Two fundraisers join forces at Junction Station
Andrea Macko Two popular events are joining forces — and locations — this year on Sunday, Sept. 14.
The annual Terry Fox walk, which in past years has taken place along the Riverview Walkway, is moving north to the Grand Trunk Trail  — to coincide with the “Function at the Junction,” a fundraiser for the restoration of the Grand Trunk Junction train station, located on Glass Street at the head of the Grand Trunk Trail.
Terry Fox organizer Arlene Callender decided “it would be nice to have a change” in the route, and that the Junction Station event was “a nice fit” for the walk. She’s also hoping that the new location attracts new participants, considering how close the walk is to new housing in the area.
Its starting point will be Junction Station, with participants turning around at the Salinas Street exit, to complete a five-kilometre loop.
While sign-up sheets are available at Van Galen Photo (or online at www.terryfoxrun.org), Callender says that one of the good things about the event is that “people can just come to the course, donate, and walk it.” The walk takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and there is no set start time; participants can do the course whenever they want to between those hours. Refreshments will be available.
The Junction Station is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year; Gord Strathdee of Heritage St. Marys, which is organizing the event, calls the overlap between the two events “a good thing,” because the Sarnia Bridge, which will be used by the Terry Fox participants, is also celebrating its 150th anniversary.
The station will be open from noon to 4 p.m. with historical and railway displays, music from the Half Tones, a silent auction, door prizes and a barbecue.
Strathdee says that the goal of the event, other than to spread knowledge of the town’s railway history, is to raise money “for future restoration” of the property — which will likely be easier now that the town is expecting to own the land the station sits on.
While the town did acquire the surrounding lands from CN approximately 14 years ago, according to outgoing CAO Bruce Grant, it did not acquire the land the station sits on, and within the fenced-in area of the station.
Grant told the Journal Argus that the town is “expecting to have everything tidied up for the 14th, and we’re hoping to do an official transfer at the event.” He says that the acquisition process began in 2004, and that the deed is being prepared this week.
The station has sat empty for 60 years, and while some basic structural maintenance has been done to secure it, it doesn’t have full electrical, water or sewage service.
Strathdee notes that “the station isn’t as remote as it used to be,” as new housing is being built in the area, and, he hopes, this will make servicing the building easier — once the town determines what it wants to do with it.
He explains that any funds that have been raised remain in the bank, and that “the major consideration in the process is ‘what is its future going to be” — adding that its end use, whether it be a restaurant, a museum or art gallery (or anything else) will determine how it is restored.