LOCAL HEADLINES

One of the long established and successful businesses in Tavistock is making a large financial donation to Tavistock Community Health Inc. (TCHI), helping in TCHI’s ongoing fundraising efforts to update and improve the offices and examining rooms at the local medical clinic.

North Easthope Township’s Cody McGonigle has been riding ponies and, as he got bigger, quarter horses, since he was six years old – after his maternal grandfather Barry Cole-Poppa bought him his first pony.

The name Mathieson is one well known around Stratford and Perth County. In the Milverton area, the name is probably most recognized for Mrs. Carolyn Mathieson, a teacher at Milverton Public School.

The Stratford Humphrey Fleet Service U18 AA Aces continued to contend for a playoff spot at the West Division of the OWHA-Southern U18 AA league as they hosted the Bluewater Hawks and travelled to London to face the London Devilettes.

The Stratford Film Festival (SFF) returns with monthly screenings beginning Feb. 14 with the French film Nouveau Départ (New Beginnings). Directed by Phillipe Lefebvre, the film stars Franck Dubosc and Karin Viard as a married couple facing a stale future now that they are empty nesters.

As they prepared for their week of important contests, the Stratford Hunter Steel Warriors knew their goal of having home-ice advantage was still within their sights, and two members of the team participated in the MacPherson Tournament at St. Andrew’s College in Aurora.

For residents of Stratford, St. Marys and Perth County, filing income taxes can be stressful, confusing and, for some, financially out of reach.

As Gallery Stratford’s lineup of sommeliers prepare to do battle at the nearly sold-out second annual Battle of the Sommeliers fundraiser Feb. 26, gallery staff and supporters are preparing to launch another opportunity to support gallery operations and programming with its second annual Shadowbox(ing) Online Art, Items and Experiences Auction.

Following the declaration of an intimate partner violence (IPV) epidemic by Stratford, North Perth and West Perth over the past few years, the Stratford chapter of Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) held a panel discussion on how to address IPV.

As snow began to blanket Stratford and area, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) held a rally outside of Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae’s office. Kevin Cook, first vice-president of OCHU-CUPE, said they were there for one simple reason.

Whether Valentine’s Day involves purchasing paper hearts, digital hearts or heart-shaped pizzas at Boston Pizza, the donations will support the local Wellspring chapter.

Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner shared some words of wisdom during the party’s first ever Perth-Wellington constituency meeting, shared to him by an unlikely source: Preston Manning, founder of the right-wing Reform Party of Canada.

The Stratford Irish concluded their final homestand of the regular season with a dominant 12-1 win over the Woodstock Lakers at the William Allman Memorial Arena on Jan. 31.

If readers have not been to a good old fashioned “country store” in a while, a trip to the northern edge of Stratford on Highway 119 might be an enjoyable stop.

The Salvation Army in Stratford recently celebrated local volunteers at its volunteer appreciation luncheon, where kettle volunteers gathered to share lunch, stories and learn about the impact of the 2025 Christmas kettle campaign.

The forecast for Saturday, Jan. 24 called for a low of -22º Celsius, one of the coldest days of January. That didn’t stop this year’s Stratford Winterfest.

In the 2025-2026 ALLIANCE regular season, the Stratford U18 AA Warriors are in the final stretch. With seven games remaining, the Warriors are in eighth spot in the league, but in the fourth seed in the six-team ALLIANCE Constellation AA Playdowns if the regular season concluded at press time.

Newly re-elected director of Egg Farmers of Ontario’s Zone 6, Sally Van Straaten, told the Times that the good news for egg eaters is that area egg farmers will be doing their best to keep shelves at grocery stores full with many types of Grade A eggs.

After recruiting some volunteers to distribute Not OK. campaign materials in workplaces, Optimism Place is hoping to get more volunteers to expand distribution.

On Jan. 21, the Stratford Hunter Steel Warriors looked to get back to their winning ways as they prepared for their games against the Sarnia Legionnaires.