Cathy Dobson Sarnia’s new Planet Fitness will have a refreshingly down-to-earth approach to exercise, say company officials “Most of our members are first-time gym users who aren’t looking to be body builders or the next Miss America,” said marketing manager Sarah Wilson. “We offer an inclusive, non-intimidating environment. Our staff goes out of their way… Read more »
Cathy Dobson Access to fresh water is critical to everyone regardless of age, so it’s fitting Sarnia artist Trevor Jamieson collaborated with his four-year-old son on his latest project. Their ongoing exhibit is raising money to improve water quality in Canada’s First Nations communities. Each of Jamieson’s very precise paintings of comic book hero Aquaman… Read more »
Troy Shantz When she was nine years old, Sharon Sedgeworth was thrust onto the stage to play the piano while accompanying a massive choir performing at the Lambton County Music Festival. “I said, ‘I can’t do that’ and (my teacher) said, ‘Oh yes you can,’” she recalled. The choir earned a mark of 90% and… Read more »
Troy Shantz For Sarnians, it’s background noise. But startled visitors will often ask: “What the hell is going on?” Each Monday at 12:30 p.m. the community emergency warning sirens are sounded, unleashing an otherworldly wail that echoes over the landscape for 15 seconds. It is only a test. In a real emergency, such as an… Read more »
Cathy Dobson Organizers were surprised by an unexpectedly strong turnout when nearly 1,000 high school students walked out of class to protest education cuts in Sarnia last week. “I thought there’d maybe be 80 from our school, but once kids started walking out there was no stopping them,” said Gabrielle Olson, a Grade 12 student… Read more »
Phil Egan For decades, it was a tested rite of passage for new taxi drivers in Toronto. “Go down to University just south of Queen,” they’d be told, “and pick up a Mr. Beck. You can’t miss him – he’s a big guy.” Most new drivers failed to get the joke. Others caught on after… Read more »
Troy Shantz Jason Robert South has made a career out of playing and teaching football, but not in North America. The former St. Clair Secondary student has taken his skills across the pond, where the European market is ripe for Westerners proficient in America’s favourite game, he said. “It’s kind of like (being) a unicorn… Read more »
Journal Staff The old barn at Camp Saredaca, a place in which generations of day-campers have cobbled together crafts and eaten baloney sandwiches, is about to disappear from the landscape. Also coming down is the Cricket Club building in Mike Weir Park and a long-unused washroom in Canatara Park. Though full of memories the buildings… Read more »
Troy Shantz A new advocacy group headed to the doorstep of Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey to flex its muscles for the first time. The Sarnia Intersectional Feminist Network was born this spring in response to reports hate crimes are on the rise and the arrival in Sarnia of the Yellow Vest protest movement, said spokesperson… Read more »
Journal Staff The Sarnia Streets Project is now available in book form. The Project, a 340-page compendium of original research, tells the story behind the name of virtually every street, boulevard, crescent and cul-de-sac in the city. But until this week it was available only online. “We’ve had people ask us where they could get… Read more »
