2019 - A look back at news from Norfolk and beyond
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A-1 Demolition of Ancaster began erasing the former Maliboo Tavern in downtown Simcoe from the landscape in February 2019. Plans are to replace it with an office-apartment complex that looks like the original Queen's Hotel of the 1800s. MONTE SONNENBERG / SIMCOE REFORMERSunMedia
Two unique machines manufactured in Ukraine were brought in to flatten dead stands of phragmites in Turkey Point and elsewhere in the area of Long Point Bay in March 2019. Two "Sherps" like this one made short work of 20 acres of dead phragmites in Turkey Point. From left are operator Eric Giles of St. Williams, Turkey Point Provincial Park superintendent Jeff Pickersgill, and Eric Cleland, director of the Nature Conservancy of Canada's invasive species program. MONTE SONNENBERG / SIMCOE REFORMERSunMedia
Saturday, April 13 was declared Jason Gordy Day in Norfolk County to honour the Simcoe man's gold medal in men's bowling at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi in March 2019. Monte Sonneberg photoSunMedia
Toronto Maple Leafs alumnus and Norfolk native Red Kelly at the unveiling of his bronze statue at Leafs Legends Row outside of the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Kelly died May 2, 2019 at age 91. Ernest Doroszuk/Postmedia NetworkSunMedia
In July 2019, Norfolk County announced it, in partnership with a team of researchers, has come up with a game plan for addressing an abandoned gas well on Forestry Farm Road in Silver Hill that is spewing toxic hydrogen sulphide gas. MONTE SONNENBERG/ Simcoe ReformerSunMedia
The powerhouse at the former Nanticoke Generating Station was demolished on August 21, 2019. The power plant was decommissioned in 2013. (ASHLEY TAYLOR SIMCOE REFORMER)SunMedia
Cheerleaders from Delhi District Secondary School had plenty to cheer about at the 2019 Norfolk County Fair. For the 10th year in a row, DDSS was the overall points winner during the annual Young Canada Day celebration. Brian Thompson/PostmediaPhoto by Brian Thompson /Brian Thompson/The Expositor
SOAKING UP SOME SUN Camping returned to Long Point Provincial Park just in time for the Labour Day holiday weekend. The four provincial campgrounds in Long Point were closed much of the summer of 2019 due to high water levels in Lake Erie and chronic appearances of standing water in inconvenient locations. Among those soaking up the last of the fine summer weather at Long Point Provincial Park aUG. 28 were Rod and Leanne Burke of Waterdown. MONTE SONNENBERG / SIMCOE REFORMERSunMedia
Teachers and support staff of Grand Erie District School Board and Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board picketed outside of Simcoe Composite School and MPP Toby Barrett's office on December 11. Becky Brock is employed with the BHNCDSB. (ASHLEY TAYLOR)SunMedia
Norfolk paramedic Matt Breedyk and firefighter Joe Archer credit having easy access to a defibrillator at the Port Dover Arena in saving their teammate's life during a hockey game in November 2019. (ASHLEY TAYLOR/SIMCOE REFORMER)SunMedia
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JANUARY:
Jan. 1: The annual New Year’s Polar Bear event at the Walker Street beach in Port Dover attracted 100 swimmers with a high tolerance for pain.
Jan. 1: Norfolk OPP and other detachments were grappling with a raft of frivolous 911 calls. Const. Ed Sanchuk, spokesperson for the Norfolk OPP, shared word of a 25-year-old Delhi woman who dialled 911 after her father questioned how much she was spending on video games.
Jan. 8: Norfolk Mayor Kristal Chopp set off a controversy that would dog her and council into June. In response to a planning report on the issue of urban poultry, Chopp expressed her displeasure with the document by tearing it in half and dropping it on the council table in front of her.
Jan. 9: Organizers were pleased with the turnout for the 60th annual Christmas Panorama in Simcoe. Thousands of visitors enjoyed good weather for the annual festival of lights in Wellington Park.
Jan. 9: Residents of Port Dover are on alert following another coyote sighting in town.
Jan. 11: The former Maliboo Club in Simcoe was prepped for demolition. The historic landmark was built in the 19th century as the Queen’s Hotel.
Jan. 15: The new Norfolk council presided over its first Haldimand-Norfolk Board of Health meeting. Items on the agenda included the opioid crisis and its impact on the local area.
Jan. 15: Norfolk CAO David Cribbs made a surprise exit from Tuesday’s council meeting following an in-camera session. The county later reported that Cribbs – who had been on the job for nearly two years – had resigned.
Jan. 16: The Jarvis Food Market suffered extensive damage when thieves rammed the building with a stolen vehicle. Their target was an in-store ATM. Several businesses in the local area had experienced similar destruction over the past year.
Jan. 16: In compliance with provincial law, Norfolk council hired Toronto lawyer John Mascarin as the county’s inaugural integrity commissioner. Soon after, Mascarin received complaints about Mayor Chopp ripping a staff report in half at the Jan. 8 meeting of council.
Jan. 17: A third beach access in Long Point was closed due to high water levels in Lake Erie.
Jan. 18: Preparations were underway for the establishment of a first-ever seniors centre in Port Dover. Leading the charge was Adam Veri, a past president of the Port Dover Board of Trade.
Jan. 23: Norfolk Mayor Kristal Chopp apologized on behalf of the county as she re-instated former district fire chief Gary Spragg as a member of Station 2 in Port Dover. Senior managers fired Spragg in 2018 after 44 years as a firefighter following a dispute over county management practices.
Jan. 23: Haldimand council voted in favour of allowing retail shops to sell marijuana for recreational purposes.
Jan. 23: Rock act The Sheepdogs played the Old Town Hall in Waterford.
Jan. 24: The Erie Beach Hotel in Port Dover suffered major damage when cold weather caused a water pipe to burst.
Jan. 31: Norfolk’s Police Services Board held its first meeting in 15 years without Peter Hellyer, of Simcoe, in the chair. His replacement is former Norfolk mayor Dennis Travale, also of Simcoe.
FEBRUARY:
Feb. 2: Friends, family and well-wishers gathered at the Simcoe branch of the Norfolk Public Library to thank former Norfolk mayor Charlie Luke. Luke served nearly 40 years as a municipal politician before his defeat in last October’s municipal election.
Feb. 8: Norfolk and provincial officials are searching for solutions as the emission of toxic hydrogen sulphide from deteriorating gas wells in Silver Hill remains a chronic problem.
Feb. 8: Flooding prompted the Grand River Conservation Authority to ask the Canadian Coast Guard for an ice breaker to dislodge ice jams on the Grand River.
Feb. 12: After years of community lobbying, Ontario Parks agreed to eradicate invasive phragmites that had taken over the Ordnance Avenue beach in Turkey Point.
Feb. 12: A 13-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy were returned to their parents after taking the “24-hour challenge” at an unnamed store in Simcoe. The internet fad has young people hiding in stores at closing time and then sharing details of their overnight stay on social media.
Feb. 16: Pitcher John Axford, 35, of Port Dover, signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Feb. 18: Shane Bergman, the giant offensive lineman with the CFL champion Calgary Stampeders, brought the Grey Cup home to Teeterville for a second time.
Feb. 24: Norfolk firefighters rescued a 70-year-old man on Long Point Bay after the ice angler was pinned down by high winds. County firefighters also rescued a 77-year-old woman who was trapped by flood waters in her home on River Road in Port Dover.
Feb. 27: Simcoe farmer Ken Porteous was named to the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame.
Feb. 28: Crime Stoppers of Haldimand and Norfolk announced rewards of $1,000 to tipsters who provide information that leads to the arrest and conviction of criminals who deal in fentanyl and carfentanil.
MARCH:
March 1: Insp. Joe Varga, head of the Norfolk OPP, told the county’s Police Services Board that “social disorder issues” related to substance abuse and mental-health issues are responsible for a growing perception that downtown Simcoe has a problem with criminal behaviour.
March 5: Local MPP Toby Barrett addressed emotional protesters outside his constituency office in Simcoe. The crowd was upset with the Ford government’s alleged under-funding of programs for autistic children.
March 7: Unique, four-wheel packing vehicles from Ukraine called Sherps flattened 20 acres of phragmites in Turkey Point. The invasive reed had been killed with the herbicide Roundup.
March 7: The Tricenturena in Waterford closed early after the facility’s ice-making equipment suffered a serious failure.
March 8: The Forest Gene Conservation Association asked members of the public to alert it to ash trees that survived the recent onslaught of emerald ash borer. FGCA wants seed from these trees to preserve the genetics that have evolved in this part of the world over the centuries.
March 9: Maeve Field, 4, of Townsend, was fighting for her life in hospital after suffering life-altering injuries in a freak mishap in Hagersville. Field and her family were on a sidewalk on Main Street when a senior lost control of her vehicle as she backed out of a parking space. The vehicle struck the youngster and her 13-year-old brother, who suffered minor injuries.
March 13: Staff and students at Hagersville Secondary School were in mourning after popular teacher Dawn Tanner died in a plane crash in Africa. The crash in Ethiopia was the second in recent months involving a Boeing 737 Max 8, resulting in airlines around the world grounding the model indefinitely.
March 15: Merchants in downtown Simcoe were left scratching their heads after a power outage cut hydro to some businesses but not others. Businesses reported losing electricity while businesses next to them were unaffected.
March 19: Celebrations were planned as 46-year-old Jason Gordy, of Simcoe, won the gold medal in 10-pin bowling at the Special Olympic Games in Abu Dhabi.
March 19: A Norfolk man was charged with manslaughter following the death of a Port Dover woman from an overdose of fentanyl.
March 21: The Arbor hotdog stand in Port Dover was planning a series of celebrations to mark its 100th year in business.
March 26: The Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal investigated after fire killed a woman at the 12-unit Erie Park Place housing complex in Port Rowan.
March 27: Norfolk Mayor Kristal Chopp filed documents stating she spent $16,000 in 2018 on her campaign to unseat incumbent Charlie Luke in the October municipal election. Luke’s financial statement said he spent $19,700. Chopp defeated Luke by 2,200 votes.
March 28: Norfolk council unanimously rejected an ambitious plan to redevelop the Clonmel Estate property in Port Dover following a backlash from neighbouring residents.
March 29: The Ford government announced $1.4 million in funding to Haldimand and Norfolk to help find efficiencies and cost savings. The funding translates into $725,000 for each county.
APRIL:
April 4: Norfolk staff’s preferred option for extending municipal water into Booth’s Harbour from St. Williams could cost as much as $1.4 million.
April 4: A total of 113 students in Haldimand and Norfolk were at risk of suspension as the deadline approached for updating their vaccination records.
April 4: Norfolk County announced that Harry Schlange, the former top bureaucrat in Niagara Region and the City of Brampton, would serve as the municipality’s interim CAO. He takes over from David Cribbs, who departed Norfolk suddenly in January and hasn’t been seen since.
April 5: A 57-year-old Norfolk man was sentenced to 4.5 years in penitentiary after pleading guilty to trafficking fentanyl.
April 7: Dave Reid, former chair of the Norfolk Land Stewardship Council, Tom O’Neill of the Norfolk Fruit Growers, and Norfolk farm advocate Ken Porteous were inducted into the Norfolk County Agricultural Hall of Fame.
April 9: A person walking their dog on the former Centennial ball park property off the Queensway West in Simcoe came across six dead puppies. Norfolk OPP were alerted to the gruesome discovery.
April 10: Norfolk OPP advised caution on the internet after a resident of South Walsingham wired $1,800 to a person who claimed to have an apartment for rent in Simcoe. When the prospective tenant showed up at the property, they learned the apartment was not available, nor was the property for sale.
April 12: The starvation diet provincial Liberals imposed on rural Ontario ended locally with MPP Toby Barrett announcing $5.1 million in infrastructure funding for Norfolk and Haldimand. In making the announcement, Barrett said the time had come to redress the imbalance between urban and rural ridings after 16 years of Liberal rule.
April l6: Norfolk OPP and paramedics used naloxone three times in the span of a week to save people who were overdosing on opioids.
April 16: Norfolk council pledged $200,000 toward a skateboard park in Waterford. Residents of Waterford promised to raise $300,000 to pay for the community’s share of the project.
April 17: MacDonald Turkey Point Marina took over the Turkey Point Hotel after learning that long-time owners Dick and Mabel Assel were retiring. Marina management acted quickly to prevent developers from demolishing the hotel in favour of cottages and other resort housing.
April 23: Ruth Brown, co-ordinator of the Sharing Pantry food bank, was named Delhi’s Citizen of the Year. The Delhi and District Chamber of Commerce named Isabella Spinella, 13, its Junior Citizen of the Year.
April 26: Norfolk County sold a house on contaminated soil at 28 Queen Street in Langton for back taxes. The county asked $6,780 but received a high bid of $11,185.
April 30: A “last call” tour of the former Norfolk Inn in Simcoe was held before social housing provider Indwell turns it into supportive housing for vulnerable clients.
April 30: A 39-year-old Simcoe man was sentenced to a penitentiary term of 10 years after pleading guilty to three charges of trafficking fentanyl and other hard narcotics. Crown attorney Jamie Perreira said it was the longest sentence in Norfolk history for a drug dealer.
MAY:
May 2: The Rainbow Ball for LGBTQ+ students attending Grand Erie District School Board high schools was held at Delhi District Secondary School.
May 2: NHL legend Leonard “Red” Kelly of Port Dover – winner of eight Stanley Cups – died in Toronto at age 91.
May 7: Norfolk integrity commissioner John Mascarin ruled that Norfolk Mayor Kristal Chopp was “uncivil” and “inappropriate” when she chastised a county employee in January for filing a report she said deviated from council direction. Chopp’s upbraiding included tearing the report in question in half and dropping it on the council table in front of her. Mascarin ruled that council should discipline the mayor and that Chopp should apologize. Council agreed and gave the mayor till May 31 to comply.
May 7: McDowell Road between Forestry Farm Road and Langton was closed until further notice after a monster pot hole opened up. The failure occurred over a culvert that had been called upon this spring to handle a lot of wet weather.
May 8: The Ride Norfolk shuttle began regular service to Brantford and Tillsonburg.
May 9: A nightmare year on the infrastructure front began for Norfolk council with news that iron water mains installed in the Port Rowan area 30 years ago were prematurely rusting away. Norfolk County expected to get 75 years of service from the pipes but was served instead with an immediate repair bill worth $2.7 million.
May 9: At the urging of the Norfolk OPP, Norfolk council barred the Hells Angels and other outlaw motorcycle gangs from selling merchandise on county property during September’s Friday the 13th motorcycle event in Port Dover.
May 10: Groups, individuals and union representatives protested Premier Doug Ford’s attendance at a Progressive Conservative Party function in Port Dover. The protesters were upset that the Premier’s plan to balance the province’s books includes cuts to public spending.
May 10: The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit warned that the range for ticks that carry Lyme disease has been increased to nearly all of Norfolk and much of west Haldimand.
May 14: A Jarvis man was charged with offering an indignity to a body after human remains were found in a freezer at the bottom of an embankment in Port Burwell.
May 14: The Port Dover Board of Trade’s 22nd annual Perch Derby ended with no money fish caught. Forty perch with tags worth $23,500 were released into the harbour April 27. That was the last anyone saw of them.
May 15: Shoreline flooding due to record high water levels in Lake Erie forced the closure of Long Point Provincial Park camping grounds on the eve of the May 24th holiday weekend.
May 17: The Hungarian Hall in Delhi celebrated its 70th anniversary.
May 21: The Port Dover Kinsmen-Scout Hut has been tapped as the location for the town’s first-ever seniors centre.
May 23: Norfolk council addressed discontent with the selection process for the Simcoe Business Improvement Area Board of Management by calling a general election for the available positions.
May 23: Members of the Ford cabinet and local dignitaries gathered in Simcoe for a major funding announcement involving rural internet. The $63.7-million grant toward the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) initiative includes $8.4 million for the extension of high-speed internet into underserviced areas of Norfolk County.
May 25: A 65-year-old St. Williams man was in hospital after he was struck by lightning while working in a field.
May 28: In a presentation to Norfolk council, a Norfolk woman poured liquid skunk essence into a tray and wafted the fumes throughout the council chamber with an electric fan. The woman’s objective was to help council understand what it’s like living next to a legal marijuana greenhouse that isn’t fitted with odour-control technology.
May 30: Dr. Amir Sheik-Yousouf was named Norfolk General Hospital’s chief of staff.
May 31: Norfolk Mayor Kristal Chopp posted an apology for her actions at the Jan. 8 council meeting on Facebook minutes before the May 31 deadline for doing so. Norfolk integrity commissioner John Mascarin deemed the apology inadequate and docked Chopp two weeks’ pay. Council later disagreed with the commissioner’s findings, accepted Chopp’s mea culpa, and reimbursed her for lost wages.
JUNE:
June 4: Norfolk council approved a moratorium on major new development applications in Port Dover due to insufficient capacity at the town’s water treatment plant. The county is concerned that galloping development in Port Dover might out-strip the county’s ability to deliver treated water.
June 5: An emotional video of Norfolk OPP Const. Chris Murray signing off for the last time after 30 years in policing went viral.
June 6: Haldimand and Norfolk celebrated the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Europe, an event in 1944 that marked a turning point in the allied effort to crush Nazi Germany.
June 13: Norfolk council agreed to re-tender the contract to perform an estimated $2 million in repairs to the Misner dam in Port Dover.
June 13: A tenant of an apartment building in Delhi contacted police after someone left dead rats in their designated parking space on several occasions.
June 18: Betty Opersko of Waterford – the queen of sports officiating in Ontario – celebrated her 70th year as an umpire and referee.
June 20: Waterford Coun. Kim Huffman surprised many when she announced she was the Liberal candidate in Haldimand-Norfolk for the Oct. 22 federal election.
June 21: Chronic, persistent flooding in Long Point had many cottagers worried about the spread of water-borne pathogens.
June 25: The estimated cost of relocating eight county employees to the works yard in Villa Nova ballooned from $60,000 to $172,000. Norfolk council accepted the adjustment and approved the renovations.
June 26: Industry representatives reported that this year’s cool, wet spring will make for an outstanding berry crop.
June 27: Nine stakeholders in the Simcoe Business Improvement Area were elected to its board of management. As the top vote-getter, retailer Cam Carter was named chair.
June 27: Norfolk council heard opinions pro and con regarding a 90-unit apartment building slated for the former Misner Fertilizer property in Port Dover.
JULY:
July 2: Haldimand announced that CAO Don Boyle had accepted an opportunity in the private sector and was moving on. His replacement is Craig Manley, Haldimand’s general manager of community and development services.
July 5: A Toronto drug dealer was the latest in Simcoe to receive a stiff jail sentence for trafficking fentanyl. The uptick in sentences coincides with an increased willingness on the part of police and Crown attorneys to pursue manslaughter charges where trafficking results in the death of a drug user.
July 5: Marion Anderson, the inaugural principal at Boston Public School, donated the old clock that used to tell time at Hartford School to the Wilson P. Macdonald Memorial School Museum in Selkirk. Anderson did so on the eve of her 100th birthday. She made the milestone before passing on a short time later.
July 10: Local farmers were pleased after the Ontario government announced it would keep the Ontario Food Terminal at its current location in Etobicoke.
July 10: Chronic flooding of low-lying areas of Long Point Provincial Park continues to keep several campgrounds closed.
July 11: A developer announced he was about to resurrect the Dream Villas subdivision project on Decou Road in Simcoe next to the Simcoe Animal Hospital.
July 11: Norfolk council voted 5-4 to partner with social housing provider Indwell on the redevelopment of the Norfolk Inn in downtown Simcoe.
July 11: After talking about it for three years, Norfolk County granted urban residents permission to keep a modest number of laying hens within the county’s urban boundaries.
July 17: Aggressive action by Norfolk firefighters prevented fire at a boarding house on Main Street in Port Dover from consuming the entire block. The fire forced the evacuation of the Lighthouse Festival Theatre nearby, which was staging a matinee performance of the curling comedy Hurry Hard. Careless smoking was the suspected cause of the blaze, which caused an estimated $500,000 damage.
July 19: Norfolk County announced it had parted ways with long-serving fire chief Terry Dicks. Dicks was the second fire chief in the 19-year history of the new Norfolk, replacing Denys Prevost in 2006.
July 19: Two dogs were missing following a boating accident on Long Point Bay.
July 23: Mighty Maeve Field, 5, returned home to Townsend after spending 130 days in hospital. Field suffered serious injuries March 9 when she was run down by an out-of-control vehicle in downtown Hagersville. The senior behind the wheel was later charged.
July 25: The iconic Haldimand heron flew off into the sunset as Norfolk’s neighbour to the east adopted a new minimalist logo, one emphasizing sunshine and shoreline.
July 26: Candidates in Haldimand-Norfolk in the Oct. 22 federal election have begun to step forward. Introducing himself was People’s Party of Canada candidate Bob Forbes, of Caledonia.
July 31: Norfolk council endorsed a resolution calling on the Ford government to impose stiffer sanctions on self-styled animal rights activists who trespass on farms and interfere with livestock. After consulting with numerous stakeholders, agriculture minister Ernie Hardeman tabled the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act at Queen’s Park Dec. 2.
July 31: The drive is on to extend high-speed internet into underserviced areas of Haldimand County. Haldimand council expects to award the contract for the work in January, 2020.
AUGUST:
Aug. 6: The Haldimand-Norfolk Pro-Choice Coalition protested at the Lynn River Music and Arts Festival in Simcoe for allowing Simcoe and District Right to Life to rent a booth at the civic holiday weekend event.
Aug. 9: Walter VanEvery, 64, of Simcoe was surprised to receive a letter from the federal government speaking of him in the past tense. It took VanEvery and his family several weeks to convince federal officials that he was indeed alive, had not passed on, and should continue receiving federal benefits.
Aug. 16: Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, Norfolk and Haldimand’s Medical Officer of Health, spoke to the counties’ health and social services advisory committee about a report that said 11 per cent of local households grapple with some level of food insecurity.
Aug. 20: Norfolk Mayor Kristal Chopp and Port Dover Coun. Amy Martin, Norfolk’s deputy mayor, sat down with Ford government officials at the annual general meeting of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in Ottawa. Items on the agenda included federal-provincial funding for a major new recreation complex in Simcoe and provincial funding for an $18-million water pipe from Jarvis into Port Dover.
Aug. 27: One person sustained minor injuries during an armed robbery at a legal marijuana grow operation on Townsend Road 14 east of Simcoe. In Haldimand, five teens were arrested following a robbery at the LCBO in Hagersville.
Aug. 29: The Long Point Region Conservation Authority wondered if it will have to find a new caretaker for the Backhouse Historic Site north of Port Rowan. The authority was on alert after the Ford government announced that Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities will be asked to focus on their core mandate, which is protecting people and property from flooding.
SEPTEMBER:
Sept. 4: As many as 400 jobs could be in the pipe following the sale of 13.25 acres of land in the Judd Industrial Park in Simcoe. Buyers are cannabis producer FIGR Norfolk Inc. (11.4 acres) and manufacturer Autofeed Corp. (2.85 acres).
Sept. 5: Norfolk Mayor Kristal Chopp announced that an interim-control bylaw in Port Dover on waterfront development was necessary to give council time to come up with a coherent plan for redeveloping the town’s lakeshore and waterfront areas.
Sept. 10: Local Catholics and history buffs were celebrating the 350th anniversary of Dollier and Galinee’s winter visit to the shores of Black Creek in what later became Port Dover. The Catholic missionaries left behind some of the first written records regarding European settlement in what later became the Province of Ontario.
Sept. 10: Citing labour problems and issues related to price competition, Hoy’s Chinese Cuisine on the Queensway East in Simcoe closed.
Sept. 18: The revolving door at Governor Simcoe Square continues to rotate with former public works general manager Chris Baird the latest to make an exit. Baird was a member of the inaugural management team when the new Norfolk came into being in 2001, serving as the county`s roads manager.
Sept. 27: Stakeholders in the community garden in Simcoe raved about the great summer they had for growing things.
Sept. 27: The question of who should respond to calls for service regarding wildlife interactions with humans has emerged as a hot-potato issue in Norfolk County. Norfolk council, the Norfolk OPP and Norfolk’s Police Services Board don’t want anything to do with it.
OCTOBER:
Oct. 1: Norfolk taxpayers continue to dig deeply as the county prepares for the next phase of the soil contamination cleanup at the county garage on the Queensway West in Simcoe. The next round of remediation will bring the tab so far to $10 million.
Oct. 1: News that coach and phys.-ed. instructor Chris Harvey was unavailable till further notice rocked the Simcoe Sabres football team. Harvey was working from home after he was charged with two counts of shoplifting.
Oct. 4: The Grand Erie District School Board cancelled all field trips, sports and extracurricular activities as a strike by education support workers loomed. CUPE job action was averted as the focus shifted to teachers’ unions whose contracts have expired.
Oct. 9: Delhi District Secondary School was named the overall high school champions at the Norfolk County Fair for the 10th consecutive year.
Oct. 17: The Simcoe BIA approved the installation of 28 closed-circuit cameras within the core. The $20,000 initiative was funded by a joint provincial-county grant.
Oct. 18: Vittoria had its moment in the spotlight as the popular CBC-TV series Still Standing shot an episode in the village south of Simcoe.
Oct. 18: Norfolk County was delighted to learn that the late Virginia (Gypsy) Moore, of Simcoe, left more than $350,000 to the Simcoe and District Humane Society and the Norfolk County Archives/Eva Brook Donly Museum in Simcoe.
Oct. 22: Norfolk County announced it had secured a conditional option on 24 acres of land at Ireland Road and Decou Road as the potential site of a new recreation complex in Simcoe.
Oct. 23: Voters in Haldimand-Norfolk returned Conservative MP Diane Finley to Ottawa for a sixth term. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada were returned to power with a minority government.
Oct. 25: Farmers in Norfolk are getting nervous now that feral pig populations have established themselves in specific locations in southern Ontario. Several were reported in a rural area north of Waterford. There was also a sighting near Dunnville.
Oct. 30: A group of 10 volunteers have come together to resurrect the Friendship Festival in Simcoe. The “Gator Days” revival is scheduled for the Simcoe Day holiday weekend next August and will celebrate the legacy of the West and Peachey alligator warping tug that used to be manufactured in Simcoe.
NOVEMBER:
Nov. 1: Easy-to-use defibrillating devices in public places proved their worth at the Port Dover Arena. Paramedic Matt Breedyk and firefighter Joe Archer used one to save the life of a man who collapsed during a pick-up hockey game.
Nov. 7: The developer of the Villages of Waterford in the north end of town unveiled plans for another 1,000 homes in the same location. The time-line for construction extends to 2040. The proposal is contingent on the province granting permission for an urban boundary expansion.
Nov. 8: Disagreements bubbled to the surface over the question of a new recreation complex in Simcoe. At Norfolk council, Delhi Coun. Mike Columbus objected to the idea of locating the facility at the intersection of Ireland Road and Decou Road. Meanwhile, a petition against the proposal was circulating in Delhi.
Nov. 11: People paying their respects at cenotaphs across Norfolk and Haldimand will recall this Remembrance Day as the unofficial start of winter. The day was cold and snowy, with the accumulation sticking around due to a long cold spell unusual for this time of year.
Nov. 12: Norfolk County met the federal-provincial deadline for filing a grant application for major recreation projects. Norfolk’s bid involves a proposed recreation complex in Simcoe that could cost as much as $50 million. A resolution from the previous council states that Norfolk County’s support for the project is conditional on receiving federal-provincial funding.
Nov. 12: Norfolk council approved the zoning required for construction of a 19-acre cannabis production facility on Park Road in Simcoe.
Nov. 13: Delegates to a Long Point World Biosphere conference in Simcoe heard that wildlife was rebounding in marsh areas of the Great Lakes where invasive phragmites had been eradicated.
Nov. 19: The executive of the Simcoe Seniors Centre criticized Norfolk council’s proposed location for a new recreation complex in Simcoe. The corner of Decou Road and Ireland Road is three kilometres from the current seniors centre on Pond Street. The seniors centre executive and its membership prefer something within walking distance of downtown Simcoe.
Nov. 19: Ontario ombudsman Paul Dube rejected two complaints suggesting Norfolk council conducted public business in private during council meetings March 26 and April 2.
Nov. 21: The long-awaited conversion of the former Norfolk Inn in downtown Simcoe into affordable housing began with workers gutting rooms on the second floor.
Nov. 21: Norfolk ratepayers said “Ouch” when they learned that Norfolk council had increased water rates for 2020 by 16.8 per cent.
Nov. 26: Christmas came early to the Salvation Army in Simcoe and its clients as steelworkers and management at Stelco in Nanticoke donated $17,150 in cash plus 860 pounds of food and toys.
Nov. 28: The third powerful wind storm in a month combined with record-high water in Lake Erie to produce another round of severe erosion along the lakeshore in Norfolk County.
Nov. 29: Port Dover residents were again asked to use municipal water sparingly now that a filtration unit at the town’s treatment plant is down due to unscheduled repairs. This is the second failure of this filtration unit this calendar year.
Nov. 29: Norfolk’s Police Services Board reviewed a report recommending that the county’s assorted community policing committees be rolled into a single, county-wide advisory panel with representation from each of the county’s wards.
DECEMBER:
Dec. 3: Labour unrest on the education front was getting real in Norfolk and Haldimand now that the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) and education support workers were preparing for a one-day strike. At issue were stalled talks regarding new collective agreements.
Dec. 3: Following 10 years of debate, Port Dover Coun. Amy Martin raised her arms in triumph as Norfolk council unanimously approved a $1.46-million bid to repair the Misner dam. Repairs to the dam are a necessary first step in the eventual rehabilitation of the Silver Lake mill pond in the heart of Port Dover.
Dec. 4: The Simcoe and District Humane Society finally turned the sod on its long-awaited animal shelter in Simcoe. For years, the local humane society has operated out of a trailer in the Judd Industrial Park.
Dec. 6: Haldimand-Norfolk Women’s Services marked the 30th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre with a sombre presentation on the issue of violence against women at Norfolk council.
Dec. 10: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing will report shortly about Norfolk property owners’ eligibility for disaster relief following several months of erosion and chronic flooding along the Lake Erie shoreline. A ministry investigative team passed through Norfolk in late November.
Dec. 10: Norfolk General Hospital in Simcoe and West Haldimand General Hospital in Hagersville will have to recruit a new CEO and president now that Kelly Isfan has accepted the top administrative position at a hospital in Lindsay. The NGH board praised Isfan for providing sound leadership over the past nine years.
Dec. 12: The new seniors centre in Port Dover received a boost with word of a $59,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The cash will fund operations in 2020.
Dec. 13: Local MP Diane Finley was “very disappointed” to learn that Conservative Party of Canada leader Andrew Scheer was stepping down. The Conservatives under Scheer greatly increased their seat count in the House of Commons Oct. 22 and won the popular vote across the country. However, party factions expected Scheer to kick incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the curb following a series of embarrassing blunders, gaffes and mishandled files.
Dec. 13: A surprisingly mild, sunny day brought hundreds of motorcycles and onlookers to Port Dover for the town’s second and final Friday the 13th motorcycle rally of 2019.
Dec. 17: Opposition was building to proposed modifications to Norfolk’s forestry conservation bylaw that would align woodlot management in the local area with “normal farming practices.”
Dec. 17: The Simcoe and District Real Estate Board reported that 50 homes sold in the local area through November at an average price of $415,000.
Dec. 18: Organizers of the new Seniors Centre in Port Dover announced programming would begin at the Kinsmen-Scout Hut around the end of January. The priority at the moment is adopting articles of incorporation and a constitution.
Dec. 18: Members of Norfolk’s PSB were stunned to learn that impaired driving charges in Norfolk had risen 34.5 per cent through 2019.
Dec. 19: Norfolk interim CAO Chris McQueen – on the job since Labour Day – announced he was leaving Governor Simcoe Square to pursue an opportunity elsewhere.
Dec. 20: London-area benefactors donated 29 pieces of art worth more than $100,000 to the Norfolk Arts Centre in Simcoe. The paintings and prints date from the late 1940s and represent a good cross-section of the early evolution of abstract modernist art in Canada.
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