Creemore Echo

Thanks to a donation from Clearview residents Christopher Hoffmann and Joan Eakin, My Friend’s House has opened House of Hope, a six-bedroom second-stage home for women and children escaping family violence. “This is truly a transformational moment for My Friend’s House and for the women and children we serve,” said My Friend’s House executive director Samantha Jones. “This remarkable gift has allowed us to turn a long-held vision into reality.

Editor: The recent poem published on Friday, July 3 issue of The Creemore Echo is profoundly distasteful in its depiction of the president of the United States of America. I believe it was entirely inappropriate. We need to widen the lens of responsibility rather than fixating on a single figure. At its core, this publication functions more like a community paper for a rural Canadian audience. Am I right? Arthur Bode wrote a thoughtful reply to the article about Daniel Pinsk dated June 19.

Editor: I would like to respond to the ad that has been on the back page of The Echo for the past couple of weeks: A safer Ontario means building new jails. I cannot on any level understand how this will encourage caring and safe environments in our province. Spending millions of dollars on new jails does nothing to make us safer. Throwing more people in jail for longer does nothing to make us safer. Not addressing the causes of income inequality makes us less safe.

Editor: We live on a moderately busy Clearview Township road near Nottawa. We regularly walk our concession (about 1.5 km) where we continually encounter beer/ cocktail cans along the roadside. We cannot in good conscience pass them by so we pick them up. This spring, we decided to keep count. From late March to mid-April, we collected 150 beer and cocktail cans along this one section of road.

Creemore has a water supply and sewage treatment challenge to be solved before significant new development can proceed. Creemore’s population in 2021 last reported census) was about 470 residences and 1,200 people. Since 2021, Creemore Condos, formerly known as The Brix, has been built which has added another 72 new units and likely twice as many people.

For many years, John Harper was a familiar sight behind the counter at the hardware store on Mill Street in Creemore. He was active in organizations like the Lions Club and the Legion and was deputy chief of the Creemore volunteer fire department for several years. Now, even after his death in 2025, his presence is being felt in the community through the John and Joyce Harper Charitable Trust.

Free summer programming for the whole family has begun at all branches of the Clearview Public Library. Ophelia Ford (pictured) is going to recommend her choice of a weekly good read, which we will post on our social media accounts every Sunday in July and August. This week’s pick is Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxland. Ophelia liked this book because the main character has the same name as her and she’s the hero who rescues a magical boy. Formal programming sessions are now in action.

Editor: I worked for a large municipality and moved here several years ago. The recent decision to usurp the staff recommendation re the Rinehart site is plain wrong. What is the purpose of staff if council is going to override them? Bylaws exist for a reason and to amend them to accommodate a situation is not right. I was very dismayed to see the ruling of council on the bleacher construction project.

Hospice Georgian Triangle has been awarded the 2026 Mount Pleasant Group Hospice Innovation Award for its newly established palliative care resource nurse (PCRN) role, bridging a gap in care by placing hospice expertise directly into Collingwood General and Marine Hospital (CGMH). Working within the hospital, Alanna Roylance supports the clinical team by guiding families along their care journey.

Long-ball power was on display at the North Dufferin Baseball League all-star games Sunday, July 5, in Mansfield. The 59th annual senior division all-star game featured the North Dufferin All-Stars, made up of players from every team in the league, against the New Lowell Knights, the defending league champions, in a nine-inning contest. It marked the first time since 1986 that the league had used this format for the all-star game, and fans were treated to an offensive showcase.