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01 - FRONT AUG 31_Layout 1 11-08-30 2:38 PM Page 1
18 PAGES, No. 35, August 31, 2011
www.aylmerexpress.com
Express-O-Gram
week.
WATCH OUT FOR THOSE CHILDREN
A short, sharp reminder to our readers that if sum-
mer is almost over, school can’t be far off – next
Bick’s leaves Elgin fields
After this season the Bick’s Dunnville Chronicle on Sept. “We tried to buy the Bick’s pick cucumbers while seated – ones in the late 1960s. then,” said Lena Schulz, Cor-
cucumber sorting plant on 28. label with a consortium of farm- are now a common site all over “They were picking them by nelius’s daughter.
That means that drivers must sharpen their skills Highway 3 east of Aylmer will The jobs at these plants are ers but they turned it down say- the area. Cornelius Peters said hand, one person at a time with These aides made what is
extra keenly. not process or sort any more cu- the tip of the iceberg. The deci- ing it was not for sale. The U.S. he designed and built the first a hamper. That’s how they did it CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
The treasured youth of our community are going to cumbers for the company after sion has a multiplier effect that government has programs to
be channelled back into our educational institutions operating continuously there for impacts many more people in- help them move operations to
over four decades. cluding the sorting plant which the U.S.,” said Jake Peters.
and it’s our job to see that they get there safely. Noth- At its peak the plant sorted processed and sorted cucumbers The sorting plant has been
ing else will do. almost 30,000 tons of cucum- for Bick’s since 1969. run by the Peters family since it
The youngsters will be in a daze of wonderment bers a year for Bick’s. The cu- Demand from the sorting opened, first by Cornelius Pe-
and distraction, the eldest student pedestrians almost cumbers were used for pickle plant employs at least a thou- ters for more than 20 years, and
production. sand families in farming, pick- then by his son Jake since 1994.
daring a collision in a studied disregard of roadway The JM Smucker Company, ing and processing cucumbers. The family has made a great
safety. which owns the Bick’s brand, is “Stretching all the way from contribution to agriculture and
Around the schools we must be acutely attuned to closing pickle-making opera- Chatham to Dunnville it was at industry in the Aylmer area by
a darting pupil or a roadway congested by pedestri- tions at a facility in Dunnville least a thousand families af- running the plant for over 40
and a pickle tank farm in Delhi, fected. Of course some are say- years and through the many pi-
ans and vehicles. cutting about 150 jobs directly ing that is understating it, that it oneering, innovative technolo-
Our rural roads will again be travelled by slow-mov- by the end of the year. At the is much more, but I don’t want gies they introduced, which
ing buses loading and unloading pupils and students end of September 2010 when a figure out there that’s way too changed the way Bick’s graded
with too much on their minds. the plant closures were an- high,” said Jake Peters, owner and sorted cucumbers and the
nounced it hit the Dunnville of the sorting plant. machines they used to do it.
Too often we drivers are busy saving five minutes community hard. Jake Peters said he was The sorting station and plant
that will mean absolutely nothing should disaster hap- “No one knew anything blind-sided by the announce- has seen tremendous changes
pen. about it. No one knew it was ment that Bick’s was pulling out over the years. The way that cu-
A bit slower, a bit more attentive and put that damn coming. No workers had feared of Ontario as were the Dun- cumbers are picked, delivered,
for their jobs,” reported the nville and Delhi communities. graded and sorted by the entire
cell phone down. It’s the equivalent of driving drunk. Bick’s corporation has been im-
SWIMMING – SPORT, HOBBY, LIFESAVER
The Dieppe raid was not the only failure Dad ex-
perienced. His campaign to get an indoor swimming
Police: take care pacted by the Peters family and
the innovations they have intro-
duced.
Cornelius Peters began
pool at the high school here was, too, doomed to fail-
ure. From his childhood on the water in Sarnia and
at the folly on the French coast in 1942, he decided
with schools open working with cucumbers in the
late 1960s, initially for Mathew
Wells in Dorchester, before that
Aylmer Police are reminding ing extra caution, he said, par- operation was bought by Bick’s
swimming was an essential skill. He saw the terrible motorists to take care with chil- ents should remind their chil- in 1967. He started with a single
cost in drowned Canadian soldiers, so many lost just dren soon returning to school. dren about safety rules they acre with his uncle Henry Pe-
yards short of even attaining the beach. But an indoor Officers would be monitor- must follow as pedestrians and ters, delivering to Heinz in
ing “community safety zones” bicyclists. Leamington, in 1965 and then
pool at East Elgin was never to be, for fear of losing around schools in town, espe- Children darting out between jumped to 125 acres the follow-
the precious football field there. cially for speeding and inatten- parked cars or bicycles wander- ing year.
So we took up the challenge with the preliminary tive driving, Sergeant Michael ing across a street without re- He began to innovate almost
planning of East Elgin Community Complex, joining Knight said. gard to oncoming traffic could immediately; where he saw a
Penalties for infractions in result in tragedy, he warned. need or problem he designed a
the committee primarily to see that a swimming pool those zones double during He also urged parents to en- solution. The picking aides –
was at least included on the plan to provide a future school times. sure children bicycling to large platforms on wheels
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 In addition to drivers show- school wore protective helmets. where a crew or a family can
Over $100-million project From left are Cornelius Peters and Cindy and
Jake Peters at the Bickʼs sorting plant on High-
working for the company continuously since
1969. Bickʼs is moving their pickle operations
way 3 east of Aylmer. The plant will not be sort- to the U.S.
STEGH finally gets go-ahead ing cucumbers for Bickʼs after this season after
“Big heart” failed fighter in end
(AE/Darren Breckles)
Ontario Health Minister Deb pected to start in 2014, the proj- About $14.5-million of the to pay 10 percent of the con- Wednesday, Aug. 24, for the
Matthews last week gave St.
Thomas Elgin General Hospital
the green light for a major rede-
velopment, estimated to cost
over $100-million.
ect will include a new 15-bed
regional mental health ward, as
well as, in the same three-storey
addition to STEGH, a new ex-
panded emergency room and
cost must come from local
fundraising.
Elgin County and the City of
St. Thomas are expected to
throw in $4-million each, with
struction cost, plus all the fur-
nishings for the additional
space.
Elgin-Middlesex-London
MPP Steve Peters accompanied
funding announcement, which
he noted would be his last be-
fore he stepped down from of-
fice leading up to the Oct. 6
provincial election.
Parents remember
With actual construction ex- spacious new operating rooms. the rest coming from the public, Minister Matthews to STEGH He was praised by speakers
at the announcement, held in the
atrium of the hospital, as a tire-
less supporter of the hospital
“amazing” Shawn
and its planned redevelopment. In addition to several nieces He had attended professional
The project will also move and nephews, his parents list fights in Hamilton the night be-
all the hospital’s outpatient two other survivors who were fore his death, and slept over at
services into the now-vacant like children to Shawn—his a friend’s in Ingersoll.
first floor of STEGH’s continu- dogs Patsy Cline and Cowboy. He went to bed about 4 or 5
ing care wing. Shawn always loved country a.m., and never woke up, dying
Hospital workers and public music, his parents said in an in- of a heart attack in his sleep.
officials attending the event terview in their home Monday, “He was a physical speci-
cheered the news, while a group and never forgot where he came men, and clean living,” his fa-
of about a dozen supporters of from, even though for the last ther said. No one would have
Jeff Yurek, Progressive Conser- four years he had run a mixed- ever suspected heart problems,
vative candidate for this riding, martial arts training gym in Las though they did run in the fam-
all clad in bright blue T-shirts Vegas. ily.
bearing his name and political He came home in the end, to While their son had become
slogans, offered polite applause. be buried in Delmer Cemetery, a celebrity as a result of world
They occupied about half the not far from Corinth. kickboxing championships and,
seating on the floor of the Shawn attended Eden and in more recent years, training
atrium, leaving hospital workers Straffordville Public Schools winning fighters for the Ulti-
and some dignitaries standing and East Elgin Secondary mate Fighting Championship,
during the event. School. Mr. Tompkins said he’d de-
Liberal candidate Lori Bald- Mrs. Tompkins said, “He scribe Shawn first as “a human-
win-Sands was also there. was an amazing person. He had itarian.”
Shawn Tompkins
MPP Peters, first to speak, a big heart.” He was always looking after
said, “This is an amazing day by Rob Perry
But, Mr. Tompkins added, it people, Mr. Tompkins said.
for me,” and, as his last formal of The Aylmer Express
was Shawn’s heart that failed Shawn would come across
announcement as MPP, “It “He lived 100 lives in 37
him in the end. CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
couldn’t be a more amazing years.”
one.” That’s how Colleen Tomp-
Noting he had been born at
the hospital, he thanked the
provincial government for its
kins recalls her brother Shawn,
who died of a heart attack in In-
gersoll on Sunday, Aug. 14, at
Express closed
funding
STEGH.
commitment
St. Thomas dated back to the
to
The history of health care in
the age of 37.
He’s the son of Jack and
Pauline Tompkins of Corinth,
brother to Fred Tompkins and
on Labour Day
1880s, he said, and the first hos- his wife Tanya, Jackie Van Hap- The Aylmer Express business morning.
pital opened in 1892. That was pen and her husband John, and office will be closed for Labour Display advertisers are asked
followed by Memorial Hospital Colleen, and brother-in-law of Day, Monday, Sept. 5. to have copy to the Express by
in 1924, and STEGH in 1954. Sam Stout. The newspaper will be pub- this Friday at noon.
He recalled that, in the early Shawn is also survived by lished as usual and on sale in Classified ads will be taken
Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews, left, was applauded cility. The hospital has been lobbying for such a project since some district stores late Tuesday until Friday at 5 p.m.
at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital as she announced a the early 1990s. More pictures are inside. 1990s, when first elected as his wife Emilie, a London
mayor of St. Thomas, he heard schoolteacher who he married night, and in remaining stores The office will re-open,
provincial go-ahead for the planned redevelopment of the fa- (AE/Rob Perry)
CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 almost 10 years ago. and in the mail Wednesday Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
02 - PRO_Layout 1 11-08-30 1:47 PM Page 1
PAGE 2–AYLMER EXPRESS–Wed., August 31, 2011
Spitfires start 2011-2012 season
by Darren Walcarius
Aylmer Junior C Spitfires
began their 2011-2012 campaign
with an open tryout at East Elgin
Community Complex last week.
Tryouts are still ongoing for
some hopeful Spitfires as they
then began exhibition play on
Saturday night in Aylmer against
visiting Norwich Merchants.
Several Aylmer and area na-
tives came out, including:
Spencer Roloson, Mitch Rolo-
son, Cody Benner, Brett Haines,
Cody Underhill, Trevor Stewart,
Lucas Easterbrook and Josh
Houston.
The game started out with
some action at both ends of the
ice, until the Merchants scored
near the midway mark of the
first period to open up the scor-
ing.
The Spits responded on a
goal by Brett Haines assisted by
Coy Kulich just past the five-
minute point only to have Nor-
wich bounce right back to regain
the lead a minute later.
The period ended 2-1 in
favour of Norwich.
In the second period, the Spit-
fires fought back to tie the game
at two, just past the midway
point, with the goal from the
stick of Greg Phillips set up by
Cody Underhill.
Norwich again fought back Bayham Mayor Paul Ens, right, joined other adult competitors in each had to down a quarter of a watermelon. Mayor Ens, in ad-
and scored a shorthanded goal to a watermelon-eating contest in Straffordville, Saturday, part of dition to his elected office, is a long-time volunteer on the festi-
take the lead and never looked the hamletʼs annual celebration in honour of the fruit. Adults valʼs organizing committee. (AE/Rob Perry)
back adding one more before the
period’s final buzzer, holding the
4-2 lead heading into the final
period.
The Merchants added two
more goals in the third to solid-
ify the victory for the visiting
squad, 6-2.
Bick’s leaves Elgin fields
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The friction and the tines had a pretty good idea how it had asked them what their in-
Next up still a hard job much more bear- damaged the cucumbers and worked but I had never seen it. tentions were in Ontario. We’ve
The Spits now travel to Nor- able and many families spent were inefficient so Cornelius The hoses ran on a bigger pul- obviously had good relations
wich on Friday, Sept. 9 and are most of their days on them, Peters searched for a solution as ley on one end to make it go with them since 1969 and my
back home the following night making their livelihood and he had done with the picking faster and a smaller pulley at the dad had built several graders for
to host Simcoe at the East Elgin raising their children. Many aides. other end to keep tension on the them. At one time they used ex-
Community Complex with a mothers, including Cornelius’s “When dad had started they hose as it went around. So I de- clusively all of his graders that
special game at 7:15 p.m. wife Mary Peters, had their had the little tiny shaker graders signed them,” said Cornelius he had built.”
Also, anyone wishing to pur- youngsters next to them as they which damaged the cucumbers Peters. Though Bick’s was down to
chase a season pass, mini-flex worked picking or sorting cu- a lot. That’s when he came up The air hoses are run in par- two grading stations from 11 in
pass or Kids Club membership, cumbers. with the Accugrader and that allel by the pulleys in a circular the province at one time, they
please see our website for details Many farmers and workers solved that problem. They no motion, pulling the cucumbers gave Jake Peters assurances that
or sign up at our next home are second- and third-genera- longer had the damage and along a chute through hanging his operation was viable and
game. Cody Underhill of Aylmer Spitfires Junior C East Elgin Community Complex, Saturday
tion, having grown up on the that’s why they changed the chains which straighten them to would be continued which is
C’ya there! hockey team went after the puck during an ex- night. Norwich won the game 6-2.
hibition game against Norwich Merchants at (AE/Rob Perry)
farm and on these picking aides, whole system around. The com- face in the same direction. The why he built the grader. After
surrounded by cucumbers from pany said themselves on differ- hoses get progressively further incurring over $150,000 in ex-
their earliest memories. ent occasions they wouldn’t apart along the chute, dropping penses building the grader, it
When they started operations have been the company that cucumbers of given sizes onto was only used for one season.
at the current grading station on they became here in Canada if six chutes running perpendicu- Smucker’s had made consid-
Highway 3 in 1969 they used it were not for Cornelius Pe- lar to the main chute and into erable investments in buying
graders that were designed and ters,” said Jake Peters. waiting containers for each of 1,500 new plastic containers ,
supplied by Bick’s. The early When asked how he came up the six diameters Bick’s re- capable of holding up to 950
Hills Pharmacy Presents
ones were small with a narrow with these technical innovations quired. pounds, to work with the new
chute that did not process the – particularly as he has no train- The machines he built, which grading system at the sorting
cucumbers very quickly—a ing or engineering education – he gave the name Accugrader, plant.
fraction of what they are able to Cornelius Peters said he spoke were the first of their kind in the “They had just spent, a year
handle now. to a lot of people with experi- country. The principle and es- prior, over $2-million in invest-
Walk Your Way to “When we started they were
tiny little graders. The chutes
were only about 12 inches wide
ence in engineering and listened
to what they had to say. Then he
would tackle the problem him-
sential design are still used to
this day, although there have
been some technical upgrades
ments at the Dunnville plant. So
it did take me off guard. I real-
ized they were revamping and
and they fed into garbage cans.
Good Health!
self. like electronic scales. They were down to the two grading
We had old-fashioned abacus “I spoke to an engineer who speeded up the grading process stations, myself and Tom Has-
adding machines and we had to worked for Ford in some of and increased production dra- kett, just north of Simcoe. But
add it up by hand and make sure their big plants. I kept telling matically. before I had built this $150,000
it was right. They didn’t have him what I was trying to do and Cornelius Peters designed grader last year I was told, ‘No,
electronic scales until the he said, ‘Don’t tell me what and built over a dozen of the Jake, we have no intention of
Register 1990s,” said Cindy Peters, works with the machines, tell grading machines for Bick’s shutting you down.’ And we
Jake’s wife. me the problems. What are you and other customers over the only got the one season out of
Tuesday, Early
and WIN
“I remember working on the
machine and having a little one
trying to solve.’ I learned a lot
from that. Identify the problem
years. He ran the sorting station
until 1993 when his son Jake
it,” said Jake Peters.
Jake Peters has been in talks
September 6, 2011 Nordixx
Poles
in the stroller right beside me.”
The original machines
worked with a series of chains
and find a solution,” said Cor-
nelius Peters.
His daughter Lena said she
Peters bought the operation and
made some further technical
improvements and upgrades in-
with Smuckers to try to recoup
some of the cost he incurred in
building the new grader.
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. parallel to one another with always wondered what he could cluding fully electronic and au- “The whole family is hopeful
tines on them that moved down have achieved if he could have tomated machines and a larger because we have heard the
East Elgin Community Complex the chute, underneath and back gone to school or trained as an grader. Smucker brothers and the fam-
Aylmer around, in a circular motion. engineer in light of all of his “I implemented the elec- ily are good people. So we’re
The cucumbers went through achievements without training. tronic platform scales. Actually hoping they’ll take care of us
hanging chains that lined them “I had guys that worked with a year-and-a-half ago we had and treat us fairly,” said Jake
up so they were all facing the me that said, ‘You know in built a brand new grader for Peters.
same direction. Then they were Mexico they do it with hoses.’ I Bick’s pickles at my own ex- He is still using part of the
pulled along over a series of came up with the idea for air pense. So this did blind-side me facility to grade cucumbers for
progressively larger diameter hoses in the early 1970s, ’73 or because prior to building it I had Hartung Brothers Inc. and
slots so that cucumbers of dif- ’74. They were softer and told them my intentions to build hopes that they will take up
ferent sizes fell into their corre- moved the cucumbers along a bigger grader that could han- some of the extra capacity at the
sponding slots and into waiting better with no damage. And I dle the volume better and de- plant now that Bick’s has left.
containers. had a guy working for me that liver a better quality grade. I
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