United Way Supplies 4 Students campaign is underway

Amanda Kreiger to be new executive director as Kelly Gilson announces retirement

United Way Of Oxford is not resting this summer -- no feet up, no swinging in a hammock !
Just as one elementary school year ends, the United Way has already began its mission to assist students in September with affordability of Back-To-School supplies. The annual Supplies 4 Students campaign is underway now as coordinated by the focus of United Way. The goal is to assist 1,400 students with gift cards to be used at either Staples, Dollarama or Giant Tiger.
The website https://unitedwayoxford.ca/supplies4students/ indicates how the plan works as you can donate a sum in $50 increments to create a fund that will be distributed by the schools in September.
Oxford County Community Health Centre (OCCHC), Kiwanis in Ingersoll, Children's Aid Society, Operation Sharing and the Salvation Army are among the 8 additional groups also promoting this significant effort.

As of June 26

This is the 11th year for Supplies For Students by United Way Oxford. The format changed recently as previously each child enrolled in the program received a back pack filled with supplies, but now families can purchase specific needs from binders to pens to paper, etc.

The United Way continues to serve the county in many ways, including the 10th annual Day Of Caring earlier in June with 82 volunteers, and 11 projects and 9 locations. MW&Co Chartered Accountants (1321 Dundas) were the title sponsor.
United Way, which has its offices next to the Woodstock Public Library at 447 Hunter Street, will witness quite a transition in October when Amanda Kreiger becomes the new executive director.

Amanda Kreiger

The retirement of Kelly Gilson will create a gap that Kreiger will certainly quickly fill with their talented team, which includes Megan Porter as resource development coordinator and Lindsay Wilson as community impact manager.

Gilson joined the United Way back in 2003 and has been a shining community star for many years including previously with the Woodstock BIA. 
“Everything we do is really because of the generosity of the community, as well as the commitment of volunteers,” said Gilson in a Woodstock Sentinel-Review story. “My time in this role has shown me what a community can accomplish when people are inspired to help."

I too was inspired to help as a member of the original United Way Stair Climb committee -- an event where high school students walk the stairs at the Reeves Community Complex to raise dollars for the annual United Way campaign. Enthusiasm of youth has been key to that event over the years, especially since Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute has raised the most money just about every year proving once again the county-wide importance of the United Way.

As the years advance, the United Way of Oxford has seen many shifts including the establishment of transition-type homes in Tillsonburg first and later Ingersoll in a program called The Light House. OCCHC and United Way operate the Light House in Tillsonburg with a capacity for 7 residents. It was the United Way of Oxford which purchased the residence. The premise is to offer supports with a target for a resident to become more independent and be able to leave therefore after 364 days.

With Operation Sharing finding success with Coldest Night Of The Year in Woodstock, the United Way expanded the concept to both Ingersoll and Tillsonburg. 

There's a long list of associations receiving money from the United Way of Oxford after the annual campaign. Groups apply for funding and those receiving assistance include Big Brothers / Big Sisters, the Sea Cadets and Navy League, Fusion Youth Centre in Ingersoll, STEAM Education centre, and the Ontario Student Nutrition Program. Outside of the many youth associations there is also Ingamo Homes / DART, the local Alzheimer Society, Stich Supper Club,  Canadian Mental Health Association, Helping Hand Food Bank, Southwestern Public Health, and several others. 

Take a look at their website and 'United Way Oxford' on Facebook for even more details about the current and future of this effort-driven local non-profit organization. 

The respect earned by the United Way has also increased donations to their projects such as $92,500 received from the Great Give Oxford Committee from their recent Casino Royale Gala, plus monies received from Tim Horton's Smile Cookie promotions, more than $13,000 from a dodge ball tournament, the dozens of employee-deduction programs, and so many other campaigns. The overall annual campaign total was above $1.3 million.

 

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Article content It’s pretty remarkable what happens.”  

Building Faster Fund aligns with changes in development charges

Ontario plays 'Let's Make A Deal' with municipalities

          (This post is Part 2 of previous writing) 

It was just before Christmas I recall -- the festive season of 2023.

What occurred then?

The City of Woodstock signed its Building Faster Fund pledge with the Province of Ontario. As I pointed out in my previous entry, municipalities are a creature of the province -- all 444 in the province and some are one tier, some are two tiers like in Oxford (Oxford and lower tier Woodstock), some are small townships, while others are geographically quite large with a smallish population, but there are 444 possible members of AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario).

The Woodstock pledge was 5,500 residential units by 2031. One unit could be a 600 sq ft 1-bedroom apartment or it could be a 4,000 sq ft 5-bedroom mansion. A unit is a unit is a unit is a unit. One area early on that was contention or a quandary is whether a new room in a retirement home counted as a unit -- and it certainly does.

Where will Woodstock obtain its 5,500 living quarters ?

Firstly, the pledge was made 2.5 years ago and many building permits have been issued since. 

The top of the iceberg is below water level as the City has approved hundreds of units which could all be in place easily by 2031 -- or not. Market trends, interest rates, supply and demand, employment shifting, and incentives can all assist in a shift in either direction. The City, for example, has approved an approximate 22-storey apartment building (Several levels of parking garage and then apartments above) to be located where the Downs At Cedar Creek clubhouse previously stood. However, the City's economic development office must find a developer / builder to take on the project (Own it and manage it too) as the Corporation of Woodstock doesn't build such structures.

Here's a list of additionally approved projects either under construction or not.

Former hospital site at Riddell - Brant - Wellington - Vincent for about 40 units.

The one-and-old 401 Lakeview at Vansittart approved subdivision which Alder Grange residents and City Council clashed with provincial land tribunal about. (260 units)

Townhouses at Lansdowne and Devonshire. (27 units)

Townhouses on Mill Street (360 - 366) across from ambulance station.

Apartment building with 13 floors at Juliana and Alberta. (260 units)

Two apartment buildings at Juliana and Champlain (with more to be built later; 550 units)

Apartment building at Juliana and Salter.

Apartments with stacked townhomes on Pavey at former vet hospital locale.

Apartments at 175 Springbank attached to Bethany Lutheran church. (40 units)

Townhouses at Oxford and Hunter streets. (8 more)

Hunter Street

Previous Hunter St church

Townhouses at 50-56 Park Row (10 in total)

Apartment building at Wellington and Main for 6-storey construction.

More . . . More . . . More

Westwood Hills / Cachet Homes north of Karn Road (Gillespie connects to Anderson now) with 6 different builders. (730 units)

Kading townhomes

Sally Creek family subdivision at Masters Drive (20 more lots ?) and adult-only Garden Court (30 more units)

Masters Drive house

Hartley Farm subdivision (East off 11th Line) -- 10 more building lots.

Townhouse condos at 261 Pittock Park Road (18)

Havelock Corners (Thames Developments / Kingsmen) at former Thornton farm (380 units planned).

Former Thornton farm

and River & Sky (Woodstock Meadows) which includes 8-storey planned apartment structures plus many townhouses and detached homes (More than 1,100 units).

Finally, the Neighbourhooods of Devonshire now includes Fusion Homes along with Claysam. (Calais and Dunkirk streets; 200+ units additionally)

Calais / Dunkirk Sprucedale streets

Note: As some of these subdivisions are nearing completion, I've added a modest or low number of more homes planned).

The grand total: About 3,900 planned units already. Can Woodstock reach its provincial target by 2031 without a boundary adjustment? I will leave the question unanswered. 

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Development Charges system to be modified

Meadows, Kingsmen, Westwood Hills subdivisions all seem to be busy in 2026

Two areas of Woodstock are witnessing several residential blocks under construction -- the subdivision south of Karn Road, so the City's southwest corner, and certainly also the northeast area north of Pittock Lake where both the River & Sky neighbourhood (Former locale of Woodstock Meadows golf course) and also Phase 6 of Havelock Corners by the Kingsmen Group (Thames Development) is being serviced with roads, utilities and water lines.

I often avoid a tug-of-war between opinion and simply stating facts, but after a couple years of servicing with bulldozers and road layouts, anyone driving on County Road 17 will witness quite an obvious burst of construction of homes -- a significant percentage of townhouses, but additional detached houses as well.

When you combine this north-of-Pittock development with Karn Road and other approved projects it creates some peace-of-mind when you mirror the numbers with both the City's response (or pledge to the province) to residential growth up to 2031 and the community's council-approved report to request provincial dollars from our willingness to reduce 'development charges' (DC) by 50% over the next 3 calendars to entice -- more homes to be built and at an expectant lower price with corresponding DC reductions. The City and County currently combine to receive about $35,000 (Total) per new single-family home for the so-called DC's as growth should assist in paying for growth.

Karn Road (Accessed best from Gillespie street off Karn or via the continuation of Anderson) hammers and plywood feature the Westwood Hills group as local builders Hunt Homes (Steve Hunt), Deroo Brothers Ventures (Henry and sons Julian and Lucas), Deroo Fine Homes (Paul Deroo), Caisteal Homes (Scott Deroo), Karl Reyneveld, Oxford Builders (George Geerlinks); and also the Cachet Homes builders using the name Heartwood for its subdivision.

Let's not forget, Neighbourhoods of Devonshire (East end, but west of Woodall Way) includes Fusion Homes and Claysam Homes.

Certainly, receiving DC money from builders is extremely important to assist in creating parks and accompanying playgrounds, recreation facilities, expanding library systems, extending transit lines, and so much more.

In turn, the Woodstock new pledge to the province (June 18 council debate and approved motion) for our DC coffers to be reduced by 50% in obtaining these DC dollars will hopefully be converted in the next 3 years for our City to receive significant provincial 'grant' money to build a 4th ice surface locally. Keep in mind, DC charges are for 'new' items on a community's shopping list so replacing the Civic Centre Arena with a new 3rd arena would NOT qualify for this program.  

Woodstock's recreation department conducted a third-party (Monteith Brown were consultants) needs assessment study where user groups' registration numbers were strictly analyzed and forecasted to prove Woodstock has the demand for a 4th ice surface, and would be in significant supply-and-demand trouble if the Civic Centre rink would fail before another ice pad was built. I must add that my 25-year (+ actually) tenure on the recreation advisory committee includes a comprehensive tour of the fairgrounds-based Civic Centre and its overall capabilities and failings (Size of dressing rooms, number of dressing rooms, AODA compliance, public bathrooms, etc).

There are semantics when trends are dissected -- for example including additional residential units in the number of annual residential totals as ARUs didn't exist 10 years ago in stats. Also, a residential unit could be a 1-bedroom apartment in a 120-unit multi-storey building or it could be a 5-bedroom 2-storey in a high-end subdivision. An average is often created as a long-tern trend. Leading up to the end of 2025, the 10-year average for new building permits in Woodstock is 391, while the 5-year average is 345. The year-by-year numbers indicate how poor the 2024 total was at just 143 units. Here are the past 6 years to consider: 2025, 422; 2024, 143; 2023, 370; 2022, 322; 2021, 469; and 2020, 522. That astronomical 2022 number included 302 single-family homes, while the meagre 2024 number featured just 14 single-family permits.

COUNCIL AGENDA (June 18)

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MINUTES

All these statistics appear on the city website, but an experienced City Council member with also 20 years experience as a Realtor can decipher the contents.

Today, I talked to City CAO David Creery for more particulars such as the City's 3-year (based on province's fiscal year) average or expected number of permits will be 450 per year, which translates into a forecasted 42% single-family dwellings, 27% row townhomes, and 31% apartments.   

It's interesting times when it's confirmed that . . .  

An often-used expression and commonly cited saying: “municipalities are creatures of the provinces”  comes from a 1993 Supreme Court of Canada ruling: Accordingly, they can only exercise those powers which are explicitly conferred upon them by a provincial statute.

Both pictures above depict River & Sky residential construction south of County Rd 17. (Pictures taken today)

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Chamber Of Commerce annual meeting

Upper Thames Brewery hosts the agenda

Membership has its privileges . . . at a golf course, in a service club, at theatre, and of course at the Woodstock District Chamber Of Commerce.

Tuesday marked the annual General Meeting and it was combined with a Business After Five at Upper Thames brewery at their Bysham Park location.

Year-end financial statements, a look back at recent Chamber events, announcements of the new executive for 2026-27, recognizing a 49-year member, and great food and networking.

There's lots of info about the association to be read at www.woodstockchamber.ca (Membership rates, etc.), but the agenda on June 16 included the introduction of Allison Henkell as the incoming president. I've know Allison for many years through the Lions Club, and she is also one of the main coordinators for the Food Resource Hub locally. As a CPA tax accountant at BDO (a partner since 2014), Allison has the monetary background and business connections to be a leader in many areas, especially with the food bank, which started quite recently. 

Allison Henkell

The out going president is Jason Stanko (pictured below left) of RBC Commercial Banking Centre, who was co-presenter of the agenda along with Chamber general manager Mike Crabbe. 

It's great to see Kim Whitehead as operations assistant staying busy with the Chamber as she was sales manager at The Sentinel-Review newspaper when I was sports editor at our local little daily 30 years ago.

The surprise of the night was a video recognition of 49-year Chamber member Jim Harrison, who recently retired from Whitelaw Machinery.  Another Chamber past president in Ifhan Hudda (From Anderson automotive group) honoured Harrison in a recorded speech. 

On Main Street, Whitelaw has existed in the Woodstock business world since 1856. Jim Harrison wasn't the boss for all those years, but certainly more than 40 of them. He is also a past president of the Chamber. Today, I know Jim Harrison as a dedicated member of the Woodstock Museum Advisory Committee.

Jim Harrison

The Chamber is a super place for networking, whether it be the annual golf tournament (July 8 this year at Craigowan), or the annual Business Awards of Excellence dinner and presentations, the Sip & Sample Social, Coffee Connections, Gather & Grow networking breakfasts, and the monthly Business After Five gatherings which truly is a great opportunity for a Chamber member business to showcase its location.

One particular Business After Five was held recently as ArcelorMittal on Commerce Way in Woodstock. The event included a rare tour of their automotive steel parts facility. It was interesting for me as my Dad worked many years at Standard Tube on Givins Street and today that factory is also a ArcelorMittal production facility.

One other prominent event that the Chamber annually sponsors is the Breakfast With The Mayor at South Gate Centre.

Summer is just around the corner, but the Chamber is preparing for a busy autumn beginning with a Chamber After Five at Mostly Roses on Sept. 22.

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Shantz wins OFSAA gold again in sprinting

WCI athlete wins provincial high school title in 100-metre dash

Zoey Shantz from Woodstock Collegiate Institute is once again a provincial high school track and field champion.

She's not the only Oxford County medalist at OFSAA, but her accomplishment is important and unique. 

The 17-year-old Shantz competed in OFSAA 100m and 800m finals for Intellectually Impaired athletes, winning Gold in the 100 das in 14.52 seconds, and earned silver in the 800 distance in 3:00.96. It's her third consecutive year of winning gold at the Ontario-wide meet in sprints -- this time held in St Catharines at the Niagara Olympic Club.

In track, you're goals are many but improving your 'personal best' times is important. Shantz won Gold at OFSAA in 2025 in 14.99 (At Western University's Alumni Stadium).

In 2024, Shantz was 4th at 800 metres. Shantz was golden at 100 metres, winning by a mere 0.02 seconds in the final.

In 2023, Shantz was 5th in the 100 metres.

Shantz competes with and against WCI runner Serenity Scott, who had earned silver at the OFSAA regional qualifier. Scott won gold in the shot put to advance to provincials in 3 categories -- 100, 800 and shotput. In shotput, Scott placed 10th at OFSAA; in 800 metres she was 5th.

Among the coaches for Zoey Shantz of the WCI Red Devils were Blair Windsor, Alexandra Mara, and Jag Rai.

Kyla's Kareer 

Shantz and Scott are accomplished athletes, but at WCI they are also following in the footsteps of OFSAA gold winner Kyla Rodrigue who was induced in 2025 in both the WCI Steve Coad sports hall of fame and the Woodstock sports wall of fame.

Rodrigue won OFSAA gold representing Woodstock Collegiate in 2019 in the 100-metre sprint for Intellectually Impaired. The Ontario high school championships were at the University of Guelph that year, and Rodrigue won the finals in 13.49 seconds. Rodrigue also won TVRA (Thames Valley), WOSSA and the OFSAA West Regionals gold medals.

Earlier,  in 2018, she won silver at OFSAA at York University in 13.71.

In earlier Junior age years, Rodrigue had won gold in Grade 9 in 14.39 seconds in Toronto in 2015 setting a junior provincial record. Next: earned a silver in 100metre sprints in 2016 OFSAA in Grade 10.

In 2017, in Grade 11 in Belleville she won silver in 14.24 seconds. At the OFSAA West Regionals, she won gold 5 straight years. 

Additional success stories can be seen in the Sentinel-Review story:    https://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/sports/local-sports/woodstock-athletes-medal-at-ofsaa-track-and-field-championships

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