Bill Atwood

The first period of the Huron-Perth Lakers U18 AAA game had just ended, and Ian Waugh was ready to put his foot down. While anyone who heard Waugh bark out the call – an unsportsmanlike penalty against Laker Casen De Graaf for shooting the puck at the Brantford 99ers’ net after the buzzer – could easily assume he wasn’t too happy, it was really just part of a typical November Saturday for the young official.

As someone who works with homeless youth, Ann Vaters helps some of the most vulnerable people in Stratford and Perth County. For Vaters, though, connecting with these youth has become one of the best parts of her job. “I just love connecting with the youth and listening to their stories,” Vaters said. “Each one is unique. Not everyone is the same — not every youth is the same — but, similarly, they share that common denominator of homelessness, unfortunately. They each come with their own unique story.”

Although counting fish sounds like a job that could get pretty monotonous, Erin Carroll doesn’t think so. “It doesn’t get old,” Carroll said “We’re always finding new things. It’s one of the wonders of nature that you can go out to the same place routinely and always find something new.” Carrying what looked like a bright orange backpack, Carroll, along with assistant aquatic biologist Dave Johnson and local farmer Brad Wilhelm, used a method of “electric” fishing that, using an anode and cathode, temporarily stunned the fish. .

Look inside the kitchen at The Local Community Food Centre and there are two words that come to mind: calmness and organization. That ordered approach could be seen last week during the Wednesday and Friday morning preparations for the week-ending community meal that fed 196 Stratford-area residents. This sense of efficiency would be especially noticeable to anyone who had worked in a full-service restaurant, where chaos normally abounds.

“I was aware of it, but it seems hard to fathom that it was that long ago,” says Graham Snyder as he reflects on the 20th anniversary of the car accident that claimed the life of his son, Atlanta Thrashers player Dan Snyder. Today (October 5) officially marks 20 years since Dan passed away following a collision six days earlier.

It was still the first period of the first game in Team Canada’s three-game series against the United States when the punches started flying. It wasn’t a full fight, but Tyler McGregor was there to make a statement. “We’ve been on the wrong side of many of the games and in tournaments against them in recent past,” said McGregor, who has played forward for Canada’s para hockey team for the last 10 years and was named captain in 2019. McGregor received a roughing minor.