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- Huron County Newsletter #42
Huron County Newsletter
Week of October 13th to 19th, 2024
Good day,
No housekeeping this week. We’ve got a packed newsletter for you so let’s get to it.
Thank you for checking out the Huron County Newsletter and have a great week.
This week’s Huron County Newsletter is brought to you by:
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Huron Perth And Area Ontario Health Team's Heart Failure Program Named Finalist in Ontario Health System Quality and Innovation Awards
by Bob Montgomery
The Huron Perth & Area Ontario Health Team's Heart Failure Program has been named one of three finalists in the Improved Population Health category of the 2024 Ontario Health System Quality and Innovation Awards.
The recognition highlights the program’s exceptional efforts in enhancing heart failure care for Huron and Perth and area residents. The Ontario Health System Quality and Innovation Awards celebrate the transformative work being done across the province to address evolving healthcare challenges such as…
The Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board Unveils New 3-Year Road Map For Mental Health And Addictions
In honour of World Mental Health Day, the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board has launched its new three-year Mental Health and Addictions Road Map for 2024-2027.
The plan reinforces their commitment to boosting student engagement, reducing absenteeism, and fostering academic success within a Christ-centered environment.
Their three-year road map will focus on:…
Perth County Launches Survey on PC Connect’s Rural Route Transit Service
by Bob Montgomery
Perth County is seeking feedback from residents, riders, businesses, and community stakeholders regarding PC Connect’s Rural Route transit service.
With full provincial funding for PC Connect’s Rural Route scheduled to end on March 31, 2025, County Council will determine the future viability of the service beyond this date.
The County has launched the PC Connect Rural Route survey in an effort to understand how the service has impacted the community and to gather data to assist in the decision-making process. The survey is available online with hard copies available on the PC Connect Rural Route buses, and at local municipal offices. The County is gathering a wide-range of perspectives to…
Loonie Toonie Auction Supports United Way Campaign
by Bob Montgomery
For a second year, Penny’s of Blyth is hosting a Loonie Toonie Auction in support of United Way Perth-Huron’s annual campaign.
“We’re looking forward to this event again,” said United Way Manager of Community Development, Northern Huron and Huron East, Lisa Harper. “People really enjoyed getting together last year and supporting United Way Perth-Huron’s work in a fun and exciting way, so we’re hoping this year will be even bigger. We appreciate Penny Chmilar’s hard work in organizing the auction and supporting United Way.”
“Local businesses have really come together for this event,” added Penny Chmilar, owner of Penny’s of Blyth. “There will be a huge Blyth prize, including…”
The Respiratory Illness Season Has Arrived
COVID, influenza, RSV, pertussis and many other respiratory illnesses are now circulating.
Huron Perth Public Health, your local family health teams and your hospital emergency rooms, as well as the Huron Perth and Area Ontario Health Team want you and your children to get through this respiratory season as safely as possible. They've provided some information that will help parents and caregivers in Huron Perth keep their loved ones as healthy as possible in the months ahead.
Take the following actions to reduce the chances of you or your children getting sick:…
YMCA Of Southwestern Ontario Is Now Providing Access To All CAS Families Across Southwestern Ontario
by Bob Montgomery
YMCA of Southwestern Ontario is thrilled to announce that with their new partnership with Family and Children Services of St. Thomas and Elgin, they are now providing access to all Children’s Aid Society children and families across their entire region.
This agreement marks the final step in offering vital health, fitness, & aquatics services to kinship and care provider families in London-Middlesex, Huron-Perth, Oxford County, Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton, and now, St. Thomas-Elgin. Marketing and Communications VP Elyse Sheare says they now provide services to fourteen branches across their region and the services, to some degree, depend on the interests of the….
Appeal To Public For Familial DNA For Comparison
by Bob Montgomery
OPP Still Seeking DNA From One Missing Man's Family
On October 22, 1967, the Huron County Ontario Provincial Police received a missing person's report involving two men that had departed for a fishing excursion from the Port of Goderich and were never seen again.
Neil WORMSBECKER and Hank Englebertus HALFF, were ages 29 and 30 respectively when they went missing in Lake Huron. Both men resided in the Stratford, Ontario area at the time.
On October 2nd, 2024, the OPP requested the public's help in locating biological family members for the two men. Several tips were received, which resulted in a biological family member being located for Mr. Halff.
The OPP is still seeking any remaining biological family members to come forward for Mr. Wormsbecker and…
COVID-19 Outbreak Declared at Stratford General Hospital
by Bob Montgomery
A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared on the Medicine Unit at Stratford General Hospital.
The Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance says outbreak status refers to two or more confirmed positive COVID-19 cases among patients that could have possibly been acquired in the hospital. The Medicine Unit is now closed to admissions until further notice.
Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance is working in collaboration with Huron Perth Public Health to manage the outbreak and patients, family, caregivers and team members affected are in the process of being notified, and testing of patients is currently taking place.
Family and caregiver presence on the unit has been modified. Patients are only to have one family member, caregiver or visitor per day with no in-and-out privileges. Family or caregivers will be required to wear personal protective equipment including mask, eye protection, gown and gloves.
Manager of Quality, Patient Safety and Infection Control, Erica Jensen says “As we enter cold and flu season, it's important to remember that COVID-19 is still circulating in our communities. Please take the necessary steps to stay healthy, such as washing your hands regularly, coughing or sneezing into your elbow and staying home if you're feeling unwell. If you're sick, avoid visiting hospitals to help protect others”.
New Program Aimed At Helping Food And Beverage Entrepreneurs Is Now Available In Huron County
by Bob Montgomery
The Huron Business Centre, a service area of the County of Huron’s Economic Development Department, is now offering a free program to food and beverage entrepreneurs in Huron County known as the Foodpreneur Advantage Program.
The Foodpreneur Advantage Program is for individuals looking to start or expand a food or beverage manufacturing business producing consumer packaged goods. The program provides introductory workshops, specifically aimed at food-related businesses, to help them get started or expand new product lines. Huron Business Centre Manager Brittany Wise says this program will give producers everything they need to get their product on...
Water Response Team Issues Level 1 Low Water Advisory For The Bayfield River Watershed
by Bob Montgomery
The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority Water Response Team has declared a Level 1 Low Water Advisory for the Bayfield River watershed.
That decision was based on watershed conditions brought by a very dry August and September. The Ontario Low Water Response Level 1 indicator is 80% of the three-month average and the indicator station totalled rainfall amounts of only 75% of normal. Ausable Bayfield Water Resources Technician Christie Brown says the level one advisory is more of a cautionary statement and in making that declaration, they're asking people to voluntarily reduce their water use by…
Huron County's Five Year Plan For Child Care And Early Years Was Presented To County Council This Week
by Bob Montgomery
Huron County's Manager of Ontario Works and Social Services presented the Five Year Plan for Child Care and Early Years to county council on Wednesday.
Cheryl Patience explains the Ministry of Education requires them to create a five-year plan and in creating that plan they looked at six specific priorities:
creating more child care spaces, particularly for infants and toddlers
additional supports for making child care more affordable for families, particularly school age, because they fall outside of the Canada-wide and Early Learning Child Care Plan
boosting service quality and inclusiveness
strengthening community partnerships because they're often dealing with the same issues
promoting data driven decision-making, and being transparent about why they're making the choices they are
Patience says the issues are not limited to Huron County, but exist throughout Ontario and across the country. She adds, efforts are being made to increase wages to make the field of early childhood education more attractive, so that would be helpful, but there is still work to be done.
Huron County Council Recently Received A Staff Report Titled ‘Terms of Reference for Long Term Care Homes’
by Bob Montgomery
Huron County CAO Meighan Wark presented a report titled Terms of Reference for Long Term Care Homes to county council recently.
Staff regularly provides council with an update on their list of priorities. Wark says council had asked that they take a few extra days looking at the two county long-term homes, Huronview and Huronlea, to get an idea of what was happening in the county’s long-term care homes, and then compare that with what was happening in the long-term care homes across the province.
Council received the report, and a request from staff to hire a consultant to look at what expenses the county could expect from the two homes in the future, and have that information available as they prepare the 2025 budget. And then county council can decide on proceeding with any projects.
One of the problems Wark says the county and the province are dealing with is that the health care system is currently not tooled to support the number of clients that they have in Ontario and across the county. So coming up with a strategy for the county to deal with that will be a significant challenge. Wark says demographics are changing in rural communities, and they have to think proactively about what that's going to mean.
Meigham Wark - Huron County CAO
Huron Chamber To Facilitate Town of Goderich Strategic Action Plan Community Townhall in November
by Bob Montgomery
The Huron Chamber of Commerce will be facilitating the upcoming “Town of Goderich Strategic Action Plan Community Townhall Information Session.”
This session is scheduled for Wednesday, November 27th, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Huron County Museum Auditorium (110 North St, Goderich). Residents are invited to engage directly with the town council to share feedback and help shape the future of Goderich.
The Chamber previously hosted the townhall in May and it offered a valuable opportunity for the community to connect with town council and provide input on the…
Cost Of Child Care Still A Burden For Many Families
by Bob Montgomery
A presentation from Huron County's Manager of Ontario Works and Social Services informed county council about the new Five Year Plan for Child Care and Early Years this week.
Cheryl Patience explains the Ministry of Education requires them to create a five-year plan. But the issue of the current cost of child care was a concern expressed by some councillors. They pointed out that the goal of ten dollars a day for child care still seemed to be several years away.
Patience explained getting to a ten dollars a day cost for child care was…
The 23rd Annual CKNX Healthcare Heroes Radiothon Will Be Held Tomorrow (Saturday, October 19th)
by Bob Montgomery
The CKNX Healthcare Heroes Radiothon has become a tradition over the years, and eight Midwestern Ontario hospital foundations are coming together to celebrate local healthcare this year.
The 23rd annual CKNX Health Care Heroes Radiothon is broadcast in its entirety on CKNX AM920 with updates on 101.7 The One and Cool 94.5. Listeners across Midwestern Ontario are asked to phone in and make a donation to any one of the eight hospital foundations participating in the event.
CKNX devotes the day from 9am to 4pm to Radiothon. Telephone lines and an enthusiastic crew of volunteers will be set up and ready to take your calls and gratefully accept your donations in support of your local Hospital Foundation! Join the celebration by supporting your local hospital foundation.
Mayor of Huron East Raised Concerns Regarding Provincial Payments For Health Care To Municipalities At Council Meeting
by Bob Montgomery
Huron East Mayor, Bernie MacLellan, says the increase in provincial funding to municipalities to cover the cost of health care will be capped at one percent this year.
MacLellan says that obviously won't cover the costs to the municipalities because wages alone will be going up more than one percent. So his question is, if the province isn't going to cover the cost of health care, are they expecting property taxes to pay for health care. And if they are, that's not appropriate.
MacLellan says he understands that every level of government is trying to reduce their costs. But the only sources of income municipalities and counties have is property tax and they need every bit of that money to provide the services that they're expected to provide, without putting it towards health care.
Staff have been asked to come back to county council with a report and council will determine next steps after they receive the report.
Health Care Heroes Radiothon Inspires Giving
by Bob Montgomery
The CKNX Health Care Heroes Radiothon took to the airwaves on Saturday with a mission to inspire support for local hospitals in mid-western Ontario. And, they succeeded.
When the seven-hour broadcast was over they had raised $375,209 for vital health care projects for hospitals in Mount Forest, Wingham, Palmerston, Walkerton, Listowel, Clinton, Hanover and Seaforth.
Amy Van Huss of the The Mount Forest Louise Marshall Hospital Foundation says every year since 2002, the CKNX Health Care Heroes Radiothon has dedicated a day to helping local hospitals share their message and inspire giving within their communities. This year, the Radiothon was broadcast on…
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Weekly Trivia Questions
What was the name of the movie theatre located on Albert Street (Hwy. 4) in Clinton?
a) The Princess
b) The Lyric
c) The Capital
d) The Roxy
What legendary bakery is located on Goderich's West Street for over a century?
a) Culbert’s
b) Eddy’s
c) Bartliff’s
d) DeMonte’s
Answers to last week’s questions:
What was the name of the family who lived on the CNR School on Wheels?
a) The Sturgeons
b) The Dunlops
c) The Andersons
d) The Slomans*
How many cenotaphs are located in Huron County?
a) 13*
b) 11
c) 9
d) 15
Trivia questions courtesy of local historian and author David Yates.