Tag Archives: Earl Taylor

10.24.26
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Lynden Door Products breaks ground on its new Aylmer home: With high-quality door and millwork solutions ‘manufactured and assembled in Canada by Canadians for Canadians’

One of the leading manufacturers of residential, commercial, and architectural doors in the western U.S. and Canada continues its eastern expansion.
In 2022, Lynden Door Products of Lynden, Washington, opened an Alliance Door Products distribution branch on Dennis Road in St. Thomas.
In response to growing customer demand, Lynden Door is investing in a new residential door manufacturing plant in Aylmer, announced Alliance Door Products Canada president John Ridder.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday (Oct. 20) on 20 acres within Aylmer’s AIM Industrial Park.
Ridder talked about the firm’s humble beginnings.
“The relationships we have built through our line store products distribution operation in St. Thomas, together with growing customer demand, have given us the confidence to make the next major investment in Canada, a new Linden Door Canada manufacturing facility here in Aylmer.”
He continued, “While our business has grown and changed, the principles behind it remained remarkably consistent: integrity, service and stewardship. We remain a family-owned and operated business, rooted in deep faith and in a belief that business can be conducted with honesty, kindness, humility, and respect for others. Those values have guided us for more than 70 years, and they continue to guide us today.

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07.25.26
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Re-imagining Hepburn Parkette in St. Thomas to support ‘daily use as well as organized events and programming’

Two years ago, the planning process was underway to rejuvenate a rather forlorn Talbot Street parkette so it could again contribute to life in the downtown core.
Masterminding the transformation was the team of Andrew Gunn and Maddie King (below in the photo) of young & free press in conjunction with city staff and through the assistance of Arthur Lierman Landscape Architecture.
A similar process was undertaken in 2020, which resulted in the formation of Westlake Evans Civic Park, adjacent to St. Thomas Public Library.
Two summers ago, the pair were at the stage of gathering input from community groups and residents.
“We started a process with the city over the past year or so,” noted Gunn, “and really the idea is here are some open green spaces in the downtown and what could be added to make them active, vibrant spots for the downtown to help bring residents and visitors here.”

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07.04.26
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‘I don’t think there was a single conservation authority that wanted to be forcibly combined with any of their neighbours’ – Catfish Creek Conservation Authority board chair Morgaine Griffin

To Premier Doug Ford, it would seem that conservation authorities are annoyances that just get in the way of the province’s land developers.
And so, it is full speed ahead with consolidating the current 36 authorities into nine regional authorities.
Under the original consolidation scheme, much of southwestern Ontario would have been lumped into the Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority, which would have covered watersheds draining into Lake Erie, including the Thames, Grand, and Sydenham systems, supporting agriculture, industry, and shoreline communities.
In November of last year, we spoke with Dusty Underhill, General Manager of the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority, who conceded the word ‘consolidation’ is certainly not music to his ears.

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06.20.26
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‘The dream of home ownership should always be within reach’ – St. Thomas homebuilder Doug Tarry

“We’re not so much in a housing crisis; we are in an affordability crisis.”

That was the observation this week from Rob Flack, the province’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

He was speaking Monday afternoon at Geerlinks Home Hardware, as he toured several of the outlets in Elgin-Middlesex-London with Home Hardware President and CEO Ian White (second from right in the photo below).

For the St. Thomas stop, they were joined by Mayor Joe Preston and homebuilder Doug Tarry.

Flack continued, “And everybody knows that things are expensive in this world these days. Everything has gone up in price, especially housing.

And when that happens, people put their thumb on the pause button, Number 1.

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06.06.26
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The City of St. Thomas is proving to be a very forgiving landlord when dealing with The INN and Indwell

At last Monday’s (June 1) council meeting, members unanimously agreed to waive the outstanding rent arrears owed to the city by the city’s emergency shelter, The INN, and Indwell Community Homes, which operates Railway City Lofts on Talbot Street and The Station on Queen Street.

Indwell is also re-purposing the former Balaclava Street Public School into 78 supportive housing units, equipped with essential supports to assist residents.

In her report to council, Danielle Neilson, the city’s Acting Director of Social Services, advised that The INN leases 10 Princess Ave. from the City of St. Thomas and depends on municipal and provincial financial commitments, as well as other grants, bursaries, and fundraising to keep its doors open.

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04.18.26
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Hydro One to begin powering growth in the city this spring with construction of the St. Thomas Line

Work on the PowerCo EV battery plant began in earnest last summer with the pouring of concrete for the first pad of the gigafactory, and structural steel can now be seen reaching skyward.

But it doesn’t really give you a sense of just how massive this facility will become in the next couple of years.

Well, this eye-watering statistic may help clarify the picture.

The EV battery plant will require 380 megawatts of power when in production. That’s equivalent to the energy needed for a city the size of Windsor, according to Hydro One.

And that has necessitated construction of the St. Thomas Line, a 230-kilovolt, double-circuit transmission line that will extend from their existing transmission corridor north of Hwy. 401 in London to the new Centennial Transformer Station in St. Thomas.

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03.21.26
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The road ahead for Railway City Transit: Ensuring you will be able to promptly get there from here

Less than 18 months after a consultant’s report called for an aggressive shift to sustainable travel modes in St. Thomas, the city is undertaking a ‘Railway City Transit Plan for Growth.’

Before delving into the latest exercise in putting the city’s transit system under the microscope, let’s recap some of the findings of the Transportation Master Plan refresh project compiled by Paradigm Transportation Solutions.

Kevin Jones of Paradigm recommended an aggressive shift in the operation of Railway City Transit that would see a six-fold increase in annual service hours involving 26 buses in service operating 17 hours every weekday.

These figures are based on a city population of 79,500, a couple of decades distant.

Jones went on to note, there is a “need to fund transit that provides an affordable alternative, enables access to all areas of the city and gives residents choice in how they travel.”

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08.30.25
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Sustainable public safety in St. Thomas will require both human and financial investments

Recent funding investments by the Police Services Board and the City of St. Thomas “are producing tangible results in reducing crime and social disorder” in the community.
That’s according to information provided to the board for the July meeting by St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp.
His board report cautions, however, “It is essential that future budgets reflect the operational requirements of our police services and support a responsible path forward.”
The concern is what impact a growing population and overcoming the residual effects of several years of fiscal restraint and conservative budgeting encouraged by the city will have on the 2026 police service budget.
The St. Thomas Police Service is certainly operating in lean fashion when compared to similar-sized police departments, particularly when you look at the cost per capita of delivering services.

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08.16.25
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The Central Elgin Life Jacket Lending Program: transforming grief into action

The central lifeguard tower at Main Beach in Port Stanley was the backdrop Thursday afternoon for the launch of the Central Elgin Lifejacket Lending Program. The initiative is a result of collaboration, determination, and a shared belief that drowning is preventable.
The Elgin County Drowning Prevention Coalition is the driving force behind the program, led by Briar McCaw.
However, the true inspiration has been provided by Linda King (pictured below centre, with Briar McCaw, left, and Nathan MacIntyre), whose 26-year-old son Ryan Davies drowned on Labour Day last year when a canoe he was in with two friends tipped over in Lake Margaret.
This spring, the Ryan Davies Project was unveiled in St. Thomas, which encouraged the City of St. Thomas to develop a Personal Flotation Device bylaw and install ring buoys around Lake Margaret.

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