Premier has blast from the past at Aurora Seniors’ Centre

March 15, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

What was supposed to be a brief meet and greet at the Aurora Seniors’ Centre on Tuesday morning turned out to be a blast from the past for Premier Kathleen Wynne.
The Premier was in Newmarket-Aurora for a series of stops and roundtables with businesses and business leaders earlier this week when she took some time to tour the woodshop and computer facilities at the John West Way Centre, accompanied by MPP Chris Ballard, Mayor Geoff Dawe, and Councillor John Abel.
Premier Wynne was presented with a special “Maple Leaf Forever” medallion crafted by Aurora Seniors’ Centre members made from wood derived from the Toronto tree that inspired Alexander Muir to pen the iconic Canadian song in the middle of the nineteenth century.
The tree, felled during a windstorm in the summer of 2013, was milled and distributed to organizations across the country for the crafting of special objects for special occasions.
Following a tour of the woodshop and the computer room, where Premier Wynne discussed various aspects of Instagram and other forms of social media with members, she had a chance encounter with Aurora resident Clare Herrema, who just happened to have been Premier Wynne’s Grade 2 teacher.
“I thought it was Grade 5, but it was Grade 2,” said Ms. Herrema following the brief reunion, during which she and the Premier had a chance to reminisce. “The reason I thought it was Grade 5 was she was always bringing in political information! We used to have a show and tell and she would come in and talk about what she had read in the [Richmond Hill] Liberal about politics.”
This was the first time the two women had crossed paths since the Premier’s elementary school days.
An avid follower of Ms. Wynne’s political career, Ms. Herrema said it was “lovely” to see her.
“We had a very special class,” she said.
The Premier’s day started in Barrie and, following the Seniors’ Centre, moved to Newmarket for stops along Main Street, Dairy Quality Inc, and wrapping up with a roundtable at Treefrog Inc.