All of East Elgin Secondary School’s competitive fall sports teams have now been sidelined after losses in post-season playoffs. Colbie Farr, in picture, of EESS’s Junior girls basketball team kept the ball away from a Lord Dorchester Public School defender during a Southeast AA quarterfinal at EESS Thursday, Oct. 31. But the team went down to defeat 34-29 at the…

Madi Wiebe of East Elgin Secondary School shot for the Woodstock Huron Park hoop during a Junior girls basketball game on Wednesday, Oct. 23, their last of the regular season. EESS won 39-19 to finish the season with a record of seven wins and one loss, putting it in second place in Thames Valley Southeast in a tie with Parkside…

Elementary schools from the region competed at a cross-country meet at Steen Park in Aylmer on Wednesday, Oct. 9. Left picture, Paisley Bakker, Gr. 7, of Immanuel Christian School led the way up a steep slope in the girls Senior 2.5-kilometre cross-country race. She took the gold medal in that event. The school’s other medalist was Cecilia Saarloos, who took…

The 220 pupils at Straffordville Public School participated in a Terry Fox Run recently to salute the memory of the young Canadian who undertook to run across Canada, despite having an artificial leg, covering the 42-kilometre distance of a marathon every day. Among those having fun along the way were Susie Martens, Gr. 5, left, Melanie Harder, Gr. 1, Sara…

Bill Gheysen of Vienna has been recognized by the Ontario government for over 55 years as a community volunteer through his activities in the Vienna Lions Club. He celebrated his 92nd birthday on Saturday, Sept. 28, as he recovered from a heart attack suffered three weeks before he was interviewed for this story. He considers the greatest achievement of Vienna…

The annual Aylmer Express Thanksgiving Food Drive kicked off this week, with donation bags included in the newspaper. Donations will go to East Eglin Community Assistance Program’s Corner Cupboard food bank in Aylmer or the St. Thomas Elgin Food Bank in St. Thomas (pictured here with Operations Manager Sarah Coleman, left, and Administration Manager Karen McDade). The campaign comes at…

Joan Branje, left, Julie Therrien, Susie Giesbrecht, Kelsey Henry, Alexandra Hunt, Alex Branje and Christine Frisch of the Aylmer office of Community Living Elgin placed labels onto donation bags for the 35th annual Aylmer Express Thanksgiving Food Drive for East Elgin Community Assistance Program’s Corner Cupboard food bank in Aylmer and the St. Thomas Elgin Food bank in St. Thomas.…

A youngster offered a soothing drink to Jake Bartsch as he competed in a hot-wings eating contest as part of Pepper Fest festivities on Friday night, Sept. 6 at Old Imperial Farmers Market. He had to turn down the offer because, had he taken the drink, he would have been disqualified. For more photos of PepperFest, see the Sept. 11…

Lauren Green, left, mother-in-law Kim Green and Lauren’s daughter Ruthie, 9, stood beside motorcycles owned by the late Kenny Schlimm and Ian Daniel at the conclusion of an annual DG Custom Cycle ride in memory of the two men at Branch 254, Royal Canadian Legion in Port Burwell on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 24. A total of 195 motorcyclists participated, raising…

Rose Birdsell, left, and Paul Weir of Malahide brought their 1929 Ford Model A, as they do almost every week, to the Monday night car show at Canadian Tire on John Street North in Aylmer on Aug. 26. Mr. Weir said he bought the car three years ago at an estate sale after a long search. The body, fenders and…