ICYMI: Read all our weekly columns here

Through the years NOTL Local readers have often been forthcoming with their praise for our regular columns.

In our transition to a fully digital publication, we asked Owen Bjorgan, Donald Combe, Ben Foster and Rick Mills to continue their weekly contributions to notllocal.com. We remain overjoyed that all four continue to appear on our site.

In my 25 years living in Niagara-on-the-Lake, I have had the opportunity to watch Owen Bjorgan grow from a tiny tot to an important and influential member of not just the NOTL community but the entire Niagara region. 

His dedication to our natural environment is beyond compare. Whether it be through his own business, Owen’s Hiking and Adventures, his Hidden Corners series and other videos on his YouTube channel or his current work with the DSBN guiding young students through natural spaces, there is no one with a deeper love of the outdoors and stronger dedication and the resolve to protect it for future generations. 

In this week’s column, Owen writes about his participation in last Saturday’s Bioblitz event at Niagara College. I decided to join him for one of his two tours through the natural spaces behind the school’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus in NOTL, part of the Bruce Trail network. 

His audience ranged in age from three years old to senior citizens. Young and old, experienced nature enthusiasts, scientific experts and newbies alike were enthralled with Owen’s easy-going manner and vast knowledge of the local biosphere. 

He stopped early in the walk to point out a mass of feathers on the ground, gently explaining how it was evidence of the food chain in action. He unearthed an eastern redback salamander with the help of an eager five-year-old from Fort Erie and later pointed out spotted salamander egg masses to his astonished audience. 

His discussion of cattails versus fragmites opened everyone’s eyes to the dangers of invasive species. Many of us learned for the first time that minks roam wild along the Niagara Escarpment. And we also learned that he goes through about five pairs of rubber boots every year!

To hear about his love for Niagara as the “Amazon of Canada”, knowing that he has explored natural spaces around the world, gave us a deeper appreciation of our surroundings. 

Owen, by the way, will be starting teacher’s college in May, hoping to have the chance to inspire a love for the environment for thousands of youngsters over the next few decades. I can’t think of a better person to do that. 

Is there anyone in town who doesn’t know or at least recognize Donald Combe? 

The long-time parishioner and volunteer at St. Mark’s Anglican Church can often be spotted, sometimes wearing a brightly-coloured coat, walking along the Queen Street area with his faithful four-legged friend Maggie. He is always willing to stop for a friendly chat.

The retired English teacher and author of many publications is renowned for his work with the St. Mark’s archives committee, which took on the role of caretaker of the books in the Addison Library. He also helped plant 100 trees on the property, aided in the extensive work that has been done in the church’s historic cemetery, and raised funds for the restoration of 21 monuments there.

Each week Donald contributes his View from the Couch, a brief review of a film or television series he has watched from the comfort of his Old Town home. As you can read in this week’s review of the BBC film Toast, his writing is always concise, consistently witty, and ever-insightful. The NOTL Local is proud to host this living legend every Wednesday.

Ben Foster came to us as a cooperative education student from Eden High School last year. I got to know this young man when he offered to be a photographer for our coverage of the Niagara Predators home games in Virgil. I say I got to know him, but I didn’t always understand him, as he would often slip back into his British accent with little notice.

During Ben’s time with The Local, editor Penny Coles would assign him stories to write. It was always great to have a youth’s perspective in the paper. Penny would also give Ben the responsibility to contribute a few of his own ideas. 

One of those ideas was Where’s Ben? Each week the relative newcomer to NOTL would find a location that interested him and have a family member snap a photo of him there. Then he would challenge readers to figure out where that location was. 

Emails with potential answers came flooding in. Where’s Ben? became so popular that Penny asked him to continue his submissions after his co-op term ended. And we were all very excited to learn that once we went digital-only, he was on board to continue the column.

We appreciate Ben’s enthusiasm and sense of humour, and we know as he graduates high school, he has a great future ahead of him. And we’ll always have space for his column, such as this week’s submission, here on notllocal.com. 

Rick Mills’ Ricky Rap is our newest column. Though a recent addition to The Local, Rick has been posting his list of 10 thoughts and offerings intended to help us to believe in and laugh at ourselves on his Facebook page for years. 

When we approached the life-long NOTL resident for information regarding a story about the town’s post Word War II victory homes, he offered to include his writings in The Local. His weekly column quickly became one of our most popular features and has continued to be so on our website. 

The Ricky Rap is often whimsical, thought-provoking and touching all at the same time, as you can see from this week’s rap about missing his father, Doug.

On behalf of editor Penny Coles, we are fortunate to have all four of these contributors as part of our team here at The NOTL Local.