News/Local

Thursday

2013 Merritton Lions Club Labour Day Festival - Pre-Sale Bracelet


 
Merritton Lions Club Labour Day Festival/Carnival

August 30 to September 2, 2013
 

Pay One Price Bracelet Not Valid on Sunday. Bracelet is valid for one day at the midway. Presale ends Thursday August 29, 2013 at 11:59pm Person using the bracelet must be present at the ticket box to have the bracelet installed by Classic Ausements. No Exceptions
 
Pre-Sale Start: Fri Mar 1 2013    Pre-Sale End: Thu Aug 29 2013
 
 
Event Date Price: $25.00
Pre-Sale Savings: $4.00
Your Pre-Sale Cost: $21.00
 
 
 
 
 
 
Friday August 30
Merritton Carnival Opens @ 12 Noon
Fairgrounds open for Dinner Feast & Games @ 5
Nite In White – Beef On A Bun Dance – Feat. Live Music from “Chunky Peat”@ 8PM (19+)

Saturday August 31
Carnival Opens @ 12 Noon...
Ride All Day Wristbands
Special Events & Guests Throughout the Day

Sunday September 1
Carnival Opens @ 12 Noon
Family Day Orientated
Merritton Fireworks Display in the Park @ Dusk

Monday September 2
Parade Departs Pen Centre @ 11AM..travels to 7 Park Avenue
Lions Beer Gardens Reunion @ 12 Noon

Carnival Opens @ 12 Noon
BINGO 1pm – 6pm
Draws/Raffles – 7pm


Tuesday

SIGN THE PETITION

Build a memorial for those who died building the Welland Canal!

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2013/04/28/124-dead-forgotten-for-80-years


The Welland Canal is a critical economic and cultural corridor that played a critical role in shaping the Niagara region and the nation.  The government of Canada promised in 1932 to build a memorial to the 124 men who died during construction, but so far that promise has not been kept.  The men who died working on the construction of the canal deserved to be remembered for their sacrifice.

SIGN PETITION HERE...
http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/build-a-memorial-for-those-who-died-building-the-welland-canal

To:
The political and cultural leaders Niagara
Build a fitting memorial for the 124 men who died building the Welland Canal from 1914 to 1932. The government of Canada promised such a memorial in 1932, and we the undersigned want that promise fulfilled.
Sincerely,
[Your name]

 
 
When the project began, someone in Ottawa crunched the numbers. No project of the scale of the Welland Canal could be built without a cost in blood. They expected one man to die for every million dollars spent on building the canal.

“It cost about $130 million to build (Over $2 billion in 2013). At least 124 men died, so they were pretty close,” says Arden Phair, the retired curator of the St. Catharines Museum who has taken up the cause of the men who died building the economic heartbeat of Niagara.


All he and a handful of other historians and researchers who have looked into the past of the canal want is for Ottawa to make good on a promise to recognize the fallen.

“A minister of the Crown said, when the canal opened, there would be a memorial to these men,” Phair says. “It was one of the largest losses of life on a public project in Canadian history. I think it’s a promise that should be kept.”

For a time, a potential memorial was front-page news soon after the canal opened in 1932. It was due in no small part to the rhetoric of Robert James Manion, then the minister of railways and canals, who called those who died heroes.




A promise not kept
In 1932, Minister of Railways and Canals Robert James Manion said a memorial would be erected to honour those who died building the canal. At the time, official records said 115 men died. Over time, that number has been amended to 124.

This is what Manion said when the canal opened: “Peace has its heroes as well as war, and in a construction job of this magnitude, with its daily risk and hazard, the sacrifices of human life seems to be unavoidable. It is only right and proper that we should give a thought to the 115 men who lost their lives during the progress of the work. In due course we shall see that the names of these workmen are suitably preserved and made an enduring portion of the great structure that rises not only as a monument to their effort and their lives, but to the efforts of the thousands of working men and engineering helpers whose unremitting toil, often in the face of difficulty and discouragement, made possible the triumph of the present hour.”




Johasson's Bar Parkette


            The Johansson Bar is located on Glendale Avenue by the entrance to the Sobey’s parking lot. The tool is an example of the type of devices needed to build parts of the old Welland canal(s) and the Queenston Monument in Niagara Falls. The bar was used to lift and lower the large slabs of stone used in the building of each lock’s walls (there was even a local settlement named Slabtown). It was used sometime between 1842 and 1845 and has been on display since 1983 after the Walker Brothers Quarries Ltd. donated the bar to the Merritton Community.

            The St.Catharines’ Green Committee's has a plan for the Bar to be moved closer to the sidewalk near Glendale Avenue (the first phase of the project). This phase includes moving the Bar, constructing a parkette where the Bar will be displayed along with stone bench seating; deciduous and coniferous trees; and numerous shrubs and perennials. Additionally the previous area where the Bar was located (currently gravel parking to the west of Sobey’s patron parking lot) will be restored to a park-like setting with trees and grass.

            The second phase of the project (dependant on fundraising but with a desired completion date within the next year or two) would involve constructing a walkway in the middle of the park running north to south in the direction of the old canal Lock 14 (which is buried underneath the park).

            The last phase of the project (again dependant on fundraising but with a desired completion date within the next year or two) is greatly advocated for by Regional Councillor Bruce Timms and canal advocate Rene Ressler. This phase involves upgrading the site west of the Sobeys building using the model of what has been done at Thorold’s Beaverdams Park. This phase basically means clearing and excavating 18 to 24 inches from the top layer of stone and leaving grass cover as the thing to maintain in the area. Then having a sign board placed close to Sobey’s driveway and a smart phone App explaining the Lock including the larger context of the Lybster Mill, The Keg and Mountain Locks Park.

            It must be reiterated, that the project will only be completed with financial contributions from the community at large (in partnership with the St.Catharines’ Green Committee). The cost of the project is approximately $77,500. So far the Green Committee has committed $30,493 to the project and the St.Catharines Horticultural Society has contributed $2,000 (with plans to contribute more after their annual plant sale next month at Bill Burgoyne arena - so please support them!) Should anyone else wish to contribute you can contact Green Committee Co-Chair Dave Haywood at: davehaywood@merritton.com or Kristen Sullivan, Project & Development Planner - City of St. Catharines’ Recreation & Community Services, at 905-688-5601 (ext. 3145) or email her at  ksullivan@stcatharines.ca.

 The Green Committee would be grateful if people considered the following individual items for sponsorship:                      

Engraved Pavers:                $250   (Estimate - needs to be confirmed selection of pavers)

Trees (with plaque):            $400  

Bench (with plaque):            $1,750   (As seen at the Old Courthouse, located beside Market Square)

 ADDITIONAL Notes:          

           Monetary donations over $250 in either goods, labour or funds will be recognized on a donor plaque or the individual item (i.e. tree, bench, etc.)     

          Individuals or businesses who wish to make monetary contributions may direct their donations to the "City of St. Catharines", and indicate on the Memo line "Johansson Parkette". Please direct cheques to P.O. Box 3012, 20 Geneva St. St Catharines, Ontario, L2R7C2, Attn: Green           Committee.   

          Tax receipts will be issued.                  

 For further information, please contact: Kristen Sullivan
 
 
 Article by:

David Haywood, Co-Chair -St.Catharines Green Committee

Thursday


Merritton Lions Club Fundraising

Rain Barrel Sale 

$50 Rain Barrel Sale in Support of The Merritton Lions

Order Rain Barrels Online @

www.RainBarrel.ca/merrittonlionsclub/


Or call  Jonathan at 905-988-9835 for information.
 
   RainBarrel.ca is pleased to partner with the Merritton Lions Club in support of local community activities and Lions initiatives such as Dog Guides. Orders are now being taken for a Saturday, May 4, 2013 pickup date. Distribution will be from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Merritton Community Centre, 7 Park Avenue, St. Catharines. No household limits and no residency requirements are imposed however, only barrels ordered in advance are guaranteed to be available. Each rain barrel comes fully equipped with a leaf and mosquito filter basket, an overflow adaptor that permits ultiple barrels to be connected in series, 1.2m of overflow hose and a spigot that attaches directly to a garden hose. The price is $50 per barrel. (Additional overflow hose can also be purchased if required.) 
 
Order your barrel online. Bring your receipt to Merritton Community Center, 7 Park Avenue, St. Catharines to pick up your barrels.
PLEASE NOTE – IMPORTANT PICK UP DETAILS
Rain barrel pickup
  • Saturday, May 4th, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
  • Merritton Community Centre, 7 Park Avenue, St. Catharines
  • Since you have ordered a rain barrel online, it is guaranteed, so there is no need to rush to stand in line at 9:00 AM. Take your time, avoid the line and show up when it is convenient before 1:00 PM.
  • Bring your Receipt and CASH if not prepaid
  • Receipt is emailed to you
  • For unpaid barrels, we will only accept CASH at the sale event. Credit and debit cards are NOT accepted on the day of the event

Wednesday

MERRITTON LIONESS CHILDREN'S FUNDRAISER


BREAKING NEWS!!!! TRAFFIC CHAOS IN MERRITTON - SEPT 2013

One can only imagine the nightmare this construction project is going to cause during rush hours and weekends on one of  Merrittons main throughways.

There is already 8 sets of traffic lights in a 1.16 km span. What's proposed below will add another set.

What do you think?




http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2013/02/26/car-pool-lot-would-be-tight-squeeze-on-glendale-ave

By Doug Herod, The Standard



Went to an information session Monday to check out plans to replace the Highway 406 bridge over Glendale Ave.
It’s pretty much what I had reported in a column last summer.
The northbound and southbound spans are old (built in 1963) and the transportation ministry will use a relatively new technique to replace them.
The new structures will be built on temporary supports next to the existing ones. Once the new spans are completed, the old ones will be severed and taken away by a giant forklift-like machine. The same machine will then move the new spans into place.
Where possible, this is an increasingly favoured method of the ministry’s because it results in minimal traffic disruption during the construction period. It’s a welcome strategy in this instance, given the congestion around the Pen Centre
There were, however, a couple of surprises at the information meeting.
The project is moving ahead more quickly than I would have thought. Work is expected to begin this fall, with most of the construction taking place next year. Some cleanup will extend into 2015.
Even more of a surprise was the inclusion of a 100-space, car-pool parking lot in the project design. It’s on the south side of Glendale on a vacant piece of MTO-owned land between the southbound 406 ramp and the TD bank.
There is also provision for a bus loop beside the lot in case Metrolinx decides to extend GO bus service along the 406 corridor.
I’m thinking this is an odd spot for the first-ever, car-pool lot in the city. Actually, I’m having trouble believing there’s that much demand for car-pooling in St. Catharines, period. That’s what happens, I guess, when you live and work in the same city for 33 years and endure seven-minute commutes.
At any rate, it strikes me as a tight squeeze.
Turns out Niagara Region officials aren’t too keen on the location, either.
“We’ve said to them — oh, at least eight or 10 times — ‘not a good idea,’” said the Region’s transportation boss Joe Cousins.
“I guess you can’t see that intersection too well from Downsview [central region headquarters] because they don’t understand the congestion there,” he said.
Adding to the disconnect is that the ministry wants full access to and from the parking lot, which means allowing left turns from and onto Glendale. But the Region has recently been looking at ways to improve traffic flow in this corridor, and one of its likely recommended solutions is to extend the centre-island median along Glendale, which would prevent such turns.
“If you’ve been there on a Friday afternoon, you know trying to make a left in and out of either the bank or the gas station just doesn’t work. It’s not safe at all,” said Cousins.
On the MTO’s map, the proposed entrance/exit to the car-pool lot lines up with the easternmost entrance to the Pen, giving rise to the idea of a traffic signal. But Cousins said there’s not enough room for another set of lights between Tremont Dr. and the 406.
So far, though, the ministry isn’t bending on its parking lot desires.
“Despite our insistence that it’s a terrible idea, they keep coming back with it,” said Cousins.
He noted the Region is in favour of other suggested car-pooling sites in Niagara. Apparently, there is the possibility for car-pool lots at the QEW and Glendale, Woodlawn Rd. and Highway 406 in Welland, and even the proposed new interchange at Third St. and the QEW.
“We just don’t like this location,” he said of the 406 and Glendale.
Stay tuned.
doug.herod@sunmedia.ca

Monday

MERRITTON AERIAL VIEW: 1934 VS 2012

Some fantastic aerial pics of Merritton from 1934. You can see all sorts of landmarks that are still around today. From the main roadways to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Welland Canals, to the Merritton baseball diamond. See what you can find and make some comments. The 1934 pics are courtesy of Brock University.