Grant will help launch long-planned seniors programs
by Roger Varley
Addressing a gathering of Trinity Manor residents last Thursday, Pickering Uxbridge MPP Peter Bethlenfalvy announced that Uxbridge seniors will be receiving a grant of $11,000 to stage a series of talks and information sessions on a variety of subjects. He said the grant, which has to be used within six months, is part of $3 million the provincial government has promised to provide to 260 community projects to produce programs for seniors.
Bethlenfalvy said the government is committed to keeping seniors active, noting some are at risk of isolation.
Mayor Dave Barton, centre, addresses a group of seniors at Trinity Manor last Thursday during a grant announement made by Peter Bethlenfalvy, MPP Pickering Uxbridge, left. Eleven thousand dollars has been promised to go towards talks and infor sessions for township seniors. Also pictured, Regional Councillor Gord Highet. Photo submitted by Colleen Baskin
Councillor Bruce Garrod, who was absent from the announcement because of the death of his father, said later that the funding will fit into the Age Friendly Committee’s CommuniTEA program. CommuniTEA will provide 12 talks in an “English tea shop” atmosphere at the Seniors’ Centre, with tea, coffee and scones being served by local youth. The space will be dressed with tables with white tablecloths, potted plants and room dividers.
David Richardson, a member of the committee, told the gathering that although the grant will go to educational sessions, they will not copy what is already being done in the community. He said CommuniTEA works with seniors to determine what topics would be of the most interest. He also said transportation to the sessions will be provided for those who need it.
Gail Verwoerd, another member, said the grant will allow the committee to move ahead with programs it has been planning a long time. She said that while most of the sessions will be held at the Seniors’ Centre, the committee will look at providing some sessions in the hamlets as well.
Popular upscale restaurant scaling down in upcoming move
by Roger Varley
After 13 years at its present location on Toronto Street North, The Tin Mill restaurant will be closing its doors in January and reopening in a new location sometime in February. Partners Don Andrews and Conrad Lepine will be taking the restaurant to the former TD Bank at the corner of Brock and Main.
The pair sold the Tin Mill building a couple of years ago and purchased the bank property earlier this year. Lepine said that after 13 years the pair decided they wanted to move forward and do different things. Andrews said there will be some changes to the menu but they will retain some of their specialties. Noting that business has been “static” for a while, he said the new location will also move into providing take-out meals. The restaurant will also be open on Mondays, unlike the current location.
However, the new restaurant will be opened in stages, starting first with evening meals and then later moving into the lunch-time service.
The east side of the building will be taken up by an accounting firm which will use the offices that were located in the bank. The other side of the building will be the restaurant, which Lepine said will be smaller than the present location. However, the pair are thinking about installing a roof-top patio but don’t know yet when that will be undertaken.
“We’ll need regional and township agreements,” he said.
Andrews said they hope the new restaurant will become an “anchor” for that part of town and stimulate some changes, noting that several business locations in that area are currently up for sale.
“We hope it encourages others to do something,” he said.
He added that the restaurant could add to a theatre experience at the nearby Music Hall.
The pair began their restaurant business in 2001 with the opening of Don on Main in a small, cramped building on Main Street. Since then they have expanded to The Tin Mill and its satellite, The Tin Cup coffee shop.
Pump park proves pretty popular
by Roger Varley
Construction of the pump park at the Fields of Uxbridge is complete except for the landscaping.
Before the “soft” opening, before the official opening, even, riders have been trying out the track. On at least one day last week, more than a dozen riders were testing the dips and rises, while members of the Velosolutions team worked on the parks cosmetics. The long weekend provided even more opportunity for riders of all ages to try out the new feature. Riders ranged from a five-year-old boy on a kiddie bike to a 65-year-old man. Other riders used skateboards and scooters.
Photo by Susan Gallé-Pollard
Steve Snodden, one of the prime movers behind the track, said the cosmetics include laying down either rubberized material or artificial turf on small areas inside the track, laying sod around the track and, at some time, adding a pavilion to be donated by the Bonner Boys. Lighting will come later after additional funds have been raised. The majority of funding has come from the Uxbridge Rotary and Optimist clubs, which have both pledged $75,000 to the project, and an Ontario Trillium grant of $150,000.
The track was build by Velosolutions, an international company that builds pump tracks around the world. Among the crew at the Uxbridge park were workers from Quebec and one from South Africa. The new track provides for an easy flow from the pump park to the skateboard park and includes a new shamrock-shaped bowl for the adventurous.
No date has yet been set for the official opening.
House explosion leaves Zephyr man in coma
by Roger Varley
Two men were seriously injured on Oct. 8 following an explosion at a home in Zephyr.
Uxbridge Fire Chief Phil Alexander said the explosion occurred while a propane furnace was being worked on. The two men were identified as Darryl McFarlane of Zephyr and D’Arcy Stephens of Bowmanville.
Alexander said the fire that resulted from the explosion was quickly extinguished by firefighters from Uxbridge and East Gwillimbury. Also on the scene were paramedics, Durham Regional Police, the Ministry of Labour and the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office. Alexander said the Fire Marshall’s investigation into the explosion is ongoing.
The chief said the house itself has been issued an unsafe order, which means in all likelihood the building will eventually be demolished.
At press time, McFarlane was said to be in a medically induced coma after suffering burns to about 50 per cent of his body. Stephens had burns over his entire body and is also in an induced coma.
Alexander said that two nights after the explosion, Durham Region sent an emergency social services team to offer counselling to any Zephyr residents who required it.
The house involved is just south of Zephyr’s general store but no other properties were damaged.
Plan on planting trees? Plan to attend this workshop first
The York Durham Chapter of the Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA) is holding a workshop on Saturday, Oct. 19, for anyone planning to plant trees.
From 9 a.m. – 12 noon, at the Goodwood Community Hall, members of the OWA, landowners and volunteers who are interested in planting trees on their property can take part in a presentation by Mary Jane Moroz, coordinator for Reforestation and Stewardship at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) on the steps needed to plan, organize, select and fund tree planting on private property.
Vince D’Elia, also of the TRCA, will lead guests to the adjacent Kettle Trail Park to demonstrate how to plant trees according to a planned layout and design. Wear clothing suitable for planting a few trees: shovels will be available.
For more information and to register contact Alan Wells at 905-852- 3051 or email uxbridge.wells@gmail.com