South Dundas Christmas Exchange ready for 23rd year

Many members of the Iroquois community have come to expect more than just ‘trick-or-treators’ knocking at their doors on Hallowe’en.  

For the past 12 years, a group of teens in grades 9 to 12 from Dixon’s Corners Community Christian Reformed Church has organized a food drive between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on October 31st. 

They walk, in small groups door-to-door, collecting non-perishable items for the Dundas County Food Bank. 

The group choses this specific date to collect food because it is an evening when most families are home and already expect people knocking on their doors.   

This drive has become one of the largest the food bank relies on each year.  

With increased interest and a few new groups joining the DC youth, they plan to expand the drive into Morrisburg in an attempt to out-do the 1,700 items collected last year.  

Much like the ‘rules’ of trick-or-treating, the teens will only knock on doors where the lights are on.  The goal is to eventually have enough help to cover all roads in both Iroquois and Morrisburg. But, given the volunteer numbers for this year, not every road will be covered. If your road is missed, you can still donate by bringing your food items directly to the food bank. 

The DC youth group is thankful for the support each year and looks forward to another fun and successful night helping their local communities.

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South Dundas Fire Chief Chris McDonough recently shared a copy of a thank you letter with the Leader.

The letter was addressed to South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds from Fire Chief Bill Hollett of the Chance Cove Volunteer Fire Department in Newfoundland thanking the mayor and the township for their recent donation.

“I would like to extend our most sincere thanks and appreciation to you and your Town for the generosity you have shown in donating to us a fire truck, rescue van and fire & emergency equipment.”

“We are a volunteer fire department in a small community with limited funds available for equipment and training. Up until the arrival of the fire and emergency vehicles you so graciously donated to us, the fire truck we had in use was a 1976 model which we were having great difficulty maintaining due to parts for this truck no longer being available through the manufacturer.”

In a recent email to the Leader, Mayor Byvelds explained that “the idea started with looking at the Old Williamsburg Pumper and what to do with it.  In talking to others including firefighters in Williamsburg, it was in too good a shape to scrap it.  Normally the Township takes items like this to Rideau Actions however we never get what it is worth and may only get less than $5000. “

“I was in Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia last year on vacation.  I met a firefighter from the area that told me that they were getting a new to them pumper that evening to try out.  They were using a 1976 pumper and were getting a 1987 model.  The group were very happy to get the newer model.”

“It was after that (meeting) that I suggested to Council that instead of selling our old unit that we find someone who was in need.”

“Chief Chris did the research and as a result Chance Cove now have new to them equipment.  I think that it is great that we could help out a community that have a lot less resources than we do.”

The Chance Cove letter also credited Chief McDonough for the donation: “He has certainly gone over and above any call of duty in identifying our need, advocating on our behalf and ensuring we received these vehicles and equipment with as minimum a cost to us as possible.”

Chance Cove did reimburse South Dundas $400 for the “cost of batteries purchased to travel these vehicles to Newfoundland.”

This donation has given Chance Cove more than just reliable fire equipment, as Chief Hollett stated in his letter: “These vehicles will long stand as a source of inspiration to our residents and in particular, our volunteer firemen. They represent the kind and helping hands of a neighbour and of our fellow firefighters, and I am glad to say, has brought a new sense of pride and ownership to our volunteer fire department.” 

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UPPER CANADA VILLAGE – The Friends of the Crysler’s Farm Battlefield, a group of volunteers dedicated to preserving the memory of this important military action, invites the public to a bicentenary remembrance service on November 11 at the battlefield memorial adjacent to Upper Canada Village. 

Residents from throughout the district are invited to attend  and are asked to assemble at 12:30 p.m. at the Battlefield Memorial adjacent to Upper Canada Village.

Taking part in the ceremony will two Canadian Forces reserve units, the SD&G Highlanders, along with their regimental pipeband, and les Voltigeurs de Québec – both of which received battle honours earlier this year for their ancestral units’ role in turning back the American invasion of 1813.

Also to part of the commemoration are the The Canadian Fencibles, 49th Regiment of Foot and the 1st Grenville Militia – re-creations of regiments that fought at Crysler’s Farm and First Nations representatives, to commemorate the participation of these allies of the Crown.

Long before the eleventh of November became an international day of remembrance, it was a sombre anniversary for those in Eastern Ontario – and indeed Canada. 

On that day in 1813, British and Canadian forces numbering 1,200 defeated an invading American force of some 4,000 men on the muddy fields adjacent to John Crysler’s farm, near present day Morrisburg.

If we had not won at Crysler’s Farm, Canada would not be the country we have come to know.

Combined with a British victory at the Battle of Chateauguay two weeks earlier, Crysler’s Farm put an end to the campaign to attack Montreal by the largest concentration of American forces prior to the U.S. Civil War. 

It was by far the most important event locally in a war that eventually ushered in an era of peace that has lasted for 200 years.

The Friends of Crysler’s Farm Battlefield will bus hundreds of grade 7 and 8 students (The War of 1812 is part of the Ontario Grade 7 history curriculum) from across Stormont and Dundas Counties to attend the service and a special presentation by Major General Lewis MacKenzie (ret) to immediately precede the remembrance service. 

Major General MacKenzie will present to local students using Crysler’s Farm as the starting point for his presentation entitled “Beware of the underdog”, focusing on flexibility, stealth and the motivation provided by defending one’s homeland, and then moving on to other Canadian examples where we were the underdog –but prevailed. 

These include Vimy Ridge in World War I, the Italian Campaign in WWII, Kapyong in Korea, the Medak Pocket in the Balkans and Madussa in Afghanistan. 

Major General MacKenzie is best known for commanding Sector Sarajevo in 1992, as part of the United Nations Protection Force  (UNPROFOR) in the former Yugoslavia . He is also well known as a media commentator on military affairs.

The public is invited to Major General Mackenzie’s presentation as well as the subsequent memorial service. Visitors are asked to assemble at 12:30 PM.

The presentation and memorial service are made possible through support from the federal Department of Canadian Heritage.

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