2015 Spring Home & Trade Show draws crowds

August 24, 1957, Constable Ronald Pitt, then 34, of the Morrisburg Police Force, was shot by two gunmen as he approached a stolen vehicle in Morrisburg. He died from his injuries and no one has […]

“The fact that you see kids and they’re smiling, that’s why we did this,” said Jack Barkley, a member of the South Dundas Community Playground Committee on Saturday, September 24, as he stood watching the children of South Dundas try out their new community playground.

From preschoolers on the super slide to older children on the pummel wall and swing bars, the  new playground was alive with activity. In a single day, volunteers,  arriving with tools, shovels, rakes and a lot of good will, started at 8 a.m., built the entire site and made the 2 p.m. deadline to open the new South Dundas Community Playground.

“Our community came together to do a wonderful thing in a single afternoon,” Barkley said. “I just hope the spirit of all this carries forward.”

Matt McCooeye, chair of the Playground committee, led the dedication ceremony.

“On June 8, we stood here, in this place, telling you of the start of this project,” he said. “Three months later, we have a playground. Our goal was to raise $100,000 (which was matched by the not-for-profit group Let Them Be Kids, which also provided expertise and a blue print for construction to the committee) and we raised $117,000 with more still coming in. We hoped to get 175 volunteers out to help today. We got 250.”

“It is incredible to see what we have accomplished,” said committee member, Mike Domanko. “We have built more than a playground here today. We have built a community. We owe many thanks to our volunteers, our neighbours and our friends.”

A very special moment in the ceremony came when the Playground was officially dedicated the SD&G Highlanders, past, present and future.
Led by the Glens’ Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Brooks (ret.HLCol), and Bill Shearing, former members of the Glens and other area veterans made their way to the front. Among them, were World War II veterans Harry Towes and Ervin Clements.

The Glens procession was greeted with applause and cheers  from the large crowd that only grew louder and louder as the soldiers passed.
“I cannot tell you what a fantastic tribute to this community and to our regiment this dedication is,” said Lt.-Col. Brooks in his address. “I am absolutely struck by the work and the co-operation that has gone into this playground and deeply honoured that you have seen fit to dedicate it to the Glens. And I also have the great pleasure of telling you all that the last nine members of our regiment, still serving in Afghanistan, have now made it home and are safe.”  

The flag for the new playground was raised by Emma Morrow, Keltey McCooeye, Xandra Furo and Kai Morrow.

In a very appropriate alternate to the traditional ribbon cutting ceremony, the children of South Dundas opened their own playground by running through ribbons made of dozens of coloured hands, symbolic of their participation in the project.
Then the children re-dedicated the playground in their own special way. They played.

[…]

The eight cyclists involved in the Sun Life Epic Ride for Diabetes, dropped by Peter McCooeye’s Sun Life office in Morrisburg, on Friday morning, to share their excitement of this year raising $25,000 for the Canadian Diabetes Association. 

They were greeted at the Morrisburg office by Peter McCooeye and Angie Anderson who were joined by Jimmy Sirmas (Sun Life Associate Area Manager) and local Sun Life Advisors Patrick MacDonald and Scott Benton.

South Dundas deputy-mayor Jim Locke and McCooeye’s family were also out to offer their congratulations and encouragement to the riders, all  of whom are Sun Life employees who live throughout Ontario.

Now in its fourth year, this year’s ride enjoyed terrific weather and great hospitality from the communities the riders passed through.

“We have had great support from Sun Life Global Investments,” said rider Matt Pomeroy. “Everybody here has a family member affected by diabetes. One in three Canadians are either experiencing diabetes or are pre-diabetic, so you don’t have to go too far to find someone affected”

“It is really nice of Peter [McCooey] to open the office here in Morrisburg to us. We have been greeted by Sun Life Advisors all along the way.”

“We also owe a big thank you to all the motorists along the way. We have felt welcome on every road we have travelled on.”

The eight riders were assisted during the week-long ride by a four person support crew travelling in three vehicles.

Friday’s ride began in Brockville and was to end in Ottawa by about 4 p.m.

Each day the Sun Life team road for about 6-7 hours, stopping well before twilight. They rode as a group and mostly followed the Waterfront Trail.

“Today has been fun,” said Shady Youssef. “But yesterday from Belleville to Brockville was tough. There was a lot of climbing.”

The riders started the 1,000 km ride in Windsor, on Monday, and were in London, Ontario on Monday night. The next three legs of the trip put them in Napanee, Kingston and Brockville on Thursday night.

[…]