May 15, 2020

May 15th is the 136th day of the year. There are 230 days remaining until the end of the year.

The Government of Ontario will start Stage 1 of reopening with some services this weekend and more businesses allowed to reopen next week.

Premier Doug Ford announced that some businesses will reopen starting at 12:01am Saturday. These businesses include campgrounds, private parks, marinas, boat clubs, golf courses, and some animal-related businesses such as kennels and stables. People with recreational vehicles and trailers that have paid for full-season contracts will be allowed access.

Strict physical distancing measures will have to be in place.

The premier also announced that on Tuesday morning, the Stage One portion of the reopening will take place. This will include retail stores with street entrances for walk-in traffic, outdoor sports fields, tennis courts, off-leash dog parks, pet grooming, household services, and medical service businesses. The limits on construction projects will also be lifted on Tuesday.

The province’s full list of businesses allowed to reopen under Stage 1 can be found on the province’s website.

Rondeau Provincial Park and Wheatley Provincial Park will reopen today for day visitors.

All Ontario Parks will now be open for walking, biking, and hiking. There will be no access to camping, playgrounds, beaches and washroom facilities.

Day visitors will be able to access all parks and conservation reserves for free until the end of the month.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that some National Parks will partially reopen on June 1st to allow people to use trails and green spaces where physical distancing is possible. Announcements about specific parks will be made in the coming weeks.

The largest food drive ever in Chatham-Kent will go down tomorrow.

The May 16th Miracle will take place Saturday at noon. It’s simple, leave a non perishable food item on your porch and volunteers will come by to pick up.

Any questions, go to May16Miracle.com.

NASCAR returns to the racetrack this weekend.

Because of the outbreak, NASCAR has not been on the track since March 8th.

They’ll hit the track at Darlington Raceway on Sunday afternoon without fans in the stands and with strict guidelines in place.

The green flag flies at 3:30 on Fox.

It’s Victoria Day Weekend.

It’s a holiday that’s only celebrated in Canada and it’s often referred to as the unofficial kick off to Summer.

The holiday has been observed in Canada since at least 1845, originally falling on Victoria’s actual birthday, May 24, 1819.

The holiday always falls on the Monday between the 18th to the 24th. It’ll actually fall on the 24th in 2021.

Victoria Day is a federal statutory holiday, and a holiday in six of Canada’s ten provinces and all three of its territories.

Categorised in: 5 Things You Need To Know

This post was written by Chris McLeod