With the FIFA World Cup (literally) kicking off today (Friday) and various other events both on and off-campus, there’s plenty of local activities you can consider pursuing this weekend.

If you missed the FIFA World Cup Watch party from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. this Friday, you can also save the date for the second watch party on Wednesday, June 24 at 3 p.m., and watch Canada take on Switzerland. UW undergrads can snag free snacks at the event with a WatCard. Make sure to RSVP on the event’s WUSA page. 

Also taking place on campus this Friday, June 12 between 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. is the Crafts4Charity club’s Glass Painting Workshop, where you can get creative painting glass-like panels. Proceeds from the event will be going to charity. The cost to attend is $4 plus harmonized and tickets can be purchased on the event’s WUSA page.

On Saturday, June 13, the UW Cooking Club is hosting three cooking class sessions. Don’t worry if you’re not a pro chef; all skill levels are welcome! You’ll be making mushroom risotto, lemon pepper chicken, glazed vegetables, and peach sangria. Food and ingredients will be halal. The sessions will occur from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Admission costs $24 + HST. Tickets can be purchased on the event’s WUSA page. 

You can also head to Uptown Waterloo this Saturday, June 13, for Open Streets, a free event from noon to 6 p.m. at the Waterloo Public Square and Willis Way. Registration is not required. There will be live music, dance battles, and an art market with over 15 vendors. You can also get a glitter tattoo or a hand-drawn caricature from an artist. Kung-Fu, circus, and flamenco performances will also take place. Full event details can be found on the City of Waterloo event page.

Finally, this Sunday, June 14 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., you can unplug and get outdoors. Mental exercise and wellness group Mind Club is hosting a ‘Touch Grass’ walk along Waterloo Park. The walks are meant to be phone and AI-free, offering a chance to connect with like-minded individuals while improving your well-being. Registration is free and can be done via the Mind Club event page.

WELLINGTON COUNTY – The county faces a nearly 50 per cent jump in garbage collection costs if council votes in favour of a new contract with Waste Management later this month.

Wellington County staff are recommending the company be awarded a seven-year, $35-million contract for automated, cart-based collection starting in the summer of 2028.

That’s up almost 50%, or $11.42 million, from the county’s current $23.3-million garbage collection contract with Waste Management, which is set to expire next year.

“Every seven to 10 years we do a new curbside collection contract, and on every one of those there's been significant increases,” solid waste services manager Das Soligo told the Advertiser, adding the county had expected a 20% increase.

The current contract was signed pre-COVID, before the cost of seemingly everything ballooned, Soligo noted.

The loss of purchasing power from a devalued dollar is felt on costlier trucks – the county’s contract requires new collection vehicles – and the natural gas to run them. (Because the trucks take up to two years to be delivered, the county would extend its current contract a year to bridge the 2027-28 gap.)

The cost of labour is also up, Soligo added, though automated collection relies on fewer workers.

“We’re receiving market-rate pricing,” Soligo said. “That’s just the going rate … with inflation, the cost of everything has increased.”

The county explored different models for the new contract: continuing to hand-bomb yellow garbage bags, collection with a robotic arm to grab carts, variations of four- and five-day pickup schedules, and bulky item pickup options.

Waste Management was one of five bidders for the new contract, along with Miller Waste, Environmental 360 Solutions, GFL and Emterra.

Miller Waste came in with the lowest bids among the companies in each scenario, except automated, four-day collection, which is what county staff is recommending to avoid disrupting the current pickup schedule.

In that case, Miller Waste’s quote was $5.59 million annually — $628,777 above Waste Management’s $4.96-million quote.

Solid waste committee chair Steve O’Neill said the industry is shifting toward cart-based, automated systems with few companies willing to provide dedicated manual collection.

(With a lack of space for carts, manual collection would continue in the county’s 14 downtown cores, but with black bags.)

O’Neill said the committee was “shocked” at the quotes received for automated collection, let alone the $5.4- to $11.6-million bids for manual-only collection.

“Nobody wants to do manual,” O’Neill said.

“We’re being dragged down that (automation) path whether we like it or not.”

The county sees the move away from manual labour, which can be prone to absenteeism, injury and service disruptions, as a positive.

O’Neill said the five-member solid waste committee was happy overall with the recommendation. He noted residents would receive yard waste pickup coinciding with regular collection days, and be able to toss pet waste in organics bins.

Every municipality must endure change, and though it’s tough for residents, O’Neill said, “people are adaptable.”

Soligo is recommending throwing away the current user-pay system in which residents purchase yellow garbage bags, as collection companies move away from relying on manual labour, and because of complaints about bag costs and quality.

“The user-pay program has proven to be unpopular with some residents who perhaps do not understand or appreciate the waste diversion incentive that it is supposed to represent,” Soligo stated in a report to the committee.

The user fee system, which generates $2.24 million annually, aims to distribute costs of the system onto those using it, according to Soligo.

“Many residents see the program as a costly fee for bags and a number have complained over time, requesting that these costs be embedded in taxes,” Soligo stated.

He added eliminating the bags “would be a welcome change by many residents.”

But it also means the loss of user-fee revenue, so county staff is recommending taxpayers still pick up the tab.

Even after $741,800 in county savings from scrapping the bag program, taxpayers would be on the hook for $1.5 million in the budget.

“People are paying for it one way or another,” Soligo said, adding solid waste services relies on the cash.

Soligo suggested most will end up paying less through taxes.

If the average county household produces a bag and half every two weeks (39 small bags) that amounts to $78 per year. Recovering $1.5 million in lost user-pay revenue through taxes is likely to cost the average household less, according to Soligo.

“Of course our treasury department will do what they always do … looking at the whole system and seeing where there’s opportunities to smooth out increases,” Soligo said.

There’s also the $5.5-million cost of new carts for an automated system. Staff are looking at the cart cost spread across a decade – the new contract, plus three years of renewals – though the carts are expected to last 20 years.

Council has already decided to spend a $4.6-million surplus from last year’s budget on carts, should a vote go in favour of a cart-based system.

The $900,000 shortfall for carts could be made up from development charges, debt or through tax bills.

With all costs factored, automated four-day collection comes in cheaper than sticking with manual collection, but it's slightly more expensive than automated five-day collection.

Soligo’s report states a change to five-day collection, with the disruptions it would bring, isn’t worth saving $20,580.

Waste Management’s established routes, systems and staff in the county would lead to a reliable service start, Soligo stated in his report recommending the company.

County council will vote on the recommendation at its June 25 meeting.

Creamy, light, fluffy, buttery, crunchy, crispy—the delight of the first bite into a well-made pastry is enough to make your eyes close, and a smile appear.  

Waterloo Region’s pastry scene is delectable. Here are six amazing spots to add to your pastry-filled weekend adventures:  

Terroir Artisan Bakery (Cambridge)  

Along the Speed River in Cambridge’s Hespeler Village, the brown brick and airy ceilings greet you at your first stop. Tantalizing aromas tide you over while in line—there is always one. This is Terroir Artisan Bakery.  

Open for only a year, it has quickly become a popular pastry staple in the region. The husband-and-wife chef duo, Daniel and Heather Angus, both with ties to Langdon Hall, co-own Terroir. With deep intention and a dedication to using exclusively Canadian ingredients, the sourdough-centric menu transforms monthly to reflect the season.   

Savoury Go-To: Mushroom Foccaccia  

Sweet Go-To: Maple Morning Bun  

Kinoko’s Oven (Kitchener)   

Your second stop is the bright and cheerful Kinoko’s Oven in Downtown Kitchener. The whimsical pink walls set the tone for the euphoric rush you’ll experience after biting into a legendary Mango Daifuku. Owner Aimee Lê uses natural ingredients, with fresh mango and cream filling, the fluffy, soft, and playfully squishy confection that will have grown men giggling with glee.   

Lê offers a variety of Asian desserts which, despite being less sweet than North American treats, hit the sweet spot just right. Keep an eye out for Mango Sago, a Singaporean drink-like dessert made with ripe mangoes and coconut milk, and Salted Egg Yolk Cake from Vietnam. Lê also offers custom cakes, which range from traditional to elaborate cartoon and anime designs.  

Sweet Go-To: Mango Daifuku  

Crushed Almond Bakery Cafe (Kitchener)  

If you haven’t yet heard about Crushed Almond, get excited because your lunch is going to be memorable. Ferah Çağoğlu and her talented team have been attracting hungry visitors since 2022. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, and you have not had feta until you have tasted the feta in the Açma sandwiches—divine. The baklava is the freshest you will enjoy outside of Turkey.   

Savoury Go-To: any Açma sandwich  

Sweet Go-To: Baklava or Pistachio Baklava Cheesecake  

Roux Bakehouse (Kitchener)  

In Kitchener’s Belmont Village, a cozy bakery and grocer are calling your name. From fresh loaves of sourdough bread and focaccia to house-roasted coffeeand locallysourced grocery items, this is a place to sit and enjoy a treat at and then take more to go. They also deliver, which is handy if you find yourself in a delirious sugar coma by this point in the road trip.  

Savoury Go-To: Curry Potato Danish  

Sweet Go-To: Sourdough Cinnamon Buns  

Anna Mae’s Bakery and Restaurant (Millbank)  

Discussing Waterloo Region and pastries without mentioning Mennonite baking is unimaginable, so we’ve saved the classics for last.  

Head to the country for the most fantastic selection of Mennonite baking and homemade meals. They make more than 18 different types of pies, Canadian favourites such as apple fritters and Naniamo bars and sticky Chelsea Buns, to name a few sweet treats—all of which make excellent host gifts for summer parties.  

Savoury Go-To: Broasted Chicken  

Sweet Go-To: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie  

Bonnie Lou’s Café (Floradale)  

Last, and certainly not least, is an Ontario baking staple: butter tarts. The scenic drive to Bonnie Lou’s Café in Floradaleleads to a crowd-pleasing breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot. Bonnie Lou’s is an opportunity to step back in time.  

In the late 1800s, it opened as a general store. A 2009 renovation and re-opening transformed it into a restaurant, thanks to Bonnie Lou Martin. Old post boxes inside the restaurant still contain letters sent long ago, and an ornate original cash register sparks smiles and questions from many customers.   

Today, owner Wilma Bauman and her dedicated team serve hearty home-cooked meals. You won’t see butter tarts listed on their website, but reviews and online forums (and this writer’s happy belly) are full of praise for the sweet tart. 5 

Sweet Go-To: Butter Tarts  

On May 25, 2026, Princess Cinema hosted an interactive screening of The End of the Internet, a documentary exploring the global fight over digital sovereignty and information control.  

Directed by Kitchener-Waterloo native Dylan Reibling, the investigative feature traces internet decentralization from the Cold War to corporate control. Reibling attended the screening to engage with the audience.  

The film navigates diverse geopolitical landscapes—an anarchist squat in Berlin, a technologically progressive Taiwan, a church in Northern Spain, a parking garage in Miami, and an Indigenous village in the Brazilian rainforest. Each site highlights local resistance against centralized corporate and state forces dictating the global flow of information.   

Reibling’s inspiration originated from his work on the Vice TV series Cyberwar, which focused on hacking and geopolitics.  

“That got me very interested in sort of the cutting edge of technology and politics and how technology shapes our social, economic, and political worlds,” Reibling said, adding that a chance encounter with a crypto-anarchist at a conference in the Czech Republic sparked the multi-year project.  

For Reibling, the core challenge of the project lay in balancing heavy structural concepts with artistic storytelling.  

“I’m very interested in the technology and the politics and those undercurrents,” Reibling said. “But I’m also a filmmaker who wants to connect with audiences, so it’s important for me to find cinematic ways to tell a story that sort of compels people further into the story, rather than just dumping facts on them.”  

This thematic tension dictated the film’s visual palette. Rather than applying a traditional look, formal, locked-off tripod shots mirrored rigid technical infrastructure tours, while dynamic, handheld movement submerged audiences in the unpredictable environments of outlier tech activists.   

The film came to the independent theatre through Game Theory Films, but local organizers quickly recognized a deeper hometown connection.  

“We learned that director Dylan Reibling grew up in Waterloo Region and frequently attended the Princess Cinemas,” Sophia Irwin, programming coordinator and assistant manager at the Princess Cinemas, said.  

Irwin noted that the themes felt uniquely tailored to a local audience, given the region’s identity as a technological epicentre. The venue frequently partners with institutions like the Perimeter Institute to bridge the gap between academic discourse and the public.   

“Waterloo is a city of innovation that fosters big ideas,” Irwin said. “While academic spaces are the primary location for learning, film can be an accessible medium for our community to join similar conversations.”  

Among the movements highlighted, Reibling noted how his time with Ramon Roca, creator of Spain’s guifi.net decentralized mesh network, upended his understanding of digital infrastructure. In the film, Roca compares corporate internet control to a monopoly on coffee, noting that while Starbucks is a fine place to get a drink, consumers should never be told it is the only place coffee can exist.   

“For [Roca], real innovation is working cooperatively with your friends and neighbours,” Reibling said. “The internet is more social than anything else.”  

The documentary also tackles alternative decentralized platforms like Urbit, a case study wrapped in political subcultures. Drawing a parallel to the unintended social polarization following Facebook’s creation, Reibling expressed skepticism about whether creators can control the societal outcomes of their code.   

“I’m not sure that a specific technology can be tailored to create a specific political outcome,” Reibling said.  

Ultimately, he hopes the film serves as an educational wake-up call about the outsized influence of tech monopolies on communication, surveillance, and censorship. To enhance the interactive screening, attendees accessed an offline, local server installed in the cinema lobby to download exclusive research materials and deleted scenes independently of the traditional web.  

He hopes the physical experience leaves local audiences with meaningful discussion points long after leaving the theatre.   

“The idea of decentralization is like…you have to pick a point along that spectrum,” Reibling said. “I hope this film tries to inspire people to be critical of the technology and how it shapes their world.”  

FERGUS – He put out a fire with a fire extinguisher. He sprayed water from a fire hose.

He even helped take a door off a vehicle using spreaders, cutters and a hammer to break the windshield.

June 11 proved to be an exciting day for nine-year-old Bryan Ellis, a grade 4 student at Salem Public School who was selected as this year’s Fire Chief for a Day by staff at Centre Wellington Fire Rescue.

He was picked up at school in an aerial truck, was taken to the Fergus fire hall where he was sworn in, had lunch with some firefighters and then had an afternoon full of engaging, educational and exciting activities. 

Fire prevention officer Chris Paluch and Wellington County training officer Charles Hamilton led Ellis through the activities, explaining why and how to do the things firefighters do as a matter of course.

Paluch even invited Ellis’s mother Gillian, and members of the media who were present, to use the fire extinguisher.

“If you’ve never used one, you might not think of using one in a fire situation,” Paluch said as he explained the acronym PASS – Pull the pin; Aim at the fire; Squeeze the trigger; and Sweep the spray at the base of the fire.

Ellis tried on an air tank. It weighs almost as much as he does, so Paluch held it on Ellis’s back. But he breathed in the oxygen and understood that firefighters need this piece of equipment to protect them from smoke inhalation.

There’s about 45 minutes of oxygen in a tank with normal breathing; that reduces to 20 minutes when firefighters are breathing hard fighting a fire.

“That’s our life in a bottle,” Hamilton said.

Centre Wellington Fire Rescue has offered Fire Chief for a Day for three years in conjunction with Crime Stoppers. Students in grades 4, 5 and 6 are invited to draw a fire escape plan for their own homes and Paluch said Ellis’ was the best by far.

“He worked really hard on the escape plan,” his mother Gillian said.

“He was super excited about the possibility of being Fire Chief for a Day.”

Paluch said public education and fire prevention are the first lines of defence when it comes to fires and they visit schools, seniors’ centres and other organizations to teach fire safety and prevention lessons. 

Actually putting out fires is the third step and one they hope they’ll never have to do.

Incidents in Centre Wellington are pretty low compared to other municipalities, but they still average two or three calls per day.

The follow-up fire investigation can also indicate trends or hazards not previously recognized and inform future fire prevention sessions and even different ways of fighting fires.

For Ellis, the best part of the day was taking the door off the car.

“It was very satisfying,” he said. “And having my friends (at school) think I was getting arrested” when uniformed firefighters arrived to pick him up at the start of the day.

Maybe he’ll think about becoming a firefighter one day, he said.

“It was pretty cool.”

FERGUS – By the end of July, driving on St. David Street North in Fergus should no longer feel like riding a wild animal.

But until the work is completed, there will be detours once again.

St. David Street in Fergus is about to close again while sidewalks, bike lanes, landscaping and resurfacing asphalt is completed.

The road will be closed from Garafraxa to Edinburgh Avenue between June 22 and July 17.

This applies to through traffic as well as local traffic, according to a letter sent to residents and businesses in the area.

“St. David Street North (Highway No. 6) will have both external detours (heavy trucks) and internal detours within Fergus during this noted period,” the letter states.

On garbage and recycling days, residents are to put items out as usual. 

“Construction workers will move them to a designated pickup location as coordinated between the contractor and the County of Wellington solid waste services division,” the letter states.

"The contractor will return your recycling boxes to your property. Please ensure your recycling boxes have your civic address."

St. David Street North has been closed in sections for the past two years as the township replaced watermains, sanitary sewers and other underground infrastructure.

Year one, from St. Andrew to Garafraxa, went well, but last year winter weather arrived before asphalt could properly be installed and it’s been a bumpy ride ever since from Garafraxa Street to Edinburgh Avenue.

Crews began installing sidewalks on this section of St. David Street in early May and traffic has been flowing. But installing the asphalt will require a complete closure of the road.

Surface asphalt work will also happen between St. Andrew Street and Edinburgh Avenue, so there will be temporary closures there as well.

Full details are available at connectcw.

ARTHUR – A forest here will be severed from a house, paving the way for a future condominium development.

Municipal planners have no concerns with the severance at 320 Smith St. (Highway 6), but that sentiment is not shared by those living near the woodlot. 

The severance was approved unanimously during a land division committee meeting on June 11, despite written objections and concerns from 25 neighbours. 

The meeting took place in downtown Guelph and 10 neighbours made the trek to share their concerns in person, noting others wanted to be there but couldn’t get away from work. 

The neighbours worked together to prepare remarks read by Louise Dingman. 

Approving the severance would permanently impact the neighbourhood, she said: the forest will disappear and along with it the benefits it brings for wildlife, carbon sequestering, drainage and water absorption, noise buffering, cooling the neighbourhood during extreme heat, providing a windbreak and pollution absorption from nearby Highway 6. 

The forest is home to peepers, frogs, rabbits, turkey vultures, owls and other birds, Dingman said, and in the springtime water flows into a small pond filled with tadpoles.  

The trees include threatened black ash, eastern white pines, sugar maples, Douglas fir, common hackberry, mountain ash, spruce and bitter cherry.

Its one of only two forested areas in Arthur, Dingman noted, and is slightly too small for an official “urban forest” designation. 

Only woodlots at least one hectare in size are protected by the county’s official plan, and though the severed lot is over a hectare, the treed area itself is not.

Neighbours are also concerned about water and wastewater capacity issues, increased density and traffic, and strains on resources such as grocery stores and schools if the development is approved. 

But the June 11 meeting was not about approving the development – just severing 1.05 hectares from an 865m2 lot with a house and carport. The house will remain and the carport is to be removed.  

Van Harten land surveyor Jeff Buisman, representing property owner Shayne DeBoer of Pinestone Construction, said there is no specific zoning or planning policy protecting the forest from being severed from the lot. 

And the severance application has little bearing on the forest's fate, Buisman argued, as “the reality is, [the owners] could decide to apply for any development, whether this is severed or not.”  

Committee member and Mapleton Mayor Gregg Davidson asked if a tree preservation plan would be part of the development application, and Buisman said the owners already commissioned a consultant for one.

Committee member and Erin Mayor Michael Dehn noted the land division committee’s decision is only about the severance.

"We don’t get a say in what happens to the forest,” he said.

But Davidson wondered if the committee could include a condition on the severance application for a tree preservation plan.

Buisman said that plan is included in the site plan application the owners will submit to Wellington North.

Puslinch Mayor and committee chair James Seeley suggested adding a condition for county planners to confirm a tree preservation plan would be required, but other members did not seem supportive and the condition was not voted on. 

Neighbour June Kirk said the people who live at the corner of Smith and Conestoga Streets are concerned that if the condos are built their house will have roads on three sides. Somalingam Prabhakaran asked how his neighbours would live like that.

“They’d just have to become accustomed to having roads on three sides,” Seeley said, as there’s nothing in the planning rules to prevent it. 

Buisman argued it wouldn’t be a road built along that property, but a private driveway leading to the condominium, and a fence could be built as a buffer. 

Buisman and the owners did not answer when Dingman asked how many units the condominium development may have. Seeley encouraged them to do so outside of the meeting.

The owners did not respond to an Advertiser request seeking that information.

Alana Simpson, 17, spoke during the meeting on behalf of neighbourhood kids, who would be “distraught” if the trees and wildlife were removed. 

Guelph/Eramosa Mayor Chris White said while he has “all the empathy in the world” for neighbours’ concerns about wildlife, “the problem is, this is a planning situation, so it has to be based on planning rules.” 

He encouraged the owners to consider the quality of life in the neighbourhood, and how saving some trees would add value to their condos.

White said a tree preservation plan sometimes means “leaving one little maple in the corner,” and he hopes the owners will do more than that. 

He suggested leaving a buffer of trees between neighbours and the development, which he said would “go a long way for community good ... but that’s unfortunately not relevant to the Planning Act.”  

White said, “I’m making a plea, on a philosophical basis, that your intention here be to preserve as many trees as possible, as opposed to clear-cutting because it’s easier to build.”  

In order to move forward with the development, the owners will need to submit a site plan application to Wellington North Township. 

UW will experience a planned electrical shutdown on Thursday, June 11, as Plant Operations conducts electrical work on the northern portion of the main campus.

From approximately 9:30 p.m. on June 11 until 3:30 a.m. on June 12, normal power will be unavailable in multiple campus buildings. These include C2, DC, MC, GSC, COM, M3, M4, CSB, ERC, BMH, AHS, PAC, SLC, OPT, UC, HS, REV, MKV, V1, TH, FED, and QNC.

Several additional buildings, including TC, SCH, GH, CPH, DWE, E2, E3, LIB, NH, PHY, RCH, and EIT, are expected to experience two separate one-hour outages during high-voltage switching operations. The first will occur from around 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and the second from 2:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m.

The shutdown will also affect information technology services within the faculty of mathematics. According to a notice from the Math Faculty Computing Facility, servers supporting MC, M3, and DC will begin shutting down at 4:30 p.m. All computer and server access in those buildings will be unavailable during the outage period.

University administration expects services to be restored between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on June 12, though exact restoration times may vary.

In memory of Savannah Rose Grant Campbell
It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our beloved daughter Savannah Rose Grant-Campbell, (Savey, Sav-Sav, Savey-Rose). Savannah was born on June 22, 2009 at the Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga Ontario. Savannah passed away suddenly at the age of sixteen on Sunday, May 24 2026, just a few weeks shy of her 17th birthday in Erin, Ontario. Savannah attended St. James Catholic high school in Guelph Ontario, where she was an exceptionally bright and active young lady who enjoyed sports as much as she enjoyed her studies. She excelled in playing her favorite sport, rugby, but also enjoyed track & field, basketball, hockey, and swimming. She previously attended St. Peters Catholic Elementary School in Guelph Ontario, where she also excelled in sports, earning many awards in competition culminating with her awarded the Cross Country MVP for 2018-2019. She later attended St John Brebeuf Catholic Elementary School in Erin Ontario, where she was the school’s female athlete of the year for her graduating class of 2022-2023. She also received the Catholic Leadership Award for the same year and class. Savannah was slated to graduate from high school a full year early in June 2026, to go on to study at university with already outlined plans and path to her lifelong dream of being a Neurosurgeon. Savannah had a kindness to her that was probably only surpassed by her compassion. She loved her family, her friends, she loved nature, but her love of animals was unmatched going so far as to name every chicken, duck, guinea fowl, pheasants, goats and lambs that we had on the farm, because if she named them, then “how could anyone eat them!” Savannah was a loving daughter, sister, niece, cousin, granddaughter, aunt, and friend. Savannah was predeceased by her grandmother Pastor Joy Rose Malcolm, and Grandfather Winston Grant. Savannah is survived by her parents, Michael Grant-Campbell and Serena Kuberski-Campbell, her brothers, Sheldon, Joshua, Mason, Cruz and Malcolm. Her sisters Hayleigh, Mackenzie, and Kendrah. Her nieces Malia, Natalia and nephew Elijah, grandparents Richard & Lynne Kuberski and Frederick Campbell. Uncles Ian Grant, Christopher Grant, aunts Andrea Campbell, Angeleta Grant, Natalia Grant and Colette Kuberski. Grand aunts Pearl Francis (nee Campbell) and Joyce Gowie (nee Malcolm). Cousins Lanisha, Kayla, Gabby (Gabriella). Jordan, Troy, L’Andrea, Joshua, Nathan, Matthew, Immanuel, Adrianna, Skai and Hunter. There will be a Celebration of Life at the Meadowvale Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Centre - 7732 Mavis Road Brampton, Ontario L6Y 5L5 on Friday June 19th 2026 from 4:00pm - 8:00pm EST. Funeral Mass to be held on Saturday June 20th 2026 at Saint Joseph’s Church, located at 409 Paisley Road Guelph Ontario N1H 2R4 from 11:00am - 12:00pm. Followed by Internment at 2:00pm at the Meadowvale Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Centre located at 7732 Mavis Road Brampton Ontario L6Y 5L5. Repass to follow immediately after Savannah’s Internment at the same location in the Great Hall. Savannah’s memory will always be cherished by us all.

ELORA – It appears Centre Wellington’s online paid parking system has been hacked.

The township issued a press release on June 11 stating “paid parking, including penalty notice payments, has been temporarily suspended while the township works with its service provider to investigate and resolve the issue.”

Some people who used the QR code to pay for a parking space in downtown Elora were sent to other websites, some with adult content.

The issue came to light at 3:07pm on June 10, according to the township press release.

The township says it is working with its service provider to investigate the issue.

“Based on the information provided by the service provider to date, there is no evidence that any personal information, payment details or financial data have been compromised,” the release states.

In the meantime, plastic bags are taped over the parking meters so people don’t use them.

Comments on the Fergus/Elora Community News Facebook page range from anger to laughter.

Some people see it as an opportunity to park for free and are happy about that.

Others wonder if the entire system has been hacked and if their own information is now compromised.

Asked on June 11 for more information, Centre Wellington spokesperson Hannah Barclay told the Advertiser "the township has no additional information to share beyond what was provided in our recent media advisory."

She added all the municipality's other online payment systems, including those for taxes and dog tags, "are up and running and are unaffected by this issue."

BRUCEDALE – Guelph/Eramosa council has approved a comprehensive speed limit bylaw that will see all roads in Rockwood reduced from 50 to 40km/h.

The decision follows a committee of the whole meeting at which council was provided three options to address speeding concerns. 

Council voted in favour of option three, which would see the limit on all municipally owned roads within Rockwood reduced, and also asked staff to apply the 40km/h limit to the Hamilton Drive subdivision, located off Highway 6 between Marden and Guelph.

According to a report shared with council, the change will require a total of 30 new signs, some of which will be new instillations while others will simply replace old 50km/h signs. 

The total cost of the signs and additional posts is $5,800 with the total project cost being $9,800. 

Council voted in favour of the change with councillor Bruce Dickieson opposed.

Dickieson told council he doesn’t believe that reducing the speed limit will reduce speeding, as “not everyone follows the rules.” 

Beyond Housing’s annual bike-a-thon fundraiser is set for Saturday in Elmira, with proceeds going to support an affordable-housing project in town.

Participating in this year’s Out-Spok’n Bike-a-thon is Beyond Housing’s first executive director, Martin Buhr, who is making this his last ride.

The 87-year-old, who recently underwent a “miraculous valve implantation,” said he is set to complete the 30-km ride, which starts at the Elmira Mennonite Church and goes to the Kissing Bridge Trailway up to Wallenstein and then back to the town. 

If you own a business in the area, Waterloo Region wants you to stand up and be counted.

Over the summer, seven co-op students from the University of Waterloo will be making the rounds and distributing surveys, with the goal of counting every single business currently operating within the region. Whether or not they participate, each business will go into a final report that’s designed to inform decision-making by government and other economic partners.

This is information that isn’t necessarily available through the census or other public sources.

The next batch of recipients of an NHLPA Dan Snyder Memorial Scholarship will benefit from a legacy that followed a few months after the passing of the young hockey player whose name adorns the award.

An event on New Year’s Eve 2003, just months after Dan Snyder’s death at age 25 on Oct. 5, 2003, was the impetus for the memorial fund.

It was two years and six months after he made his NHL debut for the Atlanta Thrashers, having battled his way through the minors and indeed every stage of his hockey career to achieve that dream.

Building the world’s largest crokinole board is an idea that’s percolated for a few years in the mind of Elmira’s Jeremy Tracey. Now, he’s gone and done it.

His 10-foot board, which took about three months to build, surpasses the previous record set in 2022 by the five-foot version belonging to Ted Fuller of St. Marys.

“Willard Martin, the guy who trained me to make boards initially, he put the bug in my ears to make the world’s biggest board,” Tracey said of the inspiration for the plan.

“Are there strawberries ready yet?” That’s the question Ken Hoffman, a strawberry farmer in Heidelberg, started getting as soon as the warm weather hit. 

“Earlier areas of the province will have June-bearing strawberries ready for sale two to three weeks ahead of us here at Waterloo, and that’s quite normal. So every season our phone starts ringing because people will see Ontario strawberries in the store at the market, and in their mind it should all be the same, right? But it’s not our area,” explained the owner of Hoffman Strawberries.

Areas like Niagara have warmer temperatures earlier, ideal for fruit and vineyard production.

“There are all kinds of micro-climates in Ontario,” said Hoffman.

“If you go down to Leamington and Harrow, they’re two or three weeks ahead of us. Even the leaves on the trees would come out earlier in the spring.”

While his berries aren’t ready yet, the season is only a week or two away.

“This is our 34th year of picking strawberries here on our farm,” said Hoffman.

“We have seen the season vary from last year when we picked our first ripe berries on the sixth of June, whereas I remember one year it kept us busy just to get open for July 1.”

Hoffman’s farm has been passed down through generations and has offered seasonal strawberry harvests to the community for more than 30 years. The average start date for picking the early varieties of berries is June 15. This year, the opening date for picking is later compared to last year because of the cold nights in May.

“This year we were so cold and so wet, even on [June 3] I was in the field early at 4 a.m. and it was zero on the ground,” said Hoffman of overnight temperatures.

“Even though it was eight or nine degrees on the dash of my pickup truck, it was zero for my thermometer on the ground.”

A week prior, Hoffman said he was out in the field at 3 a.m. to monitor for a frost event. If ice starts to form, he has to turn on the sprinkler system, preventing the blossoms from freezing. 

“When the strawberry plants are blooming, those little blossoms cannot take freezing, and the difference between the strawberry blossom and let’s say, like a blossom on an apple tree, is that the blossoms on strawberry plants are on the ground, and the cold air always stays close to the ground – you know how heat rises,” explained Hoffman.

“What we’re worried about for the blossoms on the strawberries is what the temperature on the ground is. One thing we’ve learned is we don’t want to be negligent and allow our blooms or blossoms to freeze, because what happens when they freeze is the centres turn black, and that equals no strawberry in that spot.”

With the cold weather behind us, it’s full steam ahead for Hoffman’s green berries to transform into the delicious ripe, red summer fruit everyone’s excited for.

With the start of strawberry season, there are also strawberry socials to look forward to in the community. Hoffman will be supplying berries for the Drayton United Church’s fourth annual strawberry social on June 23 at the PMD Arena. 

Close to home, the Nifty Fifty and Strawberry Social will take place on June 17 at Roger and Darlene Weber’s farm. There will be music and a potluck. Anyone interested can meet at the Emmanual Church in Elmira at 11:30 a.m. Tickets for the strawberry social are $5.

For Hoffman, being able to provide strawberries in the community is an honour, letting him connect with the area and the people who live here.

“It’s been wonderful to see many people enjoying picking their own strawberries or coming to get the fresh-picked berries off of the retail counter, and I think for us it’s really about relationships, and we don’t know the names of all of our customers, but you do remember their faces,” said Hoffman.

“It’s kind of a seasonal friendship, you’d say, but that’s been a real privilege, and I think I use the word honour because you have to earn that right. You have to try to provide quality and value.”

Two Elmira roadways are again included on the Canadian Automobile Association’s list of the worst roads in the province.

This time, the cratered Arthur Street and the once notoriously bumpy Barnswallow Drive were ranked higher than last year as drivers aired their complaints about routes in western Ontario.

Arthur Street South ranked second and Barnswallow Drive was third, whereas last year the two roads were jointly ranked fifth.

Elmira’s Arthur Street South and Barnswallow Drive ranked poorly in the CAA Worst Roads campaign.[ Andrea Eymann]

There are an estimated 1.8 million pickleball players, or picklers, in Canada, as the game continues to be the country’s fastest-growing sport.

Area residents are not immune to this trend, prompting the Optimist Club of St. Jacobs to launch a program to give people greater access to the equipment needed to get in the game.

With the initiative started last year – and additional funding from the St. Jacobs Lions and Weber’s Fabricating – the club purchased three nets at $279 apiece. Woolwich Township then provided two steel storage boxes for the equipment, with St. Jacobs Printery making the signs showing the locations, said club member Megan Despard.

There’s just something magical about mushrooms.

For freshman author Matthew Donovan, who recently published his illustrated novel On the Wisdom of Toads, there’s always been something of an electric allure when it comes to fungi. He’s studied them at the University of Guelph, captured them in botanical drawings, and even learned how to grow them himself.

So when he sat down to start writing his debut novel a couple of years ago, he populated his fantastical world with as many mushrooms as he could.

The problem – the sound of a train whistle blaring through the village at all times of the day – is easy to identify. Fixing it won’t be, or at least not cheaply.

Echoing longstanding complaints, St. Jacobs residents are again calling on Woolwich council to take the necessary steps to eliminate trains blowing their whistles as they pass through level crossings.

That would require the likes of gates and flashing signals, likely at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars in each instance. The whistle is a safety requirement used unless the crossing meets certain standards, including the presence of flashing lights and bells, for instance.