🗳️ A quarter of NOTL has voted. Read this before you do.

~ NOTL News Crew

Every NOTL kitchen has one. The plumber's magnet. The furnace company's card pinned under a clip. The electrician's number a neighbour swore by, written on the back of an envelope.

We're making a better one. NOTL News is putting together a postcard that will land in every mailbox in town, all 7,800+ of them. The first edition is NOTL News Supports Local Service Pros: a small group of trusted local trades (plumbing, electrical, landscaping, renovation, HVAC, auto and the like) on one card, plus a way to get this newsletter free if your neighbours don't already. It's meant to be the card you keep, not the one you toss.

Spots on the card are limited, and we'd rather fill them with the people NOTL already trusts. So we're asking you first.

Got a name in mind? Hit reply and tell us who, and what they did for you. We'll share where things land in a future issue.

Run a local service business? Hit reply and let us know!

NOTL's rinks haven't had a quiet night in two weeks. Last weekend, 30 men's teams came to town for the Ambassadors tournament, an old-timers tradition that has been running for more than 40 years. This week, minor hockey started the Harvest Classic a day early, and every adult league got bumped to the late slot.

That's the mood this week: everything a little crowded, a little earlier than planned. More than 3,600 people had already voted by midweek, roughly a quarter of NOTL's 17,503 eligible voters and about half of everyone who voted in all of 2022. Niagara Now ran an editorial asking people to "cool the nastiness" online. And on Monday, by about 8:30pm, it's done. Here's what you need before then.

YOU VOTED: How should NOTL close its $13M infrastructure gap?

✂️ 51% Find cuts first, then decide
🔧 37% Raise taxes and fix it faster
🛑 12% Hold the line on taxes, live with slower repairs

49 readers voted. Not a scientific poll, but a clear lean.

Last week we lined up the three Lord Mayor candidates on one number: the $13 million a year the Town is short on looking after its roads, pipes and ditches. Half of you said find cuts first. More than a third said raise taxes and get on with it. Only one in eight said leave it alone.

On Oct. 14 the three candidates met for the last time, at the Chamber of Commerce debate at Vineridge Academy. On the money, they mostly repeated themselves. On four other questions, they split cleanly. Here they are, in alphabetical order, in their own words.

One they half agree on: amalgamation. Goettler says "we are already well into amalgamation whether we like it or not." Wiens says his eight years on council and an eight-town coalition make him the one to fight it, warning that if NOTL loses its independence, "all bets are off." Kaiser points out the Lord Mayor will be NOTL's only elected voice at the Region.

How to use this. If the roundabout is your issue, you have three clear choices. If it's strong mayor powers, it's one against two. If it's the $13 million, go back to last week's issue: one candidate wants taxes at inflation, one says the real money is at the Region, one says efficiencies first. None of them is a wrong answer. They're different answers. Pick yours.

Online voting closes Sunday, Oct. 25 at 8pm (you'll need the login from your Voter Information Letter). On Monday, Oct. 26, polls are open 10am to 8pm, and you can vote at any of five: the Community Centre (14 Anderson Ln.), Crossroads Public School (1350 Niagara Stone Rd.), St. Davids Public School (1344 York Rd.), Laura Secord Homestead (29 Queenston St.) or the Holiday Inn Express in Glendale (524 York Rd.). One heads-up from the advance poll: at least one voter was turned away without a voter card and told to get on the voters' list first. If your card never showed up, check notl.com/elections or call the Town at 905-468-3266 before Monday, not at the door.

The council candidates' Chamber forum on Oct. 15 got sharp at the end. In closing, candidate Steve McGuinness pointed at Couns. Maria Mavridis and Adriana Cater-Vizzari, who both voted for the 129-room Parliament Oak hotel in June 2024 (it passed 5-4), and asked voters that question. Earlier, Weston Miller put a number on the town's planning habit: 72 zoning bylaw amendments and 21 official plan amendments in four years. "That's not the exception anymore." Mavridis countered that "zero amendments is literally impossible." Niagara Now didn't report a response from either incumbent to McGuinness.

Candidates trying to canvass at Radiant Care Pleasant Manor were turned away until The Lake Report asked about it. Now candidates get a set canvassing window this week, followed by a meet-and-greet with residents. Radiant Care's CEO says there was never a blanket ban, just a rule that visits be booked and residents agree to meet. If you have a parent in a care home or condo building, it's worth asking how they're getting candidate info before Monday.

Aspen Air Charters starts flights from Niagara District Airport to Billy Bishop on the Toronto Island this Monday, Oct. 26. Two departures a day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, about 20 minutes, $126 one way. Pair that with the five daily Air Canada buses to Pearson coming in December, and the little airport on Niagara Stone Road is having a moment.

Last weekend, 30 men's teams played the NOTL Ambassadors tournament, one of the longest-running traditions in town that nobody seems to talk about. It hit its 41st year in 2023, with 35-plus, 50-plus and 60-plus divisions and teams from across Niagara, Toronto, western New York and, that year, one from Florida. Organizer Jason Paul said then that about 90% of teams come back every year, and one Thorold team had been there for all 41.

This weekend it's the kids' turn. The NOTL Wolves' Harvest Classic, their first home tournament of the season, runs at the Meridian Credit Union and Centennial arenas. The schedule was big enough that it started Thursday, a day earlier than planned. If you're doing errands in Virgil, stop in for a period. The players are your neighbours' kids, and the stands are rarely full.

Monday is Election Day and a PD day, so here's a plan for the afternoon. Niagara Motors (1537 Niagara Stone Rd.) is hosting a free Trunk or Treat from 1 to 4pm. Local businesses are lining the lot with decorated car trunks and handing out candy, so the kids get a full trick-or-treat route without crossing a street. The Purple Perk Coffee Truck is on site, and Niagara Motors is buying a coffee or hot chocolate for the first 50 guests. It's a good example of a local business throwing a party for the town, not just a sale. The Crossroads polling station is a few minutes up the same road, so vote, then bring the kids. Costumes encouraged.

With the Royal George closed for its rebuild, the Shaw is sending A Christmas Carol to Toronto's Harbourfront Centre (Nov. 12 to Dec. 23). Here at home, you get A Year with Frog and Toad at the Court House Theatre (opens Nov. 5) and Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella at the Festival Theatre (opens Nov. 8). The Carol comes back to NOTL in 2027 for its 10th year. Tickets at shawfest.com.

Nolan Grealy has played rugby for about 10 years and is now on Canada's team for the Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, which start Oct. 31. He was one of 30 players picked nationally for the U18 Canadian Howlers, and just got back from Scotland. "He literally lives, dreams, eats rugby," says his mom, Heather. Something to cheer for once the election is over.

The Royal Canadian Legion General Nelles Branch 124 raises its flag at 10am Friday to kick off the Poppy Campaign. Remembrance Day is three weeks out.

Reminder that Concession 7 Road is fully closed between York Road and just north of Queenston Road for about five weeks (started Oct. 19) for work on the Modero subdivision. Emergency vehicles only. If you're voting at St. Davids or Crossroads on Monday, give yourself the extra few minutes.

In partnership with Evan McCaughey

Evan McCaughey sells homes in NOTL and across Niagara with The Sykes Real Estate Team at RE/MAX Niagara. He makes the case for hiring a realtor better than we could, in the picture below.

Fair point. If you're thinking about buying or selling, or you'd just like an honest number on what your place is worth before the spring market picks up, Evan will give you a straight answer.

Buying or selling in NOTL? Call or text Evan at 289-968-8128.

Sponsored

On Saturday, from 3 to 7pm, Bella Terra Vineyards on Line 2 Road becomes an open-air Halloween market. There are local vendors, trick-or-treating at every vendor stall, food trucks and wine sampling. It's free, but reserve a ticket on Eventbrite first, parking is free, and the first 50 kids get swag bags, so aim for the 3pm start. Costumes are encouraged, and not just for the kids.

For something with more shadows, the Friends of Fort George run lantern-lit ghost tours of the fort Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend, and again Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. Tickets are $25 and must be bought ahead online: none are sold at the gate. Go this weekend, before the crowd that waits for actual Halloween. Flash photos aren't allowed, so pocket the phone and let the guide do the work.

Bonus for Monday: the weekend runs long for families with the PD day. Vote in the morning, then take the kids to Trunk or Treat at Niagara Motors, 1 to 4pm. It's free, and there's free coffee for the first 50 grown-ups.

Kalin Falconer started Bloom & Co. in her basement in 2014, doing event flowers. In 2017 she opened a storefront at Four Mile Creek and York roads in St. Davids, set up as a home decor boutique. This fall she opened a second one, at Clayfield Commons in the Village.

"I sort of swore I would never open a retail flower shop," she said, "so it's kind of hilarious that I now have two."

The new spot is small on purpose. There's no back room or workspace, so every bit of floor goes to stock. She didn't hire anyone new for it. It works because of where it sits: hotel guests walk in, the hotel restaurant is a customer, and shoppers from the Saturday market at the Village (the one we wrote about last week) wander over. "Clayfield feels sort of like the little sister to our St. Davids location," she said.

It's a good sign for Garrison Village, which was built hoping shops like this would come. Find Bloom & Co. on York Road in St. Davids and at Clayfield Commons.

This week: guess the turnout. In 2022, about 48% of NOTL voted. With online voting for the first time and a quarter already in by midweek, where does it land this year? Hit reply with your number. Closest guess gets a shout-out in next week's results issue.