May is Better Hearing Month FREE Hearing Tests* & Workshops Call for Details | ELMIRA 519-669-4425 | The Clock Tower Wellness Centre
*
SAVE UPTO $2400 OFF SAVE $1000 OFF 0% A ROGER FM SYSTEM
A SET OF HEARING AIDS select styles
Financing Available*
05 | 05 | 2016 VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 17
LIFE RECIPES FROM THE ARAB-ISRAELI COOKBOOK ARTS PAGE 23
COMMENT PAGE 8
DUFFY AFFAIR JUST ONE OF SENATE’S LOWLIGHTS
www.OBSERVERXTRA.com
ON THE RUN AT REGIONAL TRACK MEET
EDSS’ Braxton Holland sprinted to a 10th place finish out of 79 athletes in the junior boys’ 100-metre dash at the annual Track Wars in Cambridge on Apr. 29, where Elmira District Secondary School was one of 49 schools competing. See page 11 for details.
MennoHomes breaks ground on affordable housing project in Elmira
WHITNEY NEILSON POLITICIANS AND COMMUNITY SUPPORTERS ceremoniously turned some soil last Friday at the official ground-breaking ceremony for the future MennoHomes affordable housing project in Elmira, marking the beginning of its construction. Occupancy is slated for the spring of 2017 for the building which will be located on the same property
as Woolwich Community Services on Church Street at Memorial Avenue. They’ve raised $525,000 in donated dollars since October when they launched their capital campaign. The group needs $1.7 million in donations to complete the $3.1 million project. MennoHomes executive director Dan Driedger addressed the crowd gathered around the former site of Procast Foundries. “This site has been look-
[WHITNEY NEILSON / THE OBSERVER]
ing like this for many, many years and I know there’s a lot of people in the Elmira area who are excited about the fact that Woolwich Community Services is here with the Lions Resource Centre and that we are also now going to be able to have a spot right beside them responding to a very urgent need in Elmira for affordable housing,” Driedger said. He explained in order to HOUSING | 4
Open 7 days a week M-F: 7-7, Sat 8-4, Sun 9-4
Showroom, Retail & Commercial Sales: 650 Weber St.N.Waterloo@ Benjamin
519.888.9992 www.StoneLandscapes.ca