Category Kgzkyh

Penetanguishene flower shop donates bouquets to seniors

Jarlette Health Services and Arbour’s Flower Shoppe teamed up on Tuesday, July 24 to deliver 59 handmade Be Happy Bouquets to residents at the Villa Retirement Lodge, the Villa Care Centre and Bayfield House Retirement Lodge.

Working with Teleflora, an online floral purchasing network, Arbour’s Flower Shoppe was able to provide the arrangements as a heartfelt in-kind donation to all three Homes. 

As Diane Bald, owner of Arbour’s Flower Shoppe states, “This gives us the opportunity to give back to our community in a beautiful and thoughtful way. It’s a special opportunity to spread smiles, make people happy and share a memorable moment with individuals who may have never experienced the joy of receiving flowers.”

This is the first year Arbour’s Flower Shoppe has participated in one of Teleflora’s campaigns.

 



Innisfil development charges could be highest in Simcoe County

Costs will be going up to build a new home in Innisfil, thanks to a revamping of the development charges.

The only question is if the town will become the most expensive spot in the county.

The current development charge bylaw expires on Jan. 31, 2019 and a special public meeting Aug. 8 discussed the proposal.

Hemson Consulting Ltd. has recommended changing the fee boundaries to lump Alcona, Stroud and Big Bay Point into the same category; Gilford, Degrassi Point and Lefroy-Belle Ewart into another; and Innisfil Heights and Churchill together. Friday Harbour and Cookstown would each stand alone.

It is proposing to raise the town’s overall residential charges from $51,460 to $61,187, making it the highest in Simcoe County.

By comparison, Barrie’s development charges in the Salem and Hewitt’s Creek area are $47,389 and Bradford West Gwillimbury’s is at $50,501.

Lawyer Marvin Geist spoke representing the Alcona Downs Developments Inc., a member of the Alcona developers’ group.

“Our concern is the developers in Alcona wonder why we should be contributing to pipes and water in Stroud,” Geist said. “Growth pays for growth and we have paid our share in Alcona. We do not understand why we should be supporting development in Stroud.”

But Ward 1 Coun. Doug Lougheed suggested Stroud has paid for water and wastewater charges, even though most of the town is on a well and septic system.

“If there are no services available, you don’t pay,” town chief financial officer Lockie Davis said. “So if there was an infill lot in Stroud today, there is no sewer charge.”

Ward 2 Richard Simpson was concerned the increase might stall the town’s growth.

“I wasn’t disappointed with the cost, I was hoping it’s higher because new residents want more services,” Simpson said.

However, some taxpayers don’t need more services and would rather see property taxes stay low, he added.

“With increased growth, there’s a lot of burden that happens and we’re all aware of it. In my opinion, growth creates a dystopian society in the town of Innisfil.”

Council received the information from the public meeting and a staff report is expected at council Sept. 5.

Clearview council decides this flag can fly

Clearview Township will be flying the Rainbow Flag with pride.

Councillors approved raising the flag commonly associated with the LGBTQ community during Simcoe Pride at the end of July.

The flag will be flown on a pole at

The township currently has a policy that prohibits flag raisings for outside organizations, though Ward 6 Coun. Connie Leishman argued that in this case, “we should make an exception for this flag only.”

“Most of the other townships (in Simcoe County) do raise this flag, and we should be more progressive,” she said. “There are a lot of people (in the municipality) who feel disenfranchised.”

“I think we should really support this … one day it will be a moot point.”

The flag was hoisted on a pole outside of the municipal offices in 2014, in spite of the township’s rule. Township officials have since resisted raising a flag outside the municipal office on the basis there are only three poles: One for the Canadian flag, one for the Ontario flag, and one for the municipality’s banner.

Deputy Mayor Barry Burton said allowing one could open the floodgates to having to raise a flag for other causes.

“Once you start down the path, everyone else will want it.”

Collingwood’s first family of arm wrestling continues winning tradition

Being successful at arm wrestling is a tradition in the Wilson family.

And Sarah Wilson is carrying on that tradition.

The 31-year-old Collingwood woman recently returned from the Canadian Arm Wrestling Federation national championships with a pair of gold medals.

Wilson won the left and right championships in the 80 kg plus women’s division defeating multi-time Canadian champion Maria Petersen and Alma Keuhl.

Wilson lost in the finals to Petersen in 2017.

This marks her third national title, winning in 2014, but the 2018 event in Laval Quebec is probably the most special to date.

“This is the first time I’ve won both arms,” she said. “It was really awesome.”

Wilson has been around the arm wrestling seen since she was a kid as her father Earl, is recognized as one of the best in the sport.

Earl is the owner of more than 30 Canadian titles, and 11 world titles and is a member of both the Canadian Arm Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.

Earl casts a large shadow in the arm wrestling circle and Sarah admits it adds more pressure.

“Everyone puts me on a higher level because my dad is who is,” she said in an interview with simcoe.com.

“People look at me and say, you’re going to win. And let’s say I don’t, like I did last year, it’s so heartbreaking and I feel like I’ve let everybody down.”

Sarah said she grew up with the sport, but didn’t start to take it seriously until her late 20s.

She said her dad has always been supportive and she’s used some of his techniques on the table.

“I’ve watched him since I was a kid so I pretty much adapted his style and tweaked it a little bit,” she said.

Sarah trains daily at The Centre for Squash and Wellness on High Street in Collingwood and is honing her skills on the table twice a week. She said those efforts were stepped up heading into the nationals.

“It’s not just gym time, it’s table time,” she said. “These are the best girls this country has to offer. I want to win, so you have to amp up the training

With the victories, Sarah has qualified for the world championships in Turkey but won’t be attending.

She said her goal is to win at the 2019 national championships in Edmonton and then attend the world championships.

“I want to try and make that one, because he won there so I think that would be really cool,” she said.

Ultimately, her goal is to top her dad’s accomplishments.

“That’s something I do want to do, I want to beat those records,” she said.

Earl believes she has the right attitude and ability to achieve that.

“She trains hard, she’s focused,” he said.  “If you have the desire and she seems to have that, I believe she has the potential to be in those record books.”

 

Full schedule for Canada Day in Wasaga Beach, Clearview

From Beach Area 1 to Creemore’s Mill Street, there’s a full schedule of Canada Day activities to entertain people of all ages.

Family fun is the focus of Wasaga Beach’s plans for July 1, with activities for children on Beach Drive starting at noon that include characters from the War of 1812, giant inflatables, pedal planes, circus entertainers, cake, dancers and musical entertainment.

The afternoon entertainment includes performances by the Neema Children’s Choir, the Glee Club, and Dance by Design, followed by a night of music on the big stage with Tragically Hip tribute band Little Bones, Canadian country musician Scotty James, and award-winning indie Canadian-American singer Justin Nozuka.

The concert is free for the general public with a ticketed VIP licensed 19+ area. VIP access is $20 at as well as at the gate.

Fireworks will light up the night sky at 10 p.m.

Canada Day events in Clearview Township start off with the 52nd running of the Duntroon-to-Stayner road race, which gets underway at 8 a.m.

Other activities in Stayner include the annual Stayner Heritage Society parade starting at Station Park at 10:30 a.m., opening ceremonies at the Stayner Arena with birthday cake and the Beinn Gorm Highlanders at 12:30 p.m., and an afternoon of heritage displays, food, and children’s activities sponsored by the Stayner Chamber of Commerce.

In Creemore, the fun starts at 9:30 a.m. with a street hockey tournament. The Creemore Ladies Auxiliary will be serving brunch at the legion from 10 until 11:30 a.m.

The Harold Crawford Memorial Kids Bike Parade starts at 1 p.m., running from Mill Street Park to the legion; other activities starting at 1 p.m. include a barbecue at the legion, and “olde thyme” games and activities for kids such as a three-legged sack race, an egg and spoon race, a scavenger hunt, and face painting.

In the evening, the barbecuing continues at the legion, with the singing of O Canada at 8 p.m., presentations to the Lady and Man of the Year, and the Baker Magic Show. The fireworks will be set off at dusk.

What’s happening at the corner of Midland and Hugel avenues?

Construction crews have started preparing a parcel of land on the corner of Midland and Hugel avenues in downtown Midland. The property, known as , will be the site of a three-storey, 10-unit condominium. The building is just down the street from the Beer Store and across the street from the Advanced Foot and Orthotic Clinic.

Just the facts:

• The vacant lot currently houses a mobile fast-food truck.

• The property has approximately 21 metres of frontage along Midland Avenue and 50.5 metres of frontage on Hugel Avenue.

• The proposed building will have 16 parking spots with 11 of those spots in a partial basement.

• Access to the parking garage is proposed off of Midland, while access to the five other spots will be off Hugel.

• Residential units will be on storeys two through four and accessed via an elevator and stairwell.

• A building height of 13 metres will be permitted even though previous zoning regulations only allowed for 11 metres.

• The lot was rezoned to permit residential use, as previous zoning required the first floor to be commercial use only.

• The entire building will have a total gross floor area of 1,673 square metres.

• All exterior lighting on the building will be shielded so that it does not infringe on adjacent properties.

• The top floor would be smaller than floors two and three and include a rooftop patio.

• There will be four units on floors two and three and two units on the fourth floor.