Bakery ‘an institution’
Dear Editor:
Our sons are the fifth generation of Allans to enjoy the consistent top quality bread, meat pies, cookies, and so much more from Saunders Bakery in Rockwood.
As a kid I remember going “to town” was a big deal, anticipating a freshly made donut as our treat for the week. I remember as a young child watching with amazement as Mrs. Nellie Saunders wrapped the highloaf in white paper. With magician-like magic, she tied it up with string, making a simple loaf of bread into a present.
Her children, Herb the baker, along with his sister, Bernice, continued the strong traditions with delicious products created in a very small, very hands-on shop.
Prior to Uber Eats, if you couldn’t make the trip to town, postman Ozzie Meadows ensured your Saunders bread would arrive in your mailbox.
Saunders is so much more than just a bake shop. It is workplace for longtime employees, a first job for so many local youth and a meeting place for neighbours and strangers.
Saunders is a Rockwood institution! Soon there will be no lights on at 2am to start the baking to ensure the “goods” are ready when the shop opens at 8am sharp, as it has since 1914.
Thank you, Brenda Pettitt and Paul Holman; enjoy your well deserved retirement from Rockwood’s great institution, Saunders Bakery.
Gregg Allan,
Arkell
Work towards solution
Dear Editor:
Re: Province reveals back-to-school plan, Aug. 6.
It is disappointing that the teachers’ unions would oppose the plan for full return to the classroom in September.
They have had six months, unlike many of us, to prepare for a safe return to work. The provincial government, whatever its faults, has shown a creditable approach to COVID-19 thus far.
The teachers’ unions, on the other hand, held rolling strikes that hobbled the school year even before the pandemic. Is anyone else exhausted by their focus on finding fault with others rather than working towards solutions?
Case numbers in our region are very low and these unions should put their energy into helping get our kids back to the classroom.
Bernie Wallis,
Fergus
‘Red tape’
Dear Editor:
These are tough days – that’s something we can all agree upon.
Something that’s been easing the burden is a simple one: yoga classes in the park. It’s easy to socially distance and stay safe, it’s great for our mental and physical health, it supports struggling small businesses, and it builds a vital sense of community. These are issues our society has been grappling with due to the pandemic. This seems like at least one easy solution and something Centre Wellington Township should be championing.
Instead, as of two weeks ago, they are throwing red tape at our little piece of COVID solace. With no reasoning other than wanting to “get the parks under [their] care and control,” the officials have let our yoga group – and every other “public-facing” business – know that it is illegal to safely gather for a class in a community park. Illegal that is, unless we take upon the difficulty, time and expense of obtaining a class-by-class permit for the handful of our remaining summer weeks.
I am a senior, as many members of my yoga group also identify. My teachers come from small, vulnerable, local businesses. As a group, we’ve been hit particularly hard during the pandemic. What necessity drives officials to complicate not only this source of local economic stimulus, but also the betterment of our minds, hearts and bodies? There must be another alternative.
Maybe my time spent supporting my local economy and community-building would be better allocated to protesting outside our town hall, with a sign that reads, “Is yoga a crime?” I hope not, but maybe that’s all they’ve left us with.
Your move, Centre Wellington. Do you take this easy opportunity to prop up your local community, or do you shut it down when we need it the most?
Randi Vann,
Elora
Abundant apartments
Dear Editor:
Is any street in Fergus safe from the destruction of single family homes to erect multi-unit apartments?
I am very concerned about the abundance of apartments, either recently constructed or currently in the process, on St. Patrick Street East between St. David and Gowrie.
I realize that this construction has already been approved for use but I have to question why such density was allowed in such a small area and especially since each rental unit will likely have one or two vehicles. Would this happen on Union Street?
Albert Hamilton,
Fergus
‘Important change’
Dear Editor:
I was out walking this morning when I noticed a simple, handmade sign in the second storey window of a home that said, “Black Lives Matter”. My 18-year-old granddaughter and I talk about this a lot. She has the passion, energy and heart of many her age. Social injustice hurts her deeply.
For my part I can read about the history of racism, become better informed and advocate for change and action now. Many of the earlier lessons I learned in school and in a largely white society have left me poorly informed.
James Baldwin was, and is, a recognized, respected black author of many acclaimed books, including I Am Not Your Negro, which sometime in the last decade was made into a movie/documentary well worth watching. In it he refers to the March on Washington 50 years ago for freedom, work and other reforms.
During an interview Harry Belafonte had this to say on whether the March would bring about significant change in the lives of black people: “It lays heavily with the white community, the profiteers, the vested interest, the great middle stream of people in this America who refused to commit their selves, or to even have the slightest knowledge of Negro oppression has been going on.”
We can all play a part in helping to bring about important change. If not now, when?
Janet Calderwood,
Rockwood
Meet us half way
Dear Editor:
An open letter to Premier Doug Ford.
I completely agree with your statement that to avoid U.S. tariffs and other disrupters from foreign countries, we Ontarians should look for ways to buy from our own province, or at least country.
As you well know because of labour costs and environmental laws often it is more expensive to buy Ontarian or Canadian than to buy from China and Taiwan, etc.
How about meeting the consumer half way? Push buying from our own province and give a tax break for doing so. A couple percent would make little difference to the extra cost of buying from our own, but it would certainly show some government commitment.
What do you think?
Michael Lee,
Salem
Beirut blast
Dear Editor:
Many of us were shocked on Aug. 4 by the explosion that took place in Beirut. We watched in awe-filled horror as the explosion and mushroom cloud appeared on our screens over the city. We were further shocked by the damage: over 130 dead, 5,000 injured, 300,000 homeless and the shattered city.
I lived in Beirut between 1966 and 1971. I remember visiting the port. The events of last Tuesday had me looking at Google maps recalling where we lived, the location of the school I attended, where my father worked, and so on. My heart is broken for the people and the city of Beirut.
As Canadians, we have opportunities to give financially to support the relief effort, to help with the rebuilding of the city, and to help feed the thousands of Syrian refugees who were already in the city before this disaster happened.
The Government of Canada will match contributions made to the Humanitarian Coalition, a collection of 12 aid agencies in Canada who are doing work in Lebanon. Donations must be made by Aug. 24.
People can donate to one of the member agencies of the Humanitarian Coalition or to the coalition directly at humanitariancoalition.ca and the funds will be sent where the need is most acute at that moment.
Thank you for letting your readers know about this opportunity to make a difference in the world.
Peter Bush,
Fergus
‘Misremembering’
Dear Editor:
RE: Centre Wellington resident puts the brakes on two bridge demolition projects, Aug. 6.
Thank you for your excellent article. I’m very glad you spoke to Councillor Steven VanLeeuwen. It was interesting to read his impressions. Councillor VanLeeuwen is a very busy council member; I hope he isn’t misremembering a few details.
VanLeeuwen said the Centre Wellington Heritage Committee did not offer an opinion at their November meeting. The meeting record shows differently. The committee rejected the consultant’s reports because, among other things, they were fundamentally flawed in the rationale they applied to justify demolition.
The committee asked township staff to revise the consultant’s reports and return to the committee after they had been revised. Rather than revising the reports and returning to the committee for review and comment, in December staff presented their recommendation to demolish to council.
The council meeting record shows that VanLeeuwen did nothing to inform council about the concerns of the committee or mention that the committee had rejected the consultant’s findings.
VanLeeuwen is quoted in the Advertiser article as saying “Jean feels the committee was bypassed. That’s why I said to send a report and have council receive it. There has been a willingness to go back and ensure everyone is heard.”
I do appreciate VanLeeuwen’s expression of concern for my views. However, the only communication he has had with me about the matter was in an unsolicited email message he sent me in February. The councillor did not ask for a report. Instead, he said he had spoken to township staff who had committed to contacting me personally to discuss the bridges. Six months have gone by and there has been no contact.
What is most troubling is that VanLeeuwen does not appear to understand that if the township had followed the appropriate due process, a Part II Order request would not have been necessary.
Perhaps VanLeeuwen would consider advocating that future Centre Wellington Heritage Committee meetings should be recorded and published. This would bring two benefits: 1) council and the public would be able to hear the Centre Wellington Heritage Committee’s recommendations directly; and 2) neither VanLeeuwen nor staff would need to worry about misremembering facts when they report to council about the heritage committee.
Jean Gerrard,
Fergus
Private information
Dear Editor:
RE: “No privacy issue” and “Work together” letters, Aug. 6.
These letter writers are correct that the restaurant has your name and phone number when you book a reservation and the newspaper requires it to publish a letter.
What they do not have is your express written consent to forward your private information to the state or anyone else.
The list and the explanation the pub gives you is the written informed consent they require to send it on to the authorities.
I expect that my doctor is the one to inform me that I have a medical problem needing treatment and isolation, not the bartender.
Doreen Henschel,
Rockwood
Compassionate pros
Dear Editor:
This is a love letter; an unabashed one whose theme is gratitude and whose target is an exemplary group of women and men who are our neighbours and friends, whose kids and grandkids go to the same schools as ours, who shop at the same stores, who share the same worries the rest of us do about the manifold impact of COVID-19.
I’m talking about the women and men who work at the Wellington Terrace Long-Term Care Residence.
Regardless of which department they work in at the Terrace, the people are unfailingly polite and cheerful to residents and visitors alike. They ask how you’re doing and share a quick story of some recent interaction with your loved one who lives there. And these conversations aren’t feigned, they’re genuine and you feel it.
Our family has a 22-year history with the Terrace since both our father and mother were residents there – Mom, until just last week. Though our parents’ needs were very different during their respective residencies, both were met with quiet competence and compassion by a multidiscipline team of professional caregivers. And, as each of our parents neared the end of life, that care never diminished. Their last days at the Terrace were attended by the same competence and compassion as their first days.
Professional competence doesn’t happen by accident. As an example, the fact that every resident at the Terrace was shielded from COVID-19 was the result of policies and procedures that were set in place by administrators who knew what they were doing and which have been unfailingly practiced for years.
But what about compassion? Why is it that in 22 years, we never met a single Terrace employee who didn’t exude it, who didn’t display a genuine concern for the residents under their care? One suspects it’s because those employed there – at desks; pushing refreshment, housecleaning and medication carts; wearing tool belts; conducting myriad social and physical activities; and wearing stethoscopes – see what they do as a vocation and not as merely a job.
We truly wish we could thank every Wellington Terrace staff member by name in this letter, but we can’t. Space and privacy considerations won’t allow it. But you know who you are. And, perhaps more importantly, so do the rest of us. And we honour you with all our hearts!
The Cooper/Pearson Family,
Elora
Practice what’s preached
Dear Editor:
I am writing to you, this time with chagrin. This may seem superfluous, but I feel that I should be accountable for my actions, especially after my expression of expectations from the rest of the community.
I inadvertently walked in and partway through a store, even asking for assistance, without recognizing that I did not have my face mask on. The staff pointed it out and generously offered me a mask to complete my purchase. I apologize to the staff and other customers for my oversight.
I had mentioned in a previous letter that I felt there should be a fine enforced for anyone not complying with health board stipulations. I won’t dismiss myself from that.
So, for my misdemeanor I am going to make a donation to Groves Memorial Community Hospital in lieu (I may not notice that I’m speeding but that wouldn’t get me out of the ticket).
I apologize for my inattentiveness. Thank you to everyone doing their part to keep our community safe during this challenging time. God Bless.
Paul Dunnill,
Fergus
‘Bankrupt’?
Dear Editor:
Trudeau has once again signed away funds like the $5 million, plus $25 million, to Lebanon to add $30 million bill to Canadian debt and we the people aren’t even asked or considered.
Parliament has not been sitting properly and our representatives who agree with this expense, because not all do, are not considering the repercussions for our nation at all. The NDP and Bloc could do more to protect the people of Canada and vote to stop spending what we don’t have.
People of Canada, we have to tell our prime minister to stop adding to our Canadian bill. We must! If we want to help, let’s send what we have, water, food or volunteer people or military to help.
Ontario will also run into trouble if Ontarians don’t stop and consider alternatives to demanding money.
Teachers and parents, I care very much for our young people and children and I understand your stress, however we can do things right and economically if we work to do it together in communities. Young people could also help to get our schools ready instead of being bored.
Unions have to realize that COVID-19 is an unprecedented situation and turn from making financial demands to giving of their time and help and ideas to find new economic ways to do what is needed without running up more bills and cooperate.
Ontario has huge debt too. Google the debt. Wynne and McGuinty left huge bills to the Ontario government, too.
Let’s work together for affordable solution and let our government leaders know they can’t run up a bill and be voted out and then walk away carefree with a fat bank account while we and our children struggle with the debt.
We are allowing our prime minister to bankrupt our nation by our silence. Please email justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca and let him know we must stop giving away what we don’t have.
Trudeau can send a million from his account if he wants to and we will send what is affordable to the nation through volunteer donations as Canadians are generous.
Carolann Krusky,
Fergus
Thankful for help
Dear Editor:
Many thanks to those who so graciously assisted me last Wednesday when I went to Fergus to renew my licence.
From those who placed me ahead of others in line to the gentleman who went to his truck for a chair for me and the lady who stayed with me until the process was completed and assisted me back to my car, your kindness was greatly appreciated.
Thelma Trask,
Alma