I am very concerned about rural drivers who are inconsiderate of horses and their riders who use the local streets. Too many times while riding on quiet country roads in Pelham/Lincoln/West Lincoln and all other vicinities, we the riders will signal to the car driver to please slow down. We are not waving ‘hi’ but want you to know that you are going too fast and we worry that you won’t pass us safely.
We ride on the side of the road (going with the traffic) so we won’t interfere with local traffic. Please give us the same consideration when we ask you to slow down and pass on the left giving us plenty of room (as you already do for a pedestrian).
We usually ride on the trails and in the fields, but it is hunting season right now so we avoid those areas at this time for safety reasons. Our horses are usually well behaved but it only takes a split second for a very quiet horse to spook at something. Horses are prey animals and if they see or hear something that is unusual, they will want to run away and could run right into you and your car.
As a rider, I’d like you to know that it can be very difficult to make a horse go forward and stay to the side if they see something they think is going to hurt them. Their instinct is to move away from it, which means going to the centre of the road and you the driver will have no time to stop your vehicle. Hitting a horse and rider will most likely be catastrophic for the horse, possibly the rider, you, your car and your insurance rates.
So please, and I know I speak for a lot of horse people out there, please just slow down. It only takes a few more seconds to get where you are going but it may save a life. Maybe even yours.
Glenna Benson, Wellandport
Last Saturday, the Pelham Historical Society heard a very interesting presentation about Dexter D’Everado, the ‘founder of Fonthill’. D’Everardo had a lot of ambitious plans for the development of Fonthill, in his day a village of about 500 residents. But never in his wildest dreams could D’Everado have envisioned what our present-day planners have in store for Fonthill.
We’re all heard of East Fonthill, the development which to front Rice Rd. and Hwy. 20, but let us not deceive ourselves. The changes planned are not just for the eastern part of Fonthill; They will produce a completely new town, in which the old village of Fonthill will be very hard to find.
If you wish to see these plans in print, search the Downtown Master Plan for Fenwick and Fonthill via Google. Ask yourself if this is the “small town” you want to live in. Ask the candidates for council if they favour this concept.
This election may be our last chance to put some curbs on these enthusiastic and obviously city-bred planners.
Mary Lamb, Fonthill
I find it so interesting that people are concerned or complaining about the aesthetic of the new LCBO building, when the neighbouring businesses across the street have yet to install a proper sign on their restaurant (it has been there for how long and only a canvas sign droops out front) and the next restaurant over has plywood holding up the outdoor patio. Do these eyesores not bother anyone? I will take the view of a brand new, cared for building, over these tired, unkept business fronts, any day.
Caroline Stregis, Fonthill
