Category Archives: Cambridge

Families, history and wedding week tips part of March 2025 Neighbours of West Galt

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Rob and Sue Fox are on the cover of March 2025 edition Neighbours of West Galt, in a photo by Stan Switalski.

I enjoyed interviewing my long-time friends Rob and Sue Fox as the featured family in the March 2025 edition of Neighbours of West Galt, published by Best Verson Media. Stan Switalski created the cover photo and images for the feature story.

I’m the content coordinator for the magazine and collect information to share in the monthly publication, which is distributed to selected areas west of the Grand River in Cambridge, Ontario. There’s no subscription offered, so I encourage you to share your copy with your neighbours.

Please share your West Galt news tips, photos or events using this submission form.

Other stories in the March 2025 edition include:

A history story I wrote about F. J. Brown & Son Jewellery Store, which has been a fixture on Main Street since 1890.

Advice about how much to expect new windows and doors to cost, in story by Linton Window and Door.

The House Doctor offers tips about protecting your house from Radon Gas seeping into your basement.

The Pets of the Month section features Callie, a Mini Australian Shepherd dog, and cats Scout and Bravehart.

A rundown of what’s happening in Cambridge Wedding Week, March 3-9, 2025, hosted by the Downtown Cambridge Business Improvement Association.

A 1965 aerial photo of a new subdivision under construction along Blair Road, from the Cambridge Reporter Collection at the City of Cambridge Archives.

Books by Irish Authors to help you get into the St. Patrick’s Day mood, offered by YourBookishLife.com

Rob and Sue Fox are on the cover of March 2025 edition Neighbours of West Galt, in a photo by Stan Switalski.

Remembering Hurricane Hazel flooding in 1954 in what’s now Cambridge, Ontario

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cars drive through flood water over rural road in 1954 near what's now Cambridge Ontario Canada
This photo from October 15, 1954 shows cars driving along Blair Road through Grand River flood waters, caused by Hurricane Hazel. The photo was taken by Harold Kingle, and is now part of the Cambridge Archives Collection.

This year, Cambridge, Ontario, residents remembered the last big Grand River flood on May 17, 1974, with a 50th anniversary event at Cambridge Firehall Museum and Education Centre.

It caused millions of dollars of damage in downtown Galt 50 years ago, but it isn’t the only flood anniversary this year.

October 15 and 16, 2024, marks the 70th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel in 1954, which drenched southern Ontario when it took an unexpected northern turn from the southern United States.

The storm killed 81 people in Toronto. Damage there was estimated at between $25 million and $100 million, or more than $1 billion, says the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Galt downtown flooded

In Galt, now called Downtown Cambridge, there were dozens of people rescued from homes along the Grand River by firefighters using boats.

No injuries were noted after the rainstorm storm flooded downtown Galt and washed-out sections of roads between Blair and Galt and Blair and Preston. The storm also destroyed the tent city at the International Plowing Match at Breslau.

The river rose four metres above normal and covered Water Street and Grand Avenue.  

The Galt Evening Reporter on Monday, October 18, 1954, covered the flooding in detail, including eyewitness accounts of bystanders rescuing a Waterloo man from a submerged car on flooded Highway 97 east, and men on horseback saving a herd of cattle trapped by rising waters at the Cruickston Park Farm in Estate in Blair.

Folk music pub night concert planned for Cambridge on October 19, 2024

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Bring your Saturday night singing voice to a Folk Music Pub Night at Wesley United Church on October 19, 2024.

I’ll be your emcee for the night, as local trio Tea for Three will be joined in concert by two other local folk musicians, Bill Nesbitt and Tom Miller.

Admission is by donation.

Local musicians in the spotlight

Tea For Three consists of Paul Morris, Gwen Potter, and Brad McEwen, who are also members of the band Tethera, which has performed across Ontario and in the UK. The repertoire is traditional folk music, mostly from England, with many tunes from France, Belgium, Scotland, Canada, Scandinavia, and anywhere else as long as they like it and it fits.     

Bill loves traditional music of all kinds and plays Anglo Concertina. He also plays for Contra, Morris, and Ceilidh dances throughout southern Ontario. He has a particular interest in songs and tunes from Newfoundland. 

Tom has been attending folk clubs, concerts and festivals for more than 50 years, and singing at open stages for over twenty years. He ran the Moonshine Cafe Folk Club and Song Circle in Oakville for 13 years before moving to Cambridge.

“Tom sings unaccompanied – all the songs have choruses – please join in,” Brad says.

Wesley United Church and Mill Race Folk Traditions organized the event.

Please join me for the show as I practice my hosting skills, which I continue as part of public speaking at the Cambridge Toastmasters club.

Concert information

Sat., Oct. 19, 2024

Wesley United Church, Ainslie Hall

6 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, ON

Concert: 8-10 pm

Admission by donation (cash, credit or debit)

Parking for the show is available behind City Hall, in the Cambridge Street lot.  Please enter the church through the Cambridge Street doors.

Doors and Bar Open at 7:30 pm

For information about the concert, email: events@wesleyunitedchurchcambridge.ca

Cambridge Fall Fair an easy bus ride for Conestoga College students

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The Cambridge Fall Fair runs in Dickson Park, Cambridge, on the second weekend of September.

Updated Sept. 7, 2024

I teach international students business communication at Conestoga College and regularly hear questions about what events and festivals happen in the Cambridge-Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Fall fairs are events I always mention in September. They usually include demolition derbies, animal displays, a midway, and live entertainment. And lots of food.

The easiest fall fair for Conestoga students to reach without a car is the Cambridge Fall Fair, Thurs., Sept. 5 through Sun., Sept. 8, 2024, at Dickson Park in Cambridge.

Dickson Park is on the Grand River Transit bus Route 57, which runs between the Doon and Cambridge Campuses of Conestoga College, and the Ainslie Street GRT bus terminal at 35 Ainslie St. in Downtown Cambridge.

Thursdays and Sundays offer free admission, but there is always a charge to take midway rides. Admission is $10 at the entry gates on Friday and $15 on Saturday when most events are scheduled.

Route 57 buses run Monday through Saturday, morning, afternoon, and evening.

On Sunday, you’ll have to take a bus to the Ainslie Street terminal and then walk about 10 minutes to Dickson Park through the old Galt Downtown area. (If you’re heading to the fair in Cambridge on Sunday from Kitchener or Waterloo, your probably best to take the Route 302 or Route 206 express buses to the Ainslie Terminal).

There are other fairs in the Waterloo Region area, but they’re not easy to reach by public transit. Here’s a link to all the fall fair dates in Ontario.

The Wellesley Township Fair runs on Sept. 10 and 11, 2024, at the Wellesley Recreation Complex Centre, 1401 Queen’s Bush Road, Wellesley. That’s a 20-minute car drive northwest of Waterloo.

The New Hamburg Fall Fair runs Sept. 12-15, 2024 at 251 Jacob St. in New Hamburg Fairgrounds, west of Kitchener. To reach that location by public transit from Kitchener or Waterloo, you can take the GRT Route 77, but only on weekdays mornings or afternoons. That doesn’t work well to visit the fair in the evening.

Missing no more! The plaque is back in Victoria Park in Cambridge

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After going missing in early June, 2024, the historic plaque in Victoria Park in Cambridge is back where it should be.

Cambridge Today reports that the historic bronze plaque was found nearby, and reinstalled by city crews this week. It’s located along Blenheim Road, opposite Mount View Cemetery.

Other plaques that went missing simultaneously still haven’t been found.