NEWS

Local news in and around Aylmer and Elgin County

Springfield Summer Reading Club goes “Wild”

July 15, 2016 | 0 Comments

Megan Sleegers, 9, took a plunge in a mock-jungle pool that was part of an obstacle course for Springfield library’s Summer Reading Club on Thursday, July 14. This year, 109 children 6 through 12 years old have signed up for the club, and 32 were out for the weekly special program at the library at…

Cr. Stevenson resigns from STEGH board over executive “overcompensation”

July 15, 2016 | 0 Comments

St. Thomas Councillor Linda Stevenson has resigned from the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital board of governors in protest of what she describes as attempts to skirt around the provincial salary cap for a new president and chief executive officer being sought by STEGH. “I think the eye has to be on them,” she said…

Teen found dead in water off Port Stanley

July 15, 2016 | 0 Comments

Ontario Provincial Police officers and Central Elgin firefighters recovered the body of William Johnston, 18, of London in the water off of Port Stanley at about 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 17. The teen was swimming with a 19-year-old woman on Thursday afternoon, July 14 when both experienced trouble in the choppy waves. Emergency personnel…

Checking out the classic cars (and trucks)

July 14, 2016 | 0 Comments

Marilyn Powers, 10, of Springfield checked out a 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle owned by Don and Nancy Steenbergen of Aylmer during the Aylmer Shrine Cruise Night at the ICS Courier parking lot near the corner of Talbot Street West and Wellington Street on Wednesday evening, July 13. The truck in behind Marilyn was a 1956 Ford…

Learning about skilled trades

July 13, 2016 | 0 Comments

Dayne Walcarius, 12, applied wood filler to a wooden tool box he was making during Tech Camp at East Elgin Secondary School in Aylmer on Wednesday morning, July 13. The week-long Tech Camp introduced children in Grades 6 and 7 to skilled trades including manufacturing, woodworking and green industries. About 40 children participated in the…

Elgin OPP cleared of “racial prejudice”

July 12, 2016 | 0 Comments

After a lengthy investigation, Independent Police Review Director Gerry McNeilly has come to the conclusion that an Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police investigation of an October 2013 sex attack on a Bayham woman that used DNA canvassing of almost 100 migrant workers “was not motivated by racial prejudice.” Mr. McNeilly’s decision was contained in an…

Fully accessible Port Bruce beach celebrated

July 12, 2016 | 0 Comments

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…

Bike mishap on John St. N.

July 11, 2016 | 0 Comments

Elgin-St. Thomas Emergency Medical Services paramedics and Jeff Vandewyngaerde, a passing Malahide volunteer firefighter, cared for an older man who fell off an adult three-wheeler after reportedly hitting a curb on the west side of John Street North, just after 4 p.m. on Monday, July 11. He appeared to have sustained an arm injury and…

Malahide fire ban lifted

July 11, 2016 | 0 Comments

An outdoor burning ban issued by Malahide Fire Chief Brent Smith on Wednesday, July 6, was cancelled on Monday, July 11. Burning can resume, subject to the township’s usual restrictions and regulations.

Historic fashions on display in Sparta

July 11, 2016 | 0 Comments

Sparta Church Museum summer student employee Elizabeth Brandeau modelled the circa 1890 summer dress she made during the Sparta and District Historical Society’s High Tea and Historical Fashion Show held at the Sparta Church Museum on Saturday afternoon, July 9. A total of 76 attended the event that featured a selection of teas and finger…

Over 1,000 bikers come out for Dice Run

July 10, 2016 | 1 Comment

Well over 1,000 bikers participated in the eighth annual Big Balls Dice Run on the weekend of Friday to Sunday, July 8-10 that involved camping at Springwater Conservation Area southwest of Aylmer near Orwell, a bike tour to Port Burwell on Saturday in the early afternoon (the start of which seen here) and a barbecue…

Cleaning up the Fairgrounds garden

July 8, 2016 | 0 Comments

Aylmer and District Horticultural Society Past President Roberta Wilson, left, and current President Irene Vandermeersch volunteered their time Friday morning, July 8 to clean up the small garden at the main entrance to the Aylmer Fairgrounds. They weeded and thinned out overgrown foliage and planted some hardy, drought resistant varieties in anticipation of the 170th…