Christmas Concert Photo Gallery

St. Boniface Catholic School students Maria Kanellis, Mitchell Hartman, Grace Baillargeon and Jenny Schaefer take to the stage during the school’s annual Christmas pageant Dec. 17 in Maryhill. See below for more pictures of school performances.

Breslau PS

Conestogo PS

Floradale PS

Foundation Christian School

John Mahood

Linwood PS

Riverside

St. Boniface

St. Clements

St. John’s Kilmarnock

Christmas’ feeling endures

Grace Scott, 10 years old, could not wipe the smile from her face that day. It was Christmas Eve and she was just headed home after a very important day. Earlier that morning her father had announced to her family that he was heading into Elmira to run some errands, and she had been invited to go with him, something which didn’t happen too often. As she rode along, she could see her warm …Read more

Family experiences season of giving

A month ago, Mary Detweiler was dreading the start of winter.

Winter means ice and snow and treacherous footing when she lifts her eight-year-old daughter Julianna into the family van. Julianna has a rare genetic disease called Aicardi syndrome, which causes seizures, brain cysts and developmental delays. She’s also a growing girl, making the need …Read more

Breslau firm gets $2.3 million

The Christmas celebration will be extra merry at Conestoga Meat Packers in Breslau following a $2.3-million investment from the federal government. The money will help the company open new markets for Ontario pork.

The investment, announced this week by Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht, comes from Canada’s Economic Action Plan’s $50-million Slaughter Improvement Program …Read more

Small wonder that youth are disenchanted with politics

There’s a saying, misattributed to Winston Churchill among others, that goes, “If you are not a socialist by the time you are 25, you have no heart. If you are still a socialist by the time you are 35, you have no brains.”

I can’t help but think about how that line is used to negate the young protesters we saw at the recent climate change talks in Copenhagen, and at every other globalization forum in recent years. …Read more

Hockey jerseys destined for troops in Afghanistan

A pair of Waterloo Wolves jerseys will see action on a very different kind of hockey rink soon: one with no ice and sweltering temperatures that reach 50 degrees Celsius.

The Wolves are sending the jerseys to Afghanistan, where Canadian soldiers spend their free moments playing ball hockey on the Kandahar airfield …Read more

A Christmas classic enjoys a makeover

The combination of an enduring Christmastime story and legendary Canadian artistry has got legs. Introduced last year, the Group of Seven Nutcracker struck a chord, and has undergone some refinements for this season’s tour, which comes to Kitchener Monday at the Centre In The Square.

Set against the world-famous images of the rural north, Ballet Jörgen’s Group of Seven …Read more

Pair of Woolwich gymnasts eyeing provincials

The Woolwich Gymnastics Club is making a bid to send gymnasts to the provincial championships for the first time this year.

Jennifer Brubacher and Robin Porter, both 12, are busy training for the provincial qualifiers.

The two girls competed in their first qualifying meet in Georgetown earlier this month, finishing in the middle of the pack of 17 gymnasts. …Read more

Heidelberg swimmer finds herself in sync

As a new season gets off to a great start for the Waterloo Regional Synchronized Swim Club, a Heidelberg resident is among the team’s bright lights.

Sarah Adams, a Grade 9 student at Elmira District Secondary School, recently finished fourth overall in the ‘under 13’ category, scoring the top spot for her duet routine with teammate Emily McKenzie at the Lisa …Read more

St. Jacobs to add some office space to the mix

After stretches as a woolen goods mill, a felt factory and the first Olympia ice resurfacer factory, the Riverworks building in St. Jacobs is going through another transformation.

The Shops at Riverworks is set to become the new offices of Quarry Integrated Communications, an advertising and public relations firm currently based in Waterloo …Read more