The Grand Bend Strip leads all community newspapers in Ontario with eight nominations for this year’s Ontario Community Newspaper Awards, including best overall paper and photographer of the year for Casey Lessard. The top three entrants were announced March 1; winners will be announced at the OCNA’s annual conference in Toronto May 14. The Parry Sound North Star has the second most nominations with seven.
To learn more about the Grand Bend Strip’s history of awards since its first publication in May 2007, visit http://www.grandbendstrip.com/about/awards.

The Grand Bend Strip and publisher Casey Lessard are nominated in the following categories:

General Excellence – Class 1
(Award for best overall paper from two random issues submitted)
Other nominees: Cobden Sun and Manotick Messenger

Education Writing
(Chicago! – SHDHS music trip)
Other nominees: Parry Sound Beacon Star and Richmond Hill/Thornhill Liberal

Best Rural Story (circ under 9,999)
(Fields of Gold – Marcus Koenig, potato farmer)
Other nominees: Listowel Banner and New Hamburg Independent

Best Feature Photo (circ under 9,999)
(Best Seat in the House – Dashwood soap box derby cover photo)
Other nominees: Aylmer Express and Bracebridge Examiner

Best Photo Layout
(Five days of good, clean fun – Parkhill Five Fun Days)
Other nominees: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser and North York Mirror

Best Sports Photo
(Hockey Night in Zurich – Mark Buruma in dressing room)
Other nominees: Brampton Guardian and Mount Forest Confederate

Photographer of the Year
(Casey Lessard, photographer)
Other nominees: Belleville EMC and Peterborough This Week

Best Creative Advertising (circ under 9,999)
(Casey365.com – ad promoting website)
Other nominees: Mount Forest Confederate and Nunavut News/North

Crediton area rancher Julie Forrest is an animal communicator, which means she speaks with animals, expressing their thoughts to the people who take care of them. Forrest speaks to the animals – large or small – telepathically, and says they have a lot to say. She has used this skill to train the many horses and cattle on her farm, which are used as professional athletes on rodeo tours across Eastern Canada. Casey Lessard sat down with Julie Forrest, and invites you to sit back, open your mind and hear what she has to say about her work.

As told to Casey Lessard
Photos by Casey Lessard…

By Casey Lessard

Sisters Rachel Michielsen-Gray and Jessica Michielsen are running two hair-cutting fundraisers this month to benefit a charity honouring their father, the late builder Jack Michielsen of Arkona.
Rachel, a hairdresser at the Beauty ‘n’ the Beach salon, will be cutting hair this Saturday, February 20 at the salon’s temporary location, 20 Ontario Street South in Grand Bend (across from New Orleans Pizza). She and Barb Speirs will be donating all proceeds from hair services bought that day to The House that Jack Built, a fund named in her father’s honour that builds homes for needy families in Haiti. In the wake of last month’s earthquake, the fund needs to be filled to help as many families as possible. The salon will offer draw prizes, refreshments (by donation) and hand massages. To book an appointment, call 519-238-6520.
Rachel’s sister Jessica is running a separate fundraiser that involves donors cutting the dreadlocks she has been growing since 2005 as part of the process of grieving their father. Each dreadlock was worth $100, and with 50 dreadlocks available, Jessica has already exceeded her $5000 goal, raising $8000 for the fund.
All dreadlocks are accounted for, but those interested in donating and being part of the cutting process (if dread purchasers don’t show for the event) are invited to an open house at 27 Eastglen Drive in Arkona from 3-6 p.m. on Sunday, February 28. Jessica invites interested donors to make a long-term commitment, and says fund managers, registered charity Baptist Haiti Mission Canada, will be on hand to discuss monthly withdrawals; any sized commitment is welcome.
Since the earthquake of January 12, Jessica says donations The House that Jack Built fund have exceeded $16,000. Donations are collected by registered charity Baptist Haiti Mission Canada and donations over $10 are receiptable.

Richard Webb wins second Canadian Poker Tour title

Story and file photo by Casey Lessard

Canadian Poker Tour champion Richard Webb will retain his crown after winning the championship this weekend in Calgary, Alberta. The Grand Bend resident beat the tour’s 50 best players, and wins a second $100,000 contract that pays for his travel and entry fees to tournaments around the world.
“I think I’m happier the second time,” Webb said in a phone interview from Calgary. “It was a tougher field this time with even better players.”
In addition to the $100,000 contract, Webb took $12…

Summer resident Carla Johnston set to spend winter, spring in central India

A summer resident of Grand Bend, Carla Johnston is known to many in the area as the daughter of Chris Bregman, manager of the Grand Bend Chamber of Commerce. Johnston is finishing her last semester at F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham before flying February 1 to Indore, in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. There, she will volunteer until June 8 at the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women, a vocational and residential school for rural, tribal and village women to learn basic domestic, literac…

Police seek driver, family seeks closure after Jason Pearson’s death near Grand Bend during Not So Pro volleyball weekend

Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Jason Pearson of Waterloo was an avid volleyball player, and serious about taking part in Grand Bend’s Not So Pro tournament each year. After the first day of competition at this year’s event, Pearson was killed while walking back to his campsite at the Grand Bend Motorplex when a truck hit him at 5 a.m. July 26. The vehicle and its driver are still at large.
Days after what would have been Pearson’s 32nd birthday (November 29), Casey Lessard visited Waterloo to speak with his fiancée Erin Jobidon and their friend Drew Neath.

Erin: We hit it off right away. He just glowed. He drew everyone into him. He’d go out of his way to do whatever he could for you. He was always up for something new and was good at everything he did.
I came here to go to the University of Waterloo, and I met Jay at the Boa Nova, a Portuguese-style high-class restaurant. I was working there with Drew’s ex-girlfriend and Jason’s roommate. I was serving and bartending, and he was working there as well; he had a share in the restaurant.
I was getting a tour of the restaurant after getting hired, and he was working in the back. I think even then, there was a sparkle in his eye that caught my attention.
We did everything. Skied, kayaked, fished, played volleyball, traveled, you name it. He got into horses with me. Name a sport, he was probably into it and good at it.
Drew: The first time I ever heard about Jason was from my ex-girlfriend. He was looking for people to play volleyball with him, but I had to try out because he would only play with people who were good. We ended up playing together at the pickup courts at University of Waterloo. I still have a lot of close friends from elementary school, and Jay was one of my first friends outside of that group of friends, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of people through Jay.
Erin: We moved in together after a year of dating because we were at each other’s house every night anyway. We lived in a house for a year and a half after that. He made a point of bringing me everywhere. He was like that with his friends, too. He had five groups of friends that co-mingled.
We lived together almost two years. He was great to live with. We had talked about getting married, but we had a mutual agreement that nothing would happen until I finished school. We went away to Kicking Horse, where his brother has a condo, and he proposed without a ring, but our intentions were known to his family. Our long-term goal was to have a farm for our horses. This house was our first step toward that.
Drew: I remember him saying the weekend in Grand Bend, “Save up your money, because when we get married, we’re going to go away somewhere.”
Erin: We were going to go somewhere warm and have a wedding.
He traveled way more than me. I had never really gone anywhere before I met him, and he used to go to Europe every year. He lived there for a year and played football. His family’s out west, he went out east every year, he went to Europe every year. Just a busybody.
We had known each other three months and he asked me if I wanted to go on a cruise to Greece in November. I said sure, but thought it would never pan out. But November came and we planned a trip. We stayed in Paris for three days and he knew every corner. It was crazy. The Greek cruise cost him $80. He could get anything for a deal. Anything. He wouldn’t tell anyone how he did it. Tickets for plays and concerts. He had connections everywhere.
Drew: For example, we went to last year’s Stanley Cup finals. His brother got us tickets and we all went down.
He told me two days before the game and we just packed up and went down to Detroit for the night. I think we paid $230 US, and we were very close.

For the love of the game
Erin: His friends were his life. His friends and volleyball. I wasn’t allowed to play on his volleyball team. I wasn’t good enough.
Drew: Jay was always the team captain. If someone was playing badly, he was the one to get them going. He’d have everyone’s spirits as high as could be so they could play well. We followed the Not So Pro tour. Hang and Bang was our team name most of the time.
He always wanted to win. In Grand Bend, we played intermediate because the competitive teams were fours, and he wanted everybody to play, so we played the intermediate sixes. It was still really competitive, and this year we probably would have won if this hadn’t happened. The year before we got third and second in the two tournaments I played in.

The fateful weekend
Drew: I got to Grand Bend two hours late. Jay saw me and looked at my girlfriend. He was about to say something, but he said the look on her face was so bad that he couldn’t get mad.
(At the end of the day,) we sat in the beer tent for a bit, and there was a girl trying to learn how to jump serve, so we stayed a while teaching her how to do it. We went back to the campsite and started partying.
Erin: I got there later. I had to work the Saturday night and I got there at midnight. We went to Gables and were there until close.
Jay and I got into an argument hanging around the bar waiting to go back to the campsite at the Motorplex. One of the girls we were with hadn’t been drinking, so she was going to drive my car. There were four of us, and Jay was being stubborn as usual. He said he was going to walk and stormed off. There’s no arguing with him when he’s like that. And it’s not unusual for him – he walked everywhere.
In the morning, he still wasn’t back, which was kind of weird, but he’s slept in bushes before. I was just going to head home for the day, and I saw there was an emergency road closure. I went back and started getting a little worried. There was a rumour that a girl had been hit. I kind of brushed it off but I had a bad feeling. I drove into town because, with volleyball starting in half an hour, I knew he wouldn’t be late for that. He still didn’t show up, so I drove back to the roadblock and the officer wouldn’t say anything.
One of the girls went back to the campsite to see if he went back there. She ended up talking to the investigator, and she said it sounded like it was him.
She came back to the beach. I remember sitting with Drew’s girlfriend watching them play a game and I saw Sarah, the girl who went back to the campsite, walking with the police officer, and my heart sank. I just remember looking at both of them and no one would say anything to me. They just stared blankly. I knew. I fell.
Drew: I remember driving and saying to my girlfriend, if he’s not at the courts, something’s happened. As soon as I saw her, she said yeah, and I collapsed. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say.
We just sat around waiting for the officers to do what they needed. We stuck around for interviews and headed home after that.

The aftermath
Erin: I waited in Grand Bend for my mom to come so I didn’t have to drive home. By the time I got home, everyone was calling. They all knew. It traveled so fast, and everyone was horrified. It seemed unreal and still does.
For me, one of my biggest fears was getting in a fight with someone and something happening. That’s how you ended it. That’s something I’ve always been terrified of. But it doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. A little fight is nothing. I know he still loved me.
The officers said they’re shocked nothing has come out yet. They interviewed hundreds of people. From what I know, they looked through the list of everyone registered at the Motorplex. They highlighted everyone who they think might have been leaving that evening. Their vehicle of interest is the truck with the trailer. But that could be from anywhere in Ontario or the States. We don’t know.
They did a reconstruction, and they think he was on the west side of the road walking back, and then may have been crossing the road. He was 100 meters from the Motorplex, and was hit at a low speed by a vehicle heading toward Grand Bend. It happened between 4 and 5 a.m. To their knowledge, they found him within 15 minutes. It was not very long.
I think about it and wonder why I torture myself. I hope it was someone who was driving and didn’t see him, and then freaked out.
Drew: They obviously didn’t stop. If they’d known, I’d hope they would have been nice enough to stop and get help, but from the sounds of it, they didn’t do anything.

Moving forward
Erin: I didn’t even know where to begin. I stayed with my mom for a week and then went to a friend’s house and stayed with her. We went out to Regina for the funeral and stayed with his family for a while. It was really important for me to be up there.
When I came back to reality, it was a huge slap in the face. We were living here, and I thought about moving out of this place, but I finally clued in that that’s not the way to deal with it. This is where there are memories and I want to hold on to that. Remember good things and try not to run away from thinking about it.
Drew: He was just a really good guy. The Monday after Jay died, a bunch of us gathered and everyone realized none of us had each other’s numbers because he was the one who got everyone together. He was that kind of person.
Erin: Our group of friends isn’t going to be the same. He always managed to get people together for something all the time.
It’s causing ripples in his family, for sure. His mom and sister are in horrible shape. His brother is super strong, and he’s held the family together while working full-time as a doctor.
For me, I do what I can to keep myself busy so I don’t have to think about it all the time. I’m not sure that’s a good thing. I work full-time and go to school full-time, and he’s on my mind every minute of every day. I can’t imagine moving on. I can’t imagine his clothes not being in the closet and his pictures not being on the wall. But I know that will happen one day.
For me, I didn’t think it would make a difference if we found someone. But I want to know what happened. He was always with people, and I just feel terrible that he was alone.
As Jason’s dad, Carl, says, “Someone knows something.” I can’t imagine being that person. I can’t imagine knowing something that horrible and not feeling the need to say anything.

In hopes of encouraging information that leads to the case being solved, Pearson’s parents posted a $25,000 reward, which was recently bumped to $35,000.
Any information is welcome; you can call Huron OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Public policy and regulation among subjects of winter Partners in Learning discussions

The winter season of Partners in Learning, a discussion group that meets at the Southcott Pines clubhouse, runs Wednesdays from Jan. 13 to Feb. 10 and then March 3 to 31. This season’s topics include Science, Serving the Public Interest?; Has Big Brother Gone Too Far?; Theatre, Behind the Scenes; and The World of Books. Socrates Café runs Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m. every other week from Feb. 4 to April 1.

“Has Big Brother Gone Too Far”
Molly Russell, moderator

I find that hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear on the news that there is some law being instituted to “protect” the public. I think these laws have gotten out of hand. That’s the premise of my course.

Give me some examples.
For instance, when the actress went skiing in Quebec and died of a head injury, they wanted to bring in a law that said everyone has to wear a ski helmet all of the time. And people are saying, come on, that’s too much.
Seat belts are another example. Most people would agree that seat belts are probably a good thing, and they have saved lives. My mother was in a car crash, and in those days (1952), they didn’t require seatbelts. My dad was saved because he had the steering wheel. But my mother was tossed from the car and she died. So seatbelts are at least rational for most people.
Another one: people were in a boat, and had lifejackets in the boat. The boat capsized and they weren’t wearing them, and one of them drowned. So now in a boat you have to wear a jacket at all times. How are you going to get a suntan or swim off the boat in your bikini, etc.?
To protect us, they put laws in, but they base it on a small part of the population. What are they really afraid of? I think people are afraid of being sued. (Demonstrating a coffee cup cardboard sleeve) This is from VIA Rail. They decided they had to do this to protect people from the heat of the cup. Is this really necessary? It’s very costly.

But laws are made by people. How do these laws come into place if people don’t think they’re a good idea?
I disagree with that statement. Laws are not made by people; laws are made by politicians. And politicians wish to be reelected. They get on bandwagons and lose the rationality that’s really behind a lot of human behaviour. Most people would say there is too much regulation because we are not making these laws, but are subject to these laws.

So what would you like to see? What is the solution?
I’m going to throw that out to the participants. I think there are two things: one, the politician thing; and two, people protecting themselves from being sued. Should we have people sign a waiver saying, if they get hit by a car and they’re not wearing a helmet, that they can’t sue?
The problem lies where laws infringe upon my freedom. Human beings are individuals. Every one is different. You can’t do a blanket law and treat everyone the same.
I feel we need more examples of people taking responsibility for their actions, and not having Big Brother telling them what to do.

Science, Serving the Public Interest?
Mike Ash, moderator
It’s exploring whether science supports or doesn’t support the benefit of society. And how that connects with public policy because public policy gets formulated by interest groups and input from the public, but also hard information – let’s call that science. How do those things all connect?

What are some issues you are looking at that are hot topics influenced by public policy?
With the Copenhagen conference going on, what is science telling us about the future of the environment and sustainability? This is probably one of the areas we will explore. For 20 years, scientists have been warning us about global warning, but why hasn’t this translated into public opinion and public policy action to make a change and an improvement? What’s the problem there?
How is science providing information to predicting the future or the formulation of public policy that supports the public interest?
How well can we predict the future? Do we believe these predictions? Does the public understand what science is telling them? How good is science at communicating that to the public? Why are there contradictions in scientific evidence, for example when one group says one thing and another says the opposite?

Why is this topic important right now in Grand Bend?
I think probably because there’s so much conflicting information out there and I think there might be a perception that science isn’t held in the esteem it once was. Why is that? We need to know why we can’t have fact based, research based decision making for the betterment of society. I know people think that happens a lot, but I’m not sure society is taking full advantage of scientific information.
Certainly locally, there are some issues to talk about. Wind energy; are there really health issues related to wind energy?
One interesting topic might be whether public opinion and public interest are one in the same. This comes across in the balance of the welfare of individuals and special interest groups and society overall. How does that translate into the best solutions and policies overall?
Today, public input seems to be dominated by opinion and communication through social networking tools. Fact based decisions are less, rather than more, common at all levels of society. Today, with the Internet, anyone can put out information and sway the public without any basis in fact.

It’s a challenging and demanding topic, and I think it will be very interesting for the group.

To register, visit partnersinlearning.ca

Lambton Shores mayor wants low-pressure sewers before infrastructure funding runs dry

The Lambton Shores sewage treatment plant and Zone 3 sewer network could be the last project mayor Gord Minielly is involved in before he retires. Casey Lessard sat down with the mayor to discuss the projects.

Why is this project necessary now?
We just spent a big chunk of money on our beach, and any day you have a beach closing, it’s a negative for us. The Blue Flag designation will put up with two or three per summer. Our water comes south from Bluewater. If we can get them on sewers along with South Huron and us, we’re not going to be affecting the quality of the water in the Grand Bend area. It makes it safer for our visitors and our residents, and gives us a positive over some other areas in Ontario that are having more pollution days. We were lucky last year and had very few, but if you look a few years ago, we were closed many days. Whether it was our fault or animal runoff, we don’t know. If we can take care of our part, then we’ll know.

Where are you at today?
I’ve asked Maria (Van Bommel, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP) to set up a meeting with the infrastructure minister for us to firm up whether there’s going to be two-thirds funding for us. When we met with David Caplan, he thought it was a great idea; “Do the plant first and come on back.” We’re going back to see if we can get that two-thirds funding, and if we do, Caplan told us 2014 was the cutoff. I would hope we can get some funding by 2012 and be completed along with Bluewater and South Huron by 2014.
There are effects going on in the water table that are not positive. I know people in Grand Bend are environmentally friendly, so I think we will get this done to the liking of the majority. Right now it doesn’t seem that popular, but the reality is, we are treating that water in a negative way. The lake water and the groundwater levels are the same, so it’s flowing into the lake. If we clean up our act, we can’t be blamed any more when there’s high E. coli; it’s got to be coming from runoff or something else.
One of the main reasons you feel you need to do this now is because of the money, right?
Two-thirds funding is not going to be here long. I suspect based on the deficits the province and Canada are going to have, there won’t be any money past 2014 while they try to clean up their debt. I think now is the most financially possible time to do it. If we can get two-thirds funding, it’s not going to be a burden. If we can spread it over 12-15 years, I think it will be doable for most people.

I was reading in the tri-municipal meeting minutes (where the three municipalities are discussing plans to build a shared treatment plant) that South Huron CAO Roy Hardy had spoken to someone who said there was no money.
I was at the same meeting that Roy was at, and I didn’t hear that. He was talking to people who were nervous about the downturn in the economy, but I have spoken with some of the ministers and as far as I know the stimulus package is going to continue because the economy is still in a trough, and they plan on doing what they planned in the beginning, which is going to 2014 and spending that money. Roy has his opinion about many things, and we don’t often see eye-to-eye, but the fact that we’re on track to get an appointment with the minister tells me they’re willing to talk to us; they must think this is going to continue on.

Is that the stumbling block from South Huron’s perspective? Is it the money or something else?
I have no idea. If you read the Lakeshore Advance, I made the comment that I thought we had a deal. Mayor Oke commented that he thought we had a deal but it wasn’t in the minutes. Mayor Oke didn’t come to the next meeting and it was in the minutes. It’s ready to be signed and we’ve invited them to come to a meeting in a couple of weeks and Bluewater and South Huron will hopefully sign along with us and then move on to the collection system.
That’s the sewage processing plant, which is quite a big project in itself. But that’s a separate project.
We got $15 million of infrastructure funding, and we have to add in another $5-7 million depending on how the tenders come in. But we have additional funding for energy efficiencies like solar panels.

And you do have that money secured?
Yes, we have $17 million of the total cost, so we’re well on our way to having that looked after. When that’s done, we hope to have the collection system ready to go if not in the process already.
Do you think that regardless of whether South Huron comes on board that you will go ahead with it?
We’re definitely going to build the plant. We have the funding, and it’s needed. We have no capacity for development, they have no capacity for development. Certainly Bluewater wants to get in there so they can clean up their beach-front. So for me, we have to go ahead. There’s no debate.

You’ve said changes are “coming down the pike”. What did you mean by that?
I’ve chatted with people from the ministry, and you can see that in Bruce they’re doing mandatory inspections of septics, and if your septic isn’t working, then you’re being forced to upgrade. The upgrades are not typically the normal. A gentleman told me the other day that he paid $18,000 for one that he had to redo. Would you rather do that and have something that will last 15-20 years or a permanent collection system you can depend on?
The question of whether it’s low-pressure or gravity is still being debated. Maybe we can do a combination. I know in Bayfield they have several low pressure tanks operating for the last 10 years with no maintenance. Maybe in the less dense areas we can use those and in the more dense areas, we can use gravity. But it’s twice as expensive, so it’s a debate that hasn’t been completed.

I’ve seen the numbers; will it be twice as much overall or per house?
I think it’s an overall view. Where I live, my sewer is 17’ down. When you excavate that far down, you have to have a much wider hole. In places like Beach o’ Pines, we’d have to excavate the road and probably damage many trees trying to get down so you do have a flow. We have to look long and hard. Doing gravity feed is not environmentally friendly; if you have a greenfield site, it’s not bad, but when you have a woodfield like that, it’s pretty bad for devastation. Then you have to rebuild all those roads and it’s part of the cost. The low-pressure system is less intrusive.

The gravity system construction would also take the roads from having a cottage feel to having new roads like downtown, right?
People like it that way (narrower roads) because it forces people to drive slow. Fix them up and put them in (to standard) and they’ll be like speedways. Walking to the beach will be more scary than it is today. But the fact is it’s much more expensive.

You spoke of development at the meeting. What is the vision for how these communities should look in the future? Should they always have the style of roads they have now or should they be at today’s standards?
Any new development will have 66’ roads with proper sewer lines. Southcott Pines and those subdivisions built them purposely (narrow) because they don’t want visitors coming in and out. Unless their board makes a decision, the roads will be like that until they change. They were designed that way and will stay that way. (But with gravity) there certainly would be a lot of damage. I suspect they would have to be (restored to the new standard).

Of the three options – gravity, low-pressure, and septic tanks – which one makes the most sense to you?
In my opinion, in the areas along the lake, the low-pressure is the least intrusive, the least expensive, and based on what I know about those pumps, should be as good as the gravity feed.
The issue with no power, I don’t know how many of the folks in there have generators, but I suspect it’s a lot. Our power grid around here is not what it used to be, and when you’re out for 24 hours, especially when it’s cold, you either have to move or have some form of heat. Especially along the lake in the gated communities, the low-pressure makes the most sense.
In new developments, the gravity feed makes sense. It makes lots more expensive because the contractor is responsible for that cost. I don’t know if we can do this one way and the other. That’s why it’s hard to answer questions because we don’t have the answers. Hopefully by this time next year, we’ll have a plan in place they can go forward with.

When I look at the numbers of people affected by this, the count I saw was 1500 homes in Lambton Shores that don’t have sewers. How many people are there year round?
I don’t know. In Beach O’ Pines, it’s likely the majority (that aren’t there). That’s changing. If I look down the road 15 years, I see Grand Bend having two-storey buildings all along Main Street with business on the main floor and apartments above.

How important is it to have services like this?
I’ve moved around Ontario and I always tried to find places that had sewers. I’m sure the tiles in Huron Woods are being filled with tree roots. A sealed low-pressure system doesn’t allow roots in, while a gravity feed does.

What is your current feeling about what people think about what you’re proposing?
I’ve been elected one way or another, sometimes in and sometimes out, over the last 30 years. Change doesn’t come easily to the average person. Here in Forest, the fire hall had been let go and we decided to build a new one. People threatened us and we had public meeting where people yelled at us. Carnegie Library wasn’t wheelchair accessible and we built a new library; I lost an election over that because I was the chairman of the committee that put it together. But the reality is that once it’s done, people go on with their lives and say, “Isn’t that a lovely library? What a beautiful fire hall.” People have difficulty with change and if it hurts them in the pocketbook, they have greater difficulty.

What is the actual cost per household expected for the sewer project?
We haven’t figured out the final numbers. I suspect that probably by spring, we should have those numbers down. We have to go to the ministry with firm numbers. I’d like to get them done sooner, but there are some decisions we have to make first. If your septic system is five years old, how long will you be grandfathered? If you grandfather nobody, there’s more people to pay for what you’re doing. If someone put one in yesterday and spent $20,000, it’s hard to ask them to cough up another $12,000-15,000.
The other thing we have to do is, if someone wants to build tomorrow, do they put in something less expensive than a whole septic system?

If the province and federal government do not have the money for this project, will it happen?
I guess I could answer that by saying I won’t be the mayor when that decision is made. Depending on the council of the day, and how much they think this is important, they will make that decision. Personally, I think there’s a 50-50 chance we will get funding. We have a good argument to make: we have a great beach, we’re trying to be as environmentally friendly as we can, and we need their help in getting us there. Tourism has been down in Ontario, but we are a destination and they know that. I have a good feeling we’re going to get some funding. I said that about the plant and it came through, and I hope it carries on. We’ve been very fortunate.

What is the timeline on this decision?
We’re trying to get a meeting for mid-December with Gerry (Phillips, infrastructure minister), and if we get some positive news there, I suspect we’d talk to him at the OGRA (Ontario Good Roads Association) convention in February, give him an update on numbers. The environmental assessment in Bluewater and South Huron, so they should have good numbers by then. I emailed them to say we were arranging this meeting and to ask if they’d be interested in coming. I got an immediate response from Bluewater and I’m still waiting for South Huron because they don’t want to play with us. Hopefully they come around. We’re meeting in Varna again and hopefully they’ll be there and sign the agreement so we can go to Toronto.

When do you think you’ll have something to tell people in the community?
At the latest in May, and at the earliest before we go to Toronto in February. I don’t think we need to have a meeting. We’ll put it out at a council meeting and I’m sure everyone will hear very quickly. Toronto and Ottawa have treated us very well, and other municipalities are jealous of the success we’ve had. I don’t think there will be money after 2014 for a long time.

The Grand Bend Chamber of Commerce named its 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year and Business of the Year at its annual general meeting November 12. Colonial and Gables won the business award, while Paddington’s Pub owner Jen Gaukroger won the entrepreneur honour.

Interview and photo by Casey Lessard

What makes you successful as an entrepreneur?
I’m trying desperately to get business owners in Grand Bend to work together. When I first came to Grand Bend, I met so many nice people and I was surprised at how they weren’t supportive of each other. I’ve designed this logo and program called the Grand Bend Dining District. I’m trying to say to the restaurants, we’re all very diverse, we all have different things to offer. If you have regulars, and we all do, they don’t want to sit in the same restaurant every time. And instead of tourists going to the first place they see, how can we give them to the type of restaurant they want?
The municipality supports the idea of a sign with a You Are Here locator that has all the restaurants on it. I’d really like everyone to pay into a pot so we can all advertise as a group and cut down on our marketing costs. If we all work together, we can do more.
For the Winter Carnival, this being the Olympic year, I’ve designed a passport with each page representing a country, and each page would be dedicated to one business. Instead of buying a ticket to be entered into the cash draw at the end of it all, each page would be a ticket and as soon as you redeem your coupons, you get a ticket into the draw. Up to 40 businesses can be involved. It’s about trying to get more people and more businesses involved.

You have all these ideas about marketing Grand Bend and the business community here. Why do you care?
People ask me why I bother. But it’s what this town needs. Why would a clothing shop downtown say they don’t know that there’s a pub down the street? I’d like to be in this town long-term. A lot of restaurants pop up and leave, and I don’t want to be one of them. I want to stay and sustain here. I don’t like the idea of having to move my daughter. I like it here and I’d like to see it grow. But I’m very anti-franchise; big box stores hurt little businesses.

How did you get into this business?
I was in radio for nine years, and I loved that but it became very corporate. At my first station, I worked with an owner whose office was in the building so we did some cool stuff. We threw pumpkins off a firefighter training tower for Smashing Pumpkins concert tickets; as creative as you could be, you could do it. As these stations were bought by bigger companies, with liability and corporate policies, all the fun went out of my marketing job.
I was living in Grand Bend and commuting to London. I got the opportunity to open a restaurant for a silent owner, and that was fun, and then I thought, why not do it on my own?

It’s quite a risk to take to do this on your own. Tell me about that decision.
My first thought was I didn’t want to do it because of the risk and start-up money it takes to do it. But if you want to live in Grand Bend, you need to either make yourself a job or travel outside the area to work, which is too bad. We shoestring-budgeted the little place and it was two solid months of 12 hour days of dealing with Alcohol and Gaming, and building code.
In England, people go to pubs like we go to coffee shops. It’s very social. Here, I’m trying to create that, but Canadians associate that lounging around with coffee. In England, people bring their kids and partners to the pub. If you don’t have good food, you’re sunk.
Pubs in England can be anything from a hole in the wall, beer only joint, to a fancy pub. I wanted it to be somewhere in the middle. Grand Bend had a variety of places to eat, but they were either burgers and wings on one end or very fine dining on the other. There wasn’t anything middle range. I knew I wanted to find that middle range before I knew it would be an English pub.
The beer is my favourite part. We carry 50 at any given time. We carry a lot of wine, too. We’re going to start promoting a wine luncheon that is social and laid back. We also have 30 types of tea if alcohol is not your thing.

You’re the Chamber’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Do you have any advice for people considering starting their own business?
I really believe you need to have the funds behind you. The first few years are really tough. You have to love what you’re doing; otherwise, it’s not going to last. You have to love every aspect of it, including cleaning the bathrooms and vacuuming the floors. There is a not-so-glamourous side to it.
I live on life balance. If I wasn’t a parent, I don’t think I’d ever leave work. My daughter keeps life in balance. You don’t want to work too much, party too much or parent too much. You have to get it all in there.

Darlene O’Rourke taking part in torch relay

Story and photo by Casey Lessard

This is one flame Dashwood firefighter Darlene O’Rourke won’t want to put out. O’Rourke is on her way to Summerside, PEI this week to take part in the 2010 Winter Olympic torch relay. She will run the torch November 22 at approximately 5:56 p.m.
O’Rourke won the chance to be part of the run after submitting an entry each day through the Vancouver 2010 website sponsored by Coca-Cola and RBC. She was asked to submit a choice of three cities, and her choices were London, Vancouver and Summerside. She passed into the second round and was asked to submit a 200 word essay about how she lives an active lifestyle and inspires others to do the same. July 30, she was notified that she was being considered, as long as she passed legal muster, and was notified October 2 that she would be carrying the torch.
“Being a part of the torch relay is very important to me,” O’Rourke says. “I have competed in world championships for tug-of-war and won a bronze medal and know how proud it makes you feel to represent your country in such an event. Words can not describe how great this opportunity is to be a part of the Olympics in your country.”
It’s taken more than a ballot to make this happen. O’Rourke has to cover the cost of travel and accommodations in Summerside, and has received support from friends, family and neighbours. She gets to keep her torch bearer uniform, and thanks to a $350 contribution from her work, Hayter’s Turkey Products, she will also get to bring home the torch she will be carrying.
To follow her progress, you can visit iCoke.ca, CTV.ca, or her blog, which she will start posting Friday:
darleneorourketorchrelay.blogspot.com

Locally, the torch comes through the London-Strathroy area December 27.