Love South Dundas is returning in June

Some days, it would just be better to browse the catalogue and shop from home.

At 3:20 p.m., February 5 a car crashed through the front window of the River Rat Treasures/Sears store in the Iroquois Plaza. 

Staff are counting themselves lucky.

Store employee Evonne Delegarde was alone in the store when the 1992 Chevy Corsica, driven by an Iroquois resident, smashed into the building. Thankfully, she was not sitting at the Sears travel desk, which is located right where the car impacted the building.

“Thank God I was not sitting at the travel desk, which I often do. We all do,” said Delegarde, who a day later was still in disbelief of what had happened.

Delegarde had come in that afternoon to cover for fellow employee Carol Merkley, who had to leave early for an appointment.

Merkley most often sits at the travel desk, and was sitting there only minutes before the crash occurred. 

“If Evonne had been only a couple of minutes later arriving, I would have still be sitting at that desk when the car came through that window, and I would have been hit,” said Merkley.

When Delegarde arrived, she decided to do some work behind the counter. 

That’s where she was when the car hit.

“I heard a vehicle accelerate, and then the glass shattered and flew everywhere,” said Delegarde. She estimated that the glass flew about 10 feet. 

Luckily, none hit her.

The force of the impact pushed the brick wall under the window inward, bowing the wall inside.

According to Delegarde, the driver’s foot had slipped off the brake and onto the gas pedal, driving her forward into the building. 

“Both passenger side tires ran right over the curbing,” she said. 

“The driver of the car was not injured, no one was walking on the sidewalk and I was away from the window,” said Delegarde. 

Police did attend the scene, however did not choose to lay any charges against the driver.

[…]

  Some might see JD Edwards and Cara Luft as a bit of an unlikely couple where musical collaboration is concerned. She is a founding member of the renowned trio Wailin’ Jennys, and comes from […]

On June 6th, according to South Dundas chief administrative officer Stephen McDonald, an evaluation was completed on the current state of the Morrisburg Dock.

Divers from M.C. Marine Incorporated of Brockville and engineers from J.L. Richards of Ottawa were on site for the evaluation. 

The M.C. Marine divers videotaped the underwater structure of the Morrisburg Dock in its entirety, said McDonald, and they will submit the video and a report to the engineering firm.

Armed with the divers’ report, engineers from J.L. Richards will complete an assessment detailing the dock’s current state. 

From this, said McDonald, they will provide the township with recommendations for making the dock safe right now. In addition, they will provide recommendations for long-term possibilities. 

When asked if the dock might be improved upon or made larger than before, McDonald said that “there are a lot of things to bear in mind,” including consideration of not only the engineer’s report, but also the Morrisburg Waterfront Committee’s report.

The Morrisburg Waterfront Committee will be holding a public meeting to discuss their recommendations on June 19th, 7 p.m., at the Morrisburg Legion.

Currently, McDonald said the emphasis is on making the dock safe again as soon as possible. 

While the engineer’s report will probably not be ready in time for the June 26th council meeting, McDonald did say that the engineers at J.L. Richards “understand that time is of the essence. This is a priority project.”

“We’ve been trying to get things going as quickly as possible,” he continued. “We just want to make sure that things are as safe as possible.”

[…]