When the Port Robinson bridge came crashing down in August, 1974, if left a lasting devastating and divisive east/west impact on the small canalside village.
What began as a way of bridging the gap between Port Robinson east and west has emerged into a formidable rural force.
Eight years ago, Port Robinson resident Nancy Waters met Debbie Barnes while attending Zumba classes at the Port Robinson Community Centre. The two decided to team up to build a symbolic bridge, which evolved into a group called Port Robinson Proud.
“Up to that point, volunteers had been handing out flyers about events in the community, and we thought, ‘We need a way to unify the community’,” Waters told Thorold News.
She began writing The Bridge newsletter while “Deb scrounged money from citizens to print and distribute it” to local residents.
The pair came up with the name Port Robinson Proud, and the tag line: “10 Minutes from everywhere in the middle of nowhere.”
When Waters, who worked with the federal government “found out we weren’t going to get a polling station,” the group fought for one, she said, “and we were off and running.”
Assisted by graphic artist Cathy Felice, The Bridge was soon being printed by NTEC, free of charge.
“Deb, Judy Sauriol and I delivered it, with the help of Dave and Sandra Wright on the west side.”
“What we have managed to do without money is unreal,” added Waters, through partnerships with agencies and businesses, including the City of Thorold, Bridge 12 Pub, Fire Station 3, Club Castropignano, J.C. Auto, the Niagara Region and the NPCA.
“We asked all the businesses that advertise for free with us to give us a $20 gift card at Christmas and we judge both sides of town during the Holiday Lights Contest,” which rewards homeowners with the best holiday displays.
“With the Ontario Paper Company Foundation grant, we were able to put up the gazebo” in Port Robinson Park, “and with a lot of community members, we stopped that incinerator,” she said. “That was huge.”
Summoning local citizens, as well as alerting local wineries that “the ash was going to blow by the winds onto their crops” from a proposed incinerator in Port Robinson, the residents also “brought in a speaker from Durham, which was fighting an incinerator,” to the Port Robinson Community Centre, said Waters.
“We had 250 people here,” including tender fruit growers and tourism agencies from Niagara Falls. “We forced council to take notice. We asked everyone to show up at council wearing red shirts and overcrowded chambers for three council meetings, and three weeks later, they outlawed the incinerator. It was a ton of work to stop that.”
“Our goal was never to be political. We wanted to highlight the history and the natural beauty” of the area, she said. “We tell people to watch the sunset. It’s so pretty here.”
When she and Barnes began Port Robinson Proud, “Building a bridge was our first goal,” she said. “We wrote out a list and we have hit everything, but we didn’t have anything in place for the (actual) bridge.In 1976, we got our first version of the ferry,” which transports riders across the canal from spring to fall, and now brings a bevy of cyclists, hikers and tourists into the village.
Eventually, she joined forces with Dave Wright, who had “started his own page” to inform residents on the west side.
“Port Robinson is something no one pays attention to, especially on our side,” he said, “and when Empire Development came in, it was kind of under the radar, with no prior notice. It kind of invaded our area and we tried to make council be more transparent with what they were doing. We opened some eyes.”
With Port Robinson reaching “as far as the Welland fairgrounds, we are huge, geographically,” said Wright. “We are a growing community and have fulfilled the goal of unifying the community.”
One example is when Port Robinson east and west co-hosted a candidates’ night at Club Castropignano with NCBOTAC during the 2019 fall election.
According to Waters, “We have a voice now. Dave is a pillar and a volunteer. He is out there working hard for the community. We have been going out there (to new residents) and actively letting them know about the splash pad and the park, and that there’s a church here now” at the community centre, courtesy of Pastor Clint Sears.
Originally from St. Catharines, Waters and her husband moved to Port Robinson eight years ago after a traumatic incident occurred in their Thorold neighbourhood, where they spent 16 years.
“It was the best thing we did, moving here. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather live. This community stands together and we support each other.”
On the Port Robinson Proud Facebook page, “It’s not unusual to have 29,000 visitors,” she said. “The community supports us a million per cent. During the recent windstorm, people were posting like crazy. The next day, everybody was out picking up branches. When people get sick, everyone rallies around them. People are just really quick to help.”
While still plagued by the “noise, soot, vibration and blocking the streets by the CN trains” Waters wrote in The Bridge, “We hope to be part of the conversation with the City and with members of the federal government in this coming year to seek solutions. If and when these conversations take place,” they will keep the community updated through Facebook.
From forming a gigantic human flag on Canada Day in 2017 to helping each other search for lost pets, Port Robinson Proud feels it's succeeded in unifying the community; in addition to helping host and sponsor the Family Day pasta dinner, community garage sale, ladies’ tea party, Easter egg hunt, Christmas party, and many other events at the community centre, which has undergone extensive renovations in recent years.
“We’ve got lots of talent here,” said Waters. “People come and say they feel that sense of community. It will always be the bridge.”
In a word, you could say they’re proud.
