09 January 10, 2009 - ObserverXtra

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2 | NEWS Shantz: Remembered as a visionary » From cover ing force” behind the nity a stronger commu- based organizations,” creation of the interprenity.” said Larry Martin, prestive centre. While there were ident of the St. Jacobs “He was aware that changes to the village, Country Inn who worked there’s a fine line be- there were many ben- with Shantz for more tween inquisitive and efits, including jobs and than two decades. “He invasive. He wanted to a strong tax base for the was a man of passion be sure to be respectful township, Bauman add- and of compassion.” of the Old Order Mennoed. Turning around a “dynites.” Those benefits were no ing village” with the His vision for St. Jacobs accident, said a longtime work of Mercedes Corp., caught on, and business colleague who served as Shantz was always inter- boomed in the village. in-house legal counsel ested in putting commu- “He put St. Jacobs on the for Mercedes. nity first, he added. map,” said Gingrich, not- Tom Jutzi, now with a Shantz’s vision for St. ing visitors from some K-W law firm but having Jacobs centered on the 150 countries have passed retained professional Old Order Mennonites, through the centre. ties with Shantz, said whose culture many visi- The enormous success business ventures were tors to the area marveled wasn’t always univer- entered into with the to see. Using the models sally embraced, how- community benefit in for support he’d seen in ever. Longtime residents mind and with a sense use by the Mennonite who were happy to live of stewardship – “Those Central Committee at in a sleepy little village were things he talked work in the developing sometimes found the about a lot.” world, he saw the possi- changes difficult to deal Though sometimes bilities for a business in- with. But as an equilib- misunderstood, his encubator approach in the rium set in, the tourism trepreneurial spirit was village, encouraging ar- business has proved to channeled into doing tisans to form the basis be mostly a boon, sug- good, on which he fo- of what would become gested lifelong resident cused his complete at- a budding tourist area. and Woolwich counciltention. The idea was to provide lor Mark Bauman. “Milo was a unique a launching point to en- “He was someone who person. He was creative. joy the Mennonite expe- had a vision, who could He was visionary. And rience look at something and see he was disciplined – if Central to this plan, things others couldn’t,” he had an idea, he knew however, was the need to he said of Shantz. “At how to stick to it and not be respectful of the cul- the end of the day, most get distracted.” ture, noted Del Gingrich, people would say it’s He saw opportunities who runs the Mennonite been a positive impact others didn’t, staying Story Visitor Centre. on the community. the course even if others Shantz was the “driv- “He made the commu- couldn’t initially see the Free Online Classifieds www. www. .com » Start Buying & Selling now! » Upload your own photos » Up to 1000 words » Track favourite ads » Built-in contact form www. .com .com .com .com | 519.669.5790 same outcome he had envisioned. Shantz’s industrious nature came naturally, surfacing early on following his birth in New Hamburg in 1932. At the age of 13, he started buying and selling pigs. At 21, he bought 500 turkeys. By 1958, he had made it a family business with his father and brother, and involved employees as shareholders. The business eventually evolved into Hybrid Turkeys, one of the largest and most innovative companies in the field. It was sold in 1981. “He had a gift of entrepreneurship, a gift he wanted to use … to benefit others,” said Jutzi. Through all his successes and philanthropy – including many personal acts that he wanted to remain private – Shantz remained humble and true to his roots, he added. “Milo went through his life with a fair bit of gratefulness for the success he had. He was not a man of a big ego.” Shantz is survived by his wife Laura, and children Jenny, Christine, Sandra, Margaret and Marcus. THE OBSERVER | Saturday, January 10, 2009 Holiday RIDE checks net more charges JONI MILTENBURG Waterloo Regional Police handed out dozens more 12-hour suspensions during holiday RIDE checks this year despite stopping fewer vehicles. Using a new strategy that focused less on roadblocks and more on random stops, police checked 5,026 vehicles between Nov. 28 and Jan. 3 and handed out 55 12-hour suspensions. That’s a significant increase over last year, when 6,318 vehicles were checked and 13 suspensions issued. “It’s difficult to draw any real solid conclusions from a small sampling like this, but any time the numbers go up, we’re more concerned than when they go down,” said police spokesperson Olaf Heinzel. However, he said police aren’t sounding the alarm just yet; the numbers don’t necessarily mean more people are driving impaired. “We cannot generalize from this really limited number, toward the general population. We know the vast majority of people are not drinking and driving, and this is a small percentage of the total. … Some of it is the luck of the draw. It really just depends who comes through the line that particular night.” Using teams of cruisers, often near bars and restaurants, police were able to spend more time with each vehicle than at a roadblock, where the emphasis is on keeping traffic flowing. The mobile RIDE stops also resulted in increased charges for Highway Traffic Act violations – 113 this year, compared to 25 in 2007. Another nine drivers were charged with having a bloodalcohol content over 80 mg, and two were given impaired charges. “The increased suspensions are an anomaly given the long-term trend has been toward fewer drinking and driving incidents,” Heinzel said. “Having said that, we always have to remain vigilant in terms of our enforcement and our messaging to the community.” IN IN IN PRINT. PRINT. PRINT. ONLINE. ONLINE. ONLINE. ONLINE. IN IN IN PICTURES. PICTURES. PICTURES. IN IN IN DEPTH. DEPTH. DEPTH.
THE OBSERVER | Saturday, January 10, 2009 NEWS | 3 LEADING OFF » “I usually take the ones that need extra care, that are sick or injured or deformed. Basically the ones that nobody wants.” Kayla Lamers WARM AND FUZZY Kayla Lamers has a passion for taking in unwanted animals, often those in need of medical and other attention. She’s looking to parlay that into a career as a veterinarian. All creatures great and small Elmira resident Kayla Lamers’ love for animals sees her take in a variety of unwanted critters JONI MILTENBURG When she was in Grade 9, Kayla Lamers rescued a rabbit from a meat farm and adopted it as a pet. When he saw it, her dad put his foot down: “No more,” he told her. “No more” has turned into three hamsters, a gerbil, four rabbits, eight degus (which look like large, bushy-tailed gerbils), two budgies and a rat. None of them would be considered prize specimens, and that’s exactly why Lamers has them. “I usually take the ones that need extra care, that are sick or injured or deformed. Basically the ones that nobody wants,” Lamers says. “I have one rabbit now that has a cone on his head because he had surgery and he can’t chew his stitches. I’m getting another bunny on the 15th. It has no ears; the mother chewed them off at birth, so it’s a little deformed.” Lamers, now 19 and an employee of the Village Pet Food Shoppe, takes in aggressive pets that need a calm home and sick animals that need nursing. Some of the animals come to her through work and some by word of mouth, from people who know her only as the “hamster lady“ or the “bird lady.” When she can, Lamers finds homes for pets she’s nursed back to health. Lamers has always had a passion for animals, especially small animals. Small animals are often the ones that need a home, because they’re more likely to be impulse buys. TEL:519-664-2542 9 Parkside Dr., Unit 2 | St. Jacobs, ON | N0B 2N0 “People are also less willing to pay vet bills for a $5 pet when it gets sick than a dog or cat. If the animals she takes in need surgery, Lamers takes them to a friendly vet at the Waterloo West Animal Hospital and pays for it out of her own pocket. Looking after so many animals takes time as well as money. She estimates she spends two or three hours a day cleaning out cages and litter boxes and giving the animals individual attention. “I monitor how much water they’re drinking and how much they weigh and they go for annual vet checkups. The degus I have are prone to diabetes, so my vet taught me how to test for diabetes in them. And if they do [get it], then you have to give them insulin.” She also researches animal care on her own time. Lamers does it because she cares about the animals, but also because it’s good practice for the future. She plans to study science at the University of Guelph and then become a vet herself. She’s also planning to get her wildlife rehabilitation licence so she can care for wild animals as well. She works with a local wildlife rehabber, taking care of squirrels, raccoons and wild birds. Many of the domestic pets she takes in – like her three hamsters – have been abandoned by their owners because they’re aggressive. Lamers explained aggressive pets aren’t born that way: they become aggressive because their owners don’t know how to handle them. “A 10-year-old kid’s not going to understand, OK, the hamster PHOTO | jOni miLTenburg sleeps all day so I can’t grab at it. It’s sleeping, it wants to be left alone. Of course it’s going to bite you.” When she was young, Lamers hated cleaning her hamster’s cage because she was afraid of it. As she got older, she understood why it was sometimes mean. Now, Lamers said, she’s been bitten so many times it doesn’t faze her. “I was helping a friend bathe a hedgehog the other day: it wasn’t impressed and it clamped on.” It took some coaxing for her parents to let her take in animals and they won’t let her have an unlimited number, but they’re generally understanding. “A lot of parents, I’m sure, wouldn’t let their kids have that amount of animals.” • Comprehensive prenatal care, labour & delivery at hospital or home • Registered with the College of Midwives of Ontario • Covered by OHIP; privileges at Grand River Hospital • Serving Kitchener, Waterloo, Elmira and surrounding townships • No referral required www.stjacobsmidwives.on.ca
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09 January 10, 2009 - ObserverXtra

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