Students at SDHS take honours at ScienceFair

With close to 50 members and several car shows already scheduled for the summer,  the Golden Gears Car Club Inc. is off to a roaring start.  

The club, revived after a 40 year absence,  originally focused on performance and speed but today’s club is aimed at the enjoyment and restoration of classic cars.  

The Golden Gears began in 1963 in Iroquois when a group of young men who shared a passion for cars and high performance engines got together to swap stories and tips for improving the horsepower ratings of their engines.  Now the members tend to be older and in an energy conscious era, are more interested in maintaining classic vehicles from the past, and some from the present.

Re-organized over the past winter under the direction of club president Henry Swank,  the Golden Gears have developed a new set of by-laws, have been incorporated as a non-profit group and are ready to begin enjoying the hobby of classic car enthusiasts. 

First on the agenda is a “Show & Shine” planned for May 25th from 6 to 8 pm at the Canadian Tire parking lot in Morrisburg.  

For those unfamiliar with the term,  a “Show & Shine” simply means that owners of classic and restored vehicles bring them to a central location so that other car hobbyists and the general public can wander around the lot and enjoy looking at some truly beautiful automobiles.  

Music, usually rock and roll from the golden age of most of the vehicles, is part of the  event. As well, there can be displays from auto related vendors, and of course, food and drinks.    

The club will also stage a  similar event in Iroquois in the north-west corner of the shopping plaza lot on Wednesday,  June 13, from 6 to 8. With high visibility from the traffic on County Road 2,  and food available from several Iroquois plaza eateries,  that show is expected to be a highlight of the summer as well.

The Golden Gears have also taken some of the workload from the Iroquois- Matilda Lions Club by agreeing to run the car show that has become a large component of the Canada Day celebrations on the Iroquois Point.  

Upwards of 150 cars are expected if the weather cooperates and the car club will look after registration, parking, judging and all the other aspects that make up a great car show. 

Also on the summer agenda is a car show to run parallel to the Fly-In Breakfast on July 15 in Iroquois. With the encouragement of the flying club, the show will take place in the park land, directly south of Elizabeth Drive enabling visitors to walk around and view both aircraft and classic cars all in the same location.

The Golden Gears meet monthly, with the next meeting to take place under the pavilion at Iroquois Point on June 12,  starting at 7.  

If you’re interested in joining, why not come out and see what it’s all about?  You can also check the club’s website at www.goldengears.ca.

[…]

With all the exhibition spaces sold out in advance, and hundreds coming out to visit the annual show, the organizers of this year’s Home & Trade Show, held at the Morrisburg Arena April 17-18, count it a real success. 

There were 80 booths set up in the arena, the largest number of business and community entrants ever. The show was organized by the Chamber of Commerce. Tracey Veinotte chaired the 2015 Trade show committee made up of Chantal Burke, Canadian Tire, Grace McDonough, BIA  co-ordinator, Geraldine Fitzsimmons, general manager of the Chamber of Commerce and Clark Perry, Season Plus. Donnie Bowes of Upper Canada Playhouse, a member of the Chamber, chaired the Friday night opening ceremonies.

“There were a lot of new people at this year’s show,” said Geraldine Fitzsimmons. “I think the free admission, and the fact that exhibitors give out great gifts and prizes really have an effect on attendance. The feed back from the exhibitors was all positive. And I think that numbers of visitors were up from last year.”

“This is a great event,” said Tracey Veinotte, “and a new record of 80 booths set up: there was even a waiting list. Everyone involved worked very hard.”

Carl McIntryre, South Dundas Chamber of Commerce president, thanked the township, the council and all the exhibitors for their support of the Trade Show.  

Evonne Delegarde, mayor of South Dundas and all the members of the South Dundas Council joined the crowds in visiting the wide variety of services and businesses available in this area.

MPP Jim McDonell described the show as a “great job by the organizers,” while Eric Duncan, aide to MP Guy Lauzon said that “every year the Morrisburg Home & Trade Show just gets better and better.”

Singers from Timothy Christian School, led by principal Gary Postma, sang the national anthem to officially open the Trade Show. Visitors could also find a wide variety of food and beverages to sample throughout the event.

[…]

The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and the lower-tier municipalities within it are working on agreements that will change the snowplowing service to some area roads.

In April, SDG’s eight contract plow routes expired. 

Rather than re-tendering the routes, the SDG is proposing to contract certain roads to local municipalities. This will eliminate the need for three contract trucks, and even with the compensation that will be provided to municipalities for their services, a savings of $165,000 could be realized over the five year contract term.

“There will be changes in the level of service,” said South Dundas manager of public works Chris Bazinet. Local municipal roads have a lower minimum maintenance standard than County Roads, so the roads changing from Counties to municipal snowplowing services will see a lesser level of service.

Those roads likely to change hands in South Dundas are County Road 4 (Lakeshore Drive), County Road 1 (Carman Road) south from County Road 2, and County Road 40 (Stampville Road). 

South Dundas would receive about $20,000 financial compensation. 

Two sections of County Roads in South Dundas will see new snowplow service providers if this plan comes to pass. The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville will take over plowing SDG County Road 2 from Marine Station Road to County Road 1 and SDG County Road 18 from Byker Road to County Road 1. In exchange, SDG will plow a Leeds and Grenville section of County Roads 43 and 20.

“The proposed plan represents a significant change to the winter maintenance operations and will result in measurable savings with minimal impact to the overall service provided by the County,” said Ben deHaan, SDG County Roads engineer. 

“It’s a great plan,” South Dundas deputy mayor Jim Locke told South Dundas council when he provided his regular County council update to South Dundas council, May 19th. “It’s common sense.”

South Dundas mayor Evonne Delegarde added that Riverside Drive is being considered for a change in service too. She said that it would be plowed by the Counties rather than the municipality of South Dundas. 

If that happens, Riverside Drive residents are likely to see a higher level of service than in the past.

[…]