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Essex North to South BY ANDY COMBER Ag Society holds annual meeting Reports were presented and directors elected at the annual meeting of the Colchester South and Agricultural Harrow Society, held in Harrow, Jan. 27. Some of the highlights for the upcoming year include a theme of "Dairy Days" for the 2007 Harrow Fair, and plans for a "men only" homecraft category, new banners, and the start of the Harrow Park washroom project. Elected to the 2007 Colchester South and Harrow Agricultural Society Board of Directors were Robert Affleck, Brad Anger, Jay Anger, Melvin Hawkins, Rob Hayes, David Hernandez, Steve Zavaros, Mike Parent, and Morley McLean. The 2007 Harrow Fair Board Executive are: Manager - Jay Anger, Secretary - Kelly Beaulieu, Treasurer - Anne Anger, Past President - Ed Gibbs, President - Morley McLean, 1st Vice-President - Brad Anger, and 2nd VicePresident David Hernandez. Youth centre needs support Town council pledged to seek financial support for the Harrow Youth Centre, after hearing pleas from educators, parents, police, and social workers, during a presentation Jan. 22. "There is the potential of closure," said Michelle Weglarz, acting-executive director of the Youth and Family Resource Network (YFRN) of Essex County, speaking of the Harrow facility, which has already severely reduced staff and programs because of funding cuts. "At a time people are losing their jobs, we are less able to provide them services," said Weglarz, noting that the essential afterschool programs were especially hard hit. "Before cuts, enrolment was 40 children per day, five days a week. After cuts, enrolment is only six children per day, for one day per week," she said. Council agreed to work with the YFRN to seek addition financial support for the organization, a partnership that would ensure the future of the much-needed service. Harrow resident leads support for small schools A Harrow resident coauthored a letter being sent to Ontario's minister of education by the Coalition for Small Schools (CSS), expressing concerns over comments concerning small schools made by the minister in Toronto, Jan. 12. CSS delegates responded to the comments at their meeting in Ridgetown, Feb. 1. "I thought the threat to small community schools was diminished when the province released the new school closure guidelines," said Harrow resident Barry Mannell, who co-chairs the CSS with Suzanne Greenslade, a Port Dover delegate. "These recent comments by the minister of education concern me a great deal," said Mannell, speaking of comments made by Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne. Wynne told members of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association that the province could not promise to keep small schools open at all costs. Mannell is concerned that Wynne's comments may prompt Ontario school boards to resume efforts to close some small schools. In recent years, the Harrow community has fought the threatened closure of Harrow District High School by the Greater Essex District School Board. Fires in Harrow and Colchester In two separate incidents, less than a week apart, Essex firefighters responded to fires that caused extensive damage to a business in Harrow and a home in Colchester. The cause of a fire to a commercial building at 64 King Street in Harrow Feb. 11 is listed as "undetermined", said Fire Chief Ed Pillon. The fire at Pizza Plus and More caused about $250,000 in damages. On Feb. 15, fire caused an estimated $140,000 in damage to a home at 111 Dahinda Drive, just west of Colchester Village. An improvised cat shelter on the outside of the home, Wednesday, March 7, 2007 · Page 6 using a 100-watt light bulb, was identified as the likely cause of the fire. Pillon said residents should use care when using extension cords, heaters and other electrical devices to deal with the cold climate. Weather radar at Harrow A site near Harrow has been equipped with a radar windprofiler, part of a multi-million dollar network for weather prediction studies. Located on property just east of Harrow, on Ferriss Road, the site is part of a joint project of York University, the University of Ontario, the Western Meteorological Service of Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, due to be completed within the next year. Peter Taylor, a professor of atmospheric science with York University is the principal investigator. The Harrow site is one of 11 in Ontario and Quebec installed with wind-profilers, instruments that measure wind speeds, wind turbulence strengths, and other related factors within the atmosphere. Unlike the better-known Doppler weather radars, which primarily produce horizontal maps of precipitation, wind-profilers use nearvertical radar beams that can reach up to 12 kilometres above the ground. A team of researchers selected Harrow because of its location in a "geographically and meteorologically fascinating area", where, for example, lake breezes can be studied to determine their influence on developing storms and tornados. Harrow Hospitality Night The Harrow and Colchester South Chamber of Commerce held their 14th Annual Wine and Cheese Hospitality Night, in conjunction with members of the Southwestern Ontario Vintners Association, Feb. 21. Guests were treated to samples of wines from Winery, Colio Estate Colchester Ridge Estate Winery, Erie Shore Vineyard, Muscedere Vineyards, Viewpointe Estate Winery and Sprucewood Estate Winery. Music was provided by the Southern Winds Brass Quintet. HIGH HONOURS ­ It was a big weekend for Essex at the 20th annual Festivals and Events Ontario convention. Representing the Essex Fun Fest were, left to right, Doug Sweet, Marlene Markham Gay, Jim Procter, Steven Richardson, Morley Bowman, Bev Bowman and Bill Gay. Bill Gay also received the Ontario Volunteer of the Year Award for 15 consecutive years of service. Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program 5% Down-Payment Assistance The Federal and Provincial governments have partnered to fund an interest free down-payment assistance program for households in Windsor and Essex County. The Homeownership program provides 5% down-payment assistance up to a maximum of $8,000.00 to assist households in purchasing affordable homes. In order to be eligible for consideration for this Homeownership program, applicants must be renting, be at least 18 years old, a Canadian Citizen or Landed Immigrant under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act Canada, have a combined total annual gross household income at or below $61,400.00 and a combined total maximum household asset level at or below $20,000.00. [Asset level does not include: primary form of transportation (car/van), furnishings, RRSP or RESP.] The home must be modest in size, with a purchase price at or below $160,000.00. Homeownership Preliminary Application forms for this program can be obtained on or after Tuesday, March 6, 2007 by: ¼ email (on-line) through the City of Windsor website: www.citywindsor.ca ¼ mail, call 311 or 519 255-5200 extension 5470 ­ leave your, telephone number, name, address and postal code and an application will be mailed out to you, or ¼ picking up an application at one of the following municipal offices or agencies throughout Windsor/Essex County: · Amherstburg Municipal Office, 271 Sandwich St South · Essex Main Office, 33 Talbot St South · Kingsville Municipal Office, 2021 Division Rd North · Lakeshore Municipal Office, 419 Notre Dame, Belle River · Lakeshore Community Services, 571 Unit B, Notre Dame, Belle River · Leamington Civic Centre, 38 Erie St North · Tecumseh Municipal Office 917 Lesperance Rd · City of Windsor, City Hall 1st Floor Reception 350 City Hall Square West · Customer Care Centres: College Ave Community Complex 3325 College Ave Forest Glade Community Complex 3215 Forest Glade Dr Optimist Community Centre 1075 Ypres Gino Marcus Community Centre 1168 Drouillard Rd South Windsor Recreation Complex 2555 Pulford · Habitat for Humanity, 3064 Devon Rd, Windsor ON · Housing Information Services, Windsor ON 3540 Ypres, Suite 200 In order to be eligible for consideration for the Homeownership program, completed preliminary application forms with all required attachments must be received on or before Thursday, April 5, 2007. Late submissions may not be considered. The completed application with required documents may be mailed or dropped off to: City of Windsor, City Hall, 1st Floor Reception 350 City Hall Square West, Windsor, ON N9A 6S1 Attn: Housing Services, Program Development Officer Applicants will be notified by mail as to whether or not they have met the eligibility criteria to be considered for the Homeownership program. In order to continue to be eligible, applicants will be required to attend a mandatory information session at a later date. If you have any questions regarding this program, contact Kathy Sasso, Program Development Officer, Housing Services at (519) 255-5200 extension 5470 or call 311, Windsor City Services.