Meet Pearl Hare. She plays winger for the South Grenville Rangers Atom B hockey team. And just as she is leaning into this scoring attempt, she is a lesson in determination for anyone who enjoys playing or watching the game of hockey. Straight out unbelievable in ability and aggression, Pearl takes no prisoners in a seemingly tireless effort to excel. She scored in a game at Morrisburg Arena on Thursday evening, a 4-2 loss to the league leading South Dundas Lions. See the photos and notes here . . .

Thursday, Nov. 15th - Anna Henderson stole the show on Thursday evening at the Seaway District high School's Annual Student Awards night. Anna was presented 15 times and ended the evening receiving Athlete of the Year recognition. More photos an a complete listing of the recipients can be viewed here . . .

        Well, not really. Because the little town of Holly where the play is set is so down on its luck that the legendary Christmas Express hasn’t passed through for years. In fact  Christmas spirit is in short supply this year as everyone at the Holly train station waits for word that the big wigs from the city are shutting it down. Hilda the station manager and Satch her wise-cracking assistant haven’t seen a new customer in days, and everyone’s worried about their jobs and their futures. 

        All that changes when Leo, a mysterious gentleman carrying a mysterious handbag arrives on a mysterious train that no one has seen pull into the station. Their local choir that usually sings terribly, suddenly begin to find glorious voices.  The station’s radio which stopped working, suddenly plays beautiful Christmas music. The station assistant’s broken watch suddenly keeps perfect time. A young boy who falls from a tree in a nearby park is miraculously caught by this intriguing and magical visitor. 

         The Municipality of South Dundas and SDG County Library- Morrisburg Branch have teamed up to create a new display in the first floor lobby of the South Dundas Municipal Centre. The display features the works of 11 Dundas County authors with topics ranging from children’s stories, history, romance and adventure. 

        “This display only provides a sampling of works available by talented Dundas County authors,” said Katherine Wells, Communications & Tourism Coordinator. “It shows the passion and dedication that writers in our region have.” 

Thursday, Nov. 15th - The St. Joe’s Panthers (Cornwall) lost to the  undefeated Gananoque Trojans in the Eastern Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association football semi-final on Thursday this week in Gananoque. Three of the players on the team, who under any other circumstances are a jovial group, are from South Dundas. Brody Fairbairn, Jack Connors and Gabe Baker. The Trojans move on the the provincial semi-final in Ottawa next week. Congratulations to our boys and their entire team, you have done all of South Dundas proud.

There are many reasons and benefits in being able to skate fast, but the example pictured above just might be one of the best. The Brockville Braves Midget B forward closing in on South Dundas Lion's net minder Gage Brown did manage to stay one step ahead of Lion's defenceman Nathan Verhey, but he did not score a goal. Hey may have been more concerned with the outcome had he been successful . . . See all of the hockey photos, game reports and stats here . . . 

St. Mary St. Cecilia students getting ready to present their computer programmed, robotic driven, costumed, 'Veiled Chameleon' to the students in the primary grades last week . . .

        Grade six teacher Trish Wooters says the students in her class couldn't wait to take part in studying the bio-diversity of vertebrates and invertebrates for all of the reasons that make science at that age of wonderment so interesting. But the students at South Dundas' Catholic Separate School had an added interest.

        Teacher Blair Fitzsimmons has been the schools driving force behind the inclusion of a robotics program for all students. He brought the idea to fruition a few years ago and today the statement "We don't teach robotics, we use robotics to teach . . ." couldn't be more obvious. In fact, it was the robotics that tipped the interest in the science studies over the top.

        "After we studied the science side of the subject the students were instructed to come up with an invertebrate or invertebrate of choice, create a costume that would fit over one of the school robots, create a program and apply it that would mimic the creatures movements, prepare explanations for presentation, and create a habitat setting to stage a digital zoo for the younger classes," Wooters said while directing excited yongsters from set to set.

        The digital zoo presentation was not only a hit beyond description, it captivated the younger students with near mind-boggling attentiveness. The various groups have created a dalmation, Ellie the Elephant, Jeff the Ostrich, Bob the Grey Wolf, Jeffery the Chameleon and more. Kade VanBeilen and Logan Casselman created a caged swamp creature, using a hockey net for the cage and to protect the younger students (????). And they included a bag of edibles the creature thrived that they allowed the students to blind-touch. Many declined to opportunity to reach into the bag without being able to see what was in there.

        In the slide show below there is a string of several shots of one of the creatures appearing to chase Robert Paradis' feet under a bench. Watch the faces on him and his two pals while they squirm away . . .

        After our Constituency Week break, it was time to once again return to the business of the Legislature at Queen’s Park.

It was my privilege on Monday to introduce my Private Member’s Bill, now recognized as Bill 54, Organic Products Act.  This Bill, if approved, will address the concerns of both consumers and producers in the agri-food industry by adopting established federal organic food standards.  Currently, the industry is without a provincial regulation for organic products, meaning anyone is free to use the term “organic”.   Ontario is Canada’s largest organic market, valued annually at $1 billion.  This Bill will offer consumers security in knowing that they are getting the quality products they have chosen for their family’s enjoyment.

        The week was also peppered with a series of productive meetings that included a trip to Orillia where I joined Ontario’s Large Municipalities Chief Building Officials Fall workshop on behalf of our Minister of Municipal Affairs.  Cutting red tape in Ontario’s development approvals system is a priority for our government.  Streamlining the overly complex development process will create and protect jobs by making Ontario attractive to companies seeking to expand or re-locate.  Listening firsthand to professionals about their challenges, needs and pressures is a commitment our government takes seriously.  We continue to make much-needed changes to secure our commitment that Ontario is “Open For Business”.      

On the Legislative front, government bills continued to move forward as Bill 34, Green Energy Repeal Act continued Third Reading debate; Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act was ordered referred to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs;  and, Bill 48, Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act was engaged in Second Reading debate this week.

        The really big news coming out of Queen’s Park this week was the Fall Economic Statement delivered by Finance Minister Vic Fedeli before the Legislature.   Our “Plan For The People” is your Government’s fiscal roadmap in restoring trust and putting money back in the pockets of taxpayers.  While our government is aggressively pursuing new efficiencies, transparency and accountability, we are following through on our commitment to expand natural gas and broadband services.  Our investigation to date has found approximately $3.2 billion in program efficiencies, allowing us to provide individuals, families and businesses with $2.7 billion in tax relief.  

        In fact, the 1.1 million low income Ontarians who are making less than $30,000 per year will see their provincial income taxes eliminated through our Low-Income Individuals and Families and Tax Credit (LIFT) – the biggest tax cut for low income workers in a generation.   In addition, we are maintaining small business tax rates at their current levels and providing Employer Health Tax relief. If passed, this would generate $40 million in tax relief for businesses across the province.

        These initiatives complement our commitment to reduce red tape by 25 percent by 2022.

You can access the full fall fiscal update at: https://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2018/11/a-plan-for-the-people.html

        This weekend I will be attending our PC conference in Toronto and will be unable to attend the many great events in the riding, including our always fun Santa Claus Parade in Cornwall.  With the forecast of snow over the next few days, I encourage everyone to drive safely and be alert to the road conditions.

https://www.st-lawrencestage.com/shows

    The Upper Canada Playhouse calendar of entertainment is open!

     "It's one of our favorite events of the year," chuckled Theatre Manager Donnie Bowes, "The fans are our best indicator that we are doing as our audience wishes and it's very nice to see."

For a full lineup of this year's shows click here . . .

If you are wishing to promote a community event, or anything going on in the community, a community group, or any other ideas for the promotion of our community (South Dundas), we welcome your input. And it's FREE!!! Send us the what, when, where, why, along with graphics or pictures, and we'll put together something here for you. Again IT'S FREE!!!!

Just email the works to southdundasinbox@gmail.com