A rebuilding barn gathers no moss

Work on a new barn on New Jerusalem Road near Elmira is progressing rapidly.


The old barn was destroyed in a July 26 blaze that killed a number of animals.

In action with the boys of summer

The KW Cubs, formerly the Elmira Cubs, were edged 7-6 by the Cobourg Force in the final game of the Ontario Amateur Softball Association championship at Hillside Park last weekend. Nate Bauman beats the throw to second base.

Blaze destroys Elmira-area barn

The fire that leveled a barn southeast of Elmira Monday evening left $250,000 in damage and more than a hundred dead animals in its wake.

Columns of smoke were visible miles away from the farm on New Jerusalem Road, not far from the newly expanded parochial school on Scotch Line, around 7 p.m. July 26.

“I just happened to be driving by,” said Floradale fire chief Dennis Frey. “I was about two kilometres away …Read more

Steam engine’s restoration is on track

Getting the train back on the tracks was the objective Wednesday morning, as a steam locomotive arrived in Elmira on a truck and departed being pulled behind another locomotive.

The Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society, which operates the Waterloo Central Railway, has been working on steam engine No. 124 at its St. Thomas yard for the past eight years. Now the train is moving …Read more

Provincial money boosts Breslau pork plant

Conestoga Meat Packers is getting $350,000 from the provincial government for improvements to its Breslau plant, which will result in the creation of 40 new jobs.

Ontario Agriculture Minister Carol Mitchell was in Breslau Tuesday morning to make the funding announcement.

“We know the world is hungry for Ontario products,” Mitchell said. “This investment means Conestoga …Read more

WCR nearing completion of its St. Jacobs facility

Rail travel reached its heyday in the decades around the turn of the 20th century, when a railway link could make or break towns and industries. By the 1940s, rail was in decline as the automobile took precedence. Now there’s an uptick in interest from a historical standpoint.

“You can see the interest just by the ridership on our train,” said Roy Broadbear, general manager of the Waterloo Central Railway and a fourth-generation railroader. “There’s quite a move afoot. People are finally taking an interest in preserving our railway history.” …Read more

Hydro breaks ground on new Woolwich facility

Construction of Waterloo North Hydro’s new service centre is officially underway after a groundbreaking ceremony held on the site Wednesday morning.

The new facility is located on Country Squire Road in Woolwich Township, just north of the Waterloo boundary. Half of the 104,000-square-foot facility will house administration offices, while the other half will be used for storage and maintenance of vehicles and equipment …Read more

On the road to a gold medal

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best.”

This mantra is quite a mouthful for anyone, but is especially impressive coming from Samuel Rahbek-Ward, an 18-year-old Alberta man with cerebral palsy whose parents were told that he would likely never be able to speak.  This week, Rahbek-Ward visited London, Ontario with his parents to participate in the 2010 Special Olympics Summer Games and then paid a visit to their good friend Dave …Read more

A break from the fast track

Taking things slowly is not something that Elmira resident Olivia Charnuski is accustomed to doing these days. Spending the summer at her Birdland home and working at a feed mill in Elora is a drastic change of pace for the 20-year-old who has spent the past two years competing as a sprint hurdler on a track scholarship at Liberty University in Virginia.

Charnuski began training as a sprint hurdler more than five years ago when she ran for Elmira District Secondary School as well as the Laurel Creek Track and Field Club. Previously she had run short sprints and done gymnastics competitively: sprint hurdling was a combination of the two that her coaches …Read more

Elmira man joins Legion’s national executive council

After some 25 years of service with the Elmira Legion, Gordon Moore is now ready to represent the branch on a national level: he was recently selected to serve as Dominion first vice-president of The Royal Canadian Legion. His election to the Legion’s top executive council came at the 43rd Dominion Convention in Winnipeg.

Moore joined the Canadian Army in 1969, serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, stationed in Fort Osborne, Winnipeg for three years …Read more