What it means to be Mennonite
While the majority of NHL players were enjoying a nearly weeklong break for the All-Star game festivities in Ottawa last weekend, Nick Spaling took the opportunity to give back to his community.
Spaling, a native of Drayton and 2007 draft pick of the Nashville Predators, was in his hometown and at the Dan Snyder Arena in Elmira Jan. 27 to shoot a commercial for the Mennonite Church of Canada.
The commercial is aimed at children growing up within the Mennonite Church, as Spaling did, and to encourage them to chase their dreams and not be held back by their faith or the stigma that surrounds it.
“The purpose is to chip away at some of the stereotypes that are sometimes associated with Mennonites,” said Willard Metzger, executive director of Mennonite Church Canada and former pastor of the Community Mennonite Fellowship in Drayton, which Spaling attended as a child.
MORE ICE TIME Spaling spent about half an hour at the WMC filming a commercial for the Mennonite Church of Canada.
“Sometimes people will associate Mennonite with a certain ethnicity, a German ethnicity, or oftentimes would assume that all Mennonites are old-order Mennonite with the horse and buggy, so we’re trying to dispel that.”
The shoot consisted of two locations; youth playing ball hockey in the parking lot of Community Mennonite Fellowship, and Spaling playing in a mock NHL game at the Dan Snyder Arena. The scenes will cut between one boy in particular at the ball hockey game (symbolizing Spaling as a youth), and Spaling at the NHL level taking slap shots and body checking opponents into the glass.
“The main focus of it is that you can find Mennonites anywhere and everywhere. The idea is that ‘I’m Nick Spaling. I’m an NHL player, and I’m also a Mennonite,’” explained Metzger.
Metzger has been trying to organize the shoot for nearly a year, but with Spaling’s busy NHL schedule, it has been hard to find the time. Finally, the pair decided they could do it over the NHL All-Star break since Spaling would be returning home to visit family because he couldn’t make it home for Christmas.
The NHLer said he was happy to help the community that had done so much for him growing up.
“Being a part of the Mennonite Church, when this opportunity came up I thought it was a great way to get the church’s message out there and to get that point across,” said Spaling after the shoot at the WMC.
“It’s a new and evolving way of looking at things, instead of your typical Mennonite that a lot of people think of these days.”
The commercial is just the first in a series that the Mennonite Church hopes to film, and Metzger said they have arranged to film a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, as well as ordinary business people and entrepreneurs to give the commercials a well-rounded mix of high-profile professionals as well as the everyday person.
Metzger said he was unsure when the commercial might hit the airwaves, but hoped it could coincide with the Predators’ playoff push in early spring.
Wellesley girl’s poem nets $5k for Habitat for Humanity
Katie McDonald’s poem “Homemade Happiness” expresses just how important her home is to her and her family, and thanks to her writing efforts, an Ontario family is a little bit closer to having a home that they can call their own. Katie is one of five runner-up winners in the Meaning of Home national essay contest that was organized by mortgage specialists Genworth Financial Canada, and $5,000 will be given to a Habitat for Humanity project in her name.
She also received a new iPod and a pizza party for her entire Grade 6 class at Wellesley Public School.
“My mom heard about the contest, so I thought it would be a lot of fun,” said Katie.
Katie’s mother Sharon, a Grade 6 teacher in Kitchener, said she was surprised to learn that Katie was one of the winners, but that surprise quickly disappeared.
“She is such a creative girl. Her writing, her doodling, she’s always reading,” said Sharon. “She loves her home and is very passionate about our home and what it stands for. I wasn’t surprised by what she wrote.”
Katie’s poem touches on many themes that most of us can probably relate to. She describes how home is a place of joy and delight, and that it is like “arms that embrace.”
She also writes about how her creativity takes flight and that fun has no limit in her home – and she even makes mention of her father Ken’s homemade waffles.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME Katie McDonald was one of five runner-up winners in the Genworth Meaning of Home essay contest. She wrote her poem outside in the family treehouse.
“My dad makes those a lot,” she said with a smile.
This is the fifth year of the essay contest, and it has seen more than 10,000 essays submitted in that time. The latest contest was also Genworth’s best – a total of 3,190 essays were submitted from coast to coast, and the contest was open to children in Grades 4, 5 and 6, with the winners chosen from a list of 24 finalists.
Genworth’s leader of community relations said that Katie’s poem was well-written and truly conveyed the meaning of home, which was why she was selected as a runner-up.
“It’s not just a place to sleep, and it’s not just determined by the brick and mortar,” said Linda Belanger. “It’s somewhere where a family gets together and, as (Katie) said, the home is about the people inside and the love that’s around it.”
An Ethiopean-born Grade 4 student from Calgary, Edelawit Schnell, was the grand prize winner and $60,000 was given to a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in her name. Altogether Genworth has donated more than $450,000 to the charity since the contest began.
This year the company also donated $5 to Habitat for Humanity for every essay that was submitted.
“We added this element so that every kid can feel like they are contributing,” said Belanger.
Since this year also marks the fifth anniversary of the contest, Genworth will be publishing a book of all the winners and the runners-up from the past five years, with all of the proceeds going back the Habitat for Humanity.
Katie said that she didn’t know anything about Habitat for Humanity before the contest, but since she decided to enter she did a little more research on the organization and said that they are doing important work to try and build homes for those who can’t afford them.
She has donated her $5,000 to Habitat for Humanity in Stratford, and hopes the money can be used to help someone else discover the joys of home that she loves so much.
“I’ve always grown up in a good home so I thought it would be fun to write about it and tell other people about where I live.”
Kings make it three in a row over the last week
The Elmira Sugar Kings used a potent and balanced attack to claim a victory in each of their past three games. They defeated the Listowel Cyclones 8-4 on the road back on Jan. 27, beat up on the Stratford Cullitons 6-2 at home last Sunday night, and edged the Kitchener Dutchmen also by a score of 6-2 on Tuesday night at Kinsmen Arena. Head coach Dean DeSilva was pleased with the team’s performance as they head towards the playoffs.
“I was real happy over the weekend, real happy with how we played Friday night in Listowel and Sunday against Stratford,” said DeSilva. “That’s right from goaltending, defence, everybody. I can’t find fault in anybody’s game.”
The goals came in bunches all night against Listowel as Elmira scored two in the first, three in the second, and three more in the third en route to the win. Riley Sonnenburg led the way with a hat trick and an assist, while Brett Priestap also added four points on a goal and three assists.
Justis Husak was strong in goal, making 38 saves for his eighth win of the year.
ANOTHER STOP Elmira’s Nick Horrigan sticks out his left pad to stop Pat Clifford of the Cullitons at point -blank range in the first period of Elmira’s 6-2 victory last Sunday. Horrigan made 26 saves in the win.
Sunday night at home against the Cullitons the Kings fell behind early but managed to rally to snap the visitor’s four-game winning streak.
Stratford took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission despite being outshot 23-15 by the Kings, and Brad McClure extended that lead to 2-0 on the powerplay just 1:54 into the second.
The Kings, however, pushed back with four unanswered goals and headed to the dressing room up 4-2 at the end of 40 minutes.
“I don’t think there was anything that sparked us,” said DeSilva of the comeback. “There is a sense of confidence and a sense of belief with the players and the team. There was no panic, and we talked about that before the game.”
Elmira’s Michael Hasson got the ball rolling less than two minutes after Stratford made it 2-0 when he crossed the Cullitons blueline and unleashed a quick wrist shot through a screen at the top of the faceoff circle, beating Stratford’s Jesse Raymond for his 14th of the year. Brett Catto and Mitch Dunning picked up the assists.
The floodgates opened a few moments later when Brady Campbell undressed Raymond on a breakaway when he faked backhand and managed to pull the puck back to his forehand and tuck it past the sprawling keeper to knot the game 2-2 at 11:20 of the period. Catto and Will Cook collected the assists.
Andrew Smith gave the home team the lead for good just two minutes later when he took a cross-ice pass from Sonnenburg and picked the top corner with a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot to make it 3-2 at 13:25. Priestap had the other assist on the goal.
Brad Kraus finished the scoring in the period on the powerplay at 17:35 after defenceman Colton Wolfe-Sabo carried the puck deep in Stratford territory and behind the icing line before passing it out front, where Kraus was waiting near the lip of the crease to bang home his 21st of the year.
In the third the Kings continued to pressure the Cullitons and gave them no quarter in their own zone. Hasson tallied a shorthanded goal just 1:47 into the third after Lukas Baleshta stripped the Stratford defender of the puck near the Culliton blue line and made a nice cross-ice feed to Hasson for his second of the night, and Sonnenburg finished off the scoring at 14:45 on the powerplay from Smith and Cass Frey.
Nick Horrigan finished with 26 saves to collect the win.
“We felt very, very confident with what we were doing and we thought we could wear them down even though we were down by two goals at one point,” said DeSilva of their overall game plan against Stratford.
On Tuesday night the Kings travelled to Kitchener for a game against the 8-28-7 Dutchmen and didn’t let up, handing them their eighth straight loss with a 6-2 win. Will Cook led the offence with two goals, and Scott Nagy and Sonnenburg had a pair of assists in the win.
Horrigan collected the win by making 25 saves.
DeSilva said that the players have turned the corner from their struggles earlier in the season and that every player knows their role when they step onto the ice. That being said, he also credits the team’s four solid lines for the well-rounded offence on display during the Kings recent winning streak.
“If we expect one line to do the scoring, and it’s not their night, they focus on the defensive side of the puck and the other three lines can pick up the scoring.”
He also said they would be treating the remaining eight games on the schedule as a tune-up for the playoffs, treating every game like it was a part of a playoff series.
“Over seven games we’re going to be tough to beat, and we’re talking about the playoffs being all about momentum, so we can’t give teams any opportunity.”
The Kings play at home against Guelph tomorrow (Sunday) in an afternoon tilt, with puck drop at 2 p.m. then head to Stratford next Friday night for a rematch against the Cullitons starting at 7:30 p.m.
WMC the scene of infrastructure money
All three levels of government – federal, provincial and municipal – came together on Jan. 27 in the community centre of the Woolwich Memorial Centre to recognize improvements to township roads and infrastructure. MP Harold Albrecht, MPP for Kitchener Centre John Milloy, and Woolwich Mayor Todd Cowan took turns thanking each other for the joint investment that contributed a total of $6.4 million to the rehabilitation of Snyder Avenue South, Samuel Street, Ann Street and Floradale Road, as well as portions of Riverside Drive West, Herbert Street and William Street in Elmira.
The federal and provincial government each contributed about $2.1 million to the projects, with the Township of Woolwich contributing the balance of the costs.
“I just want to say what a privilege it has been to work on these construction projects across the riding,” said Albrecht to a crowd of about 15 people gathered at the WMC.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS Woolwich Coun. Julie-Anne Herteis, MP Harold Albrecht, Mayor Todd Cowan, and MPP for Kitchener-Centre John Milloy were at the WMC Jan. 27 to recognize improvements to township infrastructure.
“Transportation infrastructure is crucial to our local economy, we all know that. It connects workers with jobs and products with markets. Improvements to transportation infrastructure are also important for the safety of our community.”
The federal government’s support came from the infrastructure stimulus fund, a part of Canada’s economic action plan which officially wrapped up on Oct. 31 of last year. Albrecht said that throughout the action plan the federal government sought to find shovel-ready projects that could readily use the funds, and he said that the Township of Woolwich was always up to the task.
“When those stimulus funds were announced it wasn’t a case of Woolwich scrambling to figure out how they could spend the funds,” Albrecht said.
Milloy not only thanked both Cowan and Albrecht for their cooperation with the funding, he said that it was important to make these types of announcements to maintain credibility and accountability in the public eye.
“I think it’s important that we report back to people about what happened to those funds and those taxpayer dollars that came from this community,” said Milloy, who couldn’t resist taking a shot at the provincial PC party by saying although the word “taxes” had been vilified by some in the last election, they are a useful way of society pooling collective resources to help pay for the things that we all derive a collective benefit from.
Cowan was upfront about the fact that without provincial and federal financial assistance, most of the infrastructure problems in the township would be impossible to deal with due to the small tax base.
“We have over 20 roads and bridges that need to be improved at this point, and we can pay for about two, so the more money the better,” he said.
“Thank you again, we couldn’t have done it without you – well, we could have, but it would have taken a hundred years.”
A different perspective on life
Africa is a continent well-known for its struggle against HIV/AIDS, and at the forefront of that battle are the doctors, nurses, physical therapists and councillors throughout the rural communities who are working tirelessly to help stem the growing tide of the epidemic. Heidelberg resident Alice Price found herself on the frontlines of the battle last fall as she spent five months in the village of Mseleni in the Northern KwaZulu Natal region of South Africa, which has the highest prevalence of the disease among all South African provinces. Price was on an international placement to complete the final portion of her bachelor of nursing program at Ryerson University, and she spent most of her time in the rural villages observing how HIV/AIDS treatment made its way from the bureaucratic levels of government to the people on the ground.
She received a $6,500 grant from the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, and returned to Canada at the beginning of January.
A WORLD OF EXPERIENCE Heidelberg’s Alice Price was in South Africa from September to January as part of her nursing degree from Ryerson University. Her work involved observing the care and treatment HIV/AIDS patients received from the government.
“My project was focused on looking at the policies that the government makes around HIV/AIDS and how it is manifested and implemented at the rural hospital and given to the patients that have HIV/AIDS,” said Price.
She wanted to focus her research on the rural community instead of the cities of South Africa because they are more remote and more difficult to access.
The people living in rural areas have less access to hospital and medical treatment largely because of the difficulty in travelling across the countryside; due to the sand and rocks, four-wheel-drive vehicles are essential, and not everyone has access to one.
“It is harder for them to come into the hospital because they can’t just get into a car and go,” said Price. “They live in homesteads that consist of maybe four or five round buildings that are made of sticks or piles of stones or straw, with a thatched roof.”
From her observations, Price said that there are a number of challenges facing the healthcare providers who are trying to counteract the spread of HIV and AIDS.
One of the biggest challenges is the way that the health care system is setup. She said that there are two levels of healthcare in the country, a public system that most of the people have access to, and a private system that is solely for the white community or the upper-middle class black community.
That division means those in the public system have less access to healthcare compared to the private system. At the hospital she was working at, for example, there were modern machines such as x-rays and MRIs, but if the machine broke, it could take several days to be fixed.
“That wouldn’t happen at a private hospital,” she said.
Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Africa, however, is changing the cultural norms ingrained in their society. Price said that because of the high level of patriarchy, women and children are marginalized compared to the men.
Likewise, cultural norms still take precedence over the pressing need to contain HIV and AIDS. For example, if a man loses his job in one village and travels to another looking for work, he may be away for several months at a time. During that time, he is expected to find a new sexual partner, which only helps spread the disease faster.
She also said that even though condoms are widely available, as well as educational material on how to properly use them, “in the heat of the moment, realistically they aren’t going to use them,” and until that behaviour is no longer tolerated, AIDS will continue to be a deadly reality.
Price said that in the region she was working in, approximately 50 per cent of the population has contracted HIV/AIDS, and women are much more likely to be tested than men because once a woman is pregnant testing for HIV is mandatory.
Price had lots of experience as a nurse before heading to Africa; she graduated in 1984 with her nursing diploma and worked as an oncology nurse and family nurse before starting her own foot-care business. She sold that business prior to enrolling in the nursing degree program at Ryerson in 2010.
Despite those years of experience, though, she thinks that her trip to Africa was one of the best learning opportunities of her life and that she can approach new situations without the cultural bias she might have carried before.
She also said that her time with the Zulu people of Africa – whose greetings can take up to three minutes to complete – taught her the importance of slowing down and taking time to really talk to someone.
“We’re in such a rushed society: you get on the treadmill and you just keep flying straight ahead,” she said. “But if you have an exchange with someone for three minutes, you’re going to actually really stop and look at them.”
Looking forward, Price has also enrolled in the masters of public health nursing program at the University of Waterloo, as well as the masters of nursing program at Ryerson.
Jacks drop pair to extend losing streak to three
Despite scoring first in both of their games last weekend, the Wellesley Applejacks lost both contests to run their current losing streak to three games. Wellesley dropped a 4-2 decision at home to the Tavistock Braves on Jan. 28, and then fell 4-3 the next afternoon to the lowly Norfolk Rebels, giving the team an 18-11-2 record and falling to fifth place in the SOJHL’s McConnell Conference standings. “I’m not sure which game I was more disappointed in, Saturday or Sunday,” said head coach Kevin Fitzpatrick.
THAT KIND OF WEEKEND Wellesley forward Connor McLeod fends off two Tavistock defenders during second period action of the Jacks’ 4-2 loss last Saturday night.
“We had a chance to solidify second place, and now we’ll be hard pressed to get home-ice advantage (in the playoffs).”
The weekend started well enough as Wellesley opened the scoring last Saturday night against the Braves at 7:08 of the first period. The puck was rattled around the Jacks net and the Braves’ defence couldn’t keep the puck in at the blue line. Matt Sovereign got around the defenceman to start a 2-on-1 rush with Connor McLeod, who finished off a cross crease pass from Sovereign to make it 1-0.
Tavistock tied it up just over seven minutes later when Josh Wagler banged home a rebound past Jacks goaltender Jordan Bauman at 14:53 after Bauman made the initial save.
The second period was fast-paced, with only one penalty called in the entire period, but the Braves carried most of the play and used a couple of quick goals midway through the period to put the game out of reach.
Chad Woodhouse’s shot at 11:07 hit a stick or a skate in front of Bauman and redirected past him, and Nick Quehl made it 3-1 at 12:57 by converting a quick pass from behind the Jacks net.
Tavistock held a decisive 14-7 advantage in shots in the second period as well.
“I thought they outplayed us all over the ice,” said Fitzpatrick. “They kept coming and coming and coming and they just outplayed us.”
In the third the teams traded goals as Kevin Howorth made it 3-2 with a shorthanded goal at 13:25 by finishing off a 2-on-1 rush with Shawn Fitzpatrick, but Tavistock restored their two-goal lead at 15:49 on the powerplay.
Bauman finished with 38 saves for the loss.
The following afternoon Wellesley travelled to Norfolk to take on the Rebels, who came into the match with only one win all season, but managed to double that total Sunday against the Jacks.
The Rebels used a three-goal outburst in the third period – all coming on the powerplay – to break the game open and skate away with a 4-2 win.
“There are no excuses,” said Fitzpatrick. “Sunday was just overconfidence, or whatever you want to call it, and it was a real disappointment.”
All weekend long the Jacks offense sputtered and failed to establish any presence in the offensive zone. They only managed 22 shots against the Braves, and the team finished 0 for 10 on the powerplay over the two games.
Fitzpatrick said the team needs to get back to the systems that made them successful earlier in the season.
“I’m not concerned about our record right now, it’s about getting that work ethic back,” he said. “We dominated for about a month and a half. The talent is there, we’ll just have to see if it comes forward.”
The Jacks hit the road this weekend with games in Ayr on Thursday night at 7:30, and a rematch in Tavistock on Friday night at 7:30. Results were unavailable before press time.
Wellesley closes out the regular season with a pair of home games on Feb. 10 and 11 against St. George and Burford. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.
TC Novices claim Silver Stick title in Michigan
A trip to St. Clair Shores, Michigan last month was a fruitful one for the Twin Centre Stars Novice Rep team as they captured the International Silver Stick title. The team went a perfect 5-0 in the tournament, tallying a whopping 33 goals in those five games to take home the title. “It’s very exciting,” said team manager Paul Schnarr. “It’s something that doesn’t come along very often.” The team qualified for the tournament by sweeping the regional Silver Stick tournament in Wasaga Beach back in November with a 4-0 record, and the win at St. Clair Shores was sweet redemption for a handful of players on the team who had the chance to go to Michigan last season, but didn’t win a game.
SWEET VICTORY The Twin Centre Novice Rep team took first place at the International Silver Stick tournament held Jan. 21 and 22. Back row: Brent Murray (asst. coach), Jamie Hislop (head coach), Jeff Stemmler (trainer), Duane Gowing (asst. coach), Paul Schnarr (manager). Third row: Sam Erb, Curtis Bisch, Evie Adam. Second row: Jacob Thompson, Michael Hayes, Jaxson Murray, Brayden Hislop, Kyle Kraemer, Austin Stemmler, Easton Gowing. Front: Johathan Gervais. Above right, The Twin Centre team celebrates its victory in the finals. Below right, Kyle Kraemer (#93), Jaxson Murray (#14), Evie Adam (#11) make their way up ice in the championship game against the Kincardine Kinucks.
“From winning no games last year to winning it all was quite amazing and sure was exciting.”
The team is comprised of 7- and 8-year-old players from Wellesley, St. Clements, Hawkesville, as well as the surrounding area, and they opened the tournament with an 11-0 drubbing of the Detroit Devils on Jan. 21. They followed that up with a hard-fought win against the Kincardine Kinucks, in which they overcame a 2-0 deficit after the first and a 3-2 deficit after the second period to emerge 4-3 after the final buzzer.
The next day they beat the Strathroy Rockets 4-1 to advance to the semi-finals where they beat the hometown St. Clair Shores squad 7-1.
In the finals they once again faced off against the Kinucks, this time emerging with a 7-4 win for the title.
“They were passing the puck around and had a real team effort and determination to win,” Schnarr said. “It’s very tough to be an international silver stick champion, that’s quite an accomplishment.”
Jaxson Murray was named the most valuable player of the tournament, and Schnarr said their key phrase before each game was to be “extremely amazing.”
While the win was Schnarr’s first in his four years of managing the team, he said the real reward was watching how the team came together this season to play as a cohesive group. They are currently undefeated in 33 games this season, and the OMHA playoffs are already underway.
“It’s surprising as the year goes on all of a sudden they start to gel and talk to each other and have sleepovers and have really come together as a team. To me that’s the most important thing to see how these kids grow and come together as a team.”
The manager also credited the coaching staff, led by heach coach Jamie Hislop, for much of their success in helping the team develop both on and off the ice.
For now their focus is on the playoffs, a round-robin format against Delhi, Tavistock and Ayr with the top two teams facing off in a best-of-five playoff to determine the winner.
Pair of competitions sees more medals for synchro team
It was a busy weekend for the Waterloo Regional Synchronized Swim Club as members participated in the 17th annual invitational routine meet at Wilfred Laurier University on Jan. 28, followed by the Ontario Winter Games qualifiers at the club’s home pool in Elmira on the 29th. 17th annual Waterloo Synchro invitational, Kitchener More than 400 swimmers attended, with Waterloo swimmers finding their way to the podium seven times:
Gold: 10U team: Jadyn Brooks, Cassidi Clairmont, Emma Jewer, Shereen Knechtel, Kelsey Maresse, and Grace Payne 13U team: Grace Collins, Emily Beer, Kate Fitzpatrick, Sarah Frizzell, Jenna Schell, Gabrielle Scott, Victoria Zinger
Silver: 10U duet members Jadyn Brooks & Cassidi Clairmont
TEAM GOLDEN Jadyn Brooks, Cassidi Clairmont, Emma Jewer, Shereen Knechtel, Kelsey Maresse, and Grace Payne of the 10U team took home gold in a field of 11 teams at WLU.
Bronze: 15U team: Grace Adams, Hannah Atkins, Amy Knechtel, Brooklyn Kamphuis, Claire Stubbe, Maelin Stubbe, Kelly Thurlow and Kailey Veitch
Fourth: 14 yr duet (Amy Knechtel and Kelly Thurlow) and 16+ duet (Grace Adams and Brooklyn Kamphuis)
Sixth: 12U team: Averyl Bender, Anna Guenther, Isabelle Ly, Sydney Maresse, Avery Noll, Leeah Toner, Jessica Wormald
Ontario Winter Games qualifier, Elmira
In the 12U event, Waterloo swimmers came out on top to earn themselves the first qualification position over teams from Kitchener-Waterloo, Burlington and London.
The 15U team also finished on top and the 13U team finished second, beating out teams from Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Burlington and Guelph.
All three teams are now headed to the Ontario Winter Games in March. The event is held bi-annually and sees more than 2,200 athletes from across 25 different sports competing for their regions.
Transit fares likely to rise 9% this year
Grand River Transit riders can expect to pay a little bit more for the service this summer after Waterloo Regional council approved a nine per cent fare hike. The changes have yet to be finalized but councillors last week voted 9-6 in favour of the increase, which will come into effect in July. Cash fares could rise to $2.75 from its current $2.50, and other types of fares such as bus passes and student rates could also see a proportional increase.
The rise in fares is part of the regions efforts to have riders pay more of their share of the service. Last year saw a fare increase of five per cent, and there are proposed increases of up to nine per cent in 2013 and 2014 as well – a total increase of more than 30 per cent.
The goal is to have riders paying 50 per cent of the cost of transit services as soon as 2015. In 2010, passengers paid 38 per cent of Grand River Transit costs, with taxpayers footing the rest of the bill.
Woolwich Mayor Todd Cowan voted against the fare hike, saying raising fares is the wrong way to increase ridership on the system.
Cowan opposes large increases, but Kelterborn argues riders should be paying their share
“The whole idea is that we want to encourage people riding the bus,” he said. “I don’t think raising the fares nine per cent is going to encourage more people to say ‘maybe we should take the bus.’”
Despite the increase, he doesn’t think that the new rates will have a negative impact on the ridership numbers of route 21 that runs through St. Jacobs and Elmira. Rather, the entire system as a whole will suffer as a result.
“From the grand scheme of things – and I’m not talking about the Woolwich riders, I’m talking about the grand scheme of the entire system – that’s what is going to be affected.”
Cowan said that if the fare hike had been limited to 2.5 or three per cent, he likely would have voted in favour of it in order to keep pace with the rate of increase within the region’s overall budget, but nine per cent was simply too high to support.
One of the councillors who voted in favour of the increase was Wellesley Mayor Ross Kelterborn, and he did so based on the belief that riders should be paying for more of their share – not regional taxpayers who have no use of the service, such as his constituents.
“Whenever you have something where people use it, who do you think should pay for it? They (transit riders) should be paying their fair share,” Kelterborn said, adding that ridership shouldn’t be hurt, especially when compared to the high price of running an automobile these days.
Cowan, however, doesn’t agree with Kelterborn’s assessment that those who don’t benefit shouldn’t be supporting it through their taxes. “Good argument, I hear it,” he said, comparing it to the new watermains scheduled to be installed in Maryhill this year to the tune of about $1.3 million – a cost that is covered by the township’s entire tax base rather than just those who live in Maryhill.
“Would you rather have to deal with that between 400 people or 23,000 people?
“Hopefully I never need an ambulance but we still pay for them through the region. It’s for the greater good.”
Last fall Woolwich Township council agreed to cover the operating and debt financing costs of route 21 for a total annual cost of $462,000 – or about $35 per township household.
Average daily ridership during the week was up to 390 from September to December last year, an increase from 351 in 2010 and 245 in 2009, and Cowan expects a new report from the region further updating those ridership numbers next month.
Over the top
After only about a year and a half of fundraising, Kate’s Kause is nearly ready to break ground on a universally accessible playground in Elmira. On Wednesday morning it was revealed that Kelly and Jeremy Meissner were winners of $60,000 in the Aviva Community Fund competition as part of a $1 million giveaway to 12 community projects across the country, funded by Aviva Insurance. Altogether, Kate’s Kause has raised $265,000 for the playground.
“I think we can do an awesome and unique park with that money,” said Kelly on Wednesday evening in her Elmira home.
GOT IT! Kate Meissner (left) along with her mother Kelly, brother Jamieson and father Jeremy are all smiles now that they’ve collected enough funds to start construction of a universally-accessible playground in Elmira thanks to a $60,000 prize from Aviva Insurance.
Meissner’s daughter Kate was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome back in 2010. People with AS typically have little or no verbal skills, possible seizures and sleep disorders, and poor gross and fine motor skills.
Together the couple started Kate’s Kause in October 2010 to raise funds to build a playground their daughter and other kids with physical challenges could use to help them develop like a normal child through play and interaction with other children.
The competition was unique in that the public had the chance to vote on their favourite projects, of which there were nearly 2,000 submitted for consideration in three categories: small projects (valued at up to $50,000), medium projects ($50,000 to $100,000) and large projects ($100,000 to $150,000).
The first round of voting took place from Sept. 26 to Nov. 30. From that, 90 semifinalists were chosen to advance to the next round of voting from Dec. 5-16.
The numbers were again reduced to 30 – 10 in each category – and a panel of 10 judges selected the winners.
“It’s a little shocking,” said Kelly of finally reaching their fundraising goal of $250,000. “It’s overwhelming to be this far, we thought it would take us five years.”
Kelly said it was the support of her friends, family and the people of Elmira who helped put them over the top so quickly, and it was also thanks to the votes of students at Bluevale Collegiate Institute where the Meissners teach, as well as Elmira District Secondary School, Waterloo Collegiate, Grand River Collegiate, Glenview Park, and Eastwood Collegiate.
Now comes the task of trying to locate a suitable site for the playground. One proposal was to place it next to the Woolwich Memorial Centre near Lions Hall, but Kelly is concerned about the lack of shade. She said that they have scheduled a meeting with township staff next week to work through that, and to bring it to council for final approval. Ideally the construction would begin April 1, weather permitting, and it should be complete within six to eight weeks – well in time for summer. For the Meissner family, the timing couldn’t be better.
“Kate’s development is really progressing, and she is at the right level of development to really benefit from this structure,” said Kelly.
“It’ll take a while for this all to sink in.”
