The year 2014 will go down in history for us here at the Sydenham Current, as it is the inaugural year that we have had the privilege of serving the communities of Wallaceburg, Dresden, Walpole Island, Mitchell’s Bay, Chatham-Kent and Lambton.
We have taken a look back at the stories that made headlines each month this year, have a look:
– January, February, March
– April
– May
– June
– July
– September
– October
– November
– December
We have now comprised one final list for the year.
We based our list of a variety of factors including: readership, social media interaction and impact on our community.
Without further adieu, here is our list of the Top 10 Stories of Year:
TEN – ‘Elections’
2014 was a year that will be remembered for going to the polls.
It started off in Ontario with the June provincial election.
Locally, it was incumbent Monte McNaughton winning in Lambton-Kent Middlesex.
However, overall it was the Liberals who captured a majority win.
Next up, was Walpole Island First Nation.
They elected a new council back in June, and new chief Dan Miskokomon.
Chatham-Kent held their municipal election back in October.
The incumbents in North Kent, Joe Faas and Leon Leclair, re-claimed their seats. In Wallaceburg, it was one incumbent, Jeff Wesley, topping the polls while newcomer Carmen McGregor ousted Sheldon Parsons to claim a spot on council.
Overall in Chatham-Kent, it was mayor Randy Hope winning for a third straight term, beating Marjorie Crew.
NINE – ‘Attempted Murder in Wallaceburg’
When we initially broke the story, details were limited.
However, the incident at Sam’s Hotel back in May eventually led to critical injuries for a Wallaceburg man, and attempted murder charges for a man from Walpole Island.
While the Sydenham Current has been in court to hear the facts about the case, a publication ban on the case prevents us from sharing all the details at this time.
The case is still before the courts as well.
We’ll be following this story through to its conclusion.
EIGHT – ‘Wallaceburg’s water’
We started following this earlier in the year, but it started reaching a boiling point at the end of November.
Dozens of people attended a public meeting at the UAW Hall in Wallaceburg, hosted by the Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and the hired consultants for the Wallaceburg and Area Water Supply System Municipal Class EA, Stantec Consulting Ltd.
After presenting in detail a series of options, which included rehabilitating the current Wallaceburg Water Treatment Plant, Stantec’s “preferred alternative” was connecting to the Chatham water supply, which gets its water from Lake Erie.
Another public meeting is set to be held, yet a date has not been confirmed.
We expect to see plenty more on this story heading into 2015.
SEVEN – ‘Dresden/LKCS Sports Field Project’
Once again, the community of Dresden stepped up this year to ensure the future remains bright in their community.
A $540,000 fundraising campaign was launched back in April to enhance the sports field at Lambton-Kent Composite School.
The project gained Chatham-Kent council support, funding from the Trillium Foundation, and amazing support from the community itself – especially North Kent Mutual.
We’ll look forward to watching this project progress in 2015.
SIX – ‘Boater rescued near Walpole Island’
An 18-year-old Port Lambton man is lucky to be alive after losing control of his boat on a Sunday evening in October and plunging into the Syne River.
A Walpole Island man risked his own life to save the man.
FIVE – ‘Wallaceburg woman at Ottawa shootings’
Wallaceburg’s Brittany Fish, who is now a lawyer in Ottawa, was on lockdown in her office building after the shootings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
FOUR – ‘Baldoon Golf Club closes’
We broke this story back on August 13, when it was announced that the Baldoon Golf Club would be closing – read our original story here.
The final sale is not a done deal, as an environmental study delayed the sale.
However, the former clubhouse for the gold course has a new identity as – The Clubhouse at Baldoon is still running strong.
THREE – ‘Fainting at Dresden Remembrance Day service’
It was a scary situation when emergency crews were called to downtown Dresden to deal with multiple medical calls for students, while the Remembrance Day service was taking place.
The principal at Lambton-Kent Composite School in Dresden wasn’t going to let the incident deter their school from carrying on an annual tradition.
Scott McKelvie told the Sydenham Current that the Dresden students will march to the cenotaph again next year.
TWO – ‘Drawing Hope’
A Wallaceburg native gathered some big attention this year across North America for an inspirational project he has created for children.
Shawn Van Daele, a WDSS grad, is working on a project called Drawing Hope: A Magical Story in Photographs through his photography and graphic design business. He gathers drawings from children born or living with health conditions, and uses them as inspiration to create characters starring themselves in a “magical photograph.”
We were thrilled to chat with Shawn about the project, listen in:
ONE – ‘Seth Griffith’
What an inspiration this young man from Wallaceburg has been!
Even before he made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins, he was making his hometown of Wallaceburg proud.
Before the Sydenham Current even existed, we chatted with Seth about his NHL dreams:
Now, he is solidifying himself in the NHL, and has even made the highlight reels a couple of times already:
We look forward to seeing more from Seth in 2015 and in the years to come!
What did you think of our list?
Comment on the story or send us a note to aaron@sydenhamcurrent.ca
Happy New Year!
Love the Sydenham Current !!!! Looking forward to the new year!!!