Chronicle 17-18 Issue 10_FIXED

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8 The Chronicle March 27 - April 2, 2018 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Community Clarington's the apple of my eye Farmers take fresh approach to cider Kaatje Henrick The Chronicle “I used to take my grandkids with me to the family farm when it was time to clean out the mill, I would let my grandsons take all the extra apple leftovers and feed the cows and they loved it,” says Joe Van- Beek, a man who worked for the Geissbergers at their family farm for over 30 years. The Geissbergers are no strangers to Oshawa, they have had their feet planted here since 1925, when grandpa - Hans Geissberger came to Canada. Hans Geissberger and his wife Emma came from Argos, Switzerland. Right away, they bought a dairy farm and started a family in Clarington. Grandpa Geissberger was a dairyman but on their property was a small apple orchard. He started to collect the apples off the trees, even off the ground and began to make something out of them. “No matter what the apples looked like, we would pick them up and use them to make the cider,” says Gord Geissberger, a grandson of Hans Sr. “Grandpa never let anything go to waste.” But Grandpa Geissberger couldn’t do it on his own. A cousin of the family helped out, Max Hebeisen. He was a cousin of Hans Geissberger Jr., the son of Hans. Max was also the brains behind the first ever cider mill. Hebeisen was a craftsman from Switzerland, handy in all mechanics and wood working. He had designed the family’s first-ever cider mill out of wood and steel. “We would use mother’s tea cloths as a strainer for the apples,” says Garry Geissberger, another grandson of Hans Sr. “That’s how we did it back then, but it’s a completely different system now as it was when we were little,” says Gord. The grandsons now run the family farm after their grandfather who passed in 1992 and their father’s death in 2006. Since their father’s death, they’ve had to upgrade machines, keep up with health regulations and change the ways of cider making. In 2012, the family upgraded the mill to a more modern and energy sufficient mill. A day in the life of cider making changed completely when they upgraded. “Farmers used to come from far and wide to have their apples pressed in our machine,” says Garry. One farmer used to come from two and half hours away. The first day he would come drop off the apples then drive home. He would come back the next day and pick up the cider, says Gord. Now with the new mobile cider mill, Garry and Gord can travel to the farms and Family and friends of the Geissbergers, who work on the farm, enjoy cider made in Clarington. press their apples and have cider ready for the farmers in less than day. “What we now produce in one day is what we use to produce in 3 or 4 days,” says Garry. Even with upgrade to the mobile mill, their days are long and tiring. “Our days would consist of 10-14 hour days, from travelling to setting up, to cleaning up. It wasn’t easy,” says Garry. Garry and Gord travel all across Ontario. They visit farms ranging from Kingston, all the way to Port Elgin. “It’s a lot of work, you think it would be easy, just to pull in the machine and then start pressing but there’s a lot more steps than that,” says Gord. It takes about two hours to set up, which includes: meeting the farmers, figuring out where to put the mill, and seeing where the tractor can fit to bring in the apples. Finding the right place to put the mill is very important because you need to be aware of where the waste is going, says Gord. “We were at the Brooklin fair one year, and we were pressing apples for families to watch and learn. We had thought we had put it in the right spot, but it turns out our waste was going straight to the dog show down the hill,” says Garry, as he chuckles. The next step is making the cider, which usually takes about six hours. Before putting apples in the mill, the mill needs to be sanitized. Once the mill is sanitized, the apples can start the process of being pressed. The steps of the mill: The apples are washed through an elevator Then dumped into the shredder The softened apple pieces are then sent through a tube and dumped in the presser They use a rack which is used in the presser to squish the apple remains The cider is then heated for abut 10-15 seconds in the heat pasteurizer to ensure its 100 per cent safe The cider is then packaged in a bag and box style to ensure longer lasting shelf life After the product is finished and the day is over, it’s time to clean up. Cleaning up is another job which takes about two more hours. The mill needs to be sanitized and washed down and the waste needs to be disposed. Usually the farmers use the leftovers to feed the animals on the farm, or it gets used for compost. “You think your day is over, but after cleaning up, you have the trip home, and you cross your fingers that you don’t break down,” says Gord. The new mobile mill was an upgrade for the Geissbergers. The first cider mill was made from wood and steel, which worked back then but overtime wood can trap bacteria which can cause people to become ill. The mobile mill was an upgrade because it was safer, better for the economy, and a more energy efficient machine. “The old mill that we used made the same tasting cider, but the cider would only have a shelf life of 14 days unless you freeze it,” says Garry. Now using the mobile mill, the cider we make has a shelf life of three months once it’s opened, and a one-year shelf life when unopened, says Gord. The mobile mill is also better for the economy because it reduces the number of greenhouse gases. Using the older mill, the only other option to keeping the apple cider fresh is to freeze it or keep it refrigerated, which uses electricity. “The third main reason behind greenhouse gases is electricity,” says Gord, who learned that information from environmentalists when they were upgrading their mill. Now with the new mill, the apple cider has a shelf life long enough so freezing or refrigeration of the cider isn’t necessary. We usually produce about 120,000 litres of cider a season. The new ‘bag and box’ routine is also better for the environment because the bags and boxes are FSG approved. FSG is a company that partners with organizations to improve the sustainability of the world’s natural resources. They make sure the environment stays healthy and lives on. “Everything is FSG approved with our bag and box routine and it saves the environment, so it’s a win for everybody,” says Garry. The new cider mill makes accessibility a lot easier for the brothers. “We can now travel with the mobile cider mill to make it easier for farmers who live far away,” says Garry. The old cider mill was stationary, it was not so easy to roll around. “I remember when the season was over, and we had to roll it away till next season. We had to lift up the one side and put pipes under it, Photograph supplied by Geissberger family so we could roll the mill, but even then, we had run from back to front putting the pipe underneath to keep it rolling,” says Gord. “It was a pain in the butt,” says Garry. Another bonus to the upgrade was the speed of the machine, says Gord. “We can produce three times the amount of cider in one day as we could with the older mill,” explains Gord. Although with the new mill, we only need three guys working the machine at all times. This was upsetting because we had a bunch of guys working with us before, says Garry. “We had our friends from high school, who are now retired, helping us with the older mill,” says Gord. “The older mill needed at least six guys working it at one time, and it was like a family, they loved it.” VanBeek, a long-time friend of the Geissbergers says, ““I loved working the presser because I could do whatever I wanted up there.” With the mobile cider mill, the brothers are able to work all year long. “We usually produce about 120,000 litres of cider a season,” says Garry. With the old mill, the season use to run from September to December, but now the brothers have constant access to the mill. “It gets a little slower during January, February but overall it’s all year long and it gets quite busy in October,” says Garry. The family has been producing cider for over 40 years and are still creating new ideas. “You couldn’t ask for kinder, more honest people to work with,” says VanBeek. “And as it goes for grandpa Geissberger, he was one good soul.” What started as a backyard hobby for a small family has turned into something successful, environmentally friendly and delicious.
Community chronicle.durhamcollege.ca March 27 - April 2, 2018 The Chronicle 9 Four GO stations coming to Durham Austin Andru and Conner McTague The Chronicle “This is a project I’ve worked on since I’ve been in office,” says Oshawa mayor John Henry. “The traffic has always been a problem at the GO station.” Everyday at the Oshawa station you’ll find a packed parking lot, and hordes of commuters running from to their cars to beat traffic. “Everybody is in a hurry to leave that station and it’s kind of a nightmare,” said Henry. The additional 160 spaces added to the overflow lot has only put a bandaid on the growing congestion of commuters within the Durham Region. “If I was to go downtown tomorrow morning and I had an 8 o’clock meeting,” said Henry. “I’d have to be in the parking lot by 6:30 to get a parking space.” However, in 2024, Oshawa will not only have more parking spaces, it’ll have three GO stations, and two more stations that will pass into Courtice and Bowmanville in the largest infrastructure project in Ontario’s history. This expansion would see four new GO stations added in Durham. In Oshawa, the stations will be at Thornton Road and at Ritson Road, in place of the former Knob Hill Farms grocery store, which has been vacant for years. “The foundry that was there (before Knob Hill Farms) had a significant part of the history of Ontario,” said Henry. But Henry is happy that it is going to good use. “When you can repurpose a piece of property to move people effectively, it makes a lot of sense.”The other stations will be at Courtice Road in Courtice and Martin Road in Bowmanville. Scott Money, Metrolinx’s Transit Media Relations and Issues specialist, says, “Metrolinx is also expanding Lakeshore East GO train service in Durham Region to help manage congestion and get more people moving throughout the region.” Stations in these areas have been long awaited, especially in Bowmanville. “The first news that Bowmanville had for a train going to Toronto was at the turn of last century,” said Clarington mayor Adrian Foster. “This is over a hundred years in the making.” “The Region of Durham is supportive of this project. We see the extension of GO Transit service to Bowmanville as a good news story,” says Tania Laverty, Manager of Communications for the Municipality of Durham. “We are actively participating in this Metrolinx initiative; it is a strategic priority for the region.” With Metrolinx projecting the population of Durham Region to grow by 90 per cent by 2041, through 2011 Statistics Canada census and the 2017 Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the expansion becomes almost necessary to provide proper public transit. Dan Hoffman, real estate agent for REMAX, says, “With my experiences living and selling in the Rouge (Hill). I would say at least half of my clients move into our area because of the GO train access downtown.” “I have found that if you are within walking distance to the GO or a subway line that adds at least $50,000 in value,” says Hoffman. The project is expected to be complete in 2024. This timeline allows implementation of consultation, planning and design, procurement and construction of the expansion. Part of this planning will involve an initiative by Metrolinx to make the trains more eco-friendly. GO Transit has a goal to electrify the trains on the Lakeshore East line as part of the expansion. “Electrification of the GO network remains a top priority." "This will bring substantial benefits in terms of reducing both transit operation costs and environmental impacts,” said Money. Electrification and track improvements may pave way for rapid transit throughout the province, something Canada lacks compared to Europe, which has high speed trains that connect commuters throughout the continent. For example, a Thalys train can reach maximum speeds of 320 km/h and transport travellers from Paris, France to Brussels, Belgium in just over an hour. For comparison, it currently takes an hour and three minutes for commuters to go from Oshawa GO to Union Station while travelling at about 50 km/h. Kathryn McGarry, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation says, “We’re continuing to move forward on various ways to electrify the service.”McGarry says they are considering other ideas for electrification of the rails, including the use of a hydrogen fuel cell. “It is a very exciting venture,” she said. “There’s a lot of excitement with the technology.” “We recognize the need to do more for climate change and reduce congestion,” says McGarry. “And also to promote innovation and to develop new economic opportunities in the GTHA when it comes to green infrastructure.” The Ontario Government led by former premier, Dalton Mc- Guinty, announced the MoveOntario2020 project on June 5, 2007, which would fund 52 projects to improve transit throughout Ontario, starting in 2008 with the goal of it being in place and fully functional by 2020. The plan fell under the umbrella of Metrolinx’s project called The Big Move, a regional transportation plan (RTP). The provincial government promised to cover two-thirds of the cost, about 11.5 of the projected $17.5 billion cost, with the federal government covering the remaining six billion. Metrolinx also forecast what impact The Big Move would have on the GTHA (City of Hamilton, Toronto and the Halton, Peel and Durham Region’s) once it’s in place. With the plan, by 2031, 81 per cent of the GTHA would be within 2 km of transit, compared to 47 per cent without. The average commuting time per person would be 109 minutes per day without the RTP, but with it, it will be just 77 minutes per day. It will have a positive environmental impact, too. Metrolinx’s 2008 numbers showed the average person contributed 2.4 tonnes of transportation greenhouse gas emissions. With the RTP, this number will drop to 1.7 tonnes, saving approximately 10,000 pounds of greenhouse emissions per person. Infrastructure includes a new rail bridge over Highway 401, Victoria Street, Champlain Avenue and the proposed Consumers Drive expansion in Whitby, which began as early as 2009. A Canadian Pacific rail corridor expansion, three grade separations, 14 bridge expansions and nine level crossing modifications will also be included as part of the infrastructure overhaul. These plans also included the expansion of the Lakeshore East Line, which currently runs from Union Station in Downtown Toronto to Oshawa GO Station. GO Transit is already beginning to feel the growth of the Region, as the entire Lakeshore East line had more than 1.1 million boardings in October 2017, up 2 per cent from October 2016, Money says.The ultimate goal of the expansion is to provide allday, 15-minute, two-way travel between Oshawa and Union station. The service will run seven days a week, according to a presentation released by Metrolinx’s Chief Capital Officer, Peter Zuk. A lot of work had to be done between the City of Oshawa and Clarington, Bowmanville’s mayor says. “There’s a significant amount of work that was done.” “There was a lot of discussion with the province about what the benefits of doing this were,” said mayor Foster. McGarry, transport minister says, “We decided to do some more spending on transit to improve the competitiveness of Ontario’s communities, enhance productivity and reduce time spent in traffic and congestion.” McGarry says it makes sense to expand the rail lines because the population of the GTHA is growing by more than 100 thousand a year. This expansion might not have seen the light had another party been in office (at the Provincial level), says Foster. “Whatever leadership is in the PC party, their history has been to not support infrastructure spending in the province and they have continued to vote against the investments,” said McGarry. “Both opposition parties (PC and NDP) to-date have not supported a platform that has infrastructure in it and has routinely voted against the budget in the last four years that contain the investments for infrastructure planning.” If the expansion goes according to plan, Durham Region and the GTHA will see new, improved transit, connecting people to more jobs, helping the economy grow further. There’s many high density developments near the proposed Bowmanville station that will support an increased population from the new station. It’s a much needed expansion for a population which continues to grow. “By 2024-25, much of the GO rail system, including the Lakeshore East line will be dramatically improved, providing new travel choices to Durham residents,” says Money, Metrolinx’s media relations specialist. “There will be more stops along the line, bringing more transit options to Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Scarborough, central Toronto and neighbouring communities,” says Money. “By avoiding highway traffic, customers can be more confident that they’ll get to where they need to be, when they need to be.” “We know we are accommodating a wonderful municipality that is really growing and thriving,” says McGarry. Because of the work, both finished and ongoing, between Metrolinx, the Ontario Government, MTO and the leadership authority within Durham Region, residents will see a long-awaited GO Transit expansion in the coming years, allowing them to be more connected with their communities, as well as the rest of Ontario.
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