A sound as changeable as the weather
If you happen to catch The Bad Bongwater Boys in action more than once, chances are you’ll see a different show each time.
From country to bluegrass to old school rock ’n’ roll, the local band, primarily a six-man unit with a rotating cast of guest stars, plays anything its individual members are into.
“We can play for any type of crowd,” said Dave Soehner, guitarist, vocalist and one of the leaders of the band Read more
Restored 1950s tractor to be auctioned off
Old will be new again at the 15th annual Steam Threshers Reunion Aug. 27-29, as a completely restored Oliver ’55 tractor produced in the 1950s makes its debut, ready for auction.
The old farm machine, which was donated to the Waterloo County Steam Threshers’ Reunion Committee, Read more
Pedestrian dies after being struck by pickup truck
An 82-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed by a black Dodge pickup truck as he attempted to cross Church Street West in Elmira Thursday morning. The vehicle, being driven by a 52-year-old Elmira man, had been travelling westbound at the time.
Emergency responders conducted CPR on the victim, whose body lay on the street Read more
Carving out a niche
Just by looking at Milton Erb’s wood creations you might think he’s been at it for a lifetime: wooden bowls, totem poles measuring some six metres (20 feet), moose and wolf sculptures and wooden pliers made of a single piece of wood are just some of the many items that the Wellesley woodworker has fashioned out of ash, walnut, and maple since retiring 22 years ago. Read more
Regional energy groups look to make solar more accessible
The power to reduce energy consumption and energy costs is in the sun mixed with a healthy dose of conservation.
This will be the subject of Out Of The Dark: A Solar Information Night which will be held Aug. 13 at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex Read more
Looking to make Bonzai a brand name
What’s in a name?
For Bonzai Design Group of Elmira, in ‘Bonzai’ exists a similarity between the ancient art of growing and cultivating aesthetic miniature trees and branding in today’s consumer driven world Read more
Riding in memory of Elmira man
The loud thunder that was heard at 376 Arthur St. last Saturday morning didn’t come from the dark clouds looming overhead. It came from the convoy of motorcycles gathered at the Elmira home in honour of the late Randy Wilkin.
Some 40 riders and their passengers departed from the Arthur Street location July 25 on a 220- kilometre ride to honour Wilkin. Read more
Farmers at the ready, weather or not
Cottagers, outdoor enthusiasts and, perhaps most of all farmers, will all have their fingers crossed as August gets underway today, hoping that sunny days and warm temperatures – the hallmarks of a true summer – will finally arrive in Waterloo Region. After a long and harsh winter, the dog days of summer have been but a fantasy.
And if the weather prognosticators have it right, they might have to wait longer than this weekend.
Keith Marcy, a Valens-area farmer selling at the Elmira Produce Auction, says the wet weather hasn’t worked wonders for his strawberry and raspberry crops. While the quality of his crops has been good, the cool weather has delayed their harvest, and the frequent rain has made it difficult to harvest raspberries.
“It’s not looking good. Our current model, the one operating now from mid-July to mid August was showing in southern Ontario that it was going to be normal, even warmer than normal to normal and wetter than normal, and it certainly has been wet recently,” said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, adding that the government agency will issue a new statement today (Saturday).
“The problem is that when I look at the preliminary stuff, it’s showing colder than normal and colder and wetter than normal, so this misery continues.
“It’s almost as if we can certainly write off July – there’s nothing left. I take a look at the Waterloo Region area … Saturday looks great but then it looks like more and more rain and cool weather, so this system, which is just hovering over us is just spoiling our summer. Normally, it hangs around for two weeks and then it goes away for six weeks. It’s a feature of our climate, but not like this. Not just day-in and day-out, week after week, month after month Read more
Lions expand dog guide program to cover autism
More canines from around the country will soon be helping more people as the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides expands its training programs to include assistance dog guides for children and families living with autism.
The new initiative will complement the school’s existing dog guide programs, which include canine vision, hearing ear, special skills and seizure response.
“It’s definitely a huge benefit, for not only the foundation, but also for the new age demographic that we’re going to be able to help – this is opening up a huge window of younger children that will be able to benefit from this service as well as their parents,” said Melissa Eckersley, the organization’s manager of communications.
“Autism assistance dog guides help not only the children but the parents cope with that disability; from studies that we’ve seen, the dogs really make a huge difference in their lives Read more
Investigation continues into traffic accident
Waterloo Regional Police continue to investigate a fatal collision that occurred July 17 in Wellesley Township.
Nineteen-year-old Irene Kuepfer of Millbank died after being struck by a cube van on Chalmers-Forrest Road, near William Hastings Line. She was airlifted to London Health Sciences, but later succumbed to her injuries.
The accident occurred about 1:15 p.m. when Kuepfer was struck by a cube van as she was riding southbound on what was described as a homemade scooter Read more
