Huron Expositor, 2015-12-30, Page 7Wednesday, December 30, 2015 • Huron Expositor 7
Year in Review
CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 6
• The new chairwoman of the
Seaforth Business Improve-
ment Area encouraged local
merchants to do more to
attract younger shoppers, such
as bolstering their presence on
various social media websites.
Melody Hodgson says Sea-
forth's business community
needs to "find reasons to keep
people in town," not only as
residents but also as "daily,
weekly and monthly
shoppers!'
• Budding entrepreneurs look-
ing
ooking to start a business in Huron
East could win free rent for a
year at a storefront in either
Seaforth or Brussels as part of a
first in the county economic
development promotion.
The Municipality of Huron
East's "Win This Space" con-
test, modelled after a similar
promotion launched in
Uxbridge in 2013, will award a
future business owner free rent
for an entire year at one of sev-
eral participating locations
everalparticipatinglocations and
hundreds of dollars worth of
in-kind professional services,
as well as financial and mar-
keting assistance.
• Joe Fonseca secured himself
a place among elite company
at Queen's University prior to
even registering for his first
course at the prestigious
school.
The St. Anne's Secondary
School senior was one of
roughly 40 students in the uni-
versity's incoming class of
2015-2016 to be awarded a
Chancellor's Scholarship,
which grants a recipient
$36,000 over the course of their
four-year undergraduate
program.
• Seaforth's Masonic Lodge has
stood tall through two world
wars, the American Civil War
and the first, formative years of
the grand experiment known
as Confederation.
It has occupied its brick edi-
fice at the intersection of Main
and John through the tenure of
every Canadian prime minis-
ter, as well as multiple British
monarchs and a number of
prominent American presi-
dents, including Abraham Lin-
coln, Ulysses S. Grant, Wood-
row Wilson and Franklin
Delano Roosevelt.
As its occupants, the Sea -
forth Masons, work towards
the 150th anniversary celebra-
tions this May, the Lodge is
undergoing an extensive reno-
vation in part to better accom-
modate the older Freemasons
that still walk through its
wooden doors for the group's
meetings.
• An 11 -year-old Seaforth stu-
dent started an educational
campaign to better inform
people about autism, the oft -
misunderstood development
disorder he was told he had
last year.
As part of his campaign,
Morgan Mason has opted to
raise money for autism aware-
ness, already taking in $720
towards his goal of $750. He
even spent the better part of
March 20 soliciting funds for
Autism Ontario at Seaforth's
TD Bank branch.
Apri12015
• The Seaforth BIA and Sea -
forth Agricultural Society
organized the annual Seaforth
Easter Egg Hunt on April 4,
which attracted large crowds
to the Agriplex despite grey
skies and the threat of rain. In
addition to the egg hunt, the
event also featured an appear-
ance by the Easter Bunny,
games, crafts and plenty other
of activities.
• Huron -Bruce MP Ben Lobb
presented several local military
veterans with limited -edition
commemorative pins and cer-
tificates of recognition to hon-
our their service with Canada's
armed forces during World
War Two.
Lobb, a member of the gov-
erning federal Conservative
caucus, made the presentation
at a gala at Seaforth's Legion
Hall on April 25. The event also
included a light lunch and was
open to any members of the
public interested in paying
their respects to those who
served in one of Canada's most
famed military endeavours.
• Allan Thompson is swapping
the frenetic pace of the news-
room for the marathon of the
campaign trail, with the former
Toronto Star reporter set to
stand as the Liberal candidate
for Huron -Bruce in this Octo-
ber's federal election.
The Glammis Ont. native,
who covered Parliament in the
1990s and early 2000s, claims
to have already accrued more
than 70,000 kilometres on his
Jeep Compass campaigning
and meeting voters across the
sprawling rural riding, cur-
rently represented by Conserv-
ative Ben Lobb.
• Schools provide an optimal
setting to identify students in
need of mental health support
and can assist in building cru-
cial "pathways to care," says the
Avon Maitland District School
Board's mental health lead.
Addressing an assembled
audience of parents and edu-
cators in Seaforth earlier this
month, Anne Robinson laid
out how the sprawling school
district sought to promote pos-
itive mental health among stu-
dents and planned to work
with external care providers to
get help to those who need it
the most
• Huron East council is refus-
ing to ignore the roughly
$310,000 elephant in the room.
It remains, however, both
divided and uncertain on how
to address it.
Retreading a familiar script
from previous meetings, coun-
cil members once again broke
into debate on April 7 about
the municipality>s three recre-
ation centres following the
introduction of an expectedly
difficult draft budget that calls
for both spending cuts and a
tax hike.
May2015
• When the Win This Space
competition was announced
last month, organizer Jan Haw-
ley said she hoped it would
attract at least 10 serious appli-
cants - maybe even 15 if she
was especially fortunate.
Her all -too modest projec-
tions, however, greatly missed
the mark, with about 26 con-
tenders stepping forward to
submit preliminary business
ideas in hopes of winning free
rent for a year at a storefront in
Seaforth or Brussels.
• Chris Hills spent the better
part of the first three weeks of
April crisscrossing the vast
island nation of the Philip-
pines, helping to distribute
about 5,000 bed kits to needy
children residing in some of
the country's most impover-
ished communities.
As part of his ongoing volun-
teering efforts with Canadian
charity Sleeping Children
Around the World (SCAW), the
Seaforth resident was once
again afforded the opportunity
to hand -deliver the valued aid
packages, which contain 38
crucial necessities such as
mosquito nets, toothbrushes
and school supplies.
• In a continent spanning voy-
age touching Portugal's scenic
south coast and the hilly ter-
rain of the Cape Verde islands,
among other dazzling destina-
tions, Seaforth residents Ian
and Joy Winterborn were
instead transfixed by the stars.
The British expatriates both
pointed to the quiet nights
drifting along peaceful waters,
with only the stars and
constellations illuminating an
otherwise pitch-black sky
above, as their favourite mem-
ories from a massive eight-
month sailing trip across the
Atlantic Ocean last year.
Their 9,000 nautical mile
journey traversing the Atlantic
included stop -offs in numer-
ous marinas and ports dotting
the Caribbean and southern
Europe, such as Lagos, Port-
gual, Las Palmas, Grand
Canary and the island nation
of St Lucia.
• Nick Van Dyk was only 19
years old when he passed away
from cancer in 2008.
Remembered as a perpetu-
ally upbeat teen that cherished
his friendships and had a sin-
cere love for others, his passing
motivated his extended family
to contribute in whatever way
they could to efforts to combat
the deadly illness.
So, with Nick's memory still
burning bright, his family
turned one of his favourite
games into an unlikely front in
the fight to eradicate child-
hood cancer, organizing an
annual "Toss'em up for Child-
hood Cancer" ring toss (Texas
Horseshoe) tournament to
raise funds for crucial research
on the disease.
• Grade 1 and 2 students from
St. James' Catholic School read
their own poetry to residents at
Maplewood Manor in Seaforth
on May 2.
• The Seaforth Community
Hospital added a crucial new
piece of "lifesaving" equip-
ment thanks to a robust grant
from the hospital's foundation.
Roughly $89,000 was given
to the hospital to purchase a
defibrillator, as well as to move
forward with digital retrofits to
its X-ray machine.
Hospital staff introduced the
sleek, compact defibrillator,
which uses electrical pulses or
shocks to help control irregular
heartbeats, including in heart
attack instances, during a brief
cheque presentation event on
May 28.
June 2015
• Heather Dawe can speak
from firsthand experience
when she says membership in
the long-running local march-
ing band sparks a lifelong love
affair with music.
In her role as co-director of
the Seaforth All -Girls March-
ing Band, she has seen count-
less young women embrace
their passion for song as they
participate in various parades
across the region
Once a 100 -person strong
ensemble, the band now totals
about 30 girls who hail from all
over Huron County, including
Seaforth, Clinton and
Goderich.
Kalbfleisch says the group is
looking to «rebound» and
rebuild its ranks, calling 50 an
ideal membership level.
• The Seaforth Manor attracted
an eager crowd for its petting
zoo event. The event, held on
the grounds of the James Street
facility, featured a donkey,
sheep and geese, among other
animals.
• Cindy Hamather has made
countless drop -ins to the vari-
ous classrooms included in
Seaforth Public School over
the course of her four years as
principal.
It is a familiar duty for any
dedicated school administrator,
offering an opportunity to
observe their teachers in action
and potentially the response to
new curriculum changes or
technology upgrades.
As she departs on an early
June day from one of these
trips to a math class, to see
firsthand the implementation
of a new teaching strategy,
the importance of the other-
wise routine visit begins to
sink in.
While she may be leaving
behind the school setting,
Hamather plans to continuing
working with local youth as a
volunteer, including helping
out with the social skills pro-
gram Roots for Empathy - a
role she's unable to take on
now as principal
July2015
• An innovative initiative had
proven to be a win- win-win
for Huron East, for Huron
County and definitely for rural
small businesses in the area.
The recent finale of Win This
Space was overflowing with
energy, optimism and excite-
ment as five finalists vied to
eam the $18,000 grand prize of
storefront space and business
consultation for a year, online
marketing, leadership training,
advertising graphics, and com-
munication assistance.
The five finalists who made
their enthusiastic pitches to the
judges during the finale were
• (Winner) Cotton Harvest
Quilt Shop (Trina 0> Rourke)
where quilters are invited to
indulge their creativity among
beautiful fabrics, stunning
quilts and antiques
• Degree Fitness (Kaleda Con-
nell), an all-inclusive fitness
facility featuring functional
training
• Grounded Cafe (BrittanyWil-
liams), a coffee house cafe/bis-
tro serving gourmet coffees
and pastries
. Local ArtScape (Gerrie
Huenemoerder), a gallery fea-
turing custom Avelina jewelry
as well as crafts and arts by
Canadian artists and
designers
• Local Organics Health Food
&Wellness Centre (Tara Finni-
gan & Cara Wicke) providing
highest quality fresh and natu-
ral food, products and nutri-
tional services as well as edu-
cational workshops.
• The road has been more than
long for the Goderich Lake -
town Band.
The group formed in 1967
and their melody brought back
memories to the older crowd at
the Van Egmond House. Over
100 people attended the out-
door concert July 6. Most came
with lawn chairs, some sat in
cars while others just watched
from their homes from across
the way. The mosquitoes were
biting, but that couldn't stop the
band from giving the town of
Egmondville, Ont. a little trip
down memory lane.
• The Seaforth Optimist Club
was sick and tired of picnic
tables being broken and find-
ing beer bottles smashed at the
baseball diamond in Seaforth.
Almost two years ago to date
the Municipality of Huron East
and the Optimist Club com-
bined $45,000 to revamp the
Optimist Park by building new
fences, metal bleachers and a
more proficient backstop.Ifyou
looked at it then, you would see
water bottles, coffee cups and
numerous other pieces of litter
surrounding the park
Bob Dinsmore made it
clear: "It's a playground for
kids, not for parties.
• An old photo depicting long
velvet drapes and old-fash-
ioned nurse caps worn by four
women had a Seaforth resi-
dent wondering whom they
could be.
During a home clean up of
deceased Melinda Beuerman,
who died last January, the 9x8
picture was found in the base-
ment. Scripted in capital letter
across the bottom, "SEA -
FORTH MEMORIAL HOSPI-
TAL GRADUATING CLASS;'
with the year side -ways
"1925"next to it.
• Squats and other physical
activities were on the agenda,
all put together by fitness
trainer Kaleda Connell from
Seaforth.
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