Leamington, Ontario
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Town of Leamington, Ontario | |||
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| Nickname: "Tomato Capital of Canada" | |||
| Motto: Building on the Past...Preparing for the Future | |||
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| Country | Canada | ||
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| Province | Ontario | ||
| County | Essex | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | John Adams | ||
| - Governing body | Leamington Town Council | ||
| - Member of Parliament | Dave Van Kesteren (CONS) | ||
| - Provincial Representative | Pat Hoy (LIB) | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 262.5 km² (101.4 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2001) | |||
| - City | 27,138 | ||
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
Leamington is a municipality in Essex County, Ontario and has a population of about 27,000. In 2006, Leamington was named Canada's best place to live by MoneySense magazine. It has a large H. J. Heinz Company factory and it lays claim to being the "Tomato Capital of Canada", with 4 km² of this crop in the vicinity. It also lays claim to the "Sun Parlour" due to its southern location.
Leamington is on the shore of Lake Erie and is close to Point Pelee National Park, a major site for migrating birds especially in spring. As such, it plays host to many birdwatchers from Canada, the USA and further afield, especially in the peak month of May.
Another important natural area near Leamington is the wetland at Hillman Marsh.
The information booth in the center of town is a large fiberglass tomato. The town's water tower, visible for miles in the flat southern Ontario landscape, is also a giant tomato. Its position on the lake makes it an important recreational center. Leamington has a large marina, offers ferry boat trips to Pelee Island and an also has an auto ferry that runs to Sandusky, Ohio.
Stompin' Tom Connors mentions Leamington in his famous tune "The Ketchup Song".
Leamington has long been known for its greenhouses, and now has the largest number of commercial greenhouses in North America. Leamington enjoys the second warmest climate in Canada, after the lower mainland of British Columbia.
Every summer migrant workers, mostly Mexican and Caribbean seasonal labourers, come and work in Leamington's greenhouses.
Leamington has a small private airport located 2 1/2 miles to the east of the town.
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[edit] Sports
The Leamington Flyers play in the Western Ontario Junior 'B' hockey league. The Wheatley-Southpoint Sharks play in the Great Lakes Junior 'C' hockey league.
[edit] Media
Leamington's weekly newspaper is the Leamington Post (formerly called the Post and News). Leamington is home to a regional commercial radio station, CHYR. CHYR was originally known as CJSP and was on 710 on the AM dial, having signed on the air on February 17, 1955. A community television station, CFTV channel 34, launched in 2006.
[edit] School Rivalries
The rivalries between Leamington District Secondary School (LDSS) and its neighbouring school in Kingsville (KDHS) are great. In 1936, a ten year old boy from Leamington by the name of Thomas J. King, was pushed off the dock by H. Horace Wigle and a group of seventeen year old boys from KDHS. Thomas died August 24, 1936, after attempts to resuscitate him failed. Thomas' older brother William King sought revenge for his younger brother's death. He later formed a group known as The Redshirts, a band of Leamington students who wanted retribution for the immature actions of the KDHS students. The KDHS students heard of the development of the Redshirts and quickly developed a group to defend themselves known as the Lighthouse Society (LS). The first clash of these two rival 'gangs' happened at Kingsville's Autumn Dance, where the LS used farm weapons to defend themselves and injured the Redshirts. William King suffered minor injuries after being attacked with a bat. William's tight knit group audaciously fought several groups of Kingsville students over the years until William King personally challenged H. Horace Wigle. This fight occurred in the summer of 1938, and ultimately led to the death of H. Horace Wigle. William later placed H. Horace Wigle's body in Lake Erie where it has never been recovered. There have been many references to ghosts in the Kingsville area. One particular place is the Lighthouse in Kingsville, where H. Horace Wigle's ghost has been heard begging and apologizing to William King.
Currently, there are two secondary schools in Leamington; Leamington District Secondary School (LDSS) and Cardinal Carter Catholic Secondary School (CCCSS). The rivalry between these two schools is a healthy one, although there have been acts of vandalism committed on each other's property.
[edit] Famous people
- Darren McCarty, NHL hockey player
- Nino Ricci, author
- Jody Raffoul, musician
- David Suzuki, science broadcaster and environmental activist
- Brad Selwood, NHL hockey player (retired), Oshawa Generals OHL GM and Coach
[edit] External links
- Municipality of Leamington official website
- Leamington Post weekly newspaper
- Leamington & District Chamber of Commerce
| Northwest: Lakeshore | North: Lakeshore | Northeast: Chatham-Kent |
| West: Kingsville |
Leamington, Ontario | East: Chatham-Kent |
| Southwest: Lake Erie | South: Pelee Island | Southeast: Point Pelee/Cleveland, Ohio |
