SIU closes investigation into Fergus death

The Special Investigations Unit has finished its investigation into the death of a Mount Forest man.
Ryan Maher, 22, of Mount Forest, was pronounced dead at Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus early Sunday morning, Aug. 15, after collapsing suddenly in a Queen Street parking lot, Wellington OPP reported.
The SIU investigation reports that OPP officers arrested Maher in a Mount Forest bar in the evening of Aug. 13. Taken to the OPP detachment, Maher began banging his head on the cell bars - which was captured on video.

Trailway garden vandalized

Almost as soon as the garden at the Gerrie Road entrance to the Elora-Cataract Trailway was planted, people started dumping garbage in it.
Household garbage, yard waste, and big items like a dog pen and a snow sled have all been dumped in the garden area. The garden itself has been vandalized, the flowers and plants damaged by the dumping and by people who've dragged garbage through it, says trailway volunteer Sandra Moss.
Located at the end of the small parking lot off Gerrie Road that marks an entrance to the trail, the garden sits just beside the big information sign and to the left of the trail entrance.
Vandalism and dumping "started almost as soon as we got the garden planted last June," Moss said. Stakes put in to mark it off were pulled out, then larger logs brought to mark the boundary were rolled away.

Fergus Community Market coming soon

The former Russell's department store in downtown Fergus is being renovated to turn it into the new Fergus Community Market.
Set up by the Fergus Area Community Enterprise Group (FACE), the new community market will be an exciting new venue that will offer meats, fish, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, baking and a number of selected craft vendors in inside and outdoor booths.
A café, free weekly live entertainment and special street events are all expected to be part of the market's ambience, states a release from the enterprise group.
Market days will be Thursday through Sunday and the group aims to be open for the middle of September.
An introductory event, the Fergus Community Market Carnival, is being planned for 4-9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 10 at the former Russell's building - during the downtown classic car show - featuring music, bouncy castles, a white elephant stall, henna tattooing, pony rides and more family fun.

Antique cars flocking to museum

Antique and classic cars will once again fill the front yard of the Wellington County Museum and Archives.
Running Sunday afternoon, Aug. 29, the 35th annual Antique and Classic Car Show brings a field full of vehicles from Model T Fords to classic cars of the 1970s.
"You're guaranteed an incredible variety and selection of beautiful cars that really invoke the past," said museum activity programmer Libby Walker.

For more on these and other stories, pick up your copy of the August 25 Fergus-Elora News Express today!