Milton Grace and Joey Chamberlin paddle to shore with a wounded deer they saved from the icy Gatineau River. Photo by Trevor Greenway of the Low Down

Milton Grace and Joey Chamberlin paddle to shore with a wounded deer they saved from the icy Gatineau River. Photo by Trevor Greenway of the Low Down

Click here to see more dramatic photos of the daring rescue

In a daring act of heroics, two Wakefield, Quebec men risked their own safety on the Gatineau River’s icy open waters to save a deer from drowning.

At about 8 a.m. March. 9 a struggling deer could be seen in the water of the Wakefield Bay. For more than two hours it desperately tried in vain to pull itself up and onto a patch of ice on the east side of the river.

Then, at 10:30 a.m. Milton Grace paddled up in a kayak.

March 10 Front page

March 10 Front page

As Grace approached the deer, he spoke softly to the creature, all the while trying to get his kayak up onto the solid ice. For about ten minutes Grace circled the deer through the broken ice pieces with no luck getting any solid footing.

From across the river on the village side Joey Chamberlin saw the desperate scene and decided to help in the rescue. After cruising Wakefield Heights Rd in search of a boat he found an old fishing tinny in a snow bank and decided to give it a shot.

Pushing his way along the unpredictable spring ice, Chamberlin inched the tin boat along the surface towards the open water and the deer. Realizing the ice could give away at any moment, he jumped in the boat using the oars to push him closer. Read More…

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Chelsea, Quebec has narrowed the applicants for the Meredith Centre’s construction contract down to five and officially requested an extension for the centre’s completion date from Quebec’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs (MAMROT). Read More…

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Milton Grace tenderly strokes the wounded deer. T. Greenway photo

Milton Grace tenderly strokes the wounded deer. T. Greenway photo

Milton Grace and Joey Chamberlin of Wakefield, Quebec made a daring rescue of a deer that was trapped between the melting ice on the Gatineau River March. 9. The Low Down was on the scene to witness this heroic act. Click here to check out the dramatic photos of this extraordinary event.

And pick up our print edition in stores to read the full story.

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Suck it up, parents!

Susan Prosser

by Susan Prosser on March 9, 2010

Crying, screaming, demanding it now! The spoiled child is not necessarily a happy child. Advice columnist Susan Prosser tells parents to suck it up and let their kids do the heavy lifting of life lessons themselves. Read her blog here.

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Tomy Ouellette runs naked along Riverside Dr. with his arms in the air for the first annual Running of the Bulls.

Tomy Ouellette runs naked along Riverside Dr. with his arms in the air for the first annual Running of the Bulls.

The first annual Running of the Bulls took place March. 7, 2010 in Wakefield, Quebec. Unfortunately only two naked bulls showed up for the relay, which took them from Le Hibou to Kaffe 1870 and back. Not to mention a stop for a cookie along the way. The Low Down was on hand to witness this “Only in Wakefield” event.  Click here to see our photo gallery of the event

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The Age of Stupid

The Age of Stupid

The Wakefield International Film Festival is on again this weekend with The Age of Stupid on March. 7 at Cafe Molo. The film follows an old man living in a world ravaged by climate change in 2055. Will intelligent life resurface? You will have to watch and see. Click here to watch the trailer as part of the Low Down’s Video Fridays on LDTV.

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Jasey-Jay Anderson

Jasey-Jay Anderson

Jeb, Linda and Felix Anderson were bouncing off the walls of their Wakefield, Quebec home Feb. 27. They didn’t win the lottery or a new car.

Instead, they had the uniquely thrilling experience of watching one of their family members win Olympic gold.

The three were huddled around the TV, glued to the screen as they watched their nephew and Canada’s snowboarding golden boy win the top medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

“It felt absolutely fantastic,” said Jeb, after watching his nephew Jaysey-Jay Anderson win gold in the Parallel Slalom snowboarding event at Cypress Mountain.

March. 3 front page

March. 3 front page

“We all knew how hard he has worked.”

The Alcove family erupted in cheers when they saw their family member come across the finish line just ahead of Austrian favourite Benjamin Karl. It was the same sort of eruption the entire nation took part in the next day when Canada’s Sydney Crosby scored the “golden goal” in overtime to knock off the U.S. in men’s hockey, only this celebration was a bit more intimate.

“(Jaysey) is a very special guy,” said Jeb. Read More…

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Manon Leblanc ties a ribbon to her old telephone pole to protest Chelsea's architectural bylaw

Manon Leblanc ties a ribbon to her old telephone pole to protest Chelsea's architectural bylaw

In the spring of 1997, a man from Orlando, Florida followed the flocks of repatriating snow birds north to attend a town hall meeting in Chelsea, Quebec. Paul Rahill, then-president of Matthews International’s cremation division, made the nearly 2,500-kilometre trip to assuage residents’ fears concerning a new crematorium and funeral home to be built on Hendricks Farm, at Old Chelsea Rd and Hwy 5.

Striking a sympathetic tone, Rahill told the assembly that he understood their environmental concerns. In a cheeky turn, he then asked those who use wood stoves to heat their homes to raise their hands. Practically everybody did, McGarry Family Chapels’ Wakefield funeral director Barry Schwerdfeger recalls. Rahill then told the crowd that if they were serious about pollution they should go home and board up their stoves and fireplaces immediately. Read More…

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Two copper thieves were stopped dead in their tracks when police were called to the scene of a fire Feb. 26, where two men were found burning electrical cables to get at the wiring they stole from the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train. Read More…

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Paul Wolf, Louis Rompre and Nikan Marquis pose amongst a pile of old computers, printers and fax machines during Eco Day at River Echo.

Paul Wolf, Louis Rompre and Nikan Marquis pose amongst a pile of old computers.

River Echo held its first Eco Day in Wakefield, Quebec Feb. 23, which featured a used electronics drop off. the Low Down showed up to check out the large pile. Click here for more photos from the day.

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