The Voice, May 15 2019

Welcome Wagon rolling again page 3 Review: Commander in Cheat page 8 Full house at Art Festival page 10 EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

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Call to cops a PR fiasco for Oosterhoff

Column Six

Telling people's stories Early newspaper writing Heralded academic career

BY BETH VISSER

Special to the VOICE

M

Standing before a sign announcing, "HERE TO HELP," protesters David Fowler, left, and Janet Hodgkins, in magenta coat, are questioned by an NRPS officer outside MPP Sam Oosterhoff's constituency office in Beamsville last Tuesday, after staff summoned police to respond to a group of book-wielding seniors aiming to hold a "read-in" in the MPP's waiting room.

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Special to the VOICE

When Wainfleet resident Janet Hodgkins planned a surprise readin at MPP Sam Oosterhoff’s constituency office, her goal was to bring

attention to Progressive Conservative budget cuts to Ontario libraries. And while the plan of Hodgkins and about 15 others to sit and read books in the Beamsville office last week was scuttled, the bringing-attention part succeeded beyond her

wildest dreams, when an overzealous Oosterhoff staffer called police on the group.

“I’m inundated with interviews,” Hodgkins told the Voice two days after the incident, shortly after getting off the phone with a Hamilton

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radio station. “We started something and it snowballed.”

Media outlets from across the country picked up on the story.

“Protesting seniors carrying 256See READERS Page 14

Y EMPLOYMENT at the late Pelham Herald was serendipitous.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that it changed my life forever. Taking pictures of summer campers and writing about garbage on the Steve Bauer trails helped me see that I love my job when I have the freedom to follow my curiosity. I might not have figured out that I wanted to be a university professor if I hadn’t first worked at the Herald and then at the Voice.

It was a sunny day in June, 1994, when I got the phone call. I had recently finished a maternity leave from my job as a compensation analyst, which really didn’t suit me (I sat at a desk a lot), and I had decided not to return.

The editor of the Herald had suddenly become ill and there was no one to cover See COLUMN SIX back page

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The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

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PUBLISHER’S CORNER

by Dave Burket

Dot on display: Rosemary Chambers, of, among many other things, butter tart fame (that’s not a hint!), writes in to say that the Pelham Historical Society’s display at the Maple Acre library branch has been changed. Coinciding with what would have been her 108th birthday, Dorothy Rungeling, pilot and Pelham fixture for decades, gets the full treatment. The presentation features a number of personal items, including photos, her logbook, and some of her artwork. Rungeling passed away in February 2017 ... Coked-up shrimp: Yes, “coked,” not cooked. A tip of the hat to reader Brian Garrard for dropping off some interesting items, as is his custom, the most alarming being a New York Times article presenting research from Britain, namely that some British freshwater shrimp contain pesticides, and that all tested shrimp contained cocaine.

This comes on the heels of a CBC documentary from a few weeks back, in which various overseas frozen shrimp brands sold in Canada were analyzed for pesticides and pathogens. The results were unsettling, particularly for shrimp from India. That put an end to our big-box store shrimp-sourcing for now.

Anyone know of a good Canadian shrimp farm, with product available locally?...

She’s back: Wait, what? We thought Anastasia Huminilowycz’s round-theworld trip was over, but this

week we bring you her actual last stop, from Seoul, South Korea...No Botox required: This issue sees the debut of another new column, “Faith Lift” (page 13). Pelham resident and Pastor Rob Weatherby will offer observations from a religious perspective.

In his first column he tells us what a very large part of the world—including many Canadians—are up to at the moment during Ramadan, and why...A little farther to the right: MPP Sam Oosterhoff did not enjoy particularly positive press last week, though his more diehard supporters may disagree. First, his constituency office called the coppers on a gaggle of mild-mannered seniors, who were protesting the Ford government’s cut to library services, then he vocally proclaimed his intractable opposition to abortion on virtually all grounds.

While some have lauded his candor, the truly brave move would have been to lay these particular cards loudly and clearly on the table during his various campaigns for nomination and office. In any event, as you will have seen on the cover, the story behind the cop-call is in this week’s issue. Incidentally, we reached out directly to Oosterhoff to offer space for a commentary entirely in his own words on the office incident, but none was forthcoming...Putting on the polish: There’s a new nail salon in town, Unique Nails and Spa, in Fonthill, and they’re holding their grand opening

Voice on vacation!

this Saturday (see ad on page 14)…Which raises the question: How many nail salons can one town support? We wish them all the best, of course, but it does seems like Pelham greatly enjoys having its nails pampered. What was the local nail salon landscape like back in the ‘90s? It’s a question that I would have addressed to Beth Visser, had I thought of it before now. I ran across Visser’s name a couple of weeks ago, when we ran our story about the retiring E. L. Crossley music teacher Dave Gaines. I'd gone digging into our archives in search of the 1995 Pelham Herald issue that featured Gaines on its cover. Passing through several early editions of the Voice, which started publishing in 1997, I came across an unfamiliar name, Beth Visser. Not only that, she was credited as the paper’s editor! A few fortunate clicks on the web and an email or two later, Visser was found healthy and happy in Orillia, and said she’d be happy to contribute a Column Six (page 1) about her Herald/ Voice days, and what she’s been up to since. Thanks, Beth—coffee is on us!...A temporary lull? Debate over whether to resurrect the arches has quieted down, at least in the letters section this week. Now the Town is officially soliciting alternative ideas for a new feature on Pelham Town Square (see ad on page 3). Whatever it is, it needs be self-funded, meaning no taxpayer pesos

involved. Would-be designers have until May 29 to submit their proposals. That said, it’s hard not to agree with Councillor Ron Kore, who recently suggested that if any other designs were out there we would have heard about them by now. Of course, there’s also the option to do nothing, which gets favourable mention by Councillor Marianne Stewart in a commentary this week (page 5). To her credit, Stewart was the only councillor to respond to our request for comment on the topic. The former restauranteur is evidently not afraid to handle the occasional hot potato...

Some meat to go with those spuds? When it comes to food, my wife and I enjoy a wide variety of cuisine. We fortunately are not limited by any serious allergies, nor are we dogmatic adherents to any particular diet or food-related political stance.

If it’s delicious, we eat it.

Even so, our red meat consumption is far less now than it was 20 years ago, and that’s mainly down to wanting to reduce animal fats. We do enjoy a good hamburger, though, yet rarely indulge.

For that reason, all the positive talk lately about a new meat substitute, Beyond Meat, caught our attention.

When a version showed up at Sobeys a few days ago—Beyond Burger—we swallowed our horror at the price ($4 per patty, three times the 2018 average price for ground beef), and fired up the broiler. Now, bearing in mind

that we very much enjoy tofu, and tempeh (a type of soy bean cake), and all manner of vegetarian dishes, we were predisposed to welcome another non-meat protein alternative, with the bonus that it would work as an actual hamburger substitute. Our first mistake may have been to read the ingredients label. Listed about a quarter of the way down was methylcellulose, a non-vegetarian-sounding word curious enough to Google. In short, it’s plant-derived fiber, often used as a thickener. Less appetizingly, it’s also a laxative ingredient, used to, ah, thicken stools.

Next up was the finished appearance of the grilled patties. Badly burned Caucasian palms came to mind. Lastly came the texture and taste.

It’s possible that we just had cellulose on the brain, but what may have been intended by the manufacturer as a slightly wood-smoke flavour came across as, for my wife, mulch, and, for me, cedar shavings in a hamster cage. I found the texture acceptable, while it struck my wife as somewhere between gelatinous and mildly rubbery. Finally, as if sensing our disapproval, the digesting substance sent up revengeful reminders over the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, bringing back an even more distinctive mu lc h-ce d a r-ply wo o d -scented aroma with each demure burp. In theory, we can’t wait for a great veggie burger. In practice, this isn’t

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Column Six The Comfort Maple myth

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NIAGARA’S BEST-READ WEEKLY SINCE 1997

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Oops: No fire trucks for you Haist Street traffic-calming measure a little too effective

BY VOICE STAFF

it. Until one comes along, we’re sticking with one of the best burgers in town and certainly the best value, Peter Piper’s $5 special on Mondays...

Speaking of which: Last week we reintroduced the Pelham Puzzler with what we thought would be an easy challenge, the prize being a $30 Piper’s gift certificate. Surely dozens of entries would come in! Well, no. Under 20, and only two were completely correct. We asked readers to identify allusions to five classics of literature, music, and film. The answers were: Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (and Donne before him) for the subheadline, “Ask not for whom the slope tolls”; Cervantes’ “Don Quixote,” for the letter headline, “Tilting at arches”; John Denver’s song, “Rocky Mountain High,” for the letter headline starting, “Rocky Mountain high”; the classic horror film, “Halloween,” for the photo caption headline, “M. Myers on a plate,” referring to the film’s Michael Myers; and finally, Mussorgsky’s composition, “Pictures at an Exhibition,” for the photo caption headline, “Picture at an exhibition,” accompanying the image of Fenwick painter David Butler and his gift to Meghan and Harry.

And the winner is...Jim Vanderhoek!

Congratulations, Jim, and enjoy your time at Piper’s. In fact, with $30, you could buy six all-genuine-beef burgers on a Monday...Be careful what you ask for: I was chastised by a couple of readers for last week’s unusually brief Publisher’s Corner. Blame them! (And no impaired driver list.)...Make something go boom: See Victoria Fireworks' ad on page 9. Have a great Victoria Day weekend. ♦

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Column Six Growing up British Part 2 of 2: Coronation to embarkation

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The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

Page 3

Welcome Wagon returns to Pelham After six-year absence, Denise Steele takes helm of local direct marketing enterprise

BY JOHN CHICK

Special to the VOICE

Welcome Wagon Ltd. has existed in Canada since 1930, but Pelham hasn’t had a representative in the last six years. Now Denise Steele has taken the reins of the local wing of the direct marketing outfit, and she’s eager to welcome new residents to town with the company’s traditional gift baskets.

“It’s just so exciting to share with a new resident, and tell them, ‘You’ve made a great choice and look what this town is all about,’” Steele said.

How Welcome Wagon works is simple. Local businesses pay reps like Steele to place either products or coupons in the gift baskets—which also includes community information.

Then Steele delivers them to the front doors of new residents’ homes. Though there is a slight catch. If the newcomers don’t agree to share their name and address with Steele, so that she can report back a

successful delivery to the sponsoring companies, the basket contains only freely available Town brochures and other municipal information, and the Voice. (The newspaper does not have any business relationship with Steele.)

From the newcomers’ perspective, it comes across as an old-time welcoming committee. However, Steele admits many are conditioned to be dubious of any such package delivery— until they realize it is a free service to them.

“People are always skeptical about somebody claiming something is free, especially when it shows up as a knock at your door,” Steele said. “They automatically assume she’s gotta be selling something, right?

But this truly is free.”

There are generally two ways that Welcome Wagon finds access to new residents in any community— either the residents themselves sign up, or the local

Denise Steele and her welcome basket of goodies. reps hear about newcomers via the good old-fashioned grapevine.

“We have a number of sources,” Steele said. “I have five names given to me already just by word of mouth.”

HAVE A GOOD IDEA? WE WANT TO HEAR IT!

there’s activities for seniors.

Young moms might be glad there’s something for their kids. There’s something it in for everybody.”

A cross-section of the local Pelham business community has been receptive,

she said.

“Businesses have been extremely generous,” she said. “The support and enthusiasm I’ve encountered from the Mayor and everyone in Town … they’ve just all been so tremendous.”

HAPPY VICTORIA DAY!



The Town of Pelham is now accepting proposals for a new feature on Pelham Town Square (where the arches were). All proposals must: • Outline a 100 per cent self-funded and ongoing maintenance model • Include a conceptual design • Include construction timeline Learn more about how to submit your idea by visiting:

pelham.ca/design-idea

Steele estimates she does 15 of these visits a month.

She said that packages are designed to appeal to all age groups.

“Different people get different things out of it,” she said. “Some are glad to know

Submissions and registrations must be complete by 12 p.m. on May 29, 2019

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Page 4

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

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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 On arches question, the answer is deliberation, not haste

W

HEN IT COMES to the arches above Pelham Town Square and their potential resurrection, the over-arching question is, “What’s the rush?”

Town Council—largely, it seems, at the direction of Mayor Junkin, who cast an important, tie-breaking vote on the matter—has wisely opted to rein-in the horses on their gallop toward a foregone destination.

Is it generous that the Rotarians have offered to pay for rebuilding the arches, with funds to be raised through events and the solicitation of corporate and private donations? Certainly. That's not in question.

Yet by so insistently urging the Town to rapidly accept their offer, they and their supporters—including Councillor John Wink, with his previous ties to Summerfest—risk alienating the very council, and community, they seek to serve.

Build-Them-Now supporters are starting to sound a bit like that friend who insists that if you only gave Game of Thrones a fair shot, you, too, would soon be enthralled by fire-breathing

dragons, impossible-to-decipher plot lines, and the alleged pleasure of a dark, escapist fairytale, featuring a generously ample number of nipples per episode.

Once complete, and "gifted" to the Town, the structure becomes Town property, and a Town liability Or, more close to home, like the relative who arrives with the “perfect” gift for your garden—perhaps a Game of Thrones gnome— which you then feel obligated to accept, and place next to the peonies, at least for one summer.

In other words, as generous as a gift may be in principle, the recipient may not necessarily be as thrilled to receive it as the giver might envision.

For one thing, there is the

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small matter of the previous gift’s demise. The cost to remove the wind-blown Arches 1.0 was not minor, taking days and an outside contractor to complete.

Were supporters to offer to reimburse the Town for these costs, their assertion that Arches 2.0 will genuinely not cost the taxpayers a dime might be more compelling.

Similarly, there are the ongoing costs of maintenance and insurance if Arches 2.0 are built. Once complete, and “gifted” to the Town, the structure becomes Town property, and a Town liability.

There is also the question of construction material.

Recently in these pages, the original engineer of Arches 1.0, Mark Shoalts, offered the opinion that concrete, not wood, might be considered for a permanent rebuild. That sounds wise to us. Concrete would considerably increase the initial construction cost, yes, but it would dramatically reduce maintenance expenses over the coming years, and potentially decades. If Rotary is looking for a permanent, See EDITORIAL next page

Letters Vote from GTA: Rebuild the arches I live in Toronto, but visit friends in the town of Fonthill/Pelham several times a year. One of those weekends is always on the annual Summerfest weekend.

In discussion with my friends, I was dismayed to hear that the arches above Pelham Town Square had fallen down during a severe wind storm. This was sad news indeed.

My wife and enjoy Summerfest and the arches are a large part of the success of the event. They are a great meeting place, a wonderful spot for the bar, close to the music and, if I am not mistaken, have won awards in the Niagara Region.

Now that they have been taken down, the atmosphere will be a little different this year.

I read that the Rotary Club of Fonthill and the Summerfest Committee have submitted a proposal to rebuild the arches, at no cost to the Town. This is quite a generous offer that I am sure is supported by the local residents.

This shows true community spirit and a willingness to restore the iconic Pelham arches to their former place.

See SPIRIT next page

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CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS Member of Federal Parliament

Electoral District: Niagara West

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

Mayor of Pelham Marvin Junkin mjunkin@pelham.ca 289-929-2681 Members of Pelham Town Council

Member of Provincial Parliament

Ward 1 Councillor Mike Ciolfi mciolfi@pelham.ca 905-892-0077

Sam Oosterhoff, MPP 4961 King St. East, Unit M1 Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 sam.oosterhoffco@pc.ola.org 905-563-1755

Councillor Marianne Stewart mstewart@pelham.ca 289-821-0840

Electoral District: Niagara West

Members of Niagara Regional Council Councillor Marvin Junkin mjunkin@pelham.ca 289-929-2681 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

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ADVERTISING: The Voice of Pelham regrets any errors or omissions that appear in advertisements in this newspaper, however, we will not be held responsible for more than one absent or incorrect insertion or for any damages beyond the cost of space containing the error. The Voice is an independent, locally owned and operated publication.

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The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

Page 5

OPINION More soup for you! Thanks from the Lionness.

COMMENTARY / OP-ED Councillor Marianne Stewart Trees, flowers more suitable

I

WA S S O M E W H A T T A K E N A B A C K after hearing from Mr. Adamson about replacing the arches. It felt to me that the group he represented expected us to simply tell them to go ahead without discussing the matter. It seems their compelling issue is for fundraising, striking while the iron is hot. There is no harm in not rushing to replace something that far outlived its time as a "splashy look" designed for a three-day party.

I feel that if the Town of Pelham, sometime in the future, decides that it wants to build a structure over the roadway, it would be a decision for the Town to make. In that case, if we want to put it out to the public for ideas, I'm good with that. At that time if a build is desired, there is no harm in reaching out to ask for public support in the form of donations, with such donations being

recognized.

Personally I prefer the look without the arches—the clock is now noticeable without the visual distraction of the arches. I would like to see the missing tree replaced, nicer benches, and some flower boxes. Lighting similar to what was on the arches can be in the trees.

It is a generous offer, but it's not one we are compelled to take.

It would be precedent-setting. In the future if some other group offered an unsolicited gift, what would the repercussions be of accepting one gift and rejecting another?

I've been in Pelham for a long time, and what I hear most from people visiting or travelling through is how pretty the streets look with the canopy of trees. I think it's a more fitting look for a rural, agriculture based small town. ♦

Not perfect, but C-69 deserves support As a citizen, daughter, wife, mother and grandmother, I firmly believe that each and every one of us needs to be more concerned and involved in Canada's Environmental Protections.

Bill C - 69 is far from perfect, but neither are any of us. We all need to fight against global climate change This bill has made it through the House of Commons and is now before the Senate.

It is a good start in the correct direction. It allows the public the opportunity to engage in and review the processes.

I urge others to educate themselves and others as to what is true and, what some are trying to mislead us into believing.

Please make yourselves become better informed and not be mislead

We owe it to future generations to take meaningful measures on our serious environmental issues. Please make yourselves become informed and not be mislead by the mistruths being spread by those opposed.

Let's move forward with

progress and not stand still and do nothing as our environment worsens. Please let our senators know that we need to move forward on this urgent issue.

Take the time to let our government know that they have our support to address public involvement and make projects transparent and requiring input from all people; and not just the politicians. We can impact future change if we get involved.

Susan Luxon Welland

On behalf of the Fenwick Lioness, we would like to thank the community for all of your support of our hugely successful soup lunches. They were all very well attended and funds raised go to community charities. We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming Penny Sale, at the Fenwick Lions Carnival, on May 24, 25, 26, and our soup lunches will start again on October 20.

Thank you so much!

The Fenwick Lioness

Seed Synergy: the back story In recent months, farmers have become aware of an ominous drive, coordinated by elements of Canada’s seed industry and financially aided by our federal government, that is attempting to eliminate our right to freely save and reuse our own seed.

This story actually begins in 1990 when the Canadian government adopted the UPOV ‘78 model law for Plant Breeders Rights, despite warnings that it could lead to private industry’s control over the foundation of all agriculture: seed and all other propagating material. (UPOV stands for the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.)

In 2015, Canada adopted UPOV 91. This updated convention prescribes far greater powers for allowing corporations to control and profit from the seeds that form the basis of our food system. It also transformed the right of farmers to save and reuse seeds into a privilege— one that could be removed or altered by regulation at the whim of government.

This led to an immediate and ongoing campaign by elements of Canada’s seed industry to push for regulations to allow them to seize control of our seed network and eliminate farmers’ historic cooperation and sovereignty over their use of seed. This campaign by corporate seed industry lobby groups has been titled “Seed Synergy,” and is being supported by Agriculture and AgriFood Canada (AAFC) to the tune of nearly $500,000 in Growing Forward 2 money.

In the first stage of their campaign, the Seed Synergy group claimed they were simply trying to streamline the process by which varieties of grain were registered in Canada, eliminating duplication and making the process faster, easier, and less costly for them. Oh, and by the way, possibly replacing the basic public plant breeding system that Canada has successfully operated under for the past century.

Well, time moves on, and plans change.

Now, two years later, their message is no longer about streamlining the varietal registration process— they now insist that our public plant breeding system is “broken” (their word) and must be replaced. It is no surprise that they recommend replacing it with a system that would allow the ownership, control, and domination of our seed supply by any company at any price they are able to charge. Any remaining public component — paid for by taxpayers and farmers of course — would be relegated to the heavy lifting and background science, which would then be turned over to the companies to charge farmers for the finished product.

And what will that cost us? It turns out that no one has done any real cost analysis, so in terms of dollars, no one knows. But Seed Synergy and AAFC both call this whole idea “Value Creation,” so somebody must be going to make some money off of this.

On examination of the self-serving jusSee SEEDS next page

SPIRIT

continued from previous page As a person that frequently vacations in Pelham, I support the efforts of the Rotary Club of Fonthill and the Summerfest Committee to restore these arches.

Peter Lepper Toronto

EDITORIAL

continued from previous page not just fast, fix, then they might consider engaging in a longer fundraising period to gather the amount needed to achieve a truly remarkable result—and fulfill their stated intent to save the Town from incurring maintenance costs over the long term.

A longer fundraising effort would also prove the case that Pelham residents are as enthusiastic about the arches as Build-Them-Now proponents assert they are.

While it is true that a slim majority among Voice poll respondents favoured their reconstruction, it is also true that a much larger majority responded that not only should the taxpayer not be on the hook to rebuild them, neither would respondents contribute a single dollar of their own toward their resurrection.

It’s not impossible to imagine that the BuildThem-Now camp is in fact the small minority of which

they accuse those opposed or neutral to the rebuild of being. It’s entirely possible that a large number of Pelham residents—faced with ever increasing property taxes, gypsy moths munching, AirBnB-neighbours-from-Hell, and the ever-present malodorous reminder that the Town has rented its soul to corporate cannabis titans—would just as soon prefer that Town Council get back to dealing with matters of substantially greater urgency than how best to provide shade for beer drinkers during a three-day street festival.

As for icons and their symbolic usefulness to Pelham, let’s not in our haste forget the icon that has helped define our community for generation upon generation, located just a few kilometers east of Town Hall, the ever-enduring, 500-year-old, Comfort Maple. It provides ample shade on hot summer days, though one would be advised, for legal reasons, to keep the beer consumption root, not craft. ♦

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Page 6

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

TOWN COUNCIL NEWS Old arena can kicked down the road Planned debate over Haist Street property pushed back again

Council welcomes the Pelham Panthers’ Midget AE hockey team, which won its group OMHA championship.

TOWN OF PELHAM PHOTO

PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE OF CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Pelham Elevated Tank Municipal Class Environmental Assessment and Enhanced Conceptual Design Niagara Region is undertaking a Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) for a new Pelham Elevated Water Storage Tank and transmission system upgrades.

Niagara Region recently updated its Water and Wastewater Master Servicing Plan, and this project is part of the recommended improvements to the Pelham water system. The purpose of the study is to address adequate storage, pressure, and capacity to support growth.

The study will follow the Schedule ‘B’ Municipal Class EA process as set out by the Municipal Engineers Association (October 2000 amended in 2007, 2011 and 2015).

Niagara Region will be considering and evaluating suitable sites within the Town of Pelham for the construction of a new elevated water storage tank.

The Region will look at the existing water system to identify any necessary improvements and impacts that the construction of the tank may have on all potential sites.

Public consultation is critical to the success of the study. We welcome your comments and will provide opportunities for your input throughout the study. There will be a Public Information Centre (PIC) scheduled for fall 2019 to share information, obtain your input and respond to questions.

Further details on the upcoming PIC will be provided as the project progresses. The project is planned to be completed in February 2020.

BY JOHN CHICK

Special to the VOICE

the infestation has reached a certain level,” Junkin said.

“We would never have got the approval from the MNR to go out and spray if the infestation level was not high enough. To say that we should be [budgeting] $100,000 a year, and spray for the next 10 years, that is totally false. There are a lot of misconceptions floating around.”

The words were clearly targeted at landowners Frank Feeley and Graham Ashdown, whose properties back onto frequently infested Hillcrest Park in Fonthill.

The pair have been vocal in their criticism of the Town’s perceived inaction over the years. Hillcrest Park has been sprayed just twice since 2009.

As a result, Ward 2 Councilor Ron Kore wants to make amends with property owners like Feeley and Ashdown by covering their costs for this spring’s planned aerial spray. He pushed back on Junkin’s assertion.

“The infestation [on properties near Hillcrest Park] is just unbelievable,” Kore said. “I would say we’re responsible for that, because we did not do our jobs.”

Junkin interjected: “I’m just saying telling you what the expert said.”

Kore retorted, “Tell the expert to come to come to Fonthill and see the residents. Last year we spent $7,000 on spraying, and I don’t think that was good enough.”

With that, council voted on a bylaw to “respect the gypsy moth,” but the matter wasn’t done there. In committee, cost recovery options of the spray program—currently scheduled for later this month and early June—were discussed.

Councilor Mike Ciolfi took issue with the higher cost that rural property owners will assume as compared to those in the “urban” zone inside Fonthill.

However, Public Works director Jason Marr said the Town has no involvement in the spraying of rural properties, and that this aspect is being fully coordinated by contractors Trees Unlimited and Zimmer Air. He added that the average price per acre is actually lower in the rural zone, given the larger size of many of the properties, and the fact that unlike over Fonthill, where helicopters are necessary, a fixed-wing aircraft can be used to spray. According to Town statistics, the average lot in the urban zone is less than 0.3 acres.

Ciolfi shot back, asking if Trees Unlimited and Zimmer Air’s contract was acquired via protocol-based RFP. When told no, Ciofi scoffed, “Good business to be in.”

The urban spray is budgeted at $63,000. The average price per property owner is anticipated to be between $225 and $275.

Kore again made the case for the Town to pick up some of the tab, specifically with landowners like Feeley and Ashdown—whose properties back onto a publicly owned trouble spot.

“What I’m asking is we pick up the bill for those who back onto our parks,” he said. “I personally think we own it. I was shocked to see the infestation on these trees. We need to find money. We can budget so we don’t have this dissent.”

Council ordered staff to report back on alternative financing options to cover the costs of spraying all Pelham locations.

See COUNCIL Page 19

SEEDS

continued from previous page

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact one of the following project team members: Rika Law, P.Eng, PMP© Project Manager and Associate R.V. Anderson Associates Limited 43 Church Street, Suite 104 St. Catharines, ON, L2R 7E1 905-685-5049 ext. 1209 Fax: 905-685-9894 rlaw@rvanderson.com

/niagararegion

An in camera agenda item at Pelham Town Council never saw the (closed) light of day at the May 6 Committee of the Whole meeting, after members voted to push it back to a special closed meeting to have occurred this past Monday, May 13, as the Voice went to press.

The issue centred around the future of the old arena property on Haist Street.

That was clear based on the resolution’s description, which cited, in part, “proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality.”

Councilor John Wink excused himself from the vote on the motion to postpone.

Wink has asserted that he has a conflict of interest on the matter, given that he owns property near the 1120 Haist location. With Wink out of the room, council voted to postpone.

It’s been almost two months since council surprisingly voted not to sell the old arena, going against the overwhelming results of both municipal and Voice of Pelham opinion polls. The Town has since commissioned a report on the future of the property.

Prior to the Committee of the Whole, council met in regular session. That meeting was highlighted by two issues that have become contentious: Gypsy moth spraying, and the debate about whether to rebuild the arches over Pelham Town Square.

Mayor Marvin Junkin fired back at the narrative that the Town has been historically negligent in spraying for gypsy moths, which, over time, can effectively kill trees.

“You do not spray every year for this, because the [Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources] would not allow you to spray unless

Tara Clayton Project Manager Water and Wastewater Services Division Niagara Region 3501 Schmon Pkwy., PO Box 1042 Thorold, ON, L2V 4T7 905-980-6000 ext. 3205 TTY: 905-984-3613 Toll-Free: 1-800-263-7215 Fax: 905-685-5205 tara.clayton@niagararegion.ca

niagararegion.ca

@niagararegion

tifications being offered by the sponsoring parties, it appears that no value will be created for either farmers or taxpayers, but that value certainly will be captured by the seed companies. As for who that value is extracted from —it will inevitably come from farmers.

Fortunately, this story is far from over, and its ending has not yet been written. Farmers must now take all available opportunities, whether at farm shows, commodity group meetings or the AAFC consultation process, to ensure farmers’ right to save and use their own seed is upheld.

Cam Goff First Vice President National Farmers Union

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The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

Page 7

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Page 8

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

ANOTHER ROUND

by JOHN PICCOLO

Book review: Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump

T

HERE IS A SAYING that if you want to find the measure of a person, play a round of golf with them.

In four hours you will see how they deal with success, failure, and adversity, both their own and others. Are they patient, considerate?

Do they act differently when they think no one is watching? Do they cheat and own up to it, cheat on the sly, or count every stroke and follow every rule? Now, guess what you might learn if you played a round with Donald Trump.

Rick Reilly made his name as a sports columnist for Sports Illustrated and ESPN. He has known Trump for 30 years and has played golf with him on numerous occasions, and has searched out and talked to dozens of others who have done the same. The picture painted by all (except the ones currently on the President’s payroll) is the same. Trump is a fun guy to play with.

He is better than you expect but not nearly as good as he claims. He is full of great stories and even fuller of something else. As Reilly says early in his new book, “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Donald Trump” (Hachette Books): “Trump does golf the way

he does his presidency. The rules are for other people.”

When asked to review Reilly’s book, I thought it would be a quick, harmless, little read, and I could have some fun with it. It was quick, but it was not fun.

I’ve known for a long time the depravity of Donald Trump. I just didn’t care. His antics were no concern of mine. I would avoid ever staying in one of his hotels or playing one of his golf courses, or watching him on television, simply because I didn’t want to reward him for his behavior. He is a pathological bull-crapper who will say and do anything to make a buck. Not unusual among real estate developers or billionaire wannabees of all sorts. So I just ignored him.

Then all of a sudden he becomes leader of the free world and pretty hard to ignore. A book review is a straightforward assignment. Not particularly hard, but this was hard. Why? Because Rick Reilly documents another 50 reasons, all revolving around the game of golf, that Trump is not suited not only to be President, but allowed outside a mental health facility without escort—yet none of it matters.

Reilly’s account provides

people who are predisposed to dislike the man with plenty of justification for their beliefs, while those who support him will somehow turn Trump’s behavior into a sign of

On the other hand, if you do have the resources to sue him you are very likely to win strength rather than mental illness.

Trump runs his golf businesses like all of his other ventures. He buys properties on the cheap, claims to have spent ten times what he actually does to turn the course into “the best in the state” or “the best in the country,” then trumpets, “That’s not just me saying that. Everyone is saying that.”

No, as a rule, it is just Donald telling everyone how great his courses are.

He does not own a single

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

course that is ranked in the top 100 in the U.S..

He hires respected architects and craftsmen and has them build opulent clubhouses and courses and then he doesn’t pay them. He pays some here and there but when the job is done, and the full bill is due, he simply says, or has his lawyers say, “I’ve paid enough already.” They get offered 40 or 50 cents on the dollar and often even this doesn’t get paid. We are not talking millionaires here. Architects, carpenters, plumbers, painters.

Trump knows these people are too small to absorb a court fight, so he simply offers them an absurdly low amount and tells them to take a hike. Basically a contract with Trump is toilet paper. His signature as worthless as an autograph to a fan.

On the other hand, if you do have the resources to sue him you are very likely to win. He is almost always in the wrong, but bullies, denies, and delays, hoping your determination or funds run out of steam. If he loses, he never admits he lost. Just says he “settled.”

The book is most entertaining when detailing how Trump cheats. Reilly got the caddies at Trump’s courses to speak as long as he didn’t name them. (If you help him cheat, you tend to be sufficiently rewarded).

This is a typical round of golf with Trump. He is always in a cart and mostly alone or with a caddie. Why do you need a caddie if you are in a cart? Be patient

we’ll get to that.

The people he plays with are in other carts, but Trump has his carts rigged to go much faster than the others. (“He who has the fastest cart never has a bad lie” —Mickey Mantle.) Etiquette in golf is generally you play your shots in a certain order and you wait for all to hit before you head off to your next shot.

Not in Trumpistan. He hits and takes off.

No matter what direction the ball headed off in, or into which body of water it dropped, by the time the rest of the group arrives the back on the fairway or on the green. He has a caddie because there are times he can’t do the dirty work for h i m s e l f—t h e caddie is backup. The caddy has to run ahead and play eagle scout for Trump’s shots. If you want the job again next round, no ball shall be found to be in an unfortunate position by the time the other players arrive.

Trump has a lot of wedges in his bag. Foot wedge (nudging or outright kicking the ball to a more amenable position from which to hit—Trump has been nicknamed “Pele” by some caddies for such dex-

terity); pocket wedge (always having a second and third ball in your pocket, which falls discreetly to a place everyone in your group has searched three times already); hand wedge (same as foot); and, now that he is President, the Secret Service wedge. Yes,

he has his taxpayer-funded security detail kick his ball back into play in between keeping an eye out for would-be assassins.

The thing is, I don’t have a problem with people who cheat at golf. The rules are rather draconian and are meant for people who play the game seriously, which is only about 10-15% of the golfing population. For the rest of the players, the rules See CHEATER next page

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CHEATER

continued from previous page can really interfere with their ability to enjoy the game. The caveat about breaking the rules, however, is you have to admit that you break the rules. You cannot break every rule in the book and then claim you are a 2.8 handicap, which is what Donald does, or claim you have won 18 club championships, which is what Donald does. It doesn’t work that way.

Trump likes to play with famous people so he can talk about who he played with the next time he plays. The problem is, he doesn’t have a lot of fans in the famous circle outside of Kid Rock and Chachi. Mostly he plays with Fox News personalities or Rush Limbaugh. PGA Tour pros, however, don’t seem to have a problem playing with Trump.

Here is an example of Trump in action on the course. He is playing with Brad Faxon, Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods. He takes Faxon as his partner and wants to hit from the closer set of tees because they don’t hit it as far. The normal Trump cheating is going on, which everyone is so used to that

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019 it doesn’t even register. Then they come to a hole where Faxon and Trump are far enough away from the other team they can’t see what is going on. Woods hits his second shot a foot from the hole for a birdie three. Trump hits his second shot into the water. Trump hits his next shot into the water and then finally gets one on the green 20 feet from the hole. They all reach the green and Trump calmly states he’s putting for the tie. He was actually putting for seven.(Missed anyway.)

Faxon said it was incredible how comfortable he was with his cheating. It is so outrageous it’s funny.

This is a recurring theme in the book. Most everyone who has played golf with Trump views it as a positive experience. It basically sounds like you are playing with the Rodney Dangerfield character from Caddyshack. Lots of stories that are mostly untrue but entertaining. Cheating that is so over the top that you can’t help but laugh and shake your head knowing you will head home with some great stories of your own.

One more anecdote which, if you

are a golfer, will give you a sense of how much a sense of entitlement this man has. Next time you are at your computer killing time, Google “Trump driving golf cart across green.” Apparently, since he owns the course (and is a lazy arse), and a cheater who rarely putts out, he has been known to drive his cart right onto the green, scoop up his ball and head on over to the next tee, which he will also drive on if he feels like it. If you are not a golfer, the equivalent to this behavior would be the owner of a restaurant using the kitchen sink as a urinal during the dinner rush. It’s just not done.

By the way, about those “18 club championships” Trump has touted over and over to prove to his adoring crowds how much of a “winner” he is. This is how he has won some. One time he saw his head pro putting up the plaque with that year’s winner on it and Trump tells him that he beats that guy all the time(lie), so put my name on there instead. On another occasion, while the club championship was going on at one of his courses, he was playing out-of-state at another. When he got back and saw the score, he

Page 9 told the pro he shot 73 where he played so he is the winner again.

Aside from the ridiculousness of the idea you can win from another state, word came back his score that day was closer to 90. Of the 18 winning claims, Reilly could verify: zero. How delusional do you have to be to claim 18?

What does it matter if Trump is the biggest cheater the game of golf has ever seen? What does it matter if he has played golf one out of every four days he has been in office, transferring $100 million or so directly from the taxpayers he cares so much about to his own pocket? (Every round he has played has been at a course he owns, and his whole entourage gets put up at his hotel while he is there.) What has this got to do with his presidency?

This is Reilly’s reason for writing his book: It has everything to do with this presidency.

“If you will cheat to win at golf, is it that much further to cheat to win an election? To turn a congressional vote? To stop an investigation? If you’ll lie about every aspect of the game, is it that much further to lie about your taxes, your relationships with Russians,

your groping of women?”

I believe most humans are inherently good. I think our evolution and survival as a species relied on being able to trust each other. When someone didn’t uphold their end of the bargain, many people’s survival were at risk. Therefore the punishment for those unwilling to live by the code had to be severe enough that the few who had inklings of taking a little more for themselves thought twice about it.

When Trump isn’t held accountable for his actions in the business world, or his actions on the golf course, and is able to parlay this behavior into a position with almost absolute power, it changes the narrative as to what is acceptable in a civilized society.

Four years of this can help us understand the responsibilities we have in a democracy to be engaged and on guard against abhorrent behavior. Eight years of this and I fear we are doomed. ♦ John Piccolo is the golf instructor and runs Piccolo's Custom Golf Shop at Eagle Valley Golf Club in Niagara Falls. Email your questions or comments to picgolf@vaxxine.com

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LOCAL TALENTS Fenwick painter Vanessa Brownbridge, who draws inspiration from the many places she's lived around the world, creates penand-ink collages, and paints in acrylics.

VOICE PHOTOS

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

Pelham photographer Natalia Shields, who also created the festival's advertisements.

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

Maria Cozzi, who lives in Ridgeville, for 20 years. She works from photos Europe and Canada, such as this bea

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

Page 11

Above, Fenwick's Toye Chanpen Hayes helped visitors, such as June Gibbs, 83, from St. Catharines, make their contributions to one of 99 squares in "Painting Our Pelham." Gibbs painted a tulip tree blossom, and said she's attended every Pelham Art Festival since it began. Left, Kira McInerney tries her hand at painting a sheet of music. Top right, Karla Morgan, of Beamsville, and David McArthur, of Toronto, are clearly cutout to be painters.

VOICE PHOTOS

, has been painting in oil on canvas taken mostly by her children, in ach scene in Caorle, northern Italy.

North Pelham's Martha Southwell works in oil from photos taken by herself, including this portrait of her father. Prints of her aviation paintings are available at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, in Hamilton.

Patricia Paquin calls her ceramics a form of "three-dimensional painting," and says most of them are functional. The NOTL resident has created art for 35 years, and reckons she's exhibited at every Pelham Art Festival.

RIOT OF COLOUR

BY DAVE BURKET

F

The VOICE

O R T H E 33 R D Y E A R I N A R O W, the Pelham Art Festival played host to a range of artists—80 this time around—though welcomed them to the show's new home over the weekend, the Meridian Community Centre.

Final numbers weren't available at press time, but festival organizer Heidi TeBrake offered an enthusiastic approximate assessment.

"Friday evening was extremely well attended with hundreds more coming to the show and sales that were more than double of previous shows," she said.

"Saturday was another great day, rivalling the best of previous years."

The Festival is a fundraiser for various arts-related community causes, primarily the Pelham Library System. Festival organizers say that over 33

years some $435,000 has been donated to the library to support programs in both the Fonthill and Maple Acre branches. Scholarships are also awarded to graduating high school students pursuing post-secondary fine arts studies.

On Saturday afternoon, an overloaded electrical system caused some temporary consternation as a series of loud pops echoed throughout the Accipter Arena, leaving an acrid odor and a small amount of smoke in the air.

Overall, though, the new venue was called a vast improvement over the festival's previous home, the old, and leaky, Pelham Arena.

"There are no rain buckets this year," said TeBrake. "Or plastic tablecloths to protect the art. It's been wonderful."

Page 12

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

A Little Book About Us

O

UR CHILDHOOD DEFINES OUR personalit y. It shapes who we become.

When Vilma Moretti had grandchildren, she realized that her childhood and theirs were worlds apart. They had absolutely no idea what life was like for Vilma when she was their age. Theirs was a world of computers, iPods, cellphones, texting, Instagram, and YouTube. Vilma thought that when they were grown they might be interested to know what it was like for other generations to grow up. She started collecting recollections—her own, and those of some of the many people she met every day while running Keith’s Restaurant, her family’s business at the intersection of Pelham Street and Highway 20, in Fonthill. The result was, “A Little Book About Us,” published in 2009, from which this series is excerpted. Keith’s is gone, but the stories remain.

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PHOTO COURTESY ROGER HARDEN along with us, partly to get the work done, but I think he wanted to make sure we didn't fool around. I can still remember those days in the cotton field, it would be so hot and when we came in at the end of the day, Mother would run our bath water, and start with bathing my sister, then myself, and last my brother. We all used the same water— it was pretty muddy by the time we fin-

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ished. We had a well and you didn't waste water.

It was also our job to gather the eggs every evening. I still remember starting to reach into the nest to get eggs and there was a skunk eating them. Well, I ran out of that hen house so fast, and I always dreaded when it was my turn to gather the eggs after that.

I also remember when Daddy would be out ploughing. Mother would send one of us out back to see if Daddy was thirsty (he would wave his handkerchief) and we would take him a jar of ice water. Mother would go out with a white dish towel and wave it to let Daddy know that lunch was ready.

Lunch usually consisted of fried chicken, white gravy, biscuits, black-eyed peas or other vegetables in season. Mother always had a big garden. Because we had a big meal at lunch time, our evening meal often consisted of cornbread crumbled-up in a goblet of milk, or we would have a bowl of cereal.

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I remember having two favourite times of the year.

Our family (Daddy's side) had a reunion every Labor Day weekend, and it was such fun to go and get to see our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I still look forward to the reunion and this year (2009) will be our 74th.

The other and most favourite time was Christmas, when we went as a family and cut a cedar tree and brought it home and helped decorate it. We made chains out of coloured paper to drape across the room and also to hang on the tree. We would hang up one of Daddy's socks (no fancy stockings in those days) and be delighted Christmas morning to find an apple, orange, some nuts and candies in it.

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The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

FAITH LIFT

by PASTOR ROB WEATHERBY

One fifth of the world is now engaged in a month-long fast

D

ID YOU KNOW that 20 percent of the world’s population is observing Ramadan right now?

So what exactly is it and why should we know something about it? I’m not a Muslim but I have many Muslim friends and I’ve studied the Muslim faith (Islam) for many years.

This is what I’ve learned.

“Ramadan” is the name of a month on the Muslim calendar, which is lunar. For centuries, this month has been chosen as the time—about 30 days— for Muslims to observe a fast during daylight hours.

The lunar calendar is also used to determine festival or holiday dates in other faiths as well, such as the Christian Easter, the Jewish Rosh Hashanah, the Hindu Diwali, and various Asian New Years.

From sunrise to sunset, faithful Muslims abstain from eating food, sexual activity, smoking, and very strict Muslims even abstain from drinking. That’s not easy if you live in the Middle East (where many Muslims do), or in Indonesia, on the equator (home to over 12% of the world’s Muslim population), when

temperatures can reach 30 C-plus.

It can also be a challenge if you’re a Muslim living in a northern country (like my wife’s homeland of Finland). Because lunar months are shorter than the months of the Gregorian calendar used by most of the world, Ramadan moves forward by about 10 days each year, meaning that in any location not near the equator, the fasting month will eventually occur during the northern (or southern) summer, when days are long and nights are short. The trick, I’m told, is to eat quickly.

There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in our world of 7.7 billion souls and most of them are now fasting. Muslims are exempted from the Ramadan fast if they are ill or very elderly, pregnant, menstruating or breastfeeding, not of sound mind, travelling, or children. In all cases except for that of unsound mind, fasting days must either be made up, one-for-one, later in the year, or, in the case of the ill and elderly, they must feed one poor person per day of missed fasting.

Otherwise it is one of the five pillars of Islam that an

obedient Muslim should observe. I remember the five pillars with five words beginning with the letter “P”: Proclamation: that there is only one God, Allah, and Mohammad (peace be upon him) is his prophet.

Prayers: five daily from early morning to late at night.

Pilgrimage: to Mecca (Saudi Arabia) once in a lifetime if health and finances permit.

Partial Tithe: 2.5 % of disposable income (the biblical tithe is 10%).

Partial Fast: Ramadan (partial because it’s only during daylight hours).

The purpose of Ramadan is to teach self-control and devotion to Allah (the Arabic and Muslim word for God).

Near the end of the monthlong fast is “The Night of Power,” when Muslims pray with extra fervour for Allah to answer their prayers and grant them his favour.

At the end of the fasting month is a celebration called “Eid al-Fitr,” also known as “Hari Raya” in some countries, when Muslims break the final day of fasting with a feast, and often exchange cards and gifts. It is by far the most important hol-

9

& P.D.I.

iday in the faith, and has been described as akin to Christmas and Thanksgiving combined, with distant family members travelling whatever distance may be necessary to return home to celebrate.

When we lived in the Sudbury region for 23 years, my wife and I were once invited by our Muslim friends to an “Eid” celebration. We enjoyed the potluck dinner of Middle Eastern dishes and made new friends with Muslims from various countries.

Several years ago I was in Halifax leading a weeklong cross-cultural Christian training program. One of our activities was to meet internationals and learn about their beliefs and practices. One team member met an older Muslim man living alone. He invited our whole team (about six) to join him for dinner.

Since it was during Ramadan we had to wait until the sun fell below the horizon.

We were amazed to see his table full of delicious food.

We had a very enjoyable evening of sharing together and we learned again the importance of hospitality in eastern cultures.

So now you know a bit about Ramadan. I challenge my fellow Christians to learn about other world faiths such as Islam. In this way we will not be ignorant (“I don’t know”), indifferent (“I don’t care”) or intimidated (“I don’t like and am a bit afraid of”). In-

stead we can be informed, interested and involved in the lives of Muslim friends whom God puts in our path.

That’s why I was part of a small dialogue group called “Truth-Seekers” of Muslims and Christians for 12 years. But more about that

another time! ♦ Pastor Rob Weatherby served congregations in Nova Scotia and Ontario and as a missionary met many Muslims in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America over the last 40 years.

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The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

READERS

continued from Page 1 page weapons at MPP’s office has Ford government vowing stronger book control laws,” shouted a headline on the satirical website The Beaverton.

Tipped off to Hodgkins’ read-in plan in advance, the Voice was there last Tuesday as the group — made up mostly of Hodgkins’ fellow book club members from the Wainfleet Public Library —arrived outside Oosterhoff’s office.

“A free public library is a cornerstone of democracy,” Hodgkins said. “It’s kind of like a free university.”

So, with both democracy and the sort of critical thinking one can glean from a tertiary education— or, perhaps, from reading comprehension —under global assault, the group descended on the parking lot of a rainy Beamsville strip plaza.

Above a store called Tanning in the Burgh —whose sign advertised “body piercing,” “fashion,” and “sporting gifts,” complete with logos of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins— sat Oosterhoff’s constituency office.

It quickly became evident that the protestors’ books

were all papered over with quotes related to … books.

Mickey Mayne, of Port Colborne, covered George Orwell’s “1984” —about a dystopian society — with a Lemony Snicket quote, “Never trust anybody that hasn’t brought a book with them.”

Another book was papered over with the quote, “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book,” courtesy of Groucho Marx.

Ironically, a gentleman held up this tome as the group’s foray into Oosterhoff’s office was delayed while they awaited cameras from CHCH. However, despite their notifying the TV station — and possibly as an example of private sector austerity—the news van never showed.

As is well known now, when the group ultimately made their way upstairs to the MPP’s office, they were not granted a quiet place to read.

“No sit-ins allowed, this a private building,” the female PC office receptionist sternly told the group as they filled the lobby area. “[We] could call the police.”

Hodgkins’ husband, David Fowler, responded that they were just there to read.

“Not here, you’re not, or I will call the police,” the receptionist, who refused to be photographed, replied.

At that point, one of the dozen-plus seniors appeared to scoff at her words.

With that, the receptionist said, “All right,” and disappeared into a back room. It is believed that this is when she called the police, as she never used a phone at the main reception desk at any time during the 10-minute incident.

She returned shortly afterward more composed, and began collecting letters of protest from the group.

Oosterhoff was not in the office at the time.

According to the receptionist, he’s only in Beamsville on Fridays, and his appointments with locals are “booked up two months in advance.”

As the receptionist accepted the letters, Fowler leaned in with another escalation.

“You’re going to kill interlibrary loans, and you don’t care,” he told her. “It costs pennies from the taxpayer. It’s for the people who are the weakest in our society … they will find millions to put beer in corner stores, but they won’t fund this.”

The slashing of that

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

A clear and present danger—15 book-wielding seniors in Beamsville last week. JOHN CHICK PHOTO loan program through the Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) was the thrust of Hodgkins’ protest, because her book club relies on it.

“We need nine copies of the same book each month,” she told the Voice before the protest. “And we’re lucky if the Wainfleet Library has one copy. So the books are supplied by interlibrary loan program … the last book I had I think came from the Owen Sound Public Library.”

The receptionist pushed back at Fowler’s assertion.

“Sam is a big believer in books,” she said of the 21-year-old socially conservative Oosterhoff.

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dently diffused —and the semi-plush waiting room chairs ultimately unused for reading —the group trickled outside and prepared to go home. Given these circumstances, this reporter ran mental calculations and a prediction model on waiting times at a nearby Costco gas station and chose to leave.

However, approximately five minutes later, according to Hodgkins, a Niagara Regional Police cruiser pulled up in the parking lot. “[The two officers] looked at the group and kind of smiled at one another,” Hodgkins told the Voice 48 hours later. “They assured us we were doing nothing wrong. We talked to the police officers longer and in more depth than with the woman in the office.”

Within 18 hours, the St. Catharines Standard story on the law enforcement involvement had garnered widespread attention.

“Nobody knows about this if she doesn’t call the police,” Fowler said with a chuckle.

The ensuing fiasco left Oosterhoff’s communications team in damage-control mode.

“I agree that things could have been handled differently, but my team and I take the privacy of constituents very seriously,” the

MPP said in a statement. “We will be reaching out to these constituents to set up faceto-face meetings to discuss their concerns … we will also be going over security procedures and protocols to make sure we do better in the future. I look forward to meeting with constituents from across the riding to bring forward their priorities.”

Ideally, what Hodgkins and the others are hoping for is a reversal of the SOLS cuts, something not without precedent in the provinces.

In 2017, the Saskatchewan government backtracked on $5 million in cutbacks, saving a similar system to SOLS’s interlibrary loan program.

“These cuts are most painful for small libraries, for rural libraries, and for libraries that are isolated,” Hodgkins said. “I’m thinking about communities in northern Ontario.”

Whether this happens remains to be seen. Hodgkins and the others did find a sympathetic group of politicians in the NDP, who hosted them at Welland MPP Jeff Burch’s office last Friday.

This time they were invited to sit, and even got coffee and snacks.

Some of the group plans to protest outside of Oosterhoff’s office again on May 31—this time, outside.

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The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

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Page 16

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

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CULTURE

continued from Page 17 the night before,because he knew there would be a lot of people in attendance.

Another student, Nathan, who presented on his Italian heritage, said that he had been excited as well for Culture Fest because it gave him a chance to teach others about Italy. He was equipped with fun facts about the country, including that gelato had come from Italy originally, but could now be bought in Fonthill.

Italy, along with Ireland and England, had the strongest representation, while some countries, such as Slovakia, Germany, Pakistan, and Taiwan only had one champion.

For many of the students, their connection with the country they had chosen was a generation or two removed. Most had one or two grandparents who had been born in the country whose flag they sat underneath, though some also had parents who had immigrated to Canada, bringing their birth country’s traditions with them.

For the most part, the connection that most of the students felt for the countries of their ancestors was reflected in the foods they liked. Though not available for sampling, food was still

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prevalent and kids sat beside plastic containers of cabbage rolls, pasta, perogies, cookies, and, in the case of a girl representing Ireland, a single potato on a plate. Molly, who also chose to focus on her Irish heritage, sat beside a loaf of Irish soda bread, a food she says she enjoys eating with lots of butter. Representing Italy, Noah said that his mum often made homemade sauce, and that he thoroughly enjoyed pizza and pasta. Across the room from the Italian corner, a single student with American heritage sat with boxes of Oreos and Cheerios.

Along with food, many of the students also brought in flags, posters, and books about the flora and fauna of their chosen country. These were placed alongside family heirlooms such as decorative plates, boxes, and knickknacks, to demonstrate traditional artistry. Showing off aspects of her family’s Polish traditions, Grade 2 student Maya had wooden eggs, a scarf, a flag, perogies, and the figurine of a witch from Polish fairy tales on her desk. Beside her, and also representing Poland, Jenna showed off engraved wooden plates and figurines, a craft that she says she does with her grandmother sometimes. A select few also wore traditional outfits or jerseys of their country’s soccer teams.

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The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

Page 17

A multicultural affair

BY KATHRYN HRYCUSKO

Special to the VOICE

Grade 2 students at St. Alexander Catholic Elementary waited in excitement last Wednesday behind desks decked out with flags, food, and art of various countries as their parents, grandparents, and fellow schoolmates filed into the gymnasium. Each student had chosen a country that was part of his or her heritage to study, and visitors were invited to admire the displays and ask students questions about the culture they were representing.

Judy Wiebe, one of the Grade 2 teachers who helped organize the event, known as Culture Fest, said that the idea was to give kids an opportunity to teach others about their heritage, and in doing so to help their fellow students broaden their world knowledge.

In its 14th year, Culture Fest is the culminating project of the Grade 2 Social Studies unit. Students have spent the last couple of months studying various cultures around the world in order to understand how other people live. In particular, they focused on three communities: Igloolik (an Arctic com-

munity in Northern Canada), Iquitos (a rainforest village in Peru), and Meru (a Kenyan equatorial village).

Looking at climate, location, transportation, food, and recreation, the students compared each of these communities to Fonthill.

Adelina Bellantino, the Grade 2 teacher who spearheads Culture Fest, said that they looked at a number of other communities around the world as well in an effort to understand how other people lived. Throughout the unit, the Grade 2s also received visits from Pelham librarians, who brought along books about various places around the world for further comparison.

As a conclusion to the unit, students were required to choose a country that their ancestors had come from, and present on its traditions and foods, particularly in relation to their own family traditions. They were then tasked with putting together a display for Culture Fest which would showcase artifacts and information relating to this history.

Though one teacher, who was showing her class around, said that the event had been much larger in the past (complete with crockpots of food), the gym was still crowd-

Grade 2 students Laura, Jenna, and Maya show off aspects of their Polish heritage.

KATHRYN HRYCUSKO PHOTO ed as the various heritage artifacts were admired. Bellantino said that students greatly looked forward to Culture Fest every year and that the older grades remembered their participation in the event with fondness.

Graycen, who chose to focus on Germany despite his family's presence in Canada for several generations, said that he was excited once the event started, but had been nervous See CULTURE Page 16

Resident wonders what "final assessment" really means

BY JOHN CHICK

Special to the VOICE

About four years ago, the Town of Pelham performed municipal drainage work on Beverley Gibson’s property on Chantler Road.

As per policy, he received a bill at the time from the Town. Gibson says that bill read “final assessment.”

That’s the reason he was perplexed when he recently received

another bill for almost as much, for the same work.

“We got our bill for it, it was $403. And we paid it,” Gibson told the Voice last week. “Now, four years later, the ditch inspector — who was newly hired just before that job was completed —has now billed us again for the same drain, for that cleaning, another $300.”

While more than $700 sounds steep for a municipal drain cleaning, Gibson says that ditch in-

spector — Town of Pelham Chief Building Official and Drainage Superintendent Mike Zimmer— told him the Town has up to five years to bill landowners for this sort of work. Then why, asks Gibson, did his municipal bill suggest finality?

“The bill says final assessment,” he said. “I would think that [another bill] would be fine as long as they don’t tell you, ‘final assessment.’”

Gibson also alluded to a lack of communication from the Town.

“This is a municipal drain. [The Town] is legally supposed to notify landowners what [maintenance] is going to cost them and when it’s going to be done, which they didn’t do in this case.”

Zimmer told the Voice on Friday that he was out of the office and didn’t have the particular file on hand. He did not recall the problem, but welcomed Gibson to reach

out to him directly to discuss the matter.

“He’s absolutely welcome to call me,” Zimmer said.

Gibson said he’s notified his ward councilor Mike Ciolfi, as well as Mayor Marvin Junkin of the problem. He said he spoke briefly with Ciolfi, but hasn’t heard back from the Mayor.

Ciolfi told the Voice in an email that he was “looking into” the issue.

E. L. Crossley sports report

BY LAUREN NUCCITELLI

Special to the VOICE

The last few months at E. L. Crossley have been filled with excitement as the winter sports season wrapped up. Crossley has had great success in recent weeks.

The girls curling team swept their way to the Zone 3 finals with the help of coaches Ryan Alt and Rob Hughes.

Kim Yallup and Chelsea Weir, coaches of Crossley’s girls varsity hockey team said, “The ladies put up a great fight all season,” earning a spot in the Zone 3 finals.

The junior boys basketball team were a force to be reckoned with on the court, as they worked tirelessly alongside coaches Bob Minor and Brian Bleich, winning the title of Zone 3 champions.

Junior girls volleyball, with coaches Maria DiSan-

to and Emily Bosilac, had a great season with exciting games, capturing the Zone 3 championship.

Crossley swimmers earned some hardware at SOSSA. Three athletes that captured gold were Blake Bishop in the open boys 100m backstroke, Mackenzie Corradetti in junior girls 50m breaststroke, and Grace Brownlee in junior girls 50m.

They were coached by Melissa Amadio. The senior girls volleyball team made history this winter season, being the first and only group of E. L. Crossley women to win the OFSAA championship.

“This was an experience of a lifetime,” said coaches Michelle Gibson and Jessica Kropac. “We bonded so much as a team and it is a great memory we have to share. The girls showed sportsmanship and were supportive of each other all season.”

Crossley rowers took

on the Ontario Ergometer Championship at Ridley College. Coaches John Ruscitti and Darcy Usborne were very pleased with the outcome of the team’s performance.

There were many top-10 finishes and five medalists: gold for junior Scott Nuccitelli, silver for senior Emma Leavens, and bronzes to junior Michael Lilley and seniors Lauren Nuccitelli and Teja Chmay.

With the winter season ending, Crossley athletes have shifted to their spring sports. The school’s badminton, track and field, soccer, and lacrosse teams have already begun tryouts and practices. New this year, Crossley will be participating in a two-day junior boys hockey tournament, and the annual co-ed volleyball tournament was held March 29 at the school. The rowers hit the water in April, and Crossley boys baseball and girls slow pitch are underway.

ZONE 3 CHAMPS Back row, from left: Coach Bob Minor, Noah Minor, Josh Larochelle, Hunter Roszell, Sam Nawrocki, Alex Lafferty, and Coach Brian Bleich. Front row, from left: Josh Gibson, T.J. Hurley, Luke Klassen, L.J. Newton, and Adam Kleinsmith. JANICE SARGEANT PHOTO

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Page 18

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

COLUMN SIX

me well in my role as an academic researcher. As a reporter in Pelham, I sometimes used to think that I knew a little bit about almost everything. From listening to people’s stories, I learned about greyhound dog rescue groups, the Wainfleet bog, velodrome-building, making maple syrup, immigration law (an entrepreneurial family returned to Australia after being rejected due to their child’s special needs), international student exchange programs, and more. On the other hand, it is often said of academics that we know everything about nothing. While there may be a grain of truth in that, I try to keep my research firmly grounded in the real world.

I’m a personality psychologist, but I’m not all that interested in people with good personalities.

Instead, much of my work these days is on people with Machiavellian, narcissistic, and psychopathic personality traits. I do research investigations exploring those individuals who manipulate, deceive, lack empathy, exploit, and generally think they are better than the rest of us. In other words, these are not the sort of

continued from Page 20 than ever with what was now truly their own paper. I have fond memories of Carolyn’s mother, Jeanette, voluntarily proofreading every issue of the Voice before we sent it off for printing.

Eventually, both Carolyn and I moved on to other careers, in my case in 2000, (with both of us ending up in post-secondary institutions), and our little ones grew up.

That baby on my hip is about to turn 26. I completed a Master’s degree and then a PhD in Personality Psychology, eventually accepting professor positions at Trent University and now Lakehead. Although I never did train as a journalist, my work as a reporter was good preparation for the academic world. Teaching university students means conveying complex information in a way that gets students’ attention, draws them in and makes them care. As with writing for a newspaper, teaching requires respect for the material and for the audience.

My curiosity about everything and everyone continues to serve

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

Teaching university students means conveying complex information in a way that gets students' attention, draws them in, and makes them care

people who rally together to save their community newspaper!

Recently, my research took a bit of a detour, thanks to the 2016 American presidential election. In my experience covering local politics for the Herald and the Voice, our politicians were generally a hard-working bunch who genuinely wanted to serve their community. Watching the American election campaign, I noticed that both candidates were accused of being manipulative and insincere —and when it comes to my research, I love manipulation and insincerity!

Ironically, the candidates

themselves bickered over which one had the better temperament.

My colleagues and I recruited a panel of personality psychologists to rate both politicians’ public personas on various personality traits. In general, we found that that Hillary Clinton’s public personality was not terribly different from that of a stereotypical politician (our raters thought she was hard-working, but doubted her sincerity), whereas Donald Trump was seen as extremely disagreeable and duplicitous. At the time, we concluded that voters might be tempted to vote for Donald Trump as a vote for change— his person-

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ality seemed to be a marked departure from that of other politicians. I didn’t really think Trump would be elected, and made several public statements to that effect before being proven very wrong.

It seems like a lifetime ago—in other ways, just yesterday—that I arrived in Pelham, 27 years old, married with two children, and unclear what I wanted to do with my life. My husband, Rob, and I left Pelham 25 years later, by then parents of three wonderful young adults, and heading for a new job opportunity. I am doing what I love professionally: teaching and researching at an institution where students are top priority. Rob and I have been fortunate enough to build networks and relationships in our new community, but I miss a whole lot about Pelham— my book club, friends and neighbours, going into town and always seeing someone I know, watching local children grow up, sharing troubles and triumphs, and reading the Voice. ♦ Beth Visser is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Lakehead University’s Orillia campus.

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www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

Page 19

Music of the ages

BY KATHRYN HRYCUSKO

Special to the VOICE

A Cappella Niagara (ACN) invites Pelham residents to come out and support their group Saturday, May 25, at 2 PM as they perform at their “Gonna Rise Up Singing” concert. The concert, which takes place at Fonthill United Church, also features the band Kindred in what ACN hopes will be a fun afternoon of song.

Comprised of mainly Pelham residents, ACN has been in existence since 1998, when the group split from the St. Catharines A Cappella Group. Though technically the group is the Niagara Falls chapter and accepts members from throughout Niagara, it meets in Pelham and caters largely to the local Pelham community.

An all men’s barbershop group, ACN currently has 24 individuals in their chorus. This includes some new members this year, whose presence, member Bob Laing hopes, will bring some new faces to the concert, increasing

COUNCIL

continued from Page 6 “We’re spraying,” interim CAO Teresa Quinlin said, to eliminate any doubt the program was going forward.

“And we’ll sort the numbers out afterward.”

Archnemeses

Meanwhile, a split among some on council was evident regarding the potential return of the arches above Pelham Town Square.

Councilor and Summerfest chair John Wink endorsed the Rotary Club’s plan to rebuild the arches with private donations, along with creating a reserve fund of at least $2,000 a year for future mainte-

attendance from last year’s count of 150.

The chorus, which features all the members singing together, also includes within it four barbershop quartets—JAQ (Just Another Quartet), Vintage Blend, Extension Chord, and New York Minute.

Brothers Bob and Bill Laing are a part of the Vintage Blend quartet and are hoping that the show can provide some exposure for the group and entice more men to join.

They themselves were part of the original chapter that split off in 1998, but have been singing a cappella for much longer. Bob remembers long car rides home from college when they, along with a friend who was the son of a local music teacher, would “barbershop all the way home in the car.”

From there, the brothers eventually joined a church barbershop quartet in Niagara, where they were soon invited to perform a couple of numbers with the St.

nance. While Wink, Ciolfi and Kore appear to support the return of the polarizing structure, there was pushback from councilors Lisa Haun and Marianne Stewart.

Haun asked why there was a rush to endorse the project, when the Town also wanted to solicit other ideas from the general public.

“I think it’s wonderful they want to build something in our town, cost-free to taxpayers, but we want to make sure everybody has that opportunity,” Haun said.

“Fundraising doesn’t happen overnight,” Wink replied, noting the Rotary Club is planning an arches gala for September.

A Cappella Niagara.

Catharines’ a cappella chapter, and, as Bob said, “the rest was history.”

“It’s been a good relationship over the years,” said Bob. “Not many brothers get a chance to perform together.”

The Laings encourage others to come out and try out a cappella with ACN, even if they have no previous experience.

“I invite people to give it a try. Singing is one of the healthy

Either way, new arches would not be in place for this year’s Summerfest.

With that in mind, Stewart echoed Haun’s thoughts. “I don’t understand why there has to be a rush to do it,” Stewart said.

After haggling over a deadline for public submissions for other privately funded decorative ideas, council agreed to move up the deadline to June 3.

Kore doubted anybody would come forward with a better idea than the arches.

“People would’ve come forward by now. I believe we are here to make decisions,” Kore said. “We have to make a decision to help this organization fundraise.”

SUPPLIED PHOTO

things that you can do virtually all of your life.” said Bob. “I guess there statistics show that people that sing live longer.”

“We’re walking examples,” said Bill laughing.

The group performs at senior living homes, concerts, and parades such as the Candlelight Walk, Canada Day Parade, and Santa Claus Parade. The chorus and quartets are also available for hire for numerous other occa-

Odds and ends

Councillor Bob Hildebrandt tabled a motion to move council meeting start times up to 5:30 PM. “Starting earlier, the fresher we will be,” he said.

Town clerk Nancy Bozzato said procedural bylaw requires 10 days public notice for such changes, and council agreed to move forward on it. Moving start times up would also change the existing “curfew” time from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m.

sions including, banquets, weddings, sporting events, and even as singing Valentines.

Both the quartets and the chorus will be performing a variety of numbers at the upcoming concert, with the quartets singing two to three songs, and the chorus taking on 17 numbers. Their repertoire spans several decades, and during the concert ACN will transport their listeners decade by decade, covering songs like “Doo-wop” and “Gonna Rise Up Singing,” as well as a number of ballads.

The show will also feature the band Kindred, a group that plays “kitchen music”—anything from traditional Celtic tunes to bluegrass and rock and roll. Tickets are $15 (children under 12 get in free), and proceeds go to operating costs for ACN as well as to the charities they support—Sing Canada Harmony, Niagara Children’s Centre, and Harmonize for Speech. Anyone interested in learning more about ACN may call Bob Laing for more information at 905-892-2336.

Prior to the meeting last Monday, council paid respect to the late Gerry Berkhout, who passed away on New Year’s Day. Berkhout was a longtime Pelham businessman and community leader, serving on council from 1998-2003.

Former Mayor David Augustyn—Berkhout’s sonin-law— made an appearance in chambers with his family, accepting the tribute.

“Gerry would be very

thrilled that the council of his beloved town honoured him tonight,” Berkhout’s widow, Gwenn, said.

“I want to thank you for sharing him with the community,” Mayor Junkin responded.

Council also honoured the Pelham Panthers Midget AE team, which won the OMHA Midget AE-35 championship. The Town also proclaimed May 14 National Denim Day in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness.

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Page 20

The Voice of Pelham, May 15 2019

COLUMN SIX

continued from Page 1 any stories for that week’s paper.

“But I’m not a journalist,” I responded, when offered the opportunity to fill in.

“Then just take some pictures,” the publisher (the absolutely marvelous Martha Cepuch) told me.

“But I’m not a photographer!”

It quickly became clear that there was no content at all for that week’s paper. I submitted some pictures, mostly of my own three children at the park, because I had no child care and I was too shy and unsure of my credentials to ask anyone’s permission to take photos.

The editor never returned, and I never went back to a desk job. At the Herald, I covered Town Council meetings, Lions Carnivals, local school events, library activities, young chess whizzes, pumpkin farms, new businesses, and maple syrup festivals. Reporting on these stories for the Herald was the first job I really loved. I’d enjoyed aspects of previous jobs, but being a reporter meant that it was actually my responsibility to ask people all kinds of impertinent questions,

and then put it together into a story that fairly, accurately, and compassionately reflected what I’d learned. What’s not to love?

I made mistakes in those early days, but I learned. I pored over the Canadian Press Style Guide, standardizing my writing. I learned to make sure there was film in my camera (my work life improved immensely when we converted to digital cameras). I fielded outraged phone calls and apologized when I went wrong, learning that a commitment to do better went a long way to restoring good relations. I once used the term “ambulance driver” and learned just how many paramedics we had in Pelham. An Indigenous community member very nicely called out my insensitive reporting back when E.L. Crossley’s teams were known as the Chiefs. It was these kinds of inadvertently hurtful words that I heard about and that I deeply regretted. On the other hand, the Herald ran an ad for “pubic” skating that entire winter, and although readers might have been giggling, no one ever told me about it.

In those days, our little office consisted of only Martha, me, and

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

Visser with her son Sean, then 2, at 1995's Niagara Regional Exhibition.

SUPPLIED PHOTO Reeta Potts, who handled all kinds of administrative tasks, from taking classified ads, answering the phone, bringing in story tips, to serving as a one-woman history of the community. We sent all of our material to a larger newspaper office in Hamilton every week

and hoped that staff there would compose the paper in a way that was ideal for our Pelham readers.

Unfortunately, the Hamilton staff did not know Pelham, so they had no idea I was going to be hearing about it for months if that blurry submitted picture of a 100th birth-

day celebration wasn’t printed.

I tried to keep my work at the Herald part-time and limited to the hours I had access to child care, but this just meant that I ended up taking many lopsided photographs while I balanced a baby on my hip.

Eventually, I insisted that they hire a full-time, qualified editor.

At this point, Carolyn Mullin came on board as editor, and the quality of the Herald increased dramatically. An important development was when we were able to compose the entire paper online, then send it off for printing. At this point, we finally had control over which stories we told and how they were presented.

The Herald was a fixture in the community, so the community was incensed when the paper was shut down after a buyout in 1996. After much hard work from Carolyn and board members, including Dave Hall and Brian Sullivan, some 50 $1,000 shares were sold, and the Voice of Pelham was launched. For a time, Carolyn and I job-shared so we could both combine parenting with careers. The community became more involved See COLUMN SIX Page 18

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