Registrations soon will be taken for programs that help local residents in need have a merrier Christmas.

The Salvation Army will be begin the sign-up process for its Community Christmas Program on Nov. 14. Registrations can be done at the Salvation Army Church at 33 Diana Ave. Wednesdays and Thursdays until Dec. 6 and on Friday, Dec. 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Proof of income, proof of address and identification for all members of the household are required.

Applications for the annual Community Christmas Toy and Hamper program in Paris will be available for pick up starting Nov. 1 at the Paris customer service office, 66 Grand River St. N. Completed applications can be dropped off at the office as can donations of non-perishable food and new toys where receipts will be issued.

Meanwhile, the team behind Christmas Baskets is continuing to look for a facility where they can operate this year’s program with a goal of meeting its Nov. 1 target launch date.

Local residents are able to sign up for just one of the programs, which provide food, toys, and other items to families and individuals.

Last year, Christmas Baskets were given to more than 1,500 families and individuals in Brantford, Brant County and Six Nations who may not otherwise have had much to celebrate. More than 1,700 children got a new toy, books, and other items for Christmas morning.

Salvation Army hampers were given to 850 families. And 160 families were helped through the Community Christmas Toy and Hamper program.

Capt. Kristen Gray said several factors, including a shortfall in fundraising and difficulty finding space to operate last year, led to the decision to operate this year’s Salvation Army program from their Diana Avenue church.

The local Salvation Army fell $19,000 short of its $227,000 fundraising goal in 2017.

Gray said that, while the target was met for red kettle donations, the mail-out Christmas campaign fell significantly short of its fundraising goal.

“People are not giving as much as they have in the past,” she said.

The church also has decided not to include a ham or turkey in its hampers this year. Instead it will increase the dollar value the gift card included in the hamper so that recipients can make their own choice about what to purchase.

Gray said eliminating hams and turkeys from hampers means they don’t need to worry about refrigeration.

“We’re also finding dietary restrictions are a growing factor. With a gift card, people can make their own choice.”

The Salvation Army’s iconic red kettles will be out at various locations beginning Friday, Nov. 23. Donations of cash or cheques can be dropped in the kettles. Donations can also be made online at salvationarmybrantford.ca, can be dropped off at in person at the church or mailed to 33 Diana Ave., Brantford, N3T 0C2. For more information, call 519-752-7814.

Volunteers to man kettles are also needed. Call 519-752-7813 to register.

In Paris, the Community Christmas Toy and Hamper program was started by a group of volunteers about 30 years ago.

In addition to the Paris customer service office, donations for that program can be dropped off at the Paris LCBO, OPP station, Fit Effect Gym, the TD Bank and the Credit Union.

Local schools will be participating in the program by collecting items, as well Brant Brantford Paramedics, Brant OPP and Brant Fire through their “fill an EMS vehicle” initiatives at local grocery stores.

For information about how to sponsor a family, contact Shirley Simons at 519-442-3550. Hampers will be distributed Dec. 21 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. from the Paris fairgrounds. Recipients are asked to make arrangements to pick up their hamper.

In Brantford, finding a suitable facility to run the Christmas Baskets program has become an issue recently. Last year, registration for baskets didn’t begin until mid-November because of a delay in finding space.

“We are looking to have a location secured soon so we can start the program on schedule,” said Heather Vanner, executive director of the Community Resource Service/Brantford Food Bank, which runs Christmas Baskets.

Christmas Baskets runs from Nov. 1 to the first weeks of January.

“The whole program can come together pretty easily if we have a space,” said Cindy Oliver, Christmas Baskets manager.

A donated location, preferably on a bus route, needs to be about 8,000 to 10,000 square feet, with the loading dock or shipping area.

Oliver said program volunteers work long hours, some of them every day from early November to early January, so the space must have heat, running water and washrooms.

She said she is getting calls from people who want to register for a basket, volunteers who want to know when they can get started and those who want to know when they can get collection bins for donated food and toys.

Trailers loaded with furniture, equipment and leftover toys from last year are waiting to be unpacked.

Community Resource Service can be reached at 519-751-4357. Once a new location is found, dates for registration will be announced.

mruby@postmedia.com

Brantford Expositor 2018 ©

September was Brantford’s second solid month in a row of high building activity, according to the number of permits issued by the city.

Last month, $20.1 million in permits were issued, down from $28 million in August. June and July each saw about $7 million in permits issued.

“Both the number of permits (80) and the value exceeded last September,” said Russ Thomson, the city’s chief building official.

And, he noted, the number of permits issued so far in 2018 – 785 – is almost the same as the number that had been issued at this point last year.

“We’ve had $114 million in projects for the year so for to September,” said Thomson. “That’s a very good construction year.”

In Brant County, building activity slowed for the first time since January.

In September, the county issued 53 permits for $7.7 million worth of projects.

“It’s just been steady growth,” said Andre Gravelle, Brant’s county’s chief building official Andre Gravelle.

He said residential building continues to fuel the county’s building boom.

In September, the county issued 10 residential permits for $5.8 million and three farm permits for $693,000.

So far this year, the county has issued permits for 365 new residential units, including 108 townhouse or condo units and 244 single-family homes.

The county has recorded about $75 million in building permits in each of the last few years.

By the end of September, Brant had issued 732 permits valued at $144.5 million – almost two-thirds than was on the books at this point last year.

In Brantford, September saw $9.85 million in permits issued for five new multi-residential projects. Three block townhouses on Jarvis Street by Recchia Developments will add 30 units behind Brantford Collegiate Institute and New Horizon Development Group is creating another 20 units in two block townhouses on Diana Avenue.

The next biggest category was commercial with $6.7 million in permits for 10 projects.

But the biggest was for a $6-million expansion of a hotel that has yet to open. The Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre on Fen Ridge Court, off Oak Park Road, is getting a second storey on the convention centre and additional floor space. Last year, a $6-million permit was issued for the hotel and footprint for the convention centre.

Smaller permits included:

• $1.2 million of interior work done at a Roy Boulevard strip mall
• $280,000 in alterations to a medical office on Clarence Street by Erie Avenue.
• $180,000 of work for a sewage treatment addition to deal with waste water at Sonoco Limited on Park Avenue E.
• $150,000 in alterations to a retail warehouse that’s part of the Artisan’s Village on Sherwood Drive.
• $140,000 for interior alterations to an area of the Food Basics plaza on King George Road that will accommodate Connect Hearing.
• $100,000 in alterations to a city-owned autobody repair shop on Earl Avenue.
• $100,000 in alterations for part of the Lococo’s mall on Lynden Road to accommodate a Mary Brown’s Chicken restaurant.

Changes worth $70,000 are also taking place for a new Mediterranean restaurant at 225 Fairview Dr.

SGamble@postmedia.com

@EXPSGamble

Brantford Expositor 2018 ©

The community room at the Brantford mosque was packed on Friday afternoon in a show of solidarity almost a week after hate messages were spray-painted on the building and parking lot.

Representatives from local organizations and church groups, politicians and members of the community turned up to show their support.

David Bailey, mayor-elect for the County of Brant, speaks at the Brantford Mosque on Friday

“We had to be here,” said David Bailey, who was elected Brant County mayor in Monday’s municipal election.

“What happened was really unfortunate. Quite shameful.”

Last weekend, profanity-laced graffiti was left on the mosque’s wall and pavement of the parking lot. The messages included: “Go back to Arabia” and “Go home – You are not welcome.”

An adjacent building owned by the city was also targeted with similar messages.

Imam Abu Noman Tarek speaks at the Brantford Mosque on Friday.

Imam Abu Noman Tarek said he is overwhelmed by the support received from the community.

He said the Greenwich Street mosque has received more than 1,000 emails.

“My two daughters were born here,” said Tarek, his voice breaking with emotion.

“The only national anthem they know is the Canadian national anthem. This is their home, my home, our home.”

Tarek said Muslims began coming to Canada in the early 19th century and more than one million now live here.

“They are your neighbours in one city or another,” he told the crowd.

“They have shortcomings but they are not terrorists. We want you to know who we are. We only offer love and peace.”

At the front of the room were boards filled with some of the positive messages the mosque has received. Those in attendance were invited to pick up a pen and add their words of encouragement.

The message boards will be placed on the mosque wall where the vandalism has been cleaned away by city workers, replacing the negative words with positive ones.

Former MPP Dave Levac tells the audience “You are loved” as he speaks at the Brantford Mosque on Friday.

“This is about being a good human being,” said retired Brant MPP Dave Levac.

“Evil wins when good does nothing. We have defeated evil by being here.”

Natasha Dobler, executive director of Nova Vita, said the hate messages are “emotional and psychological violence against a group of people in our community.”

“That’s not OK,” she said.

“We are an anti-violence agency and we’re here to promote peace and love and show our solidarity.”

People write words of encouragement on poster board at the Brantford Mosque on Friday

Gerald Fisher, chair of advocacy and community engagement with the Hamilton Jewish Federation, said they encounter the “same kind of disgraceful behaviour on a regular basis.”

“We can genuinely empathize,” he said. “We face the same stuff.”

Fisher said he was buoyed by the large turnout.

“There are lots of people here who have never stepped into a mosque before. It makes you proud to be a Canadian.”

A closed-circuit TV surveillance captured images of two young men writing messages at the mosque early Sunday morning.

Brantford police said they are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Jason Sinning at 519-756-0113, ext 2265, or Crime Stoppers at 519-750-8477.

mruby@postmedia.com

Brantford Expositor 2018 ©

Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating the circumstances surrounding injuries suffered by a man who was arrested following Thursday’s armed robbery of a licensed marijuana grow facility in Norfolk County.

Monica Hudon, communications co-ordinator with the Special Investigations Unit, said Monday that the man was taken to hospital for treatment of serious injuries.

The extent and nature of the injuries were not disclosed.

“Preliminary information suggests that on the night of Oct. 25 OPP officer attended a property on Highway 3 to investigate a situation,” Hudon said.

“Several persons of interest fled on foot. Officers, along with a police service dog, located the individuals and they were arrested.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the SIU at 1-800-787-8529.

The SIU is also urging anyone who may have video evidence related to the incident to upload it through the agency’s website at www.siu.on.ca.

The armed robbery took place just before 10 p.m. Thursday when suspects armed with handguns entered the facility on Highway 3. The occupants of the facility were tied up and assaulted but one was able to call police, Norfolk OPP said in a statement following the incident.

An unknown quantity of marijuana was taken from the facility and placed into a waiting vehicle. When police arrived, the vehicle sped away and some suspects ran away, police said.

Police closed Highway 3, from Schafer Side Road to Highway 59, west of Delhi for about eight hours as they searched for suspects. The police investigation included Norfolk OPP officers, the tactics and rescue unit, emergency response team (ERT), aviation services, as well as OPP canine units.

Norfolk OPP announced later on Friday that they had notified the SIU following the arrests. The SIU then invoked its mandate to investigate incidents involving police and civilians that have resulted in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault.

Police have charged Tyreek Nosworthy, 18, of North York, Traequon Mahoney, 19, of Brampton, Mahadale Mahadale, 23, of Toronto, and Khalid Galeal Ramadan, 26, of Thornhill, with break and enter, disguise with intent, robbery with a firearm, unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, using a firearm while committing an offence, forcible confinement, pointing a firearm, assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

Mahadale is also charged with possession of a firearm or ammunition contrary to a prohibition order.

Ramadan is also charged with failing to comply with a recognizance.

Brantford Expositor

Vball@postmedia.com

Simcoe Reformer 2018 ©

A professor at Laurier Brantford worries the province’s funding cut for a planned satellite campus in Milton is just the beginning of bad news for Ontario universities.

“I think it’s the thin edge of the wedge,” said Rob Kristofferson, a social and environmental justice/history professor.

“I think all universities are going to suffer pretty seriously over the next few years.”

Wilfrid Laurier University officials said they were “deeply disappointed” last week by the provincial government’s announcement that it was cancelling three satellite campus projects: a joint Laurier-Conestoga College campus in Milton, a joint York University-Seneca College campus in Markham, and a Ryerson University-Sheridan College campus in Brampton.

Merrilee Fullerton, minister of training, colleges and universities, said that, because of a $15-billion provincial budget deficit, the ministry is no longer in a position to fund the projects.

Kristofferson said the decision is in line with the way the Conservative government is making decisions by “just going around slashing in a non-consultative way.”

Heidi Northwood, interim senior executive officer and dean of the faculty of liberal arts at Laurier, said the university has been working for a decade on plans for the Milton campus with the Town of Milton, Region of Halton and other community partners.

She said they will continue to “explore all options for keeping the dream of post-secondary education alive.”

Laurier’s intention was to enrol its first students in Milton in September 2019 using existing leased space. Northwood said the flagship building for Milton’s “educational village” was slated to open for the 2021/22 academic year.

“At this time we are pausing to assess the best way to move forward,” she said.

Northwood said that, whatever the outcome, the Milton campus “will not impact our continued commitment to the Brantford campus, or funding for the Brantford campus,” which next year will celebrate its 20th anniversary in the city.

“Brantford’s success is precisely the model that Milton and other communities are inspired by in their pursuit of post-secondary campuses.”

Kristofferson, former president of the WLU Faculty Association, said concerns raised by the union several years ago that a Milton campus would adversely affect student population and programming in Brantford have been addressed.

There had been concerns the Milton campus would attract students from the Greater Toronto Area who would have otherwise attended Laurier Brantford.

Last year, about 30 per cent of students at the Brantford campus hailed from the GTA.

“The criticism raised back then was heard by the university,” said Kristofferson, adding that Milton was to be designed so it “wouldn’t step on the toes of Brantford.”

Northwood said the intention for the Milton campus was to develop programs distinct from those in Brantford.

“Regardless of the status of the Milton campus, Laurier’s Brantford campus is always engaged in developing new and innovative programs,” she said.

There are currently 3,000 students enrolled at the Brantford campus.

Conestoga has several hundred students enrolled in programs at its Brantford campus. Some of the programs are offered jointly with Laurier. The college purchased three buildings last summer to support its expansion plans.

Kristofferson said he is hopeful a strategic fundraising campaign would be put in place for a potential Milton school and that money isn’t diverted from other campuses for the project.

He said the rising cost of a post-secondary education means living at home while attending school is a huge cost savings. Without a Milton campus, Kristofferson said, “some families around there must be wondering how they’re going to finance their kids’ education.”

“I think what we’re going to see are continued not-well-thought-out cuts (by the province). I’m worried students are going to pay for those cuts with less choice of programs and campuses.”

mruby@postmedia.com

Brantford Expositor 2018 ©

A Brantford Collegiate Institute graduate who won a 2018 Vimy Foundation Pilgrimage Award will be the guest speaker at the Canadian Military Heritage Museum on Sunday.

Jeriann Hsiao, currently in her first year at the University of Waterloo, will share how her visit earlier this year to the battlefields of Europe changed her perspective on the First World War.

As part of her visit, Hsiao researched the paths of 10 former BCI students who fought and died in the Great War.

Hsiao’s presentation, entitled Reflections on a Vimy Pilgrimage, begins at 1 p.m.

The museum is at 347 Greenwich St., Brantford..

Sponsored by the Vimy Foundation, the Vimy Pilgrimage Award program gives 20 young people from across Canada an opportunity to tour Great War museums, battlefields and memorials in Belgium and France during a week-long visit.

During her trip, Hsiao visited a cemetery near Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, where 44,000 French soldiers from the First World War are buried and the dressing station of Lt. Col. John McCrae, who penned In Flanders Fields. She also participated in the 31,000th Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium.

Meanwhile, tickets are still available for the 21st annual Thank-A-Vet luncheon on Saturday at Assumption College School on Shellard Lane in Brantford.

Doors open at 11 a.m., with the program starting at 11:45 p.m.

Tickets are available at the constituency office of Brantford-Brant MP Phil McColeman, as well as all branches of Your Neighbourhood Credit Union. The constituency office is at 108 St. George St., Unit 3.

Veterans, spouses, widows/widowers and Memorial Cross recipients are invited to participate free of charge.

Tickets for the general public are $30 a person.

Brantford Expositor 2018 ©

A woman who used a knife, hammer and pole to assault her partner was sent to jail for eight months when she appeared in Ontario Court last month, on top of time she had already served.

Jennifer Carol-Anne Anderson, 32, of Colborne Street, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a weapon for crimes on two dates in June. During one of the assaults, she used a hunting knife and during the other, she threatened to kill the man with a hammer and pole.

Anderson was granted bail but, on June 16 at 4:45 a.m., she was found on the roof of the man’s Colborne Street home despite being under orders to have no contact with him.

She breached bail again on July 31 and pleaded guilty to both those counts.

Justice Colette Good credited Anderson with having served three months of her sentence already and ordered her incarcerated for a further eight months. She also ordered that Anderson not own or use weapons for 10 years, submit her DNA to the national offenders databank and take counselling for anger management, substance abuse, domestic violence and psychological issues.

Time served

A woman who broke into a Brant County storage locker last December to steal its contents was sentenced to time served.

In Ontario Court last month, Michelle Ann Farr, 31, of Brock Street, pleaded guilty to that break and enter, along with five other charges.

She pleaded guilty to theft under $5,000 for breaking into a unit of a Colborne Street motel last October and stealing a flat screen TV.

Last April, Farr stole from Wal-Mart on King George Road, where she was found to be without a surety despite being on a recognizance that she’d remain in her home unless she was with a surety. She pleaded guilty to theft under $5,000 and breaking her bail orders.

She also pleaded guilty to two counts of being in possession of an illegal substance in February.

Justice Colette Good sentenced Farr to the equivalent of 279 days of jail that she had already served.

Farr also was ordered to submit a sample of her DNA to the national offenders databank and get counselling for substance abuse and psychiatric issues.

Fourteen other charges were withdrawn.

Guilty plea

A Nelson Street man who was on probation when he was arrested with a stolen 2003 Chevy Impala on April 12 compounded his problems by having break-in instruments in his possession and resisting his arrest.

Brandon Albert Mendowegan, 28, was sentenced recently in Ontario Court after pleading guilty to possession of stolen property under $5,000, breach of probation and possession of break-in tools.

Justice Gethin Edward gave Mendowegan credit for already having served the equivalent of 105 days in jail after his arrest but ordered that he serve a further 75 days for a total of six months.

Mendowegan must pay $300 in victim surcharges and provide his DNA to the national offenders databank.

SGamble@postmedia.com

@EXPSGamble

Brantford Expositor 2018 ©

One of radio’s most iconic radio personalities is going off the air.

Born and raised in Brantford, Roger Ashby, who has spent 50 years on Toronto airwaves, is retiring with a big farewell broadcast that will air live from the Toronto Sheraton Centre on Dec. 5, starting at 5 a.m.

“We used to ‘play radio’ all the time,” said Brantford’s Gary Chalk of his childhood friend.

Chalk said that he and Ashby attended James Hillier Public School and had grand dreams of becoming disc jockeys and radio newsmen.

“Roger’s dad bought him a microphone and wired it up so it would play in the living room,” said Chalk, who went on to have a career at Radio Station CKPC before working as director of public affairs for the Brant Community Healthcare System,

“We’d be in the basement. We’d buy 45s and play them and rip the news from The Expositor and read it,” recalled Chalk.

Ashby said he would sit for hours in the studio created by his father.

His family moved from Brantford after Ashby finished elementary school.

The early practising paid off for Ashby.

After a short sting in Hamilton, he got a job at Toronto’s 1050 CHUM in 1969 when he was 19.

He got the morning show slot at CHUM 104.5 in 1985.

In 2010, he was inducted into the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame.

Paired with Marilyn Denis for more than 30 years, the duo made one of the most formidable morning teams in the business.

Denis reacted to the news of Ashby’s impending retirement on Twitter, saying: “With love in my heart I applaud Roger for an incredible career!”

Denis will continue in the morning slot with Jamar McNeil, who joined the morning team earlier this year.

“Roger Ashby is quite simply a radio legend, and a luminary of Canada’s music industry,” Randy Lennox, president of Bell Media, which owns CHUM, said in a news release.

“He is a model of excellence and consistency in radio broadcasting, and upholds that gold standard every time he sits behind the mic. We wish him the very best in his retirement, and thank him for 50 incredible years at CHUM.”

CHUM 104.5 plans to celebrate Ashby’s career over the next month.

The Dec. 5 broadcast will feature a multitude of celebrity guests and provide a retrospective of memories from Ashby’s half-century on Toronto radio.

SGamble@postmedia.com

@EXPSGamble

Brantford Expositor 2018 ©

A new self-guided brownfields tour aims to teach the general public, investors and developers about some of the city’s former industrial sites.

The tour showcases eight brownfield projects in various stages of remediation or redevelopment.

The tour, which can be accessed by users online at Brantford.ca/BrownfieldsTour where they can follow along digitally or print a hard copy, provides a glimpse into the history of the site and highlights how the properties were cleaned up used for different purposes. A century of industrial use contaminated the water and soil at some of the sites and required millions of dollars to remediate.

The Brantford Brownfields Discovery Tour will cost $5,000 a year to promote to interested individuals and as school field trips, Jane’s Walks (citizen-led walking tours) and other events.

Users will have access to historical photos, newspaper articles and other project details through the tour website.

“The City of Brantford has become widely recognized as a leader for remediation, redevelopment and public education of brownfields,” said Amy Meloch, chair of the brownfields community advisory committee. “The tour is an exciting continuation of the work of the committee to raise awareness to both residents and visitors of the extensive work already accomplished in the city.”

Meloche said the committee hopes to get local geocachers involved. Geocaching is an activity involving finding hidden objects by means of GPS co-ordinates.

There is potential to add geocaches (small storage boxes with a log book and small trinket prizes) to the brownfield sites.

The sites on the tour include those that are municipally and privately owned.

They are:

• 186 Pearl St. – a 0.38-hectare site located in a residential area, this site was home to Brantford Emery Wheel Co. (1910-1920) and the Brantford Grinding Wheel Co. (1920-1939). Bay State Abrasives was involved in similar manufacturing operations there. The city removed an underground storage tank, removed the existing structures, cleaned the contaminated soil and planted sod at a cost of about $175,000. The property has been converted into a park.
• 347 Greenwich St. and 22 and 66 Mohawk St. – Referred to collectively as the Greenwich Mohawk Brownfield Site, the companies and industry formerly housed on these properties are a significant part of the city’s history. The 27.9-acre 347 Greenwich property is the former site of Massey-Harris Co., established in 1891. It employed thousands of Brantford employees over the years. A 2005 fire destroyed most of the buildings and the city acquired the property in 2007.
• 22 Mohawk St. – This 7.25-acre property has been home to Adam’s Wagon Co. and Brantford Coach and Body, later Canada Coach and Body, where military vehicles were manufactured during the Second World War. Later, Sternson Group was there.
• 66 Mohawk St – The Brantford Plow Works, later Cockshutt Plow Co., was established here in 1877, making high-quality farm implements. The farm division was sold to White Farm Equipment in 1962. That company went bankrupt in 1985. The city acquired all three properties by 2007 and a two-year remediation started in 2014 at a cost of $40.5 million.
• Sydenham Pearl site – Consists of two properties: 17 Sydenham St., the former Crown Electric, and 22 Sydenham, the former Domtar (Northern Globe) site. The sites served as the main locations for mass industry for almost a century. The city took over the properties 2004 and 2006. Remediation was done in 2015 and 2016 and a soil cap was installed. The site will be green space until next steps are explored by the city.
• 85 Morrell St. – The city sold the property, once occupied by Harding Carpets Limited, to King and Benton Development Corporation, which cleaned and renovated the 10-acre property to include warehouses and offices for industrial use.
• 168 Colborne St. West – This 11.5-acre property was the site of the former Stelco Fastners manufacturing plant. In 1999, it was purchased by King and Benton. Work is underway to redevelop the site for mixed uses, including multi-storey residential buildings.
• 111 Sherwood St. – Home to Brantford Cordage Co. during the early 1900s. At its peak, the twine producer employed 700. It has remained active with a variety of commercial and industrial uses, including a brewery and fitness studio.
• 232-254 Grand River Ave. – In 1891, this 4.87-acre site was developed as a cotton mill by Craven Cotton Mills Co. It then became Dominion Textiles Co. and then Penman’s Manufacturing Co. Textile manufacturing continued on the site for almost 100 years until it was sold to a land developer in 1984. It is now being remediated for a mix of affordable housing and market-rate townhouses.
• 180 Dalhousie St. – The 0.52-acre site is a consolidation of four properties, which, over the years, housed various residential and commercial operations, including Castelli Bakery, which closed in 2011. Today, a four-storey student apartment building is there.

Brantford Expositor 2018 ©

It has been a transformative year for the Brant Curling Club after it was forced to take a critical look at its aging building and declining membership.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” said club president Angelo Mancini. “The water was just above our heads. Now we’re heading upward.”

Just about a year ago, members embarked on a strategic plan that considered the future of the club, which has been operating for 68 years from a building on Morrell and Webster streets.

A report, prepared last year for members of the club’s strategic planning committee, said it was “time to take a very realistic and critical look at ourselves and our future.”

At the time, the building was in need of major repair. The original portion of the building was a former bank and the rinks were added in 1950.

The building needed a new roof, brickwork and other renovations.

At the same time, the club had just recorded eight consecutive years of deficit operations, for a total debt of $121,000. The debt had been offset by applying some or all the annual capital contribution from membership fees and contributions from the capital fund. The declining balance in the capital fund meant there was less money for the club to reinvest in itself.

Then there is the problem of declining membership, an issue not restricted to Brantford. A recent survey conducted by the National Curling Club indicated about 65 per cent of clubs reported static or declining membership levels.

Mancini said completion of the strategic plan was a turning point for the club and identified three critical issues:

“¢ Remediation of the building;

“¢ Increasing membership;

“¢ And developing policies and procedures on how to operate as a business, something Mancini said had been lacking in the past.

“The strategic plan has given us a focus of where we want to be in the next three to five years.”

In 2017, for the first time in eight years, the club didn’t run an operating deficit. For the fiscal year just ended, they also finished in the black.

“The last couple of years we’ve operated at a breakeven point,” said Mancini.

“For a non-profit club, that’s where you want to be. Things are looking quite promising for us.”

With a low-interest loan from the Ontario Curling Association of about $40,000, the club was able to replace its leaking lounge roof. Members have submitted an application to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for funding to fix the roof above the club’s five ice sheets. That repair will cost upward of $100,000.

Once the roof is done, major exterior work on the brickwork will commence.

The club is planning to do some fundraising – the first event is a fish fry in June – for building repair.

“The plan is to complete the renovations over the next few years,” said Mancini.

Meantime, the club is putting its members to work. Many have volunteered to clean up the property outside the building, paint the exterior of the building and the lounge and undertake bathroom renos.

“How the members have stepped forward is more than I could have dreamed of,” said Mancini.

Declining membership continues to be an issue. In 2007, there were 421 members compared to about 320 this year. That’s due, said Mancini, to members getting older and giving up the sport and to people, in general, having less leisure time, especially when they are raising young families.

To generate interest in the sport, the club runs an eight-week learn to curl program for adults that this year attracted 25 participants. They also have formed a novice league, which prepares them for more competitive play.

The club also has a Little Rocks program for children, aged five to eight, and a junior program.

Brantford has a curling history that dates back more than 100 years when the Brant Curling Club was located at William and Albion streets. After falling dormant for a time, the club was reformed in 1945 by a small group that used borrowed curling stones and rented arena ice for more than 30 teams that competed two nights a week. When fire destroyed club facilities at the arena, the Morrell Street building was established in 1950 and has been continuously operating since.

Mancini said he feels the future is bright for the club.

“(The strategic plan) opened a lot of eyes that maybe we were in trouble. We are making changes. We want our club to be around for many years.”

mruby@postmedia.com

Brantford Expositor 2018 ©

A Hamilton drug dealer who was fighting trafficking and robbery charges got a wake-up call about his life and changed his plea to guilty, said his lawyer.

Hajir Ahmed, 30, who has been in custody since an incident last November, was sentenced in Brantford Ontario Court to 43 1/2 months in a penitentiary, where he said he wants to get treatment for his addiction to fentanyl, a deadly opioid.

Oakville lawyer Russell Browne said Ahmed almost died after he was able to get fentanyl in the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre, where he was being held. Ahmed decided to “indulge” his habit before a trip to Simcoe court for the continuation of a preliminary hearing, he said.

Browne said his client was treated with a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

“He required multiple Narcan treatments to save his life.”

Brown said the episode was a “complete wake-up call” for Ahmed.

“He’s stopped cold turkey.”

Ahmed has been seeing a jail psychiatrist, getting treatment for mental health issues and planning how he can get his Grade 12 diploma while in custody, said Browne.

“He’s grateful to get closure here today, and go off to a federal facility to serve his time.”

Browne and provincial and federal Crown lawyers agreed there were weaknesses in trying to prove the charges against Ahmed, a fact noted by Justice Colette Good in her sentencing.

Ahmed admitted that, last Nov. 21, he and two women broke into a woman’s apartment on Colborne Street in Brantford.

The victim told police that Ahmed was armed with a hammer and one woman had a baseball bat. The two repeatedly threatened the victim and a man in the apartment.

Court was told that one of the women with Ahmed knew the victim and was angry at her.

Ahmed and the women took some drugs, collected a number of items in the apartment and, after ordering the victim not to call the police, left,

Later that day, Norfolk OPP stopped a vehicle carrying Ahmed in Simcoe.

During a search, police said they seized fentanyl worth $16,000 to $17,000, cash and property taken from the victim’s apartment.

Although the fentanyl wasn’t found on him, Ahmed agreed he had joint possession of the drug.

In a joint submission, the judge was asked to impose a five-year sentence for trafficking in fentanyl, with a concurrent sentence of three years for the robbery.

“It’s low end for a home invasion robbery,” admitted assistant Crown attorney Lynette Fritzley. “But Mr. Ahmed is not the main player here.”

The judge emphasized that Ahmed had been “literally dealing in death” by trafficking in fentanyl.

“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug that exists in society today, as you now know,” Good told Ahmed.

But the judge said there was a substantial likelihood that, had the case proceeded, Ahmed might not have been convicted.

She noted that the male victim in the case was unco-operative with police and the female victim identified both Ahmed and another man in a photo lineup.

“You have opportunities to live a productive … life,” Good told Ahmed.

“And you had an epiphany. You overdosed on fentanyl and you need to get off that drug before it kills you.”

Good agreed that Ahmed could serve his sentences concurrently.

And she gave him credit for having served 493 days of pre-sentence custody.

She ordered that he serve a further 43 1/2 months, submit a DNA sample to the national offenders databank, and not own or have prohibited weapons or ammo for the rest of his life.

One of the two women with Ahmed, Lacey Rae Wagenaar, 30, of Norfolk County, was arrested while wearing a pair of Ugg boots stolen from the victim.

Wagenaar was sentenced Oct. 9 by Justice Ken Lenz after she pleaded guilty to robbery.

She had been in custody since the incident and was sentenced to time served of about 15 1/2 months.

The second woman, who is from Brantford, has yet to be dealt with in court.

SGamble@postmedia.com

@EXPSGamble

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