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Volume 1, Issue 6
Leamington hits four homicides for 2010
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As reported from Environment Canada www.weatheroffice.gc.ca Harrow AAFC
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For the second time in just over a month, two people have been found dead in their homes in quiet neighbourhoods in Leamington. Mohssen Tannous, 71, and Hinda Tannous, 64, were found at their home at 18 Worchester Avenue early Sunday morning, March 7. Leamington Police released the names of the deceased on Tuesday, March 9. The Leamington Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police Criminal Investigation Branch under the direction of A/Detective Inspector Paul McCrickard are currently investigating the deaths. In a brief statement released Tuesday afternoon, Police stated “there is no concern for public safety at this time.” It was reported that the man’s body was discovered in the driveway in a pool of blood by a passerby. Police got the call around 7:30 a.m. and were on the scene with an ambulance. Upon arrival, the second body was found inside the house. A neighbour walking her dog early Sunday afternoon, not wanting to be named, described the couple as, “nice, just a quiet older couple.” Just over one month ago, on February 3, an eerily familiar scene was found at 62 Bennie Avenue when Miguel Sousa, 39, was also found dead in his driveway surrounded by blood and his wife, Lorena Sousa, 36, was found dead in the basement of the house. These two deaths make four homicides for Leamington in 2010.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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Mikey Moulder, Vice Chair of the Canadian Transportation Museum and Heritage Village, looks back fondly on the 36 years that the museum has brought to life the centuries of Essex County history. The Museum promises to put its best foot forward as it copes with a deficit. (Sun Photo)
Transportation Museum hits bump in financial road By Sheila McBrayne
If you attended elementary school in Essex County, you’ve probably been on a field trip to the Canadian Transportation Museum & Heritage Village, but did you know that this gem in our own backyard is facing financial difficulties? The Museum and Village have been a part of Essex County’s landscape since 1974, growing and expanding from a one-building museum on a 46-acre parcel to Canada’s official Transportation Museum including 25 historically significant buildings on 100 acres of land. Where else can you find the Olinda General Store from 1840; a 1930’s barber shop; the 1854 Tecumseh Train Station; a 1920s Supertest gas station; the EMS museum; and the ancestrial home of Jack Miner? “We’re so fortunate to have all this here in Essex County, but we are not financed by any of the local municipalities. We are a registered non-profit charity,” explained Mikey Moulder, Vice Chair of the Museum Board. The Museum and Village have a yearly operating expense budget of about $400,000 and have annual revenues of $350,000. Do the math. “We can’t keep operating at a loss. It’s only about $50,000 a year, which isn’t a lot if it was divided up,” said Moulder. The Museum receives $29,000 per year from the provincial government and $10,000 federally to subsidize summer student wages. The Museum also does not pay property taxes. “Everything else, we raise ourselves. We have car shows, antique shows and we rent out our hall
for receptions and special events,” said Moulder. “There’s no money in museums; it’s all our side businesses that allow us to operate the museum and heritage village,” said Moulder. “We rely so heavily on our volunteers and they are so crucial to our success. From teens to retired seniors, everyone helps out, but volunteers are getting to be fewer and fewer,” said Moulder. “I can’t help but think where we might be, or not be, in 10 years with no funding and fewer volunteers… It’s the old adage of you don’t know what you have, until it’s gone,” said Moulder. The Heritage Village aspect of the Museum has long been a destination for school children. “Children spend time in a one-room school house and experience what school was like in 1907… I have my willow switch (I don’t really use it). It’s quite authentic – backs straight, feet flat on the floor and lefties have to sit on their left hand and write with their right hand,” explained MaryAnn Perry, Education Co-ordinator. “I wear period dress and encourage the kids to dress in costumes as well… This is a chance for them to experience what they learn in school,” she said. The Grade 3 curiculum includes Pioneer Days. “Instead of reading about how the Pioneers made so many things, we actually make hand-dipped candles and homemade butter. You can tell them, but this is living it,” said Perry. “There’s no where like it… We’re a miniature Henry Ford Museum right here in Essex County. If we didn’t exist, where would our automotive footprint be? There is a ton of history here, where can you find this? What we do is (Continued on Page 3)
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