NEWS

Local news in and around Aylmer and Elgin County

Family escapes kitchen fire

June 1, 2016 | 0 Comments

An adult and five children managed to escape from their South Street West home in Aylmer after a fire started in their kitchen early on Wednesday morning, June 1. Aylmer Fire Chief Sam Taylor said volunteer firefighters, police officers and emergency medical services responded to the fire at the home located on the north side…

Lost child found quickly at Clovermead

May 31, 2016 | 0 Comments

Several Aylmer Police and OPP cruisers responded to a report of a lost child at Clovermead Adventure Farm north of Aylmer on Tuesday afternoon, May 31. Clovermead co-owner Chris Hiemstra said a mother had lost her child briefly and called police before informing staff at the property. “She was panicking,” Mr. Hiemstra said. When Clovermead…

Serving up the perch for ELP

May 29, 2016 | 0 Comments

Volunteer Bill Ball manned one of the fryers during the Order of Good Cheer annual perch fish fry at Saxonia Hall just west of Aylmer on Saturday evening, May 28. All proceeds from the event were to help support East Elgin Secondary School’s Environmental Leadership Program. Over 500 tickets were sold for the fish fry…

I’ll stay on the beach, thanks

May 29, 2016 | 0 Comments

Malcolm Travis, 2, played with a toy dump truck on the sandy beach at Springwater Conservation Area located southwest of Aylmer on Saturday late afternoon, May 28 while his nearby mother Sara and older sister Quinn, 5, (not seen) tried out the water during Aylmer Baptist Church’s Spring Fling get-together. Those that attended enjoyed dinner…

Periscope Playhouse’s new venue ready soon

May 29, 2016 | 0 Comments

Periscope Playhouse assistant producer and grant facilitator Leslie Chilcott took a much deserved break in one of the newly installed stadium-style seats at the community theatre’s new venue in Port Burwell on Saturday, May 28. Ms. Chilcott was one of several volunteers who were continuing the renovations on the former Scouting hall at 42 Wellington…

Cooling off by the animals

May 29, 2016 | 0 Comments

Jason Guenter, 13, left, and his sister Nancy, 11, tried out the paddle boats in a large portable swallow pool of water supplied by Super Air Bounce Rentals of Tillsonburg at the Educational Animal Display and Pony Rides annual open house southeast of Aylmer on Saturday, May 28. Educational Animal Display and Pony Rides, located…

Three injured in pickup rollover near Belmont

May 26, 2016 | 0 Comments

Three men in their early 20s were injured, one suffering “life-altering” injuries, as a result of a single-vehicle rollover crash east of Belmont early Thursday, May 26. Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police Constable Adam Crewdson said officers from both the Elgin OPP and Middlesex OPP responded to the crash on Dorchester Road near Avon Road…

Bayham wins $6-million Ojibwa judgement

May 26, 2016 | 5 Comments

The Municipality of Bayham recently received a judgement against the Elgin Military Museum for $6-million relating to the default of bank loans the museum received to pay for the transport of the HMCS Ojibwa submarine from Halifax to Port Burwell. “A Writ of Seizure and Sale, against the Elgin Military Museum, has been registered in…

Mayor to lead opposition to Belmont bank closing

May 25, 2016 | 0 Comments

Central Elgin Mayor David Marr has promised to appear at a public hearing at Belmont Arena, Thursday, June 2, at 7 p.m., to oppose the proposed closing of the village’s only bank. Scotiabank has announced that it will close its Belmont branch on Jan. 22, 2017, merging it with its St. Thomas bank 20 kilometres…

Central Elgin permit fees to rise at slower rate

May 25, 2016 | 0 Comments

Central Elgin councillors, in a split vote Tuesday night, May 24, decided that much higher fees for new home building permits should be phased in between now and 2020, two years longer than originally proposed. The change came after an appeal from Dick Greenway of Don West Construction, who argued the higher fees would drive…

Getting Techy at OTH Library

May 25, 2016 | 0 Comments

Library technician Merrill Taylor, left, helped Dawson Loewen, 9, with his Raspberry Pi kit during the Techy Tuesday workshop at Aylmer Old Town Library on Tuesday afternoon, May 25. That afternoon, the children installed LED (light-emitting diode) lights on circuit boards and then used computer code to turn them off and on. Techy Tuesdays, which…

Belmont Scotiabank closing

May 23, 2016 | 2 Comments

Belmont will lose its only bank branch, Jan. 12, 2017. Scotiabank revealed the news in a letter to Central Elgin councillors to be considered at their meeting Tuesday night, May 24. All accounts would be moved to the Scotiabank branch at 472 Talbot St. in St. Thomas, District Vice-President Andrew Smith wrote.