December 17, 2011

NEWS1THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2011VOLUME.....16ISSUE.........50 www. .com

WEEKEND WEATHER SATURDAYCloudy, flurries

SUNDAYCloudy, flurries-4° 1° Opinion...............12

Business.............15 Living Here.........18Sports...............24

Classifieds.........32

Kings take 3 of 3 > STORY ON PG.24

MichaelHarrisMPP.ca 519.954.8679

MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours

MH_ObserverAdXmas_Banner.indd 1 11-12-07 8:59 PM

Scan this code to visit our BRAND NEW WEBSITEwww.furniturehouse.cawww.furniturehouse.caClick on flyer specials

GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE

OPEN 7 DAYS ~ 30 Benjamin Rd., Waterloo 519-746-0060

MERRYMERRYMERRYMERRYMERRYMERRYMERRYMERRYMERRYMERRYMERRYMERRYMERRY

GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLEGIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE

Last minute Gift Ideas!?See Furniture House

FLOOR MODELFLOOR MODELAnnualAnnual

CLEARANCE SALE!Save Up To

MODELMODELAnnualAnnualMODELMODELAnnualAnnualAnnual

OPEN 7 DAYS ~ 30 Benjamin Rd., Waterloo OPEN 7 DAYS ~ 30 Benjamin Rd., Waterloo OPEN 7 DAYS ~ 30 Benjamin Rd., Waterloo OPEN 7 DAYS ~ 30 Benjamin Rd., Waterloo

CLEARANCE SALE!CLEARANCE SALE!CLEARANCE SALE!CLEARANCE SALE!Save Up ToSave Up To40%

SAVE UP TO 40% OFF CHRISTMAS DECORSAVE UP TO 40% OFF CHRISTMAS DECORSAVE UP TO 40% OFF CHRISTMAS DECORSAVE UP TO 40% OFF CHRISTMAS DECORSAVE UP TO 40% OFF CHRISTMAS DECORSAVE UP TO 40% OFF CHRISTMAS DECORSAVE UP TO 40% OFF CHRISTMAS DECORNO TAX ON DECOR, WALL ART & LAMPS!SAVE UP TO 40% OFF CHRISTMAS DECORSAVE UP TO 40% OFF CHRISTMAS DECORNO TAX ON DECOR, WALL ART & LAMPS!AnnualAnnual

CLEARANCE SALE!CLEARANCE SALE!Save Up ToSave Up ToSave Up ToSave Up To&&Annual

Save Up To4040GET IT NOW! Bring your truck!

Sale Ends Dec 31st

Season of Song

CHRISTMAS IN BRESLAU The Breslau Evangelical Missionary Church quartet, Mark Domm, Katelynn Howard, Sun Millar Idsinga and Mark Dettweiler, perform at the Breslau Community Centre’s Christmas in Breslau event on Dec. 11. A chili dinner was served, with proceeds going to the community centre, followed by a visit from Santa Claus and carol singing.

Planned rate hikes that would see Woolwich Mi-

nor Hockey hit with an 11 per cent increase next year were quashed by council-

Council balks at large hikes in ice rental ratesWhile deferring some rec. fees, Woolwich approves a range of other price hikes

Steve Kannon lors, who sent staff off to find a sharper pencil.

While agreeing to a host of user fee increases – some of them huge – for a host of township services, council-lors meeting Tuesday night

opted to defer a decision on arena rental fees.

The rates themselves are slated for an increase aver-aging 5.2 per cent under pro-posal tabled by recreation department staff. Primetime

ice would jump to $201.76 an hour from $191.85 at the Dan Snyder Memorial Arena, and to $196.46 from $186.85 at the Jim McLeod and Wool-wich Township arenas. A uniform $110.62 would be

applied to all non-prime ice times at the three arenas, up from $109.81 at the Snyder rink and $104.81 at the oth-ers.

> SEE FEES ON PG. 05

NEWS 2 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

Dec 18 12-4Dec. 19-21 9:30-5:30Dec. 22-23 9:30-7Dec. 24 9:30-3Dec. 25-26 CLOSEDDec. 27-30 9:30-5:30Dec. 31 9:30-3:30Jan. 1 CLOSEDJan. 2 CLOSED FOR INVENTORYJan. 3 BACK TO REGULAR HOURS

HO

LID

AY H

OU

RS

:

While quantities last. Not exactly as shown.

HOURS:Monday-Wednesday9:30-5:30Thursday-Friday9:30-7:00Saturday9:30-5:30Sunday12:00-4:00

THE SHOPS AT ROXTON

519.669.3072www.elmiragiftoutlet.com

1 Union St., Elmira

OPEN SUNDAYS STARTING NOVEMBER 13 | 12-4PMWhile quantities last. Not exactly as shown.

HOURS:Monday-Wednesday9:30-5:30Thursday-Friday9:30-7:00Saturday9:30-5:30Sunday12:00-4:00

THE SHOPS AT ROXTON

519.669.3072www.elmiragiftoutlet.com

1 Union St., Elmira1 Union St., Elmira1 Union St., Elmira1 Union St., Elmira1 Union St., Elmira

OPEN SUNDAYS STARTING NOVEMBER 13 | 12-4PMWhile quantities last. Not exactly as shown. OPEN SUNDAYS STARTING NOVEMBER 13 | 12-4PM

Next Senior’s Day Thurs. Dec. 29.

HO

LID

AY H

OU

RS

:

50% Dec. 25-26 CLOSEDDec. 27-30 9:30-5:30Dec. 31 9:30-3:30Jan. 1 CLOSED

HO

LID

AY H

OU

RS

:H

OLI

DAY

HO

UR

S:

Reg. Price50%

Reg. PriceOFF

1 Union St., Elmira1 Union St., Elmira1 Union St., Elmira1 Union St., Elmira1 Union St., Elmira

Reg. PriceReg. PriceOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFF InstockChristmas Items.Sale Begins Dec. 17.


> Covered bridge gets designation

> In search of bootlegging stories

James Jackson

> SEE IPAD ON PG. 06

CATHY DIAMONDPHARMACIST

FREE

DELIVER

Y

OPEN: Monday to Friday 9am-7pm;Saturday 10am-5pm; Closed Sundays519-669-828210 Church St., Elmira

SAMER MIKHAILPHARMACIST /OWNER

P H A R M A C Y

• Compounding

• Compliance Packaging

• Free Blood Pressure Check

• Free Blood Glucose Monitor & Teaching

• Ostomy & Home Health Care

W • O • O • L • W • I • C • H

Council this week approved a cultural heritage landscape designation for the area surrounding the West Montrose covered bridge. The move provides an extra layer of protection for the area’s historic character, in some instances requiring a heritage study prior to de-velopment within the lands of the CHL, which covers some 1,670 acres.

Although Coun. Allan Poffenroth expressed concerns about undue re-strictions on homeowners, director of engineering and planning Dan Kennal-ey explained only those changes that require assessment under the Planning Act will trigger a review. Minor changes that require only a building permit, for instance, won’t be in play, and council will have some discretion of its own.

On Wednesday afternoon, seven students from John

Mahood Public School sat in the school’s library during their second nutrition break to try out a set of brand new iPads.

It was a fascinating juxta-position of old and new tech-nology as John Mahood’s new iPad focus group, a col-lection of students ranging in age from junior kindergar-ten up to Grade 5, tested the latest addition to the school’s educational technology for the first time.

Referred to as the iPad lab, it consists of 20 Apple tablet de-vices stored in a special cart that simultaneously charges and syncs them to a single laptop computer. The lab can be easily wheeled around to classrooms throughout the school, and school principal Tracy Tait has high hopes for the technology.

John Mahood PS introduces iPads to its curriculum

i-learning“They certainly comple-

ment the curriculum,” she said, adding that all the pro-grams known as applica-tions, or apps, will have an educational component to them before being added to the iPads via the laptop and the school’s iTunes account.

The students will have no access to the iTunes account and only staff can download apps onto the iPads.

“There won’t be apps strict-ly for the purpose of playing games; there are math apps, music apps, language apps, and there are a wide variety of apps in the form of assis-tive technologies for students that struggle or have special needs.”

For example, text-to-type apps will allow a child to speak into the microphone and their words are typed out, which can then be emailed to their teacher or sent wirelessly to a printer.

“It’s easier for children

who struggle with fine motor tasks and writing to be able to get their thoughts on pa-per in a way that makes them feel successful,” Tait said.

The iPads can be signed out by teachers just like any other piece of technology in the school, and staff has had a chance to test out the devic-es both at school and at home to get a feel for what the tech-nology can offer.

While some may call into question the increased role of technology in the class-room, there is a growing body of evidence in support of it.

The National Institute for Education found that technol-ogy can support instant feed-back and interaction among students, and research in the UK showed students using mobile learning technology such as the iPad increased their motivation and enthu-siasm for their course.

The devices have also been

shown to help those with de-velopmental disorders such as Autism, and combined with computers, interactive smartboards and powerpoint projectors that are already in classrooms, technology has transformed the ways stu-dents learn.

“Our board has a focus on a variety of different technolo-gies, iPads being just one,” said Tait.

John Mahood is far from the first school in the region to make use of iPad technol-ogy, and Tait said she was en-couraged by administrators at Millen Woods P.S. and Les-ter B. Pearson P.S. in Water-loo who praised the impact the iPad has had on their stu-dents’ ability to learn in the classroom.

This year the school start-ed looking into getting their own iPad lab at the school, and with funds raised dur-

> Putting a little soul into the holidays

Prohibition-era bootlegging in Wool-wich Township? Seems pretty likely giv-en the region’s role in that bit of history, and Kitchener resident Janet Bock is looking for information about that kind of activity in the townships.

“While not a writer, historian or re-searcher, I ‘m just interested in the im-plications of stories I’ve heard of whis-key traffic and stowaway locations not far from Waterloo,” she says, indicating she’s heard of liquor caches in the Sandy Hills area of Elmira.

“I’m just curious about this … and I’m looking for stories about bootleg-ging or caching in Woolwich.”

Bock can be reached at 519-745-3296.

Stop in at the Baby Charlotte store in Conestogo this holiday season and you might notice the staff has gone bare-foot. That’s all part of the “Baby Char-lotte Little Souls Shoe Drive,” to raise awareness for those children who don’t have shoes this winter.

The small, eco-friendly children’s shop got the ball rolling with a donation of 115 pairs of shoes.

Wearing cheerful Santa t-shirts, with the words “Ask me why I’m barefoot,” four year old Charlotte, her mom Carla, and their staff are encouraging custom-ers to add a small donation to their pur-chase, to help buy shoes for those kids outside of Baby Charlotte’s size range.

“We are inviting other retailers to donate larger sized shoes as well,” said storeowner Carla Muller. “We’ll even send them some campaign t-shirts.”

HANDS-ON The John Mahood iPad focus group consisting of students Jesse Bowman (back left), Matt Yorke, Sean Heimpel, Alana Bauman, Hilary Bauman, Daniel Grant (front left) and Kyle Austin met for the first time on Wednesday afternoon to test the devices.


LAW & ORDER

December 8

>> 5:50 PM | Ontario Provincial Police responded to a head-on crash near Greenhouse Road, east of Breslau when a pickup truck and a car collided, killing a 21-year-old Kitchener man, Cody Springall and sending the driver of the pickup, a 48-year-old man, to Guelph General Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The crash backed up traffic as far as Victoria Street North in Kitchener. The highway was closed until around 11 p.m. Police continue to investigate the incident.

Countdown on for police department’s anti-drug contesta 1997 Sierra pickup truck pulled over on to the side of William Hasting Line when a 2009 Volkswagen driven by a 70-year-old Milbank man pulled in behind her. The two vehicles waited for traffic to clear and when the Sierra started to move it reversed into the Volkswagen. The woman was charged with ‘start from stop not in safety.’ No injuries were reported, with both vehicles sustaining minimal to moderate damage.

>> 5:10 PM | On the way to a medical emergency, a police cruiser lost control on the icy road on Hutchinson Road and rolled into a cornfield. No serious injuries were reported, but the cruiser was destroyed in the accident. Traffic branch is investigating.

>> 8:45 PM | A 22-year-old Guelph woman driving a white 2009 KIA was charged with ‘disobey a red light’ when she hit a 33-year-old St. Jacobs woman driving a GMC van on Arthur Street near Whippoorwill Drive in Elmira. The van sustained severe damages and the KIA was

>> 6:00 PM | A 19-year-old Elmira man was charged with ‘careless driving’ after he flipped his white 1999 Nissan while driving along New

Jerusalem Road near South Field Drive. Police found the car on its side in the middle of the road. The car sustained moderate damage, but no injuries were reported.

December 9

>> 7:40 AM | A 53-year-old Brantford man driving a 2011 KIA along Chilligo Road slowed for a bend in the road when he slide on ice and lost control of his vehicle and entered a ditch before hitting a hydro pole. Damage to the vehicle was moderate. No injuries were reported, and no charges were laid.

>> 4:30 PM | A 73-year-old Heidelberg woman driving

destroyed in the accident. No injuries were reported.

December 10

>> 5:00 PM | Police were called after a couple of teenagers left a red plastic wagon in the middle of Killdeer Road near First Street, Elmira, waiting for a vehicle to come by and hit it. Police picked up the wagon, which was believed to have been stolen, and are holding it at the Elmira detachment. The investigation continues.

December 11

>> 10:55 AM | A 17-year-old St. Jacobs man driving a 2002 Chevy Astro Van was exiting the Shoppers Drug Mart parking lot onto Church Street in Elmira when he struck a 2009 KIA operated by a 33-year-old Elmira man. The teenager was charged with ‘fail to yield.’ No injuries were reported and both vehicles sustained moderate damage.

>> 1:00 PM | A collision occurred at King Street North near Martin Grove Road south of St. Jacobs when a 2009 Ford pickup driven by a 39-year-

The Waterloo Region-al Police Service

has partnered with local pop star Nate Hall to help promote a contest that invites the region’s youth to submit art, film, song, or words that highlight the benefits of living drug-free. The contest called “It’s Your Call” is be-ing promoted in high

old St. Jacobs man stopped for traffic on King Street and was rear-ended by a 2006 Chevy Equinox driven by a 50-year-old Brussels man who was blinded by the sun and did not see the pickup stop in front of him. No charges were laid, no injuries were reported and moderate damage was sustained by both vehicles.

December 12

>> 9:00 AM | Police found a girl’s purple and silver Raleigh Portage bike at the St. Clements arena. The bike may be claimed by its rightful owner at the Elmira detachment.

>> 11:00AM | A boy’s white DX Bent Number 20 stunt bike was found in Bolender Park in Elmira. It’s now awaiting pickup by its rightful owner at the police station.

>> 4:00 PM | A suspicious maroon van was reported to police outside the Mennonite school on Line 86 south of Wallenstein. The van was parked on the side of the road with the passenger door open. When police arrived the van had left the scene.

NOW

OPEN 7 DAYS

A WEEK

Start & Finish your Christmas Shopping6:00pm - 9:00pm

12 Arthur Street, Elmira 519-669-9356Located at Elmira's downtown corner

www.inspiringaccents.com

ACCENT FURNITURE • ARTWORK & PRINTS • JEWELRY & PURSES • POTTERYLAMPE BERGER • ENTERTAINMENT ESSENTIALS • GIFTS FROM THE HEART

Hey Fellas!Only 9 Days Till ChristmasMen’s NightThursday December 22nd

We’ll Take Care Of You & Yours

Paradise & District Lions Club Would like to thank the following businesses and individuals who generously contributed $50.00 or more to our 4th Annual Tree of Light campaign which was a great success.

Special thanks to Exotic Wings and Things as wellas Foodland for their continuing support.

TREE TOP DONORS (Over $50.00)

$50.00 STRAND DONORS

Harold Albrecht, MP Auto Fleet Services Inc. BJD Water Systems Ltd.Douglas F. Bender Developments W.Forwell Electric Limited Barb GroganHank's Auto Wreckers Koebel Concrete Construction Inc.

George & Lynda LorentzMcArthur Mechanical Ltd. Murray and Marlene Miles St. Clements Heart & HomeSteed & Evans Limited Stemmler's The Olde Heidelberg Restaurant & Motel

Ann, Patty & Janet (Lienhardt) Ron & Pat Beaupre Belmont Appliance ServiceDiane Bender CMT Engineering Inc. C T Tooling Inc.Campside Contracting Creative Hair Works Ed CrowtherRick Esbaugh Ron Esbaugh Exotic Wings & Pet ThingsFirm Foundations, Jane Warner G Force Custom Fabrication Doris HartmanHeidelberg Metal Inc.

Heidelberg Parks & Recreation Ted & Diane HennebryHerrgott Industries & Flowers K & K Liquidation & Auction Ltd. Jackie Kuhn & Jeffrey KuhnJim Kuhn Jones Feed Mills Limited Ken Meyer FamilyJohn Pfaffinger Richmond Heating & Air Geoff & Pam RingroseSteed & Evans Ltd. Jim & Judy Taziar Len and Maria WagnerThe Harold Walser Family Way Mar Inc. James Witmer

schools across the region. Students can visit www.itsyourcall-contest.ca for more information.

Prizes include an iPad 2, a laptop com-puter, a HD camcorder and a Gibson Les Paul Studio Model guitar. The contest, which aims to empower teens to speak out about drug use, closes on Dec. 31.

SAVE YOUR EMPTY BEER / WINE BOTTLES & CANS

BOTTLE DRIVESATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2012

TO ARRANGE PICK-UP CALL CORINNE AT519.504.3420

DOOR TO DOOR PICK UP IN ELMIRA


Thank You All!The Elmira Kiwanis Club would like to thank the

following community minded businesses and organizations who generously supported our very

successful Santa Claus parade this year.

Voisin MotorsWaterloo Regional Police - Traffic Division Paul & Adele’s No Frills Food MarketElmira Legion Br. 469Riverside Public SchoolWalter PleinMartin Mills Inc.McKee Farm TechnologiesResurfice Corp.Sulco ChemicalsM&G MillwrightsP.I.B. Insurance BrokersSanyo Canadian Machine WorksRBC Financial ElmiraElmira Home HardwareMcDonald’s Restaurants ElmiraElmira Pet ProductsElmira Insurance BrokersVHF Construction

TD Canada Trust ElmiraHJM Insurance and Financial Services (o/a C.H. Soehner Insurance Ltd.)

Dreisinger Funeral HomeBank of MontrealGood Auto PartsElmira Lions ClubCross Country ConcreteElmira B.I.A.Savage AutobodyWoolwich Holdings (Paul Robb & Allan Poffenroth)Elmira EyeWearBridgeland Terminals LimitedWaters & Hastings LawyersShoppers Drug MartLyndon’s LandscapingMega MuttsEncore Dance StudioElmira Sugar KingsElmira Snowmobile Club Farmers Plus

We wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

EAR & HEARING CLINICElmira Wellness Centre, 24B Arthur Street South, Elmira,

519.669.4425www.earandhearingclinic.com

DID YOU KNOW?THE EAR AND HEARING CLINIC

HAS 6 AUDIOLOGISTS ON STAFF!

Call the Elmira office today!

EAR & HEAR

Combined

we have

80 years

of experience!

Trust Juliane Shantz, Doctor of Audiology and Associates with all your hearing health needs!

Call the Elmira Combined

80 years

of experience!

Locally& PrivatelyOwned

3031 Lobsinger Line, Heidelberg 519-699-4590Mon.-Wed. 8-6; Thurs. - Fri. 8-8; Saturday 7:30-5

visit us online at www.stemmlermeats.ca

WEEKLY SPECIALSSpecials from Dec. 19th - Dec. 24th

Store Made

Skin-OnBone-In Ham

BlackForest Ham

Fresh "Locally Raised" Drug Free

Grade "A"Turkeys

Fresh "Locally Raised"

Geeseor Ducks

Store Made

Store Made, Provincial Award Winning

$1.99 $2.79 Ib./$6.15kg.

SkinlessIb./$4.39kg.

$2.89

$3.99

Maple SmokedSide Bacon

Ib./$6.37kg.

Ib./$8.80kg.

$5.19 Ib./$11.44kg.

$3.69

$3.29

Ib./$8.13kg.

Ib./$7.25kg.

HamKielbossa

Store Made

Combined with a shift in the primetime ice schedule – starting at 5 p.m. each week-night rather than 6 – the increases would mean thousands of ex-tra dollars in costs for the largest user of ice time.

Noting that the bot-tom-line impact on the association would mean paying 11 per cent more next year over current expenses, Mayor Todd Cowan dismissed as semantics

Fees: Township looking to boost it’s cost-recovery model with increases> CONTINUED FROM COVER the distinction between

a fee hike and prime-time ice changes, call-ing it a “shell game.”

“I have a few difficul-ties with this. It could limit the number of kids who could play because it’s getting too expensive,” he said of the staff proposal, part of a broader slate of changes to fees and charges. “I think that’s asking way too much.”

Acknowledging the overall impact, director of recreation and facili-ties Karen Makela said the changes were in

line with arena fees in neighbouring munici-palities. The proposed hourly rate would put Woolwich in the middle of the pack, while some other municipalities start their primetime rates as early as 4 p.m. each day.

Woolwich currently recovers about 54 per cent of the cost of op-erating arenas through fees paid by users, slightly lower than the average of 60 per cent. In order to recover all of its costs, the town-ship would have to

charge $252 an hour for ice time.

For Cowan, however, the goal is to reduce the township’s costs – “we can find some efficien-cies” – rather than sim-ply relying on fee in-creases to close the gap.

“We have to find some better solutions for our best customer,” he said of the minor hockey is-sue.

Having sent staff back to the drawing board on that issue, councillors did ap-prove a host increased fees and charges for

everything from an Of-ficial Plan amendment ($4,500 from $4,299) to dog tags ($25 from $20). Increases range from inflationary to more than 100 per cent in some cases. A gravel pit application, for in-stance, jumps to $16,700 from $8,348. Other in-creases in the planning department include a doubling of many of the committee of ad-justment rates, such as applications for sever-ance jumping to $1,100 from $537 and a minor variance application

going to $900 from $485.All of the fee hikes, in-

cluding those well above inflation on the recre-ation side, reflect the township’s rising costs to provide the services, said director of finance Richard Petherick.

Chief administra-tive officer David Brenneman noted the increases seen in re-cent years reflect a shift towards a user-pay philosophy as the township tries to recov-er more of the costs as-sociated with offering services.

American Eagle, the regional affiliate of

American Airlines, will offer daily flights to Chicago from the Re-gion of Waterloo Inter-national Airport start-ing next year.

The airline plans 13 roundtrip flights per week to O’Hare Inter-national Airport, one of its largest travel hubs, beginning June 14, 2012.

“We’re really thrilled that American has joined on with us here,” said regional Chair Ken Seiling at the official announcement Tues-day morning at the

New air route will connect Waterloo Region to ChicagoAmerican Eagle service will offer 13 roundtrip flights each week starting in June

James Jackson Breslau airport. “We see a lot of economic activity in this region that is supported by the airport, and businesses that use the airport in its operations around the world.”

The service will be operated by the ERJ-145 Embraer regional jets that seat 50 passen-gers. The partnership has been about two years in the making.

Airport general man-ager Chris Wood said he was contacted by the airline shortly after he assumed the position in 2009, as they were looking to secure more business in Waterloo’s booming technology

CHICAGO-BOUND Brett Hooyerink of American Airlines is flanked by Region of Waterloo International Airport general manager Chris Wood (left) and regional Chair Ken Seiling (right) during Tuesday’s announcement the airline will offer twice-daily flights to Chicago starting next June.

sector.The answer from

those companies was clear, Wood revealed.

“They said ‘simple, put planes in Water-loo.’”

The airport is already home to three Canadi-an airlines – Bearskin, WestJet and Sunwing as well as Great Lakes Helicopter – and Amer-ican will be the first carrier with U.S.-bound flights out of the Re-gion of Waterloo since Northwest (now Delta) ended flights to Detroit in 2009.

“We’re very proud to become a part of

> SEE AIRLINE ON PG. 06


Changes are coming to your Water and Wastewater Utility Bill

in the Township of WellesleyThe Region of Waterloo currently provides water and wastewater services directly to the residents of the Township of Wellesley. Beginning January 1, 2012, the Region of Waterloo will assume billing for local water and wastewater services from the Township of Wellesley.

Water meters will no longer be read quarterly, but every second month beginning January 2012, and the bill will arrive two to three weeks following the reading.

Payment must be sent to the Region of Waterloo. Please review your invoice or our website (www.regionofwaterloo.ca, click on the Water “Quicklinks”) for detail regarding the various methods of payment.

If a new water meter is required, they will continue to be available at the Township of Wellesley Administration Office for pick up. Please contact Wellesley Township in advance at 519-699-4611.

If you would like more information please visit www.regionofwaterloo.ca and click on the Water “Quicklinks”, or e-mail [email protected], or call Accounts Receivable - Water at 519-575-4490

REGION OF WATERLOO SIGN BY-LAW 10-030 – ENFORCEMENT ADVISORY

An increasing number of illegal signs along Regional roads have led the Region to increase enforcement of its sign by-law to improve road safety and the appearance of Regional roads. Regional and municipal enforcement staff will be targeting small wire-mounted signs and other miscellaneous signs including but not limited to pole-mounted signs and mobile signs that do not meet the conditions of the by-law. Signs observed not complying with the Region’s Sign By-law will be removed immediately without notice and a ticket may be issued. The owner of any such sign found replacing or permitting the replacement of any removed non-compliant sign, will be issued a ticket by an enforcement officer and the replacement sign removed.

Copies of the current Sign By-law 10-030 are available for review in the Clerk’s Office, Region of Waterloo, 2nd Floor, 150 Frederick Street, Kitchener during normal office hours. Copies ofthe current by-law can also be obtained by visiting the Region of Waterloo website at www.regionofwaterloo.ca under the Regional Government / By-laws menu at the top of the home page. If you have any questions concerning the by-law, any questions concerning enforcement of the by-law, or wish to make a complaint about signs, you may contact Marty Sawdon, Administrator, Licensing and Enforcement directly at 519-575-4040 or [email protected]

ing their annual Trea-sure Books fundrais-er in September, the school collected more than $11,000, which was enough to order a lab in October, which included 10 iPads and the sync cart, and left enough money left over to purchase another 10 iPads.

“We’re very thank-ful for the communi-ty’s support in raising those funds,” said Tait.

The iPads are being used in conjunction with the school’s pre-existing Digital Citi-zenship program devel-oped when computers

first entered the class-room, and it includes topics such as teaching students to interact ap-propriately with the

technology, how to care for it, how to be a re-sponsible Internet user, and so on.

As for the students in the focus group, the plan is for them to test out the iPads and pro-vide some feedback on how they might be inte-grated into the curricu-lum using new and cre-ative ways that teachers and administrators may not think of.

“The hope is that those students will be-come leaders in their own classes, so when the class has an oppor-tunity to use the iPads, they have an expert in-house to assist their friends.”

iPad: Another tool for teaching> CONTINUED FROM PG. 03

LEARNING IS FUN Jesse Bowman tries out one of the numerous educational apps on one of the school’s 20 new tablet devices.

Residents on full mu-nicipal services will

be shelling out another $50 next year for water and sewer fees, Wool-wich councillors decid-ed this week.

For 2012, Waterloo Region has pushed water rates by 6.9 per cent and wastewater 7.9 per cent. In Woolwich, which buys water from the region and runs the distribution systems it-self, that translates into a water rate hike of 6.9 per cent, to $1.52 per cubic metre from $1.43 (a jump of $16 to $22 per year for an average household) and waste-water increases of 7.84 per cent, to $1.90 per cubic metre from $1.76 ($25 to $33 per year).

The Woolwich fees reflect the fact regional billing is the single-biggest component of the township’s costs,

Homeowners dinged with large increases in water ratesWoolwich plans to hike fees by 6.9% for water and 7.9% for wastewater

Steve Kannon director of finance Richard Petherick told councillors Dec. 13. Wa-ter charges from the region will account for 67 per cent of the water budget in 2012, up from 60 per cent this year. On the wastewater side, the figures are 76 and 68 per cent respectively.

“We’re holding the line. It’s really the re-gion that is driving this,” he said.

Given that the region plans similar increases over the next few years, water and sewage rates are likely to climb ac-cordingly.

Citing figures that show water costs are soaring because conser-vation measures have re-duced regional revenues, Coun. Allan Poffenroth said customers are in ef-fect being punished for good behaviour.

The issue was dis-cussed last week at a meeting of all mu-

nicipal councils in the region. Saddled with fixed costs and increas-ing expenditures to meet provincial regula-tions and future infra-structure needs, the re-gion has seen revenues fall by $11 million over the past two years due to decreased demand.

But Mayor Todd Cow-an, the township’s rep-resentative on regional council, was quick to point out that conser-vations measures have helped defer more than $100 million in expan-sion projects, as well as a proposed Great Lakes pipeline.

“It’s a heck of a lot cheaper than build-ing a pipeline to Lake Erie,” he said of the rate increases.

The Lake Erie project is slated for 2035 and could be pushed back by five or more years because of conserva-tion efforts.

the community and its great the way the community has wel-comed us here,” said Dale Morris, manag-ing director for state and community affairs with American, in an interview after the an-nouncement.

“When it starts up we’re expecting great things.”

The partnership comes during a diffi-cult time for American, whose parent company AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 29 under Chap-ter 11 proceedings, and is currently undergo-ing restructuring in U.S. bankruptcy court.

Morris said that re-structuring plan in-cluded looking at new routes, such as the one to Waterloo, and that the filing of Chapter 11 would have no impact on their decision to continue their partner-ship with the airport.

“It’s business as usu-al. We had this route projected even before we went into that mode. It won’t have any affect on it at all.”

Woolwich Mayor Todd Cowan admitted to having some reser-vations about the deal after the developments on Nov. 29, but said re-gional council and the township have been assured the agreement would continue as agreed.

“Initially I had some concerns, but Chris (Wood) has said that just because they have filed for bankruptcy doesn’t mean they’re going under, it’s merely a reorganization of the company,” Cowan said.

As for future plans, Morris couldn’t say whether or not the airline would expand upon its twice-daily route. He said the com-pany has economic models that the market must reach first and that it would take some

time for the market to dictate their future ac-tion.

“I think once the route gets going we’ll look at other options down the road but I think if it goes well it can lead to increased frequency.”

Flights from Water-loo to Chicago start June 14, 2012.

Airline: Bankruptcy of parent airline should have no impact on schedule

> CONTINUED FROM PG. 05

American Eagle

Waterloo Region to Chicago

Departs 6:30 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. (except Saturday)

Arrives 6:55 a.m. and

5:15 p.m.

Chicago to Waterloo Region

Departs 1:20 p.m. and 7:50 p.m. (except Saturday)

Arrives 3:55 p.m. and

10:15 p.m.


Steve Kannon

Mapping out the fu-ture of Breslau will

cost Woolwich $235,000, the price for consul-tants to carry out what’s known as the secondary plan review for what’s expected to be the fastest-growing part o the township.

The plan will lay out appropriate loca-tions for future resi-dential and commer-cial growth inside the settlement boundaries, as well as places for schools, recreational facilities and the like. Transportation issues, including a proposed GO train station, will also be part of the re-view, as will growth targets and staging of development, deter-mining how many new homes should be built each year.

The Planning Part-nership, a Toronto-based firm, submit-ted the lower of just two bids submitted in response to the town-ship’s request for pro-posals.

Most of the expenses will be covered by de-velopment charges – fees collected from new construction – with about $35,000 coming from general tax cof-fers, director of engi-neering and planning Dan Kennaley told councillors meeting Tuesday night.

Questioned by May-

Woolwich launches comprehensive review of Breslau developmentCouncil approves spending $235,000 for consultant to formulate secondary plan

or Todd Cowan about the need for yet anoth-er consultant on the books, Kennaley ex-plained the comprehen-sive review requires time and expertise not available in-house.

Scheduled to run through mid-2013, the work will run in tan-dem with a review of the township’s Official Plan. It will also have a direct bearing on Thomasfield Homes’ recent application for a large, mixed-use devel-opment on land east of the village core.

Owner Tom Krizsan would like to see the secondary plan com-pleted as quickly as possible, telling coun-cillors GO Transit is on a tight schedule for a proposed park-and-ride station that would form part of his devel-opment project.

“We began asking for the secondary plan five years ago. We’re very pleased it has arrived,” he said, calling for the township to “complete it in an expeditious manner.”

Thomasfield control about 70 per cent of the undeveloped land with-in the Breslau settle-ment area, so the sec-ondary plan will have a large impact on his plans.

The company earlier this year submitted an application for a project that would add 2,300 new residents and

3,330 jobs to the area. Proposed is a combi-nation of residential (single-family, semis, townhouses and apart-ment buildings), com-mercial space, offices, retail stores, industrial uses, schools, open space, trails and wet-lands extending over more than 335 acres east of the company’s current development, the Hopewell Heights subdivision.

The development would cover two pieces of land, 226 acres im-mediately east of the subdivision and 109 acres east of Green-house Road, the site of much of the proposed industrial land. There would be 865 residen-tial units; 53 acres of employment land; 15 acres set aside at the sound end of the west-ern property, adjacent to the CN rail line, set aside for a GO sta-tion; and substantial amounts of protected wetlands and extensive trailways.

Addressing the tim-ing of the work, Coun. Mark Bauman noted the biggest hurdle is the Ontario Municipal Board hearing that’s holding up the new Re-gional Official Plan.

Neither the second-ary plan nor the town-ship’s own Official Plan review can be finalized until the legal issues are resolved at the re-gional level.

Near the front en-trance of Grobe’s

Nursery and Garden Centre is a large sign welcoming you to Christmas tree country, and inside, hundreds of pre-cut Christmas trees line the interior of the greenhouse.

It’s pretty clear where the company’s allegiance lies in the ongoing debate of real versus fake Christmas trees.

“It starts in the ground and it ends in the ground,” said co-owner Perry Grobe of the benefits of a real tree over a fake one.

“An artificial tree has a lifespan and when it’s over it goes to the land-fill.”

Real vs. artificialThe Christmas tree debate rages on

James Jackson Grobe points to the myriad of other ben-efits of choosing a real Christmas tree every year, from the absorp-tion of carbon dioxide, the protection of soil from runoff and ero-sion, and the creation habitat for wildlife. It can take between four to 15 years to grow a Christmas tree, de-pending on the species and the desired height.

Meanwhile, propo-nents of the artificial tree point to the ease and convenience asso-ciated with not having to drag a real one in-side.

“They are cleaner than a live tree, and there is less mess with no needles falling off,” said Lindsey Dietrich, a spokesperson from

Home Hardware, which sells a wide range of ar-tificial trees.

“They’re a lot lower maintenance with no watering involved or needles to vacuum.”

The Christmas tree has a long history. Records suggest that when St. Boniface trav-elled to Germany dur-ing the 7th century to convert the people to Christianity, he came across a group of pa-gans worshipping an oak tree.

Legend has it that he cut down the tree in anger and, to his amazement, a young fir sprung up from the roots of the oak. St. Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian

christmas sale

$349.95or $299.95with trade-in

$449.95 $499.95•19Utility&Decorativestitches

•Highneedlepenetrationpower

•1StepButtonhole•Needlethreader•Hardcaseincluded

419S XG-43D 2030QDC

Many other models to choose from • Free lessons on any machine purchased • Sewing Baskets • Scissors

•3/4Threadcapability•Built-inrolledhemplate•EasyColour-codedthreading

•Differentialfeed•1300stitchesperminute

•30StitchComputerizedMachine

•Start/StopButton&SpeedControl

•NeedleUp/DownButton•BonusQuiltingKit•Extensiontable•Carryingcase

K-W SEWING MACHINESK-W SEWING MACHINES

We service what we sell

> SEE TREES ON PG. 09


WARM UP WITH THESE HOT SAVINGS!

To Locate a participating contractor call 1-877-797-9473

or visit saveonenergy.ca.

Install an ENERGY STAR qualifi ed central heating or cooling system† and RECEIVE up to $650.*

Subject to additional terms and conditions found at saveonenergy.ca. *Incentives are available for installation of eligible equipment completed between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2011, and must be submitted no later than Feb. 1, 2012. Equipment must be purchased from

and installed by a participating contractor. †Replacement furnaces must be high-effi ciency models with an electronically commutated motor (ECM). Funded by the Ontario Power

Authority and offered by Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro Inc. Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro Inc. Waterloo North Hydro Inc. A mark of the Province of Ontario protected under Canadian trademark law. Used under sublicense. OM Offi cial Mark of the Ontario Power Authority. Used under licence. ®™ Trademarks of AIR MILES International Trading B.V. Used under license

by LoyaltyOne, Inc. and Ontario Power Authority.

Program Partners

Funded By

Take the saveONenergy PLEDGE and earn AIR MILES® reward miles!

To learn about more conservation actions visit mysaveonenergypledge.ca

The applicant seeking to create a gravel pit

near Winterbourne will have to provide more in-formation about the vi-sual impact of the oper-ation after the township found the first study to be wanting.

A peer review of the visual impact study sub-mitted by Kuntz Topsoil, Sand and Gravel hav-ing discovered a host of shortcomings, Wool-wich will ask the compa-ny to address the issues.

Among the findings in the report commis-sioned by the town-ship, the original study submitted by the ap-plicant failed to assess the visual impact from the perspective of the Grand Valley Trail, the Winterbourne bridge and the historic driv-ing tour that winds through the valley. Nor did the report take into account the height and elevations of stock-piles of extracted and recyclable materials. A number of proper-ties were unaccounted for in determining the views that would be changed if the pit went ahead.

Those and other is-sues will have to be ad-dressed, director of en-gineering and planning Dan Kennaley said at Tuesday night’s meet-ing of council.

Council ordered the peer review last spring following concerns raised by residents. Sitting in a low spot in the Winterbourne val-ley, the applicant’s site at 125 Peel St. is close to Winterbourne, Con-estogo and West Mon-trose.

The findings were welcomed by residents, who took the opportu-nity to take aim at the application yet again, highlighting the rea-sons why the pit should not be allowed to go ahead.

For Isabella Price, a resident of Sunset Drive in Winterbourne, the prospect of the pas-toral view being blotted

out by a gravel pit is unacceptable.

“It’s a beautiful view. For many of us, this is the primary reason why we live here,”

She took exception with a portion of the report that berms would be an acceptable method to address resi-dents’ concerns about the tainted view, noting they too would block out the countryside.

That sentiment was shared by neighbour Laurie Breed, who ar-gued berms of three or four metres would do nothing to block the view from some van-tage points, especially with stockpiles of ma-terials that could reach 20 metres, while simply offering another ob-struction while taking part in the historical driving tour through the area.

“Quite simply, berms are not an acceptable solution,” she said.

Conestogo residents, meanwhile, were upset the study doesn’t take into account the impact on that community.

Bill Norris told coun-cillors 17 homes on Golf Course Road have views of the valley that would undoubt-edly suffer if the pit goes ahead, not to men-tion the noise and dust problems that will also come along with the project. He dismissed assertions from town-ship planning staff that there would be no unacceptable visual impact on his and other properties.

“I invite you to come out our backyards and see for yourself,” he said, calling the peer review study incom-plete.

While they listened to the public’s input, councillors made no comments about the application because the matter is now a le-gal issue, having been referred to the Ontario Municipal Board. The process is still at the prehearing stage, and no formal hearing has been set.

Woolwich wants more study into visual impacts of proposed Jigs Hollow gravel pit

Steve Kannon

Volunteers help WCS prepare hampers for Christmas

MANY HANDS ... Nancy Cooper (left) was one of the 200 volunteers that came out to help prepare the WCS holiday food hampers at Lions Hall on Dec. 14. More than 170 hampers were filled over the week. Bruce Sieling (right) works with Elwyn Bridge as they pack food into one of the many hampers. PH

OTO »

COLI

N DE

WAR


Ra

tings

of “

Goo

d” a

re th

e hi

ghes

t rat

ing

awar

ded

for 4

0-m

ph fr

onta

l offs

et, 3

1-m

ph si

de-im

pact

and

20-

mph

rear

-impa

ct cr

ash

tests

cond

ucte

d by

the

Insu

ranc

e In

stitu

te fo

r Hi

ghwa

y Saf

ety (

IIHS)

(www

.iihs.o

rg).

A “G

ood”

ratin

g ob

tain

ed in

all t

hree

cras

h te

sts p

lus a

“Goo

d” ra

ting

in n

ew ro

of st

reng

th te

sting

and

the

avail

abilit

y of E

lect

roni

c Sta

bilit

y Co

ntro

l (ES

C) (V

ehicl

e Dy

nam

ics C

ontro

l) ac

hiev

es a

201

1 To

p Sa

fety

Pick

. ◊W

hen

you

purc

hase

, lea

se o

r fina

ncea

new

201

2/20

11 F

ores

ter/O

utba

ck/L

egac

y, yo

u wi

ll rec

eive

a

$500

hol

iday

bon

us w

hich

can

be a

pplie

d to

ward

s opt

ions

, acc

esso

ries,

down

pay

men

t or m

onth

ly pa

ymen

ts on

an

elig

ible

201

2/20

11 F

ores

ter/O

utba

ck/L

egac

y at t

he ti

me

of

purc

hase

, leas

e or

finan

ce C

redi

ts ar

e in

clusiv

e of

appl

icabl

e ta

xes a

nd w

ill be

appl

ied,

as ap

plica

ble,

to re

leva

nt m

onth

ly le

ase

or fin

ance

paym

ent o

r pur

chas

e pr

ice at

dea

lersh

ip.

Offe

r app

lies t

o ve

hicle

s del

ivere

d on

or b

efor

e Ja

nuar

y 4, 2

012.

All c

urre

nt st

acka

ble

cons

umer

cash

ince

ntive

s hav

e be

en a

pplie

d to

the

leas

e of

fers,

dea

ler c

ontri

butio

n m

ay

be r

equi

red.

�Ba

sed

on A

LG’s

2011

Res

idua

l Valu

e Aw

ard

for

Best

Main

strea

m B

rand

. *M

SRP

of $

25,9

95/$

26,3

95/$

28,9

95 o

n 20

12 F

ores

ter

2.5X

(CJ1

X0)

/Leg

acy

2.5i

Co

nven

ienc

e Pa

ckag

e (C

A2 C

P)/O

utba

ck 2

.5i (C

D1 C

P). L

ease

for $

298/

$369

/$38

8 a

mon

th fo

r 24/

39/4

8 m

onth

s with

$2,

495/

$1,9

95/$

2,99

5 do

wn. 2

.9%

/3.9

%/4

.9%

leas

e ra

te.

$3,1

58.3

4/$2

,672

.34/

$3,8

35.3

1 du

e at

sign

ing.

Opt

ion

to p

urch

ase

at e

nd o

f leas

e is

$18,

795/

$14,

170/

$13,

134.

Adv

ertis

ed p

ricin

g co

nsist

s of M

SRP

plus

char

ges f

or F

reig

ht/P

DI

($1,

595)

, Air

Tax

($10

0), T

ire S

tewa

rdsh

ip L

evy

($29

.20)

, OM

VIC

Fee

($5)

, Dea

ler A

dmin

($19

9). F

reig

ht/P

DI c

harg

e in

clude

s a fu

ll ta

nk o

f gas

. Tax

es, l

icenc

e, re

gistr

atio

n an

d in

sura

nce

are

extra

. $0

secu

rity d

epos

it. M

odel

s sho

wn: 2

011

Fore

ster 2

.5X

Conv

enie

nce

Pack

age

(BJ2

CP)

. MSR

P of

$28

,095

. 201

2 Le

gacy

2.5

i Tou

ring

Pack

age

(CA1

TP)

. MSR

P of

$27

,795

. 201

1 O

utba

ck 2

.5i S

port

Pack

age

(BD1

SP)

. MSR

P of

$31

,795

. Dea

lers

may

sell o

r lea

se fo

r les

s or m

ay h

ave

to o

rder

or t

rade

. Offe

rs ap

plica

ble

on a

ppro

ved

cred

it at

par

ticip

atin

g de

alers

only.

Lea

se b

ased

on

a m

axim

um o

f 24,

000

km p

er y

ear,

with

exc

ess c

harg

ed a

t $0.

10/k

m. L

easin

g an

d fin

ancin

g po

gram

s ava

ilabl

e th

roug

h Su

baru

Fi

nanc

ial S

ervic

es b

y TC

CI. O

ther

leas

e an

d fin

ance

ate

s an

d te

rms

avail

able

; dow

n pa

ymen

t or e

quiva

lent

trad

e-in

may

be

requ

ired.

Veh

icles

sho

wn s

olel

y fo

r pur

pose

s of

illu

strat

ion,

and

may

not

be

equi

pped

exa

ctly

as sh

own.

Offe

rs av

ailab

le u

ntil J

anua

ry 4

, 201

2. S

ee yo

ur lo

cal S

ubar

u de

aler f

or co

mpl

ete

prog

ram

det

ails.

Ratings of “Good” are the highest rating awarded for 40-mph frontal offset, 31-mph side-impact and 20-mph rear-impact crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) (www.iihs.org). A “Good” rating obtained in all three crash tests plus a “Good” rating in new roof strength testing and the availability of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) (Vehicle Dynamics Control) achieves a 2011 Top Safety Pick.

All prices include freight and fees. Excludes HST and licensing. For your closest dealer, visit ontario.subarudealer.caOffers available until January 4, 2012.

2.5X Convenience Package shown

2.5i Sport Package shown

$298LEASE PAYMENT FOR 24 MONTHS*

2.9%

LEASE RATE

$2,495DOWN*

SUPERIOR JAPANESE CRAFTSMANSHIP MEETS CANADIAN WINTER.

JAPANESE ENGINEERED VEHICLES STANDARD WITHThe only manufacturer with 2011 IIHS Top Safety Picks for all models. Best Mainstream Brand

2012 2.5X

2.5i Touring Package shown

starting from $27,923*

The only manufacturer with 2011 IIHS Top Safety Picks for all models.The only manufacturer with 2011 IIHS Top Safety Picks for all models.The only manufacturer with 2011 IIHS Top Safety Picks for all models.IIHS Top Safety Picks for all models.


3.9%

LEASE RATE

$1,995DOWN*

JAPANESE ENGINEERED VEHICLES STANDARD WITH


4.9%

LEASE RATE

$2,995DOWN*

2.5i Convenience Package2012starting from $28,323* starting from $30,923*

2.5i Convenience Package2012

StudioRevisions

REV. # 3

Date

Date

Date

Date

Date

Signature

Signature

Signature

Signature

Signature

IMPORTANT: This art has been checked and proofed for accuracy by all signed.

Production Mgr:

REM

Art Director:

Becky

Account Exec.:

Sarah

Operator:

JD, JT

PUBLICATIONS: Toronto Star

Date: AD #: P11104STARClient: SUBARUDescription:

File Name: Live: 0"Trim: Bleed: 0"Colours: 4C

PROOFREADER

ART DIRECTOR

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

COPYWRITER

PRODUCTION MANAGER

20122012201220122012201220122012201220122012201220122012

SNOWY DAY SAVINGS

HOLIDAY BONUS

on select models

$500

P11104STAR_Dec_2011_DAA.indd 1 11-12-07 1:24 PM

Offers available until January 4, 2012.All prices include freight and fees. Excludes HST and licensing. For your closest dealer, visit ontario.subarudealer.ca

SHOWING THE ONLY AVAILABLE SUITE!

10 Water St., St. Jacobs, Ont.

Showing main floor newly renovated 2-bedroom bath and a half suite available for immediate occupancy.

Saturday Dec. 17th1:00 - 4:00pm - Refreshments

www.stjacobsplace.caTel: 519-664-6637

OPEN HOUSE

• 6 THERAPISTS AVAILABLE• EVENING APPOINTMENTS• DEEP TISSUE, RELAXATION, SPORTS INJURY, PRENATAL MASSAGE, CRANIO SACRAL• REFLEXOLOGY • HOT STONE MASSAGE

“meeting all your health & wellness needs”

Krista Sandelli (McLeod) & AssociatesGift Certificates Available.

• 6 THERAPISTS AVAILABLE• 6 THERAPISTS AVAILABLE• EVENING APPOINTMENTS• DEEP TISSUE, RELAXATION, SPORTS INJURY, PRENATAL MASSAGE, CRANIO SACRAL• REFLEXOLOGY • HOT STONE MASSAGE

Krista Sandelli (McLeod) & AssociatesGift Certificates Available.

Registered Massage Therapy

ELMIRA WELLNESS CENTRE24-B Arthur St. S., Elmira | 519-669-4425 (Located behind

W.C. Brown & Sons)

INDIAN RIVER DIRECTCITRUS TRUCKLOAD SALE

ELMIRA$25.00

PER BOX

Wed. Dec 21, 10:00am - 12:45pmNew Apostolic Church (First & Arthur Streets)

20lb Box of Florida Seedless Navel Oranges OR Ruby Red Grapefruit

$25.00

faith, but it wasn’t un-til the 16th century that fir trees were brought indoors at Christmas-time.

Martin Luther is purported to have started the tradition of decorating trees to celebrate Christmas around 1500. He was struck by the beauty of the snow-covered evergreens shimmer-ing in the moonlight and returned home and set up a fir tree indoors and decorated it with candles in honour of Christ’s birth.

Meanwhile, the first artificial trees were developed in the 19th century in Germany after growing concerns of widespread defores-

tation, and they were made of goose feathers that were dyed green. Since then they have been made out of brush bristles, aluminum and now plastic PVC.

Nowadays customers can purchase an artifi-cial tree to match their own decorating needs, including memory wire so they hold their shape year after year, pre-lit, and they come in a wide range of co-lours as well, said Diet-rich.

Plus, they save you time during the hec-tic holiday season – at a price. The artificial Christmas tree mar-ket has grown into a $44-million industry, with prices ranging from $50 up to $500, yet that price is worth it

for many customers, said Dietrich.

“They look real with-out the hassle. I think over the years we’ve come a long way in making artificial trees look very real and au-thentic,” she said, add-ing that fake trees are non-allergenic and that real trees can some-times grow mold at the base.

“They can also be as-sembled in just a few minutes.”

Despite that ease, however, Grobe still prefers the tradition that comes with finding that perfect tree, taking it home and decorating it with the family. He said that they sell thou-sands of trees each year, indicating he isn’t alone in that assertion.

“After selling as many trees as we have here, there is no ques-tion that some folks see it as a tradition to do it as a family, and it would become part of a ritual for many folks – going out and getting the Christmas tree and putting it up is part of their celebration of Christmas.”

And Grobe knows a thing or two about tra-dition – he proposed to his wife while decorat-ing the Christmas tree, and it’s become an im-portant part of their family story ever since.

“The date is pretty well engrained in her head as to when it should go up (Dec. 2),” he laughed, “and I have yet to take it down be-fore Jan. 6.”

Fraser Fir and Balsam Fir are the most popular, Grobe says, because of their soft needles and pleasant aroma;

Trees depend on moisture,

Trees: History and tradition versus convenience> CONTINUED FROM PG. 07

T I P S F O R P I C K I N G T H E R I G H T C H R I S T M A S T R E Ebut buying it closer to Christmas doesn’t guarantee a better tree; they are all cut around the same time (mid-November) and the amount of moisture inside the

tree at the time they’re cut will dictate its longevity;

Most folks don’t have a large enough reservoir for their tree. It should hold no less than about

4 litres (one gallon) of water;When leaving to pick a tree,

ensure you bring string, straps, blankets, etc. to get it home safely.

THE NATURAL CHOICE Perry Grobe holds onto a scotch pine in his company’s greenhouse. The co-owner of Grobe’s Nursery in Breslau is a proponent of choosing a real Christmas tree over an artificial one.

PHOT

O »

JAM

ES JA

CKSO

N

OPINION 10 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

OPINION

WOOLWICH OBSERVER20-B Arthur Street North,Elmira, Ontario, Canada N3B 1Z9

Phone: 519.669.5790Toll Free: 1.888.966.5942 Fax: 519.669.5753

Joe Merlihan, Publisher | EXT [email protected]

Steve Kannon, Editor | EXT [email protected]

James Jackson, Reporter | EXT [email protected]

Colin Dewar, Reporter | EXT [email protected]

Donna Rudy, Sales Manager | EXT [email protected]

Pat Merlihan, Production Mgr | EXT [email protected]

Jon Sarachman, Production | EXT [email protected]

Leanne Boron, Production | EXT [email protected]

> CIRCULATIONThe Observer is an audited controlled circulation publication. Canadian Media Circulation Audit calcu-lates and prepares The Observer circulation reports | 14,812.

> SUBSCRIPTIONSAnnual subscriptions are available at a rate of $37.10 (includes GST) for delivery within Canada. Contact the office or email [email protected] for further details. All issues from 2006 on are avail-able online free of charge.

> ASSOCIATIONSThe Observer is a member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association [OCNA], Canadian Community Newspaper Association [CCNA], Ontario Press Council, and The Greater KW Chamber of Commerce.

> LETTER POLICYThe Observer welcomes letters to the editor on topics of interest to our readers. Letters may be edited for brevity, grammar, and legal considerations. All letters must be signed and contain the writer’s full name and telephone number for verification purposes. Unsigned or anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. If you have a legitimate concern and cannot sign your name to a letter, please contact the editor to discuss alternative means of resolving the issue. This newspaper declines announcements, poetry and thank-you letters in the opinion section. Maximum suggested length is 500 words.

> PRESS COMPLAINTSThe Observer is a member of the Ontario Press Council which considers complaints against member newspapers. For more in-formation about the Press Council contact www.ontpress.com.

> COPYRIGHTThe entire contents of The Observer and online edition are protected by copy-right. No portion thereof is to be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the specific permission of the publisher. Reproduction rights can be obtained from ACCESS Copyright located at 1 Yonge St., 1900, Toronto, ON M5E 1E5 FAX: 416.868.1621

EDITORIAL

PUBLICATIONS MAILAGREEMENT NUMBER

1004840ISSN 1203 9578

VERBATIM

THE MONITOR

> Wayne Fraser of the United Steelworkers reacts to a secret deal to end a court case against U.S. Steel for failing to meet

investment obligations in its purchase of Stelco

> National Transportation Safety Board

Now that they have a majority government, the Conservatives have clearly demonstrat-

ed they do not care about defending Canadian workers, or upholding the law, or about trans-parency and accountability to the public.

Some 3,000 people died on U.S. roads last year due to distractions, including the use of

cell phones and similar devices. Studies show drivers using cell phones look but fail to see up to 50% of the information in their driving environment, leading to a call for a ban on the use of such devices, such as Ontario’s.

Joanne Sarah Dillon letter on page 12

I read so often that people are not using the green bin. I have used mine from the start and find it’s no problem.

In discussing increases to a host of Woolwich’s fees and charges this

week, staff repeatedly emphasized comparisons to other municipalities. It’s a favourite trick in the public sector, used regularly to justify wage hikes in particular. As is al-ways the case, the findings – often cherry-picked – are never used to put downward pressure on salaries and prices, though one could just as easily point out the data show it’s possible to do the job with less.

It’s a self-serving closed circuit. Woolwich raises fees this year, citing its neighbours’ prices. Next year, another municipality can point to us in justifying its desire to take more from taxpayers. And so on and so on in an upward spiral that, unchecked, has no bounds.

Well, of course there is an end-point: an increasingly disgruntled public’s ability to pay. Or, more

pressingly, its willingness to pay for an unaccountable system that does not appear to be in its interests. That idea is coming into focus, just as it has with the corporate agenda, most notably the Wall Street faction.

The two go hand in hand, as the recession fueled by greed and incom-petence in the corporate world puts pressure on governments of all lev-els, from demands for proper regula-tion to an increased need for social services. With the now well-docu-mented decrease in our incomes and standards of living, governments, too, have to make do with less, scal-ing back to focus on the essentials.

Hard choices will have to be made. That does not involve comparators.

In the end, staffing is going to be a key issue. Labour costs make up more than 50 per cent of the budget – significant savings will come only with cuts here. There’s no need to

be draconian, but wage and hiring freezes as well as attrition are likely to be required to get spending back in line.

Governments of all stripes have been guilty of unnecessary bloating, taking on more and more functions without thought for the long-term implications. There is also a ten-dency to forego reviews of programs and spending to see if each item is still needed – once instituted, they become entrenched.

The argument is made that the public has come to expect the level of service now offered, plus, of course, whatever new addition is contem-plated, which will become next year’s status quo.

More and more, however, we’re seeing higher costs without any com-mensurate increases in the level or quality of service. At best, we’re pay-ing more for more of the same (see

this week’s story on water rates).This is the heart of the conundrum

that must eventually be addressed: public sector spending is outstrip-ping the productive sector’s ability to pay. As the former depends entirely on the latter, the gap must inevita-bly cause upheaval as we question the value-for-money scenario: what are we getting for the cash we pour into the system? And how often can governments keep going to the well before it runs dry?

At some point, local politicians will have hard decisions to make. In the long run, the system we’ve devel-oped is untenable, but the crisis will come long before that. A series of hikes that have driven property taxes and fees to egregious levels leaves no room for hitting the beleaguered residents with still more taxes to make up the shortfall.

It’s crunch time.

With fees and taxes, something’s gotta give

OPINION11THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

> SEE DYER ON PG. 12

THE VOICE

THE VIEW FROM HERE

Political self-interest blocking progress in eurozone crisis

GWYNNE DYER

InternationalAffairs

Political self-interest blocking progress in eurozone crisis

GWYNNE DYER

International

BY SCOTT ARNOLD

A host of fee increases, including ones proposed for sports facilities, has the township looking a whole lot like the Grinch when his heart was still two sizes too small.

One senior European politician said angrily that British Prime Minis-

ter David Cameron was “like a man who comes to a wife-swapping party without his wife,” and there was some truth in that. Britain does not even use the euro currency, shared by 17 of the 27 EU members, but Cameron in-sisted on being part of the discussion in Brussels about how to save it. And in the end, he vetoed the solution that all the others had agreed on.

It was the eighth crisis summit of the European Union’s leaders this year, and it produced the fourth “comprehensive package” of financial measures to deal with the debt crisis. (The other three have already failed.) And if you judged the importance of the meeting by the scale of the uproar when Britain vetoed the EU treaty that was meant to stop the rot, it must have been a very important summit indeed.

But in fact they were all barking up the wrong tree in Brussels: the financial crisis over the euro will roll on, and the collapse of the common EU currency continues to be a real possibility. What the summit actually showed was how divided, distracted and deluded Europe’s leaders still are.

Cameron went to Brussels knowing that his partners intended to come up with a treaty that would enshrine new financial rules for EU members, in or-der to reassure the “markets,” which have been demanding higher and higher interest rates to roll over the debts of EU members. He also knew that the nationalistic, “europhobe” faction in his own Conservative Party would never vote for such a treaty. They want out of the EU, not further in.

The only way out of Cameron’s

dilemma, therefore, was to make sure that there would not be such a treaty. His stated reason for vetoing it was to avoid more stringent regulation, and possibly taxation, of the London financial markets, but his real reason was naked self-interest: a new treaty would split his own party and prob-ably destroy his government.

His stated reason was nonsense. Any new financial regulations that would affect the London markets would have to be agreed unanimously by the EU countries at a later date; there was no need to veto the treaty if he just wanted to protect the free-wheeling, “casino” aspect of the London markets that had done so much to precipitate the crisis in the first place. Cameron just needed a cover story.

The other EU members feigned great anger at this, but some of them were secretly quite grateful for Cameron’s bad behaviour. They agreed to adopt the same rules anyway, but to do it outside the legal framework of the EU in order to get around the British veto. This had two great advantages: it meant that no referendums would be necessary – and if these new measures failed to reassure the markets, they could all blame Britain.

What were these fabulous new mea-sures? They were all about “balanced budgets” in the eurozone countries, which would face sanctions if they let their budget deficit exceed three per cent of GDP. They would even have to

submit their national budgets to the European Commission, which would have the power to ask that they be revised.

These are exactly the steps that will be needed if the euro is to have a long-term future: it cannot survive if the countries using it do not have a unified fiscal regime. But the markets don’t give a damn about the long-term future of the euro; they just want to know for sure that they will get back the money they lend to eurozone countries, and until they have that assurance they will demand exorbitant interest rates on their loans.

In this context, the decisions taken in Brussels this week are merely a displacement activity. The bigger EU governments are using the crisis as a pretext to force through centralizing measures that they have long wanted to impose on the weaker economies. But they are still not doing what the markets want, which is to take re-sponsibility for the weaker countries’ debts.

Can it really be that simple? Can they really be that irresponsible? Yes, and yes again. Tip O’Neill, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Repre-sentatives, explained why this sort of thing happens in politics 70 years ago. “All politics is local,” he said, and that is true in spades in Europe today.

It’s not just David Cameron who is putting his local political interests above the interests of a broader Euro-pean community. So is German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel, who refuses to allow the EU to make a collective commitment to honour the debts of the weaker members.

That’s the only thing that will calm

What is one of your family holiday traditions?

We go to my grandparents and open presents.

> Alana Bauman

We always open presents and then the day after we go to my grandpa’s and have a big dinner.

> Matt Yorke

We have an Advent calendar and usu-ally on Christmas morning my brother and I put a Santa hat on our car.

> Hilary Bauman

We go to a Christmas Eve service, and my aunt and uncle come all the way from Toronto.

> Sean Heimpel

OPINION 12 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

Growing debt is what’s keeping the middle class afloat

Steve Kannon

From theEditor

Growing debt is what’s keeping the middle class afloatFrom the

Haven’t even started your Christ-mas shopping yet? Maybe you

should just take a pass on it this year. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney has given you the per-fect out: we’ve already got too much household debt.

Retailers may not be amused by the timing of Carney’s latest pronounce-ments, but they needn’t worry, as most of us aren’t paying attention. We continue to spend, spend, spend … on credit.

In a speech this week, he reiterates points he and others have been mak-ing for some time, namely that we’re maintaining our middle-class lifestyles mostly through debt. While Canada is in better economic shape than other countries, we’re headed down the same road, with the same crises and auster-ity measures as our reward when we get to the same point as, say, Italy and Greece.

“We might appear to prosper for a while by consuming beyond our means,” Carney said Monday. “Mar-kets may let us do so for longer than we should. But if we yield to this tempta-tion, eventually, we, too, will face pain-ful adjustments.”

Easy credit and low interest rates have fueled the borrowing, but it’s our spending habits that have got the better of us: bigger homes, new cars, elec-tronic toys and so on. Our wants are

limitless. Our wallets, not so much.Worse still, our real incomes and net

worth are in decline, meaning we’re borrowing just to maintain the status quo. So, even as household debt climb by 13 percentage points relative out our incomes, we had less than we did last year. Or even last quarter, as house-hold net worth fell by 2.1 per cent in the third quarter, its second quarterly decline. Although residential real-estate assets increased, this was more than offset by the decline in the value of our investment in stocks (including mutual funds) and our pensions: the Standard and Poor’s/Toronto Stock Exchange composite index fell by more than 12 per cent during the quarter. Per capita household net worth declined to $180,100 in the third quarter from $184,700, the sharpest quarterly reduc-tion in stock prices and per capita household net worth since the fourth quarter of 2008, reports Statistics Canada.

More of us are getting caught between falling incomes and growing household debt, which reached an

all-time high of $1.5 trillion earlier this year. Worse still, increasingly the bor-rowed money is being used to finance day-to-day expenses rather than con-sumer goodies.

This is no accident, nor is it the result of the financial crisis that began with the meltdowns of 2008, as the middle class has been under assault for more than three decades. The recession and “recovery” that followed collapse caused by the financial services indus-try is indicative of the trend: corporate profits and executive bonuses quickly bounced back, while unemployment remains high and those with jobs work longer and harder to tread water.

In his speech, Carney notes the corporations have been sitting on those profits, hording cash or speculating in the markets rather than investing in real economic activity that would create jobs and get the economy back on track.

Greater productivity and a concerted effort to seek customers in emerging markets would do wonders for the Ca-nadian economy – and, ultimately, the global situation – if only firms would do something useful.

“This would be good for Canadian companies and good for Canada,” he says. “A virtuous circle of increased investment and increased productivity would increase the debt-carrying capac-ity of all, through higher wages, greater profits and higher government revenues. This should be our common focus.”

That’s mostly wishful thinking, how-ever, as governments have done noth-ing to encourage that kind of behav-iour. Just the opposite, in fact, given the emphasis on corporate tax reductions, deregulation, mobile capital and a host of other measures that have reduced corporate accountability. Those who call for tax policies to prompt compa-

nies to spend accordingly – taxing at a much higher rate profits not put back into productive use, for instance – have been dismissed by the business lobby, which continues to exercise tremen-dous influence despite the self-made crises.

This kind of bad behaviour is noth-ing new. Look at the history of automa-tion and productivity gains in industry. They were supposed to bring us a higher standard of living and more leisure time. Instead we got neither. In fact, just the opposite happened. Corporations did in fact make larger profits, but the money was shuffled into the hands of a few and into dubi-ous financial transactions. At first, workers in Canada, the U.S. and other advanced economies were displaced by the productivity gains. Real wages fell as unemployment levels rose, putting more downward pressure on incomes due to the competitive job market. Later, of course, more of the jobs were transferred offshore to low-wage coun-tries, a trend that continues today. The result? More profits, with almost all of the gains concentrated in a few hands.

Governments routinely aid and abet the shift. That the likes of Carney and some of his European counterparts are making even low-key mention of the inequities means those who’ve created the lower standard of living are taking note of the social unrest that’s starting to bubble to the surface.

In an economy based on consumer-ism – a problem in its own right – debt-based spending is unsustainable, as is a shrinking middle class. In the short term, heading out to the mall with your shopping list provides an economic boost. In the long run, we may have to curb our enthusiasm … at least until the bills that will arrive in the New Year have been paid off.

the markets, but Merkel’s voters are fiercely opposed to hard-working, thrifty Germans covering the debts of lazy, spendthrift Greeks and Ital-ians (as many of them would put it), so she will not permit it. And so the

Dyer: Everyone likely to suffer> CONTINUED FROM PG. 11 euro crisis rolls on interminably.

But don’t worry: interminably is not the same as forever. Sooner or later there will be a real crash, and all these people will be duly pun-ished for their fecklessness. Unfor-tunately, everybody else in the EU will be punished too.

LETTERS

To the Editor, � I read so often that people are not

using the green bin. I have used mine from the start and find it’s no problem.

At the time, we were asked to reform from plastic bags I thought, “Well, what did my mother use way back when there was no such thing as plastic?” Newspaper! I phoned the authorities to be sure it was OK, and their reply was, “Oh, yes, that is what we want you to do.”

So each night I take my green bin garbage out of the pretty blue jug my daughter gave me. It was made to have a plastic bin for ice cream, but I take a few newspapers out of my drawer – and throw on some of those pain in the neck flyers we are deluged with – to prevent leaking, take out the ice cream plastic filler, dump in the newspaper, roll it up firmly and put it in the green bin. Voila! No fuss, no muss.

> Joanne Sarah Dillon, Elmira

Really, it’s easy being green

To the Editor, � The parents of John Mahood Public

School students are rude, lazy, stupid, and aggressive drivers. That’s the impression you would get reading the Observer’s front-page story about the two years of on-going parking issues (Observer, Dec. 3/11).

I wasn’t surprised that there weren’t letters to the editor in last week’s paper: who wants their kids to become targets in an already unhealthy school environment? That’s why I’ve asked to remain anonymous.

If you are a parent of a student attending John Mahood, you would al-most feel like encasing your children in bubble-wrap before they step on school property. Last week an urgent memo was emailed to parents that we talk to our children about playing in the Gib-son Park creek: a trickle of water three inches deep. The same week a flyer was sent home about collecting items for a stocking-stuffer program that

School created the problem, so it should solve it

had to remind parents not to include dangerous objects like really sharp scissors. Why stop at scissors? Why not add broken glass and razor blades, as John Mahood parents are obviously so stupid?

The previous week another email about a couple of children skateboard-ing on township property had to be addressed to the entire student body, leading to the banning of wheels on the school property. Students were told no more biking to school because it wasn’t safe – long before any snow hit the ground. This is a school that is one-step away from banning balls on school property, as was the case recently at a school in Toronto.

Parents did not create this parking issue. The school created the problem with restrictions on what time kids can set foot on the property, specifically not before 8:55 a.m. They expect 400 students to arrive within a 15-minute window. Put yourself in the shoes of a typical working parent that starts work at 9 a.m.: combine the time and lack of parking and you have a recipe for problems. It is insulting that the administration continues to put the onus on parents to solve a problem the school clearly created.

Why is the Township of Woolwich even involved in this debate? Spending local tax money to close off a parking lot to residents and re-tool another one at Gibson Park is a waste. This is a school parking problem. The fact that the township and now Waterloo Re-gional Police are involved is ridiculous. Things maybe don’t look so bad now on First Street, but just drive down adja-cent streets and you have more prob-lems in the making. The side of the street that they allow parking doesn’t have a sidewalk and in the winter has huge banks of snow. I’m sure township councillors will do anything they can to avoid another sidewalk debate with Second Street residents, for instance.

The administration at John Mahood is really good at telling parents what to do and creating ridiculous rules. It’s time they were told to fix the problem. Provide safe parking, change the al-lowable time on the property to 8:30 a.m. and the problem will be solved. Work with parents, rather than against them.

Rude people are generally unaccept-able; in this instance, I can understand their frustration.

> A parent of a John Mahood student, Elmira

BUSINESS13THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

BUSINESS

Put MoneyBack In

Your PocketHeat Multiple Buildings,Domestic Water,Shops, and more

PUMPS PLUS LTD.P.O. Box 311, Elmira ON.

N3B 2Z7

519-669-5004

Put MoneyBack In

Put MoneyBack In

Put Money

Your PocketHeat Multiple Buildings,

Shops, and more

Burning wood results in no net increase in carbon monoxide, a major greenhouse

gas emission

COMPUTERS | LAPTOPS | SERVICE

ELMIRA LOCATION112 Bonnie CrescentElmira | 519-669-5551

FERGUS LOCATION920 St. David St. N., (Hwy 6)Fergus | 519-787-0006

IBM T60 FACTORY REFURBISH

IBM T60FACTORY REFURBISH LAPTOP DUO CORE

$229

P4 3.2 HP P4 3.2 HP $99P4 3.2 HP P4 3.2 HP TOWER

SCREEN - 3 year warrantySCREEN - 3 year warranty

LG 23” LCD

9999$169

Your Connection toOne-on-One Advice.

Full service, personal advice…and access to a wide range ofinvestment solutions. At BMONesbitt Burns, we offer youchoices and the flexibility toensure an approach toinvesting that is customized toyour needs and objectives.

Please call me today to findout about the benefits of oneon one advice.

BMO NESBITT BURNSBank of Montreal

53 Arthur Street South Elmira, Ontario N3B 2M6

JOYCE REIMER B.A., FMA, CSA

Vice PresidentWealth Advisor

Financial Management AdvisorCertified Senior Advisor

519-669-4622

1-800-265-6148

We all know one: that per-son who, for one reason

or another, knows the an-swer to every trivia question possible.

Watching a television quiz show with that person is an exercise in tedium because they get every answer right, and you spend your nights combing the internet in search of an obscure piece of information with which to finally stump them.

Well, Michael Stevens has the utmost respect for all the trivia masters out there, but he may have developed a se-cret weapon to finally stump even the most experienced quiz master.

The Elmira resident is the editor-in-chief of the newly-launched magazine Get Your Facts Straight, and he is so confident in his product that he has called it “the maga-zine that makes you smart-er.”

“For the longest time I’ve been amazed by people who knew something about ev-erything,” said Stevens, sit-ting on the couch in his Car-riage Hill Trail home that also doubles as his office.

“It always amazed me that they knew so much informa-tion, and I know that they got it because they read a lot.”

Yet in this technological

An entrepreneur with all the answersJames Jackson

world where the lifespan of a news story can be mea-sured by the second, Stevens also realized that many of us don’t have the time or ener-gy to read endless stacks of books.

That’s why he decided to release his own magazine, a way of “cheating and find-ing out a lot of information without reading books and books and books,” he said.

Of course, the irony is that he has been doing a lot more reading since he came up with his idea nearly two

years ago.“I guess I’m sacrificing for

everyone else,” he laughed.It all started back in 2008

when he graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in speech therapy. Since then he has worked at a sales job in Guelph, but al-ways had the idea for a trivia magazine in the back of his mind.

Finally, after sitting on the idea for some time, he em-ployed the help of his wife Elaine and some friends with design experience, Ju-

lia and Kaitlin Kubassek and Janette Drost, and he set out to turn his idea into a reality.

He has gotten a business license from the government of Ontario, and is waiting on the pending trademark of the magazine’s name.

Working nights and week-ends, Stevens scoured the internet searching for the most interesting facts he could find.

The information isn’t just skimmed off of Wikipedia, though; he checked and tri-ple-checked every fact in the

magazine against reputable sources such as Encyclope-dia Britannica.

“Obviously I can’t come out with something that is claiming to be factual and have all these holes or incor-rect information,” he said.

The magazine contains in-formation ranging from the origins of the barrier reef to the history of Snakes and Ladders.

Yet in the digital age, why should someone pay for his magazine instead of simply logging onto the computer and finding the information online?

Stevens said he has re-ceived a lot of feedback from people who like the product because it isn’t online. He notes since we spend most of our day looking at a com-puter screen, the last thing we want to do when we get home is look at it some more, all the while trying to find information that is reliably accurate.

“This is in no way a com-petition to the internet, it’s complementary. You can take this on the recliner, on the bus, on the airplane, even on the toilet,” he smiled.

The first issue includes more than 50 pages of high-definition and full-colour photos purchased from an

PHOT

O »

JAM

ES JA

CKSO

N

> SEE MAGAZINE ON PG. 14

MAKE YOURSELF SMARTERElmira resident Michael Stevens is the editor-in-chief of a new trivia magazine called Get Your Facts Straight.

BUSINESS 14 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

Forecast: Grocery price battles will become war Food ForThoughtOwen Roberts

Forecast: Grocery price battles will become war

®, SM, TM Trademarks and service marks licensed to Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited. © 2011 PHL.www.pioneer.com

Understanding Silage

Lorne Martin519-669-2459Drayton

Larry Bauman519-664-3952Elmira

David Horst519-846-2043Elora

Murray Bauman519-595-4765Millbank

Rosendale Farms519-744-4941Waterloo

Contact your local Pioneer sales representative for local data and a recommendation on the right Pioneer® brand corn hybrid for your silage needs.

Solid nutritional advice. Proven products. Pioneer is here.

Understanding SilageAt Pioneer we work hard to earn your business every year

with solid genetics and sound advice that deliver top results on the only place they count, on your farm.

QQAAQAQ

Sugar would be pretty far down the list for most nutritionists when selecting a hybrid. Difference in sugar is primarily due to maturity differences between hybrid entries. Sugar is translocated and deposited in the kernel as the plant matures, and those hybrids higher in sugar are typically more immature as evidenced by higher moistures and lower starch content.

How important is sugar when selecting a silage hybrid?

PR2316_SilageAds_5.04x6.9.indd 2 02/12/11 10:33 AM

A Mennonite �nancial cooperative serving communities of faith across Ontario

Your Values, Your Credit Unionwww.mscu.com | 519.669.1529

Rejoice!

Wishing you the Joy, Love, and Peace of the Christmas season.

We look forward to serving you in the New Year. – Your Elmira team

“ For unto us a child is born” Isaiah 9:6a KJV

online stock agency, and the entire package is printed in a glossy magazine format.

There are also no adver-tisements within the maga-zine, and he said the full co-lour and visual appeal of the product is critical in the be-ginning – and that includes zero ads.

“You’ve got a couple sec-onds for them to glance at it and if it looks interesting they’ll pick it up and read it, and if it’s not they’ll put it back down,” he said.

“I definitely put a big focus

Price wars are being predicted for food in 2012, thanks mainly to im-

minent arrival of the latest big box store to hit Canada. But in a strange twist, that could actually end up working in local food producers’ fa-vour.

According to the new 2012 Food Price Index report from econom-ics Profs. Sylvain Charlebois and Francis Tapon at the University of Guelph, next year’s overall price increase in food should be about two per cent. Input costs such as fuel, fertilizer and crop protection products have leveled out for farm-ers, putting less pressure on gro-

ing in ways never experienced in modern-era agriculture. Charlebois doesn’t know if, or whether, we’re experiencing short-term or long-term climate change. He just knows that when he looks into the future of food prices these days, he gives a nod to Mother Nature.

“It’s the first thing we mention in our report,” he says. “If the weath-er cooperates, our predictions will be fine. But how can we know what Mother Nature will do?”

Generally, bad weather means less production and higher con-sumer prices.

But equally as unpredictable

is the global economic situation. Europe is a chronic mess. The U.S. recovery is sluggish and faltering. Even China is experiencing a slow-down as consumers everywhere tighten their belts.

Still, though – and this has al-ways been agriculture’s ace in the hole – people have to eat. And they have to shop somewhere to buy food.

Lately, consumers had more in-terest in buying local food. Yet they also have a drive to buy food as cheaply as possible, a long-standing trait of Canadian food shoppers.

cery prices that have risen as much as 10-11 per cent for some commodi-ties this year, such as vegetables and dairy products.

This depends significantly on a couple of things, starting with the weather.

Unpredictable heat, cold and rainfall continue to influence farm-

Magazine: A product heavy on catchy graphics and easy-to-read trivia> SEE FOOD ON PG. 30

> CONTINUED FROM PG. 13 on high quality, high defini-tion photos throughout the magazine to keep it interest-ing.”

Of course, it’s no secret that most publications make their money by selling ads to companies, leaving a big question mark on how he plans to monetize the prod-uct moving forward.

He has already distributed about 250 issues to offices and businesses around town, but hopes to pitch his brand to the school board as a piece of educational material that can be used to increase stu-dent interest in reading.

“If that’s the case, I would probably stay away from ads. I don’t think the educa-tion industry would want a magazine cluttered with ads for their students.”

Yet if his magazine does get picked up by larger dis-tributors such as Chapters, he may go the advertising route to generate more in-come. He isn’t sure how that will work, but has toyed with the idea of sponsorship.

On a page containing triv-ia on a certain country, the space could be sponsored by a travel agent, for example.

He is already hard at work

on his second issue, which he hopes to release in Feb-ruary, and is still unsure of how frequently it will be published. He is wary of set-ting a firm schedule given the uncertainty of the mar-ket right now.

And while many of the facts are just random right now, he is aiming to estab-lish a pattern to that ran-domness, such as always having trivia on a destina-tion such as Venice, an im-portant monument such as the Eiffel Tower, and key events that occurred in a given year.

“My idea was to come up with something out of the ordinary and outside the box, something inven-tive and creative that is dif-ferent than what all other magazines traditionally are. There is a huge risk with that, it could flop on its face but it could be so new and creative that people pick up on.”

Get Your Facts Straight sells for $7.50 an issue and to order a copy call (519) 669-9643, email [email protected], or visit them online at www.getyourfactsstraight.ca.

LIVING HERE15THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

LIVING HERE

Since 1929

SPECIALIZING IN:• MOVING • RECOVERING | REFURBISHING• POOL TABLE SALES & SERVICE• SUPPLIES & ACCESSORIES• DART EQUIPMENT | SHUFFLE BOARDS• ACCESSORIES | LIGHTS

Monday - Friday 10:30am - 6pmSaturday 11am - 5pm

103 Ontario St., Kitchener519.745.4053

Free Customer Parking

Elmira Insurance Brokers Limited45 Arthur St. S., Elmira | 519.669.5484

Holiday HoursClosing: Dec. 23, 2011 at 1pmReopening: Dec. 28, 2011 at 8:30amClosed: Jan. 2, 2012

OUR POLICY — YOUR PROTECTION

[email protected]

10 Church St. W., Elmira Lower Level, #122519.669.0755

email: [email protected]

ELMIRA!NOW OPEN DOWNTOWN

Peter Collins, Manager

Christmas Day for most of us is usually spent with family and

friends celebrating the holidays, relaxing and enjoying the time off work.

But for some it’s just like any oth-er day where they have to wake up early, put on that uniform and head off to work.

Most offices, businesses and res-taurants are closed on Dec. 25 but there are a few in the township who will turn on the “Open” sign to in-vite in those that need that forgot-ten item or some batteries for the newly unwrapped toys.

Andrea Gagne, manager at the Short Stop on Church Street, says she doesn’t mind working on Christ-mas Day because she is single and has no children or family close by.

When Christmas isjust another workdayMost of the township will be shut down, butthere are those who’ll still be at it on Dec. 25

“It allows my employees that do have families to be able to spend time with them. I don’t mind work-ing to give them some family time,” said Gagne, who keeps the store open from 9 to 5 on the holiday.

“It is also nice to be able to help those customers that have forgotten a thing or two and come in here in a panic looking for something.”

For the most part people are friendly and very thankful that the store is open and are usually look-ing for cranberry sauce, bread or batteries.

“It is usually the small things that people end up forgetting or they have unexpected guests that arrive and they come here looking for small gifts like lottery tickets or cards because there is nothing else open to sell things to them.”

Just down the street, the lights

of the Mac’s Milk will be lit up as Vineet Sood opens for business. The manager of the convenience store doesn’t mind working Christmas day because she never celebrated it back in her home country of India.

“It can be very busy here on Christmas Day because as far as I know we are the only place open for 24 hours on Christmas Day,” said Sood. “People like knowing that we are open just in case they need something that either has gone bad or they forgot to buy over the busy holiday season.”

Customers come in looking for eggnog or breakfast foods like ba-con, eggs, milk and bread, and Sood is happy to be able to make sure the people in her community have a place to shop when all the other stores are closed.

“I love working on Christmas be-cause you are usually greeted with such big smiles on that day and people are very thankful that we are open.”

Convenience store clerks are not the only people working on Christ-mas Day. It is business as usual at the Waterloo Regional Police de-tachment in Elmira.

For those police officers that work over the holiday it can be either very quiet or quite hectic as the depart-ment tends to go to minimal staff to let as many people off as they can.

Sgt. Sig Peters, who has worked more Christmas Days than he can

remember over the last 30 years, has seen the gamut when it comes to Christmas Day incidents.

“I remember one Christmas morning we had a fellow show up with a knife at his girlfriend’s door who wanted the Christmas presents back he gave her the night before so he could cash them in to buy more alcohol. We ended up having to lock him up over the holidays,” said Pe-ters. “There are times when it is just like any other day.”

In keeping with the spirit of the season, community members tend to bring in some treats or baked goods for the officers that are work-ing and it is greatly appreciated be-cause sometimes the officers forget to bring a coffee or something to eat and would have to do without as all the coffee shops, including Tim Hor-tons, are closed on Christmas Day.

Senior officers are given first dibs on the holiday schedule but a lot of senior officers that are single or do not have a family close by end up working on Christmas Day to allow younger officers with children a chance to spend time at home.

Officer Joshua Kerr has been on the force for six years and this is will be the first Christmas he has had to work.

“It is unfortunate, but my family will still make the best of it. We will just have our celebration on a differ-

> SEE ON DUTY ON PG. 28

PHOT

O »

COLI

N DE

WAR

PHOT

O »

COLI

N DE

WAR

Colin Dewar

ANSWERING THE CALL Constable Joshua Kerr of the Waterloo Regional Police Service in Elmira will be working on Christmas Day this year. There are a few people in the township that work on the holiday, providing services that may be needed.

LIVING HERE 16 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

Prime rib makes a juicy alternative to turkeyFrom The

Chef's Table

Prime rib makes a juicy alternative to turkey

Kirstie Herbstreit & Jody O'Malley

>> Chefs Kirstie Herbstreit and Jody O’Malley are both Red Seal certified chefs. Together they run The Culinary Studio, which offers classes, demonstrations and private dinners. To contact the chefs, visit their website www.theculinarystudio.ca.

Like it or not, prepared or not, the holidays are here. We often talk about different family tradi-

tions. Some keep it very traditional, roasting a turkey with all of the fixings. In chatting with our friends, family and clients we have found a number of them are choosing to treat themselves to a prime roast of beef. We receive many ques-tions on how to roast it to perfection.

At our roasting class this week we created a de-licious holiday prime rib meal. Please check out next week’s column for Yorkshire puddings.

Here are a few of our tips for that per-fect prime rib:

• Temper you roast (allow the meat to come to room temperature) for more even cooking over all. This takes about 1-2 hours;

• Generously season with salt and pepper and a good handful of your favorite herbs if you would like;

• Allow 1 rib for every 2 people (a standing rib roast is 7 ribs cut from the 7-14 ribs;

• Cook your roast on the natural rack of the ribs, start the oven out high 425F for the first 15 min-utes and than turn down the oven to 350F for the remainder;

• It is approximately 15-20 minutes per pound to cook the roast to medium-rare;

• You need to account for carry over cooking, which means your roast will continue to cook and rise in temperature 10-15 degrees once out of the oven. Remove the roast 10 degrees early than the doneness that you are looking for (i.e. if you would like medium rare or 125F, remove the roast when an instant read thermometer reached 115F);

• Cook your roast to medium rare, this will sat-isfy most the diners, those that prefer a bit more well done will enjoy the end pieces or their slice can be returned to the oven for a minute or two to cook it to medium;

• Allow your roast to rest at least 30 minutes

after removing it from the oven. This allows the juice to redistribute and they will be retained in the meat when it is carved rather the drain out onto your cutting board.

Pre-heat oven to 425°F; Sprinkle roast liberally with salt and pepper; Place beef roast on top and roast in oven for 20 minutes; Turn oven down to 350°F and roast a further 20 minutes, per pound, for rare; Insert instant-read thermometer into the center of the roast, avoiding the bone; For rare: 120°F; for medium rare: 125°F and medium: 130F°. It is recommended that a prime rib roast be no more than medium; Transfer roast to carving board and loosely cover; rest at least 15 minutes; Place roasting pan atop stove and add stock; simmer, using a wooden spoon to scrape up and browned bits on the bottom of the pan; Continue to simmer and reduce by half; strain juices through a fine mesh strainer into a small pot; keep hot; Begin to carve roast by slicing the whole roast off of the bones; set bones aside, slice between the bones and offer along with meat slices; Slice the roast, using a long, sharp, carving knife. Slice to desired thickness;

Serve meat slices hot, drizzled with a little jus, and served with more jus.

Print your money saving coupons

www.lensmill.com

FIND US ONFACEBOOK

WATERLOO 519-743-4672GUELPH 519-836-2412

CAMBRIDGE 519-658-8182HAWKESVILLE 519-699-6140BRANTFORD 519-752-5072WOODSTOCK 519-539-2200PORT DOVER 519-583-0800

HAMILTON 905-560-5367LONDON 519-686-3502

Dec�ions, Dec�ions,

Values in effect till Closing Sat. Dec. 24th, 2011

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS ESSENTIALS

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS ESSENTIALS

Dec�ions, Dec�ions,GLASS WINE

DECANTER• 1.7L size• Mouth Blown $9.99 ea.

• 2 pounds / 250 pieces per case • Natural peppermint avour• Great for parades, stockings, christmas parties, ces & more

Casesfor Per CaseOR2 $1000 $599

CHRISTMAS ESSENTIALBob’s

SANTALAND CANDY CANESINCREDIBLE2¢ each

EVERYTHING YOUNEED INCLUDED

WRAP IT GREAT HOSTESS GIFT

Set ofRegular $999

4/$399$199

Valued at$600

Compare to $1999 ea.

$699• Premade with lotsoficing &candy

• Easy to assemble

GLASS CHRISTMAS COASTERS• Unique design with wooden holderea

ea

GIFT WRAP

••

Jumbo 100sqft, 480”Superior Quality

GINGERBREAD KITS

CHRISTMAS COOKING & BAKING ESSENTIALFOIL

BAKEWARE• Environmentally Safe, Plastic FREE• Variety of Shapes and sizes appropriate

for everything from Turkey to Cookies to Nuts n’ Bolts Unbeatable Price • Excellent Value50¢

to$249

ea

Setof 3/$599

$1999 Value $3000 Value$1799

FROSTYSNOW GLOBE

• Colour changing lights• Swirling action

ea

GREAT HOSTESS GIFT

• Use as orCheese Knife

• QualitySteel

UNSCENTED

Compared to $1950 ea.

$499ea

JAR CHRISTMASCANDLES• Embossed glass

jar• Jumbo16 oz

size

ACRYLIC

Excellent Value • Unbeatable Price

SEWING, QUILTING OR CRAFT BASKETS

$2999to

$5999ea

• Variety of Shapes, Sizes & Colours• Excellent gift idea for beginner sewers• Satin lined, quilted outer shell

SWISS MILK CHOCOLATE GREAT SELECTION

• 60" x 84"• Assorted prints and colours• Flannel backed

Excellent Value Unbeatable Price

$499$1199eabox

100% COZY POLYESTERFLEECE THROW WITH

PLUSH CHRISTMAS TOY• 50" x 60" throw• Elf, Snowman, Reindeer

or Polar Bear

$1299ea

CHRISTMAS VINYLTABLECLOTH

Excellent Value

TOBLERONE MINI MILKCHOCOLATE

• 42 Individually wrapped bars• Great for Stocking or Christmas Parties

Stainless

CHRISTMASSPREADERS

Spreader

CHRISTMAS

ENTIRE STOCK

CHRISTMAS FABRICS• 1000’s of Yards of Fabrics to Choose from• 100% Cotton & other Assorted Blends• Massive Selection of Traditional, Modern, Funky

Prints and Panels• Includes Book, Apron, Advent Calendar

& Tree Skirt Panels LENS’S ALREADY LOW PRICE30%

OFF

INFANTS, TODDLERS, KIDS, TEENS, ADULTSENTIRESTOCKSOCKS EXCELLENTSTOCKINGSTUFFER

BUY 1 PAIR, GET THE SECOND PAIR 1/2 PRICEUnbelievable Bargain • Incredible Value

• 1000’s of styles & types for everyone on your list• Athletic, Dress, Novelty, Work, Diabetic, Toe socks, and More!

MULTI-USE GREENCHRISTMAS TABLECLOTH/

DRAPERY LACE FABRIC$399

yard

Incredible Price • Exceptional Value

• 60" Wide -100% Polyester

• Machine Washable

Multi-Use50%OFF

Len’s AlreadyLow Price

ENTIRE SELECTIONCHRISTMAS

WICKER BASKETS• Create your own

Christmas gift basket• Dozens of sizes, styles& colours to choose from

Perfect Prime Rib Roast>> 1 3-4lb prime rib roast

>> Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

>> 2 cups of beef or chicken stock, preferably home-made or no sodium (because it will be reduced, we do not want it to be salty to begin with)

LIVING HERE17THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

CHRISTMASFREE PERFORMANCES

WITH A LIVE BAND, ORCHESTRA, DANCE & 100-VOICE CHOIR

in Concert

www.ChristmasInConcert.com

Saturday, December 17 (3:30 & 7:00pm)Sunday, December 18 (3:30pm)

850 Sawmill Road, Bloomingdale(15 minutes from Elmira)

W.C. BROWN & SONSMENS CLOTHIER • TAILORS • DRY CLEANING & ALTERATION SERVICES • COMPANY UNIFORMS

HOLIDAY STORE HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 9-8; Sat. 9-5

Uptown Elmira | 519-669-1152 | www.BrownsMenswear.comMonthly specials coming soon on our web page.

Plus We Pay the HST

Christmas

Plus We Pay Plus We Pay Plus We Pay Quality MensFashionsQuality Mens

Shop early to get the best selection for the men on your list!

* HST Event ends Dec 23 *Some exclusions apply

W.C. BROWN & SONS

OPENMon.-Fri. 9-8; Sat. 9-5

Sun. Dec. 18th11am-4pmSat. Christmas Eve 9am-4pmBoxing Day 9am-4:30pm

SPEND YOURNEW YEARS EVE

WITH

15 First St. E., Elmira | 519-669-2833 | www.elmirabowl.com

To make reservationsor get more info

give us a call!

4• 2 Large - 3 item Pizza• 1 order of Garlic Bread w/cheese• 2L Pop

Packages are priced per lane and include Shoe Rental fees and Tax.

Maximum of 6 people per lane.

• 1 Large - 3 item Pizza• 2L Pop

1

$13+

bowling

• 1 Large - 3 item Pizza• 10 BBQ Wings• 2L Pop

2

+bowling

$22

3• 2 Large - 3 item Pizza• 2L Pop

+bowling

$25+

bowling

$28

PACKAGE ADDITIONS:

LIVING HERE 18 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

EASY

HARD

HOW TO PLAY: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 only once. Each 3x3 box is outlined with a darker line. You already have a few numbers to get you started.

THE CROSSWORD

WORD SEARCH

SUDOKU

Advent Baby Bells Card Carol Comet Crib Cupid Dasher December Dolls Elves Festival

Fir Flock Gift Gloria Gold Gravy Ham Holiday Holly Holy Icicle Inn Ivy

Jesus Joseph Joy Lord Magi Mary Mass Merry Myrrh Noel Pie Port Punch

Red Roast Sales Santa Claus Sing Sled Star Tinsel Toast Toys Xmas Yule

oil, lemon juice, wine, and herbs, and served cold)93. Starchy tuber94. City on the Po96. Bridges of Los Angeles County97. Rid of contamination100. Lacking sufficient water or rainfall104. Right, in a way105. Important food and source of oil106. Who is expected to ensure fair play107. Strand108. Memory units109. An awl for making small holes for brads or small screwsDOWN1. ___ de deux2. Same old, same old3. “I” problem4. Unfaithful to one’s partner in marriage5. Someone who asks a question6. Having the stem removed7. Ball field covering8. Exodus commemoration9. Ancient galley10. Soon, to a bard11. Kit containing a metal dish and eating utensils; used by soldiers and campers

12. Carry on13. Marina sight14. A stream or brook15. ___ Victor16. Alliance acronym17. “Idylls of the King” character18. Small European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body20. A Bantu people of Kenya24. Observant one29. Imp30. Terry McMillan’s “Waiting to ___”31. Weak in intellectual power32. A polymer of vinyl chloride34. Bank offering, for short37. A negative39. Located at or attached to41. Wear off or die down42. Doubt concerning two or more possible alternatives43. Cut, maybe44. A feeling of sympathy for the misfortunes of others53. The act of refusing57. In-box contents60. Curb61. In an unnatural eery manner

63. Icelandic epic66. Cover as if with a shroud69. Swelling70. “Raiders of the Lost ___”71. In a tasty manner72. Used as a greeting73. Carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface74. Quills75. Cool76. The thing named or in question77. One whose occupation is decorating walls with wallpaper80. Any plant of the genus Eryngium85. Consumed87. Marriage and others89. Israeli port90. Sandler of “Big Daddy”91. The basic unit of money in Bulgaria92. Maple genus95. Condo, e.g.96. Cutting remark98. “Walking on Thin Ice” singer99. Kind of rule101. Victorian, for one102. Clinch, with “up”103. ___ el Amarna, Egypt

ACROSS1. Concrete; cast into form before being transported to the site of installation8. Express displeasure13. Tell or spin a yarn19. The capital of the state of Maine20. Essence21. Secrets22. An animal kept as stock until suitable for breeding23. Peculiar to the individual25. Dole’s running mate, 199626. Remove a portion of space between (adjacent letters)27. “Look here!”28. “___ to Billie Joe”29. Go straight32. 100%33. Young domestic cat35. Figure skater’s jump36. “Men always hate most what they ___ most”: Mencken38. Wavelike design40. Basket material45. Abandon46. A film presenting the facts about a person or event47. Language of Lahore48. Street fleet49. Cantab, for one50. “Is that ___?”51. Actor Green of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”52. Bad look54. “John ___ rich”55. Objective form of “I”56. Doctor’s degree in osteopathy58. Introduces a conditional clause59. “... or ___!”62. Children’s ___64. Adaptable truck, for short65. Annexes66. Ado67. “I had no ___!”68. An oceangoing vessel equipped to make meteorological observations78. LP player79. Big dipper81. Exhaust82. ___ bread83. “Let’s ___”84. Stinks86. Film crew member88. Fraudulent; having a misleading appearance90. ___ grecque (cooked in olive

NEW ELECTRONICS STORE NOW OPEN: DOWNTOWN ELMIRA!

• Batteries • Memory Sticks & Cards • Headphones • Hook-Up Cables • iPod & Digital Camera Accessories • Discs • Power Bars • Tools

• AV & Computer Essentials • Off Lease Hp Computers & Laptops

10 Church Street. W., Elmira On The Lower Level!

519.669.0755 [email protected]

> SOLUTIONS: Find the answers to all of the puzzles on pg. 28

SPORTS19THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

SPORTS

AUTO CAREAUTO CARE20 Oriole Parkway E., Elmira, ON N3B 0A5

Tel: (519) 669-1082 Fax: (519) [email protected]

www.leroysautocare.net

Complete Automotive Maintenance & Repair

Come in to have a quick check done on your vehicle’s battery and antifreeze. If your battery is weak your car may not start in the cold weather. If your coolant freezes up because it is too weak, your car may overheat and leave you with no heat at all inside the vehicle!

- KEN NEARY

CHECK OUR WEBSITE

FOR CURRENT

PROMOTIONS

AND REBATES

Auto Care Tip of the Week

PHOT

O »

COLI

N DE

WAR

THE GOAL IS TO KEEP IT OUT Elmira netminder Nick Horrigan blocks a shot off the stick of Cambridge Winter Hawks forward Michael Christou (14) as defencemen Colton Wolfe-Sabo and Craig Johnson clean up during action Dec. 11 at the Dan Snyder Memorial Arena. The Kings beat the Hawks 5-1.

Kings give themselves an early Christmas presentColin Dewar

Three wins in three nights a reward for squad that failed to let fatigue be a factor

After slow start, Jacks turn it on to beat NorfolkThird-place Wellesley squad faces two tough games at home this weekend

Colin Dewar

> SEE KINGS ON PG. 20

> SEE JACKS ON PG. 22

It was the Elmira Sugar Kings’ weekend. Three days,

three games, three wins.The odds were against the

boys in green to continue the streak that began back on Dec. 4 with a win over Brant-ford, as the team was playing with a shortened bench due to injuries and players away completing their university finals.

The first game of the week-end saw the Kings on the road against Owen Sound, where they skated away with a 9-2 win over the Greys Dec. 9.

Elmira started out strongly in the first period, scoring three unanswered goals off the sticks of Michael Hasson, Riley Sonnenburg and Mitch Dunning.

The second frame began with the same intensity as Andrew Smith and Brett Pre-istap scored two goals before the seven-minute mark of the period, giving the Kings a 5-0 lead.

During a power play at 8:05 with Elmira’s Lukas Balesh-

ta in the box for a high stick-ing, the Greys finally potted one against netminder Justis Husak. The Kings responded seconds later, however, with a Pat McKelvie/Will Cook combination that beat Greys’ goalie Paul Boyadjian at 8:26. Elmira forward Brady Camp-bell would then score his first of two for the night with a minute left in the period to give the visitors a comfort-able 7-1 lead.

After the second intermis-sion the Kings tallied two more goals, while the Greys managed to get one back. Elmira forwards Campbell and Sonnenburg both added to the total.

“We came out of there with out any injuries or suspen-sions so we were happy. We just rolled line and lead ev-ery play and the guys came out strong in the first period and set the tempo right off the bat and then we had some fun,” said head coach Dean DeSilva.

The next night the Kings faced the Brantford Golden Eagles at the Wayne Gretzky

Sport Centre. The Eagles were looking for revenge af-ter losing 4-1 to the Kings the weekend before. It was not to be, however, as Elmira came away 2-1 victors.

“It was a long game and there was not a lot of flow to it but it was a very gutsy win on our part and I was very proud with how the team played,” said DeSilva. “All weekend we were short and the guys came in with a gutsy effort but to his credit, Bryce O Hagan kept the game close, it could have been a dif-ferent game if he was not in the net for the Eagles. He was outstanding and made about four or five great saves that kept his team in the game. Over all it was a solid team ef-fort from the get go and I was happy with the win.”

Elmira did not waste any-time putting points on the board, with Smith scoring in the opening minute of the period. Baleshta collected the assist. The rest of the pe-riod would see action down at both ends of the ice but neither team would be able to

capitalize.The game was a hard-

fought battle between the two teams who have been vying for second place in the divi-sion for the last few weeks.

Hasson would add another point to Elmira’s lead in the second frame. Brantford was unable to score until the third

when Ryan Blunt finally beat goalie Nick Horrigan, who finished the night with 38 saves to preserve the 2-1 win.

Finally back on home ice Dec. 11, the Kings played un-welcoming host to the Cam-bridge Winter Hawks by post-

The Wellesley Applejacks scored three unanswered

goals in the second period en route to a 5-2 win over the Norfolk Rebels during ac-tion at the Wellesley arena Dec. 10.

After a lackluster first pe-riod that would end with nei-ther team scoring, the Jacks

came out flying after the first intermission, taking it to the Rebels who seemed sluggish returning to the ice after 20 minutes of play.

Wellesley defenceman Geoff Parr got things rolling with his team shorthanded – James Mildon was in the penalty box for hooking –

SPORTS 20 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

There's no doubt we’ve come a long way, babyNot-So-Great

OutdoorsmanSteve Galea

There's no doubt we’ve come a long way, babyNot-So-Great

Outdoorsman

Just the other day I was reading an old hardcover called The Modern

Rifle, written in 1975 by one of my fa-vourite gun writers, Jim Carmichel.

Unlike me, Carmichel is one of the classic outdoor writers who makes even the most mundane and techni-cal subjects both interesting and ex-citing. This book is a great example.

Still, time had not been kind to it. You see, while the information within was very good, some of the thoughts that Jim divulged were definitely from the old school. And by that I mean the politically incor-rect one.

For instance, in one of the more memorable passages, he writes “a gun like this puts me in mind of a man who, after marrying a cross-eyed woman, learns to forgive her faults because she cooks good meals and keeps him warm in bed at night.”

And while it was a colourful way of making his point, I submit this simple sentence to you as an exam-ple of just how far my species (the human male) has come.

For one thing, these days most men know enough to keep thoughts like this to ourselves.

Unfortunately, I don’t happen to be one of those men. So I immediately phoned my best buddy Tom, who also works from home and I read him the sentence.

“Ah, those were the days when

men were men,” Tom proclaimed. “You know, I almost think we’ve lost something along the way.”

I am not sure why that comment bothered me, but it did. So much so that I almost stopped stirring the garlic and basil spaghetti meat sauce that I was cooking.

“That’s nonsense Tom. Modern man is just as manly as we ever were,” I said. Then, as if to prove it, I deftly tossed a garden salad and aggressively checked the spinach fet-tuccine to ensure that it was coming along.

“Well, I’d like to talk about this more,” he said gruffly, “but Linda will be home soon and, if she has to wait for this quiche, there will be hell to pay.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered. “I didn’t do laundry yesterday and Jenn seemed peeved.”

And just like that, it occurred to me that maybe something had changed. Maybe, just maybe, my buddy was right.

I mean it used to be that women did all the house work, stayed at home, felt underappreciated and not taken seriously. Thankfully, that’s no

longer the case.Now due to enlightened thinking,

we live in a world where rough and tumble men are free to do the very same thing. Talk about progress.

I didn’t give this issue much more thought, until later that night when Jenn and I turned in for bed. That’s when she thanked me for a fine dinner and for, once again, doing the dishes. Then, on a side note, she commented that the sheets were kind of cold. So, quick as a flash, she

snuggled up to my side and proceed-ed to rob me of every last vestige of warmth.

A moment later, after I brought her tea, I put down my book and then asked the question that had been nagging me all day.

“Do you appreciate me?” I asked.“Of course I do; you cook for me

every day and keep me warm in bed each night,” she giggled.

Tomorrow, I’m setting up an eye appointment.

24

SAT.

23

FRI.

25

SUN.

26

MON.

27

TUES.

28

WED.

29

THURS.

30

FRI.

31 1

SUN.

1 - 5 PM &7 - 10PM

1 - 5 PM &7 - 10PM

1 - 5 PM &7 - 10PM

CLOSED

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

1 - 5 PM &7 - 10PM

CLOSED

15 FIRST STREET E., ELMIRA • 519-669-2833 • [email protected] FIRST STREET E., ELMIRA • 519-669-2833 • [email protected]

GIFTCERTIFICATESAVAILABLE!(Great Stocking

Stuffers!)

1 - 5 PM

25 26

HHAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACHRISTMAS HOURS

NEWYEAR’S EVE

3 TIME SLOTS

• 1-3 PM | 3-5 PM

• 5-7 PM

• 7-9 PM | 9-11 PM

CALL FOR

RESERVATIONS!

CLOSED CLOSED1 - 4 PM &6 - 11:30PM

SUN.

1 - 5 PM

2

MON.

ing a 5-1 win, laying claim to second place in the Mid-Western Conference just behind the Stratford Cullitons.

The Kings kept the weekend trend alive by scoring first against their op-ponent when Baleshta fed Smith who in turn found Campbell, allowing him to flick the puck over the stick of Cambridge goaltender Lucas Michal-ski at 7:55 of the opening frame.

The period would end with a Cook-Sonnenburg-Priestap combination that once again found the back of the net, giving the Kings a 2-0 lead.

An obviously tired Elmira squad took to the ice in the second frame and was found flatfooted as the Win-ter Hawks scored to bring the game within one: Cambridge captain Ryan Clarke fired a shot from beyond the blue line past Horrigan, who was caught off guard for the moment.

Elmira struggled with their passes and stick control for the rest of the period while Cambridge continued to keep the pressure going but where unable to get anything past Horrigan. The period would end 2-1.

“Our guys were tired, their legs were heavy in the second period and Cambridge should be given credit for their work in the second period: they came out and did what they had to do and we managed to hang on. (Horri-gan) was very solid for us and during the intermission we just reminded

the guys that we needed to play a full 60 minutes of hockey,” said DeSilva.

The Kings were rejuvenated in the third and managed to score three un-answered goals off the sticks of Prie-stap (his second of the night), Son-nenburg and Smith.

“We managed to win this game on guts and hard work and even though we were tired we pulled it off,” said DeSilva. “Three weeks ago I am not sure we would have had the results we got this weekend but that shows you the corner we have turned and the players have battled through a lot of things and they are stepping up and doing what they need to do. We had a goal to come out of the week-end with three wins and we needed to do the little things to do that and the guys responded and everyone did their job.”

The home game was the Sugar Kings’ annual teddy bear toss and the organization managed to collect a few hundred stuffed animals for less fortunate children and hospitals in the area.

This weekend, the Kings are in Stratford Friday to take on the first-place Cullitons before returning to the friendly confines of the Dan Sny-der Memorial Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. to face off against the Kitchener Dutchmen. The Kings will be playing their last game of 2011 on the road when they head to Kitchener to face the Dutchmen once again on Dec. 20.

Kings: Home Sunday vs. Kitchener> CONTINUED FROM PG. 19

ANOTHER ONE STOPS HERE Goaltender Nick Horrigan manages to stop the puck during the third period against the Cambridge Winter Hawks on Dec. 11.

PHOT

O »

COLI

N DE

WAR


WOOLWICH NOVICE LL #1 – GIRLS

DEC. 10

Woolwich 9, Cambridge 0Goals: Julia Doerbecker x5, Kristen Busse x2, Ella Campbell, Maggie Sabean (Payton Ravelle x2, Emma Derrigan, Ella Campbell, Julia Doerbecker)Shutout: Amy Dueck

DEC. 11

Woolwich 5, Wilmot 4Goals: Julia Doerbecker x3, Maddie Goss x2 (Ella Campbell x2, Bethany Hebbourn x2, Amy Dueck x2, Karissa Schouppe, Delaney Keen, Maggie Sabean, Emma Derrigan)TWIN CENTRE NOVICE LL #1 - GIRLS

DEC. 10

Twin Centre 13, Ayr 0Goals: Marlee Fraser x3, Katie Lee x2, Avery Bender x2, Kara Dietrich x2, Lindsay Miller, Brooklyn Reid, Chloe Hislop, Halle Murray (Macoda Pitsch x4, Katie Lee x3, Chloe Hislop x3, Halle Murray x2, Brooklyn Reid x2, Avery Haid, Avery Bender, Megan Haid, Marlee Fraser, Kara Dietrich, Lindsay Miller)Shutout: Kendra PauserTWIN CENTRE NOVICE LL #2 - GIRLSTwin Centre 11, Waterloo Ravens 0Goals: Emily Krueger x5, Mia Thompson x2, Katya Pym x2, Lauren Skanes, MaKenna Krulicki (Claire Higgins x2, Emily Krueger x2, Katya Pym, Mackenna Krulicki, Rachel Jantzi) Shutout: Nicole HehnWOOLWICH ATOM LL - GIRLS

NOV. 26

Woolwich 1, Wilmot 1Goals: Liette Fife (Holly Faries, Brooke Richardson)

DEC. 3

Woolwich 1, Cambridge 0

Goals: Liette Fife (Holly Faries)DEC. 11

Woolwich 1, Kitchener 1Goals: Liette Fife (Holly Faries)WOOLWICH ATOM B - GIRLS

DEC. 8

Woolwich 4, Kitchener 1Goals: Mya Brubacher x2, Caylee Gallant, Delaney Douglas (Caykee Gallant x2, Delaney Douglas, Mya Brubacher, Alenna Martin, Ali Harnock, Hannah Carr)

DEC. 10

Woolwich 2, Oakville 2Goals: Delaney Douglas, Cassidy Moser (Mya Brubacher, Sydney Dettweiller)TWIN CENTRE PEEWEE LL - GIRLS

DEC. 9

Twin Centre 2, Ayr 1Goals: Kate Seip x2 (Grace Kalbfleisch Libby Henderson)Twin Centre 6, Grand River 0Goals: Kate Seip x2, Olivia Bolender, Elena McKee, Tiana Bruns, Emma Banbury (Sadie Richmond x3, Tiana Bruns, Julia Dakin)Shutout: Riley BarnhardtTWIN CENTRE PEEWEE B - GIRLS

DEC. 10

Twin Centre 1, Ayr 1Goals: Lauren Quehl (Leah Sebben, Laura Weber)

DEC. 11

Waterloo 2, Twin Centre 1Goals: Sophie Jantzi (Jocelyn Oja, Deanna Mainland)WOOLWICH BANTAM BB - GIRLS

DEC. 5

Woodstock 2, Woolwich 1Goals: Randi Paul (Kendra Harold)

DEC. 7

Woolwich 1, Waterloo 0Goals: Emily Willms (Michelle Bauman, Randi Paul)Shutout: Megan Harron

DEC. 10

Woolwich 3, Guelph 0Goals: Marlee Kernick, Meghan Martin, Cora Kieswetter (Sydney Meunier, Maddie Wang, Claire Hanley, Cora Kieswetter, Kendra Harold) Shutout: Megan HarronWOOLWICH MIDGET LL #1 - GIRLS

DEC. 12

Twin Centre 4, Waterloo 2Goals: Mackenzie VanBargen, Jessica Dunbar, Shannon Lorentz, Shannon Novak (Carling Cisecki, Janessa Heywood, Dominique Bruns, Mackenzie VanBargen)WOOLWICH MIDGET LL #2 - GIRLS

NOV. 20

Woolwich 4, Twin Centre 2Goals: Jenna Martin x2, Emily Chapman, Mandy Martin (Katie Murray, Lori Atchison)

NOV. 29

Woolwich 3, Twin Centre 2Goals: Kayla Wilging, Lize Schuurmans, Courtney Horst (Kayla Wilging x2, Maggie Lariviere x2, Katie Murray

DEC. 4

Woolwich 2, Cambridge 0Goals: Courtney Horst, Emily Chapman (Kayla Death, Kayla Wilging

DEC. 5

Twin Centre 3, Woolwich 2 Goals: Kayla Wilging x2 (Emily Chapman, Kayla DeathTWIN CENTRE MIDGET LL #2 - GIRLS

DEC. 12

Waterloo 2, Twin Centre 1Goals: Kaitlyn Jantzi (Becky Cornwall)WOOLWICH MIDGET B – GIRLS

DEC. 7

Woolwich 1, Haldimand 0Goals: Rebecca Luis (Lindsey Bauman, Leah Olsthoorn)Shutout: Lindsey LesageWOOLWICH TYKE (MINOR NOVICE) SELECT - BOYS

DEC. 10

Woolwich 2, Guelph 0Goals: Sebastian Garrett x2 (Tyler Brezynskie x2, Jocelyn Pickard, Mitchell Hartman)Shutout: Colin Bray

DEC. 11

Woolwich 5, Brampton 0Goals: Reid Burkholder x2, Tyler Brezynskie, Ian Speiran, Andrew Gear (Jocelyn Pickard x2, Sebastian Garrett, Tyler Brezynskie, Andrew Gear, Carter Rollins)Shutout: Colin BrayWOOLWICH NOVICE LL #1 - BOYS

DEC. 10

Woolwich 1 1, Ayr 3 1Goals: Ben Fretz (Coleton Benham)

DEC. 11

Woolwich #1 4, Woolwich #3 1Goals: Mac Benham x3, Ben Fretz (Colton Benham, James McCormick, Zach McMurray, Ben Moyer, Liam Moyer, Ethan Murr, Corbin Schmidt, Nolan Williamson)WOOLWICH NOVICE AE - BOYS

DEC. 8

Stoney Creek 7, Woolwich 2Goals: Kolin Weigel, Gavin Wilson (Kieren Oberholzer, Braxten Breen, Danny Soehner)

DEC. 10

Woolwich 2, Dundas 2Goals: Cameron Leonard, Connor Waters (Kody Lewis x2, Cameron MacLachlan)

DEC. 12

Caledon 7, Woolwich 4Goals: Danny Soehner, Braxten Breen, Nathan Snyder, Gavin Wilson (Cameron Leonard, Danny Soehner x2, Andrew Weber, Braxten Breen, Gavin Wilson, Kolin Weigel)WOOLWICH NOVICE MAJOR A - BOYS

DEC. 10

Woolwich 7, Caledon 1Goals: Jake McDonald x2, Kyler Austin x2, Cole Slade, Owen Lee, Spencer Young (Spencer Young

x2, Alex Hutton, Brett Moser, Kyler Austin, Colton Schmitt)

DEC. 13

Woolwich 6, New Hamburg 4Goals: Jake McDonald x4, Tyler Martin, Kyler Austin, (Nolan Steringa x2, Colton Schmitt, Spencer Young, Weston Bradley)WOOLWICH ATOM LL #1 - BOYS

DEC. 11

Woolwich 12, Paris 1Goals: Nathan Curtis x3, Ryan Parrott x3, Jake Good, Kyle Deyell, Andrew Kieswetter, Matthew Deyell, Josh Kohlsmith, Connor Kroetsch (Kyle Deyell x2, Andrew Kieswetter x2, Nathan Curtis x2, Connor Kroetsch, Jake Good, Blake Richardson)WOOLWICH ATOM LL #2 - BOYS

DEC. 3

Woolwich 6, St. George 4Goals: CJ Sider x2, Tanner x2, Matt Dunn, Brendan Grant (CJ Sider, Matthew Fleischmann, Own Hill-Ring)

DEC. 4

Woolwich 9, New Hamburg 1Goals: Brendan Grant x3, CJ Sider, Joseph Bolhm, Jonathan Dingelstad, Matthew Fleischmann, Tanner Mann, Max Nitche (Tanner Mann x2, Sam Nitche x2, Brannon Slade x2, Joseph Bolhm, Matt Dunn, James Ormson, Tyson Kraemer)

DEC. 10

Woolwich 6, Twin Center 1 4Goals: CJ Sider x2, Tanner Mann x2, Matt Dunn, Brendan Grant (CJ Sider, Matthew Fleischmann, Owen Hill-Ring)WOOLWICH ATOM LL #3 - BOYS

DEC. 10

Woolwich 2, Plattsville 0Goals: Nathan Maier, Sullivan Keen (Simon Zenker, William Carter, Matthew Thaler)Shutout: Liam O'BrienWOOLWICH ATOM LL #4 - BOYS

DEC. 10

Woolwich 3, New Hamburg 1Goals: Benjamin Witmer, Jesse Martin, Tyler Horst (Dante Del Cul, Ryan Martin, Nicholas Lunz, Ben Martin)TWIN CENTRE ATOM AE - BOYS

DEC. 9

Twin Centre 5, Paris 0Goals: Brock Krulicki x2, Alex Kaufman x2, Curtis Butler (Tyler Zyta x2, Ben Hayden, Josh Hubert, Peter Holmes, Devon Lee)Shutout: Blair Gowing

DEC. 10

Twin Centre 4, Paris 1Goals: Cameron Hoy x2, Tyler Zyta, Jack Koebel (William Weber x2, Curtis Butler x2, Alex Kaufman, Brock Krulicki, Ben Hayden)

DEC. 13

Twin Centre 9, Tavistock 1Goals: Ben Hayden x2, Cameron Hoy x2, Josh Hubert, Jack Koebel, Curtis Butler, Alex Kaufman, Dylan Hehn (Brock Krulicki x3, Curtis Butler x3, Cameron Hoy x2, Tyler Zyta, Devon Lee, Caleb Wellman, Peter Holmes, Blair Bender, William Weber)Shutout: Blair GowingWOOLWICH ATOM AE – BOYS

DEC. 9

OSHAWA HOCKEYFEST TOURNAMENTWoolwich 4, Kingston 0Goals: Zac Picakard, Kieffer Beard, Hunter Weigel, Ryan Belanger (Matthew Steringa x2, Kieffer Beard, Ethan Young, Seth Morrison, Hunter Schmitt)Shutout: Bryce Dettweiller

DEC. 9

Oshawa 3, Woolwich 2Goals: Ethan Young, Seth Morrison (Kieffer Beard, Matthew Steringa)

DEC. 10

SCORECARD

GOJHLALL STAR GAME

Tickets available for advanced salesat Sugar Kings games leading up to Jan. 9

Silent auction prior and during the game.

GOLDEN HORSESHOE vs. MID WEST

MONDAY, JANUARY 9Game Time: 7:00PM

DAN SNYDER MEMORIAL ARENA

MONDAY, JANUARY 9Game Time: 7:00PM

DAN SNYDER MEMORIAL ARENA

Tickets available for advanced salesTickets available for advanced salesTickets available for advanced salesTickets available for advanced sales

$7$7Tickets

are

Location: Woolwich Youth Soccer OfficeFirst St. Elmira (Formerly Visitor Info. Center)

REGISTRATION - DECEMBER 2011WED., DEC. 21 | 7-9PM

DAY DATE TIME LOCATIONThursday 19-Jan 7pm - 9pm WYSC OfficeThursday 19-Jan 7pm - 9pm Breslau Rec CenterSaturday 21-Jan 9am - 11am Breslau Rec CenterThursday 26-Jan 7pm - 9pm WYSC OfficeSaturday 28-Jan 9am - 12pm WYSC OfficeThursday 16-Feb 7pm - 9pm WYSC OfficeSaturday 18-Feb 9am - 12pm WYSC Office

DAY DATE TIME LOCATIONThursday 19-Jan 7pm - 9pm WYSC OfficeThursday 19-Jan 7pm - 9pm Breslau Rec CenterSaturday 21-Jan 9am - 11am Breslau Rec CenterThursday 26-Jan 7pm - 9pm WYSC OfficeThursday 26-Jan 7pm - 9pm WYSC OfficeSaturday 28-Jan 9am - 12pm WYSC OfficeThursday 16-Feb 7pm - 9pm WYSC OfficeSaturday 18-Feb 9am - 12pm WYSC Office

TO REGISTER BY MAIL:Woolwich Youth Soccer Club Box 301 Elmira ON, N3B 2Z7

For the most up to date information please go to our website www.woolwichyouthsoccer.com

REGISTRATION 2012

RATES UNTIL DEC. 31, 2011Mini $80 House/Rural $125 L6: $185 L5: $225 L4/L3: $285

RATES AS OF JAN. 01, 2012

Mini $90 House/Rural $135 L6: $200 L5: $240 L4/L3: $300

Dan Snyder Memorial Arena at 2:00 PM

SUNDAYDan Snyder Memorial Arena at 2:00 PM

December 18, 2011

FOR A FULL LIST OF UPCOMING GAMESvisit www.kings.on.ca

KITCHENERDUTCHMEN

GAME SPONSORED BY: Remax Solid Gold Realty (II)Alli Bauman & Bill Norris

DUTCHMEN

GAME SPONSORED BY:

FOR A FULL LIST OF UPCOMING GAMES

Alli Bauman & Bill Norris

The Elmira Sugar Kingsinvite you to Skate With The Kings

ENJOY A FREE SKATE WITH US AFTER THE GAME.

HELMETS FOR CHILDREN REQUIRED.

> SEE SCORES ON PG. 23

SPORTS 22 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

W

i

s

h

i

n

g

y

o

u

a

n

d

y

o

u

r

f

a

m

i

l

y

a

h

a

p

p

y

a

n

d

h

e

a

l

t

h

y

h

o

l

i

d

a

y

s

e

a

s

o

n

!

VOISIN CHRYSLER

Holiday Hours Sales/Service & Parts Department Monday December 25 & 26 - CLOSEDTuesday January 1 - CLOSED

Make your Christmas shopping easy

this year! Trademarked accessories

such as t-shirts, hats,

mugs & key chains

Gift certificates for car cleanups and

oil changes make a great gift.

PERFECT STOCKING

STUFFERS!

361 Arthur Street South, Elmira

519-669-2831

www.voisinchrylser.com

Make your Christmas shopping easy this

year. Trademarked accessories such as

t-shirts, hats, mugs, key chains

and much more!

W

i

s

h

i

n

g

y

o

u

a

n

d

y

o

u

r

f

a

m

i

l

y

a

h

a

p

p

y

a

n

d

h

e

a

l

t

h

y

h

o

l

i

d

a

y

s

e

a

s

o

n

!

VOISIN CHRYSLER

Holiday Hours Sales/Service & Parts Department Monday December 25 & 26 - CLOSEDTuesday January 1 - CLOSED

Make your Christmas shopping easy

this year! Trademarked accessories

such as t-shirts, hats,

mugs & key chains

Gift certificates for car cleanups and

oil changes make a great gift.

PERFECT STOCKING

STUFFERS!

361 Arthur Street South, Elmira

519-669-2831

www.voisinchrylser.com

Make your Christmas shopping easy this

year. Trademarked accessories such as

t-shirts, hats, mugs, key chains

and much more!

Holiday Hours Sales/Service & Parts DepartmentClosed December 24th, 26th & 27thClosed January 2nd

Wishing you and your family a happyand healthy holiday season!

www.voisinchrysler.ca

UNDER SEIGE Norfolk Rebel goal tender Jeff Stillman dives at the feet of a couple of Applejack players to stop a play in the first period of a Dec. 10 game that Wellesley won by a score of 5-2.

when he received a quick pass from Shawn Fitzpatrick and fired a one-timer above the right shoulder of Nor-folk goalie Jeff Still-man.

A minute and half lat-er the Jacks were once again in the Rebels’ end when Parr found Blair Witmer alone in front of the net. Wit-mer made no mistake, chipping the puck over the glove of Stillman to give his team a 2-0 lead.

To finish off the sec-ond frame the Jacks, who had been defend-ing vigorously for the remainder of the pe-riod, were given a pow-erplay after the Rebels’ Matt Vansickle was called for interference. That led to Tyler Eck-ert, Mark Detzier and Brent Vickers combing to give the home side three heading back to the room.

Perhaps a little too comfortable up 3-0, the Jacks got a rude awak-ening in the third pe-riod when Norfolk’s Steve Parker broke out during a play in his own end and headed down the ice, beating goaltender Josh Heer to put the Rebels on the scoreboard.

Connor McLeod would reply for the Jacks a short time later after receiving a beau-tiful pass from Eckert just inside the blue line and firing a wrist shot high right that beat Stillman.

A minute after tak-ing a 4-1 lead the Jacks were given a penalty when Josh Herd was called for cross check-ing. The 5-on-4 Rebel advantage was too much for the defending Jacks, as Rebel Matt

> CONTINUED FROM PG.19 Vansickle slipped the puck low across the ice and squeezing it in between the post and Heer’s glove.

The Jacks quickly recomposed them-selves and with less than three minutes on the clock Parr picked up the puck at centre ice and make his way through the Rebel de-fence, sliding it to Eck-ert who was waiting pa-tiently to the left of the goal to cash number 5.

The Rebels continued to push but where un-able to score again in the remaining minutes of the game.

Heer stopped 25 of 27 shots for the win.

Head coach Kevin Fitzpatrick was pleased that his team pulled off a win after a hard loss to the first-place Delhi Travellers last week-end. The win moved Wellesley into third place in the McConnell Conference.

“We still have to start playing a lot better than we did,” said Fitz-patrick referring to the fact that the team had a slow start in the first period.

“We made some nice plays during the game but we should never have let (Norfolk) score that second goal. That penalty cost us a goal but any win is a good win. We had some play-ers that really held us together including Parr who a terrific game and Heer who was been solid in net for us all season.”

The Jacks play two at home this weekend, starting Friday night against the Hagers-ville Hawks and then on Saturday versus the Tavistock Braves. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.

IN CONTROL Shawn Fitzpatrick makes his way down the ice at the Wellesley arena Dec. 10.

PHOT

O »

COLI

N DE

WAR

PHOT

O »

COLI

N DE

WAR

Jacks: Coach hopes strong playcarries over to pair of home games


PO Box 130, Elmira • 519-669-5171

Toll Free (In Canada 1-888-569-8843) • Fax: 1-519-669-5982Web: www.martinmills.com

“Proud to be part of the community.”390 ARTHUR ST. S., 519-669-2015

DUB-L-EDUB-L-E• GAS • DIESEL

• PROPANE • TOUCH-FREE

CAR WASH

ELMIRA (Hwy 86 & Road 21)

Serving you for over 100 Years

1145 Printery Rd., St. Jacobs | TEL: 519.664.2263

60 First St. E. • 519-669-5166

Registered to ISO 9001, 14001

Manufacturers of Sulphuric Acidand Sodium Bisulphite

Sulco Chemicals Limited

Mon., Tues., Wed., & Sat. 10AM-6PM

Th., & Fri. 10AM-9PM Sun. 12PM-4PM

31 Church St. W, Elmira • 519-669-5565

33 Industrial Dr. • 519-669-1591

SANYO CANADIAN MACHINE WORKS INCORPORATED

49 Industrial Dr., Elmira • 519-669-1631

PLEASE BE RESPONSIBLE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.PLEASE BE RESPONSIBLE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.18 Arthur St. N. • 519-669-2561

Bonnie’s Chick Hatchery Ltd.

Day-old Egg LayersDay-old Meat VarietiesTurkeys - Ducks - Geese

Ready-to-lay-pullets

PLEASE BE RESPONSIBLE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

Please Don’t Drink and Drive!Allen Morrison Insurance Inc.25 Industrial Dr. Elmira519-669-2632

Celebrate Safely...Celebrate Safely...

Don't Drink & Drive

Don't Drink & Drive

Woolwich 5, North York 1Goals: Jacob Clemmer, Kieffer Beard, Hunter Weigel, Seth Morrison, Ryan Belanger (Ethan Young x2, Jacob Clemmer, Jackson Hale, Brendan Gilles, Travis Weber, Ben Weigel)

DEC. 10

Woolwich 4, Richmond Hill 2Goals: Travis Weber, Ryan Belanger, Ethan Young, Hunter Schmitt (Travis Weber, Ryan Belanger, Kieffer Beard, Jacob Clemmer)

DEC. 11

Woolwich 2, Leitrim 0Goals: Travis Weber, Ben Weigel (Travis Weber, Jacob Clemmer, Ryan Belanger)Shutout: Bryce Dettweiler

DEC. 11

Woolwich 3, Oshawa 2 (OT)Goals: Zac Pickard x3 (Ethan Young, Jody Weiss, Ben Weigel)

DEC. 12

REGULAR SEASONWoolwich 3, Hespeler 0Goals: Matthew Steringa, Hunter Schmitt, Kyle Deyell (Matthew Steringa, Kieffer Beard, Hunter Weigel, Seth Morrison, Ethan Young, Zac Pickard)Shutout: Bryce Dettweiller

DEC. 13

Woolwich 2, New Hamburg 0Goals: Matthew Steringa, Ben Weigel (Seth Morrison)Shutout: Jody Weiss WOOLWICH MINOR ATOM AA - BOYS

DEC. 9

Woolwich 6, Guelph 3Goals: Dawson Good x2, Mitch Lee x2, Ryan Elliott, Isiah Katsube (Isiah Katsube x2, Ryan Elliott x2, Spencer Young, Nathan Taylor, Trevor Ferretti)

DEC. 11

Woolwich 5, Milton 2Goals: Dawson Good x2, Mitch Lee, Colin Merlihan, Ryan Elliott (Trevor Ferretti, Lucas Huber, Colin Merlihan)

DEC. 13

Woolwich 7, Stoney Creek 0Goals: Blake Roemer x3, Mitch Lee x2, Dawson Good, Isiah Katsube (Mitch Lee x2, Isiah Katsube x2, Ryan Elliott x2, Dawson Good, Brady Brezynskie, Connor Bradley)Shutout: Zach VerweyWOOLWICH MAJOR ATOM AA - BOYS

DEC. 9

Burlington 2, Woolwich 1Goals: Austin Cousineau

DEC. 12

Oakville 7, Woolwich 2Goals: Kayden Zacharczuk, Joshua Martin (Griffen Rollins, Brody Waters, Jake Code)WOOLWICH NOVICE MAJOR A - BOY

DEC. 3

Burlington 5, Woolwich 2Goals: Cole Slade, Spencer Young (AJ Mitchell, Nolan Steringa, Cole Slade)

DEC. 5

New Hamburg 6, Woolwich 4Goals: Spencer Young, Jake McDonald, Nolan Steringa,

Kyler Austin (Kyler Austin, Spencer Young, Gavin Roemer)WOOLWICH PEEWEE LL #2 - BOYS

DEC. 10

Woolwich 10, Paris 0Goals: Austin Whittom x4, Tegan Schaus x2, Nathan Horst x2, Mike Devries, John Wang (Tegan Schaus x2, Austin Whittom, Mike Devries, Alex Berry, Nathan Horst, Ryan Diemert, Dylan Smith)Shutout: Terry Chau, Alex HarnockWOOLWICH 11 MINOR PEEWEE A - BOYS

NOV. 30

Oakville 5, Woolwich 1Goals: Cole Altman (Nolan McLaughlin)

DEC. 1

Woolwich 4, Georgetown 1Goals: Chase Mooder x2, Sammy Huber, Cole Altman (Nolan McLaughlin x3, Liam Hartman)

DEC. 3

Burlington 6, Woolwich 3Goals: Austin Cousineau x2, Nolan McLaughlin (Chase Mooder x2, Bradley Hale)

DEC. 4

Woolwich 2, Owen Sound 0Goals: Riley Runstedler, Chase Mooder (Cole Altman)Shutout: Matty Turkalj

DEC. 10

Caledon 3, Woolwich 1Goals: Riley Runstedler (Cole Altman)

DEC. 11

Woolwich 1, Brampton 1Goals: Riley Runstedler (Sammy Huber)TWIN CENTRE PEEWEE REP -

DEC. 10

WASAGA BEACH PEEWEE B SILVERSTICKTwin Centre 6, Wasaga Beach 0Goals: Troy Hemmerich x2, Mitch Esbaugh, Adam Runstedler, Evan Gowing, Jessica McLachlan (Brett Hartin x2, Evan Gowing x2, Troy Hemmerich)Shutout: Spencer Adam

DEC. 11

Twin Centre 5, Oro 2Goals: Troy Hemmerich x2, Mitch Esbaugh x2, Evan Gowing (Troy Hemmerich, Evan Gowing, Adam Runstedler, Will Martin)

DEC. 11

Twin Centre 3, Penetanguishene 1Goals: Troy Hemmerich, Jessica McLachlan, Will Martin (Mitch Esbaugh x2, Derek Wagner, Troy Hemmerich)WOOLWICH PEEWEE AE- BOYS

DEC. 11

Woolwich 4, Dundas 3 Goals: Matthew MacDonald x2, Brett Henry, Mathew Uhrig (Daniel Gallant x2, Aaron Logan x2, Earl Schwartz Cade Schaus)WOOLWICH BANTAM LL #1 – BOYS

DEC. 10

Woolwich 7, Twin Centre 0Goals: Alex Taylor x2, Nick Berlet, Matthew Greene, Bradley Mathieson, Connor Atkinson, Connor

Bauman (Bradley Mathieson x2, Nick Berlet x2, Jacob Cornwall x2, Terrell Piper, Connor Atkinson, Alex Taylor, Matt Jessop)Shutout: Kyle Ropp

DEC. 12

Woolwich #1 4, Woolwich #2 3Goals: Nick Berlet, Connor Bauman, Jacob Cornwall, Alex Taylor (Alex Taylor x2, Bradley Mathieson, Nick Berlet, Connor Bauman)WOOLWICH MIDGET LL #2 – BOYS

NOV. 25

Woolwich #2 4 Woolwich #3 3Goals, Cole Burkhart, William Frank, Shane Young, Cole Martin (William Frank x2, Shane Young, Cole Martin)

DEC. 1

Woolwich #2 3 vs New Hamburg 3Goals: Brendon Taylor, William Frank, Cameron Strickler (Spencer Inglis, Kadison Hipel, Blake Cabeldu)

DEC. 9

Woolwich #2 8 Woolwich #1 2Goals, William Frank x3, Lucas Nosal x3, Blake Cabeldu, Aaron Burkhart (Blake Cabeldu x3, Aaron Burkhart x2, Brandon Taylor, Cameron Ferante, Cole Martin, Spencer Inglis, Shane Young)WOOLWICH MIDGET AE - BOYS

NOV. 13

Woolwich 3, Arthur 0Goals: Dalton Wojcik x2, Matt Halter (Drew Jansen, Clinton Dechert, Connor Jansen, Mike

Sokolowski, Quinten Hunter-Rhodes)

DEC. 9

Woolwich 5, Arthur 3Goals: Tristen White x2, Clinton Dechert x2, Justin Schlupp (Jordan Vanderwoude, Clinton Dechert Sab Lane, Justin Schlupp Tyler Mayberry, Jordan Vanderwoude, Tyler Mayberry, Dalton Wojcik, Tyler Fulcher)WOOLWICH MIDGET MINOR A - BOYS

DEC. 10

WASAGA BEACH PEEWEE B SILVERSTICKTwin Centre 6, Wasaga Beach 0Goals: Troy Hemmerich x2, Mitch Esbaugh, Adam Runstedler, Evan Gowing, Jessica McLachlan (Brett Hartin x2, Evan Gowing x2, Troy Hemmerich)Shutout: Spencer Adam

DEC. 10

Twin Centre 3, Penetanguishene 2Goals: Troy Hemmerich, Brett Hartin, Will Martin (Jessica McLachlan, Noah Donsig)

DEC. 11

Dundas 5, Woolwich 2Goals: Jordan King, Tyler Seguin (Adrian Gilles, Timmy Shuh, Bo Uridil)WOOLWICH MAJOR MIDGET A - BOYS

DEC. 3

Dundas 2, Woolwich 1Goals: Matthew Townsend (McKinley Ceaser, Sebastien Huber)


CLASSIFIEDS 24 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

CLASSIFIEDS PLACING A CLASSIFIED AD | Classified ads can be obtained in person, by phone (519-669-5790), fax or email from Monday to Thursday 8:30am-5pm or Friday 8:30am-4pm. All classified ads are prepaid. Deadline is WEDNESDAYS by 4pm.

Residential 20-Word Ad$7.50 (Extra Words 20¢/word)

Commercial 20-Word Ad$12.00 (Extra Words 30¢/word)

We get you Results.

HELP WANTED

NURSERYPROVIDED

SUNDAY SCHOOL

www.ElmiraAssembly.com (Across from Tim Horton’s)290 Arthur St. South, Elmira • 519-669-3973REACH WITH LOVE. TEACH THE TRUTH. SEND IN POWER.

Sunday Schoolat 9:30am

Service at 10:30am

200 Barnswallow Dr., Elmira • 519-669-1296Check out our website www.woodsidechurch.ca

Sunday, December 18, 20119:15 & 11:00 AM

Series: More Than A Story"#3 - Made for More”

Trinity United Church, Elmira

www.execulink.com/~unitedchurch/index.html

“Our mission is to love, learn & live by Christ’s teachings”

21 Arthur St. N., Church o�ce 519-669-5560

Sunday Worship: 10:30 amSunday School during WorshipMinister: Rev. Dave Jagger

www.execulink.com/~unitedchurch/index.html

“Our mission is to love, learn & live by Christ’s teachings”

21 Arthur St. N., Church o�ce 519-669-5560

A Warm

Welcometo all!

Visit us at: www.wondercafe.ca

www.elmiracommunity.org

Services at John Mahood Public School

5 First St., Elmira • 519-669-1459SUNDAYS @ 10:30AM Services at John Mahood Public School SUNDAYS @ 10:30AMAYS @ 10:30AMA

Time To Let Go Of WorryTime To Let Go Of Worry Dec. 11th Dec. 18th

19 Flamingo Dr., Elmira • 519-669-3387

St. Teresa Catholic Church

No God, No Hope; Know God, Know Hope!Celebrate Eucharist with us

Mass times are: Sat. 5pm, Sun. 9am and 11:15am

WHEELCHAIRACCESSIBLE

HEARINGASSISTEDPLACES OF FAITH

2 Cross St., Elmira • 519-669-2852

Christmas EveFamily Candlelight Christmas EveService at 7pm

Christmas DayChristmas CommunionWorship at 10am

Office Hours: M-TH 9-Noon & 1-3 • E [email protected]

PresbyterianChurch

Galewww.galepresbyterian.com

St. Paul’sLutheranChurch

27 Mill St., Elmira • 519-669-2593

10:30am Worship ServicePastor: Richard A. Freywww.stpaulselmira.ca

9:15am Sunday School

Check the Observer foryour local faith listings!

Finding The Way Together

- The Junction -Zion Mennonite Fellowship

47 Arthur St., S. Elmira • 519-669-3153www.thejunctionelmira.com

No Service Christmas DayChristmas Eve Service - 7:00pm

519-669-2319 | www.wbconline.ca4522 Herrgott Road, Wallenstein

Discovering God Together

Dec. 18 at 11amRon Seabrooke

Sermon-Kings ofKings

JOIN OUR GROWING TEAM

Apply today & work tomorrow

MANUFACTURING POSITIONS NOW AVAILABLE:

• CNC Operators• Welders

• Metal Fabricators• Shippers/Packagers

Great Rates/Bene�ts/Group RRSP/Clothing Allowances

Please email resume to: [email protected] orDrop in from between 10 – 2 to complete an application.

Trylon TSF, 21 South Field Drive, Elmira, ON N3B 0A6

hr@

hom

ehar

dw

are.

ca

Our St. Jacobs Furniture Retail Storecurrently has the following opportunity...

Home Furniture Sales Associate

Term position January 2012 to June 2012You will provide courteous and efficient customer service, while selling furniture, appliances and accessories. You will process customer purchases in computerized inventory system, order merchandise, respond to Dealer and telephone inquiries, and arrange attractive merchandise displays, moving furniture and tidying sales floor regularly.

You get along well with others, are service oriented, and have good computer, math, and communications skills. You are willing to work some weekends. Fluency in both English and French and sales experience are assets.

We offer a competitive salary and great working conditions. If you are interested in becoming part of Home Hardware, please submit your resume quoting Home Furniture Sales Associate by Thursday, December 22, 2011 to: Dayna Weber, Recruitment, Human Resources Department, Home Hardware Stores Limited, 34 Henry St W, St. Jacobs, ON N0B 2N0 Fax: 519-664-4711 Phone: 519-664-4975 E-mail: [email protected] (Microsoft Products Only)

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

>> Winter Maintenance help needed for sidewalk crew. Experience preferred but will train. Must be reliable and dependable. Fax resume to 519-669-9369, email [email protected]

CHILD CARE

>> Need Child-Care?Loving, caring babysitter with 15 years experience. Close to schools, Birdland Plaza. References available. Call Ellen 519-669-8188.

HELP WANTED

Delivery Driver Wanted!Part time position available at a large animal vet practice.

• Responsibilities include packing and delivering orders • Attention to detail beneficial • Vehicle provided • Requires some heavy lifting • Must be available some Saturdays & holidays • Good standing driver’s license mandatory • Benefits available

Please submit resume to:

Metzger Veterinary Services5200 Ament LineLinwood ON N0B 2A0Fax: (519) [email protected]

Only selected candidates will be contacted for an interview.

HEALTH CARE

>> Try Bowen Therapy for treatment of pain and numerous health conditions. Daytime hours now available! Contact Kevin Bartley, Certified Bowenwork Practitioner. 519-669-0112, Elmira.

FOR SALE

>> Christmas Sale at Hillcrest Home Baking. December 6 - 31. Closed Sun. & Mon. 519-669-1381. 5% off all groceries excluding eggs, milk, butter, cheese and baking. 10% off 10lb or 5lb chunks of cheese.Chapman’s Preumium Ice Cream $3.99; Chapman’s Original Ice Cream $2.99. 10% off throughout rest of store excluding china and coats. 50% off selected fabrics. 10% off all other fabrics and sewing notions. Dec. 15 & 16 - Free coffee and Crestbits or cookies.

>> Drum Kit 5 piece Pearl. Sabian cymbals - crash, ride, highhats, plus 3 extra and case. $750. Lots of extras. 519-669-4913.

>> Foosball table excellent condition. $60 o.b.o. Call 519-664-2823.

FOR SALE

>> Moving Sale - leather, reclining sectional (Lane), medium brown/burgundy, 5 years old, excellent condition $1800. 12 piece dining room set, solid maple $2800; French Provincial bed, queen size boxspring and mattress and dresser with mirror $450. 519-698-2506.

FIREWOOD

>> Firewood, delivered. 519-669-1836.

PETS

>> $ Goes Further with SENIORS DISCOUNTS at Creature Comfort Pet Emporium. Your Pet’s Store & So Much More! FREE PawZone K9 Play Park on site. Open 7 days, 1553 King St. N. St. Jacobs. 519-664-3366. www.creaturecomfort.ca

RENTALS

>> 1 Bedroom Basement apartment for rent. $750 all inclusive. Looking for one responsible adult for Jan. 1. Shared kitchen and entrance. 519-580-1478.

RENTALS

>> 2 Bedroom main floor of bungalow. 1200 sq. ft. Washer, dryer, fridge, stove, parking, garage included. $1050 plus utilities. Phone 519-741-6548. Available Dec. 15.

>> MOOREFIELD - one bedroom apartment, furnished, laundry facilities, parking, deck, electric heat, cable TV. No pets, adult building. References. $695 inclusive. First & last. 519-638-3013

>> Smaller 1 Bedroomhigh end apartment in quiet building. Close to downtown, perfect for working professional or retired person. Please no pets and non smoking. Rent $660 + utilities. Available Feb. 1. Call 519-669-2212.

www. .com

IN PRINT | ONLINE | IN PICTURES | IN DEPTH

Plus awhole lot

Everything that’s fit to print...Everything that’s fit to print...

PRINTING & COPYING SERVICES>> Black and white, 8 1/2 X 11 flyers designed and printed for as

low as 6¢. Professionally designed, quick turnaround, local service. Delivery, folding and colour work also available. Call 519.669.5790 ext 107 for details.

CLASSIFIEDS25THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

SIDEWALK SNOW REMOVAL Am I required to clear my sidewalk of snow? Yes, you may be afraid of breaking a sweat, but your neighbour may be afraid of breaking a hip! Be helpful to neighbours, all sidewalks must

be cleared of ice and snow within 24 hours of a snow fall.

Township of WoolwichNotice of Study Commencement

Hopewell Creek Extension of Services Class ‘B’ Environmental Assessment

The Corporation of the Township of Woolwich is initiating a study to identify the preferred

route for the extension of municipal services across Hopewell Creek to service lands on the east side of the creek in the Breslau settlement area. This study will be conducted in accordance with the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment.

This study will review the existing conditions, identify potential alternatives, and evaluate them through an environmentally sound process. The result of this study will be the selec-tion of a preferred route for service extension.

An integral component of this study will be public consultation with various interested stakeholders (both public and regulatory agencies). One Public Open House will be held to present the project details and to collect community feedback and input before finalizing the preferred strategy. The Open House is expected to be held in February 2012. Details regarding this meeting will be advertised as the study progresses.

A mailing list for notification purposes is being prepared. If you are interested in being placed on the project mailing list to receive future information, or if you have any ques-tions, please contact either of the representatives listed below.

Mr. Randy Miller, C.Tech. Ms. Barbara Robinson, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.Township Project Manager Project ManagerTownship of Woolwich Stantec Consulting Ltd.24 Church Street West 49 Frederick Street Elmira, Ontario, N3B 2Z6 Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6M7Phone: (519) 669-1647 Phone: (519) 585-7379Fax: (519) 669-4669 Fax: (519) 579-8806Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

NOTE:Elmira residents are not required to clear their sidewalks; a separate tax levy is collected for snow removal. The Township’s contractor is responsible for clearing sidewalks within

24 hours after the snow has stopped.

STUDY AREA

HOPEWELL CREEK

ANNIVERSARY

FAMILY ALBUM

Gordon and Gunhild (Albrecht) Scheifele invite you to join them in the celebration of their 50 years of

marriage. Open House at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church, St. Jacobs, on Friday, December 30, 2-4 p.m.

There will be cake and refreshments.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS HE IS DOING.

Happy 65th Birthday Dad!

All friends and family are welcome to celebrate Len Wideman's 65th birthday

January 8th from 2:00-4:00pm at Bethel Mennonite Church.

Love From Your FamilyBest wishes only please!

New Years Eve CelebrationStag & Doe for Brittany Crossley

and Nick Hardman

December 31, 2011St. Jacobs Community Centre, 8p.m.-1a.m.

Hot food, games & amazing prizesSemi-formal

$15 per person Contact: Lyndsay 519-664-2138

» Anniversary» Birthday» Engagement» Stag & Doe» Thank you» Birth Notice» and a lot more....

IN PRINT | ONLINEIN PICTURES | IN DEPTH

ext 104

IN PRINT | ONLINE

» Birth Notice» and a lot more....

ext 104

$23For

as little as...

+HST

» Anniversary

Share TheGood News!With a Family Album Ad

in the Observer

Call

519.669.5790

FAMILY ALBUMBIRTHDAY STAG & DOE

Call today to find out how our award-winning design team can help your business.519-669-5790Promote your business with a professionally designed flyer

5,000 FLYERS 8.5x11” Paper, Black & White, One Side 275$ PLUS

HST10,000 FLYERS 8.5x11” Paper, Black & White, One Side 449$ PLUS

HSTOR


REAL ESTATE

OFFICE 519-888-7110

Solid Gold Realty (II) Ltd., BrokerageIndependently Owned and Operated | 180 Weber St. S., WaterlooSolid Gold Realty (II) Ltd., Brokerage

Paul MartinPaul MartinPaul MartinSALES REPRESENTATIVE

CALL DIRECT

519-503-9533519-503-9533519-503-9533519-503-9533CALL DIRECT

519-503-9533www.homeswithpaul.ca

Alli BaumanAlli BaumanAlli BaumanSALES REPRESENTATIVE

CALL DIRECT

519-577-6248519-577-6248519-577-6248519-577-6248519-577-6248519-577-6248CALL DIRECT

519-577-6248www.elmiraandareahomes.com

Bill NorrisBill NorrisBill NorrisSALES REPRESENTATIVE

CALL DIRECTCALL DIRECT

519-588-1348519-588-1348519-588-1348519-588-1348CALL DIRECT

519-588-1348www.elmiraandareahomes.com

Very nice and well kept 3 bedroom home in Drayton. Very impressive with open concept. Spacious kitchen with an island. The great room with cathedral ceiling has a walkout to a fenced and treed backyard with a private deck for entertaining. Finished basement with large L shaped rec room and roughed in for future bathroom. Double garage and driveway. MLS Please call Bill or Alli direct.

MOVE RIGHT IN!

Elmira - This open concept, raised bungalow is currently being built by Huron Homes in mature area. Close to downtown, walking distance to restaurants & banks. Complete w/deck, MF laundry, spacious master w/lg closet & 4 pc ensuite. Double garage (17.5 x 20 ft) perfect for storage & still easily have parking for 3 vehicles. Convenient separate side entrance. MLS Call Paul direct.

$500.00 donation will be made with every home bought

or sold by Paul in Woolwich.

Woolwich - Loc’d on 20 acres. Spacious 2400 sqft bungalow equip’d w/MF lndry, sep dr, huge fin’d bsmnt & walk up to garage. Open kit & FM w/wood fp. Master w/huge walk in closet & attractive slider to 3 tiered composite deck w/hot tub. 25x36 ft insulated, heated shop, 100amp w/bathrm & phone. 20,000 sqft 2 storey barn equipped for chickens or turkeys, currently empty. 17 acres of bush w/trail, mostly hardwood & poplar. MLS Call Paul direct.

$749,900$749,900

FEATURE PROPERTYFEATURE PROPERTY

IMPRESSIVE HOMEOn picturesque setting. Only 20 min to Waterloo. Spacious grand foyer w/curved oak staircase & french drs leading you to through this exceptional home. Complete w/sep DR, MF laundry, LR, FR& fin'd basement. Master w/FP, walk in closet & captivat-ing ensuite complete w/stand up shower & corner whirlpool bath. Sit back & enjoy the lg deck overlooking inground kidney shaped pool w/brick privacy wall & country setting. MLS Call Paul direct.

$624,000$624,000

Only minutes to Waterloo. This family oriented home is complete with 3rd flr. family rm and laundry, sepa-rate DR., 4 bdrms. Airy eat-in kitchen with reverse osmosis, breakfast bar & island, lrg LR w/gas fireplace. Basement w/o to fenced yard. Put your personal touches on the unfinished basement. MLS Call Paul direct.

FABULOUS HOME$475,000$475,000

FEATURE PROPERTYFEATURE PROPERTY

HOBBY FARM

$262,900$262,900

QUALITY BUILT SEMI DETACHED

Elmira - This quality built semi detached home is currantly being built by Huron Homes in mature area. Close to downtown, walking distance to restaurants & banks. Complete w/deck, MF laundry, spacious master w/lg closet & 4 pc ensuite. Double garage (17.5 x 20 ft) perfect for storage & still easily have parking for 3 vehicles. Convenient separate side entrance. MLS Call Paul direct.

$303,000$303,000$303,000$303,000$303,000

$303,000$303,000$303,000$303,000$303,000OPEN CONCEPT RAISED BUNGALOW

Oh, let us turn away from noise, The clamor of the day,To rest in solitude with Him;Our blessings to survey.Oh, let our inner joy releaseOur carol to The King,To worship Him, to feel the touchOf Heavenly angel's wing.May we escape the tinseled trees,The gifts that soon expire,

Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, Oh, let us turn away from noise, The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,The clamor of the day,

From Our Family to Yours,From Our Family to Yours,To see the glory of God's wayThat meets our soul's desire.Oh, let us pause to contemplateEach priceless happening;Children's laughter, tender words...The daily "little things."Oh, may we feel our brother's need, His inner plea for peace,Promote good will, and sacrificeGod's Kingdom to increase.

Oh, let our celebration beA tribute to The OneWho is The Father's Gift to us,His Own Begotten Son.His Own Begotten Son.His Own Begotten Son.His Own Begotten Son.His Own Begotten Son.His Own Begotten Son.His Own Begotten Son.His Own Begotten Son.His Own Begotten Son.His Own Begotten Son.

The The Oh, may we feel our brother's need, Oh, may we feel our brother's need,

The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The Oh, may we feel our brother's need, Oh, may we feel our brother's need,

The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The The Oh, may we feel our brother's need, Oh, may we feel our brother's need, Oh, may we feel our brother's need, Martin MartinMartinMartinMartinMartinMartinMartinMartinMartin MartinMartin Martin MartinMartin Martin MartinMartin Martin MartinMartin Martin MartinMartin Martin MartinMartin Martin MartinMartin MartinMartinMartinMartinMartinMartinMartinMartin MartinMartin MartinMartin MartinMartin MartinMartinMartinMartin

Family Family


Learn More About Sunlight Heritage Homes and Our fine communities by Visiting us Today!

Sunlight Homes

Have a question? Email us at: [email protected]

Many models to choose from

www.sunlighthomes.ca

519.787.0203Alyssa HenrySales Representative

Drayton Heights VISIT US SATURDAY AND SUNDAY!

Many models to choose from

Choose from one of our plans or let us custom build your home fully

detached.Homes starting

from

$239,990

The Edge Semi-detached homes from $189,990

REAL ESTATE

90 Earl Martin Dr., Unit 1, Elmira N3B 3L4519-669-3192BONNIE BRUBACHER

Broker of RecordSHANNA ROZEMA

Broker.LAURIE LANGDON

Sales Representative MONIQUE ROES

Sales Representative

Independently Owned & Operated, Brokerage

[email protected] | www.royallepage.ca/elmira

ELMIRA REAL ESTATE SERVICES

FAMILY HOME IN THE COUNTRY

$294,900. This very spacious 4 level back-split in the ideal village setting is carpet free and features a large kitchen with oak cabinetry, upgraded quality laminate floor, 2-4pc baths, fully finished family room and stone patio.

When you buy or sell your home with us, part of our commission supports women’s shelters &

violence prevention programs.

VACANT LAND

$249,000. This ideal property consists of 2 separate 4.5 acre lots is zoned agricultural and allows you to build a single family dwelling on each parcel. Build on one and enjoy the other or build on both and just enjoy country living!

COMPLETELY FINISHED!

$299,900. ELMIRA. Single detached 2 storey home, immedi-ate possession, 3 bdrms, 4 baths including ensuite!!! Backs onto greenspace, double driveway, 1.5 car garage, gas fireplace, central air, central vacuum, walkout to deck & fenced yard. +++ MLS

LOVELY HOME

$319,900. BRESLAU. Single detached 2 storey, built in 2008, 3 bdrms, 3 bathrooms, open concept kit/dining and living room, stainless steel appl., walkout to large deck, finished walkout basement to fenced yard. MLS

RANCH BUNGALOW

$369,900. MOOREFIELD. Village setting on a wooded lot. Spacious 3 Bedroom, 3 Bath home. Eat in kitchen with built in appliances and fully finished basement. MLS

$299,900. ELMIRA.

VACANT LOT

$69,000. Glen Allan .85 Acre Lot overlooks farmland and country. Call for further details. MLS

61 ROLLING SCENIC ACRES

$2,500,000. Location bordering Waterloo city limits, making for University and amenities minutes away. 3500 sq ft ranch 4 Bedroom Bungalow, 4000 sq ft Shop with heated walk out area. Spectacular grounds are in park like condition and includes spring fed pond. MLS

FAMILY HOME IN THE COUNTRY

$294,900. This very spacious 4 level back-split in the ideal village setting is carpet free and features a large kitchen with oak

VACANT LAND

$249,000. This ideal property consists of 2 separate 4.5 acre lots is zoned agricultural and allows you to build a single family dwelling on

519-669-2772

R.W. THUR REAL ESTATE LTD.

45 ARTHUR ST. S., ELMIRA

BROKERAGE

JULIE HECKENDORN

BrokerRes: 519.669.8629

BRAD MARTINBroker of Record,

MVA ResidentialRes: 519.669.1068

TRACEY WILLIAMS

Sales Rep. Cell: 519.505.0627

www.thurrealestate.com

WOODED LOT! Spacious bungalow with full walkout bsmt. Recent hardwood on most of the main floor, 2pc. ensuite. Fin. bsmt. with lovely stone fireplace. Updated windows, furnace, & garage dr. Huge lot. EXCL $359,900.

NICE OLDER HOME on the edge of town. Natural staircase, pocket doors. Oak kitchen & spacious dining area overlooking the deep yard. Family room and living room. 2 bathrooms. Some replacement windows. Detached garage. MLS $249,900.

AFFORDABLE BACKSLPIT SEMI on a deep fenced lot. Parquet f loors in bdrms. Updated bathroom. Replacement windows and furnace. Newer rec. room with walkup. Deck. Shed. Central air. Lots of storage! MLS REDUCED to $209,900.

OFFICE SPACE FOR LEASE - Approx. 3000 sq. ft. Large open room, private offices, board room and washrooms. Lots of parking. Great exposure on a busy highway between Elmira & St. Jacobs. MLS $2,500/MONTH.

For your business and your friendship we are deeply grateful and wish you all a very Merry Christmas season!

LEON MARTIN

ADDRESS: 4-B Arthur St. S., ELMIRA • EMAIL: [email protected]: 519-503-2753 • OFFICE: 519-669-5426

Solid Gold Realty (II) Ltd., Brokerage | Independently Owned and Operated

COUNTRY LOTS .5 acre don’t miss this chance to enjoy sunrises and sunsets. Within 40 minutes KW, or Guelph. High speed internet is available with fibre optic. Starting at $68,000 MLS

Gorgeous home, 3 bedroom back split, on a large landscaped lot, with an awesome family room, eat in kitchen, 2 bath, central air, gas fireplace. $229,900.00 MLS

Hobby Farm with 7 stalls and 7 individual pastures, brick bungalow with country kitchen, oversized recroom. $510,000. MLS

Your referrals are appreciated!

BERT MARTIN, BROKER

Call Bert For Your FREE Market Evaluation

Your referrals are appreciated!

BEAUTIFUL 3 year old with 3rd floor loft and view of countryside, 3 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, walkout from dining room to new deck, walkout from basement to rear yard, new central air, master ensuite w/corner tub. Call Bert to view. MLS.

$379,000

COMMERCIAL OFFICE SPACE

Two adjoining offices in Multi-Tenant Plaza. Also 920 s/f unit consisting of two offices, reception area, kitchenette and bathroom. Located in busy plaza 10 minutes from Waterloo. MLS. Call Bert to view.

COUNTRY ACREAGE! Great property on the edge of town backing to river offers century home with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, large family room addition, attached single garage, 5 acres of manicured orchard with a mix of fruit trees, 12 acres workable. Three one storey out buildings totaling 10,000 s/f. Cold storage, apple juice processing equipment included. MLS. Call Bert to View.

$375,000

EMAIL: [email protected]

3 Arthur St. S. Elmira • www.remaxsolidgold.bizOFFICE: 519-669-5426DIRECT: 519-572-2669

Solid Gold Realty (II) Ltd., BrokerageIndependently Owned and Operated

“To all my loyal clients and friends, thanks for your support.

You are appreciated. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.”

We get you Results.

IN PRINT | ONLINE | IN PICTURES | IN DEPTH

SINGLE $23 DOUBLE $38 TRIPLE $482.475”x1.6906” 2.475”x3.75” 3.7687”x3.75”

Whatever the occasion?

Celebrate it by placing it in the Observer’s Family Album.

[email protected]

Marg & Brian Craig of Heidelberg are thrilled to

announce the upcoming marriage of their son

Michael Brian to Amanda Jane Southorn,

daughter of Sherry & Tim Southorn of Coldwater.

The wedding will take place on

Sat. Sept. 25, 2010 at Three Bridges

Banquet Hall, St. Jacobs, Ontario.

Wishing you both love and all the

best now & forever.

the Observer’s Family Album.the Observer’s Family Album.Marg & Brian Craig of Heidelberg are thrilled to




announce the upcoming marriage of their son

Michael Brian to Amanda Jane Southorn,

daughter of Sherry & Tim Southorn of Coldwater.

The wedding will take place on

Sat. Sept. 25, 2010 at Three Bridges

Banquet Hall, St. Jacobs, Ontario.Banquet Hall, St. Jacobs, Ontario.Banquet Hall, St. Jacobs, Ontario.

Wishing you both love and all the

best now & forever.best now & forever.

Saturday, September 11th, 2010 8:00pm - 1:00amLions Hall, Elmira(Live Band)Tickets $10 at the door

Stag & DoeforChristine Atkinson & Jesse Schott

Anniversaries | Birthdays Wedding Announcements | Stag & Does

DOU

BLE

AD S

IZE

SHO

WN

.

LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT HOME?


SERVICE PROS

World’s Largest & Most Trusted Carpet, Upholstery and Fine

Rug Cleaners For Over 30 yrs

NOW ACCEPTINGNEW CLIENTS

$139 FREE Gift OfferLearn More Online At...

budurl.com/SAVE139

669-3332

Chem-Dry Acclaim®

61 Arthur St., N. Elmira

CARPET CARE

Ltd.Ltd.

RESIDENTIAL & AGRICULTURAL

Driveways • Sidewalks • Curbs • Barn RenovationsFinished Floors • Retaining Walls • Short Walls

Decorative/Stamped and coloured concrete

519-638-2699CALL NOW TO BOOK YOUR FALL PROJECTS

CONCRETE

CRANE

ORTLIEB CRANE• 14 ton BoomTruck

• 40 ton Mobile Crane

& Equipment Ltd.

519-664-9999ST. JACOBS

24 Hour Service(Emergencies only) 7 Days A Week

CONSTRUCTION

CONSTRUCTION

6672 Ruggles Rd. FloradaleRR#2 Wallenstain, N0B 2S0 519-669-3082

-Framing-Roofing-Renovations-Repairs

Design/Build

Agricultural/Residential

Call Us At519-669-3373

RUDOW’S CARSTARCOLLISION CENTRE

33 First Street, EastElmira, ON

Body Maintenanceat

AUTOMOTIVE AUTOMOTIVE

TIRE

35 Howard Ave., Elmira

519-669-3232

Farm • Auto • TruckIndustrial • On-The-Farm Service

WHERE TIRES ARE A

SPECIALTY,NOT A SIDE LINE.

AUTOMOTIVE

1-800-CARSTAR519-669-3373

24 Hour Accident

Assistance

RUDOW’S CARSTARCOLLISION CENTRE

33 First Street, EastElmira, ON

21 Industrial Dr.Elmira

519-669-7652

AUTO CLINIC

AUTOMOTIVE

519.669.8330FAX: 519.669.3210

519.669.8917AFTER HOURS

101 Bonnie Crescent,Elmira, ON N3B 3G2

Complete Collision Service

AUTOMOTIVE

AUTOMOTIVE

SKATE SHARPENING

22 Church St. W., Elmira

Tel: 519-669-5537STORE HOURS: M-F: 8-8, SAT 8-6, SUN 12-5

While you wait!While you wait!State of the Art Sharpening Machine

per pair$4.99

5th pair FREE.

While you wait!While you wait!While you wait!While you wait!While you wait!While you wait!While you wait!While you wait!While you wait!State of the Art State of the Art State of the Art State of the Art State of the Art Sharpening MachineSharpening MachineSharpening Machine

THOMPSON’SAuto Tech Inc.Providing the latest technology

to repair your vehicle with accuracy and confidence.

519-669-440031 ORIOLE PKWY. E., ELMIRA

Accredited Test & Repair Facility

www.thompsonsauto.ca

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS

CROS

SWOR

D

SUDU

KO -

EASY

SUDU

KO -

HARD

WOR

DSEA

RCH

DEATH NOTICES

Richard F. Riedstra, 84, passed away on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at Parkwood Mennonite Home, Waterloo, formerly of Elmira and of St. Jacobs Meadows. Devoted husband of 58 years of Maria Riedstra (nee Langerak). Loving father of Lutzen Riedstra and Carolynn Bart-Riedstra, Stratford, Henry and Linda Riedstra, Stratford, and Maria Riedstra and Andrew Hellebust, Toronto and grandfather of Lutzen, Kyla (Rob), Janelle (Steven), Davin, Eric and Laila. Also survived by three brothers in Canada and three sisters and a brother in the Netherlands. Richard was a music teacher at Elmira DSS 1965-1985 and was an accomplished French horn player in the KW Symphony and several orchestras in the Netherlands. He was co-founder and president of the KW Chess Club. In 1990, Richard and Maria were joint recipients of the KW Arts Award. The family received friends and relatives at the Dreisinger Funeral Home, Elmira, on Sunday, December 11, from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m. The funeral service was held at Gale Presbyterian Church, Elmira, on Monday, December 12, at 1:00 p.m. with interment in Elmira Union Cemetery. A reception followed in the church hall. Donations may be made to Heart & Stoke Foundation, KW Symphony, or Gale Presbyterian Church.

Riedstra, Richard F. (Dick)

www.dreisingerfuneralhome.com

Peacefully passed away on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at Freeport Health Centre of Grand River Hospital, at the age of 62 years, of Elmira. Devoted husband of Sharon (McAllister) Farr. Loving father of Darren and Jillian of Barrie, and Charlene of Waterloo. Grandpa of Derek, Kelsea, Brayden, Charlotte, Emilie, Spenser and great-grandpa of Caleb. Dear son of Marion (Collins) Farr of Elmira and the late Ken Farr (2000). Brother of Marilyn and Don McIntosh of Drayton, Jerry of Woodstock, Wayne and Barb of Kelowna, BC, Larry and Renee of Elmira, Debbie of Elmira, Cheryl and Ed of Cambridge, and Tom of Elmira. Son-in-law of Don and Bessie McAllister of Elmira. Brother-in-law of Ron McAllister of Mabel Lake, BC. Russ is lovingly remembered by his aunt Audrey MacDonald, Marg Farr and his many nieces, nephews and their families. Predeceased by his sister Colleen (1975) and his sister-in-law Dawn (2005). At Russ’s request, cremation has taken place. A memorial visitation was held at the Dreisinger Funeral Home, Elmira on Tuesday, December 13th from 2-5 p.m. and was followed by a Legion Service and reception at 6:45 p.m. at The Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 469, 11 First St. E., Elmira. In Russ’s memory, donations to the Poppy Fund would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.

Farr, Russell

www.dreisingerfuneralhome.com

ent day,” said Kerr. “A lot of times our families will build their Christ-mas celebrations around our sched-ules. If we have to work during the day they tend to hold off opening presents or eating the Christmas dinner until we arrive home. Being a police officer, it is something that they expect to happen from time to time. It is not that horrible because I have my second family here that I will spend time with.”

All the pharmacies in town will be closed on Christmas Day. Damenjit Banwait, a pharmacy intern at the Shoppers Drug Mart at the corner of Church and Arthur streets, suggests that people who need to take medi-cation stock up on their tablets, pills and liquids to make sure they have enough to last until the New Year.

“People want to make sure that they have enough medication to get through the holiday season because usually doctors’ offices are closed between Christmas and New Year,” said Banwait, adding the pharmacy will help those that need refills to contact their doctors before Christ-mas holidays begin.

For parents that have newborns or small children they should make sure they know which stores are open on Christmas Day because they may need something like Tylenol or Advil for a child but again the best idea is to stock up on those items be-fore Christmas, said Banwait.


On duty: At work for the holidays

DEATH NOTICES

www. .com

Everything that’s fit to print...

Everything that’s fit to print...

Plus a whole lot


DECORATING

Specializing in Paint & Wall coverings

27 ARTHUR ST. S., ELMIRA27 ARTHUR ST. S., ELMIRA519.669.3658

FOR ALL YOUR HOME DECORATING NEEDS.

Specializing in Paint Specializing in Paint & Wall coverings

DECORATINGSINCE 1961

DECORATINGDECORATINGDECORATINGSINCE 1961

READ’SGLASS SERVICES

ST. JACOBS GLASS SYSTEMS INC.

TEL: 519-664-1202 / 519-778-6104FAX: 519 664-2759 • 24 Hour Emergency Service

1600 King St. N., Bldg A17St. Jacobs, Ontario N0B 2N0

FREE ESTIMATES• Store Fronts • Thermopanes

• Mirrors • Screen Repair• Replacement Windows

• Shower Enclosures• Sash Repair

C O M M E R C I A L • R E S I D E N T I A L

ELECTRICAL

• Residential• Commercial• Industrial

ECRA/ESA Licence # 7000605

519.669.1462519.669.9970

Randy Weber

Tel:

Fax:

18 Kingfisher Dr., Elmira

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

WINDOWS & DOORSROOFING | SIDING | SOFFIT & FACIA

DRYWALL INSTALLATION

MURRAY MARTIN | 519.669.93081722 Floradale Rd., Elmira, ON, N3B 2Z1

HomeImprovements

EAVESTROUGH

AGRICULTURAL • COMMERCIAL • RESIDENTIAL• High Quality Installation of Steel & Aluminum Eavestrough

• Rugged Steel Eavestrough for Today’s Metal Roofing Systems

JEREMY MARTINPH 519-502-4679 | Fax 519-291-6624

[email protected]

8632 Concession 3, RR#3 Listowel, ON, N4W 3G8

SELF STORAGE

519-669-4964100 SOUTH FIELD DRIVE, ELMIRA

CLEAN • DRY • SECURE

Call

Varioussizes & rates

CARPET CARE

• Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning on Location • Area Rug Cleaning Drop-off and Pick up Service

• Bleached out Carpet Spot Repair • Janitorial • Grout Cleaning • Carpet Repair & Re-Installation • Pet deodorization • Floor Stripping

ROB McNALL 519-669-7607

Call for Details

www.completecarpetcare.ca

LONG DISTANCE? CALL 1-866-669-7607

Renovating?Let us do the clean up

RENOVATION CLEAN UPS!

PAINTING

36 Hampton St., Elmira

20 years experience

519-669-2251

interior/exterior painting

wallpapering &

Plaster|Drywall repairs

free estimates Lawn Maintenance Programs | Spring Clean-up Flower Bed Maintenance Programs

Leaf Clean-up and Removal | Soil & Mulch Delivery & Installation | Snow Clearing & Removal | Ice Control

27 Brookemead, St, Elmira P: 519-669-1188 | F: 519-669-9369

[email protected]

Snow Clearing & Removal Snow Clearing & Removal | |

KEVIN DETWEILER OWNER-OPERATOR

Lawn MainLawn Mainttenance Programs enance Programs enance Programs enance Programs Flower Bed Maintenance Programs Flower Bed Maintenance Programs Flower Bed Maintenance Programs Flower Bed Maintenance Programs

enance Programs enance Programs | Spring Clean-up Spring Clean-up Spring Clean-up Lawn MainLawn MainLawn MainLawn Mainttenance Programs enance Programs enance Programs enance Programs

Outdoor Services

> Commercial & Residential > Fully Insured > WSIB Clearance > Senior Discount

LAWN MAINTENANCE

SERVICE PROS

Taking Salt to Peoples’ Basements Since 1988

519-747-2708

SoftenerSalt &

Pool Salt

Waterloowww.riepersalt.com

> Superior Salt Products> Fast, Friendly Service> Convenient Delivery Times> Discounts for Seniors

FREE BAGIntroductoryOffer

SALT

•Tree Trimming & Removal• Aerial Bucket Trucks• Stump Grinding• Arborist Evaluations• Fully Insured & Certified• Certified to Work Near Power Lines

FREEESTIMATES

TREE SERVICE

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE

PLUMBING

519-669-3362

YOURPLUMBING& HEATING

SPECIALISTS!

C.J.BRUBACHER LTD.

19 First St. E., Elmira

PLUMBING

SteveCo.SteveCo. Plumbing

andMaintenanceInc.

RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • INDUSTRIAL

For all yourPlumbing Needs.

24 HOUR SERVICE

Steve Jacobi ELMIRA

519-669-3652

Waterloo Region • Woolwich Township

519-896-7700 or 519-648-3004www.biobobs.com

Inspections for Real EstateSeptic System Repairs & Restoration

Catch Basin Cleaning

Septic Tank Cleaning

SEPTIC SERVICES

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE

ReimerHyperbarics of Canada

F. David Reimer

Safe, effective and proven for 13 + UHMS (Undersea Hyperbaric Medical Society) Approved indications:

● Crush Injury● Enhancement in Healing of Wounds● Necrotyzing Soft Tissue Infections● Intracranial Abscess● Clostridal Myosistis and Myonecrosis● Crush Injury. Compartment Syndrome● Skin Grafts and Flaps

UNDER PRESSURE TO HEAL

For more information call:

519-669-0220www.reimerhbot.com

56 Howard Ave. Unit 2, Elmira, ON, N3B 2E1

● Air or Gas Embolism● Thermal Burns● Acute Traumatc Ischemias● Exceptional Blood Loss● Decompression Sickness● Carbon Monoxide Poisoning● Delayed Radiation Injury+ Many More

Established 2000

MEDICAL TREATMENT

www.UniTwin.com | 519.886.2102QUICK LOCAL SERVICE | 245 Labrador Dr., Waterloo

TROPHIES | CUPS | PLAQUES | MEDALLIONS

RIBBONS | NAME TAGS | NAME PLATES

DOOR PLATES | CUSTOM ENGRAVING

RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING EFFORT!

For more information contact: JEFF BASLERRR 1, Elmira, Ontario, N3B 2Z1 | Mobile: 519-505-0985 | Office: 519-669-9081

Fax: 519-669-9819 | Email: [email protected]

OUR EQUIPMENT CAN HANDLE TOUGH BRUSH

& LONG GRASS!519-669-9081

OFFERING A QUICK AND EASY WAY TO RECLAIM UNUSED LAND

SERVICE ANYWHERE IN ONTARIO

Davco Forestry Brush Mower capable of mowing up to 6" diameter brush and also for mowing any long grass.

MANY APPLICATIONS:• Industrial lots• Pasture reclaimation• Golf courses• Cottages• Trail maintenance & development• Real estate lots• Orchard maintenance• Ski resorts• Wooded lot thinning, etc.

HELPING RECLAIM YOURUNUSED LAND!

• Environmentally friendly• Extremely low ground pressure• Returns nutrients back to soil• No erosion problems - leaves soil structure intact• No Burning• No harm to keeper trees

PIANO SERVICE

The Sharp Shop | 112-D Bonnie Cres., Elmira 519.669.5313519.669.5313

MON-FRI 12PM TO 6PM | SAT 9AM TO 5PMSUN 12PM TO 3PM

SKATE SHARPENING

MUSIC SERVICES

For the music-lover on your list we`ll transfermusic from LPs, 45s, 78s and cassettes to CDs.We`ll take your favourite albums, clean up clicks, pops and

surface noise and enhance the overall sound of the recording.

More Info & pricing | [email protected]

519-669-0541 | Elmira, ON

GIVETHEGIFTOFMUSIC

THEGIFTOFMUSIC

SEWING SERVICES

Armand St. Jean519-746-0162

PIANO TUNING & REPAIR

PIANO TUNING & REPAIR

Sew Special

Lois Weber519-669-3985

Elmira

Over 20 Years Experience

Custom Sewing for Your Home

Custom Drapery

Custom Blinds

Free Estimates

In Home Consultations


KleensweepRugs and Upholstery Carpet Care

COLLEEN

“A GOOD JOB DONE EVERY TIME”

T. 519.669.2033Cell: 519.581.7868

•Mattress Cleaning•Residential•Commercial•Personalized Service•Free EstimatesWest Montrose, ON

MILLWRIGHTS LTD.

• Design• Installation• Custom Fabrication

519.669.5105P.O. BOX 247, ROUTE 1, ELMIRA

MATERIALHANDLING &PROCESSING SYSTEMS

TOTALHOME ENERGY SYSTEMS

24-HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL

11 HENRY ST. - UNIT 9, ST. JACOBS

YOUR OIL, PROPANE,NATURAL GAS AND

AIR CONDITIONING EXPERTS

519.664.2008

SANYO CANADIANMACHINE WORKS INCORPORATED

33 Industrial Dr., Elmira 519.669.1591

3435 Broadway St. Hawkesville519-699-4641

Skilled craftsmanship . Quality materials .CONSTRUCTION STARTS HERE.

www.freybc.com

[email protected]

It’s time to call your Welcome Wagon Hostess.

New to the Community? Do you have a new Baby?

Elmira & Surrounding Area

SHARON GINGRICH 519.291.6763

21 INDUSTRIAL DR. ELMIRA519-669-2884

Individual life insurance, mortgage insurance, business insurance, employee benefits programs,

critical illness insurance, disability coverage,

RRSPs, RESPs, RRIFs, LIFs and Annuities.

Suite 800, 101 Frederick St., Kitchener

NANCYKOEBELBus: 519.895.2044 ext. 217Home: 519.747.4388

24COMMERCIALFUEL DEPOT HOUR

CARDLOCK

Truck & Trailer

Maintenance

Cardlock Fuel

Management

COMMUNITY EVENTS CALENDAR

519.886.2102www.UniTwin.com

245 Labrador Drive | Waterloo

CORPORATE WEARPROMOTIONAL APPAREL

WORK & SAFETY WEAR | BAGST-SHIRTS | JACKETS | HATS

PRINTING & COPYING SERVICESBlack and white, 8 1/2 X 11 flyers

designed and printed for as low as 6¢. Professionally

designed, quick turnaround, local service. Delivery, folding and colour

work also available. Call 519.669.5790 ext 107 for details.

woolwichkin.com

KIN KORNER

woolwichkin.com

KIN KORNER

Check Us OutOnline!

Check Us OutOnline!

woolwichkin.com

Online!Online!Online!Online!Online!

DECEMBER 16

>> Meatloaf Dinner, $7. Royal Canadian Legion, 11 First St., Elmira. 6 p.m.

DECEMBER 17

>> The Waterloo Regional Police Male Chorus with special guests the Ceremonial Bank of the Waterloo Regional Police Service will perform “We Need a Little Christmas” at Grandview Baptist Church, 250 Old Chicopee Dr., Kitchener at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds from this year’s concert will go to the Waterloo Region Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centre. Advance tickets $13 for adults and $7 for children and can be purchased from Choir Members. Tickets at the door $15. Tickets can also be ordered by calling the Chorus voice mail 519-208-9326.

>> R J Kruisselbrink Sisters in Concert 7:30 p.m. at Wallenstein Bible Chapel. Freewill offering. Proceeds International Needs – Ghana. For more information, call 519-934-2608.

>> Christmas in Bridgeport – An evening of Music to Celebrate the Birth Of Our Lord with Seborah Klassen. 7 p.m., Bridgeport United Church, 40 Bridge St. E Kitchener. Admission is free with a ticket. A free-will offering will be received. Tickets available by calling the church 519-745-0931.

>> St. Clements Santa Claus Parade starting at 1 p.m. Ending at Lions Park, St. Clements for hot dogs, hot apple cider and a visit with Santa. All donations kindly accepted. For more information call Paul Hergott 519-699-5730.

DECEMBER 18

>> Menno Singers invite the community to a Singalong Messiah at 3 :00pm at St Jacobs Mennonite Church 1310 King St. N, St Jacobs. Handel’s Messiah is of course the most well known musical telling of the Christmas story (part I), continuing with the rest of the story of Jesus (parts II and III).

>> Simply bring a score (we will have some loaners on hand) and your sense of humour and adventure as we sing through some of the favourite Choruses and Arias with absolutely no rehearsal whatsoever. We will sit in voice parts, with room for an audience of those who simply want to listen. We will be joined by a small orchestra and soloists. The Singalong is a fundraiser, so we invite you to bring your donations (tax receipts for donations over $20). Come and sing the Christmas story!www.mennosingers.com [email protected].

DECEMBER 20

>> Tuesday Luncheon at Gale Presbyterian Church, 2 Cross St, Elmira; 11 :30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Menu : turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, turnip and peas,mince tart with ice cream, coffee or tea. $10.

DECEMBER 22

>> Weekly Bingo 7 p.m. at Elmira Lions Hall, 40 South St., Elmira. All proceeds go to support the many projects of the Lions Club of Elmira. For more information call 519-500-1434.

DECEMBER 23

>> H.U.G.S. Program – 9:15-11:15 a.m. Meet with other parents to discuss parenting and child health issues. Topic: A visit from Santa! Christmas crafts and activities. Held at Woolwich Community Health Centre, 10 Parkside Drive, St. Jacobs. Call Heidi at 519-664-3794, ext. 237 for more information.

DECEMBER 31

>> New Year’s Eve Dance. Royal Canadian Legion, 11 First St., Elmira; $17.50/person, late night dinner. DJ – Sounds of Our Times.

JANUARY 5


>> Storytime for children ages 3 to 5 – at Linwood Branch Library of the Region of Waterloo Library. Join us for stories and fun activities on Thursday afternoons from Jan. 5 – Feb. 23 from 2-2:45 p.m. Call or visit the library for more information at 519-698-2700.

JANUARY 8

>> Elmira Sugar Kings Hungryman’s Breakfast with the Elmira Legion Branch 469; 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., 11 First St., Elmira.

JANUARY 10

>> Come Read With Me Family Storytime – 6:45-7:30 p.m. at Wellesley Branch Library. An evening family storytime program recommended for parents/caregivers and children 3 to 7 years old. Tuesday evenings from Jan. 10 – Feb. 28. Read, play games and learn about literacy in fun ways. For more information call the Wellesley Branch Library at 519-656-2001.

>> Toddler Tales is for children 24 to 36 months old and a parent or caregiver and runs on Tuesdays 10:30-11:15 a.m. from Jan. 10 – Feb. 28. For more information call the Elmira Branch of Region of Waterloo Library at 519-669-5477.

JANUARY 11

>> Toddler Tales is for children 24 to 36 months – at the Wellesley Branch of the Region of Waterloo Library, and is held on Wednesdays 9:30-10:15 a.m. from Jan. 11 to Feb. 29. For more information call the Wellesley Branch Library at 519-656-2001.

JANUARY 12


>> Storytime is for children 3 to 5 years old and will run on Wednesdays 2-2:45 p.m. from Jan. 11 to Feb. 29 and Thursdays from 10:15 to 11 a.m. from Jan. 12 – Mar. 1. For more information call the Elmira Branch of Region of Waterloo Library at 519-669-5477.

Food: Possible local bonanza


The latter is well-understood by retailers, and it’s sparked massive grocery competition in this coun-try based mainly on price.

The economists predict turf battles will only intensify when the Target chain moves into Canada.

Target competes head to head with Walmart, which has said it wants to capture as much as four per cent more of the food retail market this year. That’s huge. The economists say that will turn the current price battles into an epic war.

For his part, Charlebois says price pressure on farmers will continue as the war catches fire. Grocers will need to take profits from somewhere, and if consumers won’t pay at the finished-product end, farmers and processors could take a hit.

Yet even through all this, there’s good news for fans of local food and farmers alike.

Target has supply arrangements with Sobeys, which Charlebois describes as being among the most receptive of the grocery chains to local preferences.

So even though a price war is likely, more opportunities could exist to put local food in front of grocery store shoppers year round. Imagine, a price war based on local food. It’s a long shot, because local food is not likely the kind retailers would discount.

But given the ultra-competitive nature of the market, who knows?

Local food opportunities will depend not just on availability, but also on price. Research influences both factors.

Through research programs such as at the University of Guelph, sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, faculty come up with new technologies, techniques and vari-eties to help farmers be as efficient as possible.

Because if costs are going up, so must profit. And in an era of small margins and major price wars, research is needed to help profit-ability grow.

DEATH NOTICES>> FARR, Russell - Peacefully passed away on Thursday,

December 8, 2011 at Freeport Health Centre of Grand River Hospital, at the age of 62 years, of Elmira

>> MARTIN, Elmer S. - On Tuesday, December 13, 2011 in his 87th year, at Countryview Retirement Home.

>> MOSER, Carl Jerome - Passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at St. Mary’s Hospital, Kitchener, with his sisters by his side. Carl was born in Wellesley Township 66 years ago on January 28, 1945.

>> MUSSELMAN, Perceda “Percy”- It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the loss of a very dear sister, sister-in-law, aunt and friend. Peacefully at Freeport Health Centre of Grand River Hospital on Monday, December 12, 2011, in her 80th year.

>> WIDEMAN, Lucinda- Died peacefully at her residence in Floradale on Tuesday, December 13, 2011, in her 91st year.


Q. A pressing question for these hard economic times: How much money do

you need to be happy?

A. That’s the wrong way to look at it, say happiness experts. While it’s true the

wealthy are happier than the poor and wealthy countries are happier than poor ones, money actually buys little happiness, reports the University of California, Berke-ley “Wellness Letter.” “That’s because people don’t spend it right,” according to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Psychol-ogy. The authors offer tips on spending money with happiness in mind.

1. Buy more experiences -- vacations, adult-education classes, concert tickets -- and fewer material goods. Any pleasure from possessions quickly wears off.

2. Consider how purchases might affect your day-to-day life, aiming for more “up-lifts” and fewer hassles.

>> Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at [email protected]

StrangeBut True

Bill & Rich Sones

3. Buy many small pleasures rather than one large one, especially if money is limited.

4. Delay consumptions and prolong anticipations. Looking forward to an event is a great source of pleasure, even if the event ends up being a letdown.

5. Spend money on others. Giving money or gifts strengthens social bonds by am-plifying the happiness of others, which in turn amplifies our own happiness.

M&T Business Card Ad:Layout 1 04/03/09 10:22 AM Page 1

Second-place finish for Novices at Guelph Power Play tourney

RUNNERS UP The Woolwich Major Novice A team finished second in the Guelph Power Play Tournament Nov. 26-27. Back row: Derek Austin (assistant coach), Matt Roemer (head coach), Steve Martin (assistant coach), Kevin Schmitt (trainer). Third row: Spencer Young, Tyler Martin, Gavin Roemer, Jake McDonald, Brett Moser. Second row: Weston Bradley, Kyler Austin, Owen Lee, Alex Hutton, AJ Mitchell, Cole Slade, Nolan Steringa. Front: Brett Strohoff, Quinn Brown. Absent: Colton Schmitt.

PHOTO » SUBMITTED

Atom AE squad wins it all at Hockeyfest tourney in Oshawa

TOP SPOT The Woolwich Wildcats Atom AE team participated in the Oshawa Hockeyfest Tournament Dec. 9 -11 and came out on top as tournament champions. The championship game saw the Wildcats win by a score of 3-2 in overtime. Players include Zac Picakard, Hunter Weigel, Ryan Belanger, Matthew Steringa, Kieffer Beard, Ethan Young, Seth Morrison, Hunter Schmitt, Bryce Dettweiller, Jacob Clemmer, Ryan Belanger, Jackson Hale, Travis Weber, Ben Weigel. Coaches Dave Weiss and Kyle Young, trainer Gerald Morrison and manager Gerry Beard.

PHOTO » SUBMITTED

Just how much money will buy happiness?

Lancers fall short against Southwood

PHOTOS » COLIN DEWAR

UP AND AT IT EDSS’ Adam Brubacher drives to the net as he is surrounded by Southwood’s Austin Gordan (4) and Zack Sayer during high school basketball action Tuesday in Elmira. The visitors won 38-29. Inset: Lancer Angus Docherty takes aim as Sayer defends.

BACK PAGE 32 THE OBSERVER » Saturday, December 17, 2011

Spectacular TV.Spectacular offer.• Stunning HD picture quality• Watch what you want, when you want, with our HD PVR• On Demand movies in 1080p HD

BELL TV$1995/MO.

$29.95 one-time activation fee applies.2

FREEHD PVRrental for 36 months.3

Choose to own it afterwards at no additional charge.

For 12 months1

FRO

M

In a TV, Internet and Home phone bundle. All monthly fees included.

KitchenerHighland Hills Mall519 744-7781

WaterlooConestoga Mall519 888-9615

GuelphClairfield’s Centre519 826-0980

Available at the following Bell stores:

Offer ends December 31, 2011. Available to residential customers in Ontario where access and line of sight permits. As of December 10, 2011, e-bill will be provided at no cost and paper bill will be available for $2/month. The paper bill fee will begin appearing on your next bill. Visit bell.ca/mybell to switch your monthly billing from paper bill to e-bill at no cost. Receivers may be new or refurbished at Bell’s choice. Where applicable, monthly prices include a fee of 1.5% to fund Bell’s contribution to the CRTC’s Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF); see bell.ca/LPIF. LPIF will be itemized separately on your Bell invoice. Subject to change without notice; not combinable with other offers. Taxes extra. Other conditions apply. (1) Available to new Bell TV customers who continuously subscribe to Bell TV, Internet and Home phone; see bell.ca/bundle. Promotional $19.95 monthly price: $38 monthly price, less the $5 Bundle discount, less $16.34 credit for months 1 to 12 (cannot be combined with International programming credit), plus the $3 digital service fee and $0.29 LPIF. Total monthly price after 12 months is $36.54. (2) For new subscribers. Installation fees may also apply; see bell.ca/installationincluded. (3) $0 rental of HD PVR based on $13.86 monthly rental fee, less a $13.86 monthly credit. All charges will appear on your monthly Bell TV invoice. Rental term is month to month. If you rent without default for 36 consecutive months, you may choose to take title to and own the receiver by notifying Bell TV within 30 days of making your 36th payment. If you choose not to take title to or to terminate rental of the receiver, you must return it to Bell TV within 30 days or pay the damages suffered by Bell. You may terminate your rental at any time without termination fees provided you return the receiver; however, early termination fees may apply to the programming portion of your account if you also terminate your programming. Receiver warranty up to 39 months.

December 17, 2011

Documents

Transcript of December 17, 2011