North Perth proud reluctantly includes Pride flag

Clerk Lindsay Cline brought forward a report to council on May 16 that proposed making changes to the municipality’s policy on raising flags and recommended flying a Pride flag provided by Stratford-Perth Pride at the municipal office from June 1 to June 30.

Deputy Mayor Doug Kellum, Coun. Terry Seiler, and Coun. Dave Johnston voted against flying the Pride flag, but the motion passed 7-3.

Minto Pride excited to return to in-person events

People are beginning to gather again, and Minto Pride is excited to host in-person events for the first time since its inaugural Pride celebrations in 2019.

The first event of Pride month will be a drag show by Lavender Promotions at the Crown in Harriston on June 11.

Then, June 12 brings the return of Pride in The Park in Palmerston from noon until 2 pm.

Faith in access to safe abortion services, drugs and LGBTQ2S+ friendly healthcare

Access to abortion, clean drugs, supervised consumption sites, and LGBTQ2S+ friendly healthcare should be welcome in our neighbourhoods. Find out how far you need to travel for these lifesaving services.

Three Pride organizations prepared to represent Perth County LGBTQ2S+ community in June

Stratford-Perth Pride is ramping up for the first Pride events under its new name, which encompasses all of Perth County, not just the City of Stratford.

The Stratford Pride Community Centre will open on Saturday, June 4 and North Perth Pride has a variety of events happening in the latter half of the month.

MAPH continues fundraising for Ukrainian refugee flights and settlement

Ukrainian refugees sponsored by the Multicultural Association of Perth-Huron have started to arrive in the region, and donations are still being solicited to help with settlement and flights.

If my talent can help you, don’t let your stories fade away

I ended up walking away from my job on Valentine’s Day. How romantic was that? In the days before my resignation, it was announced that I would be receiving more awards for my writing. It was just a matter of waiting until April 29th to find out if I would get first, second or third place awards. Well, today was that day, and the Ontario Community Newspaper Association announced that Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrum-roll, please?

Richardson concerned providing local produce at cost will affect people “genuinely trying to make a profit”

North Perth council approved a bi-weekly market to help address food security issues and allow Listowel residents to purchase produce sourced from local farms at cost or slightly more on April 11. However, not all councillors were on board with the decision.

Pleather Vegan Jerky offers authentic drool-inducing pleasure for ex-meat eaters

Somewhere in the greater Cleveland area, Melissa and Matt Trahan stumbled from punk rock to creating vegan snack treats for those who want the chewy drool-inducing flavour of jerky without the cruelty caused by the meat industry.

Pleather is vegan, non-meat, super-tuff seitan jerky, and its texture has captured the tastebuds of vegans, vegetarians and people who want to cut back on their meat consumption.

Multicultural Association GoFundMe raises funds for Ukrainian refugee resettlement

The recent conflict in Ukraine has displaced countless families, and the Multicultural Association of Perth Huron (MAPH) has stepped up to help with resettlement. To this end, they launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to help Ukrainian refugees.

So far, the MAPH fundraising efforts have raised about $25,000, but they require much more.

UPlift Black continues positive advocacy regardless of racist, homophobic cyber attack

During a March 7 speaking engagement for International Women’s Day, Shelly Skinner, founder and president of UPlift Black, was interrupted by a racist, homophobic cyber attack.

UPlift Black is a grassroots social service agency with an overall mission to uplift the lives of the Black community in Simcoe County and beyond.