Roses and Thorns: Of golf, fundraising and Herod

ROSE: To Luke DelGobbo of Fonthill. The 15-year-old E.L. Crossley student is spending this weekend in Augusta Ga, playing at Augusta National, home of The Masters, golfing’s most celebrated tournament. DelGobbo, who is the Junior Niagara Champions of Champions and the Niagara Junior tour champion, is taking part in the National Drive, Pitch and Putt competition, a youth skills competition which attracts the best young golfers from across North America.

THORN: To the provincial government of Premier Kathleen Wynne. The province has been very busy in the past few weeks making expensive pre-election funding announcements, for everything from increased funding with a new $2.2-billion program of free child care for preschoolers, dental benefits for those without coverage, and $750 annually for seniors to pay for house maintenance among many other items in this past week’s budget and other announcement in recent weeks. While we agree with Finance Minister Charles Sousa that balancing the budget isn’t “an end in itself,” the recent splurge in spending might encourage a cynic to think there’s an election coming. Oh right, there is.

ROSE: To the United Way of St. Catharines and District, which held its annual awards celebration last week. During the celebration, the Garden City’s United Way announced it had exceeded its fall campaign fundraising goal by $312,000, raising a record $3,837,000. The occasion allows the group to move forward with a bang, as it will amalgamate this coming year with other United Ways in Niagara to form one regional organization.

THORN: To lawyer John Lefurgey, who this week blamed the downward spiral in the life of a client on that client’s decision to move to Niagara Falls. The client, a former resident of Montreal, was convicted Monday on a charge of theft under $5,000, the latest in a string of petty crimes and drug offences that have accumulated on his criminal record. “Life for him was going quite well,” said Lefurgey in a St. Catharines courtroom. “He decided to travel and, unfortunately for him, his travels led to Niagara Falls,” where he became addicted to drugs. We disagree with Mr. Lefurgey — personal decisions, not the choice of residency, led to the problems encountered by his client.

THORN: Speaking of drugs, we also offer a thorn to the Niagara Detention Centre, where five inmates suffered drug overdoses last weekend. The inmates were found in “medical distress” last Saturday and had to be treated at a local hospital before being returned the Thorold facility. The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services is investigating the incident. “The ministry investigates anytime contraband is found at a facility,” said a spokesperson. Hopefully an answer as to how the prisoners gained access to the drugs will be forthcoming.

ROSE: To Standard columnist Doug Herod, who typed out his final column this past week. Doug has been a regular contributor to Niagara’s daily newspapers for many years, particularly The Standard. His dry wit, keen political sensibility and flowing prose offered insights on many diverse topics over the years, from federal, provincial, regional and city politics, to his annual word of the year column. You may not have always agreed with Doug, but he made you think. In trying to explain his decision in his final column, Doug was at an unusual loss for words.” It's hard to explain why — if only I could better articulate my thoughts on paper,” he wrote. “It's just time to move on. Been an enjoyable, satisfying run, though. And the post-retirement stage certainly lasted longer than I ever anticipated.” Everything he offered these pages will be missed, and while we regret his decision to call it a career and turn his focus to his post-employment life, we, and I’m sure his many readers and fans, wish him all the best.