Happy Holidays From The View (Featuring the Welland United Quartet, circa 1951)

I never intended to stop writing The Waterfront View. Yet it's been nearly four months since I did. It happened gradually as a result of a number of factors, all of which amounted to a lack of energy and time to devote to any kind of writing. A lot has changed in my life since then - some for the better, and quite a bit for the worse - but I'm back. I've received some encouragement to keep writing from a few people (if you're reading this, you know who you are). And I've also been feeling slightly inspired lately. Perhaps it's the magic of the holiday season at work.

I've always felt that Welland is at its most beautiful in the winter. There's something about the snow that makes everything around here a little more picturesque - the old buildings, the parks, you name it. The frozen canal is a beautiful sight, and I always enjoy seeing the little ice-fishing tents spring up as the middle of winter approaches. The Main St. Bridge was lit up in a pleasing array of red, green, and white the other night as well - a pleasant reminder that Christmas is fast approaching

Then, of course, there are the Christmas light displays shown on houses across the city. Welland's official Winter Lights Tours are over (I had the pleasure of helping to host one), but that doesn't have to stop you from driving around to see them on your own. There's a great display on Thorold Road that's synced up to a festive radio station, and an incredibly blinged-out house on First Avenue. There's also a nice one on Colborne Street in Dain City, for anyone who passes by my way. It's always been a tradition in my family to drive around town to see the lights, and it's a great way to boost your holiday spirit.

Yes, Christmas time is a great time of year in my city. But as I searched my collection for some classic Welland Christmas items to share, I found I had none. I've got recordings of the Rose Parades going back to 1988, but no Santa Claus parades. Lots of Christmas movies recorded off TV in the '80s, but none with local ads. I don't even have the Seaway Mall's Chirstmas Album that came out in the late '70s. (The artists featured aren't local, so it's not a big loss.) 

It took a while, but I did come up with something: an old 78 featuring two songs by the Welland United Quartet, a forgotten church group. The record contains two hymns, 'Steal Away' and 'Were You There.' It dates to May 1951 according to the label. The members of the Quartet, as credited, are E. H. Hamre, C. H. Varley, L. H. Thornton, and J. T. Cawthorn, and the musical accompaniment is by Mrs. L. H. Skinner. The recordings seem to have been done outside of a proper studio environment, but it's good enough to listen to. Though they are not really 'Christmas' songs, these two tracks are sure to please anyone who adheres to the true meaning of Christmas - and hopefully, anyone who just likes a bit of local history!

Criminals On The Loose

Things seem to be changing here in the peaceful hamlet of Dain City - and I don't like it one bit.

I'm referring to the recent rash of crimes and disturbances we've been hearing about in the local news. It started out with the guys who broke into someone's backyard to throw a drunken pool party. Then we heard complaints about some kids on bikes blaring their music late at night, which is hardly a crime, but nonetheless goes against what we're used to in this area. Then there was the incident that personally affected me: when my mother's 30-year-old bicycle was stolen from inside a locked apartment building, apparently by someone who must have had a key.

You might wonder why I'm calling two actual crimes and one minor annoyance a "rash," but think about how often we hear about this stuff going on in Dain City. Other than the big lockdown that occurred two months ago today, I can't remember the last time anything even remotely criminal made the news in good old D.C. This area just has a reputation as a quiet, peaceful, and safe place to live, while Welland (sadly) isn't always viewed in that same light. 

Keep in mind that those three incidents I mentioned are just the ones that made it to the top of the Dain City Facebook group. There are others that you don't hear about. I myself have had some issues with a bunch of kids (younger than myself) on bikes in the Old Subdivision, who get a kick out of chasing whoever walks by and yelling what I'll call 'unkind remarks' at them (fill in the blanks). Being a paperboy (it's easy money), I've run into them ever since I started with the Tribune a couple of years back. We even filed a report after they tried to make off with my cart and its contents, including my house keys, but nothing ever came of it. Again, 'attempted petty theft' isn't really much of a crime, but it's out of the ordinary.*

* Tangent: While I'm on the subject of the paper route, I can't begin to count the number of times I get a strong whiff of marijuana from a passing car or a nearby house when I'm out doing my morning deliveries. We might be pretty close to legalization, but for the moment, pot is still an illegal drug, unless you have a medical permit, and I'm quite certain these people do not. Now, we all know where people get illegal drugs from. I am aware of many of the drug dealers who are active in Welland, and I don't know any who only deal in the "softer" stuff like cannabis. It makes you wonder how many degrees of separation are between the harmless Dain City tokers who enjoy a joint on the way to work, and real criminals. They might be closer together than you would assume.

It's not just Dain City that's being affected, either. According to the NRP, all of Welland is seeing an increase in some types of criminal activity (namely, thefts) when compared to last summer. They said the increase is not significant enough to really call it a trend, which seems like PR-speak for "the increase is there, but we're not putting any additional resources into it," if you ask me. But what do I know.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that there have been some thefts in Welland as of late. That's normal. Welland is a decent-sized city, and decent-sized cities have crime. Dain City, though, is not really a city at all. Dain City is a place where people leave their garage doors open to give their neighbours easy access. A place where people leave their dogs out when they're not home, and the dogs are friendly to passersby. A place where the owners of the local corner store know you by name. You get the idea.

But if this kind of stuff keeps making the local news, that reputation is at risk. We could lose our status as Welland's safe haven, the peaceful hamlet, the quiet little town where nothing ever happens. That could all go down the drain. Reputations can be destroyed in an instant, and it won't take a murder to drive people away from here. All we need is one thief, one drug dealer, one serial trespasser even, and the retirees that make up the larger part of our population could start fleeing to Wainfleet's cottage country, or wherever else. And then where will we be?

Quebec or Welland?

Note: The following post is not meant to be taken 100% seriously. To the fine people of Quebec: je t'aime beaucoup.

Those who know me personally, and those who pay close attention to my online presence, will know that I've just returned from spending a month in Quebec in an attempt to pick up French. While there, I kept an eye out for things that reminded me of home, and for things I'd like to see implemented back here. Some of the things I found were surprising, while others were exactly what I expected. 

I suppose there's no better way to restart the Waterfront View than to share my findings. Here are the ways Quebec City is ahead of us:

• Quebec has better tourism. Granted, they have a bit more to show off than we do, what with their European-looking streets, incredibly old buildings, and a military fort smack-dab in the middle of the tourist district. But they also know how to take full advantage of what they've got in order to rake in those tourist dollars. Not a single opportunity seems to have been missed in the entire city. In contrast, many of Welland's historical buildings are unappreciated and deteriorating, and our biggest asset - the Canal - is taken for granted.
• Their murals are in better shape. Quebec City (and the rest of the province) is full of murals, and all of the ones I saw were in excellent condition. The ones I viewed were all created as part of independent community initiatives, and their upkeep was funded by local businesses. Welland's FOA murals do not receive this type of care, and as a result, they are being lost to time.
• Cool street art. We passed under a large highway overpass in the Vieux-Port section of the city whose pillars were all covered with street art murals, each one being done by a different artist. I couldn't view it up close, as we were in a bus heading somewhere else, but I believe it must have been a designated area for such art. I also saw similar pieces of street art scattered around the city.
• Relative lack of urban sprawl. It seems like everywhere you look in Welland, there is another piece of farmland or forest being trampled to make way for a new housing development. This is not the case in Quebec City, because practically everybody lives in apartment blocks. That's what is considered the norm there. According to my professor, you only get a house in Quebec City if you absolutely need the space, or if you have money to burn by doing so.
• Lack of scooter people. Any true Wellander reading this should know what I'm referring to, and I didn't see a single one in Quebec City. They'd never be able to navigate all the hills.
• Finally, strong cultural identity. This one is more of a generalization, but we all know that the Quebecois are very proud to be Quebecois. You never hear that about Ontarians. This could have something to do with the fact that they created an entire dialect of a major world language, whereas our most famous creation is probably bagged milk, or something. But the point still stands.

So yes, Quebec has us beat in some ways. But there were also some things I saw that tipped the scales in Welland's favour. As much as I complain about some aspects of life in Welland, there were some things the Quebecois fell behind in: 

• Appreciation of their public art. For all the nice artwork they had in Quebec City, I never heard one person talk about it - and that's despite receiving a guided tour from a professional tour guide, a guided tour from a professor, and many suggestions on where to go from university students. It seems that the murals are just 'there.' Even if Welland's murals aren't cared for as well as theirs are, at least we have some people dedicated to spreading the word about them.
• Sidewalks. The entire province of Quebec has horrible sidewalks, and I don't know why. The campus of the Universite Laval was particularly dreadful, with large chunks just missing, cracks everywhere, and curbs that had literally crumbled away into nothing. Even in the touristy area of Quebec City, the situation was the same. The most puzzling part of this issue is that their roads, with the exception of the brick ones, were in excellent condition for the most part. 
• Drivers. There are bad drivers everywhere, but out of the places I've visited, Quebec had the worst ones by far. Everyone speeds all the time, and I witnessed pretty much every road-rage inducing technique you can think of. Where the traffic cops are I have no idea, as I only ever saw one police car during my entire stay.
• Fast food. I visited McDonald's restaurants three times during my stay, and each time they got my order wrong, despite clarifying it in both French and English. The one in Welland always gets my order wrong too, but at least they only do it in one language.
• Tourist appreciation. Wellanders (myself included) are always going on about how much we want tourists to come to our city. In Quebec, they have tons of them, as I mentioned before - but you can just tell that they hate them. Sure, they still cater to them, but it wasn't hard to tell that the souvenir shop owners, waiters, taxi drivers, and pretty much everyone else really wanted nothing to do with the dirty English-speaking visitors. I know there are many years of bad blood between French Canadians and English Canadians, but I'm pretty sure the Bajans never had anything to do with it, so leave me out.
• Treacherous roads. You apparently can't drive 10 minutes in any direction in Quebec without coming up to some insane hill that you have to go up, or down, or both. This was especially problematic given that we did all our traveling by bus, and the bus drivers aren't exempt from all that stuff I said about the Quebecois being bad drivers. Even when the roads were flat, there were bizarre cases where a multi-lane, 80KM highway suddenly came to a 4-way stop and continued as a residential road. Even the Quebecois I mentioned this too were quick to admit that their roads are strange.
• Fish and chips. The straw that really broke the camel's back: the people of Quebec do not eat fish and chips. Perhaps that's one long-lasting way of rebelling against the English. In any case, I don't think I could have lasted much longer than a month there with this in mind.

So Welland it is. Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe it's homesickness, maybe I'm just biased, but my hometown comes out on top. Quebec was a beautiful place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Forget about la belle province - the Rose City is where I belong.

On Hiatus

The Waterfront View will be on hiatus until the weekend of August 6th and 7th. I'm spending time in Quebec City to improve my French, so I won't be exposed to the latest events back home in Welland. Rest assured, if there's any news from Welland that's big enough to reach Quebec, I'll still write about it!

Dain City: Warzone

I like to write about what's happening in my community, and in some cases, I've been involved in organizing events which I later wrote up. But it's not very often I find myself in the middle of a major news story - yet that's exactly what happened tonight.

Not since Chad Everett came to town in 1981 has there been this much action in Dain City. Roads were closed, spike strips were laid down, mobile command centers were set up, and officers roamed the streets with guns drawn. It really was like something out of a movie.

Around 6:50 this evening, I saw a Facebook post claiming that at least 2 police cruisers and an ambulance were on the scene in Dain City. I was shocked - nothing ever happens here! So of course, I went outside to have a look. Sure enough, the stretch of Kingsway between Forks Road and the train tracks was blocked off by police, and a roadblock had been set up on Forks Road by Bay Avenue. An officer on foot was redirecting traffic coming in from over the bridge, sending the cars back the way they came. Another officer was instructing the family living on the corner of Forks and Kingsway (the yellow house in the above image) to leave the area. 

The word on the street at that time was that somebody had held up the convenience store with a weapon, and was now on the loose. The ambulance was assumed to contain either one of the store's owners, or a customer who had been injured - but of course, authorities can't comment on that. I watched a K9 officer exit the cruiser shown in the picture and head toward the store, but I went back inside before he entered any buildings.

I went outside a second time a short while later to see that the roadblock on Forks had dispersed. The officer on the bridge was still there, as were the ones parked on Kingsway. It seemed that the situation must have been resolved. I headed back inside to shower.

After that, though, I checked the feed again and found a real shocker. Not only was the roadblock back in place, but the NRP had set up mobile command centers in the parking lot of my building. 

The command centers - three of them, to be precise - were what truly convinced me that this was serious. These vehicles are quite rarely seen in action, and now here they were in my backyard. I watched them from a distance and observed an officer dressed in what appeared to be a bulletproof vest entering one of the trailers. By now, the story amongst the crowd had become more vague - nobody mentioned the corner store, it was just an armed man. The police still weren't giving out any information. I went back inside.

But my curiosity got the best of me, and I checked outside one more time about 20 minutes later. This time, the area was eerily quiet - the police had almost completely cleared the area, and we were in a full lockdown. Nobody was allowed to enter Dain City. Across the street from me, an officer stood holding a large gun, speaking to another officer in someone's front yard. It felt more like the wrong side of Kingston, Jamaica, than a scene out of peaceful Dain City, Ontario.

This time, an officer told me that I should either go inside and take shelter in my basement, or else get out of Dain City for the time being. As a resident of a second-floor apartment, I chose neither, and simply locked and chained my door before settling in for the night.

*

Much later, at around 10:30, the man in question peacefully surrended to the police, and the true facts of what happened this evening were revealed. It was a case of a man in crisis, armed with several weapons, capable of harming himself and others should he have chosen to do so. The command centres in my parking lot were negotiation centres, from which police tried to convince the man to end the standoff without incident. Luckily, he did, and he was taken into custody. The army of police vehicles began to pull out of Dain City.

We knew it was all over when the band at the Dain City Tavern started playing again.

There have been a lot of stories tonight. Some say that the man held up or otherwise robbed the Dain City Convenience before hunkering down in his home. One person told me that he had shot his wife prior to the standoff. Still others said that he had taken a hostage, though nobody claimed to know who it was.

But for now, I choose to forget about all those conflicting stories, and focus on one thing. As the situation finally draws to a close, and Dain City returns to being a quiet, peaceful hamlet, we can all be thankful that the situation was resolved as peacefully as possible.

It's been a crazy evening, and I think we all need a bit of rest. So the rest of the fine folks who live here in D.C. - good night!

Rockin' Out at City Hall

If city councillor Jim Larouche has his way, music lovers might have a chance to see the Tragically Hip live in concert, right here in Welland!

Notice I didn't say they'd be live and in person - the city wants to purchase the rights to livestream the band's farewell concert on the controversial $100,000 TV screen on the side of city hall. Admittedly, it sounds like a cool idea - but does it make sense?

For those unfamiliar with the Hip, they are a rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario, and have been active since 1984. They have released 14 albums, 9 of which hit #1 on the Canadian charts, and they've been honored with 14 Juno awards for their work. Earlier this year, they announced that their leader singer, Gord Downie, had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. As a result, they are performing their final tour this summer. The final concert of the tour will be held in their hometown of Kingston.

The show is to be broadcast live and commercial-free on the CBC's television network, radio stations, website, and YouTube channel. It is also being shown at Hamilton's Gage Park, where event organizers say they will charge admission to cover the cost of the event. St. Catharines councillor Mat Siscoe wants it to be shown in Montebello Park, too.

Here in Welland, Councillor Larouche says "everyone from the region" could be invited to watch the concert on the big screen. He even came up with the (excellent) idea to collect donations to research the brain cancer Downie was diagnosed with. Whether admission would be collected is uncertain - none of the councillors seem to have commented on that. It seems unlikely that charging for admission would work, given the location, but I can't say for sure.

So, to examine the facts: this will be an additional expense on top of the $100,000 the city already spent on the screen. It will already be available in St. Catharines and Hamilton for a fee, and theirs will be in beautiful parks, not on the sides of their city halls. And the concert will also be shown for free on television, so we can all watch it in the comfort of our own homes, free to sing along without disrupting anyone.

But at the same time, it's a great way to get Welland's downtown buzzing with activity. It's a purpose for the giant screen that doesn't involve advertising - instead, it's something people actually want to see. And it could be an awesome way to attract people from neighboring communities, like Port Colborne and Niagara Falls, to come and spend time here. 

So despite the obvious drawback, I'll freely admit that I'm in favour of the idea. I think it's great to see the city trying something like this, and I really believe it might get us some attention from outsiders, where so many other attempts have failed. The fundraising idea is just the cherry on top, at least for me. 

What are your opinions on this idea? Feel free to leave a comment here (or on the Facebook post if that's how you got here) and let me know how you feel about it. Until next time...

Welland's Greatest Trilogy

Many years ago, when I was just barely beginning to take an interest in history, I accompanied my mother to a bank appointment at TD Canada Trust on Niagara Street. As I waited in the lobby, my attention shifted to an interesting-looking green book sitting on the table next to me. The book was about the history of Welland, a topic which I found very enticing, but which I hadn't been exposed to very often. By the time we were ready to leave, I'd made it through several chapters of the book. I recall finding the chapter on the Police to be especially interesting, especially the part where the author discussed Welland's public executions (surely we all have a bit of morbid fascination from time to time.)

For some reason, this book really stuck with me (the whole thing, not just the executions.) I credit it with giving me my keen interest in local history, which I still enjoy reading about. Eventually I began to collect small local items, searching through antique shops, junk stores, flea markets, and yard sales to find almost anything with 'Welland' written on it.

But the one thing that didn't stick with me was the title of the book. And so it was that I spent a large part of my 'career' as a local history collector searching for this book, knowing only the colour of its cover and a few bits of information it contained. After a few years (no exaggeration) of trying to track it down, I finally came across the book by chance, in one of Welland's thrift stores. It turned out that the book that got me into local history was the second volume of Aqueduct, Merrittsville and Welland, written by William H. Lewis.

This is, without a doubt, the greatest trilogy ever written about our wonderful city. Published between 1997 and 2003, the three volumes summarize the entire history of Welland in an engaging way. When reading these books, it's clear that the author cared deeply about his subject matter. Despite the seemingly endless amount of information contained within, none of it becomes boring, and it's blended together in such a way that it flows naturally from tidbit to tidbit. In short, I love this series, and there's no doubt in my mind that these are the definitive works on Welland's history. 

Mr. Lewis himself, a retired pharmacist, passed away in 2012, having lived a long and eventful life. At that time, my Welland collection was at its peak, and I happened to be shopping at the yard sale of another local collector when I heard the news (some time after the fact). It so happened that Mr. Lewis' estate sale was going on the same day. I made my purchases and headed over.

By the time I reached the address I'd been given, the garage sale day was almost over, and I feared that I might have missed it. But the writer's widow, Inez, was still outside. After introducing myself, and showing interest in a 1950s-era German typewriter that was on offer, we got to talking about history. She said that she had something to show me, if I were willing. 

The item Mrs. Lewis showed me was a souvenir flag from the 1939 royal visit to Canada, by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother). She told me that she and her future husband, as schoolyard friends, had attended the ceremony and received the flag. All those years later, it was still displayed proudly in their living room - and in all likelihood, it still is. (I couldn't find a picture of one of these flags online, but a similar one is on display in the 'School Days' gallery at the Welland Museum.)

Mrs. Lewis also had a souvenir medal from the royal visit, which she gave to me before I left. It was given free of charge -from one generation of local historians, to another.

2 years later, after trying for some time to donate my collection to the museum, I sold nearly the entire lot at my own yard sale for far less than its true value. I've regretted it ever since, as I knew many of the items I had could not be replaced. Mere months later, after some changes behind the scenes at the museum, I recieved an email stating that they'd rediscovered my inventory list while cleaning out some paperwork, and they were interested in the entire lot. It was too late. The only item I still had, and was willing to part with, was a 1960s camera case from the Union Carbide factory. I donated that, and since then, I've been able to find very few items of the sort I had collected. 

But I kept the Lewis' medallion, and I always will - a small piece of the legacy of one of Welland's greatest writers.

*

Further Reading:

The Tribune: Retired Pharmacist's Welland History Became Local Bestseller

The Tribune: Bill Lewis Was a World of Information

Obituary

Do the Youths Deserve a New Skatepark?

It's now been 24 hours since I last received a physical threat via Facebook Messenger, which means I'm clearly overdue for another blog post. And what's more controversial in Welland at the moment than the skatepark debate?

The debate's been going on for years between two groups of people - believers and non-believers. It's been dying down in the last little while, but now that the City Council has decided we will be getting the skatepark by 2017, the debate flared up again. Anyone reading this should already know which camp I'm in, so this article might be a bit biased. But I'll do my best to take a balanced look at the big question...

Do the youths of Welland really deserve a new skatepark, or are they just a bunch of juvenile delinquents?

The most common argument I've heard against the skatepark is that the current one attracts too many ne'er-do-wells. We should we build a new one when the current one is apparently full of drug dealers and other assorted criminals? This belief might have some foundation, but I don't think the skatepark contains anywhere near as much criminal activity as some Wellanders seem to expect. I pass by the skatepark on the canal path on quite a regular basis, at all hours of the day and occasionally into the night. Not once have I witnessed anything questionable there at all. 

I can't help but wonder if this belief doesn't come from the old stereotype that all skateboarders are juvenile delinquent types, which isn't really true. Do people just look at a kid with ripped jeans and a flat-brimmed cap and assume he must be a cocaine dealer? Beats me. Personally, I'd be willing to bet that more drug deals take place in school washrooms than at the skatepark. I know because I've walked in on them.

Just to add one more point about that issue before I move on, imagine if the skatepark really was populated exclusively by people on the NRP's Most Wanted list. Mayor Campion assigned Welland's CAO, Gary Long, to choose a location for the new skatepark. It's quite likely that Long will choose a high-profile location for the $600,000 project. So if the new facility were built in a location where people tend to congregate (the current one is a bit tucked away), then surely the crime rate there would drop.

Another big argument against the new skatepark is that the current one has been so heavily vandalized. This is true, and there's no getting around it - the current skatepark is covered in graffiti, and I don't mean the cool street art kind. However, it's not hard to see why this might be. The skatepark, as it sits, is more useful as a canvas for 'tags' than for skateboarding. It's in a state of disrepair and it simply isn't safe to use. Also, its cheap construction makes it quite difficult to remove graffiti from it once it's been put there, and I can only assume that covering it in layers of paint would make it even less conducive to skateboarding on.

Furthermore, before you blame the youth community for this part of the problem, consider the fact that the 2 most recent graffiti-related arrests in Welland both involved legal adults - one of whom was a well-grown man at 31 years of age, making him old enough to be the father of most people who use the skatepark. Though if Welland's most recent gossip is any indication, the other guy arrested for graffiti - an 18-year-old - was also old enough to father some of the people who use the skatepark, if you catch my drift.

In any case, the movement of the skatepark to a more public location ought to be enough to deal with the graffiti issue as well.

Yet another argument against it is the cost. Admittedly, $600,000 is quite a lot for a skatepark, but it's because the city wants it to be a good one. Look at the skatepark in Port Colborne, which ours is supposed to rival, and you'll get an idea of why the cost is as high as it is. And since one-third of the money will (hopefully) be coming from the Federal government, this expenditure will certainly be worthwhile. It's about time the youth of Welland got something new - and the taxpayers aren't even paying anything extra for it (the money's just been moved around in the budget, so your tax dollars are already gone one way or the other.) For everyone who complains that there's nothing for kids to do here, the solution is staring you in the face - why are you rallying against it?

And one more thing. I just have to respond to the argument put forth by Councillor DiMarco at this week's city council meeting. He said he couldn't support the idea of spending so much money on a skatepark when we have roads in need of fixing. Well, here's a question to the masses: if the roads are so important, why on earth did we spend $100,000 on a giant TV screen nobody wanted, and $5.8 MILLION on repainting a bridge for non-existent tourists?

I eagerly await your responses. And please, keep it civil: all death threats should, at the very least, begin with "Dear Mr. Smagata..."

Skatepark Funding Approved!

Breaking news from tonight's City Council meeting - the funding for Welland's new skatepark has been approved!

According to Allan Benner, who is on the scene, Councillors carried a motion to apply for the second round of federal government funding offered on Canada's 150th anniversary. The government is giving out millions of dollars in funding for public projects of all sorts. The same idea was utilized during Canada's centennial in 1967 - that wave of projects gave us Welland Centennial Secondary School, among other things. 

If the Federal funding ($216,000) is not approved, Treasurer Steve Zorbas promised the remainder ($433,000) will still be included in our 2017 municipal budget. He said that building a new skatepark was considered "a high priority" for Welland. 

Though the motion passed, not all of the Councillors were in favor. Ward 4 Councillor Tony DiMarco said there was "no way (he) could support" the idea. He questioned why Welland would use the money for a new skatepark when we have roads in need of repair. (I'd say because potholes don't kill people, but rusted and jagged skateboard equipment can, but that's only my opinion.) DiMarco did state that he might be able to get on board if he had "positive feedback from the community." I leave that one up to my readers.

Councillor Pat Chiocchio, also of Ward 4, said he was in favour of the idea, but felt it needed further discussion. He added that the current facility is "disastrous" and questioned who would be responsible if someone were injured while using it. (Unless there are signs stating otherwise, I'd assume the answer is the City.)

Mayor Frank Campion said that Gary Long, Welland's Chief Administrative Officer, would work on finding a good location for the new skatepark, which will then be discussed by the council. He (Campion) believes that a better location than the current one would be beneficial.

As someone who has been involved with the skatepark project for 2 years now, I can say it's quite likely that we will be approved for the federal funding in this round. Even if not, the improvement we could make with municipal funding alone would be massive. This could finally be the end of the MYAC's seemingly endless struggle to make headway on the skatepark issue. Welland's youth community might finally have a skateboard park we can be proud of, putting us on the same level as Port Colborne, Dunnville, and other nearby communities. It might be a few years later than some of us would have liked, but it's great news for Welland. Now all we have to do is wait and see how it plays out...

Don't Shoot the Messenger

If you pay attention to the news on TV, you might believe that totalitarian dictatorships like North Korea are the only places where writers are threatened because of their work. But as I learned today, it happens in Welland too.

Now, this blog has been controversial in the past. In particular, my post about the giant TV screen on city hall caused a bit of outrage on Facebook, as did my post about the existence of activities for youth in Welland. That controversy led me to write about Chalkdust, the calypso singer who courted controversy for years with his lyrics. But none of that could prepare me for the aftermath of this morning's post about the pregnant 13-year-old girl.

Should I have expected controversy? Yes, I knew it was coming. But I expected the outrage to be directed elsewhere - perhaps at her parents for allowing it to happen, perhaps at the system that seemingly failed her. I didn't expect the outrage to be directed at me. 

People ripped into me on Facebook for writing the post, despite having no idea who it was about, or for that matter, who I am. I've been called every name in the book in the last 12 hours, and accused of a myriad of crimes, most of which aren't even actual crimes. Some of them threatened to call the police on me and have me charged with harassment. They said the cops would be at my door within minutes unless I took down the post. So what did I do? I refused. After all, republishing public information is not, and has never been, a crime. The post stayed up.

Then a real nutball got on my case. It started the same as all the others - the police would be called and I'd be arrested, et cetera - but then it got worse. And this person, whom I believe is the same age as myself or even younger, said that he would do something to me if I didn't take the post down. No, he didn't work for the Italian Mafia (they only operate in the Falls around here.) He just wanted to come show me what's what and have a fight, probably so he could go viral on YouTube. I bet that video would have gotten more than 10,000 views. Still, I told him off and the post stayed up.

Then, the subject of the post reached out to me. She told me to take the post down.

So I took the post down.

Now people are asking why. Well, for starters, she was much more polite than any of the other keyboard warriors who came after me. She only threatened to call the police once. But in all seriousness, I didn't write the post to offend her. Sure, I meant to incite controversy, but I don't want to give a pregnant teenager any more stress than they already have. So I took the post down out of courtesy.

So now that it's all over and done with, can someone please get these online thugs out of my hair? If they don't leave me alone, I might have to call the cops and have them charged with harassment. I hear the police will show up in record time...

General Electric Brings New Jobs to Welland

You know something big is happening in Welland when the Tribune prints its headline in capital letters.

General Electric has recently announced that they are opening a factory in Welland. Known as the "Brilliant Factory," it will produce engines and their components, as well as other equipment. It will sit on the 75-acre Harry Diffin Industrial Park, located on the west side of Highway 140. GE says that the factory will create 150 new jobs initially, and potentially many more to come. Hiring will begin later this year.

The new GE factory will be located on this 75-acre site.

Mayor Frank Campion is calling this 'the biggest news we've had in Welland for a long, long time,' and it's easy to see why. Factories and other employers going out of business seems to be daily news around here - much like stabbings in Toronto or scandals in Ottawa, we hear about them so often that each one is just a blip on the radar. (For proof, look at the "Highlights of Welland's Industrial Timeline" in today's Tribune, which includes 7 factories that closed and 2 that opened.) We've lost Union Carbide, Atlas Steels, John Deere, MMFX, Henninges Automotive, Energex Tube, and Powerblades all within the last 17 years.

But soon we'll have GE, and we known they'll be here to stay. Millions of dollars worth of incentives, Welland's skilled workforce, and a strategic location will keep them here. It's for these reasons that Welland was selected out of 10 municipalities that were initially considered. 

General Electric says this engine will be among the models built at the Welland facility.

Many people were responsible for helping to bring GE to Welland. Mayor Campion says most of the hard work was done right here at City Hall. It was Justin Trudeau who convinced GE to come to Canada 8 months ago, but without the efforts of our municipal government, Welland might not have stood out among the other cities available. Other names, like Chrystia Freeland (Minister of International Trade) and Alan Caslin (Regional Chair) have also been credited for their share of the effort. Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey and Welland MPP Cindy Forster both congratulated our city on the achievement. Forster acknowledged that Welland has been “hard hit for many, many years” and seemed hopeful that this might be a chance to change that fact.

So what exactly does all of this mean for Welland?

Well, 150 jobs might not seem like much for a city of 50,000 people, but it bears repeating that those are just the jobs that will be created during the initial phase of the factory's operation. The GE factory in Waukesha, Wisconsin, which ours will be replacing, has 350 workers - and since the Welland plant will be even more high-tech and modern, it could employ even more people. And that doesn't include other jobs created along the supply chain, selling equipment and offering services to the new plant. The benefits will spread all throughout our city, and many Wellanders could soon find themselves employed by a world-class manufacturer.

Mayor Campion is hopeful that once GE is settled in, other companies will notice and follow suit. "We should all be proud of this achievement and recognition on the world stage and look forward positively to what the future will bring," writes the Mayor. "In years to come I believe we will be able to look back and say GE’s arrival in Welland was a positive turning point in Welland’s economic prosperity." 

Could this really be the beginning of Welland's industrial renaissance? Only time will tell...

Vinyl Record Graveyard

While I was out riding my bike in Dain City last Sunday, I came across some smashed up 45rpm records near the offroad paths at the end of Colborne Street. Since it's a bit unusual to see such a thing I pulled out my camera and took pictures of all the ones I could find. After a while of searching I found one that was still in one piece, sticking up out of a small crevice in the ground. I brought it home, cleaned it up, and put it on the turntable. Turned out to be 'Galveston' by Glen Campbell. After transferring it to an MP3 file, I made it the background music for this little slideshow. Enjoy!

*As an endnote, I went back the next day to retrieve the rest of the records. I'm planning to use them for some sort of artistic purpose within the next little while.

Welland's Chernobyl

Not too long ago, a photo of the abandoned John Deere factory in Dain City (I tried to find the post, but couldn't.) Someone commented and referred to the factory complex as 'Welland's Chernobyl' - an accurate description. What was once Dain City's biggest employer is now being slowly reclaimed by nature, even though most of the buildings still stand intact. I've been meaning to get some pictures there for a while now and today seemed like a nice day to do it, so without any further ado, here is the John Deere factory as it looks today:

And yes, the security phone at the front gate is still there:

Social Commentary

(This is a long one, but it does link back to Welland in the end, and I hope it's an interesting read.)

In Trinidad, there is a controversial figure who has been attacking the government, the media, the news, and nearly anything else you can think of for nearly 50 years. He uses the art of music to take shots at anything that strikes his fancy, and he never misses his mark - his songs contain some of the hardest-hitting messages in Caribbean music. His name is Dr. Hollis Liverpool, better known as Chalkdust.

Chalkdust is a calypso singer who specializes in the field of social commentary - songs that reflect on current events in his home country and around the world. Often, this involves criticizing members of the government, or just going after the government as a whole. It makes for a very entertaining type of music, and it incites a lot of controversy.

Controversy never stopped Chalkdust - he just used it as the title for one of his albums, and kept on going. During the early stages of his career, several of his associates (political renegades for the most part) were jailed, but Chalkdust kept singing. In the 1980s, when his type of music was being replaced by faster and less meaningful songs, Chalkdust held his own among the new crop of artists. In the 1990s he recieved a PhD in History and Ethnomusicology from the University of Michigan, and still kept singing. He still performs in Trinidad and the United States to this day.

The name 'Chalkdust' has a double meaning. The simple version is that it was inspired by his job as a schoolteacher in the 1970s. The deeper meaning is that it refers to the nature of actual chalk dust - once you get some on you, it's almost impossible to get it off. In much the same way, once Chalkdust latches on to somebody, he doesn't let go. Nobody knew this better than Eric Williams, former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, who faced the full wrath of Chalkdust for many years. Chalkie attacked every possible aspect of Williams' life. Even the death of Williams in 1981 did not stop the onslaught.

Yet in spite of his continued lyrical battle with seemingly everyone else in Trinidad, Chalkdust was always well liked. In fact, the people he attacked most often gave him the most respect - Eric Williams counted Chalkie among his close friends. Chalkdust only sang about the negative aspects of his country because of how much he loved his country. It was his way of trying to improve his home, nothing more, nothing less. The people Chalkdust called out in his lyrics never responded harshly, if anything, they were honored to be important enough for him to reference them. The only people who hated him were the ones who were complacent with everything the way it was, and didn't like anyone who suggested changes be made.

So how does all of this come back around to Welland? Well, let's have a second look at the facts about Chalkdust:

• Routinely calls out his government on its recent decisions.
• Never backs down from any kind of opposition.
• Loves the place he calls home and tries to improve it in his own unique way.
• Hated by people who don't like change.

Doesn't this sound like a few people we have here in Welland? It does to me, and there's a good reason for that. Being complacent all the time gets us nowhere. We need to speak out in favor of the things we support, and speak out against the things we don't support. That's the only way to improve the place in which we live. Chalkdust knew that, and that's why he never backed down from his views. Several citizens of Welland know this too, and that's why they do what they do.

Yes, Chalkdust's songs often spoke negatively of the topics at hand. That doesn't make him a 'hater.' If he didn't think Trinidad was great, he would have just left it behind - many other calypsonians did just that during Chalkdust's heyday. Instead, he stuck around and sang about the issues his country faced, so that he would inspire people to make it better. That's exactly what's going on here in Welland, and yet the people doing it here get blasted for being too cynical, time and time again.

So the next time you see someone speak out against something they don't like in this city, don't just dismiss them straight away. Give them some respect instead - maybe, just maybe, they're doing it because they want Welland to improve. 

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Recommended Chalkdust songs to go along with this post:

Ah Fraid Karl (19??)

The Message of '70 (1970)

Seawater and Sand (1986)

What the Hell You Want (1987)

Qualifications of a Politician (1988)

The lowest of the low

There's been a shocking update in the ongoing story of Jed, the three-year-old boy accidentally run over by a lawnmower in Pelham. It's not about his condition - the boy remains in critical condition at SickKids in Toronto. It's about something nobody could have expected: some criminal lowlife took advantage of this tragic situation to rob the family home.

According to the Niagara Regional Police, two ATVs were stolen from the home on Saturday night, while Jed's family were at the hospital. The incident is currently under investigation and no other information has been released as of yet.

I suppose there really is no such thing as honour among thieves, and this is proof. What kind of person could look at a situation that left a toddler clinging to life in hospital, and wonder how they could take advantage of it for their own gain? I can think of many names to call such a person, but I won't write them here. Suffice to say, this guy/gal is low enough to win a limbo contest at the Thorold Jail once they're caught.

Anyone who would like to help Jed can contribute to this GoFundMe page.

Nothing for kids to do in Welland?

My recent post on the giant TV screen at city hall has earned me over 2,000 views in just over 24 hours, which is far more than I was expecting. It has also earned me a huge number of comments on Facebook. Most people seemed to agree with me, but a few have apparently branded me as being against the city council and against Welland in general - a hater, as James Takeo might say. They think I am one of those people constantly complaining about how bad this city is, how horrible the people here are, and especially how there's nothing for kids to do here.

I would like to state, for the record, that I love Welland. I think it is a great city, and I'm proud to live here. That's just my opinion, of course, and if you disagree with it then you're not wrong.

But it is definitely wrong to say there's nothing for kids to do in Welland, and just to prove it, here's a picture of an event for kids in Welland that happened today:

That's the Quaker Road Sports Complex, where the Victoria Day GlowFest attracted countless children, teens, and parents looking for a few hours of fun. The event was run by the Welland Mayor's Youth Advisory Council, with attractions provided by Niagara Inflatables, Youngs Sportsplex, and the MYAC themselves. The 3-hour event was completely free and a good time was had by all.

A game of Bubble Soccer, provided by Youngs Sportsplex, was a big attraction for kids of all ages. Over the course of the event, a huge number of people used the bubbles, and the game continued until the fireworks began.

This disco-themed bouncy castle also attracted a crowd. Just out of frame is the laser tag zone, which I didn't snap a picture of. It, too, was a success.

As an added bonus, Deadpool himself showed up to provide some live entertainment, making his way through the crowd throughout the event to interact with people.

Finally, here's a shot of a local journalist (regrettably, I didn't catch his name) speaking to Deadpool and some of his young fans.

So in conclusion? Say whatever you want to say about Welland. Say you want to move out as soon as possible. Say it's the armpit of Niagara. Say it should be placed just below Gary, Indiana on the list of 'Worst Places To Live,' if you want to. But please don't say there's nothing for kids to do here. Cause that just ain't true.

$100,000 for a television, and $0 for Wellanders

As you probably already know, Welland's city council recently approved the purchase of a $100,000 TV screen to be mounted on the outside of our city hall. According to the Tribune, members of the council enthusiastically supported the idea, with one saying that it would make East Main Street 'a cool place to be.'

This is roughly akin to saying that you are going to make Port Colborne's East Village into a cultural hotspot. But in all seriousness, what exactly will Welland get out of this?

According to the Tribune article, the giant screen will be used "to promote city events, as well as display paid advertisements from local businesses and organizations" - which sounds nice, but only because it's been slightly spruced up to sound more appealing to the public. The more accurate version is that 50% of the airtime goes to Welland Hydro, who paid for 50% of the cost of the screen; while the other 50% will be given to the city to be used as they see fit. The city will then sell blocks of advertising to other businesses at their discretion.

To whom will that other 50% be sold? The focus almost certainly won't be on true local businesses, as in independent ones founded by local people. It'll be sold to whoever gets the city closest to earning their $50,000 back as soon as possible. We won't be seeing ad space given to the Black Sheep Cafe, the new CaribAfrica Specialty Store, or even the venerable Rex Hotel. Instead, my money's on McDonald's, Wal-Mart, and the like - companies that may operate locally, but are hardly 'local businesses' by most people's definition. (If the city proves me wrong on this one, I'll be very pleased.)

But even if the ad space DID go to small businesses, what difference would it make to most of us? The bottom line is that Welland just spent $100,000 - which according to our 2015 city profile is nearly three times what the average Wellander earns in a year - on a glorified billboard. Yes, in a world where we regularly pay just to avoid seeing advertisements, all 42,000 of Welland's taxpayers just paid $2.30 apiece to be inundated with promotions every time they drive by city hall. It's expensive, unnecessary, and if the comments from Tribune readers are anything to go by, it's unwanted. How many Wellanders would vote 'Yes' to such a thing, and voluntarily hand over $2.30 to support it, if they were surveyed right now?

Since this is written from a youth perspective, I'll end with one final point. Just over three months ago, the City of Welland announced that $413,333 in funding they had allotted for the construction of a new skatepark was being withdrawn. Why? Because the Federal government cancelled a $216,667 grant for the same purpose. $100,000 could have gotten us much closer to the goal - we could finally catch up to Port Colborne, Dunnville, and nearly every other town in our vicinity by having a nice recreational area for our teens. Instead, we now have a billboard expensive enough to make the Sunshine List.

That's $100,000 for a television, and $0 for the people of Welland. But hey, as long as Welland Hydro gets to advertise... whatever a hydro company needs to advertise, then it's fine, right?