2020 YEAR IN REVIEW: Nov - Dec

November

• Banners featuring veterans will soon be seen hoisted above the streets of Shelburne, as part of the annual Hometown Heroes Remembrance Day initiative. 

In the lead up to Remembrance Day (Nov. 11) the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 220 will be flying the annual Hometown Heroes banners that feature the names, ranks, and photos of Canadian veterans. 

• As Remembrance Day draws nearer, you won't be seeing veterans and volunteers in Shelburne offering poppies in-person. 

Shelburne Royal Canadian Legion Branch 220 has announced that they won't being doing their in-person poppy offerings in the lead up to Remembrance Day, instead donations will be gathered through drop boxes.

Dean Schroeder, chair of the Poppy Fund at the local Legion, told the Free Press that the decision to stop in-person poppy offerings for 2020 was made as a way to protect volunteers and community members. 

• Dufferin County will be receiving $724,966 from the Ontario government as part of the Social Services Relief Fund (SSRF), announced Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones last Thursday (Oct. 29).

• They didn't march from the local Legion, the colour party was limited to three, and no cadets stood guard around the cenotaph, but the Shelburne Legion continued with their Remembrance Day ceremony honouring veterans who fought and died in the line of duty, with a scaled back approach amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are being honoured the way we should have been,” said Lesa Peat, President of the local Legion about Wednesday's service. 

The small group of 25 invited veterans, Legion members, and a few of the Town's officials gathered outside of Shelburne's Town Hall on Nov. 11 to take part in the scaled-down Remembrance Day ceremony. 

Despite the scaled-down ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions, local veteran Willis Potter, who served in the military from 1953 to 1956 called the ceremony “beautiful.”

• Shelburne Town Council are continuing with their discussions on a potential budget for 2021, with the presentation of the public portion of the 2021 draft budget during their most recent meeting on Monday (Nov. 9).

Carey Holmes, the Town's treasurer noted that the estimated amount to be raised by taxation this coming year is a shade over $7.8 million, which is calculated by taking the total general operating expenses for 2021 of $10.3 million and subtracting expected revenues of around $2.5 million. 

• New data released from Statistics Canada indicates that the Town of Shelburne's overall crime rate for 2019 is down, despite an increase in the community's violent crimes severity index. 

The Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS), a division of Statistics Canada, released their annual Crime Severity Index (CSI) data on Oct. 29. 

The Crime Severity Index (CSI) data, which was introduced in 2009 looks at an areas overall crime, violent crime, and non-violent crime. 

According to Statistics Canada CSI is a, “measure of police-reported crime that reflects the relative seriousness of individual offences and tracks changes in crime severity.” 

The report noted that Shelburne's overall crime rate decreased more in 2019 than the national average, with the town's crime severity index dropping 4 percent compared to the 5 percent national average. Shelburne's crime severity index for 2019 was the lowest for all municipal police services in the province with the population between 5000 and 15,000. 

• Shelburne's local Legion has announced that through its annual Poppy Fund Campaign, they were able to raise $16,500 for veterans in the community, making 2020 one of their best turnouts for donations. 

The donations raised through the fund go directly to veterans within the community and provide a number of services.

Despite the restrictions from COVID-19 the legion surpassed their total of $14,000 raised in 2019. 

• A report investigating “unfounded” allegations of misconduct and bullying by Melanchthon Mayor Darren White towards a council member has now left the Township of Melanchthon with a bill for over $2,200. 

This complaint caused an unnecessary expenditure of taxpayers' money,” wrote Guy Giorno, the Integrity Commissioner for the Township. 

• After months of work creating a platform fostering inclusion and equity, the Dufferin County Canadian Black Association (DCCBA) has official launched – the first of its kind within the County of Dufferin

Dufferin County Canadian Black Association was registered as an organization back in June by Shelburne resident, Alethia O'Hara Stephenson. O'Hara Stephenson said the organization forms a platform “where we can collectively have a voice for the black community.”

December

• An outbreak of COVID-19 has been declared at Headwaters Health Care Centre by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH). Headwaters Health Care Centre confirmed through a press release last Friday (Dec. 4), that four positive cases of the virus had been identified in the hospital's medical in-patient unit (F wing).

• An announcement that Dufferin County will be officially moved into the “Red” zone of the COVID-19 framework came Dec. 11, following Dr. Mercer's recommendation.

Dufferin County officially moved to the “Red” zone on Dec. 14.

• Ontario will be entering another province-wide lockdown come Boxing Day, as numbers of COVID-19 cases continue to rise daily and the Province looks to prevent inundating hospitals and intensive care units (ICU) with sick patients, made by Ford during a press conference on Monday (Dec. 21). 

The lockdown will remain in place until Jan. 23, 2021 for health units in southern Ontario. 

Regions in northern Ontario, where numbers of COVID-19 are significantly lower, lockdown ends on Jan. 9, 2021. 

• The Shelburne Wolves Peewee AE team were robbed of what was most likely their final game last spring when the COVID-19 pandemic brought a sudden end to the season. 

They were leading their final series 2-0 over the Strathroy Jr. Rockets team #2 when they got the word the series would not continue. 

Confident of a win and a championship, the series cancellation was a bitter disappointment to the team who had worked hard all season. 

To finalize the year, the OMHA declared the last teams standing to be co-champions. 

Team coach, Jon Hare, said he considers his team the champions as they were on the right track to take the win, the series and the championship. 

The Wolves had a 15-2-3 regular season record and followed up with a 4-1-1 record in playoffs. That's an outstanding record for a team that had only ten skaters and two goalies.

• Three schools in Shelburne have now reported positive cases of COVID-19 as the number of cases in Dufferin County continue to rise

• Family Transition Place (FTP), will be commemorating the victims of the Montreal Massacre and women who have lost their lives to femicide this year, through a virtual vigil on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Dec. 6).

The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women has taken place annually on the anniversary of the 1989 Montreal Massacre for the last 29 years. The day honours the 14 women murdered and 14 women injured by lone gunman Marc Lepine, when he attacked an engineering school affiliated with the University of Montreal, which he said was a “fight against feminists.”

• Melanchthon Mayor Darren White has been elected as the 144th Warden of Duf-ferin County – marking his fourth term as the Head of Council.

White was elected to the position, which he will hold for the 2020/2021 term.