Measure
It is a test. A test of resolve. A test of determination. Of imagination. Our community has been assigned the task of raising $16.5 million toward the building of a new hospital in Picton. About the only thing that can stop a new hospital from rising in our community at this point is indifference. That […]
Take the money
If not compassion or understanding, perhaps creativity. It has been a rough few weeks in paradise. Glorious summer vacation weather combined with desperate urban folks seeking relief from COVID-19- imposed incarceration has propelled a great throng to our shores. Too many. More than we can manage. So we close the beaches. We close Little Bluff […]
Taking stock
It’s been a peculiar year. A pandemic has shaped nearly every interaction—personal, social, and commercial. We remain fearful. Uncertain what the future holds for our children. How long will our lives remain on pause? Will we slide into depression—in every sense of the word—if the prospect of a vaccine or treatment drifts further from view? […]
A different way
It was an illusion. The municipality does not have the means to provide boat launching access in Wellington. Period. It never had the land, the operational skills or the inclination to manage these two boat launches. At the end of this season, council must signal and then proceed to close both launches in the village. […]
The insider
Part II in a series of stories about the folks who figured prominently over the past two decades in fighting for Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital (PECMH) Fran Renoy knows PECMH inside and out. She served as a nurse at the Picton Hospital for many years. A keen observer, Fran noted both the challenges and […]
It’s time
It was a day 11 years in the making. Last week we learned Prince Edward County would get a new hospital. No longer an if, but rather a when. There is more work to do, but by reaching Stage 3, our hospital’s future is now squarely in our hands. It is our job to make […]
Listen
I listen to council meetings while cleaning the kitchen. Or tidying the garage. Were I a bit more tech-savvy, I might listen to these proceedings as I cut grass too—stubby white candy canes drooping from my ears as I parade around my lawn like I just don’t care. But that doesn’t happen. My daily commute […]
Leadership
Steve Ferguson ambled along Main Street in Wellington on a cool but sunny morning on Saturday. It was slow going. The village was still shaking off three months of COVID-19 slumber. Residents and business owners were busy washing windows, tending greenspaces and mending the bits that had yielded to a winter of ice and fierce […]
Proactive
Green shoots hinting at new life began to appear on Main Street over a glorious weekend in Wellington. Enid Grace’s new venture, Piccolina, opened to brisk business serving coffee and treats in a distinctly Italian coffee bar mode. Lemons is another new venue that opened to on a warm weekend, serving cool freshly squeezed lemonade. […]
Oblivion
There are three wee streets just beyond Wellington’s commercial core—West, Water and Narrow. (Each street name decidedly practical and descriptive rather than aspirational or commemorative.) Together with Main, they form a tidy residential block. They are quiet, small, unpretentious streets. As the village has developed and activity expanded, however, the pressure on these streets has […]