The Citizen, 2015-01-22, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015.
Shortreeds’ delivery marks new year in Stratford
Community experiences great loss with farm accident
For the Shortreed family, New
Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day
played out a little differently than
anticipated and resulted in them
having the first baby of 2015 at
Stratford General Hospital.
Matt and Julie welcomed their
second son, Brayden Matthew, to the
world after having to make a
quick exit from a Buck and
Doe in Belmore when Julie
started having contractions.
Julie thought that the contractions
were false labour since Brayden
wasn’t due until mid-February, but,
after the contractions continued, the
two made for their vehicle.
After an hour-and-a-half long
drive that included a lot of bad
weather, the Shortreeds made it to
the hospital and, at 4:32 a.m. on Jan.
1, welcomed their second son,
Brayden Matthew, into the world,
six weeks early. Brayden weighted
in at six pounds, two ounces.
The family spent 10 days at the
hospital, which is where Brayden’s
three-year-old brother Connor was
born as well.
Over the course of the stay, Matt
returned to the family farm on
County Road 25 just outside of
Walton to make sure everything was
running smoothly often over that
period.
Now that the family is all home,
Julie said things are settling down.
“Everything is good and we’re all
settling in, even if we’re not getting
much sleep at night yet,” she said
with a laugh.
Matt explained that Brayden
decides he’s hungry several times
throughout the night, but that things
should continue to settle down.
He also said that both his mother,
Val, who lives across the road from
the couple, and Julie’s parents in
Wingham have been a big help, as
were family and friends through the
10-day stay at the hospital.
“Our friends really stepped up and
helped out with the chores,” he said.
“They were here doing the work and
helping me while I was running back
and forth to the hospital.”
This isn’t the Shortreeds’ first
surprise as their first son Connor,
was also delivered about a month
early.
As far as being the parents of the
first baby at Stratford General
Hospital in 2015, both agreed that
they weren’t really aware of it until
some time after the delivery.
“It didn’t even dawn on us that we
were having the New Year’s baby,”
Julie said.
“The news went through the
hospital like wildfire,” he said.
“After we had told our parents, word
got out to friends and family and to
the reporter from the Stratford
Beacon Herald.Our phone was
ringing off the hook and it was pretty
exciting.”
Aside from the excitement, the
Shortreeds also received gifts from
businesses serviced by Stratford
General Hospital.
“There were just a lot of gifts,”
Julie said. “It was very generous and
not expected at all.”
The Shortreeds say they aren’t
sure whether or not Brayden will be
the last child in the family or not.
“That’s not something we’ve
really looked at yet,” Julie said.
While the early delivery wasn’t
something they planned for, the
couple said that, in hindsight, it did
solve an upcoming problem.
“The buck and doe that we were at
was for a wedding that I’m standing
up at in February,” Matt said.
Julie explained that, with the
delivery date, she was worried that
Matt might not make the wedding,
however with Brayden already being
born, that’s no longer an issue.
It was a better week for weather
around the area. The crisp cold air
was tempered by the bright, warm
sunshine. The low temperatures at
night made it hard for starting
vehicles and I know there were many
buses that struggled to start and to
keep running. Those who have to
work outside in the cold will be glad
when the more seasonable
temperatures arrive.
It has been another week of
sadness around the area with the
tragic death of a young area farmer.
Our sympathies are extended to the
Johnston family on the sudden loss
of David (Dave) Johnston. He will
be sadly missed by his wife
Kimberly and his young children
Myles, Lola and Kipp. He will be
missed by his parents Keith and
Bonnie Johnston and siblings Donna
and Carla and their families. Dave
and his father Keith were large beef
producers, raising thousands of head
of cattle each year. He will
be missed by the extended
Johnston families, Bridge
families and McGavin families.
Our condolences to all.
Our condolences are extended to
the Carter family on the passing of
Glenn Carter. He will be missed by
his wife Doreen and children Cathy,
Larry and Colleen and their families.
Glenn and Doreen were fixtures
around the Walton Ball Park or
wherever the Walton Men’s Fastball
team was playing when son Larry
played with the team. Always a great
couple to visit with over the years.
Our sympathies to the family.
Our condolences are extended to
Linda Gingerich on the passing of
her mother, Viola Traviss. She will
also be missed by her two
granddaughters Andrea of British
Columbia and Lisa of London, and
two great-grandchildren Jocelyne
and Aubree. She will be missed by
her brother Lawrence (Jake) Marks
of Exeter. Viola spent most of her 91
years of life in Walton and moved to
Seaforth just over 10 years ago. She
was at the Seaforth Manor until her
recent health issues. Our sympathies
to the family.
I’m pleased to report that Bill
Stephenson has been released from
hospital after having a pacemaker
put in. He is home and is doing
“nothing” as ordered. We hope he
continues to improve.
Gord Haggitt is also home from
hospital after some surgery. He is
coming along and appreciates
having visitors to help pass the day.
We send our get well wishes to
Marie Blake as she is under the
weather these days. We hope she is
soon well enough to be out and
about again.
Congratulations to Jim Lee on his
being a Huron/Bruce Outstanding
Citizen Award Nominee. It was
presented by MPP Lisa Thompson in
Teeswater last week. He was
nominated by friend Bonnie Bitter.
The accolades for Jim included his
promotion of live music in Huron
County and his love of music he
shares in many ways and makes his
community a better place because of
music.
Jim and his wife Lois are the
owners of Cinnamon Jim’s Café.
Among Jim’s list of contributions in
the community include being a
member of Melville Presbyterian
church choir, a member of the
Seaforth Harmony Kings Chorus,
member of the Brussels Lions,
promoter of music for the Brussels
Farmers’ Market and organizer of
the weekly entertainment, was
instrumental, along with the Lions
Club, in bringing the Fiddle
Jamboree to Brussels – he took
charge, promoted and made it
happen, he has been a judge at the
Bruce County Blues Association
competition to send a band to
Nashville, and he regularly brings
live music to the upstairs hall of the
café and informal and impromptu
music sessions on the patio. He
makes Huron County a better place
to live and Jim can be described as
“a man who has song in his heart to
share”. Congratulations to Jim from
everyone in Brussels!
Celebrating birthdays this past
week includes Dianne Huether,
Murray McCall, Valerie Collins
Shurter, Brett Stevenson, Cody
Glanville, Pauline Gulutzen, Jacob
Smeltzer, Heather McDonald
Clarke, Joan Ritchie, Marni Knight,
Janice Carnochan, Connie Alcock,
Valerie Bachert, Angela Fraser,
Nadine Ringgenberg, Laurilei
Shortreed, Henry Grobbink, David
Griffith and Kaitlin Ritchie. Happy
birthday to all.
The Cranbrook Dart league has
started its season again. Due to
inclement weather, their starting date
was Jan. 14, with 21 brave souls
ready to hit the boards. Teams were
selected by drawing cards and the
lucky team of Gayle Speiran and
Pete Lefor were able to capture six
wins out of six games. Their missing
player of Murray Houston will be
happy he has a competent team to
carry on. Marita Lefor took high
ladies shot with 86 and John Gillis
hit the high of 132 for the men. The
group was pleased to welcome back
Ern and Annette Lewington, who
haven’t lost their rural roots as yet,
since their move to Listowel.
Hopefully they will be able to make
it out on the cold winter nights to
enjoy the old gang. The lucky draw
winner of the night was Annette and
as usual, a wonderful light lunch was
enjoyed by all. Everyone was glad to
get back for the mid week break of
fun.
By Jo-Ann
McDonald
Call
887-6570
PEOPLE AROUND
WALTON
NEWS
FROM WALTON
A new addition
Julie and Matt Shortreed were happy to welcome their new son, Brayden Matthew into the
world on Jan. 1. The couple was completely unaware of the fact that they were the proud
parents of the New Year’s baby for Stratford General Hospital until nurses told them. Brayden’s
older brother Connor recently turned three and is excited to show his little brother the ropes.
(Denny Scott photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
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The Citizen