Ballistic Fitness gives back, local book for sale, FREE skates & swims

Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall

Christmas weather forecast from Friday, December 22, 2017, to Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Today – Cloudy with 70 percent chance of drizzle. Risk of freezing drizzle early this morning. High plus 2.

Tonight – Mainly cloudy. 60 percent chance of drizzle this evening. Risk of freezing drizzle overnight. Low zero.

Saturday, December 23 – Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of flurries in the morning. High plus 2.

Saturday night – Cloudy with 30 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 8.

Sunday, December 24 – Cloudy with 40 percent chance of snow. High minus 3.

Sunday night – Cloudy with 40 percent chance of snow. Low minus 8.

Monday, December 25 – Cloudy with 30 percent chance of flurries. High minus 7.

Monday night – Cloudy periods with 30 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 12.

Tuesday, December 26 – A mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of flurries. High minus 8.

Tuesday night – Cloudy periods with 30 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 12.

Christmas Kettle Campaign on until Saturday

The annual Christmas Kettle Campaign is set to wrap-up for the Salvation Army in Wallaceburg and all across Chatham-Kent.

The campaign will close at the end of the day on Saturday, December 23.

The overall goal for their Christmas campaign in Chatham-Kent is $460,000.

Anyone interested in volunteering in Wallaceburg can call Heather Dunlop at 519-627-8257.

Ballistic Fitness gives back

Rod Langstaff, Joanna Langstaff and Mark Burford (Submitted photo)

A Wallaceburg gym has done their part to give back this Christmas season.

Rod and Joanna Langstaff dropped off a toy donation earlier this week to the Salvation Army, to be used as part of their Christmas hamper program.

Rod said he posted an itemized list at their gym, which outlined the wishes for children in need in the community.

“Tons of our members just started picking off items,” he said.

“A bunch of different age groups and a bunch of different items… soccer ball, remote control car, Lego. We collected a ton of stuff real quick. It was just our way to help out in the holidays.”

Rod said his members didn’t hesitate to help out with the cause.

“The list got filled right up,” he said. “People put their names on all the different items, and they just kept pouring into the gym.”

Book sales going well for Wallaceburg author

Book sales are going well for Memories For Sale: Tales From A Small Town.

Wallaceburg author John Gardiner says he just received a second stack of books to sell, after the first printing sold out.

Gardiner says his ‘literary collection’, which featured illustrations from his daughter, Wallaceburg’s Becca Gardiner, makes for a great Christmas gift.

Read more about the book, here: Wallaceburg father & daughter duo team up for new book

To purchase a copy of the book, click here.

You can also purchase a copy of the book by contacting John at gardiner@kent.net or by calling 519-627-5978.

Ontario bans the expiration of reward points

Ontario is protecting consumers from losing reward points based only on the amount of time passed since they were earned.

Provincial officials say beginning on January 1, 2018, consumers will be protected against losing reward points that they have been saving up for larger purchases, and the change will be retroactive to October 1, 2016.

“These are important new ground rules that preserve the points consumers have built up over time,” stated Tracy MacCharles, Minister of Government and Consumer Services, in a press release.

“Many people save their points for years to use toward a large purchase. That has real value and should be protected.”

Consumers who believe their points improperly expired will be able to request that businesses reimburse them, or may file a complaint with Consumer Protection Ontario.

Banning the expiration of reward points is one of a number of changes the province has proposed to increase protection for consumers, including:

– Adding new protections for new home warranties and condo owners

– Strengthening rules and professional standards in the real estate sector

– Increasing transparency in travel services pricing

– Preventing event ticket fraud and excessive markups in ticket re-sales.

Government officials say protecting consumers is part of Ontario’s plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change.

More details:

– The province examined the terms of over 50 different programs when drafting the regulations.

– If a reward points program issues vouchers, they will be considered as gift cards, and will not be allowed to expire.

– If a member does not earn or redeem reward points over a long period of time, some rewards programs close accounts due to prolonged inactivity. This will continue to be permitted if it is stated explicitly in the membership agreement.

– Reward programs dealing only with low-value items of $50 or less will be exempt.

FREE swims at Wallaceburg Sydenham Pool

There are several free swims being held this month at the Wallaceburg and Blenheim pools.

Thanks to community sponsors, all parent & tot swims, after school swims, open swims, and family swims are free for the month of December.

Here is the schedule for the Sydenham Pool in Wallaceburg:

More details are available, here: https://www.chatham-kent.ca/recreation

Holiday skates in Wallaceburg and Dresden

The Holiday skating schedule has been released by the Municipality.

Events that have a sponsor listed are FREE, while admission is required for the others.

Here is the holiday skating schedule at the Wallaceburg and Dresden Arenas:

For the full schedule, click here.

World news

If you have a suggestion, story idea, column idea, or if you want to say hello… drop me an e-mail at aaron@sydenhamcurrent.ca.

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