LOCAL HEADLINES

To launch his third poetry collection, Essays of Light, award-winning Stratford poet and performer David Stones is joining forces with a trio of celebrated local musicians and vocalists to perform a selection of poems from his new book at Revival House Nov. 25.

About half a decade after the Gospel Lighthouse closed, the Northern Lights Gift Shop will be providing what some residents were missing.

Stratford’s Rotary Complex was abuzz with activity Nov. 9 with the Rotary Club of Stratford’s Christmas Craft Festival in the community hall, hockey games in the arena, a school volleyball tournament in the Agriplex and a bustling Farmers’ Market in the market building.

It was 1984 at the Orange Hall in the Village of Rosemont, Ont. Three lifelong pals were about to introduce a Canadian theatrical institution. They had no idea at the time.  

The Flour Mill hopes Stratford will get a taste of what the St. Marys culinary destination has to offer. The business run by mother-daughter duo Tracey Pritchard and Alex O’Shea will be opening a second location at 2 Ontario St., Stratford. O’Shea told the St. Marys Independent that, at first, there were no plans to open another location.

The expansion of programming available at Conestoga College’s Stratford campus will address the shortfall of registered early childhood educators (RECE) by 2026.

Anyone looking for something special for loved ones this year while giving back to those in need should check out Daisies and Doilies’ handmade ornaments, with 25 per cent of the proceeds going to Stratford House of Blessing.

Oct. 31 wasn’t just Halloween this year. It was also the first day of Diwali, the Indian festival of lights.

Thanks to The Bunker Performance Loungs and Café’s growing reputation as an intimate and unique performance venue, both emerging and established singer-songwriters have been flocking to Stratford to share their stories and perform their original music as part of The Bunker’s ongoing Songwriter Series.

This fall has been a busy time for members of the Stratford energy and environment committee, who are continuing their work to remove invasive species from the TJ Dolan Natural Area.

For nearly three decades in the first half of the 20th century, the Canadian Government outlawed Chinese immigration and impeded family reunification, community development, social integration and economic equality among Chinese Canadians through the Chinese Immigration Act, commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act.

In partnership with Stratford Summer Music, the final weekend of Lights On Stratford will bring the award-winning NYX: electronic drone choir with their unique music and lights to Tom Patterson Theatre on Jan. 18, 2025.

Just before her interview with the Stratford Times at Fanfare Books in Stratford on Nov. 9, eight-year-old Izzy Martchenko, also known as Izzy the Bookworm, dashed to the bookstore’s children’s section. She also flipped through several books during the interview.

In the 12 games after the team’s six straight wins to start the season, the Stratford Hunter Steel Ltd. Warriors find themselves having precisely half the points that were available to them.

Stratford will soon be getting two new ambassadors: a poet laureate and a youth poet laureate. Stratford city council approved a three-year pilot program in partnership with Destination Stratford and the Stratford Public Library at its Nov. 12 meeting.

Prepare for a fabulous evening of storytelling with a dramatic reading of A Christmas Carol at Avondale United Church Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.

The much anticipated return of Winter Wanderland to Market Square is set for Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. This year there are new features along with old favourites for this family friendly event.

Longtime Stratford Festival actor Graham Abbey recently celebrated a quarter-century’s worth of work with the festival.

According to Const. Darren Fischer, community resource and media relations officer with the Stratford Police Service (SPS), the annual Crime Prevention Week in Stratford and abroad is about raising awareness and building community connections.

One of the last lines of Ullie Kaye’s poem, “Next Door,” reads, “We are only separated by a glimmer of time. An interval. Take comfort.