News

 

Looking for someone to 

give a guy a chance!!!

This mixed breed lad is about three years old and has a beautiful brownish red colour. His stay at the shelter is beginning to stretch out, mainly because he obviously has some hound in him. However, looks can be deceiving and in this case are. Like all dogs, this poor guy is just looking for someone to love him, so that he can love them back. He has impressed everyone at the shelter with how well behaved and good natured he is and how much he wants to please. According to the shelter he is “one of the best behaved dogs  to be at the shelter in a very long time.”

[…]

 

 In response to difficult fire situations, including out of control burns and nuisance smoke complaints, faced by the South Dundas fire officials over the summer, municipal staff drafted a bylaw to govern open air burning.

The main source of contention this summer surrounded agricultural burning for land clearing purposes.

The new draft bylaw sets out specific requirements including set backs, brush pile sizes, control measures and permits that will need to be in place for all types of burning, once the bylaw is approved by council. That approval will not come until council’s issues with the requirements and permit fees are addressed.

After a lengthy discussion of the draft bylaw, at a special council meeting November 27, staff was presented with a number of changes.

During the discussions it was indicated that there will be some areas of the municipality, such as the towns of Morrisburg and Iroquois where burning will be prohibited.

Those in areas where open air burning is permitted will have to obtain a permit and pay a small administration fee to offset costs.

The permits guarantee contact between landowners and the municipality, resulting in a record of where and when the burning is to occur, and ensures that there is not a burn ban in place at the time.

[…]

 

Cornwall and the Counties Tourism, has over 2,000 kilometers of cycling/motorcycling routes mapped and is getting reading to ‘peddle’ this region as a destination for cyclists of all kinds.

Morrisburg will serve as a hub of this activity. 

“We are in the process of creating a paper map,” said Linda Wilson, executive director of Cornwall and the Counties Tourism, who had a draft copy of the map and its routes here in Morrisburg on November 29.

The 28 routes are organized as loops, from  40 km in length to 230 km in length. The recommended routes for cyclists, are considered safe and have water/food amenities available along the way.

The loops include two Quebec entry points as well as entry points from Ottawa and Brockville.

“Our plan is to have the map ready for the end of this year,” said Wilson, who plans to take it to the Vélo show in Montreal in February among other high profile cycling shows in 2013 and to the outdoor and leisure shows in Ottawa in the coming year.

Wilson is also working with GPS technology to push the loop maps to Garmin.

The other side of making the maps work is proper roadside signing of the loops. 

That will come in partnership with the Counties of SD&G. 

In partnership, the two will apply for funding for the signs, and if successful the signs will be installed, on existing posts by the counties road crews.

“The signing will happen, at least partially, if we get the funding, early in the summer if possible,” said Wilson. 

Each loop will be marked by a different colour, making it easy for cyclists to navigate. 

As part of the loop system, Wilson has selected areas across the region as ‘hub’ sites where people can drive to, park and unload their bicycles to cycle some of the loops. 

Morrisburg is one of those hubs that are located across the region.

“Much work is being done at the county level, but there is still work to be done at the local level to support the initiative,” said South Dundas economic development officer Nicole Sullivan.

She suggests investing in some infrastructure such a bike racks and possibly working with businesses to help educate  them on becoming cycle-friendly and cycle-ready.

[…]

 

 South Dundas council met with the project managers and the contractor who will be renovating the former Morrisburg Collegiate Institute November 27, at a special council meeting to better pin down the cost of the renovation of the old high school.

From the new information and small project changes outlined in a post-tender addendum document that the project team has been preparing over the last couple of months, council now knows that the cost of the renovation project will be $4,093,882.

The team has been working to find savings within the project originally tendered at $3.8 million.

They identified areas of savings through small structural changes, such as keeping an existing stairwell, the use of metal siding on a small portion of the building and changing the elevator specifications.

The document also reflected changes to the project made by council that will add costs.

Council decided that they want the brick on the entire building re-pointed for the sake of both longevity and appearance, which is an added expense.

The project managers and contractor were asked to provide council with a more accurate cost estimate for abatement costs, and within the context of that work they found some added project expenses.

“We didn’t expect the abatement costs to be that high,” said Ron Rivet of True North Group, the project managers. 

“Asbestos was the least of our worries,” he said, explaining that almost $150,000 of abatement costs will have to be spent on mitigation measures for the lead paint, which is throughout the building.

The abatement costs for the asbestos in the building will be about $34,000.

Whether the building is renovated or demolished, the municipality is on the hook for the abatement costs.

“Actually, if you demolished the building it would be a much higher cost,” said Dick Markell, president of Bourgon Construction, the contractor hired to renovate the building. He estimated that in the case of demolition, the abatement costs would likely triple.

“What you will have when we are done is a building that is pretty close to new, and in some ways better than new,” said Markell explaining, “New buildings are not designed and built like this building was built.” According to Markell, the structure of this building is much like that of a hospital.

Once Bourgon Construction gets the official go ahead from council, likely in the form of a resolution at the December 3 council meeting, they expect the project to be complete in nine to 10 months.

“The structure’s up, so the hard part is done,” said Markell. “I’m hoping to get in the ground before Christmas. Getting the services in before the frost gives us a huge jump on the project.”

The contractor was asked about the handling of hazardous material, in close proximity to a public school.

“Anything that is air borne is tarped. We have industry standards that we have to follow,” said Markell. 

“Bourgon has an excellent safety record. That’s one of the reasons we chose them for this project,” said Rivet.

[…]

 

Twenty community members joined in the conversation about tourism that took place at the McIntosh Country Inn, November 29.

Our Passport to the Future: A Tourism Stakeholder Discussion Forum provided the opportunity for interested community members to speak one on one with the community members who helped identify initiatives to strengthen South Dundas’ tourism sector.

As part of the session, those who attended were asked to rank five sectors on their potential to increase the number of visits, length of stay, repeat business and overall economic benefit in South Dundas. The sectors included; arts and culture, cycling, fishing and boating, history and motorcycling.

Although the question was very definitive, the answer provided by the participants was not.

“In terms of ranking, there is almost an even spread between the sectors,” said South Dundas Economic Development Officer Nicole Sullivan.

“Attendees generally agreed with the sectors and initiatives identified. Much of the feedback spoke to different ideas on applying the initiatives or ways to enhance them which can easily be applied to the implementation plan,” she said.

A common theme noted by the discussion facilitators was the desire to focus activity to the waterfront.

“The need for Lakeshore Drive to be paved was mentioned by several participants,” said Linda Wilson, who was facilitating discussions about cycling and motorcycling.

“The waterfront being a hub of activity is being talked about by a lot of people,” said Donnie Bowes who was facilitating discussions about arts and culture. “People see the waterfront as the place for farmers markets and markets where artisans can showcase their produce and crafts, the place for festivals, the place for people and artists to congregate.”

Susan Le Clair was facilitating discussions about history and noted that people, in the context of history, also believe the focus should be the waterfront. 

“What people are talking about is a critical mass of different activities along the waterfront. These are things that we can probably accomplish,” she said pointing to examples of historical plaques and walking tours. “Things we can accomplish are as important as anything, because anything you can accomplish fuels the community’s enthusiasm.” 

“The next step, and one of our most challenging given how many assets our community has to build on, is narrowing down to two or three areas of focus,” said Sullivan. 

Information from this meeting will contribute to the final tourism development strategy. It will be presented to council in the new year.

[…]

 

 It might have been a little frosty on Saturday, December 1, when Santa and Mrs. Claus dropped in to marshall the big parade, but the warmth of their welcome made up for that.

Morrisburg gave a big welcome to all the bands, marchers and floats who took part in one of the best Santa Claus parades yet. 

“We had six bands in our parade this year,” said George Davies, who once again organized the 2012 event. 

“There were about 50 different floats and displays, and all kinds of people in costumes walking along the parade route. From what I hear, it was a great day in spite of the weather. Of course, that’s the one thing I can’t do anything about,” he laughed. 

“I will say that the cold was probably a little rough on the musicians with brass instruments. And by the end of the route, our bag pipe players couldn’t play. But all accounts say it was a good parade all the same.”

The colourful celebration took place at 11 a.m. Saturday morning, and wound its way throughout the town. George Davies could be seen on his ATV keeping things moving all along the route. 

“I had eight people helping out with the parade today,” he said, “as well as many volunteers who marched or worked on floats. There’s great spirit in this community.”

After the parade, Santa dropped in to the fire hall to personally meet some of his young fans, and to listen to their Christmas hopes. 

Parade participants took advantage of hot dogs and chocolate milk after the big event finished in the mall area. George laughs that there was a definite run on the hot chocolate all afternoon.

George Davies is already making plans for next year’s Santa Claus parade. He feels that it is never too early to start.

[…]

Coming up on Friday evening, December 14, South Dundas residents are invited to join Mary and Joseph  as they travel the streets of Morrisburg in search of accommodation.

Taking a cue from a traditional Mexican Christmas celebration, Knox Presbyterian Church is hosting a “Posada” re-enactment of Mary and Joseph as they search for lodging in Bethlehem.

Participants in this local version of the 400 year old Mexican “Posada” tradition are invited to gather at Knox Presbyterian Church, (1st Street) Morrisburg, from 6:30-7 p.m. on Friday December 14. To light the “No Room at the Inn” procession, which will start at 7 p.m., everyone is asked to bring along candles, torches, flashlights or lanterns.

The procession will be led by Joseph (Cody Lewis) and Mary (Kristen Schaillee) and will include both, a mule and a horse.

Requests for lodging will be refused at two nearby homes on First Street (the Ruddock and Harwood homes), before Mary and Joseph make their final request at the Veinotte home on the corner of Ottawa and Legion Streets.

At each of the stops, Christmas carols will be sung.

“We are promoting it in the newspaper and at all the churches in the area,” says organizer Margaret Reynolds. “We are really hoping for a good turnout and of course some good weather. This is a great way to experience the true spirit of Christmas.”

Reynolds points out that the trek has been kept to a reasonable distance, and participants who are unable to do the walk can await the group’s arrival at any of the three stops or back at the church hall, where, following the walk, there will be refreshments, fellowship and carolling.

Organizers are asking all participants for a (non-perishable) food or cash offering for the South Dundas Christmas Exchange.

Posada is a Spanish word for lodging or accommodation. In Mexico, Posadas are held on each of the nine nights leading up to Christmas (December 16-24).

[…]

 

 “Oh come, all ye faithful” and enjoy the beautiful carols and the familiar songs of Christmas at the Seaway Singers December concert on Sunday, December 16, 3 p.m., at Iroquois United Church. 

The Seaway Singers, made up of 41 voices, are celebrating 20 years of bringing outstanding concerts to the community in 2012-13. Their upcoming concert, entitled O Come, O Come, promises to continue in that tradition.

“We are performing a mixture of carols and Christmas themed music,” said Robin Lane, one of the Singers. “The music is beautiful, really, and everyone will enjoy it.”

Robert Jones will again conduct the concert, with Margaret Whisselle as the accompanist. 

“We are predominantly featuring Christmas carols, but there will also be some secular music in the program,” Jones said. “One of the pieces is Wassail, a traditional English carol, and there is a beautiful spiritual called Rise Up, Shepherd. The choir is also singing a minuet by Bach which has the First Noel incorporated into it.”

Margaret Whisselle will be singing the solo, Jesu Bambino, in the show. 

Joining the choir for this concert will be the adult Hand Bell Ringers from Winchester United Church, welcome guests at previous concerts.

“There is also some sing-along music that everyone can take part in,” Jones said, “and also one fun song I think people will really enjoy. It’s called the 12 Days After Christmas, and let’s just say it begins with “On the First Day After Christmas, my true love and I had a fight….” 

The annual December concert, O Come, O Come, is a show to which all members of the family can look forward.

Tickets are $10 in advance (Seaway Valley Pharmacy in Morrisburg) or $12 at the door on December 16. The Seaway Singers will be performing at Iroquois United Church at 3 p.m. All are invited to join the choir afterwards for “goodies.”

[…]

 

The Morrisburg and District Leo club has never done anything special to acknowledge Remembrance Day, so one of their members, 14 year old Dawson Clouthier, had an idea that he shared with the club.

“I saw an ad on the TV about V.E.T.S. Canada, so I checked them out on Facebook,” said Dawson. 

He supported them himself by liking them on Facebook, and thought that maybe the Leos could do something to donate to the cause.

V.E.T.S. Canada (Veterans Emergency Transition Services)provides aid and comfort to transient and homeless Canadian veterans by providing the essentials in emergencies, and assisting those at risk.

“I am into helping vets. I want to be army,” said Dawson.

The staff at Scotiabank, Linda Robinson who coordinated the bake sale fund raising event for the Leos and Lisa Lewis who supervised the Leos bake sale at the Morrisburg arena were all happy to help Dawson and the Leos contribute to the cause.

[…]

 

Hi, I’m a one to two year old Great Pyrenees. Like most Great Pyrenees, I am good with kids. I am house trained, but I like being indoors and outdoors equally. I pride myself in being very calm, a bit playful and friendly…I was found in the Iroquois area. (The Great Pyrenees is a large breed dog. Anyone interested in adopting this beauty should consider her size and her need for space. Great Pyrenees are known to be confident, gentle with children and very affectionate pets. 

[…]