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Goderich Sun
VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 9
FREE
JANUARY 8, 2026
Your Real estate professionals
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Sand • Gravel • Top Soil
Ontario Building Critical Infrastructure
KATHLEEN SMITH Editor
A total of $21,185,778 has been invested by the provincial government to help renew and rehabilitate more critical infrastructure for municipalities in Huron and Bruce counties. Funding will be delivered through the 2026 Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) as part of the province’s capital plan to protect Ontario by building key public infrastructure. The aim is to strengthen the economy and keep workers on the job in the face of tariffs and economic uncertainty. The Town of Goderich has been allocated $1,533,501 while the County of Huron was allocated $6,017,436. “This OCIF investment is a vital boost for our rural communities in Huron-Bruce,” explained Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron-Bruce. “By renewing critical infrastructure – roads, water systems, bridges – we’re not only supporting local jobs but also empowering each of our municipalities to grow stronger, safer and more resilient. I’m proud our government is making long-term commitments so our region can thrive.” The OCIF provides funding for local infrastructure projects in municipalities with populations under 100,000, rural and northern municipalities as well as for Local Services Boards that own water or wastewater systems. In 2026, Ontario will allocate $400 million in OCIF funding to help 423 small, rural and northern communities address critical infrastructure. According to the provincial government, funding allocations are based on a formula that accounts for the different needs and economic conditions of each community. Communities may accumulate funding for up to five CONTINUED TO PAGE 5
(KATHLEEN SMITH PHOTO)
THE END OF AN ERA FOR THIS GODERICH CULTURAL GEM OF A SHOP
Tom and Dawn Fincher retired and closed the doors to what was known as Fincher's after offering a family-friendly place to shop for decades. While the Fincher's and their trademark name are retired, new owners Mark and Heather McCutcheon will establish their own dynasty in this county cultural gem of a shop.
A Cultural Gem: Fincher’s Book and Gifts DAVID YATES
Sun Contributor
Fincher’s - the name says it all. No one asks where it is or what you can purchase there. To some, Fincher’s was a newsstand, others it was a bookstore, a Goderich swag store and still others called it a toy store or model shop. After nearly 70 years of what had become one of Goderich’s anchor stores on the Square, Fincher’s is about to pass on as one of the area’s cultural gems and enter an-
other era. On Monday, February 20, 1956, Dennis Fincher ended a 46-year-old commercial legacy when he bought out F.M. Wood’s Tobacco Store and Poolroom at 16 Courthouse Square. Fincher had originally come to the area in 1940 as an English airman posted to the Port Albert Air Navigation School. He met and married a local woman, Mary McAstocker and moved back to the United Kingdom after the war. CONTINUED TO PAGE 2