News

 Conductor Robert Jones had every reason to smile as he stood among some members of his 41 voice Seaway Valley Singers. The Singers had just finished their December 16 concert, O Come, O Come, in Iroquois United Church. The packed house gave the choir a standing ovation. 

The Singers present two concerts a year, and the Christmas celebration is eagerly anticipated in the community. 

Mixing classical and religious songs with  bouncing secular pieces, there was something to please everyone in this year’s program. The spiritual, Rise Up Shepherd And Follow, which highlighted all the choir divisions, was rich and soulful. The Minuet Noel, an unexpected mingling of Bach’s composition with the First Noel was also very pleasing. And with the full choir beautifully backing her, Margaret Whisselle (who is also the Singers’ accompanist) allowed her powerful soprano voice to fill the hall in Gesu Bambino. 

There was definitely a twinkle in conductor Jones’ eye as the Singers performed the (very) unconventional, The Twelve Days After Christmas. (How many of us, in the stress of the season, have not thought about a ‘cartridge’ and that partridge!) It was great musical fun.

The Handbell Ringers of Winchester United Church were again very welcome guests at the concert,  performing several pieces and leading the entire audience in a lively version of Jingle Bells. 

Word is that the Seaway Valley Singers are already hard at work putting together another fantastic concert scheduled for the spring. 

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Nearly 160 excited children of all ages saw their dreams come true as they got to visit directly with Santa on Thursday, December 13, when the merry old gentleman dropped into Iroquois.

Santa landed at the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch # 370, to greet his many fans. He took his place in his special chair, and with Elf Paul (Paul Robertson of the Iroquois-Matilda Lions) handing out treats, he listened to many Christmas wishes. By all accounts, it was a very successful visit before Santa had to rush back to the North Pole to continue to get ready for the Big Night. 

“Everyone had a great time,” said Candace Menges, representing the Iroquois and District Business Group, who along with the Royal Canadian Legion, sponsored and organized Santa’s visit to town. Byers Furniture and Appliances joined the Iroquois-Matilda Lions in seeing that every child visiting Santa got a special treat. 

Donald Barkley donated his tractor and wagon to take many of the children and parents on an exciting hay ride around the town. Leading that procession were the OPP auxiliary and a truck from the Fire Department, itself lit up like a Christmas tree. 

And just in case anyone got cold on the hay ride, parents and teachers from Iroquois Public School served up homemade hot chili and hot dogs (given by Donald Barkley) as part of a fund raiser to purchase new SmartBoards. 

Besides visiting Santa, young visitors could enjoy crafts at the Early Years Learning Centre, count gumballs for prizes or seek out some hidden elves.

Nate Murray and his friend Mitchell Woodward found the hidden elves and shared in a prize of $100 in Iroquois and District Business Group gift certificates. Rhiannon Beckstead won the bubble gum guessing contest, while colouring contest winners were Sarah Stewart, Keaton Urquhart and Dylan Cowan-Kennedy. 

The Iroquois Legion was definitely the place to be on Thursday afternoon, when Santa Claus came to town. 

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Winchester District Memorial Hospital has long been a teaching hospital and in recent years they have formalized many educational partnerships that have put this rural hospital in a position that not many other rural hospital’s enjoy.

“Every hospital has a smattering of academic affiliations, but no other hospitals our size have an academics program the scale of what we have here,” said Cholly Borland, WDMH CEO when he spoke with local media December 6. WDMH has affiliation agreements with 17 universities and colleges.

In the last 2.5 years more than 700 students have spent time at WDMH thanks to its teaching program. They have included students in more than a dozen disciplines such as medical and nursing students, student paramedics, also those studying in the fields of administration, diagnostics, pharmacy, midwifery and nutrition.

Having all these students spending time at WDMH has a huge benefit to the community. 

The role of teacher taken on by the preceptors keeps our local health care providers sharp. “Fresh blood, a second set of eyes and new ideas that students bring keeps our preceptors on their toes,” said Borland.

The exposure of so many medical students to WDMH and family medicine practices allows students to decide if rural medicine is for them, and it allows areas served by WDMH an edge in the recruiting process.

Dr. Brian Devin, who acts as WDMH site director for family medicine, knows the importance of having an exposure to rural medicine, which is his field of choice even though he is from a large city. “We’ve recruited six family physicians. and four of them are still practicing here,” said Devin. “We could always use more, but technically, we are not under-serviced right now. That shows that our investment in education does pay dividends to us.”

The students of family medicine fully appreciate the experience that WDMH offers. 

Dr. Stehpanne Brassard, a second year family medicine resident said, “I have felt like part of the team from day one.” Brassard explains that city hospitals are often filled with “the weird and wonderful” but rural hospitals offer a special experience. He explained that while he has seen a little of the weird and wonderful here, he has had so much more of a patient experience and learned a lot about continuity of care. “It’s fun when you look after someone through pregnancy, deliver their baby and then get to take care of the baby,” said Brassard. “Family medicine allows you the opportunity to practice at the full scope of your education,” added Devin.

“The health care providers who accept to be preceptors and the patients in the community are key to the success of this program,” said Sylvie Forgues-Martel, chief liaison officer for academic and medical affairs at WDMH. “The patients are very often the teachers,” said Devin. “It’s an important part of our learning,” said Brassard. “The patients are incredibly accepting, very trustful and very happy to participate in our learning, which is great. The more exposure we get makes our learning more complete, and we get a lot of exposure here.”

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The Bargain! Shop in Morrisburg presented the Dundas County Food Bank with a cheque for $4,000 on December 13.

Barry Greer, Eastern Ontario District Manager for The Bargain! Shop recently received a very welcome phone call from The Bargain! Shop’s senior management team. He was told that The Bargain! Shop was going to donate $4,000 to the charity of their Morrisburg store manager’s choice. “It was a nice surprise to get that phone call,” said Greer.

Morrisburg’s store manager is Susan Shaver.Shaver did some research into area charities and decided that the funds would be donated to the Dundas County Food Bank.

“Especially this time of year, there are a lot of people in need,” said Shaver. “This is a worthy cause.”

Dundas County Food Bank chair Alvin Runnalls was happy to receive the donation saying that the food bank is serving significantly more people this year.

South Dundas Food Bank coordinator Norma Smith said that food bank use is up 13 percent over last year.

She said she is seeing a lot of new people and at the South Dundas location in particular they serve a lot of large families.

“I see so much need here,” said Smith. “But, I get to see so much generosity too.”

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The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry announced the hiring of Terry Besner as its new Economic Development and Communications Officer.

Besner will bring to the Counties expertise in economic development services, having held positions previously in both the public and private sector. 

“We are pleased that Terry has made the decision to join our team at the Counties,” said CAO Tim Simpson. “We interviewed a series of highly qualified candidates, but we were particularly impressed by Terry’s credentials and what she would bring to the table.”

In October, Counties Council made the decision to deliver economic development services internally after over a decade of being delivered through the SD&G Community Futures Development Corporation. 

“It was a large undertaking to bring economic development in-house, but one that Council fully supported. I look forward to working with Ms. Besner,” said Warden Bill McGimpsey.

Besner at one time worked for the SD&G CFDC as projects manager.

Besner will be responsible for spearheading various economic development initiatives in partnership with local municipalities, as well as the implementation of the Counties’ corporate communications strategy.  She will assume her new position Jan. 8, 2013.

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In January, the project to renovate the former St. Cecilia school in Iroquois into a new St. Lawrence Medical Clinic building will get started and it should be complete around April.

The SLMC has received preliminary budget and design documents, and it was based on those documents that they decided to go forward with this project.

The new clinic will have space for three doctors, which is one more than the current clinic. It will also include space for ancillary services that SLMC may be eligible for such as RN run programs, Physician Assistant, Nurse Practitioner, etc.

“We don’t have space for that now, that’s one of the main reasons for the expansion,” said Stephen McCann, business manager for the SLMC. 

This addition makes room for the SLMC to recruit another doctor. “We’re working on that too,” he added.

“We are trying to be forward thinking and to take advantage of the Ministry programs that are available that will benefit the community. Right now, we don’t have the space to take advantage of those programs,” McCann explained.

The Township of South Dundas will be owners of the renovated building and lease it back to the SLMC for a 20 year, renewable lease, that will cover all capital and ongoing costs.

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The Winchester District Memorial Hospital Wish Tree has been officially lit, and the Hospital Foundation hopes that the spirit of giving in the community will be strong this holiday season. 

Last year gifts totalling over $49,000 were given in support of high priority needs at the hospital. To date, more than $30,000 has already been donated, with a deadline of December 31 about two weeks away. 

This year, 23 students from Morrisburg Public School attended the official Wish Tree lighting ceremony on Tuesday, December 11, in the main lobby of the hospital. 

Two MPS students, Cameryn Broad and Kristyn VanHoof, were given the honour, with Troy Cross, executive director of the WDMH Foundation, of throwing the switch to light the tree.

The Morrisburg students, with teacher Sarah Barclay-Thomas, had earlier delivered close to 400 hand made Christmas cards to the hospital, intended for patients who might have to spend Christmas in hospital care. 

“We also brought Christmas jingle bells, paper snowflakes, Christmas ornaments and special art work with us,” teacher Barclay-Thomas said. “Morrisburg Public School does not have a large population, so many of our students, from kindergarten to grade six, created more than one special card. We wanted to be sure that every patient was remembered. We look forward to coming to Winchester at this time of year, to sing, visit patients and present our cards to them.”

Accompanied by Joanne Sidorchuk, manager CCCU Rehab and Diagnostics, the students visited several floors of the hospital before the tree lighting ceremony. One of the highlights of their visit was the ability to deliver “welcome to the world” cards, especially designed for babies, to day old Kaley Kelly and her parents, Corinne and Chris.

Then the students joined hospital officials and guests in the lobby, where the Village Voyces choir performed songs of the season.

 “This Wish Tree is a symbol of the light our loved ones and caregivers have brought into our lives,” said Troy Cross. “Many, many people have touched our lives and this Tree represents them. 

Everyone recognized on this tree has given a gift to the hospital, recognizing a loved one who has passed, a friend or a member of our staff. The gifts we receive at this time serve our hospital not just in this season but also onward. 

And it is a real pleasure to see Morrisburg Public School students with us, touring our hospital to sing and give cards to our patients.”

This year, several hundred generous donors have given their support to the Wish Tree campaign. In the past, Scotiabank (whose seven branches support the campaign), was the sole matching partner of the Wish Tree program. This year Scotiabank will be joined by new sponsors Dan R Equipment, MacEwen Petroleum, Riveredge Farms and Russell Meadows Retirement Community.

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“This community has, as always, been very generous, even in these difficult times, with our Angel Tree drive,” said Morrisburg & District Lion, Wayne Domanko, chair of the 2012 Angel Tree drive in South Dundas. “The drive is designed to provide gifts for area children who might otherwise not receive a present this Christmas morning.”

Helping the Lions to make this a successful drive were the Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank and SDS Kerr. The Morrisburg Legion, Branch #48, the Ladies Auxiliary, Canadian Tire, the South Williamsburg Recreation Association, St. Mary-St. Cecilia grade eights and Morrisburg Public School’s Penny Drive, all made generous donations to the Angel Tree. 

Lions and spouses will organize the gifts, make some additional purchases and deliver the presents to the Legion on December 19, to be turned over to the South Dundas Christmas Exchange. “I am deeply appreciative of the work and financial contributions all our donors have carried out to make this a special Christmas for our kids,” Domanko said. "All the schools and businesses have been enormously supportive of our efforts."

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 First, it was Doesn’t That Hurt the Cow’s Back? Then came Picture This! And now author Steve Thompson has completed The First Time Isn’t Always the Best, the final book, he says, in the trilogy about his family.

“Unless the next generation coming up creates some new stories, this is the last family book for me,” Thompson said. Then he paused and added, “Some of them may be planning to make contributions. My daughter Bev, in Calgary, is a writer.”

The three books have followed the lives, the adventures (and misadventures) of the Thompson family, the parents and seven siblings Dave, Doug, Erik, Mike, Carol, Paul and Steve, growing up in the South Dundas area. 

“When I started, I actually hadn’t planned to do a series of books,” Thompson said. “I had written some short stories, and I was back at a literacy day in Winchester and read some of them aloud. I was asked, ‘Got any more of those?’ and was introduced to a publisher in Ottawa. 

The first book, well, some people said some nice things, and the stories just started expanding.”

As the books were developing, Thompson made a point of asking his brothers and sisters to share their memories with him. 

“I asked Paul, what do you remember about growing up? He looked at me and said, “Steve, do what you always do. Make them up,” Thompson laughed. 

The Thompson family, like many families, was made up of different characters, different personalities. Some relatives, Thompson freely admitted, teetered a little too close to the legal edge at times.

Thompson’s grandfather,  some of whose exploits are described in The First Time Isn’t Always the Best, was called the “John Dillinger of Ontario. Among other things, Grandpa John had two wives, my grandmother and another lady he decided to also ‘marry’.  

He had a few other secrets too. There was the cheese factory he owned that happened to burn down when he need some money. And there was the rum running during Prohibition. Grandpa maintained he was just helping the thirsty.”

Uncle Cam was also a bit of a black sheep, whose business activities (although quite successful) were described by Thompson as a bit “creative.”

“All my dad’s uncles had their ‘shady’ aspects,” Thompson laughed. “I have thought that that was probably why my dad was very upstanding. I remember him as stern and upright. From a very early age he had assumed responsibility for supporting his family and siblings. With his own children, he could be a bit aloof and distant. It may have all been a response to Grandpa John’s notoriety.”

His relationship with his parents is one that Thompson explores in his book.

In the afterward, Thompson writes that “I regret that I never told him (his father) much about my feelings concerning things that really mattered to both of us.”

In the book, Thompson’s mother is portrayed as an outgoing, sociable woman. “She loved to talk and visit. And she was a story teller, even sharing stories from the far past, the War of 1812.”

An Irishwoman, she loved the underdogs of the world. And she had a keen sense of humour: the ‘drama’ occasionally played out among neighbours always interested and amused her.

“She was the anchor of the family, the source of my love of story telling,” 

There are many stories, hilarious, poignant, a little sad in this final book about the boisterous Thompson clan. Readers will discover for themselves the joys, the sorrows, the adventures of growing up in rural Ontario decades ago. They may even recognize something of themselves in the tales.

“People are interesting,” Steve Thompson said. “Talk to your parents. Know your family history. Perhaps this was a simpler time, but life was good. Stay connected with your siblings. To this day all seven of us remain good friends, and have regular family reunions.  Of course,” he added, with a smile, “I take advantage every way I can.” 

Steve Thompson’s book is available at the Basket Case.

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