Category: News 2018

House prices stay level – sort of

John Draper

With interest rates rising, there has been a lot of talk that homes would be less affordable so prices would go down – but that has not happened, at least not yet.  Instead they are fairly steady in both Toronto and Cobourg.  In my last report in September, average house prices in August were around $480K and now they are nearer $430k although still higher than mid-year 2017.  But prices vary tremendously depending on location and other features.  The backlog (or to put it in realtor terms “inventory”) is larger which probably means some houses are not selling because they are overpriced – if a house is taking too long to sell, it seems to me that few people want… Read complete articleHouse prices stay level – sort of

Ted Amsden Completes Term as Poet Laureate

John Draper

Cobourg appointed Eric Winter as its first Poet Laureate on July 21, 1997; Jill Battson followed and most recently, Ted Amsden has held the post since 2011.  He was re-appointed to the position at the start of the previous term of council and this ends with his last poem to be read at the Mayor’s Levee on January 1, 2019.  In tribute to Ted, a number of organizations have added videos to their facebook pages of Ted reading one of his poems.  But several of his poems are online on You-Tube – links to them are given below and one has been selected for this post. Poets are quite active in Cobourg – there is an active poetry group who… Read complete articleTed Amsden Completes Term as Poet Laureate

Call for Civic Award Nominations

John Draper

Each year the Town has an evening where awards are made to citizens who have made significant contributions to the community. These are mostly for volunteers but also include sporting achievements and bravery.  Professionals and town employees are not eligible. The selection is made by a committee chaired this year by Karen Chalovich and they are now accepting nominations.  Any citizen can make a nomination but it’s not a trivial task since you need to get supporting documents from others who agree with your choice.  You can get the necessary forms from the Town by download (link below) or pick them up from the Town Hall.  The “Theme” this time will be “Arts and Culture” so cultural organizations are encouraged… Read complete articleCall for Civic Award Nominations

Big Success for Habitat – Fund-raising Goal Exceeded

John Draper

On November 22, Habitat for Humanity Northumberland launched a campaign to raise $20,000 to build local affordable homes in Northumberland County.  Since it’s their 20th anniversary, they set the goal to raise $20K for their 20th in 20 days, ending on December 11th.  They announced yesterday that this campaign had raised $35,000 – easily beating their goal.  As well as their lead sponsor (Spoolon) who made a significant contribution, they had 10 “day sponsors” who contributed $1000 each and 3 “half day sponsors” who contributed $500 each.  There was also a raffle held in conjunction with the Gingerbread Festival which raised $700 and of course a number of people donated to make the campaign a big success.  This included the… Read complete articleBig Success for Habitat – Fund-raising Goal Exceeded

First County Council Meeting with new Members

John Draper

At the first meeting of the new Northumberland County Council on December 12, newly elected Mayors will be on board.  As well as Cobourg’s John Henderson, others on Council will be: William Cane (Hamilton – new),  Robert Crate (Trent Hills), John Logel (Alnwick-Haldimand), Mandy Martin (Cramahe – new), Brian Ostrander (Brighton – new), Robert Sanderson (Port Hope).  They will be asked to receive the budget for 2019 including the county’s levy increase – that’s a polite name for tax increase.  In addition to the 2019 budget, they will also see a 10 year Financial plan showing expected budgets to 2028.  The next County Council meeting will be on January 30 and it’s expected to get approved then – that’s months… Read complete articleFirst County Council Meeting with new Members

Book Launch at Victoria Hall

John Draper

Newly elected Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin operates a publishing business with her husband Gerry Brown and Gerry has now written a book focusing on stories about the Cobourg boys who went to fight in World War I. These are stories of individuals told from the perspective of Arthur Gerson, a fictitious observer living at the time who was not eligible to fight himself. Inspired by the recently finished Armistice 18 project, Gerry has collected some human interest stories of these men. The book is called Memories from a Grey Wooden Box, Cobourg Stories from the Great War and it was launched today in the Lobby of Victoria Hall in front of the plaque dedicated to WWI soldiers from Cobourg who made the… Read complete articleBook Launch at Victoria Hall

DBIA announces 2019 Attractions

John Draper

The new DBIA Events & Communications Coordinator Jenna Leslie has now announced the 2019 Downtown events with a few changes.  Gone is the Busker Festival on the second Saturday in June but in its place is “Saturdays on Second Street” for four Saturdays in June. The Art Walk in August returns with the same format but loses the accompanying Pub crawl.  In its place is a new OctoBEER pub crawl in October.  Also returning are favourites including the February Pub Crawl (I guess we like our beer!), the Girls Night Out in May, the Food and Music Festival the weekend after the Waterfront Festival, the Sidewalk Sale on the August long weekend, the Harvest Festival late September and in November,… Read complete articleDBIA announces 2019 Attractions

Venture13 opens to Telecommuters

John Draper

Venture13 is owned by the Town of Cobourg and jointly managed by them and Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC). It’s located in Northam Industrial Park and now that the Park’s Mortgage has been paid off, the Mayor and CAO can turn their attention to this new boost to local Economic Development.  Newly elected Mayor John Henderson mentioned Venture13 in his inaugural speech on Monday and on Tuesday, CAO Stephen Peacock joined CFDC’s Wendy Curtis in announcing an expansion of an area in Venture13 called the NewVenture Zone.  That’s the area intended for new entrepreneurs needing work space. Called the VentureZone Inn, it’s a new type of VentureZone “Membership” aimed at individual professional telecommuters whereas regular VentureZone members are entrepreneurs… Read complete articleVenture13 opens to Telecommuters