Simcoe Reformer
BACK TO SCHOOL ... ALMOST
As students prepare for back to school next week, work continues on the $18.6-million expansion and renovation project at the newly renamed West Elgin Public School (formerly Elgin Avenue Public School) in Simcoe. The project adds more than 17,000...
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Campfire Circle launches expansion project
Families of children with childhood cancer or other serious illnesses were joined by local supporters and donors at the launch of the Rainbow Lake Revitalization Project at Waterford’s Campfire Circle. “The expansion is focused on accessibility and...
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Three Fires Pow Wow attracts 2,500 despite rain
Despite wet weather on the weekend, about 2,500 people attended the 38th annual Three Fires Pow Wow. Held on the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Three Fires differs from the nearby Six Nations Champion of Champions Pow Wow in that it’s not a...
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New gate design for Port Dover Pier
A new-look gate has been approved for the Port Dover Pier. Daryl Granger, owner of Rosele Studio and a local filmmaker-photographer, announced via social media this week that he designed a gate that will “contribute something lasting that pays tribute...
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Art in the Park takes over downtown Port Dover
They say necessity is the mother of invention, even if that means accessories for dogs. “My dog was felled with a minor tooth infection that was causing him to drool a lot,” said Karen Stronach of Stouffville, one of the many vendors at this past...
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Pregnant dog discovered in Ohsweken dumpster on the mend
Simcoe and District Humane Society volunteers were already stretched thin when a pregnant dog was found abandoned in a dumpster late last month. So the group is appealing to the public for help after police, fire and animal services were called to...
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Striking workers call for binding arbitration
A 12-week strike by Norfolk Association for Community Living unionized employees could be quickly resolved, the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), says. JP Hornick said Wednesday that although Stella Barker, the agency’s...
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CRASH TOPPLES SIGN
Dogs Nest 1851 Committee members Tracey Scruton, left, and Mary Field look over a large granite sign toppled by a vehicle early Friday morning at Highway 6 and Concession 2 outside of Port Dover. Norfolk OPP say two occupants of the vehicle were...
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New energy generating station takes step forward
Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Mines visited Haldimand County on Wednesday to announce the provincial government’s next step toward new energy generation. Speaking during a press conference at the site of Ontario Power Generation’s former coal-fired...
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Jamaica-canada celebrate ‘genuine’ friendship
The Seasonal Agricultural Worker program is the foundation of a “genuine” relationship that exists between Jamaica and Canada, Jamaica’s Minister of Labour and Social Security, says. “The people of both countries benefit from this program in many...
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Simcoe legion marks 100 years of helping veterans
The centennial of the Royal Canadian Legion, celebrated in Ottawa on July 17, holds special meaning in Simcoe, home to the only legion branch in Haldimand-norfolk that was founded in the same year as the national veterans’ organization. “But our...
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Thousands watch riders on bucking beasts at Norfolk Pro Rodeo
Spectators clad in cowboy hats and boots witnessed the spectacle of hooves stomping the ground over the weekend at Timmermans Ranch in Norfolk County. The 9th annual Norfolk Pro Rodeo attracted about 10,000 people over its three-day run, as cowboys...
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SMOKE ON THE WATER
Poor air quality caused by smoke from wildfires in northern Ontario didn’t stop a small number of people from spending time at the Port Dover beach late Wednesday afternoon. An air quality advisory was in place for several days and led to the closure...
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20,000 pigs killed in barn fire
Norfolk County firefighters spent hours battling a massive fire that killed 20,000 hogs at a farm just west of Simcoe on Tuesday. “Smoke was noticed by (farm) staff at about 6:30 (Tuesday) morning,” said Norfolk County Deputy Fire Chief James...
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Singers pay tribute to music director
Mother Teresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples”. During his time as Simcoe Composite School music director, Alex Docherty did just that. Affectionally known as Doc,...
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Sour cherry crop not so sweet this year
There are so few sour cherries in the orchards of Norfolk County that one of Ontario’s largest growers says it’s not worth picking a crop this year. “We’re not going to harvest anything. We’re not going to process anything,” said Ryan Schuyler,...
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Canada Day crowds conquer the Port Dover heat
Nobody in Port Dover was trying to stay on the “sunny side of the street” Wednesday as extreme heat found families lining up on the west side of Main Street, seeking a bit of shade for the afternoon parade. Yet several thousand people still turned out...
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Inaugural Murals and Music Festival draws crowd to downtown Simcoe
The lure of a free barbecue, lots of activities and a focus on the increasing number of huge murals in Simcoe — plus a beautiful sunny day — brought hundreds to the downtown Saturday. People took a narrated tour hosted by the downtown BIA, tried their...
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Farm community grieves deaths of two workers
The farming community in Norfolk County is grieving the tragic loss of two Jamaican offshore workers who died in a motor vehicle collision. Rupert “Lenky” Bell and David Lindsay, both longtime workers at Schuyler Farms Ltd., were engaged in farm...
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DRAGON INVASION
Dragon boats filled with cancer survivors return to the dock following a ceremony on Shadow Lake in Waterford on Sunday. Held by the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise, the event raises funds for the Cancer Support Resource Program in Norfolk County.
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Camp offers getaway for childhood cancer families
Campfire Circle Rainbow Lake – located just on the outskirts of Waterford – has an ambitious plan to accommodate more families affected by childhood cancer and other serious illnesses. Caley Bornbaum, chief development officer at Campfire Circle, said...
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‘It gives me hope’
As vandalism incidents involving the Pride flag escalate in Norwich Township, so too has support for the 2SLGBTQI+ community. In the wake of flags being stolen, burned and even poles being cut down at multiple area schools, churches, and businesses,...
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COMMUNITY ‘ECSTATIC’ TO HOST TV CREW
Weddings, retreats, trade shows, the Lasalette Area Rural Roots group has seen it all. Even long-running Canadian television shows are utilizing the group’s assets, namely its historic community church. Up to 100 members of the popular CBC show...
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Fire damages building, homeless encampment
A former Tim Hortons building, which in recent weeks has become the site of a homeless encampment in downtown Simcoe, was damaged by fire in the early morning hours of Tuesday. Downtown Simcoe businessman Henry Knelsen posted on social media that he...
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LIFE’S A BEACH
Beaches along the Lake Erie shoreline in Norfolk County saw plenty of visitors during the annual Beach Day. held the first Friday in June, including here at Port Dover. Traditionally, some high school students opt to skip class to go to the beach, but...
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MS Walk ‘emotional day’ for fundraisers
Nancy Lester began raising funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society shortly after she was diagnosed with the disease. That life-altering news came more than 27 years ago when the Tillsonburg resident was 47 years old. When she handed in about $11,000...
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Plenty of power in Haldimand
Haldimand County is now home to Canada’s largest operating battery energy storage facility. Dignitaries and representatives of the energy sector gathered Tuesday afternoon at the Hagersville Battery Energy Storage Park (HBESP) on Concession 10...
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Downtown encampment causes concern
Norfolk County staff say they are taking a “coordinated approach” to dealing with an encampment set up at a former Tim Hortons restaurant in downtown Simcoe. People have been taking refuge at the long-vacant building on Water Street. Tarps have been...
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Epic Jobs gives students exposure to career pathways
Students in Grades 7 and 8 from area schools had the opportunity Thursday to get hands-on experience and information about their potential future careers. Now in its seventh year, Epic Jobs featured more than 40 businesses, trade unions,...
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BLUES MUSICIANS VISIT VALLEY HEIGHTS
Students at Valley Heights Secondary School were literally singing the blues on May 15. As part of the school’s Visiting Guest Artist Series, Waterloo-area artists John and Darius Mckinley jammed with students, shared their knowledge, and joined...
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PLANT MANAGERS
Members of the Onondaga on the Grand volunteer management committee held a plant and yard sale at the Onondaga Community Hall on Saturday and Sunday. The event is one of many held by the committee, which oversees rentals and the day-to-day operation of...
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PROTECTING HISTORY
An emergency stabilization project is underway at the Carillon Tower in downtown Simcoe. The aim of the $30,000 project is to protect the historic structure while rehabilitation work is done on the adjacent Veterans Memorial Bridge. The work on the...
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DELHI ROCKS!
Delhi Public School hosted Delhi Rocks, a school play featuring all grades and students last week. The event paid homage to Schoolhouse Rock, an iconic animated series featuring musical shorts teaching multiplication tables, grammar, history, science...
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Garbage truck lands in sinkhole in Simcoe
Turns out a large hole in the parking lot of their downtown Simcoe business wasn’t the only problem the owners of Yummyfreeze had to deal with on Tuesday. “I got a parking ticket,” Alex Miranda who, along with his wife Shannon, owns Yummyfreeze at 56...
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FAIR SEASON
World’s Finest Shows hosted a Pop-up Spring Carnival at the Norfolk County Fairgrounds April 30 to May 3 with a bevy of rides and games for kids of all ages including sisters Ocean and Ella-joy Mansle. The event included free admission and parking for...
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BLOOMING BUSINESS
Business is blooming at the Berkel family farm just east of Delhi. After moving to a farm at 466 Windham Road 12, Drew and Mel Berkel elected to pay homage to their Dutch ancestors by planting half a million tulips on an unused portion of their land...
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Students dig in to Thinkag Career Competition in Simcoe
Local students went face to face with the “Worm Wrangler” on Thursday in Simcoe. Kitchener’s Amanda Hunter was one of 15 local agricultural businesses and organizations taking part in the third annual Agscape Thinkag Career Competition at the CIBC...
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FRIENDS FUREVER!
Katherine Vooys, owner of Crunchy Canine dog training services in Simcoe, was spotted taking a group of her favourite “clients” for a walk on Second Avenue the morning of April 16. According to its website, Crunchy Canine specializes in obedience,...
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Lions Club stages ‘Simcoe Night Live’ at its 72nd fundraising Variety Show
Live, from the Simcoe Composite School auditorium, it was Simcoe Night Live! The Simcoe Lions Club chose a Saturday Night Live sendup as the theme of its annual variety show this weekend, which has been a fundraising tradition for a remarkable 72...
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TEST DRIVE?
Langton’s arena parking lot was buzzing on Saturday with more than 1,000 attendees enjoying the fourth annual Touch-a-truck event in support of the Norfolk Little People’s Daycare. The day featured trucks and vehicles of all shapes and sizes, as well...
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Norfolk County winery brings dog-friendly business concept to a whole new level
If you love wine and dogs, you might want to visit Mat Vaughan and his wife Melissa. They’re the co-owners of Hounds of Erie Winery in Clear Creek, Norfolk County, who have taken the concept of a dog-friendly business to a whole new level. In...
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Norfolk singer-songwriter earns four Cmaontario Award nominations
Things got real for young singer-songwriter Olivia Mae Graham when she met with her seamstress this week. The pair were “pulling together the red-carpet look” for next month’s Country Music Association of Ontario Awards ceremony, where this small-town...
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Norfolk, Brantford, Woodstock police join forces at Polar Plunge
Dozens of brave souls gathered on the beach at Turkey Point on Saturday to raise money for a good cause. Police officers from the Norfolk OPP and the Woodstock, and Brantford police services were joined by Special Olympics athletes to take part in the...
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Students honour the fallen during March Break
An annual March Break trip to Europe for Norfolk County students was far more than a vacation. The group of 70 students and nine teachers from Simcoe Composite School, Waterford District High School, Valley Heights Secondary School and Delhi District...
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EASTER FUN
Easter came early for those visiting the Marburg Hall just outside of Port Dover on Saturday. Fun and games were available as well as some tasty treats for everyone involved. Pictured are Laura Clark, Tessa Brophy and Lachlan Brophy of Port Dover.
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DECEPTIVELY SUNNY
Brilliant sunshine was deceiving on Saturday, March 14, inviting people toward the lighthouse on the Port Dover pier, where the wind still chilled the bones, but Vittoria’s Kevin Vankessel and Tegan Meulemeester were happy to enjoy “a beautiful day for...
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ALL ABOARD
Daryl Dankwardt of the Brant Model Railroad Club was one of the organizers of the Brant-haldimand-norfolk Model Railroad Layout Tour on Saturday. There were 14 stops of the self-guided tour, including those in Brantford, Hamilton, Dundas, Mount...
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Banner program honours Waterford vets
Multiple volunteer associations in Waterford have created a visible way to honour the town’s many veterans. On March 17, the new Waterford and District Veterans Banner Association unveiled its Veterans Banner Program, which will pay homage to 20 local...
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ST. PADDY’S PARTY
Rose Konkoly of Brantford was celebrating St. Patrick’s day a bit early on Saturday at a St. Paddy’s music and dance party at Port Dover Community Centre, hosted by South Coast Jazz as a fundraiser for its upcoming August festival.
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BREAKTHROUGH EXPERIENCE
The past two weeks provided Canadian curling fans a chance to discover what folks in Norfolk and Tillsonburg have known for years: Jayden King is a rising star. From the time the Courtland native and his rink attended a sendoff party at the...
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$183.4M land claim settlement celebrated
Settling a land claim that dates back to the late 18th century will help rebuild trust, says the chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. “The Rouge Rive Valley Tract settlement is another important shared step in ensuring our treaty...
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Youngsters shine during musical arts festival
Norfolk’s Musical Arts Festival has a bright (and harmonious) future. As part of the event’s week-long 40th anniversary, dozens of youngsters took to the stage during competitions on Wednesday. A few hours before local high school bands were the...
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COLD NIGHT, WARM HEARTS
Ellie and Amanda Simoes were among almost 100 participants in the Coldest Night of the Year walk in Simcoe on Saturday. Funds raised support Youth Unlimited YFC Norfolk. A tally posted online on Monday says the Simcoe walk has raised just over $40,000...
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FUN AND GAMES
Aleta Abraham and her granddaughter Adaline were among those taking part in the monthly games night at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Simcoe on Sunday. The evening includes board games, pizza, and comaraderie from 4 to 7 p.m. The next event is...
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Parcels of love for Simcoe troops standing guard against Russia
Of the thirty-odd treats found inside care packages shipped to soldiers from Simcoe stationed in Latvia, one item may turn some heads. It’s not every day a freeze-dried apple doughnut shows up on a military base in the Baltics. The young Canucks...
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Police laud kids’ bravery after school bus crash
A school bus carrying about 40 pupils to an elementary school crashed into a ditch in Norwich Township on Wednesday morning, sending four children to hospital, Ontario Provincial Police say. Shortly before 9 a.m., Oxford OPP say officers, firefighters...
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Cold weather can’t stop motorcyclists
John Aarssen couldn’t wait to try the new motorcycle handlebars and heated grips he received for Christmas. So, the Port Stanley resident jumped on his upgraded 2024 Harley Davidson Street Glide Friday morning and headed east to enjoy a cold-weather...
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Norfolk docs help transform Indonesia’s health-care system
Diagnosing and treating thousands of patients right out of medical school would be a daunting task for any family doctor. But that used to be the norm for rookie doctors in Indonesia, a country of 280 million where primary care is delivered through...
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Paramedics call for pay parity
Paramedics, police and firefighters have a lot in common but there are some major differences, paramedics in Brant, Norfolk and Haldimand say. They want the people they serve to understand the differences and want elected officials to bridge the gaps...
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Outdoor rink a big hit with families
An outdoor rink in downtown Simcoe and the person responsible for its construction scored plenty of praise on the weekend. A mother and son who were among the many people who spent Sunday afternoon skating and playing hockey on rink constructed by...
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WINTER FUN
Graydon Thompkins and his son Oliver of Simcoe spent part of their Sunday tobogganing at Lion’s Park in Waterford. Although temperatures hovered around -10 C, there was plenty of sunshine for them to enjoy. The seven-day forecast calls for daytime...
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SENDING A MESSAGE
Area educators protest outside Brantford-brant MPP Will Bouma’s office on Wednesday afternoon in Brantford. They say the Ford government has cut $6.3 billion from public education resulting in larger class sizes, growing violence in the classroom, and...
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Residents dig out after another winter wallop
Local residents spent Monday digging out after winter delivered yet another blast of snow over the weekend. Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson said an estimated 15 to 20 centimetres of snow fell on Sunday in the Brantford area. “It has...
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Warmth and love: Patches From Heaven helps the homeless
It takes about 80 hours to make a wool blanket destined to be wrapped around a precariously housed person in Norfolk County. “That’s a lot of love and time that goes into each blanket,” said James Durka of Port Dover. Durka and his wife, Barb, run...
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Fire damages commercial building in Hagersville
Fire officials say the cause of a fire that left three businesses heavily damaged in Hagersville on Saturday is unknown but isn’t considered suspicious. Emergency crews arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming through the windows and roof at the...
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‘Status quo’ not viable for Lynnwood Arts, council told
A report updating talks between Norfolk County staff and representatives of Lynnwood Arts about a future home for the arts centre will be presented to council in March. Paul Hammond, chair of the Lynnwood board, told councillors at a...
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Granger debuts Young Farmer documentary
The seeds of Daryl Granger’s sophomore documentary planted in the summer are now ready to bloom. The owner of Rosele Studio in Simcoe debuted Netting the Waters last year to unanimous praise. The full-length feature on Lake Erie’s fishing industry...
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Port Dover family to appear on Family Feud Canada
A Port Dover family has had to keep a big secret since early September and they can’t let the cat out of the bag for another month. The Azzopardi family competed on Family Feud Canada, and the episode will air on February 12 at 7:30 p.m. on CBC. “It...
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Plunging into the new year
Say what you want, Brad Davis knows how to dress for an occasion even if that event is a plunge into Lake Erie in January. Davis, a Port Dover resident, wore a polar bear mask, a white robe and even had a set of claws. “Yep, I’ve got cleats on my...
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Community dinner ‘filled with joy’
Feeding empty tummies is important work but the Church Out Serving made a point to fill the souls and spirits of hundreds of guests at a sixth annual Christmas dinner Thursday. “People are important,” said Church Out Serving board chair Eric...
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SAY CHEESE
Kayla Wright (right) of Brantford takes a photo of her friend Haley Skoretz and her dog Winnie in one of the displays at the Simcoe Panorama in Simcoe on Friday. Billed as the oldest light festival in the province, the displays light up nightly from 6...
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Voter turnout up as MCFN elects next chief and council
Voters from Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation opted for stability when electing their next band council on Dec. 6 — except when awarding the top job. Band members returned all six incumbent councillors who ran for re-election, adding newcomer...
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SPECIAL DELIVERY
Lily Murray had some help from her parents Kyle and Emma in delivering her letter to Santa, thanks to a local Canada Post employee during Saturday’s parade celebration in Waterford. Hundreds of people attended the annual Santa Claus parade in the town.
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SNOW AND MORE SNOW
A fresh batch of snow and rain greeted Norfolk County residents on Wednesday morning. That left a day of cleanup for roads crews, and homeowners like John Bishop, who was shovelling a driveway on Courtland St. in Delhi just before noon. A snow squall...
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