Baden holds Idol competition

The Independent covered the recent Baden Idol competition on video.

Wilmot Horticultural Society celebrates 40 years of beautifying Wilmot Township

Ruth Zehr, Treasurer WHS giving a history of WHS.

President Teresa Dietrich presides over the evening.

Members of the Ayr Paris Band entertained.

Theresa Dietrich, President of Wilmot Horticultural Society, was Master of Ceremonies for the 40^th Anniversary Celebrations, which took place at New Dundee Community Centre on June 9, 2008. She welcomed the group of 90 present and former members, but we were also honoured to have Madeline Honderich and Gwen Tye, two charter members, present for the Celebrations. Mayor Wayne Roth brought greetings from Wilmot Township and presented a Certificate to honour this milestone event.

Gerbera Daisies, in shades of pink, decorated the tables for the delicious dinner, catered by Angie’s Restaurant. Ruth Zehr gave an interesting historical synopsis of some of the events that have occurred during the past 40 years. There was also a Display Table with scrapbooks and artifacts from early years, as well as posters with names of early founding members and other items of interest.

All Past-Presidents, Secretaries, Treasurers, Board Members, as well as the many people who have served as volunteers for Civic Beautification, Flower Show, Garden Explosion, Garden Tour, Junior Gardeners, or Fund Raising, were recognized for their contributions to Wilmot Horticultural Society and Wilmot Township during the past 40 years.

Ayr/Paris Band, along with Soloist, Cathy Robertson, provided the Entertainment for our 40^th Anniversary Celebrations. This was a fitting climax to our evening of “Celebrating 40 Years of History for Wilmot Horticultural Society”.

All hail the unpredictable summer weather

Thunderstorms rocked much of the area last Sunday, in some areas bringing an unexpected shower of pea-sized hail stones. No damage was reported from the hail stones.
Hail that fell north of Toronto forced drivers off highways, dented vehicles and damaged crops.
Rainy, unstable weather continued for most of the week.

Here Emily Loch, of New Hamburg, cups a handful of the pea-sized hail that came with a wave of thunderstorms that rocked the region around 7:30 p.m. June 15. No significant damage was reported after the weather event. Emily saved the hail she collected in a freezer bag in the family freezer.

Photo submitted

Architectural Conservancy meets in St. Agatha

The North Waterloo Region Branch of Architectural Conservancy of Ontario will be holding a visual talk on buildings and their architectural styles, entitled “The Bad, Ugly & Beautiful in Architectural Styles” on Wednesday, June 4 at Angie’s Kitchen in St. Agatha.

The North Waterloo Region Branch of Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, which has existed since 1980 to promote the preservation of buildings of architectural and historic importance, will be hosting a visual information evening to view local architectural styles that have been photographed by a current executive board member.

Ted Ray, an educator, world-traveler and photographer extraordinaire will discuss local architecture as well as his opinions on the various styles. One style Ray will discuss happens to be Angie’s Kitchen. Angie’s was formally known as The Kaiser Block because many of the settlers located in St. Agatha originally immigrated from Alsace-Lorraine and Baden in Germany and Europe, one of whom was Antony Kaiser who arrived in 1839 with his son, Antony Kaiser II.

According to documentation, the original hotel was built by Kaiser, who was the justice of peace, the first postmaster, deputy reeve and reeve of the village between the 1850s and 1860s. Unfortunately, during a visit to Buffalo in 1854, the original hotel was destroyed by fire. Upon Kaiser’s return to St. Agatha, neighbours had cleared the ruins and had begun constructing a new hotel frame, the current building, which is now covered in stucco.

Members of the North Waterloo Region Branch are urging community members to attend the June 4 meeting to learn more about preserving local architecture. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. with desserts and snacks provided by Angie’s Kitchen.

For more information, questions can be directed to the North Waterloo Region Branch president, John Arndt at 519-578-7624 or via email at jarndt@sympatico.ca. Everyone is welcome!