Mild weather expected to get the sap flowing
This year’s tree tapping ceremony held Feb. 26 produced numb fingers instead of sap, but the warm weather forecasted for this weekend should get the sweet stuff flowing.
Todd Leuty, agroforestry specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said he heard reports of small sap flows Feb. 20 and 21 before a winter air mass moved in and dumped several inches of snow on Waterloo Region Read more
Kings pull even in first round of playoffs
After ending the regular season on a sour note and dropping their opening playoff game, the Elmira Sugar Kings needed to win Wednesday night and they did so decisively, shutting out the Listowel Cyclones 4-0.
The Kings clamped down on Listowel’s offence, allowing only 22 shots while firing 43 of their own. They also locked out the Cyclones on the power play, denying the visitors any goals on Read more
St. Clements squad headed to provincials
Every time the St. Clements U16 ringette team steps on the ice, the players and parents on the opposing team have the same reaction:
“They’re so small, but look at them skate!”
The team moved up to U16 this season, so many of their players are young to begin with. Read more
Company specializes in hurry-up landscaping
Ruth and Rick Boyd are running out of room to take in orphans.
The Boyds own Arrow Tree, a business that specializes in planting and transplanting large trees. Their half-acre property in Orton, north of Guelph, is planted with a number of trees that clients have removed to make space for a pool, deck or addition to the house.
“We don’t like to just throw them out,” Rick explained. “It’s pointless to cut a tree if you don’t have to.” Read more
Pedestrian killed in traffic accident
A pedestrian was struck and killed in Wellesley Township around 7:55 p.m. Feb. 25.
Samuel Martin, 34, was walking westbound along William Hastings Line near Manser Road when he was struck by an eastbound Ford pickup truck driven by a 39-year-old Wellesley man.
Emergency services responded, but the pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police do not believe that speed or alcohol were factors in the collision. No charges have been laid, but police are still investigating.
Anyone with information on the collision is asked to contact the Traffic Services Branch at 519-650-8500, ext 8516 or ext. 8629.
Opportunity knocking elsewhere
Knell’s Door and Hardware closed its doors on Monday, leaving a gap along Arthur Street in Elmira.
The Elmira store is a branch of William Knell and Company, founded in Kitchener in 1906. Last year Knell’s consolidated its three Victoria Street locations into a new building on Shirley Drive, near Bingemans. Now the stock and employees from the Elmira store will be moving to the same location Read more
Putting us on the map
Woolwich is on the map – in 360-degree, high-resolution full colour.
Elmira and St. Jacobs are among 130 cities and towns in Canada that were added to Street View on Feb. 9. Major roads in Woolwich and Wellesley townships were also added at the same time.
Google’s cars have been filming in Canada since 2007, and the first images of Canadian cities, including Read more
Family finds peace in Ferguson guilty plea
Kenneth Ferguson, 43, was sentenced to 20 years in jail Feb. 18 after pleading guilty to second degree murder in the strangling death of his wife.
Valerie Ferguson, 44, was found dead in the bedroom of the family home in April 2008. Ferguson was charged with first-degree murder and the prosecution had strong evidence that the killing was planned Read more
Wellesley’s incumbents to run in fall election
All of Wellesley Township’s elected officials are running for office again in this fall’s municipal election.
Mayor Ross Kelterborn and councillors Paul Hergott, Herb Neher and Jim Olender have already filed their nomination papers with the township. Coun. Shelley Wagner has yet to file her papers but confirmed this week that she will be running again Read more
A step back: Main street meets memory lane
There are few traces left of the first buildings in Woolwich and Wellesley townships, which were simple log homes. As the population of the townships grew, the first entrepreneurs built stores, mills and hotels. Early wooden buildings were replaced by more substantial structures of brick and stone. Old stores closed and new ones opened, and the buildings that housed them at times fell down, burned down or were torn down to make way for something ne
Still, many of those early buildings are standing today. Often they are disguised by new signs and paint, but a second look reveals the familiar shapes and rooflines. These photographs offer a glimpse into the past and reveal the evolution of the main streets and prominent buildings in Woolwich and Wellesley townships.
Arthur Street looking north
The top photo was taken sometime before 1918, when the wooden O’Donnell House on the far left (where the Central Tavern is now) burned to the ground. The large sign on the left, near the present Brown’s clothing store, reads “Fischer Bros Pool Room. Cigars and Tobacco.” On the right, the present day Sip ‘n Bite was Grey’s Grocery. Upstairs was the telephone exchange and the ticket agency for the Grand Trunk Railway.
Arthur Street looking south
The top photo was taken in Elmira sometime between 1899, when the boardwalks were paved, and 1915, when the spire of St. James Lutheran Church, visible in the distance, was taken down. Given the number of horses and wagons in the street, it was likely taken on fair day or pig fair day. The Kitchen Kuttings building on the corner has a vertical sign reading “Ruppel & Co.” George Ruppel operated White Groceries and his wife sold fine china in the back of the store. Above, the view from Church Street as it appears today.
Wellesley mill
Heading into Wellesley Village on Nafziger Road, the landscape is dominated by the mill built in 1856 by Christopher Doering. This photo was taken some time after the mill was enlarged to its present size in 1910. The small dark-coloured house beside the mill is gone, but the brick building north of it was John George Reiner’s general store, now the Schmittsville Restaurant. Across Maple Leaf Street, the brick building on the corner was a woolen mill where Reiner employed 50 people for weaving, carding, spinning and dyeing.
Queen’s Bush looking east
The brick building on the left was the Royal Hotel, started by Peter Berdux in 1857. The distinctive mansard roof was added in 1880, and the livery was next to the hotel. The small fieldstone house east of the hotel was built in 1858 by John Schneider. At the end of the block is a two-storey brick building with three chimneys, which originally housed the Wellesley Hotel and General Store. It was destroyed in a fire a number of years ago.
Queen’s Bush looking west
The Kelterborn store on the left was originally the Doering General Store, built in the 1860s. William Kelterborn worked for George Doering and bought out his stock in 1896. Across the street, the frame house was replaced by the two-storey brick Bank of Commerce. The small beige house is still there, but next two homes have been replaced by the CIBC.
Wellesley’s centre light
Taken around the 1930s, this top photo shows Queen’s Bush Road, looking west. The Royal Hotel is on the right, with gas pumps and the stage coach steps in front of it. The next building on the right was the Bank of Commerce, now the pharmacy. At Christmastime, a large tree was set up next to the light post in the centre of the intersection, and the village gathered to listen to a band. Inset, the view today.
St. Clements
The postcard at right, postmarked Aug. 31, 1907, shows the main street of St. Clements, with the St. Clements store (now a café) on the right. The flat-roofed building with the boomtown front three houses up was Peter Schummer’s store. Schummer lived in the Edwardian home beside it, built in 1905. Above, the facade changes visible today.
Heidelberg Hotel
The Olde Heidelberg Restaurant started life as Henry Miller’s Great Western Hotel. Built in the 1840s, it served as a stage coach stop between Kitchener-Waterloo and Glen Allan and is one of the oldest remaining hotels in Waterloo Region. Miller also owned the store across the road, which was connected to the hotel by a tunnel. Legend has it that during Prohibition, liquor was smuggled from the store to the hotel through the tunnel.
King Street, St. Jacobs
Of the towns in Woolwich and Wellesley, St. Jacobs has undergone the most radical transformation. Looking north on King Street, the only buildings that remain from this photograph from around the turn of the century are the W. and A. Snyder commercial block at the corner of Front and King Streets and the Dominion Hotel just visible opposite them. The Snyder Flour Mill at the foot of the street was destroyed by fire in 1921.
Naugatuck Chemicals
The ivy-covered building at the foot of Erb Street started life in 1900 as the Elmira Felt Company. When Elmira Felt went out of business, it became the Fleet Foot factory, producing tennis shoes for export. The building sat empty from 1930 to 1941, when Naugatuck Chemicals was founded. The company, which has produced DDT, 2,4-D and Agent Orange among other chemicals, became Uniroyal, then Crompton and Chemtura. The CNR station is now a parking lot, and the water tower was taken down in the 1980s.
