Leamington, Ontario
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Town of Leamington, Ontario | |||
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| Nickname: The St. Tropez of Lake Erie, The Sun Parlour of Canada, The Tomato Capital of Canada | |||
| Motto: Southern Latitude... Friendly Attitude | |||
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| Country | Canada | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||
| - Total | 262.5 km² (101.4 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| - Total | 30,203 | ||
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
Leamington is a municipality in Essex County, Ontario and has a population of 28,833. It is the southernmost community in Canada, located on Point Pelee. In 2006, Leamington was named Canada's best place to live by MoneySense magazine. (Standing in 14th place, as of Dec. 2007.) It has a large H. J. Heinz Company factory and is known as the "Tomato Capital of Canada", with 4 km² of this crop in the vicinity. It also lays claim to being the "Sun Parlour" of Canada due to its southern location.
Leamington is situated on the beautiful north shore of Lake Erie and is in close affinity with Point Pelee National Park, a major site for migrating birds especially in spring. As such, it plays host to many birdwatchers from Canada, the United States and further afield from all around the world, especially in the peak month of May. The region is also known for the migration of Monarch butterflies, which congregate in the fall at Point Pelee before making their way across Lake Erie on their route to winter quarters in central Mexico.
Another important natural area near Leamington is the wetland at Hillman Marsh, located 4 miles east of the town.
The tourist 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 in the shape and color of a giant tomato. Celebrating its position as an agricultural powerhouse and its heritage as the H.J. Heinz Company's center for processing "red goods," the city hosts a "Tomato Festival" each August, as a kickoff of the tomato harvesting season. Car shows, beauty pageants, parades, and a fair are features of the Festival.
Its position on the north shore of Lake Erie makes it an important recreational center. Leamington has a large and modern marina not far from several excellent restaurants and hotels/motels. Auto ferry and passenger/bicycle ferry boats (M/V Jiimaan and M/V Pelee Islander) owned by the Owen Sound Transportation Company run on a regularly-scheduled seasonal basis from Leamington to Pelee Island and to Sandusky, Ohio. Transportation around Leamington is offered by the Leamington Transit.
Leamington has long been known for its greenhouses, and now has the largest number of commercial greenhouses in all of North America. Major products of the greenhouse industry, in addition to tomatoes, are peppers, cucumbers, roses, and other flowers. Hydroponic farming has been very successfully adopted by many greenhouse operators in Leamington. Historically, tobacco was an important crop in the area, but tobacco production declined in the 1960's and today is virtually nonexistent as an agricultural product. Leamington's agribusiness success comes from a fortuitous combination of excellent soil, knowledgable and energetic owners, and a favorable climate. Leamington enjoys the second warmest climate in Canada, after the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Leamington lies on the 42nd Parallel, the same latitude as Chicago, Illinois, Rome, Italy, the northern border of California, and Madrid, Spain.
Migrant workers, mostly Mexican and Caribbean seasonal labourers, annually arrive in the region to work in Leamington's greenhouses and farms. Because of the influx of legal seasonal workers, Leamington has opened up several Mexican and Jamaican shops, and even has a Mexican Consulate.
Leamington is home to a small community hospital, Leamingion District Memorial Hospital (LDMH), at 194 Talbot Road West.
Leamington has a small private airport located 2 1/2 miles to the east of town. The town is also connected to the provincial highway network by Highway 3 (to Windsor, and Highway 77 (to Highway 401).
Stompin' Tom Connors mentions Leamington in his tune "The Ketchup Song".
[edit] Sports
The Leamington Flyers play in the Western Ontario Junior 'B' hockey league. The Wheatley-Southpoint Sharks play in the [1] Great Lakes Junior 'C' hockey league. The Southpoint Capitals play in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) [2].
[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 at 96.7 FM. CHYR was originally known as CJSP and was on 710 on the AM dial, having signed on the air on February 17, 1955. In 2008, a second radio station with the call-sign of CJSP signed on at 92.7 FM as a country music station. A community television station, CFTV channel 34, launched in 2006. CFTV-TV is on channel 79 on Cogeco cable.
[edit] Notable people
- Major league pitcher Bob Hooper and infielder Danny Klassen.
- NHLers Brad Selwood, Pat Ribble, Randy Manery, Darren McCarty, Kirk Bowman.
- Environmentalist, David Suzuki
- Authors, Richard Scarsbrook, Nino Ricci, Jean Brown
- Miss Dominion of Canada, Sandra Campbell, representing Canada in Miss Universe (El Salvador), Miss World (London, England), Miss International (Sydney), and Queen of the Pacific (Tokyo) Beauty Pageants.
- Skater, Matthew Mastronardi, competitor at the BMO Canadian Championships
- Musician, Andrew Penner, of the group Sunparlour Players
- Canadian Pop Surrealist painter Brandon Steen http://www.brandonstee
