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•T he I FP • H al to n H ill s •T hu rs da y, J ul y 4, 2 01 3 20 Call Sandpiper Today for your FREE in-home assessment 888-668-8117 sandpiperhomecomfort.ca A DIVISION OF OAKVILLE HYDRO ENERGY SERVICES INC. You're lookingHOT! Get CoolforFREE!Get CoolforFREE! Stay cool and comfortable all summer longwith anAIR CONDITIONER from Sandpiper andmake no payments until September 2013! � Absolutely NO up-front costs! � FREE installation and repairs � AFFORDABLE low monthly rates � LOCAL Priority Service 24/7 � ENERGY EFFICIENT brands and models BUSINESS Don't miss Raspberry Festival, Downtown Georgetown Saturday, July 13, 8 am to 12:30 pm Scotch Block Winery came home from the All Canadian Winery Cham- pionships in Windsor recently with six medals. The winery, owned by Andrews Sce- nic Acres, received a double gold med- al for its soft fruit, off dry Black Rasp- berry Sensation wine, gold medals for its Black Raspberry Noir and Noir Raspberry wines and silver medals for its Halton White, Cassis Black Current and Noir Raspberry Truffle wines. All but the Halton White (2011) were bottled in 2012. Andrews said he couldn't be more proud of the winery's products, which competed against about 1,300 wines from across the country from 220 win- eries. He credits his winemakers Paul de Lestard and Terry Rayner for taking the grapes and berries to a "competi- tive Canadian level." "It's very rewarding," he said, about placing in the championships. "I feel humbled and honoured at the same time." Andrews added that being rec- ognized for the hard work and long hours he and his employees put into the farm and winery is extremely grat- ifying. Scotch Block Winery, he said, is a natural extension of his farming busi- ness, which he has been running since 1980. In 1999, the family decided to venture into making fruit wines be- cause of the variety of berries that were produced on the farm, which in- cluded strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. De Lestard and Rayner have been helping out with the business over the last five years, watching over the whole winemaking process. The Win- ery makes a variety of fruit wines, a baco noir red wine and a vidal-based white wine. Andrews boasts that although the 2011 Halton White won a silver medal at the recent wine competition, he be- lieves the 2012 vidal-based white wine may be even tastier. He encourages residents to drop by and try wines that include a berry-based wine made in four different styles. A new strawberry batch was recently made. Grape success for local winery Scotch Block wins six medals at All Canadian Winery Championships Scotch Block Winery recently won a number of awards at the All Ca- nadian Wine Championships held in Windsor.They were awarded a Double Gold medal for their Black Raspberry Sensation wine, a Gold medal for their Black Raspberry Noir and a Silver medal for their Halton White 2011(Vidal based). Here, winery owner Bert Andrews holds one of the bottles and a glass of the Double Gold winning Black Raspberry Sensation wine. Photo by Graham Paine Metroland Media Group Halton Hills Hydro has partnered with several hydro utilities from other communities to form a cooperative. The GridSmartCity Cooperative (GSC) is to help bring greater efficiencies and broader scope to the purchasing powers of utilities through co- operative initiatives. The GSC enables its 10 mem- ber local distribution compa- nies-- Burlington Hydro Inc., Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro Inc., Guelph Hydro Elec- tric Systems Inc., Halton Hills Hydro Inc., Kingston Hydro Corp., Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro Inc., Milton Hydro Distribution Inc., Niagara Peninsula Energy Inc., Oakville Hydro Electricity Distribution Inc. and Water- loo North Hydro Inc.-- to work together with a common focus and achieve scale efficiencies while maintaining individual autonomy. Art Skidmore, President and CEO of Halton Hills Hydro, has been named as Steering Com- mittee Chair to oversee the GSC, while Jerry Van Ooteghem, President and CEO, Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro Inc., is Vice Chair. Recently appointed Gen- eral Manager, Neil Sandford, will have the respon- sibility of managing and administering the Coop- erative's operations. "We all recognize the great potential that exists when it comes to the power of collective purchas- ing," said Skidmore. "We've taken the important step of formalizing an approach that will offer a full spectrum of cooperative ventures to improve efficiencies within our businesses." "This co-operative provides the opportunity for Halton Hills to increase efficiency, customer ser- vice and reliability," said Skidmore. The GSC Utility Partners Cooperative aligns with the provincial government's desire for Ontario's local distribution companies to find ways to achieve great- er efficiencies of scale and scope in their operations. Local Hydro CEO to lead co-operative Art SkiDmore