LOCAL HEADLINES

“2025 has been a year.” That was the response from Mayor Natasha Salonen when asked about the highs and lows of the past year as head of council.

A community group representing county residents delegated to Oxford County council during last week’s budget meeting, asking for a zero per-cent property tax hike.

The annual Tavistock Santa Claus Parade once again delighted families on Saturday, Nov. 29, but an incident following the event has left one participant with a sour aftertaste.

The spirit of giving runs deep in the village of Shakespeare, and this Christmas season that generosity has been directed toward a family facing one of the hardest challenges of their lives.

Santa Claus had a busy week touring through local communities, and Shakespeare was no exception as residents gathered for the annual Men’s Club Santa Claus Parade.

Oxford County is advising the public that personal and private information collected by some programs and services was compromised as part of the county’s cyber incident discovered in September 2025.

Hickson’s firefighters, township staff and local families bundled up against the cold last week to welcome Santa and Mrs. Claus for a festive evening beside the East Zorra-Tavistock (EZT) municipal building.

Enbridge Gas Ontario is helping the Wilmot Fire Department purchase firefighting training materials through Safe Community Project Assist.

Santa made a special tour through Shakespeare on Saturday, stopping at homes throughout the village and delighting young families with an early taste of Christmas magic.

Planning consultants with Nethery Planning are now hard at work drafting policies and drawing maps for the Township of Wellesley’s new official plan after Wellesley council approved six discussion papers that will set the direction for how the township will grow and develop over the next 30 years.

The Perth County 4-H Association received an unexpected and welcome boost at its annual meeting last week thanks to the generosity of a young Milverton resident who believes strongly in the future of agriculture and the value of 4-H.

Executives and staff with the New Hamburg-based company, The Erb Group – one of North America’s largest privately owned refrigerated transportation providers – are celebrating after being acknowledged by Lactalis Canada as going the extra mile in 2025 at an awards ceremony in Oshawa last month.

Students across Perth County received an unexpected – and much-appreciated – treat last week thanks to the generosity of Milverton’s Wyatt Westman-Frijters and the support of Perth County Dairy Producers.

The Perth East and West Perth fire departments, in partnership with the Owen Sound Police Service (OSPS), have launched Next Generation 911 (NG911) at the Owen Sound emergency communications centre (OSECC), a move aimed at strengthening public safety and emergency response.

A pair of wins over the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s (PJHL) Doherty Division cellar-dwellers was just what the doctor ordered for Tavistock as they took both ends of a home-and-home with Dorchester.

The Tavistock Royals snapped a four-game losing skid with a pair of victories over two teams above them in the Ontario Elite Hockey League’s (OEHL) Southern Division.

The Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School (W-ODSS) Junior Girls Volleyball team picked up a decisive win over Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute (CHCI) of Kitchener on Dec. 9.

Families from across Oxford, Perth and Waterloo counties are still embracing the timeless tradition of picking out and cutting down their own Christmas tree, and a quiet corner of North Easthope Township east of Amulree has become a favourite destination.

A familiar face returned to Wellesley last weekend when former Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette editor Veronica Reiner stopped in at the ever-popular Schmidtsville Restaurant.

Local snowmobile enthusiasts are gearing up for one of the earliest trail openings in recent memory, with routes across Perth, Waterloo and Oxford counties now groomed, staked and ready for riders.