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By: Vanessa Moss | Posted: on August 16, 2008

	THE CHOPPING BLOCK Elmira Price Chopper employee Vanessa McCullough and some 30 coworkers received letters this week stating the store will be closing Sept. 9. The Elmira Foodland currently downtown will take its place in November, with staffing still undetermined.

Workers at Elmira’s Price Chopper learned this week they will be out of a job effective Sept. 9, as the town’s Foodland prepares to move into the building around Nov. 1.
“I think our customers are going to be very upset,” said Price Chopper employee Lavone Fields.
Although Fields has other jobs to fall back on, some of her coworkers do not, she said.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) after we were told it was pretty quiet around there.”
Fellow employee Vanessa McCullough said learning about the closure after months of hearing rumours to that effect was tough for some people.
“I don’t think it’s really fair only in the sense that they’re not giving us any other option. They never really gave us any options if we wanted this or not: they kind of just said that this is what is happening. … I definitely think it sucks for other people who want this as their job: this is what they need.”
At this point, Sobeys, which owns both stores, has not announced anything about staffing at the new Foodland location, nor if the 34 Price Chopper employees, including managers, will be part of the new arrangement.
“We are working to certainly minimize any impact on the employees and that includes looking for opportunities across our network of stores,” said Tracy Chisholm, director of communications for Sobeys Ontario.
She added that although the company wanted to release more information about the move all at once, it felt the employees should be notified of the major changes as soon as possible, regardless of how many details had been worked out.
One of the decisions yet to be made is what business will replace the current Foodland at 6 Arthur St. S., a building Sobeys leases from Ken and Naomi Freiburger, former owners of the IGA store at that location.
“We understand the importance of a vibrant downtown and we’re currently working with possible partners for opportunities for that site,” Chisholm said.
As for the new Foodland store, current franchisees Doug and Mary Lou Pagett will maintain their positions, now with a bigger space to work with, Chisholm said.
“I know Doug and Mary Lou are very much looking forward to having the larger location – it’s an exciting opportunity for them. Unfortunately though, we do have to close the Price Chopper and that, we’re obviously very sensitive to the staff that are impacted and we’re working very hard to see if we can find other opportunities for those staff.”

By: Vanessa Moss | Posted: on August 16, 2008

IT’S FINALLY HERE Drayton’s Heather Clemmer celebrates the arrival of her book, A Pinky Promise, after six years of writing about the challenging births of her three children.

Six years ago, Drayton’s Heather Clemmer made a promise to herself: once she had delivered her twins, she would write a book.
What she did not realize at the time was that the book would cover far more than simply conceiving children through infertility treatment and carrying them.
A Pinky Promise outlines Clemmer’s emotional and physical journey before and after delivering premature twins 27 weeks into her pregnancy.
With no prior writing experience except for the occasional poem, the new mom uses simple language to explain the medical terms and procedures she became all too familiar with during her 10 weeks in the hospital.
“The critics may not like it, but that’s OK,” she said of the final product.
The narrative begins with the Clemmers’ infertility treatment, their joy at conceiving twins and their shock during a routine obstetrician visit.
“[The doctor] said, ‘it’s a good thing you came in today.’… I could tell when he was doing the physical exam, something just didn’t seem right. He just had that look like he was trying to figure out a measurement or something. And then, two hours after that, I had an emergency c-section.”
Two blood transfusions, heart surgery and countless other treatments later, the Clemmers were finally able to take their boys, Scott and Troy, home.
“We basically set them on the floor and said, ‘now what?’” Heather remembered.
That temporary relief would soon turn into new worries however, when they learned one-year-old Troy had cerebral palsy. At that point, she and her husband Dean just thought to themselves, “it could be worse.”
“You go from not possibly having kids, to having them early … so we were just thankful. And I remember the one doctor and I have that in there [the book] too that he’s like, ‘oh, did you cry?’ We didn’t. It’s like ‘well, we just went through all that so …’”
As the couple was adjusting to life as parents of three-year-old boys, the idea of having a third child came up.
During a trip to London Health Sciences to discuss another cycle of infertility treatment, the nurse gave Heather a pregnancy test and returned with interesting results.
“They phoned the next day and she’s like, … ‘you’re pregnant,’ and I said, ‘no I’m not, I can’t be.’”
The Clemmers’ third child, Isabella, was born a healthy eight pounds, five ounces, leading to the end of Heather’s tale.
She said detailing life since then raising three kids would require a second book, which she is already working on. This time it will be a collection of pictures outlining techniques and tools she uses with Troy.
Heather plugs away at that volume whenever the kids are playing quietly or napping, she said with a laugh.
“As things or memories would come, then I would just quick type them up.”
After six years, she is proud to have completed the first book and is excited to share it with others, especially those facing similar challenges.
Her advice to them is simple: “You just have to be as strong as you can and you learn how much you need people and friends in your life when you’re going through something like that and how much you need church.
“So, just count your blessings and know that everything happens for a reason. Even though sometimes it sucks, it’s all part of a plan: we just don’t always know what it is.”
To celebrate the publishing of the book – which Heather arranged herself – she is holding an open house at 71 Edward St. in Drayton on Sept. 7 from 1-5 p.m. Copies of the book will be available, with 10 per cent of each sale benefitting the Ronald McDonald House in Hamilton and the neonatal ICU at McMaster Hospital.

By: Steve Kannon | Posted: on August 16, 2008

If what happened at the end of the school year is any indication, students won’t be the only ones with back-to-school blues next month at St. Teresa School in Elmira. A move to prevent parents from parking in front of the school in the mornings and afternoons is bound to be controversial.
Acting on a request from the Catholic school, Woolwich council this week prohibited parking on both sides of First Street – from Flamingo Drive to a point 175 metres east – between 8 and 8:30 a.m. and 3 to 3:30 p.m., from September to June.
The changes take aim at the times when parents drop off and pick up their kids.
School officials, citing safety concerns, want to reduce traffic congestion around the building. The Waterloo Catholic District School Board has instead opted to install a kiss-and-drop area along the south side of the parking lot.
This new policy follows a decision in June to close off the parking lot to parents. Dropping off and picking up their children, they were parking along the fence at the back of the lot, instead of in the spaces, which led to other vehicles and walking children having to maneuver around them: a safety concern, principal Taffy McLeod said at the time.
That stopgap measure led to the new procedure approved this week by township council.
Parents parking in front of the school were causing unsafe traffic conditions, and blocking the view of student safety patrollers helping children cross the road, bylaw enforcement officer Megan Standring told councillors Tuesday night in presenting the parking changes.
“They’re going to close the parking lot. Parents are likely to take advantage of it by parking in front of the school,” she said of the need to prohibit parking on First Street.
Mayor Bill Strauss suggested extending the no-parking times, but went with the recommended hours when the amended bylaw was approved.