One good turn after another

Trends change all the time. Whether it’s fashion, design or woodwork, nothing stays the same. That’s abundantly clear to Peter Hunter, owner of Master Craft Wood Turnings in Elmira, who’s seen many trends come and go over the last two and half decades. Hunter is constantly re-inventing his business to accommodate the changes in fashion and product demands.

Master Craft’s roots were formed in the 1920s under the name Kitchener Buttons, which would produce intricate wooden buttons for the fashion industry, particularly for suit jackets and overcoats. With the introduction of plastic, the company’s focus turned to producing wooden tuning and volume controls for the radio industry in the 1940s. By the 1960s focus again had changed as the business became the national producer of the famous Yo-Yo.

In the 1970s, Master Craft was incorporated to produce wooden knobs, amongst other wooden turnings, using the specialized technology that had been developed over the prior years. Today the company is a supplier of face-grain knobs and specialty products such as rosettes, key tags, and other forms of discs. They are also well known for their wooden cabinet and furniture knobs. Master Craft’s specialty is the production of face-grain turned wood products, offering more than 20 different styles of wooden knobs, from classic to contemporary, in a variety of woods.

Face grain means the products come out of the face of the wood, with the grain in a plug to run the same way as a board would, which allow the plugs to be covered up easier. Stair and flooring companies use the product when they need to hide screw holes and want something to blend in easier.

“That is a part of our uniqueness, the fact that we make face-grain products,” said Hunter.

The company ships more than 50,000 plugs a month.

Master Craft is also a supplier of wooden screw plugs, wooden dowel rods, hardwood dowel rods, and custom wood turnings. They also offer specialty products, such as rosettes, key tags, table legs, chair legs, novelty items and grandfather clock parts.

“When Canadiana was in its height in the 1990s, there were a lot of chairs in the country-style that we were making lots of parts for but that trend has changed to square legs and backs. It is just a fashion change and now we do not do as many chair legs as we use to do,” said Hunter.

The company uses custom-built equipment that work 10 or 11 hours a day churning out screw knobs and floor plugs.

“The largest, most expensive machine in the shop makes the smallest part,” laughs Hunter.

The business still uses many of the original machines from the 1920s to fill smaller custom orders.

“The old machines are very labour intensive and very slow but the reason we keep them is for little jobs that may require only 40 plugs, it is easier to start this up the old machine than one of the larger machines that we have now. Plus the older machines can actually make larger parts than our CNC machines cannot. The old machines allow us to manufacture up to a three-inch disc.”

The business operates with five employees who keep a close eye on the machines in the shop. Each employee is responsible to fill orders for start to end.

“I find it works better to have one person complete a whole project because they know exactly what must be done and when it has to be finished,” said Hunter.

One of the main customers for the business is Home Hardware, for whom they fill dowel orders that are all UPC coded and painted for diameter recognition. Master Craft keeps ahead of the dowel orders by about six weeks, which allows them to ship the same day they receive an order.

All the dowels are manufactured from soft maple brought in from Quebec and New York.

“The nice thing is that is it white, it is straight and strong; some of our competition does not have those qualities to offer,” said Hunter.

The business works with all kinds of lumber, including cherry, oak, ash, walnut, and maple for turning jobs like legs or spindles and knobs.

This May 1 the company will be celebrating a couple of anniversaries. It will be 25 years since Hunter bought the company back in 1987 and 10 years of it operating in Elmira.

The company moved from Kitchener to Elmira when its lease was up in 2001 and Hunter decided the business needed more room and a more modern setting that would create a better flow for his workers. Elmira had the land to be developed and Hunter found the perfect spot in the South Field business park.

“We were the very first ones in the business park and have watched it grow over the years. Elmira is a great little community to do business in.”

Hunter, who worked as a mechanical engineer, always knew he would own his own business and was eventually offered Master Craft.

“The business was a profitable one and had a strong business plan with many clients and it seemed like the right fit at the time,” he explained. “It was easy to step in and carry on with business.”

The company had seen some low times in the early 2000s just after they moved into the new building.

“In 2001 we were very busy making knobs and turnings, and then just after 9/11 the bottom seemed to fall out of our market. Trends changed and when that happened we got lost on the downside, which led to some lean years. It wasn’t until 2008 that we really reinvented ourselves and got the doweling going for our business.”

During the recession of 2008 Master Craft started to pick up more and more business as their competitors closed up shop.

“We managed to pick up customers from businesses that closed and that helped us through the recession. It was their bad fortune that caused us our good fortune. We had to adapt and change with the trends and found our way.”

A fitting ode to the Man in Black

“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.” Well, Jim Yorifido, actually, but the show will have the look and feel of the real thing when Yorfido and his wife Pam, channeling June Carter, take to the stage next weekend at the Commercial Tavern.
Entitled Johnny Cash: From Memphis to Folsom, the touring production covers a good swath of the life of an icon, known to generations as the Man in Black.

It’s a role Yorifido has been honing for about seven years, the latest part of a music career that spans more than four decades, since his teenage years growing up in Welland. While he’s always included some Johnny Cash songs in his repertoire –“Folsom Prison Blues” is a favourite – he really got into the swing of things when he joined The Sun Records Story, the official international touring show of the legendary Memphis-based record label that launched the career of Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison. Produced by Sam Phillips in the early 1950s, Sun Records was the home base for many of Cash’s best known hits, including “I Walk the Line,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Get Rhythm.”

After the run of that show, the couple decided to keep the act going, playing across the country.

“It gets a great reaction. We’re really lucky that way – we keep working,” he said this week from his home in Fort Erie.

Yorfido’s portrayal of Cash, the music icon who died in 2003, has won him plenty of accolades. In fact, it got him the role of the Man in Black in a film called Resurrection of a Guitar Hero, currently being shot in the Niagara Region. He also sings the title song.

From the makers of the award-winning Under Jakob’s Ladder, the film tells the story of up-and-coming guitarist Jimi Lazer who makes a deal with a witch to become a superstar. He buys an enchanted guitar that, when played, is supposed to bring him 30 years of fame. When he realizes the price, he tries to back out… only to find out there is no turning back.

It’s a brand-new experience for Yorfido, who’s enjoying a behind-the-scenes look at filmmaking. Shooting earlier this week and next, he should be wrapped up in advance of his jaunt up to Maryhill.

With Johnny Cash: From Memphis to Folsom, you can expect all of the hits –“All the classic Johnny songs and the duets with June Carter.”

Yorfido’s voice covers the same baritone range as the man himself. The look is there, too.

“The older I get, the more I look the part,” he laughs.

The set list will include “Ring of Fire,”  “Boy Named Sue,” “I Walk the Line” and the famous duet with June Carter “Jackson” amongst other classic songs. As well, Pam Yorfido will perform some country song favourites from Tammy Wynette, including the classic “Stand by Your Man.”

Also on tap will be some of Cash’s later recordings with producer Rick Rubin, particularly his cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.” His covers of modern rock offerings exposed Johnny Cash to another generation of music lovers, a fact reflected in the age mix at the shows Yorifido plays.

“It’s a real mixed bag out there,” he said of the crowds, noting that’s different from some of the tribute shows he’s been involved with, where there’s definitely a much older audience.

The couple is looking forward to returning to the Commercial Tavern, praising the venue for keeping true to authentic country music and its performers.

Johnny Cash: From Memphis to Folsom  takes to the stage at the Commercial Tavern May 6 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15, available at the venue, 1303 Maryhill Rd., or by calling 519-648-3644.

Green energy having growing pains

As a provincial policy, green energy has been something of a flop, at least in the short term. With demand down and capacity growing, wholesale prices have fallen, widening the gap between conventional sources and what Ontario is paying for electricity generated by feed-in tariff (FIT) projects. Ontarians are subsidizing the use of higher-priced alternatives.

Peak and mid-peak rates are expected to rise by more than eight per cent May 1, courtesy of the Ontario Energy Board. Off-peak rates will rise by 4.8 per cent.

“Ontario’s power system is fuelled by consumers to the tune of about $16-billion a year,” says energy expert Tom Adams. “That number is headed for $23-billion or $24-billion soon, by 2016.

“By the end of 2013, Ontario is on track to have the highest electricity prices of any jurisdiction in North America.”

That’s hardly music to the ears of the McGuinty government, already being lambasted for its energy policy.

A budget that calls for the merger of the Ontario Power Authority and the Independent Electricity Sector Operator, touted by the government as a cost-saving measure, is less than a drop in the bucket. The savings amount to 16/100ths of 1% of our total electricity bill, notes the Ontario Clean Air Alliance.

The government has also appointed Murray Elston, former president of the Canadian Nuclear Association (nuclear being the source of many of Ontario’s electricity woes), to search for ways to reduce the costs of electricity distribution companies such as Waterloo North Hydro, which are responsible for 11 per cent of our total electricity bill.

The producers responsible for more than 80 per cent of the ever-rising electricity costs get a free ride.

Consumers and taxpayers, as always, will pay the freight.

Methods for getting out from some of that burden, at least on a bi-monthly billing basis, will be front and center at the Green Living and Tech Fair on today (Saturday) at the St. Jacobs arena. Part of Woolwich’s Healthy Communities Month, the event focuses on energy-saving tips, from little changes right through to the alternative technologies at play in the province’s much-maligned Green Energy Act.

Among those manning the booths in St. Jacobs will be Glen Woolner, general manager of Community Renewable Energy Waterloo (CREW), an advocate for alternatives and a supporter of Ontario’s support for sustainable energy.

“We’re on the right track. We’ve covered so much ground in the past two and half years, it’s phenomenal,” he says of the measures taken thus far, acknowledging there will be growing pains on what he sees as the inevitable path for our energy future.

A long-term investment, green energy projects lead to energy security and a thriving economy, he maintains. In the short-term, there are hurdles.

“We have to get over that hump somehow. We have to allow ourselves a transition time.”

The big picture aside, CREW also focuses on what individual homeowners can do to reduce their energy use, and the bills that follow.

Woolner points to his group’s Power $aving Network (P$N) electricity self-audit toolkit, which can be borrowed free of charge from libraries in Waterloo Region. Equipped with meters, instructions and charts, the kits provide homeowners the chance to get a comprehensive picture of their electrical use and how to reduce it.

The average user finds savings of 25 per cent, he notes, just through eliminating power-wasters he or she didn’t even know about, for instance.

“It helps you find things that are wasting your money, and everybody’s money because overall demand drives … more spending on things like nuclear plants.

“It does make a difference.  If we all did that, it would make a huge impact,” he adds of the changes identified by the audit and the subsequent lowering of demand.

An all-volunteer, non-profit group, CREW is essentially the creation of energy-saving enthusiasts, many of them engineers who were early adaptors of technologies that became advocates for conservation and renewable energy sources.

Woolner, for instance, has spent years making his Kitchener home a model of efficiency that employs geothermal, solar hot water and photovoltaic systems.

He and other CREW members would like nothing more than to see others hop on the energy-saving bandwagon.

“If you have an interest in doing that, we’re happy to help you.”

The more people that get involved, the sooner Ontario – and, indeed, everywhere else – can put costly non-renewable power options behind them. Instead, we’ll have free energy. Oh, the tools needed to generate that electricity cost something, but the price is falling all the time. That, of course, is the rationale behind the government’s green energy strategy: spend upfront to foster an industry and watch the production costs fall even as more jobs are created.

We’re not there yet, but it’s only been a couple of years. Enthusiasts have been applying techniques and technologies for decades, but it’s only recently that we’ve seen a concerted, government-level approach. The benefits won’t be obvious for a while.

Perhaps in another decade we’ll look back and wonder what all the fuss was about – and why we didn’t go green sooner. Dalton McGuinty might prefer to see dividends sooner – it’s all about re-election, after all – but the widespread application of what people like Woolner have known for years is still in its infancy.

As retail rates continue to climb despite low demand/high supply — and no service improvements — people find creative ways to reduce their electricity costs.

Airport plays host to aviation fun day

Have a passion for flying? Curious about it? interested in a  behind-the-scenes look at the aviation industry? Then the Region of Waterloo International Airport is the place to be on Apr. 28. It is a way of opening up the doors of the airport to the general public, said Jo Anne Leyburne of Great Lakes Helicopter Flight Training College, which is co-hosting the event.

“We had such a great response last year, we just felt the event was something that the community really wanted us to hold again,” said Leyburne, adding there is hope the event will plant a seed of interest that could develop into a lifelong love of flight for some young person in attendance.

Beginning at 9 a.m. the event runs until 4 p.m. rain or shine and is co-hosted by the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre.

The airport is still small enough to allow staff and crews the freedom to hold these types of events, which is great for the community to learn all about the industry, she explained.

The day will be filled with opportunities for families to get up close and personal with light airplanes and helicopters with some of the highlights including a helicopter spray demonstration, the chance to explore vintage aircraft and explore an airport fire truck. There will also be short flights in either a helicopter or airplane available for a small fee.

Booths will be set up with information about aviation careers with a chance to meet pilots, air traffic controllers and border guards. For the younger ones there will be plenty of children’s activities, including face painting.
“The day is a great way to learn all about the amazing world or aviation and meet those responsible for flight and safety at the airport.”

The family friendly event is open to everyone and is free of charge. There will be parking available onsite. For more information about the event visit the website www.aviationfunday.com.

Wellesley firefighters, college students burn down the house

Fire students from Conestoga College had the rare opportunity to witness a house burn in a controlled setting on Apr. 13 as Wellesley fire crews razed it to the ground. The house, located at 3438 Weimar Line, had been donated to the fire department earlier this year.

“The current owner purchased the property and were planning on redeveloping the site and they had taken out a demolition permit on the house,” said Wellesley fire chief Andrew Lillico.
“It was basically a donation of the building for the purposes of training.”

A thick plume of smoke rose to the sky around 10:30 a.m. Apr. 13 and was visible as far away as St. Jacobs as about 25 students from the college participated in a range of training exercises, from water relay exercises to the application of water and the affects of various fire attack techniques.

At no time, however, were students or fire crews permitted inside the building while it burned.

“We follow National Fire Protection Association Standards, which prohibit us [from entering],” said Lillico. “If we want to do interior firefighting scenarios we would do that at the training centre, which is a more controlled environment.”
The fire raged for more than two hours as training officers from the college took students through various scenarios on how to attack a fire, where to spray water for the greatest affect, how to safely climb to the roof and combat a fire on the second storey, and how to operate manual water relays from a pond some 1,300 feet away – a reality in rural firefighting with no access to municipal water supplies or hydrants.

“I think the students were very impressed,” Lillico said.

The fire was also the final stage of training in the home that had been used by the fire department for exercises since early March. Lillico said his own volunteers had been practicing ventilation tactics, search-and-rescue and self-rescue exercises, as well as aerial operations and water supply and tanker operations for the past six weeks or so.

Before the fire they also ensured all utilities had been disconnected and that there were no hazards left inside the building.

The opportunity to practice on a real structure is a rare one, as many homes that owners wish to donate to the fire department simply aren’t in good enough condition.

“It can’t be in such a state of decay that there is no value to it,” the fire chief explained.

A couple of hours after it all began, fire crews used the aerial ladder truck to extinguish what was left of the flames and a backhoe was on the scene for cleanup.

For the dozens of passing motorists that stopped to watch it must have been an odd scene watching dozens of fire fighters watch a building burn to the ground.

“This was more […] to observe the fire rather than to see if you can physically put this fire out,” said Lillico.

“It was never our intent to extinguish the fire.”

Woolwich seeks more answers ahead of gravel pit OMB hearing

There are no answers, only more questions as Woolwich goes into Ontario Municipal Board hearings that will decide the fate of a gravel pit proposed for the Winterbourne valley.

Following public input, the township has expanded its list of concerns to be addressed in upcoming proceedings, starting with a mediation session next month, involving Kuntz Topsoil, Sand and Gravel’s application to mine gravel from a 90-acre site at 125 Peel St.

New information has called into question some of the studies submitted by the applicant, with a host of new questions to be answered, director of engineering and planning Dan Kennaley told councillors meeting Apr. 16. The new data, for instance, have caused the township to reverse its position that the pit would have no adverse visual impact on residents of Conestogo’s Golf Course Road.

“We’ve changed our professional opinion. We’ve now determined there would be an unacceptable visual impact.”

With that in mind, the township will be asking the applicant to address the issue.

Other questions have arisen due to studies showing the water table is higher than initially measured, meaning there’s less gravel accessible, as extraction would have to remain at least 1.5 metres above the water table. That, in turn, poses challenges to the economic viability of the project, perhaps removing 300,000 tonnes of aggregate from the expected total of 850,000 tonnes.

The higher levels could also reduce the height of the pit face, perhaps changing the impact of noise from the site, Kennaley suggested.

And, if less gravel is to be taken, the township would have to look at perhaps reducing the 15-year sunset clause it hopes to attach to the project.

In a presentation to councillors, West Montrose resident Lynn Hare raised another issue that made the township’s list of concerns, namely the suitability of plans to recycle concrete and asphalt onsite. The material, which would be trucked in, would generate “an incredible amount of dust,” she argued, calling the extra crushing incompatible with surrounding residential land use.

For Coun. Bonnie Bryant, concerns about the recycling operation are significant enough to look at removing that component from the application. At the very least, the township will look at a temporary-use bylaw to govern recycling of waste material onsite.

Kennaley said the township would be seeking legal advice about removing or controlling the recycling operation.

Coun. Mark Bauman, who was the lone dissenting vote in plans to expand the township’s official list of concerns, argued against further restrictions on recycling, saying it would be hypocritical given that Woolwich recycles the concrete and asphalt from its road projects.

He also opposed more delays in the project, which was given tentative approval in the last term of council; Bauman is the sole member from that term still serving on council.

“We’re continually throwing hurdles in front of this application,” he said.

On the subject of gravel, councillors cleared the way for progress at the pit operated by D&J Lockhart Excavators at 6225 Middlebrook Rd., agreeing to withdraw its objections to the company’s Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) application.
The expansion to the existing small pit had been held up over the inclusion of depth-of-extraction provisions – known as vertical zoning – in the township’s zoning bylaw.

Both the township and Region of Waterloo are challenging the province’s stance against vertical zoning in an OMB appeal regarding the new Regional Official Plan. In this case, however, the township has agreed to separate the depth provisions from the rest of the bylaw, allowing them to be included in the ARA site plan.

Wellesley backs call to exclude municipalities from EU trade deal

The Township of Wellesley joined 40 other Canadian cities and regions passing a motion for a proposal to exclude them from the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union.
CETA is an inclusive free trade agreement between Canada and the EU. Negotiations first began in 2009 and are expected to finish later this year.

At Tuesday night’s council meeting, Steve Sachs, recording secretary for the Waterloo Region Labour Council , urged councillors to push the province for municipalities to be exempted from the terms of a trade deal that would have economic repercussions for food and agriculture in the region.

“We are concerned about the effects that the agreement will have on municipal procurement and our local food and farming sector,” said Sachs. “CETA would forbid the Township of Wellesley from applying offsets or conditions assigned to extract local development benefits on tenders for goods, services and construction.”

Unlike the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), CETA would bind provincial and municipal governments through its tendering provisions. These provisions would prohibit municipal governments from approving tenders of goods and services valued at more than $340,000 in favour of local or Canadian goods, services or labour said Sachs.

Under CETA, if any public institution or municipality in the region chooses to procure a portion of the foods it buys from local sources, European corporations could sue for potential lost of revenue.

“What the EU is seeking in CETA is a legal guarantee that if one of its firms puts in the lowest bid that firm will win the contract and municipal decisions to the contrary could be challenged before a trade tribunal with the authority to halt projects and over turn contracts,” said Sachs.

Municipalities may face new administration costs under the CETA agreement as they will have to provide the Canadian government with information about municipal procurement, issue bids under CETA specifications and compensate unsuccessful bidders who claim CETA procedures were not followed.

Sachs said the trade agreement was unbalanced in favour of the EU and would fundamentally change the way Canadian municipalities do business.

“An impact assessment done for the EU commission predicts one-sided gains for European construction and service firms and Canadian municipalities lose a lot of policy flexibility on spending public money, money they could use to support local employment and sustainable development.”

“This agreement scares me, especially what (Canada) is giving up procuring this. There could be a lot of damage done to the municipalities,” said Coun. Jim Olender.

CETA is designed to open up European markets for Canadian beef, pork, canola, and other commodities with the federal government claiming the agreement will add $12 billion to the Canadian economy over time.
Within southwestern Ontario the cities Guelph, Brantford, Stratford, Hamilton, Windsor, Mississauga and Toronto have all passed motions for proposals to the Ontario government to exclude them from CETA.

Woolwich to extend DC waiver at former Procast site

The owner of a vacant former industrial site in Elmira’s core this week won an extension to the development charges exemption that’s been in place for eight years.

Blaze Properties now has another four years to get something going on the property, the former home of Procast Foundries, which closed its doors in 2002. The arrangement would see the township waive $56,000 in development charges – fees levied by municipalities to pay for infrastructure costs for new construction – as an incentive to get a new project underway.

The catch is that only commercial development qualifies, not residential. The owner sees demand for a residential project, but none for commercial. The township has resisted converting the land to purely residential use, however.
As director of engineering and planning Dan Kennaley noted at Monday night’s council meeting, a mixed-use project, with storefronts and apartments above, for instance, could be workable. An “important property in the core,” the site should be developed in keeping with the surrounding zoning, which is commercial.

“I think the requirement for ground-floor commercial is a good one,” he said of the township’s position.

But Coun. Mark Bauman appeared to be softening on that approach, noting there’s been no action at the site – and thus no real tax revenues – for eight years since the building was demolished and the property cleared for development.
“I’m wondering if our designation is wrong,” he said of the commercial zoning, adding the township has an incentive to look at other options.

In pushing for the extension of the development charge exemption, Mark Dorfman, a planner representing Blaze Properties, told councillors changing the Official Plan and zoning designations on the land would be the biggest incentive to seeing development there.

“I think there’s a market for residential development at that location.”

Blaze Properties has been trying to develop the 1.36-acre site at 7 Memorial Ave. since 2004. The foundry itself closed its doors in October 2002, with the building subsequently demolished.

In order to make the new exemption official, the township will have to amend the applicable bylaw, which requires a public meeting, with feedback and notification periods. Kennaley estimated it would take another two months to go through the process, which would see the exemption run to Apr. 30, 2016.

Mother-daughter fashion show to benefit shelter

Just in time for Mother’s Day, a mother-daughter fashion show is being held at Lions Hall in Elmira, with proceeds to help support the women’s crisis centre Anselma House.
The shelter helps protect women and children living in the region who are trying to escape domestic abuse.

“We wanted to help out a charity like Anselma House, which helps tons of women and children, because it is one of those charities that does not get a lot of donations as it does not have a happy feel associated with it,” said Lori Dronick, one of the organizers of the event.

Currently Anselma House has more than 30 beds for women and children and the salon is hoping to raise funds to help the organization expand its facilities to assist with the demand on space.
“Anselma House sees close to 45 people come through their doors, way more than they can handle, and they need more space so we are hoping to raise some donations to help with the cause,” said Dronick.
The Beautiful Me fashion show, hosted by Guys and Dolls Salon, will take place on May 6 starting at 2 p.m.

The fashion show will display clothing and outfits from local businesses including FB and Me, Taylors Bridal, and Core Clothing. The garments will be modeled by locals, ranging in age from 14 to 70 years old, who are all clients of the salon.
“Around spring time everyone wants to look good and feel good and the show is all about confidence and feeling better about oneself,” said Dronick. “We are really hoping to make this a community event.”
Tickets for the show are $20 and include a light lunch with door prizes available.

Anyone interested in attending the event should call 519-669-8234 for more information.