SENIOR SURGE PAGE
6
GRAMMY WINNER PAGE
STRATFORD VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 27
FREE
FEBRUARY 20, 2026
Jennifer Anderson
Jamie Gerber
519-301-2736
519-276-7995
Team Leader - BROKER
10
REALTOR®
Hear better. Age better. Live Better. Call today! Lucas Dasilva Hearing Instrument Specialist, Reg’d AHIP Clinic Co-Owner
Stratford’s only local and independent provider
AndersonRealEstateGroup.ca
Shelly Gansevles Office Administrator, Clinic Co-Owner
519.271.HEAR (4327) communityhearingcare.ca 370 Ontario St, Stratford, ON N5A 3H9
Stratford's Black community builders get their flowers AMANDA NELSON
Times Reporter
The Black History Project Series: Phase II, part of the permanent exhibit We’ve Been Here, will launch Feb. 21 at the Stratford Perth Museum. The museum will unveil three large framed images in its indoor Co-operators Theatre during the event. Each design correlates with three powerful, local stories of historical community builders throughout Perth County. These community builders – Sylvia (Young) Porter, Joseph Harrison and Ben Sleet – will be featured along with their stories. CBC broadcast journalist Garvia Bailey, the driving force behind the exhibit, said that after visiting the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum, she learned there were censuses from around the county of Black people, including previously enslaved men and women who came through Buxton, likely via the Underground Railroad, and settled throughout southwestern Ontario. She said that after learning about the rich Black history that helped build Perth County, she knew she wanted to highlight some of the men and women who built communities throughout southwestern Ontario. “I really believe that history informs who we are now,” she said. “It's always a living entity. History is not something that we just look at from the rear-view CONTINUED TO PAGE 5
(CONNOR LUCZKA PHOTO)
On a particularly foggy Valentine's Day morning, Sydney Touzel began her charity run from Little Falls Public School to Optimism Place in Stratford — a run that ended with a $12,606.25 cheque being presented to the local women's shelter. For more on Touzel's story, visit https://tinyurl.com/yhzzat94.
Despite sector challenges, Accumetal commits to $9.3 million expansion
CONNOR LUCZKA
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Despite the challenges that have faced the sector this past year, Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma says there has never been a better time for manufacturing in the city. “When I think about manufacturing across Ontario, second quarter we saw a loss of 25,000 jobs in manufacturing,” Ritsma said. “We didn't see that in our area. We didn't see that in Stratford and area. We have the lowest unemployment in Ontario currently, which is a curse at times, but certainly in our last numbers we saw manu-
facturing leading the way with regards to increased employment.” Ritsma made those remarks on Feb. 13, during a provincial funding announcement at Accumetal Manufacturing Inc. As the mayor said, the company is just one example of the continued success of the local sector (which makes up about 60 per cent of the city’s economy). The local metal fabrication company announced a $9,330,438 investment to expand its facilities in Woodstock and Stratford and increase overall manufacturing CONTINUED TO PAGE 2