Month: June 2012

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.”

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The Morrisburg Canada Day committee, hard at work planning and preparing for the big day, are inviting the public to contribute in any way they can to making this year’s July 1st celebration a success.

The current Morrisburg Canada Day committee formed in late May 2011 when it looked like Canada Day might be cancelled for Morrisburg. 

According to committee members Keith Robinson and Tracey Veinotte, the current committee will be losing some of its members this year and they would like to invite anyone interested in joining the committee to come forward.

Also, Robinson offered, “if anybody has any thoughts or ideas on what we can bring to the day” for this year’s Canada Day celebration, they’re “welcome” to contact the committee.

Along those same lines, if there are any “other organizations or groups who want to participate,” said Robinson, “it’s a good opportunity to get exposure.” Robinson can be contacted at 613-543-3338.

So far the committee has received a lot of support, financial and otherwise, from local businesses and the general community for which the group is grateful.

High on the committee’s agenda at the moment, however, are fundraising efforts for the annual fireworks display at the Morrisburg Waterfront. 

The length of the Morrisburg fireworks display will depend on how much money the Canada Day organizing committee can raise before then. 

While they would like to provide a longer show this year, to do so the committee needs to raise an additional $4,000 above what they raised for last year’s fireworks.

The group’s current fireworks fundraising initiative includes selling tickets for a draw. According to Veinotte and Robinson, there are over 1,500 tickets left to sell. 

Currently, tickets can be purchased at the Canadian Tire checkout counters daily. In addition, every weekend from now until Canada Day, there will be ticket sale tables set up at the entrances to Valumart and Canadian Tire for those wishing to support Morrisburg’s Canada Day fireworks. 

A ticket sale table will also be set up at Earl Baker Park on Canada Day. Tickets will be available until the draw at 4 p.m. 

Draw prizes include gift certificates from the following local businesses: $750 from Canadian Tire; $500 from Valumart; $200 from Giant Tiger; $100 from Ultramar; and, $100 from Home Hardware.

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On the weekend of June 8th and 9th, The Glens’ Association will hold their annual reunion at the Cornwall Armoury.

The Glens’ (SD&G Highlanders) Association exists to continue the regimental “esprit de corps” of those who have served and the families of those served in Canada’s Armed Forces as members of the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders. 

A highlight in the association’s activities is the sponsorship of the Annual Glens’ Reunion on the weekend closest to the anniversary of D-Day. A key part of the reunion is a special project. 

In 2011, it was the dedication of two pieces of art memorializing locations in Normandy that are special to Glens – Hell’s Corner and Abbaye D’Ardenne. 

The plan for the 2012 Reunion is the recognition of the families of the 11 Glens killed liberating Leestsen, The Netherlands, on April 4, 1945. This will involve contacting families across Canada from New Brunswick to British Columbia.

The liberation of Leesten was part of seizing control of the area around Zutphen, a strategic objective of Field Marshall Montgomery. 

In 1945, Leesten was a small rural community on the outskirts of Zutphen. Today, Leestsen is a modern sub-division of Zutphen. And, the people have not forgotten the 11 Glens. 

Today, 10 streets and one bridge are named after them. The streets are lined with maple trees. Duplicate street signs have been received at the Cornwall Armoury for presentation to as many of the families as we can locate and bring to Cornwall in June 2012. 

To date, five of the 11 families of the men killed at Leesten will be attending the reunion. 

Morrisburg’s Branch 48, Royal Canadian Legion contributed $1,000 towards the costs of supporting families returning to Cornwall for this special part of the reunion.

His Excellency Wim Greets, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Canada has accepted an invitation from The Glens’ Association to participate in the presentation ceremony that follows the reunion’s memorial service. 

Whenever Glens visit the Leesten area, they receive a regal reception. 

Many of the area’s politicians have witnessed this hospitality on a recent Glens Tour. They will have an opportunity to express their thanks to the Ambassador at a special reception to be held in honour of the Ambassador.

The annual memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 9th at 5 p.m. with the Leesten Signs Ceremony following at 6 p.m. 

During the memorial service, Morrisburg resident Private Carman Reddick will be remembered. Carman was killed on October 9, 1944, when the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders were fighting to liberate the western bank of the Scheldt Estuary. 

His grave site is in the Adagem Cemetery, Belgium.

The public is welcome to attend the Memorial Service and the Leesten Signs Ceremony.

[…]

Local Branches from Chesterville, Finch, Ingleside, Newington, Williamsburg, Winchester and Riverside Heights enjoyed the theme Aloha, “From Hawaii” at the Stormont-Dundas Women’s Institute’s District Annual Meeting at the Allan Hall in Morrisburg on May 23. 

Guests were present from Prescott, Prescott County and Glengarry.

Florence Hoople and Betty Wheeler were presented with Life Memberships for their dedication and work with the Women’s Institute and Elaine Hutchinson received the Women of Excellence Fair Award for the years of work at Stormont County Fair and in the community.

Elaine is the mother of seven children, 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She helps raise money for her church and attends all WI meetings. 

When the Forbes library in Newington, was closed, Cathy Cloutier,  Alin Dingwall and Elaine  petitioned the then Osnabruck Council to use the building for community activities. 

Later an anonymous donor gave $20,000 to have the building moved to The Lost Village site. 

Elaine is on the executive of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Retired Teachers of Ontario, District 25 and previous to her retirement she had been on the executive of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Womens’ Teachers Federation. 

She was also on the Steering Committee of the Early Childhood Learning Centres.

Back in 1981, while teaching at Newington Public School,  Elaine was approached by Reta Raymond who had drawn up the first prize list for school children to enter their work in Stormont County Fair, under the supervision of the area school teachers. 

Shirley Aitken and Elaine with this initial help from Reta started the first Educational Department at the fair. Shirley helped until she retired a few years later, but Elaine continued for several years.

Elaine has been Vice President of Stormont County Fair, member of the Photographic committee and in 1992 she created the first Donor Appreciation Display to show the prizes donated by area businesses, and the lists of sponsors to the fair.

After greetings from South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds, the Chesterville Branch conducted the Memorial Service in memory of seven highly esteemed  members: Margaret Casselman and Betty Forward from the Chesterville Branch: Eileen Gallinger and Muriel Kenward from the Riverside Heights Branch; Iva Eamer Wylie and Louise Tait from the Newington Branch and Joyce Patterson from the  Williamsburg Branch.  

In the afternoon Jim MCDonell brought greetings from Toronto.

The guest speaker W. Shearing of Morrisburg enlightened the group about the local plans to celebrate the War of 1812. 

New signs are coming for the roadways along the St. Lawrence River to indicate where encounters with the Americans took place. 

The area has its own local hero, John Locke, who risked his life to inform the British that an attack was coming. Locke avoided detection by climbing a tree until the troops had passed.  

Florence Hoople and Ruth (Hoople) Szini dressed in 1812 attire to show their part in the Battle of Hoople Creek video created by teacher Wes Gosling at Rothwell-Osnabruck with students Nolan Thompson, Zach Murphy and Jessica Wilson. 

The report is that in 1812 the Americans crossed the border at Hoople Creek to move on to Montreal and capture Canada. Our Canadian militia were outnumbered, but the delay meant that the British supplies were saved. 

After the battle Elinor Hoople found a serverely wounded soldier near her cabin. The children fetched Mary Hoople who tended him but he died the following day. The Americans retreated back across the border the following day. 

The meeting closed with Lynn Gilmour inviting everyone to District Annual to be held in Williamsburg next year.

Photos & story contributed

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