Fries R Us has new ownersA popular St. Thomas "chip wagon" has new proprietors. Hank Daniszewski |
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 [ 2009-10-02 ] |
Sherri and Lloyd Stevens are the new proprietors of Fries R Us in St. Thomas.
Fries R Us is at 181 Talbot St. atop the hill at the west end of downtown. The trailer resembles the Red Rocket streetcars used in Toronto for years.
It's a new venture for Sherri, who worked as a legal assistant for 21 years, and Lloyd, who is a real estate agent in the city.
"The lawyer I worked for retired and I decided I wanted to work for myself," said Sherri. Fries R Us has been around for 18 years and was formerly operated by Chuck Semple.
Fresh-cut fries are the big draw for loyal customers. Sherri said they are blanched before frying to give them a crispy texture.
Fries R Us also sells such favourites as hotdogs and gyros.
Sherri said chip wagons are still able to compete in an era of fast-food giants, partly because of the nostalgia factor.
"Most of our clientele on the weekend are the older crowd that like to sit in their cars. They're the old drive-in people," said Sherri.
RIVERPARK DENTAL OFFERS MUCH
Riverpark Dental is a new practice in Byron offering a number of innovations.
Dr. Nohara Martinez is a native of Colombia who comes from a family of 12 dentists. She started studying dentistry at 15 at Pontificia Javeriana University in Bogota and opened her first practice by 21. By 26, she had completed her specialty in orthodontics.
Martinez and her team offer service in Spanish, German, Polish, Arabic and English.The office offers wireless Internet service and uses "green" digital imaging and charting to limit paper use. To help patients relax, all dental chairs have massage units.
Riverpark Dental is at 305 Boler Rd.
FAMILY FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
The Canadian Association of Family Enterprise has announced finalists for the Southwestern Ontario Family Enterprise of the Year 2009.
The award, for significant achievement within a Southwestern Ontario family business, will be presented on National Family Business Day, Oct. 22.
The finalists are Dowler-Karn Ltd., Flanagan Foodservice Inc. and Hayter's Turkey Farms.
Dowler-Karn, just east of St. Thomas, was founded by George Dowler in 1943. It provides quality gasoline, diesel, propane and lubricants to farm, industrial and home users.
Flanagan Foodservice of Kitchener is an independently owned and family-operated distributor Joe Flanagan founded it in 1977 with an emphasis on customer service.
Hayter's Turkey Farms Ltd. was founded 60 years ago by Harry Hayter and has continued now for three generations.
As good stewards of the land, Hayters have successfully "no-tilled" crops since 1982 to reduce carbon emissions, fuel use and soil loss.
GALVANIZED SNOWPLOWS
London-based Arctic Snowplows has introduced galvanized snowplows to its product line.
The zinc coating offers resistance to abrasions and water, and helps reduce rust and corrosion.
"We're excited to introduce this new line of snowplows to our customers, who know first-hand how hard winter can be on machinery," said Dan Armstrong, Arctic's president.
Armstrong said the galvanized snowplows have a longer service life because they are extremely durable and low maintenance.
Arctic is also introducing galvanized steel spreaders and sanders to its line.
Since it was founded in 1969, Arctic Snowplows has become Canada's premier maker of snowplows for the light truck market.
BOSTON PIZZA FOUNDATION BENEFITS
The first Boston Pizza Golf Tournament was held recently at Greenhills Golf Club.
The event drew 34 teams and more than $4,000 was raised for the Boston Pizza Foundation.
The foundation has raised over $9.9 million nationally to support the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Kids Help Phone and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
GAMING UNION STANDS OUT
Gaming Union, a new online video game news and reviews publication based in London, is making a name for itself around the world.
Found online at www.GamingUnion.net, the site has drawn more than two million page views since opening in April.
Managing editor Kyle Wynen and editor-in-chief Darryl Kearvell began developing Gaming Union last fall while Wynen was enrolled in broadcast journalism at Fanshawe College and Kearvell worked full time as a search engine technician.
Art director Colin Tan helped develop the look feel and functionality of the site.
Gaming Union will attend the Tokyo Game Show 2009 and be an official partner in DIG London 2009.
BRIEF HED HED HED HED
Scott Hill has joined the team at ON Communication Inc. as a brand strategist. Scott, a sought-after creative director, has more than 25 years progressive industry experience in the agribusiness, business-to-business and manufacturing sectors.
In his career, Hill has worked with international firms such as Pfizer Animal Health, BASF, Merial, Petro-Canada and General Dynamics.
ON Communication is a full-service marketing, communications, advertising and public relations agency based in London.
BRIEF HED HED HED HED
London-based iLOOKABOUT Corp. has struck a deal to provide its Canadian Streetscape imagery to SCM Risk Management Services for use with insurance brokerage and company applications.
SCM, the parent company of RMS, is the largest independent, privately owned provider of claims management, risk management and related services in Canada.
StreetScape is an iLOOKABOUT product that provides panoramic, street level images, geo-coded with latitude and longitude co-ordinates for accuracy and supported by patented software processes.
BRIEF HED HED HED HED
London journalist Mary Baxter took home two awards at this year's Canadian Farm Writers' and Broadcasters' awards competition in Edmonton.
Baxter received the Jack Cram gold award for monthly press reporting and Dick Beamish silver award for press feature.
The articles recognized were The New Ethanol (monthly press reporting) and Women's Changing Role on the Farm (press feature). Both articles appeared in Better Farming magazine, where Baxter is a field editor.
hank.daniszewski@sunmedia.ca.
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