pettiness. This is politics without vision— and this lack of vision makes them miss what is so plainly in front of their eyes. ♦

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www.thevoiceofpelham.ca EDITOR & PUBLISHER Dave Burket publisher@thevoiceofpelham.ca ADMINISTRATION Lori Gretsinger office@thevoiceofpelham.ca CONTRIBUTORS Carolyn Botari, Colin Brezicki, Rosemary Chambers, John Chick, Larry Coté, Brian Green, Jenica Hrysko, Maeve Keating, Megan Metler, Bill Potrecz, Bernie Puchalski, Don Rickers, John Swart, Helen Tran, Mike Tucker, Rob Weatherby. Proof Sleuth: Julian Fitch NEWS INQUIRIES & TIPS editor@thevoiceofpelham.ca LETTERS TO THE EDITOR letters@thevoiceofpelham.ca ADVERTISING INQUIRIES advertising@thevoiceofpelham.ca

NPEI also manages trees In last week’s article on power outages [In Fonthill, it’s a good idea to be prepared for the dark, June 17, p. 6], the interview with Town staffer Ryan Cook leaves the mistaken impression that NPEI does not engage in forestry management practices. The truth is that NPEI has always had a comprehensive policy regarding a proactive tree management program. Like the Town of Pelham, the program is carried out by outside qualified contractors through the tender process.

Most power outages in the NPEI Fonthill area are the result of service interruptions from the Allanburg transfer station, a Hydro One facility.

Nearly all trees and limbs which fall on the lines in storms are on Town of Pelham property.

Brian Walker Former NPEI Director Fonthill

CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS Member of Federal Parliament

Electoral District: Niagara West

Mayor of Pelham Marvin Junkin mjunkin@pelham.ca 905-658-2986

Dean Allison, MP 4994 King Street Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 Dean.Allison@parl.gc.ca 877-563-7900

Members of Pelham Town Council

Member of Provincial Parliament

Ward 1

Electoral District: Niagara West

The Voice

Letters

Sam Oosterhoff, MPP 4961 King St. East, Unit M1 Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 sam.oosterhoffco@pc.ola.org 905-563-1755 Members of Niagara Regional Council Councillor Marvin Junkin mjunkin@pelham.ca 905-658-2987 Councillor Diana Huson diana.huson@niagararegion.ca 905-324-3094 Town of Pelham 20 Pelham Town Square P.O. Box 400 Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0 905-892-2607

Councillor Marianne Stewart mstewart@pelham.ca 289-821-0840 Ward 2 Councillor Ron Kore rkore@pelham.ca 905-933-3805

Today's forgotten business stopped advertising yesterday

Councillor John Wink jwink@pelham.ca 905-892-4475 Ward 3 Councillor Lisa Haun lhaun@pelham.ca 905-892-5877 Councillor Bob Hildebrandt bhildebrandt@pelham.ca 905-892-5647

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The Voice, June 24, 2020

Page 5

OPINION REACTION TO TWIN INVESTIGATIONS STORY Editor’s note: Reader reaction came fast and furious to last week’s news about Pelham Town Councillor Ron Kore filing two complaints against Mayor Marvin Junkin, related to his fundraising efforts for the Fonthill Bandshell Committee. As of this writing, a total of 49 comments were posted online between Facebook and the Voice website—all but one supportive of Junkin and critical of Kore. (The exception suggested that the Integrity Commissioner’s $18,430 bill to the Town was a price worth paying.) Similarly, every letter to the editor was supportive of Junkin, except for one. That letter cited Councillor Marianne Stewart’s false claim that council had decided not to accept donations from cannabis growers—which is not the case. The Voice invited the letter writer to submit a new letter, but had not received a reply by deadline.

Council—get your act together I have been reading in the Voice the dynamics of our Pelham elected officials. I feel it is timely to share my thoughts on behaviour that is unacceptable by those elected officials.

First—be a team. There is a trust exercise where each person in a team falls backwards trusting the other team members will catch them. I suspect our representatives would all be bruised. You each have a responsibility to each other if you are going to successfully represent Pelham.

Check your damned egos at the door.

Communicate—a key component of this role is communication. I call BS on comments like the Mayor “shouldn’t speak on my behalf,” or “I didn’t expect to speak to reporters as part of this job,” or as an elected official not informing colleagues that you won’t be attending a meeting, or failure to provide a response or even acknowledgement to the local newspaper that residents read weekly. I challenge each official to take turns writing an article for the Voice— 50% on accomplishments the council have completed as a team and 50% on what you look forward to working on with the council moving forward. Absolutely NO incoming Scuds or harm by “friendly fire” allowed. And remember you have two ears and one mouth...listen more then you speak. Choose your words like fine china—delicate, unique and valued.

Fiscal restraint—spend money as if it is coming out of your own pocket. The council has done an impressive start to resetting the financial position for the Town. This isn’t a race. It is restraint, teamwork, communication and readiness for a rainy day. It’s dealing with pandemics, community members in need, and recognition that we are all stronger together. Finally, no one council member should arbitrarily put their fingers in the community wallet for a sum of $18,000 (or potentially even more).

As individuals and council members you each have significant responsibilities to residents in Pelham. You were each specifically chosen to assume those responsibilities.

Each of you needs to be the best version of yourself.

Mary Talevi Fonthill

Wait, who needs to apologize?

After watching part of the Town Council meeting on Monday and then reading the Voice articles Wednesday, I am ashamed of the shenanigans of our present council.

Our last council left us with large white elephants everywhere in Pelham, like the Meridian Center, debt,

cannabis, and lots of controversial issues. Our previous councillors could have voted not to let the cannabis industry start up in our town, but they had their heads focused in the downtown Fonthill core. Now we must See WHO next page

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PELHAM AND COVID-19

Mayor Marvin Junkin

History of Pelham farming runs deep—and will outlast this pandemic

A

lthough many new residents may not be aware of its importance, agriculture has always played a significant role in Pelham.

Because of our unique location and very fertile soils, our agricultural base was very diverse. Anything from nursery stock—huge at one time— to fruits and vegetables, and of course the old standbys, livestock and field crops.

One of the oldest farms in Pelham belongs to Roger and Nancy Miller, located on Kilman Road. Roger is the fifth generation of the Millers to farm the land and is somewhat disappointed that neither of his two sons is interested in carrying the farm on for another generation. Long hours and low pay pushed them both into other life interests.

A member of the Miller family has worked the home

farm since 1829.

After returning home from Guelph University, Roger was intent raising Marvin Junkin on sheep, but wise words from his father, Donald, convinced him otherwise. “If you’re going to get married, then you should sell the sheep. With them around, it will be too easy for the wife to pull the wool over your eyes.” Forever the obedient son, the next day, the sheep were gone. On a side note, Nancy is still there, looking after the farm’s accounts, among a host of other jobs.

The Millers became lifetime dairy farmers, selling the herd in 2001. Now 76 years old, Roger has drifted into semi-retirement—he bales 20,000 small square bales every year along with

using a couple of hundred acres to grow wheat and soybeans.

Farming on a more intensive scale are Lee and Brenda Johnson. Lee and Brenda have been farming on Memorial Drive for 46 years.

With apples being their main crop, they also grow a wide range of vegetables, such as sweet corn, peppers, and potatoes to name just a few. To help with the labour-intensive planting and harvest, Lee employs offshore workers. Usually hiring a contingent of around 16 of these workers, this year Lee is only hiring ten. Social distancing and the continuing spread of the COVID-19 virus in Mexico are two of the reasons for these reduced numbers.

Farming with Lee and Brenda are two of their sons, Nate and Spencer. Everyone has a specific category of the business for which

they are responsible, with of course everyone pitching in where and when needed in the field operations.

A percentage of their product is sold in their stores, located on Foss Road and the old fruit barn across from Minor Bros. on Highway 20. Although some of their neighbours had hail damage just a few weeks ago, the only curve that mother nature has thrown at them so far was a frost which destroyed their early planting of sweet corn. As are most area farmers, Lee is casting anxious eyes skyward, looking for water.

In closing, I would like to thank the town residents who have shown their continued support for me, either through emails, phone calls, or social media. Your kind words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. Until next week. ♦

COMMENTARY / OP-ED Diana Huson, Regional Councillor Update from the Region

I

t’s been a long couple of months trying to adjust to the COVID pandemic and find some resemblance of a normal routine. For some it’s meant working from home, potentially homeschooling our children and isolating ourselves. For other’s it’s meant braving the outdoors, working overtime trying to stock shelves, handle customers, set up online shopping capabilities, cleaning facilities, and treating and caring for patients. I think we can all agree that we’ve had to rethink the value we place on certain professions. Our community grocery, pharmacy, farm, transportation

and healthcare workers deserve our sincere gratitude for their support and helping us navigate these challenging times.

So, what has changed at the Region?

Overall, almost every aspect of our operations has seen significant and swift modifications since the emergency proclamation. These have either created an opportunity for cost savings or significant budgetary strain and, like most municipalities across Ontario if not Canada, the Region is projecting a steep deficit. In working with local municipal treasurers, our financial team has projected a combined Niag-

ara deficit of $7.5 million. The Regional portion accounts for approximately $2.9 million. Other municipalities have experienced significant financial strain and will be lobbying the Province and federal government for support in addressing these deficits. However, moving forward, now more than ever the streamlining of services, and harmonization, will be more important. We must act quickly in responding to our financial pressures.

Every department has experienced change including impacts to staffing See HUSON next page

Professional SERVICES Directory Dr. Bohdan Hrynyk Dental Surgeon

Pelham Hills Dentistry

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Family Dentistry NEW PATIENTS WELCOME 1428 Pelham Street, Fonthill

NEWSFLASH Tell us your story!

Column Six presents tales of personal triumph, adventure, strange-but-true stories, life-changing events, and looks-back at our past.

Did you conquer Everest or kick a bad habit?

Everyone has a story. Tell us yours!

NOW ALSO ACCEPTING FICTION— SHORT STORIES UP TO 2000 WORDS! Write it down, send it in: publisher@thevoiceofpelham.ca (You won’t get rich, but you will get paid.)

Page 6

Letters

The Voice, June 24, 2020

Former Treasurer calls on Haun, Kore to put agendas aside

continued

WHO

continued from previous page live with all the elephants and need to find a way to get along and work with the issues that they present. The new council looked for a time like they were going in the right direction, but now with the backlash this is no good for our community.

As a business operator in Pelham, I am ashamed by what has gone down with the proposed donation from CannTrust. To think that generous donation was turned away because of controversy surrounding what is a legal business is sad for the community.

The company, whether you like them or not, are bringing much-needed revenue into our community, from

jobs to employees spending money on food, gas, coffee and taxes. To think that someone thought that the Mayor did something wrong—if it was any other business generously offering a donation to a fundraiser nothing would have been said or done.

The thought that $18,000 of taxpayer money was spent needlessly is nothing but shenanigans.

Council wants an apology from the Mayor? The Mayor left the council meeting after being stabbed in the back by people he was working hard with to fix the mess our town is in. I think it is the other way around and they need to apologize to the Mayor.

Sherry Rusin Fenwick

HUSON

continued from previous page levels, enhanced cleaning procedures and the need for personal protective equipment. But no unit has been impacted to the degree that our Public Health Unit has, who were really thrust into the limelight on this issue. This unit began planning for a COVID-19 response as far back as January 8.

A Public Health Emergency Operations Centre was partially established on January 28 and fully activated by March 9. At this time the unit needed to redeploy staff in order to meet the demands of performing case, contact and outbreak management, communica-

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

In the midst of COVID, Black Lives Matter, the economy—among a myriad of other issues the residents of this Town are dealing with—it was absolutely shocking and appalling to read about the Integrity Commissioner’s investigation.

As someone that worked at the Town, I have significant issues with who cultivated this charge against the Mayor and who are the staff that were involved.

As reported, councillor Kore initiated two complaints—one through the Integrity Commissioner and the other through the Ombudsman. Councillor Lisa Haun also had input on this matter.

What shocks me are so many things.

First, we residents expect this council to work hand in hand. This is not happening. There seems to be a few councillors that have backdoor conversations and bring motions forward that blindside the other council members—for example the “muzzle order” against the Mayor. Councillor Haun is singlehandedly working to divide this council.

Shame on you, penalizing the Mayor by withholding his salary.

tions, and also support our health care and social services sector.

Normally our case, contact and outbreak management team is staffed with 12 employees who work entirely on the 75 diseases of public health significance (such as measles, influenza, HIV etc.), which still persist today and must continue to be managed. This unit had to adapt quickly by creating an entire call centre of public health nurses to respond to inquires from the public, health care professionals and doctors on a variety of platforms, but also perform contact-tracing for confirmed cases.

There was an additional need for public health inspectors to respond to questions about clean-

Councillor Kore, can you please tell me what your intent was in bringing this claim forward? It is evident from the investigation that yes, the Mayor violated some of the protocols...but in no way did anything nefarious. And why, why, why would you and Councillor Haun not reach out to the Mayor in a manner to resolve the issue, other than putting it all over the papers. And why, Mr. Kore, could you not read your own statement in front of council last Monday. If you are bold enough to take this to the Integrity Commissioner...read it. You of all people should not judge someone else.

It is evident that the Mayor was not impacting the ratepayers, yet now we have this report out in the public because the advice that he was offered was not correct. So yes he made a mistake and he's admitting it...I think many on this council can attest to making a mistake at some point. I’m sure given what has occurred the Mayor will triple-check anything going forward. But all you needed to do was have a meeting with the Town Clerk in the room. So we

ing and sanitation. As a result, an addition 45 full-time and 20 part-time staff were redeployed to this unit to handle the workload, meaning other programs and services they typically supported had to be put on hold.

When you contemplate the extent of change for this department, the degree to which they’ve been thrown into the spotlight, and how quickly they’ve had to adapt to a continually evolving situation, it’s quite extraordinary.

This unit has truly come together in a short period of time with little information, under pressure and with tight timelines, to prioritize and ensure the safety of our community. I can’t imagine it’s been

2020

BY-ELECTION

paid a huge sum of taxpayers dollars for something that could have been taken care of in-house. So put this into perspective: you didn't have knowledge, you didn't talk to the Clerk, you simply went straight to the Integrity Commissioner, and now we as ratepayers have to pay the cost for something that could have been settled in Town Hall.

I implore this council to work together instead of trying to “get” someone.

I really don't care if you don't agree with my assessment. I can undeniably say to you that other residents around me reached out to express their concerns with this council. And there are four councillors right now working for their own political agenda, or they just don't care. Political agendas were the testament of our last council. It's time to be different.

With everything going on in this world I once again implore you to make the difference we sought by electing you as council in the first place.

Cari Pupo Former Treasurer, Town of Pelham Fonthill

easy and I applaud their diligence and dedication. Our community is safer for it.

These types of changes are reflective of our other departments as well, where the organization has had to dedicate resources to emergency operations and adjust their routines, services and support. The Region has not been able to reduce staffing simply because nearly all of our programs and servicing are essential. This includes our care homes, homelessness services, waste management, seniors' services, children’s services (which has been supporting front line workers), and housing. We’ve significantly scaled back on transit and, like everyone, have seen an

escalation in our technology services to support remote work.

Overall, the change has been monumental, and as our community opens up on Friday, our diligence in following public health recommendations for physical distancing, handwashing and staying home where possible needs to be met with equal response. We all want to avoid another wave. Let’s keep up the momentum.

On a final note I would like to extend my best wishes to our community on this special weekend.

It’s been a difficult few months but our love ones make it a bit easier.

To the world you are a dad, but to a family you are the world. Happy Belated Father's Day everyone! ♦

NOTICE OF BY- ELECTION – WARD ONE Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (S.40) Municipal By-Election Day: September 15, 2020

NOTICE is hereby given to the Municipal Electors of the Town of Pelham, Regional Municipality of Niagara, that nominations may be filed as outlined below for the following Office: COUNCILLOR, WARD ONE (One to be elected) HOW MIGHT ONE SUBMIT A NOMINATION/FILE AS A CANDIDATE? Nomination Period: June 16, 2020 to July 31, 2020 Eligible Candidates may file a nomination paper (Form 1) including the prescribed fee and submission of 25 signatures of eligible voters supporting the nomination (Form 2) starting June 16, 2020 during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) and up to Nomination Day, July 31, 2020 during prescribed hours. Nomination fee is $100 and must be paid by cash, debit, certified cheque or money order.

Nomination Day: July 31, 2020 (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

Deadline for filing or withdrawing nominations. On Nomination Day, nominations may only be filed between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Withdrawal of a nomination by a candidate, in writing, is required before 2 p.m.

Election Day/Voting Day: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 Voting places will be open from 10 a.m. and will close promptly at 8 p.m.

HOW MIGHT ONE VOTE IF ONE CAN’T GET TO THE POLLS? PROXY VOTING IS AVAILABLE: Applications for Appointment of a Voting Proxy shall be made to the Clerk at the address shown below, during regular office hours (Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.) and must be made in the prescribed form. The Clerk has also designated that applications may be made at the applicable advance vote locations between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Applications for Appointment of a Voting Proxy will be processed up to 4:30 p.m. only on

Election Day, to be issued from Town Hall. Advance vote dates and locations will be posted on the Town’s municipal website.

HOW MIGHT ONE DETERMINE IF THEY ARE ON THE VOTERS’ LIST? Revisions to the voters’ list may be made up to the close of voting on Election Day. Applications must be in the designated form, be fully and properly completed, and signed by the applicant. Forms may be obtained from the Office of the Clerk, at each polling station at advance vote locations, and at each polling place on Voting Day. A list of eligible voters will be available in the Office of the Clerk at the address noted below beginning approximately July 10, 2020. To determine if you are on the list from the comfort of your home, visit www.pelham.ca and follow the By-Election Page instructions.

HOW MIGHT ONE KNOW WHERE TO VOTE? Voter notification packages will be mailed to all eligible voters on the list in August, 2020. The package contains information about when and where Ward One electors may vote. If you do not receive a package, or if the information contained in it is incorrect, please contact the Clerk’s office.

Voting locations are also listed on the Town’s website.

Dated at the Town of Pelham this 16th day of June, 2020.

Nancy J. Bozzato Town Clerk & Returning Officer Town of Pelham, 20 Pelham Town Square, P. O. Box 400 Fonthill, ON, L0S 1E1 NJBozzato@pelham.ca 905 892-2607 ext. 315

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

Letters

The Voice, June 24, 2020

Stop bickering and focus on your job—helping the community

continued

Earlier assessment of Kore proven on the mark It is too bad that Councillor Ron Kore didn’t think of anything or anyone while he worked clearly ill with a respiratory illness.

He didn’t seem to feel the burden, as he puts it, at that time, and continued to work while a pandemic had been declared. Why didn’t he think of other people and how many people could have been infected by him?

Niagara Public Health failed to protect the citizens of Pelham. There was no public notice that anyone who attended Sobeys had been potentially exposed to the virus because of his daily attendance in the store.

There was no tracking, no suggestion of a 14-day isolation. Nothing until April, when Sobeys corporate announced it.

As to his yelling at the public servant parking at his store, he himself and his brother and others have often parked in the same area, picking up and delivering items to and from store, perhaps for his charity work. I have seen this multiple times. It is a little two-faced to be yelling at someone else.

While some people have previously thought I have harshly criticized Kore

through all this, I can only say his actions since January exemplify his political incompetence and lack of preparedness.

He has proven himself to be obtuse, uncooperative, and lacking leadership. His behaviour suggests that he is dividing the council and undermining this elected Mayor. If you are on a team, you don’t block your fellow council members, employees, or the Mayor. How can I trust he is representing my interests in my ward when he won’t communicate with key council members. Town Council is supposed to represent the taxpayers in its jurisdiction and not Mr. Kore’s personal needs. I for one am disappointed I supported his election. I will make that dissatisfaction known at the next election.

For now, Kore should grow up and remember that people voted for honesty and a straight-forwardness as he claimed while campaigning, and not for leaking of Town emails and petty bickering or personality conflicts.

Sophie Zaworski Ridgeville

History on the way to repeating itself Everyone has been told about history repeating itself, and in Pelham it is in the form of Town Council actions. The voters got rid of the past council and with the new council held great hopes. Unfortunately, this council is following in the footsteps of the past.

The best way to put their

A poem HALCYON I'm sick of the Corona, I'm sick of whiny folks, I'm sick of no more shopping, I'm sick of email jokes.

I'm sick of watching CNN, And CP 24.

I'm sick of hearing all those facts, I yearn for "life once more.”

I'm sick of never seeing Those friends so dear to me, I'm sick of missing family And the days that used to be.

I'm sick of having aches and pains But no doctor I can see.

I'm sick of feeling all alone I want to be set free.

But circumstances happened, So I'm patient every day, And one good thing about it, I remember why I pray.

So even though times may be tough, They could be tougher yet.

By playing by the game, it's rules, We'll have nothing to regret.

So stay the course and do your part To eradicate this beast, And say,"I did my very best I'll never do...the least."

I'm sick and tired of many things, But of this I'm very sure, I'm never tired of faith and hope, For me, they are the cure.

S. M. Lazareth Fonthill

newest moves is in the form of a children’s story, which matches the council’s action.

“What’s wrong with Little Ronnie?” asks the council.

Little Ronnie says, “The Mayor says not to worry about the donations until the money comes in.”

“That’s not right,” says council, and Ronnie runs off to the principal’s office.

The principal says, “That’s not right little Ronnie, you should worry about what he said, and he should be punished for telling you that.”

So little Ronnie ran off

FROM THE STACKS

to tell the other councilors what the principal said and they all yelled, “Yippee, we can punish the Mayor for telling us not to worry and we will look good in the eyes of the voters for doing something.”

With lots of time left before the next election, I am sure there will be more chapters to be written about the antics of this group.

Jack Junkin Ridgeville

R

eading is essential to the wellbeing of society and to our functioning as a democracy. According to the Canadian National Reading Campaign, it cultivates civic participation, increases empathy, reduces stress, and is associated with better health.

Knowing that reading can enhance the quality of our lives, Pelham Public Library has set up a Community Challenge for Pelham residents to read a combined 500,000 minutes this summer. With a sponsorship from the Kiwanis Club of Welland/Pelham, we were able to purchase a mobile reading app called Beanstack. Dubbed the “Fitbit for Reading” app, Pelham residents of all ages can use Beanstack to log minutes spent reading and earn virtual badges to complete challenges. There are also opportunities to be entered into draws for prizes. Beanstack registration began on earlier this month via the Library website at https:// pelhamlibrary.on.ca/summer-reading/ We would like to see all ages participate and help Pelham suc-

Somewhere in the last few months, council has run amok. I am attributing it to the “2020 phenomenon” that has created so much chaos on any number of fronts, both nationally and around the globe. Any rational explanation seems hard to come by.

I remember how excited I was to vote in the 2018 municipal election and more excited by the outcome. Entering the game of politics takes time, commitment and passion.

I had spoken with the Ward 3 candidates several times and was convinced I would be well represented by them. I felt the candidates in Ward 1 and 2 were equally eager to represent their constituents well. My excitement is gone.

I watch council meetings with frustration and

ceed in reaching 500,000 minutes.

Curbside pickup of Pelham Library materials started on May 25. Order your materials and items will be checked out prior to pickup. Staff will put your materials on a table just outside the Library’s door at a pre-arranged pickup time. Not sure what you want to borrow? Give us a call and Library staff can provide assistance with picking out the right book or DVD for you. On June 1, LiNC (Libraries in Niagara Cooperative) opened up sharing between Pelham, Lincoln, Thorold, NOTL, and Fort Erie Public Libraries. Place a hold on an item from any of these libraries and pick it up curbside at the location of your choice.

If you don’t have a Library card, not a problem. Contact us by email or phone and we will register you for one. All items returned to the Library are quarantined for 96 hours as advised by Niagara Public Health.

Are you having difficulty accessing our curbside service, or know someone who See LIBRARY NEWS Page 2

annoyance. Town issues are left unattended and there is a tone of self-aggrandizement. These were all good people…where did they go?

Prior to the election, short term rentals were hot-button issue. I spoke to several residents then, who were angered and frustrated by the previous council’s lack of understanding and action about the matter, to the point they were putting their property on the market and leaving town! Now the present council seems to lack understanding about the staff findings and the recommendations, and they have deferred the issue at least twice. Luckily for the residents, restrictions related to the pandemic have curbed the bookings and use of these rentals.

The council kissed grant

money goodbye at the last meeting! Money that would have contributed 75%— that’s three quarters of the cost—to refurbish part of the Steve Bauer Trail and make it accessible to more residents of the town, and help contribute to provincial regulations to improve accessibility. Yet another staff and committee recommendation ignored. I could not believe I was seeing good money blow away in the wind.

Council has no issue with spending taxpayer money of $60,000 on consultant fees, or $18,000 for the Integrity Commissioner, but seems absolutely stuck in making decisions that contribute to the health and enjoyment of the community for residents.

Lois LaCroix Fonthill

Roar of thanks from Fonthill Lions The Fonthill Lions Club would like to thank all those people who made donations to our bottle drive that we held at our club on Saturday June 13. Your generosity and kindness helped us raise much needed

money for local community projects. Thank you very, very much, and have a safe and healthy summer.

Ted Gula, President Fonthill Lions Club

Keith’s Pie Recipe Book update If you have not picked up your pre-ordered copy of the Recipe Book, please come to the veranda at Chamber's Insurance (formerly Keith's Restaurant), 1502 Pelham Street, Fonthill.

Dave Chambers has graciously allowed us to set up again on this Thursday, June 25, from 11 AM to 3 PM. Hope to see you there—remember to physically distance.

Vilma Moretti Fonthill

NEW CURBSIDE HOURS! WED-SAT, 9 AM - 2 PM + FRIDAY 9 AM - 8 PM!

CURBSIDE MENU SERVED WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY FROM 9AM TO 2PM

Amy Guilmette

Summer Reading Community Challenge, and curbside pickup at Pelham Library

R

Page 7

ON THE SIDE

B R E A K FA S T All breakfasts are served with home fries or hashbrowns

PEAMEAL, EGG AND CHEESE

9

PANCAKES

8

FRENCH TOAST

8

on an english muffin

(with bacon, ham or sausage 11) (with bacon, ham or sausage 11)

BREAKFAST WRAP 10 PACIFIC EGGS BENEDICT 13.50 TRADITIONAL EGGS BENEDICT 11.50 SANDWICHES AND WRAPS All sandwiches and wraps are served with fries, salad or soup. Add 2.99 to substitute for Caesar or Greek salad or add 2.49 for onion rings or sweet potato fries

TOASTED WESTERN BLT REUBEN

10 10 13

TOASTED CLUBHOUSE CHICKEN CAESAR WRAP

13 13

POUTINE SMALL POUTINE LARGE ONION RINGS SWEET POTATO FRIES

5.50 7.50 6 6

served with side Cajun mayo

GRAVY

1 KIDS MENU

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Includes small drink and ice cream

CHICKEN FINGERS AND FRIES HAMBURGER AND FRIES GRILLED CHEESE AND FRIES

O L D FAV O U R I T E S

CHICKEN FINGERS AND FRIES HAMBURGER

12 12

with fries or salad (add cheese 1.00)

BANQUET BURGER with fries or salad

PEROGIES

14 12.50

1507 Pelham St., Fonthill

(289) 897-9191

Page 8

Letters

The Voice, June 24, 2020

continued

Tenant says Pelham is home to racism too Editor’s note: The Voice visited the writer’s home last week after receiving her letter.

She is considering whether to come forward publicly with further allegations.

PSN delivery vehicles line up in front of Fonthill Sobeys as volunteer drivers load prepared grocery orders for delivery.

FENWICK LIONS PHOTO

Support Network ceasing operation With Niagara Region moving into Stage 2 in the fight against COVID-19, the Pelham Support Network will be ceasing operations as of June 30. Since the inception of PSN (April 2, 2020) we have done over 700 daily deliveries (Monday-Saturday) of essential supplies to seniors and those in self-isolation. We would like to thank all the volunteers and businesses who, without their support, PSN would not have been possible.

Tim Crowther Fabulous Fenwick Lions

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

With all that is happening across the border it is easy for many to think that racism is an American problem, and these are not issues we have here in Canada. I am writing this to tell my story of racism and harassment here in our neighbourhood of Pelham.

I am a mother, a professional, a believer, and your neighbour. I have lived in Pelham for over six years now.

I have served at one of Pelham’s local churches, supported in varied charitable events and have been all-around involved with the local community. I live in a small townhouse complex in Fonthill. The previous owner was kind and caring and helpful to all the tenants and kept us as a community as much as she could. After many years of owning the property she sold it three years ago.

The new owner has done nothing but harass and intimidate my family.

He accomplishes this by working in concert with neighbours who, up until his taking over the property, we had no issues with. He emboldened them to treat us like garbage with his support. I have a young child who was six years old when the harassing and intimidation started. The landlord has screamed at me in front of neighbours and my child without cause. Telling me things like, “I am going to get you out,” he encouraged this diminishing of our value causing some of the other tenants to be screaming at us the same thing. “We are going to get you out,” and then started the direct harassment to my six-year-old at the time.

In the most major incident, the most contentious neighbour started speeding through the driveway while my son played with his five-year-old friend, inches from their heads, to which I

came to their aid and challenged her that the children are playing on space that is for them and she needed to slow down for their safety.

She was mad at this and so came out to yell and threaten them for dropping the birdie of their badminton set on her robust bushes. She then proceeded to sit on the stoop and yell constant pro-

The worth of who we are as human beings is lost on the landlord and these neighbours

fanities at the children and myself and the other parent. She told us, “We are going to get you out we are going to get you out,” while laughing and swearing and becoming more and more intimidating to the children.

We had to go inside the house for our children’s sake and our sake and call the police because she was threatening our well-being. The landlord never supported or spoke to me about the incident. The police officer was great.

He told me that he saw her crying in the back on the phone with her parents, saying that I had called the police on her. I was in shock. I said to the officer she was not crying when she was yelling and threatening the five and six-year-old children as a 30-something adult. When she is to be held accountable for her behaviour, she is crying? He agreed and handled the situation. At the time I could have pressed charges, but I did not. But now looking back I should have charged

her. I have a plethora of friends of all kinds of different backgrounds. But she has been the most openly violent and vile when we play with other black and non-white children. I can say this as the most aggressive and violent incidences happened with us playing with other black children but we also have Chinese and other non-European-background friends, and when they are here she looks to harass these children. However when our “white” friends and parents come to play she is a completely different person.

The lists of her and the landord’s offence goes on: She continually speeds down the side of the property that the children play on. She places the feces of her dog about the shared lawn and has her dog use it as his bathroom, having him pee on the lawn to make it uninhabitable for my child to play.

Due to the constant bathroom usage by the dog a moss started to develop on the lawn this spring and the feces are everywhere to be seen in baggies and feces in the grass. This is important, because the landlord started using words like he is coming to “clean up the property” when speaking to me about my space. Which historically is a racist term used when speaking of removing non whites from a space. I have nothing “dirty” on my property. I have beautiful patio furniture and that’s it. I am left with the understanding that it is me that he is speaking of.

The worth of who we are as human beings is lost on the landlord and these neighbours. They feel fine and content with themselves to threaten, intimidate and harass our family. The LTB, Human Rights, Mayor Junkin and MPP Oosterhoff have all been very helpful, but the fact that I have to call on all these government organization in 2020 just to be able to play with my son See RACISM Page 10

On July 1st watch on facebook.com/townofpelhamontario

Visit pelham.ca/canada-day for a full listing of performances & activities

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice, June 24, 2020

We’re Making a Difference to Keep Each Other Safe from COVID-19 As businesses begin to reopen, we all need to continue our efforts to protect each other.

2m

Practice physical distancing.

Stay two metres away from others

Wear a face covering when physical distancing is a challenge

Wash hands thoroughly and often

Inside or out, stay safe. Save lives.

Learn more at ontario.ca/coronavirus Paid for by the Government of Ontario

Page 9

Page 10

The Voice, June 24, 2020

Letters

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

continued

Oh deer—what to do when Bambi drops by

RACISM

continued from Page 8

PROFESSIONAL, LOW IMPACT TREE SERVICE @SAFETREELTD

CALL FOR A FFREE QUOTE 289-650-1775 OR VISIT WWW.SAFETREE.CA

and his friends and live is something that I think our whole community should be concerned about.

Is this what we want for Pelham? Is this what we want for our community? If my child is not safe, how soon will it be that your child is

HAS YOUR SMALL-MEDIUM SIZED NIAGARA-BASED BUSINESS BEEN NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY COVID-19?

UNABLE TO ACCESS EXISTING RELIEF PROGRAMS?

fawns unless they appear hurt. They told us that a fawn will “imprint” and decide that humans are their parents in as little as two hours. This can be very dangerous because then they have no fear of humans or cars. People have

been known to raise fawns to adulthood but they are in constant danger. They will walk right up to a hunter.

He told us the right thing to do is to notify the SPCA and they would take an abandoned or injured fawn to a deer sanctuary where those

not safe? The officers that came out when she yelled at us did bring me to tears with their mannerisms and oddly enough aggression towards me as though I was the problem. They did come back and apologize at a later time and they confessed that they had heard her call me all kinds of racial epithets severe enough that they had to ask her if they needed to make a report to her professional association (she works in a position of

public trust).

How can we change the society / community? If you see something say something. Historically men use to beat their wives openly in the streets because society would say, “That is none of my business, I don’t want to get involved.” And then society decided this is not acceptable, and people started to get involved and said something and placed themselves between the aggressor and the victim and

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trained to do so would look after the animal and let it live with other deer in a protected environment.

He also told us that the mother could be watching us from a distance and would be afraid to return until we backed away. As hard as it was we followed this advice.

We could see the crate from our house about 200 feet away. We kept our dog away from that area and did our best to create safety for the mother to return.

So although we meant well, we probably should have left this little one alone and waited to see if its mother returned. Sometimes we get lucky and even though we may have done the wrong thing, it worked out well in the end. What would I do if I found a fawn tomorrow? Assess the fawn for injuries and call the SPCA for advice.

Brenda Horton North Pelham

made it shameful to behave in such a manner. Racism is the same—it is a violation of another human being based on pigmentation of skin. If you hear someone saying something unkind, racist, say something. If you see harassment get involved.

Report it, be a witness, do not let anyone suffer alone.

Much of the things I have discussed happened in the view of other neighbours.

We can only have the society we allow to exist. I love Pelham and surrounding areas.

There are lots of awesome, loving, kind, generous, funny, engaging people that live here. We are not going anywhere. Stand with us against this injustice. Stand with my young son that he should be safe in Pelham like all our sons. Feel free to say hello if you are passing by, as we are usually sitting outside or playing on the front yard, because we will not be intimidated into silence or obscurity.

Written by your neighbour, a mom, a sister, a leader, a friend.

Name withheld Pelham

O

Put Your Mind at Ease, We’re on Top of Your Trees

was to call the SPCA. A wonderful young man came out within 20 minutes and had a look at our foundling. He felt we should put her back close to where we found her, but in the shade and with the crate door open as he was quite sure the mother would be back by morning to feed her fawn.

David and I explained that the night before we had heard the ferocious sounds of a coyote pack killing something.

We expressed our fear that perhaps that was this little fawn’s mother.

All night we fretted about the safety of this precious little fawn. We were happily surprised in the morning when the little creature was not in the crate and nothing appeared to be amiss.

We wanted to tell our happy story to both share our experience and let others know that the advice of the SPCA is to not touch

R

lift her head but didn’t seem to have the energy. Being a nurse, I thought she perhaps was dehydrated. David ran back to the house for some water and a syringe.

We gave her about an ounce of water and she started to perk up. David brought our old dog crate and we put this little baby in it to protect her from the sun and predators.

This was the first time either of us ever experienced finding a wild baby alone on our farm. Our next move

P

Life on the farm in North Pelham has been eventful this spring. One of our most exciting events happened on a recent Sunday morning.

My husband, David, came running in to tell me that he had found a fawn in our field under our willow tree, in freshly mown grass.

When I first laid eyes on the fawn she appeared lifeless. Then just a flicker of eyelashes. I could barely see her breathing. When she did open her eyes she tried to

The Regional Relief and Recovery Fund provides interest-free loans of up to $40,000 that can help you get back on your feet again.

For eligibility requirements and to apply call 905-680-8085 or visit VentureNiagara.com/regional-relief-recovery-fund

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www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice, June 24, 2020

Nice price for ice

Page 11

From left, Peter Schurmann, Councillor Bob Hildebrandt, who spearheaded the effort to obtain the system, and Clayton Perry of Mississauga, an early adopter.

BRIAN GREEN

Newly installed device promises to reduce energy costs, produce better ice, and narrow carbon footprint at community centre

BY BRIAN GREEN

Special to the VOICE

Meridian Centre staff gathered round last Friday to watch two fire-extinguisher-sized cannisters being attached to the copper tubing that feeds water from the facility’s compressors to the twin arenas’ ice surfaces. The two cannisters are the component parts of the Magnavitalis system, a German developed and manufactured technology that significantly reduces the temperature of the water needed in the ice making process.

The “Magnetic Vortex” unit and “Bio-communicator” unit were screwed into place by Magnavitalis Canadian representative, Peter Schurmann, and veteran ice maker Clayton Perry, who was an early adopter of the technology in Mississauga. According to Schurmann, the system uses no chemicals or electricity to “de-cluster” the water molecules passing through the pipe “by means of rare earth magnetic forces and recombines them into a denser form with a natural—spring water like— orientation.” All of which means that the treated water to make ice can be 70 degrees Fahrenheit instead of the 130 to 140 degrees necessary in traditional ice-making.

If the science is a bit vague, the results are impressive. Available

since 2009, the Magnavitalis system is currently in use in some 70 stadiums in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany, where rinks are reporting savings as high as $50,000 per rink per year, albeit with natural gas prices that are about five times higher than those in North America. Still, installations in Mississauga and Oakville are reporting savings of some $40,000 per year for a twin-rink facility. The savings are a direct result of the reduction in temperature of the ice-making water. Compressor runtimes are drastically reduced, saving electricity and maintenance, while natural gas costs are cut, and water usage is reduced by as much as 20 percent.

The $20,000 purchase of the Magnavitalis system was initiated by the Town’s Utility Sustainability Committee, whose members include Town staff and members of the public, one of whom, Dave Cano, had experienced the technology in Oakville. The committee investigated the concept of cold water ice flooding and considered several rival systems before recommending Magnavitalis to Town Council.

Council approved the purchase, and, according to the Director of Recreation, Culture and

Wellness, Vickie vanRavenswaay, efforts are underway to offset the cost through grants from the utility company Enbridge.

Spearheading the drive to obtain the technology was Councillor Bob Hildebrandt, who says he ran in the last election “to work toward a more efficient operation of the MCC.” A retired Foster-Wheeler engineer, he was engaged in the earliest days of the planning of the MCC, but felt his ideas were not getting traction with the former council or the community centre planners, hence his decision to run for council.

The Magnavitalis system impressed him, Hildebrandt says, when his son was involved with the Canadian Junior Hockey Team December Selection Camp at the Oakville rinks, where it was in use.

“When they said it was great ice, I listened,” he says. “Hockey play-

ers know their ice.”

Clayton Perry had been the ice-maker for 30 years at Mississauga’s Port Credit Arena rink, where the Magnavitalis system was first proposed.

“I was skeptical,” he says, “but they offered to install it free for six months, so we really had nothing to lose.”

Within the six months, they discovered not only significant savings in natural gas and electricity (700 fewer hours per year of running the compressor), but clearer, harder ice. Mississauga is now contemplating the purchase of the units for four more of its arenas.

Peter Schurmann and the Magnavitalis team have left a detailed spreadsheet with community centre staff so they can record the temperature of the water used for making ice, the temperature of the ice surface, the run-time of the facil-

It’s our BIGGEST Sale of the Year!

ity’s compressors, and other measurements that will verify whether the promised savings have been realized. Even the most pessimistic of the projections tossed around by Hildebrandt and Schurmann suggest that savings of $40,000 per year are possible. The resulting reduction in fuel consumption was claimed to reduce the MCC’s carbon footprint by 380 tonnes, or, as Hildebrandt asserts, “the equivalent of 20 residential homes heated by natural gas each year.”

Brian Secord, the ice-maker at the MCC, hopes to be putting down the first layers of ice this week using the new system. A year from now he and the Utility Sustainability Committee and Councillor Hildebrandt hope to be able to point to their cost spreadsheet and their ice surface with proof that the promises of the Magnavitalis system have been fulfilled.

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Page 12

The Voice, June 24, 2020

Homicidal Hornets

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

Fine art photographer Natalia Shields was unamused when munched on last week by this hungry hornet.

NATALIA SHIELDS

Niagara honeybee population at risk, asserts local apiarist

BY DON RICKERS

Special to the VOICE

“Terminate—with extreme prejudice.”

You may remember that line from Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 epic, Apocalypse Now, as instructions an officer gives Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) regarding the rogue Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando).

It pretty much sums up George Scott’s view of hornets. Not George Scott the actor, who passed away an incredible 21 years ago, but George Scott the beekeeper.

Scott love bees. Honeybees, specifically. In fact, the lifelong Niagara resident is an environmental and agricultural entrepreneur, an advocate for farmers, and, for the past 25 years, a registered beekeeper in Port Colborne. He founded Niagara Beeway in 2001, in an effort to preserve and protect the region’s honeybee population.

According to Scott, safeguarding honeybees (scientifically classified under the genus Apis mellifera) has recently meant dealing with swarms of large aggressive hornets, which have shown a proclivity for overwhelming hives and devouring the creatures inside.

“We've never had so many complaints from local beekeepers, from all over Niagara,” said Scott.

“We’ve seen these hornets going

into beehives, just making an entire mess. I’ve seen six European Giant Hornets kill 200 bees in one hive before we could clear them out. These things are big…they look like hummingbirds going in. The honeybees were trying to attack the hornets to defend their hive.

But it was like a medieval knight in armor with a mace, slaughtering a kindergarten.”

Maybe this story should have had a Rated R for Violence advisory at the top. It doesn’t get any better.

Beekeepers have resorted to using fine steel mesh screens as entrance- reducers in the hives, in an effort to deter the hornets from being physically able to enter.

Scott said that the standard protective beekeeper suits which apiarists wear to prevent injury from stinging insects are no match for these new, supersized hornets.

“They can sting right through the suit. Beekeepers who are pretty much bulletproof when it comes to tolerance from stinging insects are missing a couple days work because of the pain and swelling from the hornet stings. They’ve nailed our pest exterminator as he applied chemical treatments to the hornet nests. The standard dose didn’t kill them. He had to double-dose the poison to get rid of these things.”

This variety of large hornet also builds nests that are different from those of normal hornets, says Scott.

“It’s like these nests are made out of fibreboard, not the paper nests we usually encounter,” he said.

There are several families of giant hornet, asserts Scott, and none of them are native to Canada. He referenced a European Giant Hornet, a Japanese Giant Hornet, and an Asian Giant Hornet.

“All of them are the enemy of the honeybee beekeeper. They're not pollinators. They are a pest and invasive species.”

Scott’s first experience with the mega-hornets was in August of 2018, and was reported by the St. Catharines Standard. Rotary Club baseball diamonds in Port Colborne were closed after several nests were discovered on the park's clay playing surfaces. Scott collaborated with Truly Nolen, a pest control company, to combat the colonies

found at the park.

A university professor and entomologist in Montreal studied photos of bugs captured at the scene, and reported that he was “100% sure” that the culprit was a relatively harmless, domestic ground digging wasp called an Eastern Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus).

Scott vehemently disagreed.

“What I saw were European Giant Hornets flying into the infield, snagging insects. These weren’t Cicada Killers. In my career, I’ve never had a sting incident from a Cicada Killer. We're getting stung by something we've never seen before. These behave more like a Bald-Faced Wasp. It will follow you to your house," he said.

Cold winters and pesticides can also be devastating to bee populations, but the predatory threat posed by large, carnivorous hornets is a new phenomenon in Niagara.

These bugs have no natural enemies in the insect or animal world.

And the manner in which the hornets bring on the honeybees’ demise is rather horrific. Adult bees are decapitated, and their headless thoraxes transported to feed baby hornets. Bee larvae are gobbled up as a protein-laden delicacy. Hence the “Murder Hornet” moniker.

Now for the good news. According to experts who spoke with the Voice, the truly homicidal maniacs are not in Niagara. And given our climate, they probably won’t ever make it this far east.

This refers to the Asian or Japanese Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia) which has been verified in small numbers in the Pacific Northwest since 2019, specifically in Washington and British Columbia. This critter, a honeybee’s worst nightmare, is about two inches long and has a wingspan of about three inches. It can be aggressive, and repeatedly sting its victim, releasing a large amount of venom.

In Niagara, we have a variety of stinging wasps and hornets. European Hornets (Vespa crabro), can grow quite large, and inflict painful stings. Some may have taken on characteristics of their more aggressive and lethal Asian cousins, but the species is not generally regarded as overly aggressive. “Social” wasps and hornets, like the European variety, are cavity nesters, making their nests in hollowed trees, and in the ground.

Also prevalent in the region is the aforementioned passive wasp called the Cicada Killer, and a notso-harmless stinger known as the Bald-Faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculate) which is actually a yellow jacket wasp.

Josh Diamond is a water quality specialist with the Niagara PeninSee HORNETS Page 19

Graeme and Isobel’s Golden Wedding Anniversary Congratulations to Graeme and Isobel Lamb (nee Johnston) of Fonthill for celebrating 50 years of marriage on June 27, 2020.

They met as teenagers in East Lothian, Scotland. Years later as a married couple, Graeme and Isobel immigrated to Canada.

They have now called Canada home for more than 40 years and have resided in Pelham for the past 27 years.

Wishing them love are their children Caroline Johnson (Chris), Catriona Faragalli (Allin) and John Lamb, as well as their grandchildren Ben, Ella, Chloe and Robbie.

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The Voice, June 24, 2020

Page 13

Niagara Prep reloads for next season Crossley student joins OSBA program

BY BERNIE PUCHALSKI

BPSPORTSNIAGARA.COM

Unlike many basketball teams, Niagara Prep was lucky enough to see a conclusion to its season.

The team finished in first place in Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association West Division with an 18-1 record and ended up making it to the OSBA championship game before losing to Crestwood. Crestwood was the only team to beat Niagara in OSBA action that wrapped up prior to the March Break.

“We didn’t play very well in the final but I am happy with the result,” head coach Dave Picton said. “To finish second in the league in our second year, I am pretty happy with it.”

Like everyone, Picton and his team is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it has placed on normal life.

“You want to be on the court and we are missing out on a whole bunch of development stuff but we are doing a lot of cool video stuff,” he said. “We are figuring out the positive in it and trying to stay sane.”

Picton has Zoom meetings with his players once a week and the team is tracking the players’ academics as they conclude their school years at home. The players follow a strength and conditioning program and are able to access online training tools provided by the team. Picton has put together a series of videos on specific skills the players need

Port Colborne native Emma Koabel is one of five returning Niagara Prep players for the next season of the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association.

BERNIE PUCHALSKI _to work on.

Picton is hoping training can resume sooner rather than later.

“It is completely fluid and we are waiting for direction to come down whether it be from Basketball Ontario or the government,” he said. “We are going to follow the

protocols but I don’t think there is going to be any summer ball.”

He is hoping for incremental improvements in the situation.

“If we can get to do some small team stuff outside, that is going to be the goal,” Picton said. “They all want to come back here and

do some training.

“If they allow the gyms to open up for small groups, we will try and get that done.”

Niagara Prep loses five players to graduation, including Julia Colavecchia, University of Guelph; Maddie Picton, Western; Chloe Peters, Canisius; Sarah Te-Biasu, Virginia Commonwealth University; Donna Ntambue, University of Utah.

“It will range year to year but we knew we would have a big graduating class this year,” he said. “We have a lot of the junior NBA kids and a couple of other kids coming in.”

Local recruits are Natalie Picton and Gabriella DiPietro from Notre Dame, Corrynn Parker from Jean Vanier, Vienna Vercesi from A. N. Myer, and Sydney Piekny from E. L. Crossley.

Claudia Pellerin is transferring to Niagara Prep from Lo-Ellen Park in Sudbury and Kymora Stafford from Toronto is also joining the squad Returning players are Sarah Harvey, Shailah Adams, Emma Koabel, Chantelle Blagrove and Sarah Williams.

A couple of local players have decided to leave the program and return to their original high schools. Janee Harrison will be back at Sir Winston Churchill and Alexis Wright will return to Centennial.

“It’s hard to see how much we do and how hard the kids have to work,” Picton said.

“Socially and academically, it’s not as easy as just waking up and going to school. You have got to want to do it and it is a big commitment for the coaches too. You have to be committed.”

The program obviously isn’t for everyone.

“I am managing this as a university program per se and we are trying to bring in the right kids,” Picton said. “We don’t bring in all kinds of kids. We are trying to facilitate the proper roster of Niagara kids who have been in the [Niagara Girls Basketball Academy] program for a long time.”

He feels Niagara Prep is different than other OSBA programs.

“Everyone wants to win and be successful but for me, it’s getting the kids who want to be here and really want to play, develop, succeed at the next level and get themselves set up for life.”

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Page 14

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(AD CENTRAL) www.bethanycrc.ca

602 Metler Rd., North Pelham

Holy Trinity Anglican Church holytrinityfonthill.org

Pelham Evangelical Friends Church www.pelhamfriends.ca

Concordia Church Week Lutheran of 105 Welland Rd., Fonthill

Fonthill Baptist Church www.fonthillbaptistchurch.ca

Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses 1369 Rice Rd., Fonthill

Ridgeville Bible Chapel ridgevillebiblechapel.com

Fenwick Church of Christ www.fenwickchurchofchrist.ca

Fonthill United Church www.fonthillunited.com

Kirk on the Hill Presbyterian Church 1344 Haist St., Fonthill

St. Alexander Roman Catholic Church www.stalexander.on.ca

Glad Tidings Church of God

Pelham Community Church (United Church)

St. Ann Roman Catholic Church www.stannfenwick.com

COMMUNITY Events April 13

Posted Event Submissions Standards April 8United Church Fenwick

If your organization is hosting an event that would be of interest to the community, www.fenwickunited.com www.gladtidingschurchofgod.com www.pelham.cc you may submit an events profile by sending your community events information to Central editor@thevoiceofpelham.ca Some restrictions apply. Event submissions that meet Region Ads included theLIFT acceptability standards of The Voice Pelham will Robbie then be died posted HANDLEBARS until the date When ofhis brother There’s little traffic, so pace lines FAITH unexpectedly from infection, Naaren’t necessary.

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Please provide continued fromevent.

Page continued from Page 18 ismith decided to become a medical and laughs flow when riders are as much notice and information as possible including the date, time and description doctor as well. As a minister, coach trying to figure out where the heck run with the ball so the tackling Mulgrave or Moulton Station. of your event.

The Voice of Pelham reserves the was right well to edittrained for space. and doctor, he of rugby and football was avoided.

Recast this scenario to the pro- they are. Distractions melt away In fact, the 13 rules that Naismith drew up have remained the foundation of basketball to this day.

The new sport was then spread around the world by Christians in the YMCA. Appropriately, Canada was the first country outside of the U.S. to play it. In Britain, women played it first and men shunned it as “a woman’s game.” Worldwide, the new sport did not enjoy instant success. That would change.

The impact Today, more than 300 million people play basketball around the world. Both Canada and the U.S. have issued special postage stamps to Naismith’s memory. He is honoured in eight Canadian and American Halls of Fame. Unlike modern basketball stars with multi-million dollar contracts, however, he never profited from his invention. In his lifetime, he even lost two houses to foreclosure. But making money was not his goal. Rather, it was in his words, “to win men for the Master through the gym.”

to minister to the body, mind and spirit. He is remembered as “a builder of character in the hearts of young men.”

For him, physical and moral/ spiritual development went together.

Naismith taught his students self-sacrifice which he defined as “a willingness to place the good of the team above one’s personal ambitions.” He insisted, “There is no place in basketball for the egotist.” He described sportsmanship as “playing the game vigorously, observing the rules definitely, accepting defeat gracefully, and winning courteously.” In other words, he wanted athletes to play by the Golden Rule. Naismith died in 1939 at age 78 in Kansas.

So next time you shoot some hoops, remember the Canadian who invented the sport…and thank God for the inspiration. ♦ Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor who confesses that when he plays this sport “he’s a basket case.”

vincial or national level, and there exists an immense countryside through which most would seldom venture via car or SUV. Maintenance roads along utility service corridors, fire tracks cut through endless pristine forests and reserves, seldom-used logging or historic mining roads, and passages to remote dam projects all become accessible.

Closer to home, in swaths of Mennonite farmland north of Waterloo, or low population areas west of the Grand River, many roads are simply not paved.

The gravel riding culture attracts too. It’s mellow and fun, with a splash of adventure. Inexpensive vintage hardtail mountain bikes are being retrofitted to ride gravel, side by side with costly purpose-designed units.

When the gravel turns loose and rough, or clay mud is stuck viselike to your tires and brakes, the cost of your bike is seldom relevant.

(it’s even possible to get beyond cell tower coverage), and being self-sufficient is more salient than being fastest. Lunch is likely to be a homemade sandwich and fruit rather than an indigestible energy gel. Slowing down is allowed, and there’s nothing to prove.

If you’ve got a latent Libertarian streak, you’ll definitely relate to the culture. Gravel Rider is an American website/Vlog. Its founder was recently approached by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The UCI is the world sanctioning body for international bicycle racing and fondos, and establishes rules, classifications and discipline protocols for events and participants.

The UCI asked if Gravel Rider was interested in being involved in bringing the first UCI sanctioned gravel event to North America.

At a time when so many are despairing of traditional hierarchies and the status quo, Gravel Cyclist’s response was refreshing, and provided truth to power, to use Al Gore’s phrase.

Gravel Cyclist responded in part, “The gravel world developed independently of UCI and other organizations because those organizations are toxic to the spirit of gravel riding. UCI rules, categories, championships etc, are antithetical to the grassroots, participation oriented gravel cycling phenomenon.”

“The UCI and satellite organizations are largely responsible for the culture of bike racing that led to over-commercialization, doping, cheating, poor financial models that teeter on the brink of disaster at all times, risking the viability of the sport. Gravel rides and races do not need or want the UCI involved.”

That’s like Lady Gaga offering to bring her entourage to the Fonthill Bandshell and the Committee responding with, “No thanks, we’re okay.”

If that 20-year-old mountain bike in the garage that you thought was too out-of-fashion to use needs to go for a ride, check out the Ontario Gravel & Adventure Riders Facebook page for inspiration. You won’t be alone. There were 600 members when I joined last year, now there are 2880. ♦

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice, June 24, 2020

Page 15

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asked over the weekend on what basis she made her assertion that a prerequisite for mediation was an admission of wrongdoing.

False assertion about council action

In another stumble, Councillor Marianne Stewart falsely claimed that the Mayor had violated an earlier decision of council, which she implied in part led her to agree with Haun’s proposed 45day pay cut for Junkin.

“Last year, council had made a decision that we would not accept any funding from cannabis companies, at least until such time as they proved themselves to be good corporate citizens,” asserted Stewart during the debate.

In fact, council has made no such decision, as acknowledged later last week by Town Clerk Nancy Bozzato.

“We have checked various meetings and can confirm that we are not able to find any formal decision or agreement (staff direction) or resolution to this effect,” Bozzato told the Voice.

Asked over the weekend to explain her error, Stewart told the paper that she “may have slightly misspoken,” but then went on to double-down, repeating essentially the same statement and adding the town’s residents and implied bribery to the mix.

“The sentiment of both the

constituents and council has been clear,” said Stewart. “Until such time as the cannabis facilities are no longer a detriment to our community, we as council cannot allow them to buy their way into our good graces...”

Stewart did not respond when asked how this materially differed from her original assertion, and whether she was speaking for all of council or just herself.

As of press time, the results of a Voice opinion poll, posted last Saturday on the newspaper’s website and on Facebook, showed some 84% respondents disagreeing with Stewart’s assessment of public opinion, as they answered “Yes” to the statement, “If offered, should the Fonthill Bandshell Committee accept donations from local cannabis producers to help cover the costs of the Committee's improvements to the Bandshell?” (See Publisher’s Corner, p. 2.)

In any event, the Bandshell Committee, being an independent, volunteer-run community group, is not a Town entity.

It is not subject to council oversight regarding who it accepts donations from, a point that the Ombudsman made in his report when chiding council as a whole for improperly seeking to instruct the Bandshell Committee on the CannTrust donation that never materialized. In comments to the Voice last week, Committee Chair Gayle Baltjes said that the group was open to accepting donations from all comers.

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Why do we establish committees in this town if we don’t listen to their recommendations?

Council tosses grant, no paving for Bauer trail

In another shoot-down of expert opinion, council voted to punt away a $75,000 provincial grant that would have covered most of the cost to pave a kilometre of the Steve Bauer Trail south of Port Robinson Road. Hildebrandt, Kore and Stewart voted against taking the free cash, going against the recommendation of their own Pelham Active Transportation Committee (PATC).

Junkin, Wink and Haun voted in favour of the trail paving, but because the motion was tied, under procedural rules with one council seat vacant, it was defeated.

Wink was visibly angered.

“Why do we establish committees in this town if we don’t listen to their recommendations?” he asked. “[The] Pelham Active Transportation Committee is...all about cycling, they’re all about walking, they’re all about healthy living. They’ve made a recom-

mendation to this council, and we’re ignoring what they’re presenting to us. If we keep on ignoring committees and what they’re trying to do for our town, why the heck do we have committees in the first place? I’m sorry, I find this very, very demoralizing.”

While the PATC report stated that if council didn’t proceed with the Bauer Trail grant then the $75,000 would be lost, the CAO said he would explore options. He then lambasted the three no-voting councillors for shutting down an accessibility upgrade for the disabled, while damaging Pelham’s reputation in terms of grant applications from higher levels of government.

“We applied for this grant way before I was employed here,” Cribbs said. “The Town has a fairly extensive and quite attractive trail system, and none of it is accessible. None. The [Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act] legislation requires us to be making some efforts in that regard, and I don’t know how I would answer how we are in respect to recreation right now. It is extremely damaging to the Town of Pelham’s brand … it damages enormously our capacity to get future grants.

It just does. We shouldn’t be applying. I would echo a number of Councillor Wink’s comments, where we choose to create advisory committees, and where those advisory committees devote a lot of time to a specific item and become experts in it, and then make a strong recommendation, the

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anticipation is, that [council will agree with the recommendation].

The portion of the trail under discussion, named after Pelham native and former Tour de France cyclist Steve Bauer, will remain dirt and gravel for the foreseeable future.

Pop-up patios

Council approved the temporary waiving of certain parking space requirements for restaurants to allow “pop-up” parking lot patios— up to six parking spaces may be used for this purpose during the pandemic.

Currently, the Town has a Sidewalk Encroachment policy allowing restaurants to apply to the Town for permission to encroach on municipal sidewalks for outdoor patio use subject to meeting the policy requirements related to proof of insurance, provincial licensing requirements, pedestrian accessibility requirements, urban design zoning, and sign and building code requirements. Street parking will not be considered for these patios as the recommendation to waive parking spaces is for private parking lots only.

Approval of sidewalk patios under the Sidewalk Encroachment policy is managed through the Clerk’s office. Pop-up parking lot patios on private property are subject to meeting Public Health and provincial licensing requirements related to food service and serving of alcohol.

Taking a break, council next meets again on July 13.

Page 16

The Voice, June 24, 2020

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

COLUMN SIX

continued from Page 1 death for 26 passengers was attributed to hypoxia, while at least three were due to drowning— meaning that 29 people plausibly survived all or part of the violent descent, which, factoring the cruising altitude at the point of detonation, would have lasted several minutes. Of those 329 killed, 268 were Canadian citizens. The incident remains the largest act of mass murder ever perpetrated on Canadians, and was the world’s deadliest act of aviation terrorism until September 11, 2001.

Because the flight was operating on a Montreal-London-New Delhi route, virtually of all of those Canadians aboard were of Indian descent. Canada’s institutional racism came into focus when, immediately afterward, then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney extended his condolences for the tragedy to the government of India— despite the fact that 81 percent of those killed were his fellow Canadian citizens. To this day, one would likely be hard-pressed to find more than two Canadians who even know about the tragedy. Of course, the same cannot be said about the events of September 11th, 16 years later.

My father, who was in the RCMP at the time, worked on the Narita Airport side of the investigation as a liaison officer based in Hong Kong. The two bombings were quickly linked, with Sikh religious extremists from British Columbia— angry over the 1984 Indian military siege of Amritsar’s Golden Temple —identified as the culprits.

While both CSIS and the RCMP later rightfully came under heavy criticism for failing to prevent the attacks due a lack of intelligence-sharing, my dad’s investigative work helped imprison the only person ever convicted in either terrorist attack —bombmaker Inderjit Singh Reyat, for two counts of manslaughter in the deaths of Narita baggage handlers Hideo Asano and Hideharu Koda.

The suitcase containing the Narita bomb had boarded the flight to Tokyo in Vancouver, and was meant to be interlined to another Air India flight bound for Thailand, in which it was intended to explode. However, because it was deduced the terrorists did not factor in the fact that Japan didn’t observe daylight savings time, the bomb—attached to a digital clock purchased at a B.C. Radio Shack— detonated one hour earlier than planned.

Additionally, had CP Air flight 003 from Vancouver not landed at Narita 14 minutes early, the bomb would have still been aboard the plane, where it could have detonated over the Tokyo metropolitan area, home to some 30 million people.

The stress of this case led my father to take early retirement at a relatively young age a few years later. For the remainder of his life— a 30-year period in which it can be charitably submitted that he drank too much—he had a recurring nightmare about being on an airplane in the midst of explosive decompression over a large city. My mother and I would estimate that on an average of once every two months for the rest of his life, he would either be heard shouting in his sleep or waking up doing so.

He was also deeply saddened by, and matter-of-factly stated that, few in Canada cared about the attacks—and by extension his work seeking justice for it— because most of the victims were not white.

Police work is not easy. It takes a very specific mental toll on those who do it, a toll very few are cut out for. Another family member

Less than two weeks before its destruction, Boeing 747-200 VT-EFO, Emperor Kanishka, lands at London Heathrow Airport, on June 10, 1985.

IAN KIRBY

of mine was one of the first police officers in Canada to receive disability payments for post-traumatic stress disorder. After years of working as both a beat cop and undercover drug agent in the GTA, he walked off the job, because as he put it, he would have committed suicide had he continued.

Yet the point of this is not to canonize the experiences of law enforcement while ignoring the pain of others at the hands of it.

My father never asked for a medal for his work, nor believed that the horrors of the job entitled him or anyone else to an added shield.

Aside from noting its anniversary, I’ll come back to the relevance of the Air India/Narita case here in a moment.

It is important to understand that certain communities in North America often do not have the same relationship with police that others do. When African American and black Canadian parents need to have rite-of-passage conversations with their children about what to do and not do when encountering law enforcement officers, society has failed badly somewhere. More broadly, whether inside or outside of police involvement, every single black person I know can recount an incident where they have been viewed with suspicion— including right here in Pelham.

As actor Will Smith said in the wake of the disgusting Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, “Racism is not getting worse, it’s getting filmed.”

I can’t possibly put myself in the shoes of a black person or any other visible minority group for that matter, but I tend to view myself as somebody that’s plugged in. I have suspected exactly what Smith said has been true since Nokia debuted the first camera phone in 2002— while at the same time believing that the majority of cops aren’t card-carrying bigots.

However, despite decades of various reforms and the ethnic diversification of police forces continent-wide, the systemic problems aren’t ending.

While Floyd’s murder has sparked the worst American civil unrest in half a century, a 2018 Ontario government report studying cases from the previous four years stated that black residents in Toronto were 20 times more likely than white residents to be shot dead by police.

The distrust engendered by that statistic is why some in Toronto are questioning the police version of events that led to the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a black

woman who fell to her death from a 24th-floor High Park apartment May 27, and the deadly Peel Regional Police shooting of Jamal Francique in January.

Yet it’s the flashpoint of Floyd’s killing that may or not be the tipping point for real change. It’s not hard to understand why. For the alleged crime of passing a counterfeit $20-dollar bill, Floyd was pinned to the ground for nine minutes, Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee to his neck, while the unarmed and clearly subdued Floyd cried out the words, “Mama” twice, “I can’t breathe” nine

Racism is not getting worse, it’s getting filmed

times, and “please” 12 times.

Apart from this single incident, there is a larger, disturbing undercurrent.

In 2006, the FBI warned that neo-Nazis and other white nationalists were poised to infiltrate American police departments by simply applying for jobs and keeping their views to themselves during recruiting. Fourteen years later, under a president that panders to white nationalists through dog-whistle and “good people on both sides” remarks, while publicly attacking FBI and CIA agents, it is not known how widespread the problem currently is—thanks in part to stubborn police unions and a natural reflex for rank-andfile cops to close those anks and protect their own.

For an example of that blue wall of solidarity, look no further than Buffalo, where 57 officers resigned from that department’s tactical unit in protest on June 5, after two other cops were suspended for being videotaped shoving a 75-yearold man to the ground during a protest over Floyd’s death.

In the sensory overload of images coming out of the U.S. in recent weeks, there is no way of knowing if Chauvin or any other cop— like the one in Louisville, who fired a rubber bullet at a TV reporter— were white nationalists. Chauvin was married to an Asian-American woman, who has subsequently filed for divorce. Feet away from him, seen not intervening in the

video that recorded Floyd’s death, stood the second of four charged officers, Tou Thao, who is of Vietnamese descent.

If anything, these facts reinforce the sentiment behind “Black Lives Matter,” and why those who promote it rightfully get frustrated when others try to conflate it with “All Lives Matter” —a simplistic and self-evident sentiment that in this instance diminishes the clear historical evidence that black people have been unfairly criminalized by, literally, everyone else.

The police have an ongoing problem, regardless of who wears the uniform.

A consistent theme in the outraged wake of Floyd’s death has been a call to drastically cut cops’ funding. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has obliged, saying he will slash $150 million from the LAPD’s budget and reinvest it in other community initiatives. Minneapolis City Council went a step further, announcing a group consensus to disband the police force responsible for Floyd’s death.

I was very young when my father worked the Narita/Air India case, and only learned the specific details later. During a later stage of my childhood, when I was fascinated by things like fighter jets and heavy artillery, I noted that my dad had little time for them.

In fact, he sometimes lamented that Canadian police were “looking too American.” I had no idea what that meant at the time, but after watching some activity on the streets of U.S. cities, I came to understand it better.

It must be pointed out, however, that the over-the-top militarization of many U.S. police forces has not quite been replicated here, at least insofar that most Canadian police departments don’t own a fleet of MRAPs handed down from army surplus. In Toronto’s case, the city even shot down the police’s attempt to acquire a single helicopter several years ago.

Yet if a major funding cut and restructuring is the result of this ongoing human rights problem, then many police forces need only blame themselves. At the same time, it would actually help them.

If some of those bloated budgets were reallocated for a different approach to interventions for those with mental health issues, traffic scofflaws or even petty criminals, it would save the good cops both time and anguish.

R. Vann Newkirk, writing in The Atlantic, called this the “unbundling” of police services.

Yes, those with other politi-

cal agendas — undoubtedly augmented by social media bots from overseas seeking to sow unrest in western democracies — have piled on this with calls for the outright abolition of law enforcement, as if projecting a fantasy world where organized and violent crime would suddenly stop (while inadvertently creating a hellscape of privately-funded police with even less accountability, and serving only the monied).

However, the fact is that overall crime in North America has been on a mostly downward trend since the 1980s, while police budgets have mostly gone up. Here, the Niagara Regional Police’s budget has risen every year since 2017, including a 5.4 percent increase in 2020. While some of that money caught up with the times and went towards funding a human trafficking unit, chief Bryan MacCulloch said last year his force was responding to more calls involving mental health, addiction and poverty issues than it did in the previous four years. This does not jive with the common, correct police refrain that “cops are not social workers.”

I can also safely say, that at least in Canada’s case, the police are not underpaid in real economic terms.

If cops have virulent racists in their midst, those cancerous tumours must be cut out with rapid precision. If others—like the three in Minneapolis who failed to help Floyd as he died under Chauvin’s knee —can’t deduce right from wrong, then they are, by literal definition, catastrophically unfit for the job.

A bigger question regards the flawed, if not outright corrupted union hierarchy that allows the likes of Chauvin and the senior-citizen assaulters in Buffalo to be so blatantly supported by a “blue shield.” While some police forces may not be officially “organized,” this is an endemic problem within quite possibly every police department on earth, and if any cop tells you otherwise, they’re lying to you. While the RCMP has had its share of problems over the years— something my dad was acutely aware of — he still worried that the creation of a Mountie union would only exacerbate those problems. In the end, I’m glad he wasn’t alive to see this union come to fruition in 2015.

Consider a local example, in the form of Pelham’s own wild-west shootout in November 2018, when one NRP officer opened fire on another. If one or both cops were “bad apples,” as has been whispered around town for almost two years, then where was their accountability? I am quite positive if you or I went rogue in our jobs and had more than one disciplinary issue, we’d be unceremoniously fired. Most of us aren’t carrying guns either.

There are no easy answers, but the time is long overdue to address this societal problem. The events of the last month have been boiling over for centuries. And racism against black, brown, and Indigenous people is not limited to police brutality. The latter, can and will however, act as an extension of society at large.

So, from a predominantly white Canadian perspective, ask yourself a fundamental question about racism in this country amid the typically naïve narrative that comes out of many Canadians’ mouths whilst throwing rocks south out of their glass house.

Tuesday marked the 35th anniversary of the mass murder of 268 of your fellow citizens. Three-plus decades later, another chunk of your country’s population possibly fears for their lives at the hands of people sworn to serve and protect us.

Do you care? ♦

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice, June 24, 2020

Voice

FAITH LIFT

by Pastor Rob Weatherby

CROSSWORD SPONSORED THIS WEEK BY

Thank God for basketball

D

id you know there is a direct connection between God and basketball?

Neither did I until I read an article by Pastor Ed Hird which explained it. So, for all you basketball players and fans out there, here it is...

The inventor

Canadian James Naismith is the inventor of basketball. Born in 1861 in Almonte, Ontario (near Ottawa), his youth was beset with tragedy. First, his family’s sawmill burned down. Far worse, when he was only eight, his parents both died from typhoid fever. He left school at age 15 and worked for five years as a lumberjack.

During this time Naismith became a Jesus follower, a decision that changed the rest of his life. He decided to attend McGill University in Montreal to train for the ministry. In his words, “Finally I decided that the only real satisfaction that I would ever derive from life was to help my fellow beings.”

However, his friends noticed that in his zeal to study, Naismith was neglecting physical exercise.

They convinced him that involvement in sports would make him a better student.

They were right. He grew to love football, rugby, baseball, field hockey and lacrosse. He then discovered that his passion for sports helped him connect with young people and share the Gospel with them. Sports ministry became his calling.

The invention

Naismith then moved to the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) was a pioneer in the “muscular

Christianity” movement, integrating prayer and Bible study with athletics. By 1905, almost 50,000 men were taking part in YMCA college Bible studies. He greatly admired a Christian coach who said before each game, “Let’s ask God’s blessing on our game.” The coach would then, “not pray for victory but… that each man should do his best and show the true Christian spirit.”

Naismith was asked by another coach to create an indoor winter game for bored students because calisthenics (involving situps and marching) was not

Page 17

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exciting enough for them.

Naismith wanted to invent a game with less violence and more sportsmanship.

Two weeks later (after combining elements of existing sports) he introduced the new game of basketball on December 21, 1891 for the first time.

Adapting another game called “duck on the rock,” Naismith had the students throw soccer balls into peach baskets. There were no backboards. With the goal over their heads, there would be less contact as in hockey. Players could not See FAITH LIFT Page 14

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ANSWERS ON PAGE 18

Page 18

The Voice, June 24, 2020

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

FROM THE HANDLEBARS

by John Swart

“Truth to power” from gravel bicyclists

I

t’s not every day that you can do something you love, then learn that others have discovered a new variant, a way to make that activity more engaging, fun, adventuresome, challenging and rewarding; and that you can easily adopt the new alternative.

Do you ever feel compelled to take an unexpected fork in the road solely to see what’s at its end, to suffer the tingle of apprehension of the unknown, to experience a “first time” again?

Welcome to gravel biking, and gravel riders.

Not only can you ride your bike in an entirely different manner for a novel purpose,

you’ll be enveloped in a culture that demands neither the most expensive nor best, and is inclusive. Young or old, male or female, any race or nationality is welcome.

You’re more likely to share the road with tractors than cars, and on gravel roads, distracted drivers generally self-eliminate in pursuit of a Darwin Award. You ride the bike you’ve got or can make do with, and participants are friendly and welcoming. There’s no pretension, self-aggrandizement is discouraged, and there are no “rules.”

For those of you not totally plugged into cycling (I’m working on it), gravel riding

has evolved during the last five years as a major new category of enthusiast cycling. For many, road riding has become structured and expensive, and there is a limit to how many times one can ride the same Niagara loop and still be enthused. I can tell you where each new home is being built anywhere between here and Dunnville, how tall the wheat in Lincoln is on any given day, and who in Silverdale has bought a new garden gnome.

Mountain biking still offers thrills and the ability to get out and explore for participants, but as Boomers age and reaction times lengthen, it’s becoming too physically and mentally demanding for many.

Adventure bicycle travel will always be there for those willing to strap 20 kilos of gear, tent, and cooking apparatus onto their bikes and

Rush hour on Anderson Road in Wainfleet—a gracious tractor pilot provides lots of space for a dubious gravel rider.

JOHN SWART seek the unknown, but offers little to those looking for a taste of the outdoors or a variety of scenery for just a day or weekend.

Lighter bikes with mid-fat tires capable of smoothing the bumps in gravel roads, and wider handlebars to im-

prove steering leverage in soft surface conditions, have opened vast rural areas and expansive new landscapes to cyclists. In Niagara, immense working farms, some pastoral and some contentious like poultry, beef or hog production facilities, thrive

along obscure gravel roads.

Seasonal road allowances and creekside roadways that wander too much to attract vehicular traffic stay unpaved, as they do in localities with small populations like See HANDLEBARS Page 14

x

Voice

HOROSCOPE

ARIES – Mar 21/Apr 20 Aries, news from loved ones may catch you off guard, but could nevertheless make you feel excited this week. This is a sign from the universe that some part of life will change.

TAURUS – Apr 21/May 21 This week you may feel like opening your heart to others, Taurus.

Show a close friend that you care about him or her, or really further your connection with a romantic partner.

GEMINI – May 22/Jun 21 A busy work schedule may be making things seem more hectic than usual, Gemini. It’s easy to become overwhelmed if you do not find strategies to calm your mind each day.

CANCER – Jun 22/Jul 22 Powerful feelings of affection may build up in you this week, Cancer.

You may be taking inventory of how you feel about loved ones. Share grand gestures and loving words.

LEO – Jul 23/Aug 23 You may get encouragement from an unlikely source this week, Leo. This can inspire you to conduct an indepth exploration of long-term goals.

Embark on a new journey.

VIRGO – Aug 24/Sept 22 It is all right to feel shy or inhibited this week, Virgo. Uncertainty over long-term plans could be driving these emotions. Proceed with care.

LIBRA – Sept 23/Oct 23 A desire to add life to your routine could motivate you to find new activities to explore this week, Libra. Infuse your daily schedule with doses of creativity.

SCORPIO – Oct 24/Nov 22 Scorpio, this week you may feel sentimental and nostalgic. Perhaps you will reminisce about your childhood by looking over old photographs or playing family movies.

SAGITTARIUS – Nov 23/Dec 21 Sagittarius, you feel content with yourself and life this week and that is great. An ability to look within with a practice like meditation may contribute to this serene state of mind.

CAPRICORN – Dec 22/Jan 20 Figuring out how to resolve issues in a relationship may leave you feeling somewhat unsettled, Capricorn.

It might be that you do not want to approach sensitive topics.

AQUARIUS – Jan 21/Feb 18 Excitement about business or work goals might make you feel like taking some dynamic action to promote your ideas to higher ups, Aquarius. You may find a receptive audience.

PISCES – Feb 19/Mar 20 Try collaborating on a fun project this week, Pisces. Check to see if anyone needs assistance if you don’t have your own project in mind.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS JUNE 21 Chris Pratt, Actor (41) JUNE 22 Meryl Streep, Actress (71) JUNE 23 Laneya Grace, Model (16) JUNE 24 Lionel Messi, Athlete (33) JUNE 25 Angela Kinsey, Actress (49) JUNE 26 Aubrey Plaza, Actress (36)

SOLUTIONS DOWN 1. Deus 2. Anne 3. Coda 4. Eke 5. Sir 6. Ephas 7. Dreg 8. Dow 9. Acetates 10. Settee 11. Naha 12. Aten 13. Per 16. Raises 18. This 22. DA 23. ESOP 24. Santa 25. Pya 27. Races 28. Scar 29. DDS 30. Rase 31. Dey 33. ESE 35. Dandiest 36. ERGs 37. Own 39. Viands 42. Spines 43. Dare 44. AB 46. Cahn 47. Boer 48. Luce 49. Aton 50. Miri 51. Afro 52. Deys 53. GSA 54. Rio 55. Kwa 56. Nod

CROSSWORD ANSWERS

SOLUTIONS ACROSS 1. Daces 6. Edda 10. Snap 14. Enoki 15. Procreate 17. Under the weather 19. Sea 20. Hag 21. Titan 22. Dis 23. Ease 24. Spas 26. Steers 29. Dray 31. Does 32. Ace 34. Dana 35. Deeps 37. Ocas 38. SST 39. Vary 40. Were 41. Easing 43. Dans 45. Pads 46. Cab 47. Blini 49. Aar 50. Mad 53. Go under the knife 57. Secession 58. Worry 59. Ares 60. Ton 61. Adios

Enjoy out Take-out Fish & Chips Fridays!

From our family to yours...stay safe

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

HORNETS

continued from Page 12 sula Conservation Authority, and has an extensive background in entomology, the study of insects.

“We've had calls about giant hornets, and some people have sent us photos or brought in specimens for identification. The majority of them are European Hornets. Some are just bumblebees. There appears to be a lot of confusion. I’m not convinced any Asian Giant Hornets are in Niagara,” said Diamond.

Another local authority on bugs is Peter Jekel, Manager of Environmental Health for Niagara Region. He told the Voice that the flight across the Rocky Mountains and prairies of Western Canada will likely preclude the Asian variety settling in Ontario.

“They would have a hard time establishing colonies here,” said Jekel. He mentioned that European hornets, which have had

The Voice, June 24, 2020 a presence in Niagara for about 150 years, can grow quite large (about 1.5 inches long) and are carnivorous.

They crave meat, fruit (for the sugar content), and other insects (including honeybees).

Dr. Miriam Richards, a Professor of Biological Sciences at Brock University and an authority on bees, views the threat to humans from the supersized hornets as largely overblown media hype.

She suspects the Asian Giant Hornets likely arrived in Canada after crossing the Pacific Ocean on shipping containers, which are an easy method of transportation for invading species.

They seem to have survived one winter in the in the Pacific Northwest, but they might not keep surviving.

Richards believes that the chance of the Asian Giants being in Ontario is very low.

Referring to the large European Hornet present in Niagara, Richards said, “They are pretty big and

scary looking. The European Hornet is well established here, and with our last mild winter, we are seeing a lot of them around this spring and summer.”

Richards wants people to understand the benefits hornets bring to our ecosystem.

“Hornets and wasps play a crucial role in controlling herbivorous insects like lady bugs and aphids, and are also an efficient predator adept at hunting black flies and other pests,” she said.

Paul Kozak is the official Apiarist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. He told the Voice that he has investigated about 180 reports of suspected Asian Giant Hornets in the province, and that the culprit usually turns out to be a European Hornet. The Ministry tracks all reports, in order to get a better sense of hornet distribution across Ontario. He

concedes that the European Hornet can be quite large, and alarming to people.

“We can't say with 100% certainty that the Asian Giant Hornet is not here, but we have no evidence to suggest that it is present anywhere in Ontario,” said Kozak.

Closer to home, Ryan Cook, Manager of Public Works for the Town of Pelham, told the Voice that the municipality gets about a dozen calls a year related to stinging insects like bees, wasp, and hornets. Often a call is made to a pest control company if the nest is too high for Town workers to deal with the problem.

There is no doubt that large stinging insects abound in Pelham. Photographer Natalia Shields, in Fonthill, was stung by a large hornet in her home recently. She told the Voice she had been doing yard work, and that evening saw what she thought was

Page 19 a clump of grass or dirt on the floor in a dimly lit hallway. Suspecting it had fallen off her work clothes, she scooped it up, and felt an immediate searing pain in her thumb. Flicking on the lights, she discovered it was a large hornet, and quickly dispatched it. Thereafter, she took photos of the bug and sent them to the paper, inspiring the very article that buzzes to an end in three more paragraphs.

Thinking it was one of the dangerous Asian Giant Hornets she had read about in the news, Shields Googled the insect, and was convinced that the online images looked exactly like the one that stung her. Her thumb was swollen and

painful for several hours. A dose of Benadryl helped ease her discomfort.

Apiarist George Scott was sent a photo of the insect by the Voice, and reported that it was a European Hornet and not one of the Asian Giant variety. (Scott actually referred to it as a “European Giant Hornet,” although entomologists do not acknowledge the term.)

Insect experts encourage anyone stung by a large hornet to take a photo of it and send it to the appropriate government agency, like the NPCA or Niagara Region Environmental Services.

Or better, yet, take it in for identification after calling ahead to check opening hours.

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The Voice, June 24, 2020

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

BANDSHELL

continued from Page 1 To see the length and depth and breadth of the $75,000 fundraising and installation campaign, see the information on the group’s home page at fonthillbandshell. com.

“Our team of volunteers has been overwhelmed by the generosity of our community, and the great partnership with the Town of Pelham,” said Gayle Baltjes-Bazinet, Chair of the Bandshell Committee.

“We would love to be able to see everyone in person to express our gratitude, but that party will just have to wait.”

Meanwhile, Bandshell fans can tune into the committee’s online presence for a little taste of what could have been, and what will be, once restrictions related to COVID-19 are lifted. Many of the bands originally scheduled to perform in person have provided links to their own recorded music, or they have volunteered their time for a mini-concert, through Facebook live or the Fonthill Bandshell’s other social media accounts.

Music-lovers are invited to tune into the website— fonthillbandshell.com, or Facebook (Fonthill Bandshell Concerts group page), or Twitter (@FontBandshell), or Instagram (@fonthillbandshell) to learn more.

This image and on the cover: Volunteers at work at the Fonthill Bandshell.

We’re open with Safe Practices in place and curbside delivery available

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