‘We’re here because you don’t have a voice anymore’ Rood says
Rita and Bert Veens, Debbie and Pete Geerts with Jeremy Veens and Curtis Geerts
Birnam Orchard honoured for innovation
March 6, 2025
An Arkona family is being honoured with the Sollio Next Generation Award.
Cousins Jeremy Veens and Chris Geerts took over Birnam Orchards from their fathers who started the business in 1985. The orchard has 200 acres of apples and grows peaches, sweet corn, pumpkins, gourds, and squash.
Guided by their fathers’ experience, Veens and Geerts “embraced innovation” including high-density planting and sustainable irrigation.
“The Sollio Next Generation Award plays an important role not only in recognizing entrepreneurs who have successfully navigated a farm transition or launched a new agricultural enterprise, but also in showcasing innovative farming practices across Canada,” said Casper Kaastra, Chief Executive Officer of Sollio Agriculture in a news release
Sollio officials added Veens an Geert’s ability to integrate modern techniques while preserving family expertise makes Birnam Orchards a model of succession planning in Canadian agriculture.
Front Page
‘We’re here because you don’t have a voice anymore’ Rood says
May 20, 2026
EDITORS’ NOTE: This article was editted May 20 to correct the name of the Conservative Co-Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman. Blake Ellis/Local Journalism Initiative Lianne Rood says sitting Conservative MPs will give a voice to Sarnia-Lambton Conservatives abandoned by their MP. Hundreds of people from Sarnia and Lambton County and the surrounding region packed into the exhibition hall at the Plympton-Wyoming
Read More
Front Page
ROADS TO RECOVERY: Three years sober with hard work and grit
May 19, 2026
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sarnia-Lambton is struggling with an unprecedented addiction crisis, generating plenty of news about overdoses and homelessness. But sometimes there is recovery. And it’s anticipated that new government investment in local services and facilities will bring additional relief. The award-winning team of journalist Cathy Dobson and photographer Glenn Ogilvie set out this past winter to find individuals who have
Read More
Front Page
Man beaten in Grand Bend over holiday weekend
May 19, 2026
The Independent Lambton OPP are looking for clues after an aggravated assault in Grand Bend. OPP were called to Main Street around 2:30 am May 17 and found a man who had been assaulted. He was taken to South Huron Hospital in Exeter and treated for non-life-threatening injures. The Crime Unit is investigating and is looking for any closed-circuit TV
Read More
Front Page
One person missing in Lake Huron at Pinery Park
May 19, 2026
The Independent A search is underway on Lake Huron near Pinery Park for a person who fell off a raft Monday afternoon. Police were called to the provincial park around 3 pm Monday with callers saying five people on a raft were in distress. Police say two people were able to swim safely to shore, two others returned to the
Read More