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Richard Bong

Richard "Dick" Ira Bong (September 24, 1920 – August 6, 1945) was a United States Army Air Forces major and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. He was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots and the country's top flying ace in the war, credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft, all with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter. He died in California while testing a Lockheed P-80 jet fighter shortly before the war ended. Bong was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1986 and has several commemorative monuments named in his honor around the world, including an airport, two bridges, a theater, a veterans historical center, a recreation area, a neighborhood terrace, and several avenues and streets, including the street leading to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

Early life
Bong was born September 24, 1920, in Superior, Wisconsin, the first of nine children born to Carl Bong, an immigrant from Sweden, and Dora Bryce, who was an American of Scotch-English descent. Known by the common nickname "Dick", he grew up on a farm in Poplar, Wisconsin, where he became interested in aircraft at an early age while watching planes fly over the farm carrying mail for President Calvin Coolidge's summer White House in Superior, and was an avid model builder.

Bong entered Poplar High School in 1934, where he played the clarinet in the marching band and participated in baseball, basketball, and hockey. Because Poplar was a three-year school at the time, Bong transferred to Central High School in Superior for his senior year, graduating in 1938.

He began studying at Superior State Teachers College (the current-day University of Wisconsin–Superior) in 1938. While there, Bong enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program and also took private flying lessons. On May 29, 1941, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program. One of his flight instructors was Captain Barry Goldwater (later a U.S. Senator from Arizona).

United States Army Air Forces
Bong's ability as a fighter pilot was recognized while he was training in northern California. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings on January 19, 1942. His first assignment was as an instructor (gunnery) pilot at Luke Field, Arizona, from January to May 1942. His first operational assignment was on May 6 to the 49th Fighter Squadron (FS), 14th Fighter Group at Hamilton Field, California, where he learned to fly the twin-engine Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

On June 12, 1942, Bong flew very low ("buzzed") over a house in nearby San Anselmo, the home of a pilot who had just been married. He was cited and temporarily grounded for breaking flying rules, along with three other P-38 pilots who had looped around the Golden Gate Bridge on the same day. For looping the Golden Gate Bridge, flying at a low level down Market Street in San Francisco, and blowing the clothes off of an Oakland woman's clothesline, Bong was reprimanded by General George C. Kenney, commanding officer of the Fourth Air Force, who told him, "If you didn't want to fly down Market Street, I wouldn't have you in my Air Force, but you are not to do it any more and I mean what I say." Kenney later wrote, "We needed kids like this lad."

In all subsequent accounts, Bong denied flying under the Golden Gate Bridge. Nevertheless, Bong was still grounded when the rest of his group was sent without him to England in July 1942. Bong then transferred to another Hamilton Field unit, 84th Fighter Squadron of the 78th Fighter Group. From there, Bong was sent to the Southwest Pacific Area.

Bong was then flown overseas as a passenger aboard a B-24 Liberator from Hawaii via Hickam Field to Australia. Upon arrival Bong was assigned to a newly formed P-38 fighter unit, the 17th Fighter Squadron (Provisional). By November 1942, Bong was transferred to the 49th Fighter Group (49th FG), 9th Fighter Squadron (9th FS). "The Flying Knights" were flying the P-40 Warhawk, and were famous for their aerial defense of Darwin from March 1942 to August 1942. Afterward, the 9th Fighter Squadron was one of two units in the 5th Air Force selected for conversion to the P-38 Lightning. Bong was among a group of new pilots in the South-West Pacific Area (SWPA) with experience flying the new twin-engine fighter, and they helped these pilots convert from the P-40 Warhawk and P-39 Airacobra to the P-38 Lightning.

In November, while the squadron waited for delivery of the scarce P-38s, Bong and other 9th FS pilots were reassigned temporarily to fly missions and gain combat experience with the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, based in Port Moresby, New Guinea. On December 27, Bong claimed his initial aerial victory, shooting down a Mitsubishi A6M "Zero", and a Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" over Buna (during the Battle of Buna-Gona). For this action, Bong was awarded the Silver Star.

Bong rejoined the 9th FS, by then equipped with P-38s, in January 1943; the 49th FG was based at Schwimmer Field near Port Moresby. In April, he was promoted to first lieutenant. On July 26, Bong claimed four Japanese fighters over Lae, in an action that earned him the Distinguished Service Cross. In August, he was promoted to captain.

While on leave to the United States the following November and December, Bong met Marjorie Vattendahl at a Superior State Teachers College homecoming event and began dating her.

After returning to the southwest Pacific in January 1944, he named his P-38 Marge and adorned the nose with her photo. In March another pilot was flying Bong's aircraft when it suffered engine failure and crashed in New Guinea, after the pilot, who survived, had bailed out. The approximate crash site is known, and the remains of the aircraft were to be searched for by the Richard I Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, Wisconsin and the WWII historical preservation group Pacific Wrecks in 2024. On May 24 of that year, the groups released a statement in which they announced that the crash site had been found with wreckage bearing the serial number of Bong's aircraft.

On April 12, Captain Bong shot down his 26th and 27th Japanese aircraft, surpassing Eddie Rickenbacker's American record of 26 credited victories in World War I. Soon afterward, he was promoted to major by General Kenney and dispatched to the United States to see General "Hap" Arnold, who gave him a leave. After visiting training bases and going on a 15-state bond promotion tour, Bong returned to New Guinea in September. He was assigned to the V Fighter Command staff as an advanced gunnery instructor, with permission to go on missions but not to seek combat. Bong continued flying from Tacloban, Leyte, during the Philippines campaign; by December 17, he had increased his air-to-air victory claims to 40.

Bong considered his gunnery accuracy to be poor, so he compensated by getting as close to his targets as possible to make sure he hit them. In some cases he flew through the debris of exploding enemy aircraft, and on one occasion collided with his target, which he claimed as a "probable" victory. On the recommendation of General Kenney, the Far East Air Force commander, Bong received the Medal of Honor from General Douglas MacArthur in a special ceremony in December 1944. Bong's Medal of Honor citation says that he flew combat missions despite his status as an instructor, which was one of his duties as standardization officer for V Fighter Command. His rank of major qualified him for a squadron command, but he always flew as a flight (four-plane) or element (two-plane) leader.

In January 1945, Kenney sent Bong, America's ace of aces home for good. Bong married Vattendahl on February 10, 1945. He participated in numerous public relations activities, such as promoting the sale of war bonds.

Death

Bong then became a test pilot assigned to Lockheed's plant in Burbank, California, where he flew P-80 Shooting Star jet fighters at the Lockheed Air Terminal. On August 6, 1945, he took off to perform the acceptance flight of P-80A 44-85048. It was his 12th flight in the P-80; he had a total of four hours and fifteen minutes of flight time in the jet.

The plane's primary fuel pump malfunctioned during takeoff. Bong did not switch to the auxiliary fuel pump, either forgetting or unable to do so. He ejected, but was too low for his parachute to open. The plane crashed into a narrow field at Oxnard Street and Satsuma Avenue, North Hollywood. His death was front-page news across the country, sharing space with the first news of the bombing of Hiroshima.

The I-16 auxiliary fuel pump had been added to P-80s after an earlier fatal crash. Captain Ray Crawford, a fellow P-80 test/acceptance flight pilot who flew on August 6, later said Bong had told him that he had forgotten to turn on the I-16 pump on an earlier flight.

In his autobiography, Chuck Yeager writes that part of the culture of test flying at the time, due to its fearsome mortality rates, was anger toward pilots who died in test flights, to avoid being overcome by sorrow for lost comrades. Bong's brother Carl, who wrote his biography, questions whether Bong repeated the mistake so soon after mentioning it to another pilot. Carl's book – Dear Mom, So We Have a War (1991) – contains numerous reports and findings from the crash investigations.

Legacy
In the mid-1950s, construction on a new USAF installation commenced south of Milwaukee that was to be named Richard I. Bong Air Force Base. The base, intended to be an Air Defense Command fighter base for the Chicago and Milwaukee areas, was conceived in the early 1950s with construction commencing in the mid-1950s. Construction had barely begun when the base was transferred to the Strategic Air Command as a prospective base for the supersonic B-58 Hustler bomber. Prior to completion, the base was considered obsolete as it had become apparent to USAF officials that the base would be redundant with installations nearby that would soon have space for more units. The base was abandoned in 1959 and disposed of the following year. Today, the former base site is known as the Richard Bong State Recreation Area.

It was planned that Spokane Air Force Base, Washington, was to be renamed Bong Air Force Base, until General Muir Fairchild died on active duty in 1950, and it was named Fairchild Air Force Base instead.

Bong is buried at Poplar Cemetery in Poplar, Wisconsin.

Military awards
Bong's military decorations and awards include:

Medal of Honor citation

 * Rank and organization: Major, United States Army Air Forces
 * Place and date: Over Borneo and Leyte, October 10 to November 15, 1944
 * Entered service at: Poplar, Wisconsin
 * Birth: Poplar, Wisconsin
 * G.O. No.: 90, December 8, 1944

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty in the Southwest Pacific area from October 10, to November 15, 1944. Though assigned to duty as gunnery instructor and neither required nor expected to perform combat duty, Maj. Bong voluntarily and at his own urgent request engaged in repeated combat missions, including unusually hazardous sorties over Balikpapan, Borneo, and in the Leyte area of the Philippines. His aggressiveness and daring resulted in his shooting down 8 enemy airplanes during this period."

Commemoration

 * Richard Bong State Recreation Area on the site of what was to be Bong Air Force Base in Kenosha County, Wisconsin
 * Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge along US Route 2 in the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin
 * Richard I. Bong Airport in Superior, Wisconsin
 * Bong Barracks of the Aviation Challenge program
 * Major Richard I. Bong Bridge on Macarthur Drive, Annandale, Townsville, Australia (-19.3125°N, 146.7862°W)
 * Major Richard Ira Bong Squadron of the Arnold Air Society at the University of Wisconsin
 * Richard Bong Theatre in Misawa, Japan and the 613th Air and Space Operations Center, Thirteenth Air Force, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.
 * Bong Avenues on the former site of the decommissioned Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, on Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas, on Luke AFB in Glendale, Arizona, on Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska, Fairchild AFB in Spokane WA and on Kadena AFB in Okinawa, Japan. Bong Blvd on Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, Louisiana.
 * Bong Terrace, Mount Holly Township, New Jersey (Mount View neighborhood, built 1956–1957).
 * Bong Street, Dayton, Ohio, leading to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and on Holloman AFB near Alamogordo, NM.
 * National Aviation Hall of Fame (1986)
 * Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame (1987).
 * Bong was named as the class exemplar at the United States Air Force Academy for the Class of 2003.
 * International Air and Space Hall of Fame (2018)

Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center
The Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, Wisconsin is housed in a structure intended to resemble an aircraft hangar, and contains a museum, a film screening room, and a P-38 Lightning restored to resemble Bong's plane.

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Mary Kay Letourneau

Mary Katherine "Mary Kay" Fualaau (previously Letourneau, née Schmitz; January 30, 1962 – July 6, 2020), was an American teacher who pleaded guilty in 1997 to two counts of felony second-degree rape of a child. Letourneau was 34, and the child, Vili Fualaau, was 12 years old when she initiated the sexual abuse. He was her sixth-grade student at an elementary school in Burien, Washington. While awaiting sentencing, she gave birth to Fualaau's daughter. With the state seeking a seven and a half year prison sentence, she reached a plea agreement calling for six months in jail with three months suspended and no contact with Fualaau for life, among other terms. The case received national attention.

Shortly after Letourneau had completed three months in jail, the police caught her in a car with Fualaau. A judge revoked her plea agreement and reinstated the prison sentence for the maximum allowed by law of seven and a half years. Eight months after returning to prison, she gave birth to Fualaau's second child, another daughter. She was imprisoned from 1998 to 2004. Letourneau and Fualaau were married in May 2005, and the marriage lasted 14 years until their separation in 2019.

Early life
Mary Katherine Schmitz was born in 1962 in Tustin, California, to Mary E. ( Suehr), a former chemist, and John G. Schmitz (1930–2001), a community college instructor and politician. She was known as Mary Kay to her family. Letourneau was the third of seven children and the first daughter, raised in a "strict Catholic household." Her father was a member of the right-wing John Birch Society.

When Mary Kay was two years old, her father began a political career, successfully running as a Republican for a seat in the state legislature. He held positions as a California state senator and U.S. Congressman, winning a special election for an unexpired term in 1970, and the general election later that year. After a primary defeat in 1972, he changed parties and ran for president as an American Independent Party candidate in the 1972 U.S. presidential election. In 1973, Philip Schmitz, one of Mary's Kay's brothers, drowned in the family pool at their home in the Spyglass Hill section of Corona del Mar, California, at the age of three while she was playing with another brother in the shallow end. While no one was held responsible for the toddler's death, Mary Kay later claimed that the incident caused a rift between her and her mother as she said her parents tasked her with minding her brothers and her mother had become "cold" with her afterwards.

Letourneau attended Cornelia Connelly High School, an all-girls' Catholic school in Anaheim, California, where she was a member of the cheerleading squad for Servite High School. She later attended Arizona State University.

In 1978, her father was re-elected as a Republican to the California State Senate. He intended to run for the U.S. Senate in 1982, but his political career was permanently damaged that year when it was revealed that he had fathered two children out of wedlock during an extramarital affair with a former student at Santa Ana College, where he had taught political science. Her father's affair caused Letourneau's parents to separate, but they later reconciled.

First marriage
While attending Arizona State University, Mary Schmitz met fellow student Steve Letourneau. She later found out she was pregnant by him, which had led to complications one day in class when she had to be rushed to the emergency room. Doctors found that she had been carrying twins, but one embryo was still healthy. Following the miscarriage, Mary Kay gave birth to the first of their four children after the healthy baby came to term. She later said that she was not in love with Steve, but she married him after being urged to do so by her parents. Steve also lacked romantic feelings but was also pressured by his parents and willing to marry. Both Steve and Mary Kay dropped out of ASU. The couple moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where Steve found work as a baggage handler for Alaska Airlines. After a year in Alaska, Steve was transferred to Seattle, Washington, where Mary subsequently gave birth to their second child. Determined to get a career in education, Mary Kay enrolled in Seattle University and was awarded a teaching degree in 1989. She began teaching second grade at Shorewood Elementary School in the Seattle suburb of Burien.

The Letourneaus' marriage suffered. They had financial problems, and each party engaged in multiple extramarital affairs. Her attorney and former neighbor, David Gehrke, said that she was "emotionally and physically abused by her husband" during their marriage, and twice "went to the hospital for treatment, and the police were called,” although no charges were filed. In May 1999, they divorced while Mary was imprisoned, and Steve gained custody of their four children. In 2010, the Letourneaus became grandparents when their oldest son had a daughter.

Crime, arrest, and sentencing
Vili Fualaau (born June 26, 1983) was Letourneau's student in both her second-grade and sixth-grade classes at Shorewood Elementary. Fualaau is of Samoan descent. When Letourneau was 34, in the summer of 1996, she often invited Fualaau to her house over the summer break to nurture his artistic abilities. This led to a conflict one day where Steve Letourneau ordered Fualaau out of the house and demanded his wife pay more attention to her natural children or focus on finances; slamming down a stack of unpaid bills and shouting "The school year is over; get working on this!". Mary Kay ran outside the house and tearfully apologized to the 12-year-old Fualaau, which culminated in sexual advances. On June 18, 1996, police found Letourneau with Fualaau in a car parked at a marina. She was seen jumping into the front seat while Fualaau pretended to sleep in the back. She and Fualaau provided false names when asked for identification, and Fualaau lied about his age, saying that he was 18. Fualaau said that no touching had taken place. Letourneau said she and her husband had gotten into an argument, and Fualaau, who she said was a family friend who had been staying with them that night, witnessed the argument and ran away upset. She said she left to find him. Fualaau failed to furnish a driver's license or any government-issued ID card, but the patrolman deduced he was not an adult as claimed. Letourneau and Fualaau were taken to the police station, where Fualaau's mother was called. Mrs. Fualaau said that Mrs. Letourneau was a well-known teacher of Vili's and had no issue with the two of them being in public. As such, the police dropped the matter. She later said that if the police had alerted her to the fact that Letourneau had lied about Fualaau's age and what had occurred in the car, she would not have allowed her son to go back to Letourneau. Letourneau was arrested on March 4, 1997, after a relative of her husband contacted the police.

Letourneau pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape. Her first child with Fualaau, a daughter, was born on May 29, 1997, while she was awaiting sentencing. The state sought to sentence her to six and a half years in prison. Through a plea agreement, her sentence was reduced to six months (three of which were suspended) in the county jail and three years of sex offender treatment. She was not required initially to register as a sex offender. As part of her plea agreement, Letourneau could not contact Fualaau or her five children or have contact with any other minors. She became the subject of an international tabloid scandal and experienced symptoms of degraded mental health according to acquaintances.

On February 3, 1998, two weeks after completing her jail sentence, Letourneau was found by police in a car with Fualaau near her home. Letourneau initially said she was alone in the car. She and Fualaau provided false names when asked for identification. Although it was reported that sexual intercourse had occurred in the car, Fualaau told a detective that he and Letourneau had kissed, frequently, and he also reported that he had touched Letourneau on the thigh but that no sexual intercourse had occurred. There was evidence the two had met, several times, since Letourneau's release from jail on January 2. When she was arrested, police found $6,200 in cash, baby clothes, and her passport inside the car. Receipts for $850 in purchases made since January 20 for men's, young men's, and infant clothing were also found. Letourneau said that the money was for dermatology treatments and for her divorce lawyer and that some of the men's clothing were gifts for relatives and for herself, since she enjoyed wearing oversized men's clothing.

In February 1998, the judge revoked Letourneau's prior plea agreement and reinstated the prison sentence of seven and a half years for violating the no-contact order. In interviews and in a book on her involvement with Fualaau, Letourneau said she had sex with him in January. Police said they had no evidence that sex occurred in the February car incident. Letourneau served her sentence in the Washington Corrections Center for Women.

While serving her second stint in jail, Letourneau gave birth to her second daughter by Fualaau on October 16, 1998. That year, Letourneau and Fualaau co-authored a book, which was published in France, called Only One Crime, Love (Un seul crime, l'amour). In 1999, a second book appeared, published in the United States, but it was written with only minimal cooperation from her and none from Fualaau: If Loving You Is Wrong. During her imprisonment, Letourneau was allowed visits from her children but was denied permission to attend her father's funeral. While in prison, Letourneau tutored fellow inmates, created audio books for blind readers, participated in the prison choir, and "rarely missed Mass." Because of her notoriety, Letourneau was unpopular with other inmates. She “sassed guards and balked at work,” and was reportedly punished with spending "18 of her first 24 months" in solitary confinement. In one instance, Letourneau served six months in solitary when letters she tried to send to Fualaau were intercepted. When her father died in 2001, Letournau requested a furlough to attend his funeral at Fort Myer, Virginia, which was rejected.

Fualaau dropped out of high school, and his mother was granted custody of his two children. He struggled with suicidal depression and alcoholism, attempting suicide in March 1999. In 2002, Fualaau's family sued the Highline School District and the city of Des Moines, Washington, for emotional suffering, lost wages, and the costs of rearing his two children, claiming the school and the Des Moines Police Department had failed to protect him from Letourneau. Following a ten-week trial, no damages were awarded. Attorney Anne Bremner represented the Des Moines Police Department, while the Highline School District was represented by Michael Patterson.

Release from prison and marriage to Fualaau
Letourneau was released from prison to a community placement program on August 4, 2004, and she registered, the following day, with the King County Sheriff's Office as a lifetime level 2 (medium risk) sex offender.

Following Letourneau's release, Fualaau, then age 21, persuaded the court to reverse the no-contact order against her. Letourneau and Fualaau married on May 20, 2005, in the city of Woodinville, Washington, in a ceremony at the Columbia Winery. Exclusive access to the wedding was given to the television show Entertainment Tonight, and photographs were released through other media outlets. Letourneau said she planned to have another child and return to the teaching profession. She indicated that by law, she was permitted to teach at private schools and community colleges.

Attorney Anne Bremner, who met and befriended Letourneau in 2002, during Fualaau's civil suit, said that Letourneau considered her relationship with Fualaau to be "eternal and endless.” According to Bremner, "nothing could have kept the two of them apart." In a 2006 interview with NBC News, Letourneau "conceded she knew it would be wrong to let the relationship go any further, but she said as soon as the school year ended, she and Vili did cross that line." She said that "it did not cross her mind,” at the time, that having sex with Fualaau would be a crime. In a later interview, she stated, "If someone had told me, if anyone had told me, there is a specific law that says this is a crime, I did not know. I've said this, over and over again. Had I'd known, if anyone knows my personality. Just the idea, this would count as a crime." The television series Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals covered the case in December 2015 with an interview to discuss the couple's relationship and their two daughters.

On May 9, 2017, after almost 12 years of marriage, Fualaau filed for separation from Letourneau, but he later withdrew the filing.

As of April 2018, Fualaau was working at a home improvement store and as a professional DJ, while Letourneau was working as a legal assistant. An article in People quoted an inside source who said, "They know what everyone thinks about their relationship, and they don't care. They really never have. The wrong stuff that happened was so long ago. They are two grown adults who are living their lives now."

The couple finalized a legal separation in August 2019. Earlier in the marriage, Fualaau said he was not a victim, and he was unashamed of the relationship. According to People in May 2020, an unnamed source "close to Fualaau" said that “he sees things clearly now, and he realizes that this wasn't a healthy relationship, from the start".

Death
Letourneau died July 6, 2020, at her home in Des Moines, Washington, from colon cancer. She was 58. Fualaau and her family were at her side, despite their separation. A joint statement was made by the Fualaau and Letourneau families to commemorate her passing. In her will, Letourneau left much of her estate to Fualaau.

In popular culture
In 2000, a TV movie was broadcast on the USA Network about Letourneau's illegal relationship All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story.

The 2023 film May December is loosely inspired by her story.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Mary Kay Letourneau


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Sheik

Sheik or Sheikh, literally "elder" in Arabic, is the honorific title for the ruler of a tribe.

Sheik or The Sheik may also refer to:

Arts and entertainment

 * The Sheik (novel) a 1919 novel by Edith Maude Hull
 * The Sheik (film), a 1921 silent film starring Rudolph Valentino, based on the novel
 * The Son of the Sheik, a 1926 sequel to the earlier film also starring Rudolph Valentino
 * She's a Sheik, a 1927 film starring Bebe Daniels with a gender-reversed plot
 * "Sheik", a 1973 song on ZZ Top's album Tres Hombres
 * Sheik (Legend of Zelda), an alias/disguise of Princess Zelda, in the 1998 Ocarina of Time
 * The Sheik, a character in the 1989 American action comedy movie Speed Zone
 * The Sheik, an 1988 episode of the American children's comedy science fiction sitcom Small Wonder

People

 * Duncan Sheik (born 1969), American singer-songwriter and composer
 * Irina Sheik (born 1986), Russian supermodel

Professional wrestlers

 * Adnan Al-Kaissie (1939-2023), frequently billed as The Sheik
 * Ed Farhat (1926–2003), American wrestler who performed as "The Sheik"
 * The Sheik II (born 1974), ring name of American wrestler Joseph Cabibbo
 * The Iron Sheik (1942–2023), ring name of Iranian wrestler Khosrow Vaziri
 * Shawn Daivari (born 1984), American wrestler who has performed as "Sheik Abdul Bashir"

Other uses

 * Sheik condom, a North American brand of condoms
 * Sheiks, Hollywood High School's mascot

title: Sheik


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User talk:MarcusAurelius

FGM
In ref. to your comments on the FGM talk page--I hope we both won't go to hell for this, but I see your point in the humor or pure incredibleness of FGM!! Dpr 08:31, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:MarcusAurelius


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Chatham-Kent

Chatham-Kent (2021 population: 103,988) is a single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallaceburg, Tilbury, Blenheim, Ridgetown, Wheatley and Dresden. The current Municipality of Chatham-Kent was created in 1998 by the amalgamation of Blenheim, Bothwell, Camden, the City of Chatham, the Township of Chatham, Dover, Dresden, Erie Beach, Erieau, Harwich, Highgate, Howard, Orford, Raleigh, Ridgetown, Romney, Thamesville, Tilbury East, Tilbury, Wallaceburg, Wheatley and Zone.

The Chatham-Kent census division, which includes the independent Delaware Nation at Moraviantown First Nation, had a population of 104,316 in the 2021 census.

History
The area of Chatham-Kent is part of the traditional territory of the Odawa, Potawatomi, Ojibwe and Wyandot First Nations of Canada. After the Treaty of Paris in 1763 ceded control of the area from the French to the British, it became part of the Territory of Quebec. The title to the Chatham-Kent area was surrendered to the British as part of the 1790 McKee's Purchase, (named for Alexander McKee) to provide land for settlers. McKee's Purchase was designated an Event of National Historic Significance in Canada in 1931. A historical plaque for the purchase is located in Blenheim Park in Blenheim. Indigenous persons remain resident in the area today at the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown and Walpole Island First Nation.

European settlement of the former city of Chatham area began with a naval dockyard in 1792, at the fork of the Thames River with McGregor's Creek. The town was named after William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. It was built as a naval dockyard, a characteristic shared by Chatham, Kent, England. In England, the name Chatham came from the British root ceto and the Old English ham thus meaning a forest settlement. Following the American Revolution and the Gnadenhutten massacre, a group of Christian Munsee settled in what is now the Moraviantown reserve. In the War of 1812, the Battle of the Thames took place between Moraviantown and Thamesville on October 5, 1813.

Black population
During the 19th century, the area was the northern terminus of the Underground Railroad. As a result, Chatham-Kent is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour. Josiah Henson Museum for African-Canadian History, formally known as Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is a museum of the Dawn Settlement, established in 1841 by Josiah Henson near Dresden as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States. John Brown, the abolitionist, planned his raid on the Harpers Ferry Arsenal in Chatham and recruited local men to participate in the raid. He held in Chatham a Convention of Colored Men on May 8–10, 1858. The small village of North Buxton, part of the African Canadian Heritage Tour, also played an important role in the Underground Railroad. By the 1850s, the city of Chatham was referred to as the "black mecca of Canada". A museum in the city, the Black Mecca Museum, still bears this name. Chatham was home to a number of black churches and business, with Black Canadians making up one-third of the city's population and controlling a significant portion of the city's political power. Nearby Dresden and Buxton were also home to thousands of land-owning black residents. However, after the abolition of slavery in the United States, many black families left the area. Today the city of Chatham is just 3.3% black, with Chatham-Kent as a whole being 2.1% black. Few of the black-owned institutions are still in operation.

After slavery ended in the United States
In 1846, the town of Chatham had a population of about 1,500, with part of the town being called Chatham North. There were four churches, a theatre, a weekly newspaper and a cricket club. The road between London and Amherstburg was open, and transportation by stagecoach was available. A fast boat also provided transportation to Detroit and Buffalo. Chatham had many tradesman, a foundry, two banks, three schools, a tavern and a library where one could read books and newspapers. By 1869, the population was 3,000 in this industrial area with several mills, foundries, and breweries; a great deal of wood was being produced. A steamboat offered transportation to Windsor and Detroit. There was one bank office.

Between 1906 and 1909, the city was home to the Chatham Motor Car Company, and from 1919 to 1921, Denby Motor Truck Company of Canada. It was also where the Hyslop and Ronald steam fire engine manufacturer was located; the factory would be taken over by Chatham Motor Car. In addition, it hosted meat packer O'Keefe and Drew.

The Hawaiian pizza is claimed to have been invented in Chatham in 1962 at the Satellite Restaurant by Sam Panopoulos. In the U.S., former Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes proposed building a bridge across Lake Erie linking Cleveland to the southern coast of Kent County.

Before 1998, Kent County consisted of the townships of Camden, Chatham, Dover, Harwich, Howard, Orford, Raleigh, Romney, Tilbury East and Zone. In some of Canada's earliest post-Confederation censuses, some residences in Kent County were incorrectly reported as being in Bothwell "County", which was a separate electoral district comprising parts of Kent and Lambton counties but not a distinct county in its own right.

In 1998, the County of Kent and the city of Chatham were amalgamated by the Province of Ontario to form the Municipality of Chatham–Kent. Most services were also combined. Since then, bus service has begun to serve all of Chatham-Kent. Starting in 2007, routes were set up to include the former towns of Wallaceburg and Dresden. Before 1998, each town had their own fire department. It then became the Chatham-Kent Fire Department upon amalgamation. The county also had separate police departments until 1998. The city of Chatham, as well as the towns of Wallaceburg, Dresden, and Tilbury, each had their own departments. The Chatham-Kent Police Service was formed on September 1, 1998. Many residents opposed amalgamation, as 18 city councillors boycotted the official vote, and the final decision to amalgamate was imposed on the County by a provincial commissioner. In a study on amalgamations in Ontario from 2003, 48% of respondents in Chatham-Kent felt the value they received as taxpayers became worse after amalgamation, and 64% of respondents still did not think of the community as "the Municipality of Chatham-Kent."

Chatham-Kent has many historic festivals throughout the year, such as the Battle of Longwoods reenactment, which takes place on Labour Day weekend at Fairfield Museum on Longwoods Road. Chatham Kent is also home to many historic buildings which are part of an annual ghost tour offered each year at Halloween. The participants go on a guided walk of downtown while the guide informs them of various ghost stories tied to the local buildings in which they pass. Chatham-Kent was a major part of the Underground Railroad and as such hosts the Buxton Homecoming each September. This celebrates the area's black culture and the roots laid by early black settlers in the Buxton area.

Communities
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent currently consists of the following communities, listed by the Townships of the former Kent County (pre-1998 amalgamation):

 * Camden Township:
 * Dresden, Thamesville; Croton, Dawn Mills, North Thamesville; Wabash; Oakdale
 * Chatham Township:
 * Chatham, Wallaceburg; Appledore, Arkwood, Darrell, Eberts, Kent Bridge, Louisville, Oldfield, Thornecliffe, Tupperville, Turnerville, Whitebread; Ennett, Riverside
 * Dover Township:
 * Mitchell's Bay, Pain Court; Bagnall, Baldoon, Bearline, Bradley, Dover Centre, Electric, Grande Pointe, Oungah; Bass Haven
 * Harwich Township:
 * Blenheim, Erieau, Shrewsbury; Bates Subdivision, Eatonville, Erie Beach, Fargo Station, Guilds, Huffman Corners, Kent Centre, Lake Morningstar Estates, McKay's Corners, Mull, New Scotland, Northwood, Pinehurst, Raglan, Rondeau Bay Estates, Troy, Van Horne, Vosburg, Wilson's Bush; Blenheim Junction, Lynnwood Subdivision, Porkies Corners, Richardson Station, Rushton's Corners
 * Howard Township:
 * Morpeth, Ridgetown; Beechwood, Botany, Selton; Slabtown, Trinity
 * Orford Township:
 * Highgate; Clearville, Duart, Muirkirk, Palmyra, Turin; Austen's, Clachan, Henderson's, Lee's
 * Raleigh Township:
 * Charing Cross; Dealtown, Doyles, North Buxton, Ouvry, Pardoville, Prairie Siding, Rhodes, Ringold, Sleepy Hollow, South Buxton; Sandison, Southside Estates; Cedar Springs
 * Romney Township:
 * Wheatley; Coatsworth, Port Alma, Renwick; Holiday Harbour
 * Tilbury East Township:
 * Merlin, Tilbury; Fletcher, Glenwood, Jeannette, Jeannette's Creek, Port Crewe, Quinn, Stevenson, Stewart, Valetta
 * Zone Township:
 * Bothwell; Bothwell Station, Briarwood Estates; Fairfield, Zone Centre

Geography
At 2458 km2, Chatham-Kent is the 9th largest municipality by area in Canada and the largest in southwestern Ontario. Over 44,000 of the 107,000 residents live in the former City of Chatham. Other population centres in the municipality include Wallaceburg, Blenheim and Tilbury, Ridgetown and Dresden.

The Lower Thames River runs through Chatham–Kent to Lake St. Clair in the west, while the Sydenham River flows through Wallaceburg and Dresden. The municipality has approximately 88 kilometres of shoreline along lake Erie and 24 kilometres along lake St. Clair.

The Indian reserve of Bkejwanong (commonly referred to as Walpole Island) borders on Chatham–Kent, whereas the Indian reserve of Moravian 47 is an enclave within the city and is part of the Chatham–Kent census agglomeration and census division.

Climate
Chatham-Kent has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), with cold, snowy winters and warm to hot, humid summers. A typical summer will feature heat waves with temperatures exceeding 30 C often. Winters are cold, and feature occasional cold snaps bringing temperatures below -15 C, but also commonly include mild stretches of weather above freezing.

Adjacent townships and municipalities

 * St Clair and Dawn-Euphemia (north and northwest)
 * Southwest Middlesex (northeast)
 * West Elgin (northeast and east)
 * Across Lake Erie: the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga, Lorain and Erie Counties, Ohio, US (south)
 * Lakeshore, Ontario and Leamington, Ontario (southwest and west)
 * Across Lake St. Clair: Macomb and St. Clair Counties, Michigan, US (west)

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Chatham-Kent had a population of $103,988$ living in $44,028$ of its $46,752$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $101,647$. With a land area of 2451.9 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Ethnicity

 * Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

2006 census ''For all groups that comprise at least 1% of the population. Note that a person can report more than one ethnic origin.''
 * "Canadian": 34.7%
 * English: 32.9%
 * French: 21.9%
 * Scottish: 20.2%
 * Irish: 19.1%
 * German: 12.2%
 * Dutch: 11.1%
 * Belgian: 5.9%
 * First Nations: 3.1%
 * Italian: 2.1%
 * African descent: 2.1%
 * Polish: 2.1%
 * Ukrainian: 2.0%
 * Welsh: 1.5%
 * Czech: 1.4%
 * Metis: 1.2%
 * American (modern immigrant): 1.2%
 * Hungarian: 1.2%
 * Portuguese: 1.2%
 * Mexican: 1.0%

Language
Although most of the population of Chatham-Kent is English-speaking, a few of its communities and Catholic parishes were settled by francophone (French-speaking) farmers in the mid-nineteenth century. These include Pain Court, Tilbury and Grande Pointe, where French is still spoken by a significant percentage of the population. These communities are designated French language service areas under Ontario's French Language Services Act.

Approximately 8,500 residents of Chatham-Kent have French as a mother tongue and 1,500 have French as their home language. Essex County also has a relatively large francophone population, especially in the municipality of Lakeshore. Together, Chatham–Kent and Essex Counties make up one of the concentrations of Franco-Ontarians in the province of Ontario.

Both elementary and secondary francophone schools exist across the municipality. A French socio-cultural organization, La Girouette, which is based in Chatham, promotes French-Canadian culture and language in the area.

Knowledge of official language statistics:
 * English only: 92.2%
 * French only: <0.1%
 * English and French: 7.2%
 * Neither English nor French: 0.5%

Economy and industry
A breakdown of the total labour force in Chatham-Kent shows the leading industries (NAICS) are manufacturing, health care, and retail:
 * Manufacturing: 12.9%
 * Health care and social assistance: 12.3%
 * Retail trade: 11.2%
 * Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting: 7.5%
 * Accommodation and food services: 6.7%
 * Construction: 6.5%
 * Educational services: 5.9%
 * Transportation and warehousing: 5.0%
 * Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services: 5.0%
 * Public administration: 4.4%

Agribusiness and chemical
At the outskirts of Chatham is the headquarters for Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited (a division of DuPont), a major agricultural seed breeding and biotechnology company.

GreenField Specialty Alcohols Inc.'s Commercial Alcohols division, Canada's largest ethanol plant and one of the world's largest, opened in Chatham in 1996. The plant produces ethanol for industrial, medical, and beverage uses. There are a number of vineyards in the municipality.

Automotive
Chatham's roots in the automotive sector go back to Gray-Dort Motors Ltd., one of Canada's earliest automobile manufacturers. In the 21st century, auto industry plants in the municipality include Autoliv Canada in Tilbury (airbags), Mahle in Tilbury (emissions controls and plastics), in Ridgetown (automotive electronic pedal assembly and sensors), Dana Canada in Chatham (heat shields for thermal and acoustic management of exhaust manifolds, catalytic converters, and turbochargers), and Vitesco Technologies (Powertrain Canada ULC) in Chatham (design, development, and testing of Actuators for clean, efficient vehicles).

Chatham-Kent also is home to RM Auctions, a vintage automobile auction house, and RM Restorations, a vintage automobile restoration company. The nickname "The Classic Car Capital of Canada" comes from the abundance of classic car events in the community.

Energy
Chatham is home to a major corporate office of Enbridge Gas Inc., a natural gas utility and Enbridge company. Other energy related companies include wind farms near the shores of Lake Erie.

Public sector
The Canadian Federal government is one of the largest employers in the Chatham-Kent area with over 450 employees in several departments in the area. The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Disability Unit is housed in the Judy Lamarsh (see Notable Residents) Building in downtown Chatham. This federal office is the single largest disability processing centre in Canada, processing 50% of all CPP Disability benefits. The office also processes Old Age Security benefit claims.

Retail hub
Chatham serves as a retail centre for the municipality and surrounding area. This includes the large big-box stores in Super Centre on St. Clair Street and arguably the north end of Communication Road in Blenheim.

Attractions

The long, white sandy beaches, fishing, hiking trails and conservation areas make Erieau a popular vacation spot.

There are two Provincial Parks in Chatham-Kent: Rondeau Provincial Park and Wheatley Provincial Park, There are also numerous local conservation areas.

Downtown Chatham is home to the annual "Retrofest" organized by the Historic Downtown Chatham BIA, in partnership with the Kent Historic Auto Club. Hundreds of classic car enthusiasts travel to downtown Chatham to showcase their classic cars and vintage vehicles.

Downtown Chatham is also home to the Chatham Capitol Theatre, a theatre that, when it opened in 1930, was the largest in the region. The theatre is run by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent and hosts shows and entertainers.

Chatham was home to the Wheels Inn, a family resort for four decades until its closure in 2010. In 2011, the Chatham-Kent John D. Bradley Convention Centre was constructed on the site of the Wheels Inn. In July 2019, a new Cascades casino was opened in Chatham, close to the Convention Centre on Richmond Street.

Arts and culture
The Thames Art Gallery and ARTspace, located in the historic downtown, feature exhibitions showcasing local artists from the Chatham-Kent area, while also housing other Canadian and international works.

Health care
Chatham-Kent is served by the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. The Public General Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital in Chatham were moved to a single campus in 2004, while the former Sydenham District Hospital remains in Wallaceburg. The eastern portion of the municipality is served by the Four Counties Health Services in Newbury in nearby Middlesex County.

Research published in 2002 by the Heart and Stroke Foundation cited Chatham-Kent as a hotspot for heart disease in Ontario. Further research is underway to determine the reasons for this and other hotspots. The Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit launched a campaign in fall 2007 to tackle other ailments prevalent throughout the community, including asthma, chronic allergies, sinus problems, many types of cancer, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, alcoholism, and obesity.

In October 2008, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine.

Chatham-Kent features one of the 14 provincial Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN). The Erie St. Clair (ESC) LHIN services the Chatham-Kent Community as well as Sarnia/Lambton and Windsor/Essex. The ESC LHIN is located in the town of Chatham.

Television stations
Chatham-Kent is also served by stations coming from Windsor, London, Detroit, Toledo, and Cleveland.

Print media
The Chatham Daily News is the only daily newspaper in Chatham-Kent. There are several weeklies located in Chatham and the various communities in the municipality, including the Chatham Voice, Wallaceburg Courier Press, the Blenheim News Tribune, Chatham-Kent This Week, Ridgetown Independent News, Tilbury Times, and the Wheatley Journal.

The Chatham Daily News, Chatham-Kent This Week, and Wallaceburg Courier Press are all owned by Postmedia.

Online media
The Chatham Daily News, Chatham-Kent This Week, Wallaceburg Courier Press, Chatham Voice and CKReview are daily online news media in Chatham-Kent with coverage of local news, sports, entertainment, and cultural events as well as a number of regular contributing columnists. The Chatham-Kent Sports Network is an online source covering local sports news, scores, and highlights from each of Chatham-Kent's communities. CKSN also follows Chatham-Kent athletes who have progressed to the Junior, College, International, or Professional ranks.

Elementary and secondary
There are two anglophone school boards and one francophone school board in Chatham–Kent. These are the Lambton Kent District School Board (headquartered in both Chatham and Sarnia), the St. Clair Catholic District School Board (headquartered in Wallaceburg) and the Conseil scolaire catholique Providence (CSC Providence). The LKDSB is a public school board, and consists of 13 secondary and 53 elementary schools. Chatham-Kent Secondary School is the largest public high school in Lambton-Kent. The St. Clair Catholic board consists of two secondary schools (one in Chatham and one in Sarnia) and 26 elementary schools. There are also independent schools, such as Wallaceburg Christian School and Chatham Christian Schools—an elementary and secondary school in the same building.

The French Catholic board, headquartered in Windsor, has its Chatham-Kent regional office in Pain Court and consists of four elementary schools and one high school.

Post-secondary
Chatham–Kent is the home of two colleges – St. Clair College and University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus, popularly known as Ridgetown College.

St. Clair College is a satellite of St. Clair College of Windsor. There are two campuses located in the municipality – Thames Campus (located in Chatham) and the Wallaceburg Campus (located in Wallaceburg). More than 5,000 full-time and 12,000 part-time students attend the college each year.

The Ridgetown Campus of the University of Guelph offers diplomas in agriculture, horticulture, and veterinary technology. It is part of the University of Guelph's Ontario Agricultural College, and formerly known as Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology.

Hockey
The Chatham Maroons are a team in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

There are also four teams in the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League
 * Blenheim Blades
 * Dresden Jr. Kings
 * Wheatley Sharks
 * Wallaceburg Lakers

Other teams in Chatham-Kent include the Chatham Outlaws Girls Hockey Association, the Chatham AAA Cyclones and the AA Kent Cobras.

Rugby Union football
Founded in 2001, the Chatham-Kent Havoc rugby team plays in the Southwest Rugby Union.

Road
Chatham-Kent is situated just off Highway 401, connecting Montreal, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, and Windsor, Ontario; and Detroit, Michigan via the Ambassador Bridge. Blenheim, Chatham and Wallaceburg are linked with Sarnia, Ontario and the Blue Water Bridge to the United States by Highway 40.

The sections of Highway 2 and Highway 3 (the Talbot Trail) in Chatham–Kent were downloaded by the province in 1998, becoming local roads 2 and 3, but they remain significant through routes and are still locally known by their old names.

The first gas station in Canada to sell E85 fuel to the public is located on Park Avenue East in Chatham.

Rail
Chatham station is served by Via Rail passenger services between Toronto and Windsor, part of the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor with four trips in each direction daily, and the community is served by both the Canadian National Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway for freight transportation.

Bus
Within Chatham public bus services are provided by CK Transit. Chatham-Kent has an intercity bus service, also provided by CK Transit, between all communities in the municipality except Wheatley.

Air
There is a municipal airport located 14 km south east of Chatham featuring a 1500m paved, lighted runway, with refuelling facilities, tie-down services, pilot training and chartered flights. The nearest airports served by regional carriers are Windsor and London.

Notable people

 * Sally Ainse – Oneida diplomat and fur trader
 * Chris Allen – former NHL player with the Florida Panthers
 * Doug Anakin – won a gold medal at the 1964 Olympics in the bobsled
 * Bill Atkinson – former Major League Baseball relief pitcher
 * Courtney Babcock – Olympic distance runner
 * Shae-Lynn Bourne – championship figure skater
 * T. J. Brodie – NHL hockey player with the Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Ernest Burgess – 24th President of the American Sociological Association, author and urban sociologist who is known for his groundbreaking social ecology research
 * June Callwood – prominent magazine writer in the 1950s who became an Officer in the Order of Canada in 1986
 * Joseph Caron – former High Commissioner to India and former Canadian ambassador to China and Japan
 * Bridget Carleton – WNBA player for the Minnesota Lynx
 * Chandra K. Clarke – entrepreneur, published author, and humour columnist
 * James Couzens – U.S. Senator, Mayor of Detroit, industrialist, philanthropist, and vice president and general manager of the Ford Motor Company
 * Robertson Davies – novelist, playwright
 * Kenne Duncan – western/action movie actor
 * Andy Fantuz – former CIS offensive MVP, former slotback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger Cats of the CFL
 * Wally Floody – the "Tunnel King" from The Great Escape
 * Dave Gagner – retired NHL hockey player; brother-in-law of Diane Gagner; former Chatham–Kent mayor
 * W. B. George (1899–1972), president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and agriculturalist at Kemptville Agricultural School, was born in Highgate
 * Ashley Goure – Paralympic sledge hockey player
 * Lee Giffin – professional ice hockey player
 * Frank Gross, philanthropist; awarded the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship in 2006
 * Ken Houston (born September 15, 1953) – former NHL player
 * Tracey Hoyt – actress, Aurora Farqueson on the CBC Television series The Tournament
 * Jeff Jackson – NHL hockey player
 * Ferguson Jenkins – Baseball Hall of Famer
 * Anna H. Jones – teacher, speaker at the First Pan-African Conference in 1900
 * Ryan Jones – former finalist of 2008 Hobey Baker Award and former member of the Edmonton Oilers; currently playing in the DEL for the Cologne Sharks
 * Judy LaMarsh – former Canadian Minister of Health
 * Archibald Lampman – one of Canada's finest 19th-century Romantic poets, born Morpeth, Kent County, 1861
 * Bobbi Lancaster, a medical doctor and trans woman noted for playing in the LPGA Qualifying Tournament in 2013
 * Lori Lansens – author of Rush Home Road and The Girls
 * Chad Laprise – UFC fighter
 * John B. Lee – author, poet and current Poet Laureate of Brantford, Ontario
 * Doug Melvin – general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers
 * Harry Garnet Bedford Miner – Victoria Cross winner during World War I, born in Cedar Springs
 * Dave Nichol – award-winning product marketing expert and former president of Loblaw's
 * Geoffrey O'Hara – early 20th-century composer, singer and music professor who was the writer of such popular songs as the 1918 hit "K-K-K-Katy"
 * Sam Panopoulos – inventor of the Hawaiian pizza
 * Ron Pardo – comic-impressionist; actor for History Bites and voice actor on animated shows like PAW Patrol and World of Quest''; from Pardoville
 * Ray Robertson – novelist
 * Brooklyn Roebuck – 2012 The Next Star; under licence with Sony Music Canada
 * Doug Shedden – professional ice hockey coach and former player
 * Glen Skov – National Hockey League (NHL) hockey player
 * Ron Sparks – award-winning comedian, actor, writer and producer (Video on Trial)
 * Joseph Storey – architect, designer of many local landmarks in the 1950s and 1960s
 * Shaun Suisham – Pittsburgh Steelers kicker (formerly with Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins)
 * Sylvia Tyson – singer-songwriter, broadcaster, and guitarist who found early fame with her then-husband Ian Tyson in their folk duo Ian and Sylvia
 * Todd Warriner – former NHL hockey player picked 4th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques
 * Derek Whitson – Paralympic sledge hockey player
 * Brian Wiseman – 1999 IHL MVP Houston Aeros
 * Michelle Wright – country music singer

title: Chatham-Kent


text:
Dryden, Ontario

Dryden is the second-largest city in the Kenora District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located on Wabigoon Lake. It is the least populous community in Ontario incorporated as a city. The City of Dryden had a population of 7,749 and its population centre (urban area) had a population of 5,586 in 2016.

Dryden was incorporated as a town in 1910 and as a city in 1998. The main industries in Dryden include manufacturing (particularly pulp and paper), renewable energy (including bioenergy and solar energy), and service. Dryden is located on Ontario's Highway 17, which forms part of the Trans-Canada Highway. It is situated halfway between the larger cities of Winnipeg and Thunder Bay.

History
Before settlement by Europeans, the Dryden area was inhabited by the Anishinaabe. They used the shore by the Wabigoon River as a camping site, calling it Paawidigong ("the place of rapids" in Ojibwe). The settlement was founded as an agricultural community by John Dryden, Ontario's Minister of Agriculture in 1895. While his train was stopped at what was then known as Barclay Tank to re-water, he noticed clover growing and decided to found an experimental farm the following year. The farm's success brought settlers from southern Ontario and the community came to be known as New Prospect. In 1886, gold was discovered near the area, also attracting people. In 1897, the community was renamed to Dryden to honour the minister of agriculture. It incorporated as a town in 1910 and as a city in 1998 after merging with the neighbouring township of Barclay.

One of the earliest industries in the area was pulp and paper. A paper mill was built in the town in 1910 because of the abundance of wood suitable for kraft pulping as well as energy from the Wabigoon River. The town came into national consciousness because of mercury contamination. In the 1970s, it became known that the Dryden pulp and paper operations discharged ten tons of mercury directly into the Wabagoon River over a span of eight years. The mercury caused persistent environmental damage, poisoned river systems and lakes, and led to members of the Grassy Narrows community suffering severe mercury poisoning known as Minamata disease.

The town was also the site of the March 10, 1989 crash of Air Ontario Flight 1363 from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg, which killed 24 people.

Geography
Dryden is located on the Wabigoon River and Wabigoon Lake in northwestern Ontario. It borders Thunder Lake and Aaron Provincial Park on the east, and the smaller Milanese's Lakes are also located within the city. Dryden is located 340 kilometres (210 miles) northwest of Thunder Bay. Nearby communities include Wabigoon, Vermilion Bay, Kenora, and Sioux Lookout. Dryden is also near the Eagle Lake First Nation.

Along with most of the rest of Ontario west of 90° West, Dryden is in the Central Time Zone and observes daylight saving time.

Climate
Dryden experiences a humid continental climate (Dfb) with short, warm summers, and long, cold winters. The highest temperature ever recorded in Dryden was 39.4 C on 11 July 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -46.7 C on 11 February 1914. Compared to the rest of the province, the annual temperature range is wider and precipitation is more concentrated in the summer.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Dryden had a population of $7,388$ living in $3,314$ of its $3,574$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $7,749$. With a land area of 65.58 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

The population centre, or urban area, of Dryden had a population of 5,586 in the 2016 census, a 0.9% increase from 2011. The median value of dwellings in the urban area is CA$150,505, significantly lower than the national median of $341,556. The median household income (after-tax) in Dryden is $58,624, almost on par with the national average at $61,348.

The city's population peaked at 8,198 measured in the 2001 Canadian Census and is slowly declining due to lack of support for an aging population and high taxes. 21% of the population was 65 years and over as of the 2016 census compared to 16.7% in the entirely of Ontario. The median age of 46.2 was nearly 5 years older than the provincial median of 41.3.

In 2016, approximately 1,465 residents (19.3%) considered themselves to have an Aboriginal identity. 220 residents (2.9%) belonged to a visible minority group (i.e. people who are not Aboriginal and "non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour"). The largest group was Filipino, representing about 80 residents (1% of the population).

In the 2011 National Household Survey, 4,970 residents (66.8% of the respondents) stated that they were Christian, while 2,455 (33.0%) did not affiliate with any religion. 0.1% identified as Buddhist, while a further 0.1% practised traditional Aboriginal spirituality.

Arts and culture
Dryden is home to the 5.6 m tall "Max the Moose" statue on the Trans-Canada Highway, which has been described as the "mascot" of the city. It was built in 1962, out of a metal frame and concrete plaster.

Several annual music concerts are held featuring local musicians. "Come Together" is an annual December 27 or 28th concert, and "Kickin' Country" is a mid April country show. Both featuring local acts. The "Blue Moon Festival" is a daylong event that is held on or near a blue moon calendar event in the summer months.

Dryden is home to a variety of arts groups. "Theatre 17" is a community theatre group under the direction of Judith Hamilton that stages theatrical productions, including Noises Off and Tony and Tina's Wedding. The DRAC (Dryden Regional Arts Council) is an artists group that organizes yearly art tours, art shows and also operates a retail store known as Naked North Art Gallery. The Dryden Community Band is a group of musicians who perform under conductor Ryan Graham.

Government
Dryden is currently part of the provincial electoral district of Kenora—Rainy River. Kenora—Rainy River's Member of Provincial Parliament has been Greg Rickford, a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, since 2018. He was preceded by Sarah Campbell and Howard Hampton, both of the New Democratic Party. Federally, the city is part of the Kenora riding, which has been represented by Eric Melillo, a Conservative, since 2019. He was preceded by the Liberal Bob Nault and the aforementioned Greg Rickford.

The city council is composed of six councillors and a mayor. As with the rest of Ontario, municipal elections occur every 4 years. Currently, Dryden's mayor is Greg Wilson, elected 2018. Previous mayors of Dryden have included Craig Nuttall (elected in 2010 and 2014), Anne Krassilowsky (elected in 2002 and 2006), and Roger Valley in the 1990s.

Infrastructure and services
The city is served by Dryden Regional Airport. Currently, Bearskin Airlines operates services from Dryden to various other airports in the area, including Thunder Bay International Airport and Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. The Dryden Water Aerodrome is located within the city limits, on Wabigoon Lake.

Dryden is located on Ontario Highway 17, part of the Trans-Canada Highway, between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. Several secondary highways pass through or near the city:
 * Highway 502, with northern terminus just west of Dryden and southern terminous at Highway 11 near Fort Frances
 * Highway 594, with eastern terminus at Dryden, connecting to Eagle River and Highway 17
 * Highway 601, providing access to Dryden Regional Airport
 * Highway 665, with southern terminus just north of Dryden, linking to Richan

The Dryden Regional Health Centre is a small hospital in Dryden, founded in 1952. It employs 300 staff and volunteers.

Dryden is within the jurisdiction of the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board. It is home to Dryden High School, a secondary school, as well as New Prospect Public School and Open Roads Public School, both elementary schools. St. Joseph's School, a catholic school, is also in Dryden. Along with several other Northwest Ontarian communities, Dryden is home to a campus of Confederation College, whose main campus is in Thunder Bay.

The Dryden Fire Service, a volunteer fire department, operates out of two fire stations and responds to about 250 incidents annually. It was established in 1908 with Alex Kennedy as Fire Chief. They also raise public awareness about fire safety. The service comprises five full-time staff and around forty volunteers. The City of Dryden also operates a landfill and recycling facility.

Media
Dryden is currently served by several radio stations, including: Dryden previously had a community newspaper, The Dryden Observer, originally known as the Wabigoon Star, but it stopped publishing in 2019. The mayor of Dryden noted that the newspaper had provided a local sense of identity. CKQV operates an online local news source called DrydenNow, and CKDR also has a news division.
 * 92.7 FM - CKDR, adult contemporary
 * 100.9 FM - CBQH, CBC Radio One, repeats CBQT-FM Thunder Bay
 * 102.7 FM - CKSB-6, Ici Radio-Canada Première, repeats CKSB-10-FM Winnipeg
 * 104.5 FM - CKQV-1, classic hits, repeats CKQV-FM Vermilion Bay, brands itself as Q104

Notable people

 * Lynn Beyak (born 1949), former Canadian Senator
 * Molly Bolin (born 1957), former professional basketball player
 * Wayne Muloin (born 1941), former professional ice hockey player
 * Patricia O'Callaghan (born 1970), opera singer
 * Dennis Owchar (born 1953), former professional ice hockey player
 * Chris Pronger (born 1974), former professional ice hockey player, 2000 Hart Trophy and Norris Trophy winner, 2006-2007 Stanley Cup champion, 2015 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and brother of Sean Pronger
 * Sean Pronger (born 1972), former professional ice hockey player and brother of Chris Pronger
 * Roger Valley (born 1957), former mayor of Dryden and former member of the House of Commons of Canada

title: Dryden, Ontario


text:
Standard German

Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (Standardhochdeutsch, Standarddeutsch, Hochdeutsch or, in Switzerland, Schriftdeutsch), is the umbrella term for the standardized varieties of the German language, which are used in formal contexts and for communication between different dialect areas. German is a pluricentric Dachsprache with currently three codified (or standardised) specific national varieties: German Standard German, Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German.

Regarding the spelling and punctuation, a recommended standard is published by the Council for German Orthography which represents the governments of all majority and minority German-speaking countries and dependencies. Adherence is obligatory for government institutions, including schools. Regarding the pronunciation, although there is no official standards body, there is a long-standing de facto standard pronunciation (Bühnendeutsch), most commonly used in formal speech and teaching materials. It is similar to the formal German spoken in and around Hanover. Adherence to those standards by private individuals and companies, including the print and audio-visual media, is voluntary. Austrian German has had standard pronunciation exceptions since 1904 (Luick's österreichische Bühnenaussprache). In Switzerland, no such official pronunciation codex exists, yet most Standard Swiss German speakers are markedly different sounding from Hanover-type phonetic targets.

Origins
Standard German originated not as a traditional dialect of a specific region but as a written language developed over a process of several hundred years in which writers tried to write in a way that was understood in the largest area.

Martin Luther's translation of the Bible in 1522 (New Testament, Old Testament 1534) was an important development towards an early standardization of written German. Luther based his translation largely on the already developed language of the Saxon chancery, which was more widely understood than other dialects and as a Central German dialect, was felt to be "halfway" between the dialects of the north and south. Luther drew principally on Eastern Upper and East Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German.

Later in 1748, a grammar manual by Johann Christoph Gottsched, Grundlegung einer deutschen Sprachkunst, was key in the development of German writing and standardization of the language. Similarly to Luther, Gottsched based his manual on the Central German variant of the Upper Saxon area. Over the course of the mid-18th century and onward, a written standard then began to emerge and be widely accepted in German-speaking areas, thus ending the period of Early New High German.

Until about 1800, Standard German was almost entirely a written language. People in Northern Germany who spoke mainly Low Saxon dialects, which were very different from Standard German, learned it more or less as a foreign language. However, the Northern pronunciation (of Standard German) later became considered standard and spread southward. In some regions such as around Hanover, the local dialect has completely died out as spoken language but is preserved in dialect literature and scholarly descriptions.

It can thus be argued that it is the spread of Standard German as a language taught at school that defines the German Sprachraum, which was thus a political decision, rather than a direct consequence of dialect geography. That allowed areas with dialects with very little mutual intelligibility to participate in the same cultural sphere. Some linguists claim today that a One Standard German Axiom is a defining feature of Germanistik. Outside of Switzerland, Austria and South Tyrol, local dialects tend to be used mainly in informal situations or at home and in dialect literature, but more recently, a resurgence of German dialects has appeared in mass media.

Terminology
In German, Standard German is generally called Hochdeutsch, reflecting the fact that its phonetics are largely those of the High German spoken in the southern uplands and the Alps (including Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and parts of northern Italy as well as southern Germany). The corresponding term Low German reflects the fact that these dialects belong to the lowlands stretching towards the North Sea. The widespread but mistaken impression that Hochdeutsch is so-called because it is perceived to be "good German" has led to use of the supposedly less judgmental Standarddeutsch ("Standard German"), deutsche Standardsprache ("German standard language"). On the other hand, the "standard" written languages of Switzerland and Austria have each been codified as standards distinct from that used in Germany. For this reason, "Hochdeutsch" or "High German", originally a mere geographic designation, applies unproblematically to Swiss Standard German and Austrian German as well as to German Standard German and may be preferred for that reason.

Pluricentricity

Since the 1980s, German has widely been considered a pluricentric language with the national standard varieties of German Standard German, Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German. These varieties of standard German differ above all in vocabulary, pragmatics and pronunciation, but in some instances also in grammar and, in only a handful of cases, in orthography. In formal writing, the differences are small; in regards to the spoken language, the different varieties of Standard German are easily recognized by most speakers.

These three national standards (German, Austrian and Swiss) have each been adopted by other German-speaking countries and communities as their standard form of German. The German standard is applied in Luxembourg, Belgium, and Namibia while the Swiss standard has been adopted in Liechtenstein.

The variation of the Standard German varieties must not be confused with the variation of the local German dialects. Even though the Standard German varieties are to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. All varieties of Standard German are based on the common tradition of the written German language, whereas the local dialects have their own historical roots that go further back than the unification of the written language, and in the case of Low German, belong to a different language entirely.

Continuum between Standard German and German dialects
In most regions, the speakers use a continuum of mixtures from more dialectal varieties to more standard varieties according to situation. However, there are two (or three) exceptions:

 * In Northern Germany, there is no continuum in the strict sense between the local varieties of Low German ("Plattdeutsch") on the one hand, and Standard German on the other. Since the former have not undergone the High German consonant shift, they are too different from the standard for a continuum to emerge. High German and Low German are best seen as separate languages, but because High (Middle and Upper) and Low German form a dialect continuum and Standard German serves as dachsprache for all forms of German, they are often described as dialects of German. Under a socio-linguistic approach to the problem, even if Low German dialects are Abstandsprachen (linguistically quite different), they are perceived as dialects of German because they lack Ausbau. However, Low German did influence the standard-based vernaculars spoken today in Northern Germany by language transfer (in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and syntax), and it continues to do so to a limited degree. High German heavily influenced by Low German has been known as Missingsch, but most contemporary Northern Germans exhibit only an intermediate Low German substratum in their speech.
 * In German-speaking Switzerland, there is no such continuum between the Swiss German varieties and Swiss Standard German, and the use of Standard German is almost entirely restricted to the written language. Therefore, this situation has been called a medial diglossia. Standard German is seldom spoken among native Swiss, and even then the accent and vocabulary is very much Swiss, except for instance when speaking with people who do not understand the Swiss German dialects at all, and it is expected to be used in school. Standard German has, however, left a clear imprint on the contemporary variants of Swiss German, regional expressions and vocabulary having been replaced with material assimilated from the standard language. Of all the German-speaking countries, Switzerland has however most fully retained the use of dialect in everyday situations. Dialect is used to a lesser extent for some everyday situations in southern Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Alsace, and South Tyrol. The regular use of dialect in Swiss media (radio, internet, and television) contrasts with its much rarer appearance in the media of Austria, Germany, East Belgium, South Tyrol, and Liechtenstein.
 * Luxembourgish was considered a German dialect like many others until about World War II but then it underwent ausbau; it created its own standard form in vocabulary, grammar and spelling and therefore is seen today as an independent language. Due to the fact that Luxembourgish has a maximum of some 600,000 native speakers, resources in the language like books, newspapers, magazines, television, internet etc. are limited. Since most Luxembourgers also speak Standard German and French, there is strong competition with these two which both have very large language resources. Luxembourgers are generally trilingual, using French and Standard German in some areas of life, Luxembourgish in others. Standard German is taught in schools in Luxembourg and close to 90% of the population can speak it.

Phonology
While the three principal national varieties are recognized as three distinct standards, the differences are few, perhaps comparable to the difference between British and American English. The Duden codifies the standard pronunciation for German Standard German and allows for a small number of divergences; for example, the string "äh" has two authorized pronunciations, /ɛː/ and /eː/. Some regions see only the first as correct, and others use only the second; Duden now recognizes both as correct. Standardized High German pronunciation is generally used in radio and television as well as in German learning materials for non-natives and at least aspirationally by language teachers. The accent is documented in reference works such as Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (German Pronunciation Dictionary) by Eva-Maria Krech et al., Duden 6 Das Aussprachewörterbuch (Duden volume 6, The Pronunciation Dictionary) by Max Mangold and the training materials at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting) and Deutschlandfunk (Radio Germany). It is an invented accent, rather than one radiating from any particular German-speaking city. It is often said that the people of Hannover speak German with an accent that comes closest to the standard of the Duden dictionaries, but the claim is debatable, particularly since it may apply equally well to the rest of Northern Germany.

Features
Standard High German is written in the Latin alphabet. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with an umlaut mark, namely ä, ö and ü, as well as the Eszett or scharfes s (sharp s): ß. In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, ss is used instead of ß.

History
A first step to standardisation, although non-prescriptive, of Early New High German was introduced by the Luther Bible of 1534. In consequence, the written language of the chancery of Saxony-Wittenberg rose in importance in the course of the 17th century so much so that it was used in texts such as the 1665 revision of the Zürich Bible.

The First Orthographical Conference convened in 1876 by order of the government of Prussia, but failed. Konrad Duden published the first edition of his dictionary, later simply known as the Duden, in 1880. The first spelling codification by the Second Orthographic Conference of 1901, based on Duden's work, came into effect in 1902.

In 1944 there was a failed attempt at another reform; this was delayed on the order of Hitler and not taken up again after the end of World War II.

In the following decades German spelling was essentially decided de facto by the editors of the Duden dictionaries. After the war, this tradition was followed with two different centers: Mannheim in West Germany and Leipzig in East Germany. By the early 1950s, a few other publishing houses had begun to attack the Duden monopoly in the West by publishing their own dictionaries, which did not always conform to the "official" spellings prescribed by Duden. In response, the Ministers of Culture of the federal states in West Germany officially declared the Duden spellings to be binding as of November 1955 ("Duden-Monopol" or "Dudenmonopol", "Duden-Privileg" or "Dudenprivileg").

Orthography Reform of 1996
The orthography reform of 1996 was based on an international agreement signed by the governments of the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland; but acceptance of the reform was limited and led to public controversy and considerable dispute. The states (Bundesländer) of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria refused to accept it. At one point, the dispute reached the highest court, which quickly dismissed it, claiming that the states had to decide for themselves and that only in schools could the reform be made the official rule – everybody else could continue writing as they had learned it.

While,, most German print media followed the reform, some newspapers, such as Die Zeit, Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung, created their own in-house orthographies.

After 10 years, without any intervention by the federal parliament, a major revision of the spelling reform was installed in 2006 because there were disagreements regarding capitalization and splitting of German words. Also revised were the rules governing punctuation marks.

The most noticeable change was probably in the use of the letter ß, called scharfes s (Sharp S) or Eszett (pronounced ess-tsett, coming from ſz). Traditionally, this letter was used in three situations:

 * 1) After a long vowel or vowel combination;
 * 2) Before a t;
 * 3) At the end of a syllable.

Examples are Füße, paßt, and daß. Currently, only the first rule is in effect, making the reformed spellings Füße, passt, and dass. The word Fuß 'foot' has the letter ß because it contains a long vowel, even though that letter occurs at the end of a syllable. The logic of this change is that an 'ß' is a single letter whereas 'ss' are two letters, so the same distinction applies as (for example) between the words den and denn.

English to Standard German cognates
This is a selection of cognates in both English and Standard German. Instead of the usual infinitive ending -en, Standard German verbs are indicated by a hyphen after their stems. Words that are written with capital letters in Standard German are nouns.

Loanwords from Standard German to English
English has taken many loanwords from German, often without any change of spelling (aside from frequently eliminating umlauts and not capitalizing nouns):

Dictionaries
The Duden is the de facto official dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880. The Duden is updated regularly, with new editions appearing every four or five years. , it was in its 27th edition and in 12 volumes, each covering different aspects such as loanwords, etymology, pronunciation, synonyms, and so forth. The first of these volumes, Die deutsche Rechtschreibung (German Orthography), has long been the prescriptive source for the spelling of Standard High German. The Duden had become the bible of the Standard High German language, being the definitive set of rules regarding grammar, spelling, and usage of Standard High German.

The Österreichisches Wörterbuch ("Austrian Dictionary"), abbreviated ÖWB, is the official dictionary of the Standard High German language in the Republic of Austria. It is edited by a group of linguists under the authority of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur). It is the Austrian counterpart to the German Duden and contains a number of terms unique to Austrian German or more frequently used or differently pronounced there. A considerable amount of this "Austrian" vocabulary is also common in Southern Germany, especially Bavaria, and some of it is used in Switzerland as well. Since the 39th edition in 2001 the orthography of the ÖWB has been adjusted to the German spelling reform of 1996. The dictionary is also officially used in the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is currently available in 44th edition, from 2022, and includes an online version with limited access.

Organisations
Several organisations promote the use and learning of the Standard German language.

Goethe Institut
The government-backed Goethe-Institut, (named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) aims to enhance the knowledge of German culture and language within Europe and the rest of the world. This is done by holding exhibitions and conferences with German-related themes, and providing training and guidance in the learning and use of the German language. For example, the Goethe-Institut teaches the Goethe-Zertifikat German language qualification.

Deutsche Welle
The German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle provides radio and television broadcasts in Standard German and 30 other languages across the globe. Its Standard German language services are spoken slowly and thus tailored for learners. Deutsche Welle also provides an e-learning website for learning Standard German.

title: Standard German


text:
Elliot Lake

Elliot Lake is a city in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is north of Lake Huron, midway between the cities of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in the Northern Ontario region. Once dubbed the "uranium capital of the world," Elliot Lake has since diversified to a hub for advanced manufacturing, forest harvesting, mine reclamation expertise, retirement living, all-season tourism and remote work.

History
Prior to the settlement of the city, a seasonal Ojibwa village extended along the lake's shoreline near the present hospital.

The town takes its name from the lake. There is no official record of origin of name; the earliest appearance is on the Dominion map of 1901. Folklore suggest it was named for a logging camp cook who drowned in the lake. The townsite name was approved on August 14, 1952. Elliot Lake was incorporated as a city in 1990.

Uranium mining
The city was established as a planned community for the mining industry in 1955 after the discovery of uranium in the area, and named after the small lake on its northern edge. By the late 1950s, its population had grown to about 25,000. It was originally incorporated as an improvement district. Geologist Franc Joubin and American financier Joseph Hirshhorn were instrumental in its founding. The principal mining companies were Denison Mines and Rio Algom. The population has varied with several boom-and-bust cycles from the 1950s to the 1990s, from a high of over 26,000 to a low of about 6,600.

By 1958 it was apparent that world production of uranium was far outstripping demand and Canadian producers received unofficial notice that US options on Canadian uranium production between 1962 and 1966 would not be exercised. This was confirmed in 1959.

During the 1970s, federal plans for CANDU Reactors and Ontario Hydro's interest in atomic energy led the town, anticipating a population of 30,000, to expand again. However, by the early 1990s depleted reserves and low prices caused the last mines in the area to close.

Area uranium mines

 * Stanleigh Mine (1956–1960 and 1982–1997), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 14 million tons of ore.
 * Spanish American Mine (1957–1959), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 79,000 tons of ore.
 * Can-Met Mine (1957–1960), operated by Denison Mines Ltd., produced 2.6 million tons of ore.
 * Milliken Mine (1957–1964), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 6.3 million tons of ore.
 * Panel Mine (1957–1961 and 1978–1990), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 15 million tons of ore.
 * Denison Mine (1957–1992), operated by Denison Mines Ltd., produced 69 million tons of ore.
 * Stanrock Mine (1958–1960 and 1964–1985), operated by Denison Mines Ltd., produced 6.4 million tons of ore.
 * Quirke Mine(s) (1955–1961 and 1965–1990), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 44 million tons of ore.
 * Pronto Mine (1955–1970), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 2.3 million tons of ore.
 * Buckles Mine (1956–1960), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 276,000 tons of ore.
 * Lacnor Mine "Lake Nordic" (1956–1960), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 3.4 million tons of ore.
 * Nordic Mine (1956–1970), operated by Rio Algom Ltd., produced 13 million tons of ore

Mining legacy health and environmental concerns
In 1974, after growing concern from uranium miners about lung cancer and a lack of support from mine owners for sick workers, 1,000 uranium miners staged a wildcat strike. The 14-day strike triggered a chain of events that led to the creation of a Royal Commission on the Health and Safety of Workers in Mines (informally known as the Ham Commission) which subsequently led to the creation of the Canada's Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1979.

According to University of Toronto history professor Laurel Sefton MacDowell in her 2012 article 'The Elliot Lake Uranium Miners’ Battle to Gain Occupational Health and Safety Improvements, 1950–1980', the health concerns over radiation in the local environment are perpetual, and must be monitored perpetually.

The 2017 performance of Rio Algom Limited (a subsidiary of BHP), who own nine of the decommissioned mines, was described as "below expectations" by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission reported radium releases above limits at the Stanleigh effluent treatment plant, prompting engineering work plus increased site monitoring by the owners.

Post-mining
In the years following the cessation of mining, the city looked elsewhere for its survival, finding some success promoting itself as a retirement community, advanced manufacturing hub and tourist destination.

On June 23, 2012, part of a roof collapsed at Algo Centre Mall, sending metal and concrete debris crashing down through two floors of the shopping centre. The accident killed two people. Pearson Plaza has since opened.

On February 21, 2019, part of the theatre roof of the Lester B. Pearson Civic Centre collapsed due to an abnormally heavy snow load. The building has since been completely demolished.

Today, the economy of Elliot Lake has seen steady growth. Major employers in Elliot Lake include major mining services firms such as Komatsu, Weir, and Denison Environmental; specialty manufacturing organizations such as St. Regis Group, HiRail Leasing and Prestige Pulpits; numerous forestry businesses; a collection of professional services offices such as Cambridge Law LLP, KPMG and BrokerLink and an increasing number of technology organizations. Government organizations found in the community are numerous and include the City of Elliot Lake, Elliot Lake Retirement Living, a range of Ontario Ministries, a set of federal government offices, a hospital, many health service providers and several schools.

The city has four major retail areas: Downtown, Highway 108 Corridor, Hillside, and Paris; and two industrial parks, located at north and south ends of the City. The new mall is Pearson Plaza, and opened downtown in 2016.

In January 2023, just weeks after being elected in the 2022 Algoma District municipal elections, mayor Chris Patrie was removed from office in a ruling that he had violated municipal conflict of interest rules by lobbying, in his prior term as a city councillor, to have the city's new recreation centre built near the Oakland Plaza, in which he is a part owner, instead of on the former Algo Centre Mall site. Deputy mayor Andrew Wannan served as acting mayor, while Patrie appealed the ruling; after Patrie lost his appeal, Wannan was elevated to the full mayoralty by the city council in February 2024.

Geography and environment
Situated on the Canadian Shield, the city is surrounded by dense forest, muskeg swamps, numerous lakes, winding rivers, and hills of Precambrian bedrock. The local forests are mixed deciduous and coniferous, with colourful displays in the autumn.

Local wildlife include moose, white-tailed deer, American black bear, beaver, loon, muskrat, otter, Canada goose, and lynx, to name but a few. Fish species include lake trout, speckled trout, rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, pickerel (walleye), and sturgeon.

Since December 1990 the town has been home to the Elliot Lake Research Field Station, established by Laurentian University to investigate environmental radioactivity.

Acclaimed Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has taken landscape pictures of uranium and nickel tailings during the mid-1990s, providing evidence of the after-effects to the ecosystem.

Climate
Elliot Lake has a humid continental climate (Dfb). Summers are warm and rainy with cool nights. Winters are long and very cold with extremely heavy snowfall. Precipitation is very heavy year round for such a cold location.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Elliot Lake had a population of $11,372$ living in $5,839$ of its $6,275$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $10,741$. With a land area of 696.06 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Transportation
Relatively isolated, Elliot Lake is connected to the south only by Highway 108, a 30 km distance to Highway 17, also known as the Trans-Canada Highway. North of the city, Highway 639 extends for 24 kilometres to its terminus at Highway 546, an almost entirely unpopulated route used primarily as an access road to Mississagi Provincial Park and a few private wilderness recreation lodges. The Deer Trail Route, a part of the Ontario Tourist Route network, follows a circle consisting of Highways 17, 108, 639 and 546.

A 1991 study by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation proposed the extension of Highway 555 (Granary Lake Road) from Blind River to meet Spine Road in Elliot Lake, creating a new route which would reduce the length of a commute between the two communities by approximately 20 kilometres. Although the ministry has announced no firm plans to construct the proposed road, Elliot Lake City Council passed a motion in August 2015 calling for the project's revival.

As a general aviation facility Elliot Lake Municipal Airport has no regularly scheduled flights. The closest scheduled airport with flights are located in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie.

Elliot Lake Transit provides hourly bus service except on Sundays and statutory holidays.

Intercity motor coach service is provided by Ontario Northland.

Arts and culture
Local festivals include the Jewel in the Wilderness Festival, Heritage Weekend and the Elliot Lake Arts on the Trail festival.

The city is home to Denison House, a hotel and convention facility located in the former corporate lodge of Denison Mines, and the Elliot Lake Mining and Nuclear Museum. Two community monuments, the Uranium Atom Monument downtown and the Miners Memorial Monument on Horne Lake, are also found in the city, as well as a scenic lookout at the former fire tower.

In 1975, Canadian musician Stompin' Tom Connors recorded "Damn Good Song for a Miner," about the city of Elliot Lake and its mining culture in the 1960s. Elliot Lake is also a prominent setting in Alistair MacLeod's award-winning novel No Great Mischief.

Tourist attractions

 * The Elliot Lake fire tower lookout overlooks the city
 * Mississagi Provincial Park
 * Sheriff Creek Wildlife Sanctuary
 * Voyageur's Trail & Westview Hiking Trails
 * Spruce and Spine Beaches
 * Bob Stirling XC Ski and Mountain Bike Trails on the shore of Elliot Lake
 * Deer Trail Colours Tour
 * Rawhide Lake Conservation Area / Our Colleagues Area
 * Events (Arts on the Trail, Uranium Heritage Days, 5K Run and others)
 * Mount Dufour – Ski area with 2 lifts and 7 trails, 320 ft vertical and 100% snowmaking capability
 * Elliot Lake Museum
 * Motorized Sports

Current schools

 * Elliot Lake Secondary School
 * Elliot Lake Intermediate School
 * Villa Française-des-Jeunes
 * Our Lady of Fatima
 * Our Lady of Lourdes
 * École Georges-Vanier
 * Esten Park Public School
 * Central Avenue Public School

Defunct postsecondary and adult schools

 * Sault College (Satellite Campus) – closed
 * Collège Boréal (Satellite Campus) – replaced with Access Centre to assist locals in finding employment
 * White Mountain Academy of the Arts – closed 2006

Sports

 * Elliot Lake ATV Club
 * Stone Ridge Golf & Country Club
 * Mount Dufour Ski Area
 * Mountain Bike Ontario Cup Race
 * The Jewel in the Wilderness Ontario Cup Road Race
 * Tri-it in the Wilderness Triathlon
 * Bell Ididarace Sled Dog Race
 * Deer Trail Scenic Touring Route
 * Elliot Lake Tennis Club
 * Voyageur Hiking Trail

Hockey

 * Elliot Lake Vikings (NOJHL) 2023–present
 * Elliot Lake Red Wings (NOJHL) 2021–2023
 * Elliot Lake Wildcats (NOJHL) 2014–2020
 * Elliot Lake Bobcats (GMJHL/NOJHL) 2007–2014
 * Elliot Lake Vikings (NOJHL) 1965–1999
 * Elliot Lake Contractors (GNML) 1986–1992
 * Elliot Lake Minor Hockey Association
 * Elliot Lake Major Hockey Association

In March of 2024 Elliot Lake was named the winner of the 2024 iteration of the Kraft Hockeyville contest after winning a nationwide vote. The other nominees were Enderby British Columbia, Cochrane Alberta, and Wolseley Saskatchewan. As winners they received $250,000 towards repairs at the Centennial Arena and the right to host an NHL preseason game in the fall of 2024.

Baseball

 * Elliot Lake Fireside Heat
 * Elliot Lake Minor Fastball Association

Martial Arts

 * Korean Martial Arts Centre (KMAC)
 * Hapkido Kids Inc.

Softball

 * Elliot Lake Mixed Slow-pitch (Adult)
 * Elliot Lake Mixed Slow-pitch (Youth)
 * Elliot Lake Ladies Slow-Pitch (Adult)

Swimming

 * Elliot Lake Aquatic Club (ELAC)

Online media
ElliotLakeToday.com is an online local news source in Elliot Lake, offering the latest breaking news, weather updates, entertainment, sports and business features, obituaries and more.

Print media
The Elliot Lake Standard is the city's newspaper, owned by Postmedia.

The North Shore Bulletin is the city's bi-weekly advertising flyer, which also prints current news events.

Radio
Elliot Lake has one commercial radio station, which operates two transmitters due to signal deficiencies in parts of the city. All of its other radio services are rebroadcasters of stations from Sudbury.

Television
Elliot Lake was previously served by CBEC-TV, VHF channel 7, and CBLFT-TV-6, VHF channel 12, which rebroadcast the Toronto-based stations CBLT-DT (CBC Television) and CBLFT-DT (Ici Radio-Canada Télé), respectively. These rebroadcasters were shut down in 2012 due to budget cuts at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

People from Elliot Lake

 * Rick Brebant, hockey player
 * Kayt Burgess, writer
 * Catharine Dixon, writer
 * Christine Girard, weightlifter
 * Alex Henry, hockey player
 * Korey Jarvis, International wrestler
 * Suzanne A. Rogers, socialite
 * Jeremy Stevenson, hockey player
 * Zack Stortini, hockey player
 * Alan Thicke, late Canadian-American actor grew up in Elliot Lake

title: Elliot Lake


text:
Talk:Mary Kay Letourneau

I am not logged in so I cant edit it right
sorry 103.71.77.84 (talk) 02:51, 12 January 2024 (UTC)

First paragraph is all in bold
I think that's a format mistake but I'm not sure, so, I'm just mention it.

Kind regards! riveravaldez (talk) 08:35, 27 January 2024 (UTC)

 * It's fixed. Thanks. Jauerbackdude?/dude. 13:14, 27 January 2024 (UTC)

Last-ish Line—People Mag 2020
I realize this might be a controversial suggestion, so I figured I'd just flag it here. People Magazine is obviously ... not a great source, and while I'm ambivalent on whether that last comment is removed, I do think the current end of this article is a bit misleading. The People Mag source is from 2020. But, in a September 2020 interview with Dr. Oz, Fualaau seemed to defend his ex wife, saying, "That is my wife and she is my best friend and we had our kids together and we did get married and we had a whole life together." At the same time, Fualaau also said that, were he attracted to minors, he would "seek help." It seems like that commentary, which is directly attributable to Fualaau (rather than unnamed sources) and also more recent than the People Mag report should probably be featured in the article instead of or at least after the People Mag report.--96.94.213.161 (talk) 15:23, 8 February 2024 (UTC)

TMZ as a source?
TMZ even has her death certificate that says that she was cremated. WP:TMZ says that there is no consensus if it is unreliable or reliable, but articles also use it. TheGreatestLuvofAll (talk) 23:13, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Mary Kay Letourneau