Golden Gears stage concert and car show Sunday, September 16

 “I have worked really hard over the last four years to earn this position,” said Evonne Delegarde, who was at the Iroquois Legion when she learned that the people of South Dundas elected her mayor of South Dundas, and the first female mayor of this municipality.

Around 8 p.m., a crowd of about 60, including most of the South Dundas municipal election candidates had gathered at the South Dundas Municipal centre in council chambers to await the results of the 2014 election.

There they waited, and waited, and the crowd dwindled to about a dozen, when the clerk finally read the results at 11:20 p.m.

Archie Mellan, Bill Ewing and Marc St. Pierre were among those who stayed at SDMC to hear the results. Once the results were announced the men who where elected councillor received congratulations from defeated mayor Steven Byvelds and defeated councillor Jim Graham.

St. Pierre, led the polls for the councillor seats with 2104 votes.

“My feeling is one of excitement,” said St. Pierre, and, “I’m a little tired,” he said of the unexpectedly long wait for results.

“The last few weeks have been great, and the next four years will be a good adventure,” said the first time councillor, who lives in Mariatown.  “We do have some issues to deal with, and I’m confident that those elected can deal with them.”

“It’s time for change,” said Bill Ewing. “We should have a good crew here, so let’s get at it.” Ewing lives in Iroquois, and has previously served as a member of South Dundas council when the ward system was still in place. He represented the Iroquois ward. Ewing received 1,813 votes in Monday’s election.

Archie Mellan was re-elected as councillor. “It was a tight race,” he said, looking at numbers between he and fourth place finisher Jim Mills. Mellan received 1,328 votes, only 15 more than Mills. Mellan is from Hulbert.

“It’s looking like I will be back, and I’m looking forward to another challenging and exciting four years,” said Mellan. “I’m sad to see Steven and Jim go,” said Mellan of Byvelds and Graham, both of whom have served two terms on South Dundas council. “They were both extremely hard-working and dedicated individuals. Losing them will be a loss for South Dundas, but the slack will be picked up by our new members.”

At the Iroquois Legion, Delegarde offered congratulations to all those elected and “kudos” to all the candidates.

“I am really pleased with the results,” she said. “Thanks to everyone who supported me.”

Of being elected the first female mayor of South Dundas, she said, “I hadn’t really thought of that, it certainly breaks with tradition, so I thank the people for the confidence they have in me.”

Delegarde is very excited that she will now be part of the SDG Counties council, and she will look to re-elected deputy mayor Jim Locke for his knowledge of counties and issues and procedures to guide her into the new venture.

Leading up to election day, Delegarde said she had a very positive feeling. From the verbal support she had been receiving she felt like she would win. “I didn’t think it would be by that much,” she said. She figured that she would win, expecting a 60:40 split. When the  numbers finally came in, it was a 67:33 split, in her favour. Delegarde received 2,807 votes compared to Byvelds’ 1,388.

“I’m not surprised by the result,” said Jim Locke, who was re-elected to the deputy mayor’s seat with 1,900 voted compared to the 1,344 votes that Del Jones received.

“I thought the mayor’s race would be close. Evonne worked hard at it, and the people have spoken,” said Locke, who lives in Iroquois. “I look forward to working with her and the new council.”

As for his own win Locke said that he didn’t really work hard at campaigning. “I just let it be, and left it up to the people to decide.”

Of the 8,380 electors in South Dundas, 4,265 voted – a 51 per cent voter turnout. That’s down from the last election which saw a 53 per cent turnout, which was down from the 2006 election when 59 per cent exercised their right to vote.

In this election, 2,255 electors chose to vote by internet, 1,053 in person at the South Dundas Municipal Centre in Morrisburg and 957 by phone.

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Dr. Saad Abbud originally joined the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic, committing to practice medicine in this underserviced area for four years – that was 7.5 years ago. Abbud recently announced to his patients that he […]

 You know it’s summer when the Upper Canada Playhouse parking lot is packed with cars and buses from miles around and the sound of laughter fills the theatre. Based on busy box office activity, it looks like the area’s popular entertainment attraction will be celebrating its 30th Anniversary by surpassing last year’s record attendance of over 43,000. 

Getting the ball rolling from June 6-30, will be the hilarious comedy, Whose Wives Are They, Anyway? by Michael Parker, who also penned past Playhouse hits The Amorous Ambassador, The Sensuous Senator and last year’s Hotbed Hotel. 

Whose Wives Are They Anyway? guarantees to keep the audience in stitches with its laugh-a-minute plot, great set and unforgettable characters brought to life by a terrific cast of audience favourites and some talented new faces. 

John and David are executives of a major cosmetic company who are about to get a new boss. Fearing this may be the last long weekend they’ll get for awhile, they send their wives on a shopping trip so they can enjoy a golfing weekend. When David unexpectedly runs into the new boss at the same club, he learns that management frowns on employees vacationing without their wives. The boss demands to meet them. 

John desperately recruits the receptionist to be his wife while David convinces John to be his! All goes well until their real wives show up and the hilarious cover-up begins. 

Heading up the cast are Garfield Andrews as John and Perry Mucci as David, a combination that director Donnie Bowes is delighted to unleash on Playhouse audiences.  Andrews and Mucci were last seen co-starring in the hit comedy, The Sensuous Senator. Andrews has entertained audiences in such shows as The Odd Couple and Don’t Dress For Dinner while Mucci’s career has taken him from Shakespeare to episodes of CBC’s Detective Murdoch series. 

Joining them are Kate Gordon as Tina the receptionist, Cornwall actress Brenda Quesnel as Mrs. Carlson, the manager, and Bruce Tubbe as Wilson the handy-man.

Gordon was last seen in A Nice Family Gathering while Quesnel was featured in last season’s opener Hotbed Hotel. Tubbe starred in The Playhouse’s recent holiday family show Everything I Love About Christmas.

Rounding out the cast are Erin MacKinnon as John’s wife, Laura, Viviana Zarrillo as David’s wife, Karly, and Ottawa actress Mary Ellis. 

MacKinnon also appeared in Hotbed Hotel, while Zarrillo and Ellis return to The Playhouse after a two-decade absence: Zarillo appeared in the musical I Do! I Do! and Ellis appeared in Ned Durango Comes to Big Oak.

Bowes could not be happier with this season starter. 

“It’s a nice big cast of very talented and funny actors who are skilled in all the things that make comedy work. The audience is in for a treat.”

Whose Wives Are They Anyway? runs Tuesday through Sunday with 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. shows. 

Contact Upper Canada Playhouse for more information by calling 613-543-3713/1-877-550-3650 or log on to www.uppercanadaplayhouse.com. 

Flex Passes are available until June 6 and regular tickets are available all season.

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