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June 26, 2025

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Upcoming events


CANADA DAY AT THE LEGION – Canadian Legion Branch 632 on Taylor Creek Road will be hosting a fun-filled day of family-friendly activities with music and food starting at 11 am. FREE FOR EVERYONE

CANADA DAY ON PETRIE ISLAND featuring a Kids Zone, adult beverage tent, live music, food, main stage entertainment, a giant birthday cake at 1 pm. and a spectacular fireworks display at 10 pm. For more information visit canadadayorleans.ca.

ORLEANS FARMERS MARKET every Thursday from 11 am to 4 pm in the parking lot at the Ray Friel Recreation Centre on Tenth Line Road. Shop the freshest seasonal produce, meat and dairy, baked goods, prepared foods, crafts and more while getting to know the folks who grew and made it.

DJ NIGHT at the Orléans Brewing Co., 4380 Innes Rd. (near the McDonalds) from 7-10 p.m. to 6 p.m. Join us and our roster of DJs every Thursday, and jumpstart your weekend fun, a day ahead!

CUMBERLAND FARMERS MARKET from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the R.J. Kennedy Arena in Cumberland Village with 85 local farmers and vendors ready to showcase their freshest produce, handmade goods, and unique finds! FREE ADMISSION

STRAY DOG BREWING COMPANY presents Crroked Creek live and in concert in their taproom. From Montreal, Crooked Creek effortlessly blends bluegrass and country music genres. Tickets $15 available at straydogbrewing.ca. The Stray Dog Brewing Company is located at 501 Lacolle Way in the Taylor Creek Business Park.

 

 

 

VIEWPOINT: 30 years and counting for yours truly
By Fred Sherwin
Oct. 17
, 2019

My how time flies. It was 30 years ago this week that I ran into former Orléans Star editor James MacArthur in a downtown bar and asked him if he could use a photographer.

James had just taken over as editor of The Star after a stint with the Napanee Beaver and I had just returned to Ottawa after being laid off by the now defunct Montreal Daily News.

As it turned out, The Star already had a photographer. So after telling him that I had written a few stories while I was in Montr�al, he invited me to write a guest column on whatever subject I wanted. I chose Hallowe'en. To be more precise, I chose to write a sacrcastic, tongue-in-check critique of why Hallowe'en should be banned which you can read on the page opposite.

Soon after my column was published, the newsroom received six letters to the editor from readers who took umbrance with my position. The most letters to the editor the paper received previously on any one topic was three.

The publisher at the time, Gord Brewerton, was suitably impressed and the rest, as they say, is history. I started writing a regular weekly column, which appeared on page seven, for the better part of the next 12 years.

After leaving The Star in July 2001, I continued writing a regular column on OrleansOnline.ca until I purchased the paper in October, 2016. All told, I've probably written over 1,000 columns along with several thousand more stories.

Back in the day my columns were a mix of political commentary and personal pageantry. During the first few, I wrote much in the same as the old saying "Dance like no one's watching". Well, I wrote like no one was reading.

Some of my most popular columns were the ones which I wrote about my personal life and especially my now ex-wife and kids.

Way, way back in the day I would often reference the Girlfriend, who then became the Wife and eventually the Ex-Wife who is now our creative genius and production manager.

One of my favourite letters to the editor came from a reader who took exception to my calling my wife "The Wife�. "Doesn't she have a name?� the person asked. To which I responded that "The Wife� was a much better moniker than my original nickname for her �"The Old Ball and Chain�. The kicker is that the offended reader was a man.

The column that generated the most e-mail was the one in which I called for a ban on pets and argued that if you needed a dog for companionship you should go out and find a friend. I also argued that the $7 billion Canadians spend annually on pet food, supplies and services might be better spent on feeding and housing the homeless.

It was meant as tongue in cheek social commentary, but apparently a great many pet owners in Orléans didn't find it very funny. Go figure.

Without a doubt the column I am most proud of was actually an obituary I wrote for the Gannon family after she Erin Gannon succumbed to cancer on April 26, 2004 at the age of 18. Her grandmother personally asked me to write something.

It took me over 10 hours working through the night to pen what I thought was a fitting tribute to an incredible young woman. Days afterwards the family reached out to thank me. It was one of the proudest moments of my career in journalism.

There have been other columns and stories that made me proud to be a journalist in this community. When I first started OrleansOnline.ca, I was often asked why I did it and I never had a very good answer until a woman wrote me a letter about her 10-year-old.

The young girl had performed at a Gloucester Music Club recital and I happened to write a story about how talented the kids were. According to the woman, the story had not only made her daughter's day, it made her entire year. She had emailed a link of the story to all her relatives and printed off a copy to take to school.

It was then that I realized my mission as a local journalist and columnist has been and always will be to provide positive reinforcement to our youth by writing about their many accomplishments and publishng them online and in the newspaper. Covering the actual news was merely a side benefit. As I look ahead to the next 30 years, that will never change.

(If you wish to comment on this or any other View Point column please write to Fred Sherwin at fsherwin@orleansstar.ca)

 

Entertainment

  Sports


OST production of Anne of Green Gables a joy to behold

Shenkman unveils Matinée Café and World Music lineups

Lots to see and do at the Shenkman Arts Centre during the month of June


East end athletes win nine medals at OFSAA track and field championships

Louis-Riel wins surprising gold medal in 4x400 relay at OFSAA championships

Bevy of east end track and field athletes qualify for OFSAA provincial championships

 

Commons Corner


 

Queen's Park Corner


 

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VIEWPOINT: When it comes to public transit, Canada is a third world country

 


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Orléans, Ontario K4A 2C1
Phone: 613-447-2829
E-mail: info@orleansstar.ca

 

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