From elections, to tragic deaths, to good-news events, there were many people who made big headlines throughout this past year.
Here is a look at just some of them who made a mark in Bradford West Gwillimbury in 2018.
Caroline Mulroney. Not only did the daughter of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney win her seat in provincial parliament on June 7 in York-Simcoe, she was tagged by Premier Doug Ford as Ontario’s attorney general – a high profile job for the novice politician.
All of Bradford West Gwillimbury municipal council. In an unprecedented result, all nine incumbent members of council were returned to office, in the 2018 election. Seven ward councillors – Raj Sandhu, Gary Baynes, Gary Lamb, Ron Orr, Peter Ferragine, Mark Contois and Peter Dykie Jr. – were re-elected, along with Deputy Mayor James Leduc and Mayor Rob Keffer. All faced opposition, although the candidate running against Mayor Keffer withdrew his candidacy before the election. Pat Roberge, citing personal reasons, withdrew on Oct. 4 – too late to remove his name from the ballot. He received about 10 per cent of the vote.
Young people in BWG made their mark in 2018. Bradford School of Dance student Ava Saracino, now a student at the National Ballet School, was chosen to take on three roles in this year’s production of The Nutcracker, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Dec. 8-30. Ava, now 12, has been dancing since she was three.
Ten-year-old Luca Venditti, a student at St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic School, was selected to represent Canada at the Juventus World Cup (under-11/under-12) in Italy. His team placed third in the international competition in a pool of 32 teams.
And 13-year-old Avery Steyn won first place in the international Spartan Kids World Championship Race (Girls 10-13), an extreme sport held Nov. 17 in Laughlin, Nevada.
Bert Hogg. The Second World War veteran was a member of the Bradford legion, and a fixture in local schools, where he shared his memories of serving in the war at their Remembrance Day assemblies. He participated in the annual remembrance services and wreath-laying at the legion cenotaph, and attended events that, in 2018, included the unveiling of a veterans’ bench. He passed away on June 20, 2018, in his 96th year. The Bradford legion renamed their Legionnaire of the Year Award, the “Bert Hogg Legionnaire of the Year” award.
