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Youth and Family Resource Network addresses Council By Bill Chaplin The first of two delegations to address Leamington Council on Monday evening, July 18, was Jenna Foley, Executive Director of the Youth and Family Resource Network, providing council with information about the range of activities and services they provide in Leamington (and countywide). The primary mandate of the group is to provide support for low income families and the homeless. This includes housing support in such things as landlordtenant negotiations, assistance in navigating social services, trusteeship (money management), and life skills workshops. They even have a limited number of residential units that they rent to needy families at 63% of market rate, and two furnished units providing transitional housing for the homeless. Funding for the Network is mainly through the United Way, although they do receive earmarked grants from the Provincial government and a limited number of other small grants and donations. The presentation to council was not a request for money, however. Rather, it was an invitation to get involved: their board of directors has no representative from Leamington, and Ms. Foley made it clear that a municipal representative would be welcome. More information is available at www.resourcenetwork.ca and e-mail to jfoley@resourcenetwork.ca.
Pictured here during the official ribbon cutting to reopen the Leamington Marina are, from left to right, Rear Commodore Dave Miller of the Great Lakes Cruising Club, Jerry Brown; Commander of Leamington Yacht Club; Leamington Mayor John Paterson; MP Dave Van Kesteren; and Deputy-Mayor Charlie Wright, (SUN Photo)
Leamington celebrates marina grand reopening “Beauty can come out of ashes” By Allison Siddall A large crowd gathered on Saturday, July 23 to witness a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the official grand reopening of Leamington Marina to celebrate the rebuilding of the marina, which suffered extensive damage in the tornado that devastated the area June 6, 2010. Joining in the celebration were people from Leamington and the surrounding area, boaters from Canada and the United States, and dignitaries MP Dave Van Kesteren, Mayor John Paterson, DeputyMayor Charlie Wright, Councillors Larry Verbeke, Hilda MacDonald, Chris Chopchik, John Jacobs and Rick Atkin, Jerry Brown, Commander of Leamington Yacht Club, and Rear Commodore Dave Miller of the Great Lakes Cruising Club. Stephanie McIlroy opened the ceremony with a beautiful rendition of both the Canadian and American national anthems, following which Ronan Oliver, Marina Manager, welcomed everyone in his opening remarks before introducing MP of Chatham-Kent Essex Mr. Dave Van Kesteren. “Leamington is a piece of paradise,” said Mr. Van Kesteren. “I don’t think anything can match up to this. Last year Leamington suffered a tragedy… but beauty can
come out of ashes. We are here today to celebrate the completion of this project and I want to congratulate everyone who has been involved. So many people worked tirelessly. This is a great place, it might just be the best place in all of Canada.” Mr. Van Kesteren was instrumental in securing federal dollars – to the tune of $1.75 million – to help with the rebuilding of the marina and Seacliff Park. Mayor John Paterson noted Mr. Van Kesteren’s quick action in coming to Leamington’s aid: “There are many, many people we’d like to thank for their efforts, and we would like to thank every one of them, especially our MP Dave Van Kesteren who was here the morning after to view the damage… the Minister of State for Science & Technology Gary Goodyear was here within days.” Mayor Paterson also expressed gratitude to marina staff, who showed up the morning after the tornado to help begin the cleanup whether they were scheduled to work or not. “The unsung heroes in all of this is our marina staff,” said Mayor Paterson. “The kids came anyway. Congratulations Ronan, to you and your staff.” Commander Jerry Brown of the Leamington Yacht (Continued on Page 3)
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