Grey-Bruce Boomers Fall 2020

A FREE magazine for adults 50+ 

FALL 2020 — Volume 7, Issue 2 

HEALTH & WELLNESS 

Importance of 

Geriatrics 

A Q+A on extended 

health care for seniors 

HISTORY 

COMMUNITY 

Racism 

in Grey/Bruce 

How you can grow to 

become anti-racist 

TOMMY 

Burns 

Hanover’s Heavyweight 

Champion of the World 

FREE!

SOCIAL PURPOSE ORGANIZATIONS 

ARE SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITY 

We all want communies where 

everyone can belong and thrive. 

Your Foundaon is parcipang in 

the Investment Readiness Program 

to support new and innovave ways 

of geng us there. It is designed to 

help social purpose organizaons 

explore, grow and flourish across 

Canada, contribung to solving 

pressing social, cultural and 

environmental challenges. 

COMMUNITY 

FOUNDATION 

GREY BRUCE 

We’re here for good. 

P.O. Box 81 Owen Sound ON N4K 5P1 519.371.7203 

2 

2 

The Next25 Fund will give the Foundaon the 

latude to grant strategically to the greatest 

community need based on local knowledge for local 

impact. Consider a gi to your community with a 

donaon to the Next25 Fund. 

www.communityfoundaongreybruce.com

FALL 2020: THE 

UNCERTAINTY 

SURROUNDING 

UNIVERSITY & 

COLLEGE 

1101 2nd Avenue East, Suite 208 

Owen Sound, ON N4K 2J1 

alex.ruff@parl.gc.ca 

alexruffmp.ca • 519-371-1059 

READ MORE 

TFSA VS RRSP - 

DETERMINING THE BEST APPROACH 

A free magazine for adults 50+ 

Get the only magazine for Boomers in Grey & Bruce! 

Local information by local writers | Affordable advertising 

10,000 copies published 4 times a year 

To write, advertise or distribute contact Amy Irwin at 

519-524-0101 or email amy@greybruceboomers.com. 

www.greybruceboomers.com 

5 FINANCIAL 

TIPS FOR 

RENOVATING 

YOUR 

RETIREMENT 

HOME 

READ MORE 

READ MORE 

Do you know a 

friend or loved one 

facing a health crisis? 

• Spread the task of caregiving among many people 

so that no one person is alone, overwhelmed or 

compromised 

Find these articles and more on 

www.mannerow.ca or 

Facebook.com/MicheleMannerowCFP 

Plan • Invest • Retire 

• Family, friends, relatives, neighbours, co-workers 

pool their talents to help 

• Makes caregiving a meaningful, loving experience 

replacing stress, fear and loneliness with teamwork, 

courage and friendship 

For information on this caregiving model contact: 

Share the Care Promoter located at the 

Alzheimer Society of Grey-Bruce 

519-376-7230 or 1-800-265-9013 

Michele Mannerow CFP, R.F.P., CIM, FCSI, FMA 

Financial Advisor - Manulife Securities Incorporated 

Insurance Advisor - Manulife Securities Insurance Inc. 

167 - 10th Street West, Owen Sound, N4K 3R1 

Branch (519) 470-2250 Direct (519) 470-PLAN (7526) 

www.mannerow.ca | m.mannerow@manulifesecurities.ca 

FALL 2020 • 3

FROM THE PUBLISHER 

Fall is usually when we visit apple orchards, attend Fall Fairs, cover our outdoor 

plants in preparation for the first frost, get those last rounds of golf in, and even 

start planning where we’ll spend our winters, whether just for a couple of weeks or 

for months at a time. 

This year, obviously, looks a little different due to the upheaval to the norm caused 

by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we’re preoccupied with buying facemasks, 

restocking hand sanitizer, talking to travel agents about cruise ship refunds, and 

watching the news south of the border with hopes our winter travel plans aren’t a 

long shot at best. Some of our readers may even be looking for a place to live when 

the weather turns cold, as more retirees don’t keep a winter home in Grey/Bruce 

anymore, spending the coldest months in a condo or trailer down south, while 

living the cottage life locally during our beautiful summers. 

CONTENTS 

Biking Vietnam • 6 

Our Heavyweight Champ • 12 

Chronicling COVID-19 • 16 

Racism in Canada • 20 

Q+A on Geriatrics • 26 

Game Changer • 30 

Recipe • 32 

This isn’t exactly news, but COVID has changed almost every aspect of our lives, 

including here at Grey-Bruce Boomers. We still have the same great local content, 

resources and advertisers, but you won’t be able to pick up a copy at the dentist’s 

office, grocery store or pharmacy — instead you can read us anywhere and 

everywhere as we are again exclusively digital. Our user-friendly platform allows 

direct links to all websites, which makes it easy for you to learn more about what 

interests you and to visit our amazing local advertisers (who still need your support!). 

While we do hope to return to print soon, in the meantime please like our Facebook 

page and interact with and share our posts, subscribe to our online newsletter, and 

support the advertisers who were able to support us in these difficult times. 

We wish you and your family continued good health 

and hope you can enjoy what our area has at this 

most beautiful time of year — socially distanced, of 

course! 

Amy Irwin, Publisher 

Grey-Bruce Boomers 

FALL 2020 

Publisher 

Amy Irwin 

amy@greybruceboomers.com 

Advertising Sales Manager 

Linda Thorn 

linda@greybruceboomers.com 

Magazine Design 

Becky Grebenjak 

Grey-Bruce Boomers welcomes 

your feedback. 

EMAIL 


PHONE 519-524-0101 

MAIL 

P.O. Box 287, Ripley, ON N0G 2R0 

Grey-Bruce Boomers is distributed for free in Grey and Bruce 

counties, and is published each March, June, September, and 

December. Distribution of this publication does not constitute 

endorsement of information, products or services by Grey-Bruce 

Boomers, its writers or advertisers. Viewpoints of contributors and 

advertisers are not necessarily those of the Publisher. Grey-Bruce 

Boomers reserves the right to edit, reject or comment on all material 

and advertising contributed. No portion of Grey-Bruce Boomers may 

be reproduced without the written permission of the Publisher.

DISCOVER THE APARTMENTS AT HARBOUR HILL 

JUST RELEASED 

ONE AND TWO BEDROOM APARTMENTS 

104 Suncoast Drive East, Goderich • 519-440-0110

THE BUCKET LIST 

Pedaling 

passion 

A TWO-WHEEL TREK THROUGH VIETNAM BY DOUG ARCHER 

6 • GREYBRUCEBOOMERS.COM

y Doug Archer 


This past winter, Cathy and Derrick Alstein decided to 

skip their annual trip to Florida. 

It’s not that the Saugeen Shores couple got tired of 

sunshine and golf; they just had a different kind of winter 

getaway in mind. 

“It is something we had always wanted to do,” Cathy 

said. “So we figured we’d better do it while we still could.” 

So they did. The couple undertook a 15-day, 600-kilometre 

cycling adventure through Vietnam. 

The idea for the trip actually came to them on a hiking 

tour in New Zealand several years back. Their guide 

raved about spending his off-seasons biking in Vietnam, 

and that got them thinking. 

“We love taking trips where we get to see places and 

people up close and personal – and we’d never been 

to Southeast Asia,” Derrick said. “So a cycling trip to 

Vietnam seemed perfect.” 

Then when Saddle Skedaddle – a tour company they’d 

previously travelled with to Britain – promoted a bike 

excursion to Vietnam, the decision was made. They 

convinced a couple of their friends, Jayne Holt and Nina 

DiRisio, to join them, and booked the trip. 

Of course, biking 80 to 100 km a day, with innumerable 

mountain ascents, in sub-tropical heat, is not for the faint 

of heart. Although Cathy and Derrick keep themselves 

in shape, a little training was in order. So, in the months 

leading up to their journey, the couple took spin classes, 

rode stationary bikes, and went on cycling road trips. Still, 

Cathy worried about the uphill climbs. 

“Even though the tour company had a support mini-bus 

that travelled with the group, I didn’t want to be the one 

that had to climb on board it to get up the mountainsides,” 

she said. 

Consequently, Cathy, Jayne and Nina inquired about 

e-bikes – and Saddle Skedaddle came through, providing 

the trio with electric two-wheelers. Now nothing stood 

in their way. On Feb. 13, after 19 hours of flight time 

and a stopover in Taipei, Cathy, Derrick, and their travel 

buddies touched down in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), 

ready to meet the rest of their intrepid tour group and 

begin their cycling escapade. 

It was a great group of people. Four fellow Canadians, 

seven Brits, two Vietnamese tour guides, a driver for the 

support bus, and a bike mechanic all got along famously, 

from the welcoming drinks to the farewell dinner, Cathy 

said. 

Right after meeting the group, though, it was early to bed 

for an early rise. No kidding around on this tour. On the 

first morning – and virtually every one thereafter – the 

cyclists were up at sunrise, finished breakfast and pedaling 

their bikes by 8 a.m. As a concession, Day One was a 

“short” 40 km ride, meant to gently break in the cyclists. 

“But even that first day had a hill,” Derrick said. “And 

it was enough of a challenge that it separated the good 



by Doug Archer 

cyclists in our group from… well, from me,” he laughed. 

As the days went on, the riding got tougher and longer. 

Most days they cycled 80 km; one day they pedaled into 

the triple digits. But oh, the things they saw! 

World heritage sites like Hoi An, an Asian trading port 

dating back 600 years and filled with canals, wooden 

temples, and the famous covered Japanese Bridge. 

Bustling cities like Saigon – the Pearl of the Orient – and 

Hanoi with its chaotic Old Quarter where the narrow 

streets are arranged by trade. Full moon lantern festivals; 

prehistoric looking stone temples; and coastlines gazing 

out onto raised islands and towering rock pinnacles. 

They rode alongside water-covered rice paddies, stopping 

to talk via their tour guides to the locals who farmed 

them, past roadside markets, and into tiny settlements 

that no tour bus could ever get to. 

As Cathy put it, “We travelled along dirt pathways that 

took us to villages where the local children would come 

running out to greet us because they were so excited to 

see westerners.” 

Then there were the animals. While the odd village dog 

gave chase, it was the water buffalo they had to watch for 

– and the cows. 

“Massive, horned water buffaloes were everywhere,” 

Derrick said. “On one rural path we literally had to ride 

through a herd of cows that was meandering along the 

same trail.” 

As good fortune would have it, even though Cathy and 

Derrick were in Vietnam in the back half of February and 

early March, COVID-19 was not an issue. In a country 

with over 95 million people, at the time of writing this 

piece, Vietnam’s total cases had yet to exceed 400 and 

they had zero deaths. 

“The Vietnamese jumped on the Coronavirus right 

away, closing down schools as well as their borders with 

China in January,” Derrick said. “Everyone wore masks 

and we had our temperatures taken countless times – 

at the airport, in the hotels, and you couldn’t go into a 

restaurant without passing the thermometer test.” 

While COVID-19 wasn’t one of them, there were a few 


y Doug Archer 


challenges on the bike tour. The heat for one. Hot and 

humid, the temperature was often in the high-30s – and 

one day it hit 42 C! 

“One person in the group even fainted on the first day 

from the heat,” Derrick said. 

There was also the odd bit of traffic. While most of the 

cycling was along the Vietnamese coastline and through 

the countryside, Cathy said that, about halfway into the 

trip, they had to bike through a city called Dalat, at rush 

hour no less! 

“I’d never seen so many motorcycles, scooters and 

mopeds in my whole life,” she said. “All zooming and 

zigzagging around us as we tried to pedal along. It was 

barely controlled mayhem!” 

But it was the uphill rides that proved the biggest 

challenge. At least for Derrick. 

“One day we had to pedal 10 km straight up a 

mountainside in 30-plus temperatures! To make matters 

even more disheartening, partway up the mountain, 

Cathy, Jayne and Nina went sailing by me on their e-bikes, 

but I made it! I wasn’t about to suffer the shame of having 

to climb aboard the support bus and be driven to the top 

of the mountain.” 

To ensure they stayed hydrated and fueled for the long 

bike rides, the group stopped every two hours. Midmorning 

and afternoon they’d load up on water – spiked 

with lemon juice and electrolytes – accompanied by a 

fruit snack. But it was the delights of the region’s cuisine 

that they partook of at lunches and dinners that truly 

kept them pedalling. 

“We all got hooked on Pho,” Derrick admitted. 

Considered Vietnam’s national dish, Pho (pronounced 

‘Fa’) – Vietnamese noodle soup – consists of a piquant 



only were we treated to magnificent meals, it gave us a 

real sense for the way families live and manage in rural 

Vietnam.” 

The beer wasn’t too bad, either. Cathy and Derrick 

couldn’t wait until the end of their daily rides to tip back 

a Saigon brew or two. “It went down easy,” declared 

Derrick, “which was a good thing, because the wine in 

Vietnam was terrible.” 

But according to Cathy, the very best thing about eating 

and drinking on the bicycle trip was that it was guilt free. 

“We were able to consume whatever we wanted – in 

whatever quantity we wanted – because we would just 

burn it off on the next day’s ride!” 

After two weeks in the saddle — with, miraculously, no 

saddle sores to speak of — they ended their cycling tour 

in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, located in the country’s 

north. 

“We were sad when it was over and having to say goodbye 

to our fellow cyclists and amazing tour guides,” Cathy 

said. “It was truly a wondrous experience – the trip was 

everything we thought it would be and more.” 

broth, rice noodles, beef or chicken, and an abundance 

of Asian veggies. 

“It was like having a salad mixed in with your soup – and 

it was absolutely delicious,” Derrick explained. “Some 

locals eat it three times a day, and I can understand why.” 

Then there was Bun Cha, grilled pork meatballs served in 

a spicy broth alongside rice noodles, fresh vegetables and 

herbs, and the Banh Mi sandwiches were to die for, Cathy 

said. The southern Vietnam delicacy is a crunchy-crusted 

baguette filled with a fusion of pork sausage, cucumber, 

pickled carrots and chili sauce. 

“We would nearly always eat in little, family-run 

restaurants, too,” Cathy said. “The grandma would 

be washing dishes in a bucket, mom and dad would be 

cooking, and the kids would be serving. It was a wonderful 

way to taste authentic Vietnamese cooking. And not 

Derrick agreed. 

“Just completing the cycling every day — especially the 

100-kilometre day — was a wow moment for me,” he 

admitted. “As in wow, I did that!” 

But there are so many other moments etched into their 

memories. 

Riding through clouds in the mountains. Travelling the 

country’s coast with its tropical beaches and emerald 

waters. Cycling past ancient palaces and shrines, water 

buffaloes and rice paddies. Meeting locals in the villages. 

The cuisine in the family eateries, and every square inch 

of the city of Hoi An. 

To end their visit to Vietnam, Cathy, Derrick, Jayne and 

Nina decided to go for a little rest and relaxation on a 

river boat down the Mekong. After pedaling 600 km, the 

12-day cruise was just what the doctor ordered. Especially 


y Doug Archer 

since it turned out there were only seven passengers 

onboard the boat — catered to by a staff of 28! 

Good healthcare starts 

early and lasts a lifetime. 

“Needless to say,” Cathy said, “we were wonderfully 

pampered.” 

The couple is already planning their next adventure. 

When the Coronavirus pandemic allows, they intend to 

take a hiking tour of France, accompanied by, as Derrick 

put it, “some serious wine drinking.” 

Doug Archer is a local writer and speaker who enjoys celebrating the 

multifaceted lives of the 50-plus generation. He is also the author 

of two locally set mystery-adventure novels for readers ages eight to 

99 — because you’re never too old for an adventure. Learn more at 

www.coldcasekids.com or contact him at archer@bmts.com. 

Bump up to the next 

Bundle or Internet 

package and pay… 

Your donations make a significant difference 

to care provided at GBHS hospitals. 

Leave a legacy of quality hospital care – 

close to home, through a gift of life insurance 

or RRSP/RRIF proceeds. 

Easy. Thoughtful. Tax smart. 

Learn more: Willard VanderPloeg 

Charitable Giving Advisor (519) 376-2121 x2736 

MARKDALE 

LION’ S HEAD & WIARTON 

brucetelecom.com • 519-368-2000 

BRU_Ad_GB_Seniors_SB_.indd 1 

2020-09-16 5:05 PM 


HISTORY 

AN UNLIKELY 

champ 

HANOVER’S TOMMY BURNS BECAME THE FIRST CANADIAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION 

OF THE WORLD IN A TIME WHEN SEGREGATION WAS THE NORM. 

HE LEAVES A COMPLICATED LEGACY. BY BEN FORREST 


y Ben Forrest 

HISTORY 

He began the fight on his heels, darting backward and 

bobbing from side to side like a cobra preparing to 

strike. 

Tommy Burns, the short and scrappy heavyweight boxing 

champion of the world from Hanover, Ont., sized up his 

challenger, the Australian Bill Squires, as they danced 

around an outdoor ring in southern California on July 

4, 1907. 

Tommy was just five-foot-seven and 178 pounds, giving 

up three inches to a taller and slower opponent who 

was heavily favoured to win. Squires lunged at Tommy 

repeatedly, throwing punches but failing to land a 

damaging blow. They grappled briefly and danced a bit 

more, and then Tommy landed a devastating right hook 

that knocked the bigger man off his feet. 

In a matter of seconds, the fight was over. Squires got up 

and was knocked down again, as Tommy landed blow 

after punishing blow. Finally, as his opponent stumbled 

around, punch drunk and ready to fall, Tommy landed 

another hook that connected with his opponent’s right 

temple. 

The Aussie fell to the floor and Tommy stood over him, 

hands-on-hips, while the referee counted to confirm 

the knockout. It was one of the shortest and fiercest 

heavyweight fights on record, and one of 14 times Tommy 

would defend his title over an almost three-year span. 

“He studied boxing like it was a science,” said Dan 

McCaffery, a retired journalist who wrote a book-length 

biography of Tommy Burns, the first and only Canadianborn 

heavyweight champion of the world (Lennox Lewis 

was born in the UK but is a dual Canadian citizen). 

“And because he was so small and he would crouch low, 

he’d be a small target. He was hard to hit… he brought 

down a lot of very large men quite easily.” 

A born scrapper 

Tommy Burns was born in a four-room log cabin near 

Hanover in 1881. His birth name was Noah Brusso, later 

changed in part to avoid his mother’s scorn — various 

sources say she didn’t approve of his boxing and he didn’t 

want her to read about him in the papers. They were poor, 

and life was hard. Tommy was one of 13 children and his 

father, a cabinetmaker, died when he was a boy. Tommy 

quit school at age 14 to help provide for the family. His 

mother remarried when he was 16, and Tommy was a 

frequent target for his stepfather, who was allegedly an 

alcoholic who attacked Tommy physically and verbally. 

It’s perhaps no surprise that Tommy became violent 

himself. He was a known scrapper for a lacrosse team 

in Hespeler, Ont., and his temper made him a minor 

celebrity. 

“It was a time when males settled all their disputes with 

fistfights,” said McCaffery, who is also the author of nine 

books about aviation history. 

“He was raised in this culture of fighting, which he totally 

rejected when he was an old man. He got turned totally 

against boxing and thought it was barbaric.” 

Refresh! 

Nonstop 

Comfort Food 

1. Choose mouthwatering 

selections from the buffet. 

519.369.9982 

pebblesrestaurant.ca 

313010 Hwy 6, Durham, ON 

WED - SAT 

11:00 - 8:00 

2. We’ll plate it and bring 

it right to your table. 

3. Enjoy delicious plates as 

long as you like! 


HISTORY 

by Ben Forrest 

Tommy was not a saint. He openly made 

bigoted statements about African-Americans, 

and journalists quoted him using racist slurs. 

There is little doubt he shared the white 

supremacist views of many other men of his 

era, yet some observers say he was still more 

progressive than many of his peers. 

His first professional fight, in Detroit in 1900, 

was against an African-Canadian boxer 

named Fred Thornton. This was nearly 50 

years before Jackie Robinson broke the colour 

barrier in baseball and paved the way for the 

desegregation of professional team sports. At 

the time, mainstream boxing excluded people 

of African descent to the point interracial 

fights were almost unheard of. 

“Burns didn't think anything of it,” McCaffery 

said. “He took the fight and he won. And 

during his during his way up, he had half a 

dozen fights with Black fighters. He could take 

a lot of heat for it, but he refused to boycott 

Black fighters.” 

Legend has it he attended the Thornton fight 

as a spectator and his friends goaded him into 

the ring after the original challenger sprained 

an ankle. He won a small purse for the victory 

— probably less than $2. Almost by accident, 

Tommy Burns was now a professional boxer. 

Small but mighty 

Tommy Burns was a small and scrappy fighter 

who became Canada’s first world heavyweight 

champion. Photos courtesy of National Library 

of Australia 

Tommy was small, slight and square-jawed, 

with a disarming speed that helped him in 

the ring. He credited lacrosse and hockey 

with giving him the agility he needed to beat 

larger fighters. His reach was also deceptively 

long, allowing him to connect on punches 

when his opponents thought they were out 

of range. After winning the Michigan state 

middleweight title in 1902 and defending it 

successfully three times, Tommy moved up to 

the light heavyweight division and continued 

to add weight. 


y Ben Forrest 

HISTORY 

In 1904, he lost a light heavyweight match to 

“Philadelphia” Jack O’Brien, a future International 

Boxing Hall of Famer. But after a knockout victory the 

following year in San Francisco, a promoter offered 

Tommy a heavyweight title fight against Marvin Hart, a 

skinny 5-foot-11 brawler from Jefferson County, Ky. 

Tommy won a 20-round decision on points and spent 

the next two years and 10 months travelling the world 

to defend his title, accepting fights in England, Ireland, 

South Africa and Australia. At a time when some U.S. 

fighters fought in-country but called themselves world 

champions, Tommy legitimized his claim. 

His frequent bouts landed him a great deal of money, 

culminating in a $30,000 purse to face the African- 

American fighter Jack Johnson in Australia in 1908. 

Some historians believe racism prompted Tommy to 

avoid fighting a Black champion until he could no longer 

turn down the opportunity. The narrative in a PBS 

documentary suggests Jack followed Tommy to fights 

in Europe, demanding a shot at the title, until he finally 

acquiesced. 

Tommy’s biographer disputes this, saying they had a 

secret agreement to fight in Australia and were waiting 

for construction on a new stadium to house the contest. 

In any case, they met on the day after Christmas in front 

of thousands of mostly white spectators, and Tommy was 

overmatched from the very start. 

Jack was a true heavyweight — tall and muscle-bound at 

6’1” and 200 lbs. He punished Tommy early and often, 

to the point he appeared bored. Tommy clutched and 

grabbed, but simply couldn’t keep up. With a knockout 

seemingly imminent, police stopped the fight in the 14th 

round, hoping to avoid a riot. 

“The fight? There was no fight,” wrote the novelist Jack 

London in a column for the New York Herald. “The 

fight, if fight it could be called, was like that between a 

pygmy and a colossus.” 

This was hyperbole, but there is no doubt Johnson was the 

better fighter. He knocked Tommy down four times and 

won arguably the most important match in boxing history. 

Now that he had broken the colour barrier, there was no 

going back. Tommy became a pariah, and the boxing 

world went in search of its next ‘Great White Hope.’ He 

fought five more times, retired from boxing in 1920, and 

was mostly forgotten. The short, scrappy Canadian from 

Hanover became a footnote in a much larger story. 

Always the underdog 

There are good reasons to remember Tommy Burns, 

beyond his supporting role in the gradual desegregation 

of professional sport. His record (46 wins, four losses 

and eight draws as a pro) included 34 knockouts. He was 

also one of the first boxers to demand, and receive, large 

purses in a time when other fighters put their lives on the 

line for meagre sums. 

He was the shortest heavyweight of all time, in terms 

of stature, and is credited with the quickest knockout in 

a heavyweight title fight (one minute and 38 seconds). 

He dominated mainstream boxing mainly because 

segregation made it possible, and he could never hold 

his own against modern heavyweights like Joe Louis, 

Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson. But, as his biographer 

noted, Burns is more favourably compared to the fictional 

character Rocky Balboa — an unlikely champ who rarely 

looked as if he belonged. 

“For a long time he was always the underdog, even though 

he was the world heavyweight champion. He pulled out 

one big upset after another when the other people were 

favoured in the betting, sometimes by 17-1.” 

Tommy Burns became a pastor later in life, disillusioned 

with the boxing career that made him rich, famous and, 

ultimately, notorious. 

“He was wiser, and more mellow,” his biographer said. 

“He just saw it as kind of barbaric, to be punching each 

other. I think he would have been much happier if he’d 

been a hockey player or lacrosse player, professionally. He 

said at times, ‘I only do this for the money.’” 

Tommy Burns died in 1955 in Vancouver. 

Ben Forrest is a freelance writer who lives and works in Exeter, Ont. 

Contact him at ben.r.forrest@gmail.com. 


HISTORY 

Chronicling 

COVID-19 

LOCAL ARCHIVES ARE COMPILING STORIES DURING GLOBAL PANDEMIC 

BY HANNAH DIEBOLD 


y Hannah Diebold 

HISTORY 

If someone had told me in March that we would still be 

quarantined in August, I wouldn’t have believed it, if 

for nothing else than to preserve my sanity. 

But we humans are resilient and have long had the ability 

to take an ever-changing world and unceasingly make it 

our own. Through the hardships of shifting circumstance 

and widespread uncertainty, we have adapted. Day by 

day our lives are beginning to feel a little bit more normal, 

whatever that new normal may be. Yet to reflect on our 

changes is to know that we are living in truly historic 

times. 

Still, this kind of experience may not be the once-in-alifetime 

occurrence that it is often perceived to be. With 

the world’s changing climate, many climatologists see an 

anticipated influx in cross-border infectious disease only 

ramping up in the future. 

With this in mind, we live only in the certainty of 

knowing what we can do now and act accordingly. One 

very important way of preparing for the future can be 

done by documenting your COVID experiences. The 

pandemic has been supremely far-reaching into our lives. 

Even though you may not have been personally touched 

by the virus, your life was altered nevertheless, and it is 

worth sharing. 

More than the stories it tells, history is about the lessons 

we take away from it. In order to prepare for years to 

come, whether another pandemic strikes in two years or 

200, we need history just as much as history needs us. The 

seemingly insignificant experiences that we are having in 

our day-to-day lives, are the very fabric that sow history 

textbooks of the future. You are a part of history, so why 

not make your story known? If you have been journaling 

your quarantine experiences, writing letters to friends, 

taking photos or documenting what you have been doing 

since quarantine in any form, your contribution is both 

needed and valued. 

Both the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre and 

the Grey Roots Museum & Archives are avidly collecting 

information in hopes of accurately preserving this 

piece of time. Be it written stories, memories, journals, 

poems, thoughts, photographs or videos, every piece of 

information contributes to the mosaic of experiences that 



y Hannah Diebold 

HISTORY 

will make our future reflections more comprehensive. 

Even if you haven’t been recording your experience yet, 

it is not too late to start. Get a pencil or sit down at your 

computer and start typing. 

This reality is unfamiliar to 

all, which means that every 

single person’s perspective is 

valuable. 

Whether your reflections are short snippets of your day or 

a collection of in-depth video monologues, it gives insight 

into the lives of Grey/Bruce residents during this time. 

If you are interested in donating your writing or would 

like more information, head to your local museum 

webpage. Through their respective projects ‘Chronicling 

COVID’ and ‘Extraordinary Times,’ the Bruce County 

Museum & Cultural Centre and the Grey Roots Museum 

& Archives want to ensure this pivotal time in history is 

preserved. Any submissions no matter how big or small, 

are welcomed. 

Make the time and take reward in knowing that with each 

contribution, you are giving a piece of yourself and your 

story to the future. 

Hannah Diebold is a full-time student at the University of Western 

Ontario, pursuing her masters in political science with special 

focus on international relations. Formerly, she was a sports editor 

for the Western Gazette and is currently employed at the Bruce 

County Museum & Cultural Centre in the role of marketing 

and outreach student. Learn more at www.brucemuseum.ca or 

www.greyroots.com. 

We’re scientists, 

engineers, safety 

experts. And 

PROUD CANADIANS. 

At the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, we’re responsible for 

Canada’s plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel. 

Canada’s plan involves safely containing and isolating used nuclear 

fuel in an area with suitable geology and informed, willing hosts. 

Every day, we are conscious of our duty to be accountable to 

Canadians—to work and learn together, and to protect our safety, 

our environment and this beautiful land. 

Dig deeper, learn more 

by visiting nwmo.ca 

@NWMOCanada 


COMMUNITY 

Rural 

racism 

HOW THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD HAS SPARKED 

A LONG-OVERDUE DISCUSSION. BY BEN FORREST 


y Ben Forrest 

COMMUNITY 

On June 10, as protests erupted across North America 

following the murder of George Floyd, hundreds 

of people marched from Owen Sound City Hall to the 

Black History Cairn, in Harrison Park, in solidarity with 

the Black Lives Matter movement. 

They marched for Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who 

died on a sidewalk in Minneapolis, as an officer kneeled 

on his neck for nearly nine minutes. 

They marched for Ahmaud Arbery, who was fatally shot 

during an encounter with two armed white men while 

jogging in Brunswick, Georgia. 

They marched for Breonna Taylor, 26, an African- 

American emergency room technician, who was fatally 

shot by police in her home in Louisville, Ky. According to 

the New York Times, police used a battering ram to execute 

a “no-knock warrant” that gave them the right to forcibly 

enter her apartment without warning, and without 

Jeasnic Estates Inc. Premier quality 50+ adult community lifestyle 

“Phase 2 offers walkout lower level units 

all with a granny flat or care-giver option 

and wheel chair accessibility” 

With beautiful walking trails and the 

Saugeen River to enjoy and amenities such as a 

hospital, medical clinic, library, grocery store, 

pharmacy, restaurants, shops and services, 

Chesley is the perfect place to call home! 

15 minutes to Hanover, 

30 minutes to Owen Sound 

Pleasurable drive to the shores of 

Lake Huron and Georgian Bay 

NEW Phase 2 

with Lower Walkouts 

PRE-SALE! 

Jeasnic Estates Inc. - Bruce & Julie Herlick 

4th Street NW, Chesley, Arran-Elderslie,Ontario 

(519) 364-4775 | info@jeasnicestates.ca 

Virtual Tour - www.jeasnicestates.ca 

*Artist rendition of backyard walk-out unit 


COMMUNITY 


wrote in a Facebook post. “This 

march was just the beginning.” 

What we mean when we 

talk about racism 

In her book White Fragility: Why it’s so 

hard for white people to talk about racism, 

the sociologist Robin DiAngelo, who 

is white, challenges the traditional 

definition of racism. While most 

people think of racism as a synonym 

for prejudice and discrimination, 

DiAngelo defines it as a system that 

functions independently of the 

attitudes and self-image of people 

within that system. 

identifying themselves as law enforcement. 

They also marched for Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Black 

woman in Toronto, who died after falling from her family’s 

apartment balcony following a 911 call. According to the 

Owen Sound group’s Facebook page, they also marched 

for, “All those before whose names we know and those 

names we do not know.” 

A similar event took place in Wiarton on June 13, when 

more than 100 people marched through the downtown in 

solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Both events were reminders that racism exists in Grey/ 

Bruce, just as it does in every Canadian community. They 

were reminders of the discrimination Indigenous Peoples 

have faced since the time of first contact with Europeans, 

the problem of white fragility, and the systemic racism 

that impacts Black, Indigenous and People of Colour 

(BIPOC) every day. 

After the Owen Sound march, organizer Jill Lyman, who 

grew up in Owen Sound and studies at Wilfrid Laurier 

University, appeared energized. 

“You do care about what is happening to us,” Lyman 

Prejudice is a pre-judgment of 

another person based on the social 

groups to which the person belongs, 

she writes. This includes the thoughts, 

feelings, stereotypes, attitudes and generalizations that 

are projected onto everyone from that group. 

“All humans have prejudice; we can’t avoid it,” DiAngelo 

says. “People who claim not to be prejudiced are 

demonstrating a profound lack of self-awareness.” 

Discrimination, on the other hand, is action based on 

prejudice. This can include ignoring someone, excluding 

them, making threats, ridiculing them, and acts of 

violence. Again, she argues, everyone discriminates. 

But when a racial group’s prejudice is backed by legal 

authority and institutional control, it becomes racism. 

The same is true of sexism and other forms of oppression. 

DiAngelo uses the example of the women’s suffrage 

movement to illustrate this idea. 

“While women could be prejudiced and discriminate 

against men in individual interactions, women as a group 

could not deny men their civil rights. But men as a group 

could and did deny women their civil rights. Men could 

do so because they controlled all the institutions.” 

Historian Ibram X. Kendi, director of the Anti-racist 


y Ben Forrest 

COMMUNITY 

Research and Policy Center at American University, 

argues the terms “institutional racism,” “structural 

racism” and “systemic racism” are redundant. 

“Racism itself is institutional, structural, and systemic,” 

he writes. 

Racism in Canada 

In Canada we are as fond of our myths as people in any 

other country. The phrase, “I’m not racist. I’m Canadian!” 

is meant to be funny, and to paint our country as a place 

of inclusive, overly-polite, well-meaning and harmless 

folk who are just killing time between now and their next 

hockey game or pint of beer. 

But scholars are quick to point out that Canada, like 

the U.S., is a product of stolen and colonized land. 

Both countries have been accused of genocide against 

Indigenous Peoples. Although Canada was a destination 

for slaves escaping the U.S. in the 19th century, thousands 

of Indigenous and Black people were bought, sold and 

inherited as if they were property in Canada. Slavery 

existed in New France in the early-1600s and continued 

for about 200 years, only to morph into various 

government policies, as outlined in stunning detail in 

Robyn Maynard’s book Policing Black Lives: State Violence in 

Canada from Slavery to Present. 

“In Canada we talk a lot about the Underground 

Railroad, Black people escaping slavery and coming to 

Canada,” said Rinaldo Walcott, chair of the Department 

of Sociology and Equity Studies at the University of 

Toronto, in an interview with the CBC. “But we don’t 

also talk about how, after the end of the Civil War in the 

U.S., many of those same Black people went back to the 

U.S. And why did they go back? Because on the other side 

of the border, things were just as bad.” 

In early Canada, a major purpose of the Royal Canadian 

Mounted Police was to suppress Indigenous dissent, and for 

decades the Canadian government uprooted Indigenous 

BILL 

WALKER 

MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound 

bill.walkerco@pc.ola.org 

www.billwalkermpp.com 

1-800-461-2664 

519-371-2421 


COMMUNITY 


As Canadians, we like 

to claim racism only 

exists to the south. 

Our history of slavery 

and colonialism 

proves otherwise. 

children from their homes and placed them in Residential 

Schools where physical and sexual abuse was common. 

The legacy of Residential Schools has been passed down 

for several generations and is still being felt today. 

Canada’s legal system also disproportionately 

incarcerates people who are not white. Black and 

Indigenous people make up nearly 40 per cent of 

Canada’s federal prison population, despite the fact they 

make up less than 10 per cent of the general population, 

a CBC investigation found. 

“We’re literally paying for police officers to brutalize and 

kill us at disproportionate rates,” said Pam Palmater, a 

Mi’kmaq lawyer and Ryerson University professor, in a 

CBC interview. 

The use of racial slurs and stereotypes, off-colour jokes and 

mocking impressions are prejudicial and discriminatory, 

and are rooted in white supremacist beliefs. But some 

scholars argue that being passive in a racist system is a 

form of complicity. As a result, it is not enough to declare 

ourselves “not racist.” We must be anti-racist. 

“You don’t have to be a protester,” said Palmater. “There’s 

a thousand different ways that people can contribute. But 

silence is also violence.” 

Community response 

Although Canada has many institutions that disadvantage 

Black, Indigenous and People of Colour, there are also 

anti-racist initiatives in many communities, including 

across Grey/Bruce. 

The Bruce-Grey Anti-Hate Network formed to counter 

racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of 

hatred in the community, in part through discussions on 

social media. 

Welcoming Communities Grey-Bruce works to create an 

inclusive community that celebrates diversity, and aims 

to enable all people to live with dignity and to their full 

potential, without facing discrimination. Its programs 

include rural Pathways for Newcomer Women, a 

17-month pilot project that aims to reduce barriers faced 

by visible minority newcomer women. 


y Ben Forrest 

COMMUNITY 

The Grey-Bruce One World Festival was to celebrate 

its 10th anniversary this year until the festivities were 

cancelled due to COVID-19. In past years, the free event 

has featured music, drama and presentations by cultural, 

faith and social justice groups. 

Anti-racism is active, conscious and ongoing. It requires 

humility, discomfort and hard work by those of us who 

are seen as white, and it requires an awareness of our 

blind spots. It also requires recognizing white privilege 

and using it to change institutions that disadvantage 

people who are not seen as white. 

“We must never consider ourselves finished with our 

learning,” writes DiAngelo. “It is a messy, life-long 

process, but one that is necessary to align my professed 

values with my real actions. It is also deeply compelling 

and transformative.” 

Strategies for combating racism 

Educate yourself. There are dozens of books, movies 

and websites that can teach us about histories, ideas and 

cultures unlike our own. By learning, we gain empathy 

and begin to see a path forward. 

Do the work. You are responsible for your own antiracist 

education. It’s not the responsibility of your 

BIPOC friends, family or community members to bring 

you up to speed. 

Confront racist ideas when you encounter them. 

Being anti-racist means holding your friends, family and 

co-workers accountable. It means speaking up, and not 

being a bystander when racist activity occurs. 

Confront your own prejudices and biases. If 

you recognize racist beliefs or behaviour in yourself, 

acknowledge them and work to eradicate them. 

Understand that everyone is prejudiced and everyone 

discriminates. The goal is continuous improvement. 

Focus on impact, not intent. Many of us, who have 

said ignorant, racist things, do it without meaning to. Our 

hearts are in the right place, and for the most part we 

are not terrible people, but our good intentions do not 

erase the pain we cause. It’s not time for other people to 

toughen up; in most cases we’re the ones who are oversensitive 

when confronted with our racism. We need to be 

more careful about what we say and how we say it, and 

to understand the work of improving ourselves will never 

be complete. 

Demand change and work toward it. Lobby for 

school curriculums that provide a fuller, more honest and 

complete understanding of our history. Challenge your 

MP, your MPP, your municipal leaders and your Prime 

Minister, who have the power to change racist institutions. 

Don’t be content with symbolic measures that acknowledge 

a problem but do nothing to fix them. Apologies are not 

helpful unless they’re met with action. 

Ben Forrest is a freelance writer who lives and works in Exeter, Ont. 

Contact him at ben.r.forrest@gmail.com. 

MEAFORD GOLF MEWS 408 Ridge Road 

New golf community in Meaford 

Over 50% built and sold 

Back patios, some 

with lower walk outs 

Extra wide garages 

Some units backing 

onto golf course views 

2 bedrooms on main floor 

Models backing onto the bush are one 

floor living, with floor-plans suitable for 

seniors or mobility challenged. 

2 & 3 bedroom walkout models available with 

large decks overlooking the golf course. 

ivan@arealagent.com | (519) 538-3240 ext 1003 

www.arealagent.com 



Learning 

more about 

Geriatrics 

A Q+A with Dr. Alexandrea Peel on 

the importance of specialized 

Medical Doctors for older adults 

Q: Can you explain your job in laymen’s terms? What 

exactly does a Geriatrician do? 

A: Geriatrician is an internal medicine doctor with additional 

sub-specialty training in caring for older adults with complex 

health care needs and assisting their caregivers with their care. 

Many older persons and their family doctors find that care can 

get fragmented and confusing when they are accessing multiple 

specialists and community agencies for different aspects of their 

care. A Geriatrician tries to look at the person as a whole, to 

create the best recommendations for their medical care based 

on the unique situation and preferences of the older adult and 

their caregiver. 

Dr. Alexandrea Peel, MD, FRCPC 

You need a referral from your family doctor or nurse practitioner 

to see a Geriatrician (just like any other specialist). Geriatricians 

try hard to bring the care closer to your home when required, 

so they will usually offer home visits, virtual visits, and visits to 



long-term care or retirement homes. 

Examples of common reasons to see a Geriatrician 

include multiple interacting health problems, multiple 

hospitalizations or emergency visits, multiple medication 

side effects, falls, memory problems, or trouble managing 

at home. 

Q: You grew up on a farm near Wingham, and 

your husband is from the Lucknow area. Why did 

you choose to return to the community where you 

grew up to practice medicine and raise a family? 

A: Growing up in our rural farming community, I have a 

unique knowledge of the health care needs and challenges 

faced by my friends, neighbours and relatives as they age. 

Being a Geriatrician, I need to understand my patients’ 

context to provide care, so moving home to practice was a 

natural fit for me. 

Despite the large proportion of persons over age 65, 

I was aware of how limited our access to specialized 

medical services designed to assess, diagnose, treat, and 

rehabilitate older adults and support their caregivers. I 

hoped that by moving back, I could provide care to frail 

community members, but also catalyze development of 

a health system that is supportive of older adults’ care 

needs. 

In addition to being a Geriatrician, I am also the mother 

of two little boys (aged 3 and 1) and my spouse also works 

locally (Bruce Power). Our families are a tremendous 

support to us and we feel lucky to live in such a beautiful 

part of Ontario and rejoin our community. 

Q: What inspired you to become a Geriatrician, 

and why did you choose to practice this specialty 

in a rural setting? 

A: I had many important experiences that shaped my 

career pathway. I have always had a special connection 

to my grandparents. Their experiences with the health 

care system became the lens for my interaction with my 

patients and families. As a high school and university 

student, I was lucky enough to find health care jobs 

through the Gateway Healthkick summer jobs program. 

Many of these jobs were with older adults. I found many 

Geriatrician mentors during my medical school and 

internal medicine training. I was drawn to the more 

holistic approach in geriatric medicine where you balance 

best practice with the unique care preferences of older 

adults and their families. 

Q: What is your definition of ‘rural?’ Do the 

small towns of Bruce, Grey, Huron, and Perth 

counties qualify, or is it only the outlying areas 

(the farming community)? 

A: Where a Geriatrician works is determined in many 

cases by two factors — available salaried positions, and 

by location of provincially funded specialized geriatric 

service teams (nurses, nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, 

occupational therapists, social workers, pharmacists etc., 

whose positions are funded by the Ministry of Health). 

In our region and many others, salaried positions for 

Geriatricians are only available in urban areas and team 

funding/expertise is largely directed to urban areas. 

Many health regions in Ontario are starting to challenge 

this model by distributing Geriatricians and teams 

throughout their region, to bring care closer to home 

for frail people. Because of these challenges, most 

Geriatricians are not able to start a solo practice in a rural 

area, and the majority are based in tertiary (London) or 

secondary care hospitals. 

I have several colleagues who work in remote centers 

like Thunder Bay and Sudbury, but those are considered 

remote urban areas rather than rural. In our regional 

there are 10 Geriatricians based in London and one 

based in Wingham. 

In our region “urban” is often defined as having a 

population over 10,000 people and other areas are 

defined as rural. 

Q: What are some of the unique challenges older 

people face in rural environments in comparison 

to urban environments? 

A: There are several. Home care delivery in rural areas 

is an impending health crisis in our area. Some rural 

areas have no, or few, nurses or personal support workers 

available to provide care in the home. Existing workers 

must drive long distances in sometimes poor weather to 

provide care to their clients. 



In addition, there is a shortage of affordable housing with 

adequate supports for older adults. Many people move 

to long-term care prematurely, because the waitlists for 

affordable assisted living apartments are years long and 

the cost of retirement homes are prohibitive. 

Social isolation is a huge challenge. Historically, social 

networks were built based on your family and community. 

Demographics have shifted and many older adults living 

in rural areas have lost their local social networks, as 

things move online and friends and children migrate to 

urban areas. 

Affordable, available, and accessible public transportation 

is an ongoing challenge. Gone are the days of a small 

grocery store and hardware store in each hamlet, making 

access to groceries/food increasingly difficult. 

Q: Are there specific health conditions that 

affect rural residents more than their urban 

counterparts? Or is the difference mainly 

complications like isolation and long travel 

times to medical appointments that create 

barriers to care? 

A: I think the answer is likely both. Disparity in health 

outcomes is under investigation by local researchers at 

Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health. Certain 

conditions are more prevalent in Huron/Perth compared 

to other areas such as hypertension, heart disease, and 

diabetes. There are other conditions, including chronic 

lung disease, where our prevalence is similar to other 

areas, but the chance of dying from that condition 

is higher than average. This suggests there are other 

contributing factors that need to be determined. 

Q: What have you learned in your practice 

in Huron/Perth and Grey/Bruce that can be 

applied to other rural areas across Ontario? 

A: I have demonstrated there is a need for and a benefit 

to specialized Geriatric service access in rural areas. I 

hope lessons I have learned in my practice can be applied 

to other remote urban and rural areas. 

Q: As the only rural Geriatrician in 

southwestern Ontario, I imagine your day-today 

responsibilities are demanding. But some 

rural doctors do research and publish studies as 

well. Is this one of your goals? 

A: Great question. People might think that teaching 

students and publishing research is something for doctors 

who have academic salaried jobs in urban centres. Many 

physician colleagues and I, working in Huron/Perth, 

regularly engage in this type of activity. The difference 

is that we are also full-time doctors, so we do much of 

this work after hours, on personal time. I mentor and 

teach Geriatric Medicine residents from Western, and 

Pharmacy students from the University of Waterloo. I am 

also the Chair of Rural Senior Care at Gateway Rural 

Research Institute, where I provide clinical expertise to 

students and academic researchers who are studying the 

specific health needs of rural populations. 

Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job? 

What gets you out of bed in the morning? 

A: There are many rewarding aspects to my job. I love 

being able to sit with a patient and their caregiver and 

look beyond their diseases/symptoms to understand 

them as a person and create a personalized care plan. I 

also find it tremendously rewarding when I hear that a 

patient has met their health goal, and their quality of life 

is restored even in the face of complex health conditions. 

Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your 

job? 

A: I think the most challenging aspect of my job is relative 

imbalance of publicly funded home and community care 

services to allow older adults to live in their own home, as 

well as a shortage of home care workers. Most people tell 

me their first goal is to remain independent and in their 

own home, and failing that their goal is to remain in their 

own home with support. 

The reality is that majority of home care is provided by 

unpaid family members. These caregivers are often times 

a spouse who may also be frail, or a child or grandchild 

who is also working full-time and potentially caring for 

children as well. 

As our system faces a tsunami of aging and frail persons, 

we need to shift our focus from our old model of a health 

care system based around hospital care, to a model based


on providing care at home and in communities. 

Q: Where do you go from here? What are your 

goals for the year ahead, and perhaps five and 10 

years from now? 

A: In the last five years I have focused a great deal of 

energy into the creation of the South West Frail Senior 

Strategy as a mechanism to make sure that every older 

adult in our region has access to specialized geriatric 

services. In the last year, at the direction of the Ministry 

of Health, we have pivoted to create a Huron Perth 

Ontario Health Team and a Grey Bruce Ontario Health 

Team. I am excited to integrate the principles of the 

Frail Seniors Strategy into our health teams, as we have 

a novel opportunity to make sure the voices of primary, 

community, home, and long-term care are represented at 

the health team table. 

want them to take away from this article? 

A: Many older adults and their caregivers are coping 

with poor quality of life, and uncontrolled symptoms. 

In the past, local Geriatrics services were understaffed, 

and often impersonal or too slow to respond to care 

needs. Although we are still under-resourced, I continue 

to advocate for expansion of local specialized Geriatric 

services, and integration of Geriatric care principles into 

every aspect of our health care system. 

The referral form for Geriatric consultation can be accessed online 

at https://bit.ly/3gss3nZ and faxed to 519‐685‐4020. If your 

doctor or nurse practitioner requires a telephone consultation please 

call 519-357-2500 or send an e-consult to Dr. Alexandrea Peel 

via the OTNhub. Dr. Peel’s website is drpeel.ca, where you can find 

links to useful resources. 

Q: Do you have a bottom-line message for the 

readers of Boomers magazine? What would you 

TAKE CHARGE OF 

YOUR HEALTH 

You can do it. We can help. 

Are you a caregiver? 

Do you live with chronic pain? 

Do you live with a chronic condition? 

FREE 

Virtual 

Workshops 

If so, there are tools that can help. Search our 

workshop listings to find the workshop that's 

the best fit for you! 

TOPICS INCLUDE: 

*Dealing with difficult emotions 

*Communicating with loved ones and care providers 

*Managing pain and fatigue 

*Using Action Plans 

*dealing with stress 

And more... 

To register for a workshop: 

www.swselfmanagement.ca 

1.855.463.5692 

info@swselfmanagement.ca 


GAME CHANGER 

Helping Huron Shores Hospice 

SHIRLEY PURDIE DEDICATES COUNTLESS HOURS TO ORGANIZATION 

THAT PROVIDES END-OF-LIFE SUPPORT FOR KINCARDINE-AREA RESIDENTS 

Shirley Purdie is an 82-year-old dynamo who has 

supported Huron Shores Hospice since it opened two 

years ago. 

Her personal experience drew her to the cause of quality 

end-of-life care that is offered by residential hospice. 

Unfortunately, eight years ago, when her son Lance died, 

there was no residential hospice services available in the 

Kincardine area. Understanding the need for hospice 

services and the need to raise money to sustain this vital 

service in our community, she made the decision to share 

her talents to help with operational costs. Shirley has 

volunteered at Huron Shores Hospice community events 

making and selling stuffed bunnies and lambs, with the 

all proceeds going to the hospice. She has been sewing 

most of her life, working as an upholsterer and seamstress 

for about 60 years. She started sewing masks in March, 

to help keep our community safe from COVID-19, and 

hasn’t stopped. Shirley has sewn over 1,700 masks, asking 

everyone who received one of her creations to donate 

$5 to our community hospice. She has made masks for 

men, women and children, with fun fabric designs for the 

younger members of our community. 

To date she has raised over $7,000 for Huron Shores 

Hospice. This money comes at a time when fundraisers 

are having to be cancelled due to social distancing 

requirements. COVID-19 has taken away the ability for 

Huron Shores Hospice to fundraise in the community 

in their usual way, but has also given back through this 

generous donation, from the sale of masks. 


When the response for masks became more than Shirley 

could handle, while spending her time sewing about 30- 

35 masks per day, Ginny Ross stepped up to help Shirley 

by taking orders, arranging for pick up and deliveries, 

and purchasing and cutting fabric and elastics. Most of 

the materials for the masks has been donated by generous 

community members. 

Shirley’s masks have travelled internationally to Spain, 

Italy, England, Scotland and Ireland, nationally to 

Newfoundland, New Brunswick, B.C., Alberta and 

within Ontario to Port Perry, Burlington, Hamilton, 

Toronto and Wasaga Beach, keeping the world safe from 

this global pandemic. 

Shirley continues to make masks, as the orders keep 

coming in. She is very happy to support the hospice in 

this way. To order a mask email ginny@bmts.com or send 

her a private message on Facebook and she will look after 

getting you one of Shirley’s masks. 

Shirley is one of Huron Shores Hospice’s heroes and is 

very much appreciated for her commitment and dedication 

to raising funds to help with operational expenses. Huron 

Shores Hospice provides free residential hospice stays for 

those needing end-of-life support, as well as free Grief 

Recovery Method sessions, doula end-of-life planning 

expertise, and is working to change the conversation around 

death and dying by hosting death cafés and holding end-oflife 

planning workshops in our community. 

For more information, visit www.huronshoreshospice.ca 

or its Facebook page. 


FOOD & DRINK 

Pumpkin Spice 

C ookies with 

Cream Cheese 

Preparation Time: 20 minutes 

Baking Time: 10 to 12 minutes 

INGREDIENTS 

2½ cups all-purpose flour 

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice 

1 tsp each of baking soda and baking powder 

½ tsp salt 

¾ cup butter, at room temperature 

¾ cup packed brown sugar 

½ cup granulated sugar 

2 tbsp molasses 

1 egg 

1 cup puréed pumpkin 

½ cup each of raisins and chopped nuts 

FROSTING 

Half pkg (250 g pkg) cream cheese, softened 

1-1/4 cup (300 mL) icing sugar 

Orange food colouring (optional) 

Instructions: 

In bowl, combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking 

powder and salt; set aside. In large mixer bowl, beat together butter, 

brown sugar, granulated sugar, molasses and egg until light and fluffy. 

Blend in pumpkin. Beat in flour mixture just until combined. Stir in 

raisins and nuts. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls (15 mL) onto 

lightly greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake in 350°F 

(180°C) oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until firm to the touch and lightly 

browned. Transfer to racks to let cool. 

Frosting: 

In bowl, beat cream cheese with icing sugar until smooth. Colour with 

food colouring if desired. Spread over tops of cookies. Store cookies in 

covered container in refrigerator (place waxed paper between layers). 

Recipe courtesy Foodland Ontario 


We power the 

future.Our long-term 

private investment in refurbishing 

our nuclear fleet will ensure Ontarians receive 

clean, reliable, low-cost electricity and life-saving 

isotopes for generations. 

brucepower.com 


THANK YOU 

for 

reading 

online! 

Share this link 

with your friends 

www.greybruceboomers.com 

Like us on 

Facebook and 

share our content 

Contact 

us for 

advertising 

info 

Support our 

advertisers 

Send us your feedback at 


A free magazine for adults 50+

Grey-Bruce Boomers Fall 2020

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?