Thanksgiving weekend was the perfect opportunity to ride the rails in Port Stanley for the first time or to get re-acquainted with the PSTR.

Fall colours highlight a trip this time of year as the train chugs by woodsy views at a relaxing pace, following the Kettle Creek Valley. The conductor provides snippets of information on the PSTR history, cars in the organization's collection, bridges and vegetation.

Below, see scenes and some of the people who enjoyed a ride on Sunday October 8th.

Scenes from the train, including Engineer Tim Flynn and  son Seamus (slide 3); Frank, Despina and son Christian (slide 4); Conductor Dave Whyte (slide 7); Valerie and daughter Madeleine (slide 10).

Photos by Mark Girdauskas

With ten acres of corn, five kilometres of twists and turns, and lots more for families to do after they get lost in the corn, the fun at the Belmont Corn Maze gets better each season.

Now in its 12th year of operation, the maze was taken over three years ago by the Lunn family. This year they held a contest to come up with the design. It was won by local music group, The vogelJoys and incorporates their bird logo, trumpet and musical notes.

Kids can play in a corn box full of sand toys, climb the straw bales, paint a pumpkin, get creative in the Little Barn Theatre or climb Bill’s Tractor. There’s also a concession booth and picnic tables on-site.

The Belmont Corn Maze began just west of Belmont when the Farquhar family started the tradition. The third farming generation of the Lunn family took it over and have grown the attraction at a new location as a way for visitors to enjoy wide open spaces and learn a bit about farm-life.

Some weekends feature special events and exhibits by groups like 4-H or Elgin County Junior Farmers.   

For three weekends in October, the maze becomes haunted.  Then on Saturday November 5th at The Great Pumpkin Smash, the Belmont Corn Maze will provide the contest, games and tools to destroy your pumpkins or jack-o-lanterns.

Sunday July 17, the FCSSC (Forest City Sport and Social Club)  RugRat BackPack Beach Volleyball Tournament took place in Port Stanley. The group is proud to support the United Way's GenNext.  The tournament helped raise awareness, funds and effort to beat poverty and promote education for children in London and area. The goal is to help children start the new school year right, with a new backpack and essential school supplies. One in four children in London begins the school year unprepared to learn. They say that children are our future, and with out the proper start they already have a strike against them.

GenNext is United Way of London & Middlesex's initiative to engage the 20-30 year-old demographic to become actively involved in shaping their community.

As I walked the beach towards the courts it was a beautiful summer day, families enjoyed soaking up the sun, and playing in the water. The courts where all groomed and ready for battle lol. People playing were all having a fun time and enjoying the day, the teams were all great sports and enjoying the game. You could tell the experienced players-they kept their socks on - the hot sand was little distracting for some. (Left are Kyla Woodcock and Sarah Carmichael from the Forest City Sport & Social Club.)

As the matches played on, so did the live music from GT's. The duo called Toast and Jam played covers and kept the crowd jumping.

One of the sponsors was FM 96 -  Jaynel is the radio station's Director of Summer and was there cheering on the teams and helping out. Between the smiles and diving for the volleyball, good times were had by all.