Latest / North Shore News / December 9th, 2025

Transcript

December 9th, 2025 · North Shore News

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  Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on
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  Amherst Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated
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  on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations
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  that we've had with people in the local community
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  and beyond. Loyalist Township will be celebrating
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  their partnership with Brooklyn Homes as the
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  naming sponsor for the arena at the W .J. Henderson
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  Community Center on January 4th. The event takes
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  place from 10 a .m. to 12 p .m. with a ribbon
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  cutting, check presentation, free community skate,
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  and free treats. For more information and to
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  RSVP for the naming ceremony of the new Brooklyn
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  Homes Arena, visit Loyalist .ca. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. A seasonal
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  overnight parking reminder for Loyalist Township
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  from December 1st until March 31st, 2026. Parking
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  is prohibited on any road or street in Loyalist
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  Township between 1 a .m. and 7 a .m. This restriction
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  is in effect regardless of weather conditions.
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  Vehicles in violation of this bylaw will be ticketed.
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  For more information, visit Loyalist .ca. For
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  Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Habitat for Humanity has proposed building
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  two four -dwelling units in Bath by 2030. The
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  units would be affordably priced through an affordable
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  mortgage structure with the organization. According
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  to their report, the organization's preliminary
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  cost estimate, excluding the land, would be $1
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  .4 million per fourplex. Funding is to come from
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  government grants, land asset contributions,
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  revenue from the organization's restore location
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  in Kingston, donations, and fundraising events.
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  Mortgage payments are set at 25 % of the household's
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  gross income and families are not required to
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  make a down payment. As part of the agreement,
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  Habitat for Humanity retains a portion of the
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  home's equity and upon resale, both the homeowner
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  and organization share in any market appreciation.
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  Homeowners would also have to contribute 500
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  hours of volunteer work. If plans move forward,
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  the company would be asking Loyalist Township
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  for rezoning and site plan approvals, as well
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  as exemptions for building permit fees, development
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  charges, and impost fees. Construction of roads
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  and services to the property line would need
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  to take place, along with land transfers as well.
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  The company noted these builds often involve
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  community volunteers and student programs. These
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  partnerships help reduce construction costs and
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  provide training opportunities. CEO of Habitat
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  for Humanity for the Kingston and Limestone area,
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  Gary Lees, explained the timeline and what the
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  company is looking to contribute. Subject to
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  municipal terms and conditions of land transfer,
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  timelines to build permits, etc. One fourplex
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  in 2027. We've built this before. We feel confident
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  we can pull the build off. It's so nice to build
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  something that we've already built. It just makes
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  life a little bit easier. So we can pull that
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  off in 2027. I'm confident of that. In the second
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  fourplex, we're doing 2028, 2030. We'd want to
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  work with needs a little bit as well for permitting
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  and some of those things. Site servicing, of
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  course, is important. Connection to municipal
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  water and sanitary and sewer services. Offsite
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  storm. water management. All of those things
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  need to get in place, of course, but we'll hustle
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  and do our part with Build. We will enlist volunteers
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  to help us with the project, try to keep the
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  costs down. Lee spoke about the need for affordable
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  housing. Affordable mortgage structure, no down
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  payment. It's a big stumbling block for folks
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  out there is coming up with that down payment.
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  When we're paying high rent and then we need
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  to save so that we can put a down payment on
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  a home. It's a daunting task and Canadians are
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  losing hope and vision of actual affordable home
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  ownership. 80 % of renters out there right now
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  wish they owned their own. And that's a wish
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  that's becoming very difficult. So the more equity
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  that we can create in the home by keeping costs
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  down, by donated product using volunteers. Anything
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  that we can do to keep those costs down, we reinvest
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  in building more affordable home ownership. And
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  that's an investment in this country, this township,
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  and our vicinity, our whole area. It's one I'm
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  very proud of as well. Lee spoke about the materials
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  he has available now and the investment they'll
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  be making in Loyalist Township. I have containers
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  of insulation right now. I have 400 sheets of
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  drywall I need to get out of Home Depot's inventory.
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  I've got stuff to build homes right here in Loyalist
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  and we just want to tap into that and keep the
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  costs down so that when we sell the home to the
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  family and then hold that mortgage at zero or
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  a portion of the mortgage at zero, we can create
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  as much equity as we can so we can reinvest in
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  Loyalist and keep this ball rolling with affordable
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  home ownership. Lise speaks about the restore
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  location in Kingston and a new one opening in
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  Napanee. So our restores are social entity that
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  generate revenue and we pump that revenue back
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  into our home build programs. We are opening
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  a second restore in Napanee that opens on January
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  1, will soft open on January 1 as well. So we're
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  going to book and loyalist and have you'll know
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  where to go for your product either in Kingston
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  or Napanee. For Amherst Island Radio and the
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  Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This
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  is North Shore News. Loyalist Township Council
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  heard from Carbon Free Technology, an Ontario
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  -based company looking to build a new solar project
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  in Millhaven. The company presented plans to
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  council noting the project would include a community
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  benefits agreement. It would also look to increase
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  local tax revenue and contribute to the province's
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  grid reliability. The project looks to use up
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  to 20 acres of fenced -in land that is over one
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  kilometer away from residences. Before moving
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  forward, the company is looking to engage with
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  the public and local groups. VP and legal for
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  the company Emma Coyle explained the company's
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  next steps going forward. We've begun neighborhood
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  camp scene. We have a public meeting on November
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  24th. The First Nation Partnership, we do have
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  the support of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.
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  We don't yet have the official resolution from
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  them, but we fully expect for that to be finalized.
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  On November 26th, there will be a staff report
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  to council with respect to the project. And on
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  December 9th, we'll be coming back with a report.
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  request for a municipal support resolution with
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  respect to this project. VP in engineering and
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  special projects for the company, Meghadsami,
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  noted the different approaches they're taking
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  in community engagement. Through the website
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  we've already received a comment or a query and
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  we've engaged with that party already and had
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  a few phone calls and we've been trying to arrange
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  a longer discussion as well so it might take
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  a few different approaches. Carbon -free technology
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  has projects worldwide and has worked on projects
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  locally as well. In 2015, the company was a development
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  partner to Samsung for Kingston Solar. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Loyalist
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  Township will be accepting naming ideas for street
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  names in the area until December 31st. The township's
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  commemorative street naming program gives residents
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  the chance to put forward suggestions that celebrate
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  the people, places, and stories that make the
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  community unique. Approved names will be added
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  to the township's road registry for future developments.
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  Learn more and submit ideas at Loyalist .ca.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Torrent Productions is returning to Lennox
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  and Addington with their second annual Merry
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  Magical Pantomime. This year the company is presenting
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  Jack and the Beans Talk, a Merry Magical Pantomime.
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  Shows will take place at the hall at Emanuel
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  United Church, 63 Factory Street in Odessa. It
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  will be premiering Tuesday, December 23rd at
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  7pm and run for 15 shows until January 4th. Established
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  in 2008, Torrent Productions is a professional
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  theatre company composed of Rob Tor and Stephanie
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  Graham. They've developed and produced new musicals
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  at the Toronto Fringe Festival and Next Stage
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  Theatre Festival in Toronto, as well as an annual
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  holiday pantomime in Toronto from 2016 to 2019.
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  Both Tor and Graham have extensive theatre credits
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  from the Stratford Festival, Charlottetown Festival,
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  Neptune Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Mervish Productions,
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  Thousand Islands Playhouse, and many other companies
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  across Canada. Most recently, Graham was the
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  co -director and choreographer of the sold -out
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  run of Mary Poppins at Thousand Islands Playhouse.
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  Tor has spent seven seasons as a performer at
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  Thousand Islands Playhouse as well as many other
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  theatres across the country. For showtimes and
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  more information, visit torrentproductions .com.
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  T -O -R -R -E -N -T productions dot com. For
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  Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. This has been North Shore News and Interviews.
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  If you have an idea for a story, or want to create
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  stories for the show, consider joining our 100
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  % volunteer team. Contact Amherst Island Radio
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  for more details.