Monthly Archives: May 2023

Funeral Route Finalized For Captain Craig Bowman; Portion Of King Street To Be Temporarily Closed

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WELLAND – Captain Craig Bowman’s final alarm funeral route is mapped and scheduled for Tuesday, May 30, beginning at Welland Fire Headquarters at 400 East Main Street and concluding at the Welland Main Arena at 501 King Street.

The route will travel down East Main Street to north on Prince Charles Drive before heading down First Avenue and Fitch Street and looping back south on Prince Charles Drive to Ontario Road and north on King Street to the Arena.

Police cruisers will lead the motorcade, and Captain Bowman will receive a formal salute from all firefighters in the city at each station. At the King Street firehall, an honour guard, pallbearers, pipe and drum, and a few selected uniformed members will slow march and pipe Captain Bowman’s pumper and the family’s limo to the Arena. King Street will be lined with uniformed personnel, and there will be a large Canadian flag hanging across King Street, between Welland’s two aerial trucks, and the pumper will pass under it as formal recognition of Captain Bowman’s service to his community and country.

Police cruisers will escort the pumper truck with Captain Bowman’s casket for the length of the route. King Street, from Seventh Street to Third Street, will be closed as the procession travels through the route. However, access to the hospital is available, and local businesses know about the procession.

“This Full Honour Funeral is a very public display; it is as much about Captain Bowman as it is about supporting his family and the firefighters through this challenging time,” said Fire Chief Adam Eckhart. “From my experiences, togetherness and showing of support helps everyone, and we know our emergency services family and the community will be with us. It is truly an incredible send-off for our friend and colleague.”

All Welland Fire on-duty staff will attend the funeral, and the Cities of St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Port Colborne, and Thorold are sending a truck and staff to fill Welland’s fire halls and answer any calls during the service.

The funeral service at the Arena commences at 1 p.m. It includes formal ceremonial features such as piping and a bugle, a family flag presentation, the last alarm bell, and the last alarm radio call to Captain Bowman. Over 1,000 attendees are expected, including firefighters from Buffalo, Toronto, the GTA, and Niagara.

Attribution: City of Welland media release

Flags At Half Staff In Remembrance Of Capt. Craig Bowman

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It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to Captain Craig Bowman, who passed away this weekend after a determined fight with an occupational illness. Please keep “Opie” and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Captain Bowman started his fire service journey in Thorold and joined the Welland Fire Department as a full-time firefighter in 2002. Rising to the rank of Captain, he was a natural leader and built many strong relationships, always looking out for others. Even as he fearlessly fought cancer, he focused on protecting others from the risks of the unrelenting illness. He was kind and caring and turned strangers into friends everywhere he went.

Welland Fire will proudly honour Captain Bowman, with a visitation scheduled for Monday, May 29, and service on Tuesday, May 30.

Although not yet recognized as a Line of Duty Death (LODD), Welland Fire plans to hold a full LODD service and funeral.

Flags have been lowered at all City facilities and will remain at half staff until May 31 to honour and remember Captain Bowman.

For complete funeral information please visit: https://www.arbormemorial.ca/pleasantview/obituaries/craig-opie-bowman/104135.

Attribution: Welland Fire media release

Heritage Lives: Memories Of The Cross Street Pool

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‘The former aqueduct served 40 years as a swimming pool where thousands of Wellanders learned to swim.’

By Terry Hughes

Recent media reports indicate that change may be coming to the Civic Centre and one of those changes indicate a water attraction or display. Would it not be appropriate if that change would focus on the Cross Street Pool?  And why would that be a good idea? How about historical ones. It served as an aqueduct for 75 years. According to the late Dr. Roberta Styran who was president of the Canadian Canal Society, it was considered an engineering wonder in its day here in Canada. As the photo taken in 1870 shows, vessels of different types sailed through the structure over the Welland River. It took five years cutting and shaping eighteen thousand limestone blocks weighing nearly two tons each to construct.

 The former aqueduct served 40 years as a swimming pool where thousands of Wellanders learned to swim. The attraction of competitive swimming was popular as noted by the crowds leaning on the fence to see who would be the winner. Like his brother who won many trophies before the Second World War, Gord Sykes would develop swimmers from our community like John Dudas and John “Wheaties” Reid who would go on and play for the Hamilton Tiger Cats, Ian Grey, Clarence Shook, Elma Beckett and Bev Gardner who were some of his pupils. Later, Rose and Steve Smith would develop their swim club here before the St. George Pool was built. Because it was the only municipal pool for so many years, the number of swimmers attending both the wading and “big pool” along with morning swimming lessons was unbelievable! Here looking at the third photo, we see the deep end and catwalk under the supervision of a lifeguard in the mid-fifties!

A typical summer day for us 10-year-olds would include: gathering up a towel, putting on your swimsuit, t-shirt and old footwear and with others in the neighbourhood of Wallace Avenue walk to the pool for lessons in the morning, run home and return after lunch for the afternoon swim. The walk to and from the pool took us along the Welland River on a wooded path from Dorothy Street to check out the water creatures we would plan on scaring on our way home. Little did we know but the river was an open sewer where all of the city waste was dumped. A total of nearly fifty outlets served this purpose before construction of the waste plant in the late fifties.

The limited number of clothes each of us wore could be either hidden in a secret place or packed into one bag for a nickel and handed off to the person in the orange building in exchange for a numbered disc to be used later to redeem your clothes. A race through the showers and foot bath allowed you to enter the swimming pool steps along each wall and down to the edge of the water.

  The area in the centre was covered in grass and housed the lifeguard’s chair, siren and surfboard to make rescues before the catwalk was put in place. A white clock along with rules for the pool stood at the top near the pump house. This spot was a good place to warm yourself, shaking off the “shivers” and looking up at the sky for clouds that created atomic explosions or a ghostly face!  During the early afternoon, the siren would wail and everyone had to get out of the pool to check for any bodies who had drowned. It would serve as a time to test the water for chlorine and acidic readings and be hand fed because the sun and swimmers absorbed these chemicals at a faster rate than the chlorinating machine. No one ever drowned in the pool although someone died of sunstroke and after the pool had closed for the year a fatality happened  because of a fall onto the dam at the deep end.

As time passed, it became apparent my sport was to swim by achieving awards offered by the Red Cross. Our instructor at the Junior level was Jane Duff for whom I had a crush as a 10-year- old. She had an athletic figure, short brown hair and a great smile. Later, I learned that she was an excellent student at WHVS and would only see her after she married and was spotted pushing a baby buggy by the pool. 

Our Intermediate instructor was Lee Maus. She was a tough gal who did not put up with any nonsense but her efforts produced results. She would later take over the Senior and Life Saving classes. Frank Doan, a handsome, tall tanned blonde-haired guy taught swimming to the Senior and Life Saving candidates. Overall, our courses were six weeks long and had few if any failures in these classes. This achievement was an indicator of how well Wellanders learned to swim and I am unaware if any of these people had ever perished in the canal or pools.   

The evening normally belonged to the older crowd who would put on great displays of giant waves of water off the diving board soaking the onlookers on the tops of the walls. Guys like Ken Onda, Bill and Gordy Schabel would use a technique called a tuck where as you entered the dive off the board, you would roll up into a ball at impact with the water sending a huge splash on the crowds along the fence. One fellow who I only knew as Stan with a golden tan, would climb the fence in his bare feet, balance himself and do a beautiful “jack knife” dive into the pool at the halfway point which was about six feet deep!  

The last photo shows the pool site in its present state. There is no signage indicating its importance except a plaque hidden under the platform extending over the wall along the canal. Storyboards should be used here to share the story of its history. In 1983 this structure was being developed as a historical monument by the federal government but was halted by the incoming Conservatives after the 1984 election. It’s time to finish the job! 

I would like to close with a letter from a person who has something special to say about the pool and its role in the community in its heyday:  

To Whom It May Concern,

One of the more prominent memories of Welland in my early years was the enjoyment derived from a day at the pool. This was not only a learning experience of swimming but of meeting those of diverse backgrounds and cultures all coming together, a virtual United Nations. A lesson for life and true representation of the city of Welland never to be forgotten, 

I would suggest a plaque be mounted in a prominent position on the site with a photograph showing the youth of Welland enjoying their time in the sun.

Thank you, 

 Roger Boyer,  36 Connaught Ave., Welland

Next Column:  The Agrarian Heritage of Fonthill  

(Terry Hughes is a Wellander who is passionate about heritage, history and model railroading. His opinion column, Heritage Lives, appears on the blog once or twice monthly.)

NHL Playoffs: Round 3 Predictions

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By Wayne Redshaw

It appears my crystal ball was out of whack, especially when it came to predicting Round 2 winners of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In Round 1, I went 5-3 with the two favourites — Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche — getting knocked out right off the bat.

That immediately created possibility of an all-Canadian Stanley Cup final. But that disappeared in Round 2 when the Vegas Golden Knights sent the Edmonton Oilers packing in the seventh and deciding game and Toronto Maple Leafs went bye-bye in five-games with the Florida Panthers.

The Oilers and Leafs were not my only blemishes in Round 2. The New Jersey Devils added to the list when they lost out to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

My only winner in round two: the Dallas Stars. They won but not in five games. Instead that series with the Seattle Kraken went the limit with Dallas eking out a narrow 2-1 victory in game seven.

So after two rounds, my won-loss prediction record dropped to 6-6. Therefore, should I trade in that crystal ball for a new one as something is out of whack. Or should I continue on?

With only three series left overall I have decided to continue with the old. After all, the old crystal ball has been with me for a long, long time.

Here we go with Round 3.

Eastern Conference Final

Florida Panthers vs the Carolina Hurricanes

    The Panthers are the giant killers of the playoffs so far with series upsets over Boston and Toronto. For a team just sneaking into the playoffs by one point to nail down the second wildcard in the east, then win the first two rounds that’s quite an accomplishment. And the big thing is their ability to win on the road. Three of their four victories against the Leafs were in Toronto.

I admit, they have played well in the playoffs. Is there enough fuel in the tank to make it to the Stanley Cup finals? They are getting great mileage out of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Anthony Duclair, Carter Verhaeghe, Nick Cousins and Aleksander Barkov to name a few. And goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has played a big role in their two series conquests to date.

In fact, I think Florida has the edge between pipes with Bobrovsky and Alex Lyon over the Hurricanes’ Frederick Andersen and Antti Raanta. However, the Canes are solid on the blueline with Jaccob Slavin and veteran Brent Burns leading the way. They are sound up front with good depth too with the likes of Sebastian Aho, Jordan Martinhook and Paul Stastny. The Canes also have some excellent penalty killers.

This series also features a family act with the Panthers’ Eric and Marc Staal going up against the Canes’ Jordan Staal. Family bragging rights are on the line.

Both teams are well-coached with Paul Maurice at the controls for the Panthers and Rod Brind’Amour at the helm for Carolina. Maurice coached 11 seasons in Carolina and in 2011 had Brind’Amour as one of his assistants. However, the series will be decided on the ice.

During the regular season Carolina took two three games from Florida. Of course, the playoffs are a completely different season.

Prediction: I am going with the Hurricanes in six games.

Western Conference Final

Dallas Stars vs Vegas Golden Knights

This series could be a lengthy one too. So far solid forechecking has been a key to success for the Stars and they will need it again if they are to advance. When the teams are at even strength, the Knights have been stronger so far.

I like Stars’ goaltender Jake Oettinger over the Knights’ Adin Hill.

Dallas will need big efforts from Roope Hintz, Joel Pavelski, Jamie Benn, Jason Robertson, Tyler Seguin and Max Domi. Robertson was the Stars top sniper during the regular season with 46 goals. He has to deliver in this series.

Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel has played well in his first two rounds of the playoffs. He now knows what the playoffs are about and he has responded.

  So have Jonathan Marchessault, Mark Stone, William Karlson and Chandler Stephenson.

A key for the Knights is to avoid costly penalties.

Prediction: Dallas in six games.

(Wayne Redshaw covered the NHL for over 40 seasons and was named a Life Member of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association in 1987.)

Teaching Distillery Shines With Three International Medal Wins

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Five New Student-Created Spirits Debut From Class Of 2023

Captions: Left, Distillers winning spirits: NC distillers David Dickson and Ian Bickle hold bottles of NC’s 2023 medal-winning spirits from the U.S. Open Whisky and Spirits Championship; Top right, Winning spirit bottles: School Spirits Vodka, Spirits 101 Spiced Rum and Spirits 101 Single Malt Whisky are the latest award-winning spirits from the NC Teaching Distillery; Bottom right, New spirit releases from the NC Teaching Distillery made by NC’s Artisan Distilling Class of 2023 include Tanzanite Gin, Eastern Hospitality, Fruit and Honey Fusion, Class Amigos Agave and Mediterranean Vodka./ Niagara College photos

Good spirits abound at Niagara College’s Teaching Distillery, with three new medals from an international competition, and with the debut of five new craft spirits from the College’s Artisan Distilling Class of 2023 to graduate in June.

Competition wins

The NC Teaching Distillery won two silvers and a bronze at the 2023 U.S. Open Whisky and Spirits Championship. Silver medals were awarded for Spirits 101 Single Malt Whisky (Canadian Whisky category) and Spirits 101 Spiced Rum (Rum Spiced/ Flavoured category) while School Spirits Vodka (Vodka category) won bronze.

“Winning three international awards shows that our Teaching Distillery produces some of the best craft spirits in the world,” said Steve Gill, General Manager of NC’s Learning Enterprises. “We are so proud of our NC students who are involved with the making of all of our premium spirits, with instruction and guidance from our expert distillers and faculty.”

School Spirts Vodka and Single Malt Whisky are from the Teaching Distillery’s core line of spirits, made with student involvement, while Spiced Rum launched as a student capstone project.

“It’s tremendously rewarding when student projects garner international awards,” said Maija Saari, Associate Dean of Culinary, Tourism and Beverage Studies division, which includes NC’s School of Wine, Beer and Spirits. “The outcome speaks to the remarkable creativity the students bring to the professional distillers, who help them nurture the ideas to life. It is truly a collaborative and unique learning environment.”

Head Distiller David Dickson noted that winning awards is even more impressive when considering that most students begin the one-year Artisan Distilling program with little or no distilling experience.

“It feels like a validation of what we are teaching the students in the program and the Teaching Distillery, as well as the students’ capabilities for the future, when entering the workforce,” said Dickson.

Single Malt Whisky, first released in December 2022, was distilled by the second cohort of Artisan Distilling students (Class of 2020). The recipe for this staple spirit was created by Head Distiller David Dickson and each student in the program is involved with its production. 

“We are immensely proud of how this Single Malt turned out. We can get an idea of what it will be like before it goes into barrel, but we still have to wait the minimum of three years to see if we were right,” said Dickson. “This was the first of its kind for our distillery which debuted when we were so young as a program.

Spiced Rum was a student capstone project from 2020. It was first released in December 2022. The “molasses forward” base rum and its spice blend were developed by a group of students in 2020 and, after the aging process, the recipe was adjusted by College distillers – based on the change of flavours over time in the cask. The Class of 2023 assisted with the final balance of flavours.

School Spirits Vodka, another staple spirit which debuted in 2019, has been distilled, filtered and bottled by students since the first cohort of the program. 

View usopenwhiskey.com for competition details.

New student spirits

The NC Teaching Distillery is rolling out five new spirits created by NC’s Artisan Distilling Class of 2023.

The new releases include Mediterranean Vodka (with fresh lemon peel, picked basil and mint, coriander seed and a touch of fennel seed), Tanzanite Gin (a gin with butterfly pea flower, giving it its purple-blue colour), Class Amigos Agave (a tequila-style spirit), Fruit and Honey Fusion (a spirit using NC-made honey from the Commercial Beekeeping program) and Eastern Hospitality (a rice-based grain spirit with inspiration from Japanese shochu).

The five new spirits were all student capstone projects which give Artisan Distilling students an opportunity to come up with ideas for new spirits for the Teaching Distillery and, once a number of projects are approved, work in small groups to produce them. The project is for two of their classes: a technical class where they produce the spirit, and a sales and marketing class.

By the time students complete the program, their capstone projects are bottled and hit the shelves available purchase while supplies last at NC’s Wine Visitor + Education Centre (located at NC’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus at 135 Taylor Rd., Niagara-on the Lake) or online at ncteachingwinery.ca. Spirits are available in addition to a variety of student-made products from NC’s Teaching Winery and Teaching Brewery.

Artisan Distilling student Disha Bhendwalis, who will graduate in June, is excited about the release of her group’s spirit, which they worked on from production to marketing, and is proud to see bottles of the product on the shelves.

“Mediterranean Vodka will always be close to my heart; we have worked really hard, and I feel so elated that it turned out to be really good. Everyone loved it; I got some really great reviews from people who tried it,” she said. “It’s a lifetime opportunity which I was lucky enough to get.”

NC’s Teaching Distillery is a 2,500-square-foot facility located at Niagara College’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It is home to NC ’s one-year Artisan Distilling graduate certificate program within NC’s School of Wine, Beer and Spirits.

Niagara College has a full-time enrolment of more than 9,500 students from over 80 countries, who study in 130 diploma, certificate and bachelor degree programs at specialized campuses in Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Niagara College is also involved in educational projects and partnerships around the world and is consistently ranked among Canada’s top 10 colleges for research funding. Learn more at niagaracollege.ca.

(Attribution: Niagara College media release.)