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The Citizen, 2011-05-26, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011. PAGE 7.Rain dampens spirits in Walton Racing Stephanie Rechsteiner (left) and Rebecca Subject, Grey Central Public School students, pulled out all the stops during their race at the track and field event held at the school on Friday, May 20. (Denny Scott photo) It is hard to be upbeat and cheery when the weather wants to be continually dull and dreary. The early week drizzle was one thing, but the downpour on May 18 dampened everyone’s spirits. There had been hope of the farmers getting back on the fields, but the downpour cancelled that thought. Crop experts are admitting it is getting late for corn planting and earlier varieties may need to be planted at this late date. The farmers who are ready to plant soybeans or finish the corn, would like to see it stay dry for a week, but the weather just doesn’t want to co-operate. The long weekend was a bit of a surprise weatherwise. It had predicted more rain, I thought, but it wasn’t that bad until the downpour on Monday. I was able to work in the flowerbeds at my mother’s on Saturday and then my own on Sunday and part of Monday, before the heavy rain. Lots of campers went by our place, so there should have been plenty of happy campers. Our brother-in-law, Charlie Calhoun was here for a ten-day stay in Bayfield. There were plenty of jobs lined up for Charlie to do by wife Karin. The big job was to catch up with the necessary painting, windows, trim and the big fence. Charlie has returned to Roaring Gap, North Carolina, but we hope to see him back permanently this summer. Catching up with the many people recovering include Ed McClure, who has been released from hospital and is now home. He is able to get around, slowly and carefully, but he is happy to be home. Bob Cunningham is home from hospital. He is coming along well and is happy to be home and to hear from his friends. Howard Hackwell was home for the weekend to spent time with Audrey and some of the family members. He went back into the hospital and hopefully will be home by week’s end to stay. Sheila Richards is a patient in London Hospital. Our wishes for a speedy recovery go out to her. Isabel Workman had hip surgery last week in London. She hopefully has come back to either Seaforth Hospital for further recovery or to Huronlea for respite care. Our condolences are extended to the Watson family on the passing of Gerald Watson. Gerald or “Smokey” was a well-known Walton man and had lived most of his life in the Walton area. He retired to Goderich in 1997 and struggled with health issues the last year. Gerald and his late wife Berva, had four children, Sandra, Dave, Anne and Mary. Gerald was an electrician by trade and worked for Burke Electric in Wingham for over 30 years. He trained many young men in the trade and moved into appliance repair in the later years before retiring. Gerald was an avid enthusiast of airplanes. He loved to visit the aviation museums and learn about planes and flying. He built many model airplanes over the years and had a very extensive collection. He donated part of his collection to the Brussels Legion a few years ago and they are on display for all to see. A special memory I have of Gerald is his love of his beloved cat, Snoop. Snoop began life at our home andwent to Gerald and Berva’s home,with a sister, as kittens. They wereloved and nurtured and Snoop grew. Snoop grew into a 43.1 lb. cat and is in the Guinness World Book of Records. Gerald loved and pampered Snoop for 10 years and was very proud of his beloved pet. Gerald loved to visit and talk with his family and many friends in all of the area towns around. Our sympathies to his children and to his extended families. College and university students are finishing school and returning home for the summer and hopefully summer employment in the area. The Boettcher family is happy to have their second son, Martin, home from Manitoba. Martin is attending agriculture college in Winnipeg and is in a two-year program. It is a very extensive program and Martin is finding it very interesting and a great learning experience. Martin left the Winnipeg area after the rains had begun and was lucky to be ahead of the road closures by only a few hours. He is glad to be home and his parents, Chris and Gabrielle, are happy to have him home again for a while. Returning from a week-long fishing trip is Lloyd Glanville. He joined his brother Roy from Tavistock along with two other friends to travel to the Iron Lake area. They were able to drive to the hunt camp, but from then on travel was only by four-wheeler. They had to trailer the boat to the lake over very rough trails/roads and one road had a severe wash out. Lloyd reports coming across an old wooden culvert, probably from the 1930s. The culvert is wooden planks bound together by bands of steel to hold them in place. Lloyd has pictures of the culvert that he showed us. The men enjoyed good weather with only spits of rain a couple of days. Wind kept them off the water a couple of days. The fishing was fantastic and they caught pike and trout. They enjoyed fish dinner most every day and the men each brought back two fish each, which is the allowable limit at any time. Lloyd reports having a wonderful trip. Chris and Judy Lee, Lavern and Marion Godkin, Jim and Ruth Axtmann and Dave and Pat Hemingway made a trip to Wawa on the weekend. They were attending the 40th anniversary of Wally and Laurie (Hemingway) East. Chris and Judy travelled to catch the early morning run of the Chi-Cheemaun on Friday morning in the fog and continued the long drive to Wawa. Chris was the best man at their wedding and was the only member of the wedding party able to attend. Mary Elliott of Vancouver, bridesmaid, sent a lovely letter of congratulations. An interesting turn of events happened at the party. The couple, with the help of their four children, had put out memorabilia from the big day. The marriage certificate was one of these items. When they were looking at it, they noticed that best man Chris, had not signed the certificate. So, after 40 years, the official signing is now complete. Guests attended the dinner and dance party from Walton, Bayfield, Ottawa, Winnipeg and the Wawa area. It was a great party and they all had a wonderful time. Chris and Judy made the 12-hour drive home on Sunday and the Godkins and Axtmanns came home via the U.S. on Monday. Congratulations to Wally and Laurie. Congratulations to Don Baan on being the winner of the “Phrase that Pays” contest on CKNX. Don was the winner of $2,000 of diesel fuel compliments of Monsanto. This isn’t the first time the Baan family has won. Monique won the contest a few years ago. Lucky couple. Baseball should be starting in By Jo-Ann McDonald Call 887-6570 PEOPLE AROUNDWALTON NEWS FROM WALTON Each year the Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA) is pleased to present its members and members of the community with prestigious awards to recognize their outstanding quality of work. Stops Along The Way is thrilled to be included in the 2010 OCNA Better Newspaper Awards for 2nd Place Winner for Best Vertical Product. Keith Roulston (pictured on left), publisher of The Citizen and editor of Stops Along The Way is shown being presented the award by Ontario Newspaper Association President Don MacLeod at the OCNA's BNC Awards Gala held at the Elements on the Falls restaurant in Niagara Falls on May 13, 2011. A Visitor’s Guide t o H u r o n C o u n t y FREE EARLY SUMM E R 2 0 1 1StopsStopsStops a l o n g t h e w a y a l o n g t h e w a y Outdoors • Golf Cour s e s • Excursion s • Scenic wa l k s • Fairs and F e s t i v a l s Indoors • Art Galler i e s • Museums • Music fes t i v a l s • Youth acti v i t i e s Listings • What’s goi n g o n • Campgrou n d s • Bed and B r e a k f a s t s • Restauran t s Continued on page 17