Fully accessible Port Bruce beach celebrated

Brandyn Chilton of St. Thomas, front, was all smiles while being helped along the path by Malahide Mayor Dave Mennill with Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek and MP Karen Vecchio trailing behind after they participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the installation of 250 feet of barrier-free access mats on the beach at Port Bruce Provincial Park on Tuesday morning, July 12. Joining Mr. Chilton to cut the ribbon were members of the Port Bruce Ratepayers Association Beach Committee who spearheaded the project and Ontario Parks Southwest Zone Manager Melanie Milczynski. “It’s awesome, really awesome,” Mr. Chilton said about the addition of the beach mats which will allow him to access the water’s edge of the beach at Port Bruce in his wheelchair for the first time in 15 years. Mayor Mennill said Port Bruce Provincial Park is now the only fully accessible public beach on the north shore of Lake Erie.