Posts by Craig Bradford

The first dozen or so Tundra swans of 2015 showed up at Aylmer Wildlife Management Area next to the Ontario Police College along Hacienda Road northeast of Aylmer on Thursday morning, March 19. The Tundra Swan Line, a free telephone service set up by Eastlink (the former Amtelecom) 30 years ago (1985) and managed by the…

A 77-year-old Sparta-area maple syrup producer received minor injuries and was treated and released from hospital after a pickup truck rear-ended the trailer he was towing with a tractor on Quaker Line south of Sparta on Thursday morning, March 12. An Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police spokesman said a 24-year-old St. Thomas man was charged…

Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police are still investigating a crash involving a cyclist and a transport truck that occurred just west of Orwell on Talbot Line (Highway 3) near Springwater Road in the late morning of Monday, March 16. A police spokesman said the collision happened at about 11:30 a.m. that day. A 2005 Freightliner…

The Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police confirmed that well-known Lyons-area farmer and seed dealer Pat Unger died on Monday afternoon, March 16 as a result of falling into a grain bin while attempting to loosen corn from an auger. The corn was being extracted from the bin at the time and was to be loaded…

Aylmer Old Town Hall Library assistant Christi Fraser, left, helped Claudia Unger, 8, make a “leprechaun” hat during the St. Patrick’s Day version of Crafternoons at the library on Tuesday, March 17. The green hats were the main attraction of the craft session. Crafternoons are offered for children 10 and under each Tuesday afternoon from 4-6…

Noted Malahide farmer, seed dealer and former volunteer firefighter Pat Unger, 56, was killed in a farming incident, March 16. He was trapped in a grain bin on his farm, north of Lyons. Friend and fellow seed dealer Ian Foster had known Mr. Unger for at least 30 years. “It’s going to be a tremendous…

Catfish Creek Conservation Authority Water Management Technician Peter Dragunas issued a “flood watch” on Tuesday morning, March 17. “This is an assessment that a significant probability exists for flooding of low-lying flood prone areas within the watershed,” he wrote in the statement. “Due to the recent precipitation, increased snow melt, recent warming and migration of…

Some local residents expressed anger and frustration during the public information session held by Bayham officials at Vienna Community Centre on Monday night, March 16 to provide details on how the municipality was dealing with paying for a $6-million bank loan the Elgin Military Museum had defaulted on for transporting the Ojibwa submarine from Halifax to…

After an almost three and a half hour final session on Thursday, March 12, members of the Aylmer Finance Committee found savings in the 2015 budget to reduce the over six-percent levy increase starting point to 0.74-percent. The committee, made up of all members of council, went through the budget line by line and removed…