As the tour of downtown food stops continues, we are hopping into one of the most widely debated foods - so much so that I may have to put together a city-wide pizza tour and channel my inner Charles Boyle. I'm not even mad about it.

Pizza is just one of those foods that everyone has a strong feeling about - whether it's who invented it or what the best crust style is or getting passionate about toppings. Just ask a room full of people how they feel about pineapple on their pizza - you'll see what I mean!
And while you won't need it to read this review, you might need to stop at home for your pizza bib before diving into the pies at Old School Pizza.

Old School Pizza is the youngest child of Paul & Krista Minnich and is truly a family business with their older children helping out around the restaurant. They have been making wood-fired pizzas for years and love the added layer it adds to such a universally-loved food. It shows. My impression before knowing their story was that this was a family-run business. They have built family into their foundation and carry it through operations.

While it may seem like this spot popped up out of nowhere in December of 2020, it's evident that a lot of time and thought went into bringing St. Thomas such a unique menu and all the incredible "old-school" details throughout the space.

​Humans' taste for food, sampling the available produce, goes back to the dawn of time. A combination of survival and curiosity made way for culturally, and geographically unique ways to increase the enjoyment of consuming food and culture shifted from mere survival into ecstasy.

The addition of wine into our diets has had a similarly long and nuanced journey to its current state; advancing from ceremonial uses in Ancient Armenia in 4100BC to miraculous wedding feasts and medical applications to an industry with a projected worldwide value of 429 billion USD by 2023.
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with Sarah from the  Elgin/St. Thomas Small Business Enterprise Centre 
On Instagram @SBECinnovation #TasteofStThomas
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Food is such a central part of our community experience. Thriving cities are ones that have emerging and dynamic food scenes. And while there is still room for more options in St. Thomas - the food culture has been expanding for years.

Restaurants are central to the idea of the local experience - one of the best ways to immerse yourself into the culture of a place. Restaurants are the inside scoop on the business, social, intellectual, and artistic life of a thriving society. Business ideas sketched on napkins, first dates, lively debates, and sublime opportunity to discover new flavours immersed in authentic environments.
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with Sarah from the  Elgin/St. Thomas Small Business Enterprise Centre 
On Instagram @SBECinnovation #TasteofStThomas
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I love small business, but I may love food-based enterprises most of all. Food has always been at the centre of everything for me. Whether it was afternoons in the kitchen with my mom, days spent entertaining at home, or menu selection for special events throughout my career: food has been woven into my life as I am sure it has been in yours. And in a time when we can't necessarily sit down together to share a meal, I am excited to have the opportunity to share a meal with you in this way - through words; another thing I love.

It's summer 2020, and we know a lot of you have been either working from home or have isolated yourself for some time. Either way, we've all been spending much more time around the house! Maybe you've been getting to some projects that sat on the back-burner, or maybe you've noticed some areas that need a little TLC.
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We reached out to our friends at GCW Custom Kitchens & Cabinetry to see what their expert suggestions would be for those who are looking to update their kitchens! Check out their top 4 tips below for some smart kitchen design ideas.

Hi, Caleb here! You may see me on Saturdays at Railway City Tourism, or at special events. I've seen a few Arts Crawls come and go, and every year look forward to seeing what the artists are up to. This year, I wanted to recommend my top three picks. All art is subjective and definitely a matter of personal taste and preference. I hope you like my selections! Let us know your top 3 artists in the comments if you like.

​At the Railway City Tourism Office, we often give out a lot of information to visitors about Kettle Creek Conservation Area, and more specifically, the Dalewood Reservoir Hiking Trail, located just outside the city of St. Thomas. Being located so close to the city, Dalewood Conservation Area suggests that hiking the trail is easily incorporated into a day trip, or a weekly exercise routine, so we decided to test that theory out ourselves!

​My name is Chloe, and I will be your virtual tour guide today, taking you along the 10km Dalewood Reservoir hiking trail from the comfort of your own home!

​There are many access points along the Dalewood Reservoir Trail for you to choose from, making the length of your hike variable, but we decided to begin at the very start in order to get the full experience and check out the new bridge that was just finished! This new bridge brings a number of benefits including a sidewalk for safer pedestrian and cyclist access. After admiring the new bridge, we entered the trail and began our journey!

​There are numerous walking bridges throughout the trail that provide some ease to your hike as you continue along the Dalewood Reservoir. The trail is also very easy to navigate, as there are trail markers and the walking bridges are numbered to keep you going in the right direction.​

Once we hit the old bridge near Dalewood Road, it was definitely time for a snack break! This is a great rest stop as it provides some shade and great views. At this point, you’re over half way around the Dalewood Reservoir.

​Nearing the end of the trail, we were refreshed and ready to conquer some kayaking! Canoes and kayaks are available to rent hourly, or for a half or full day at the gatehouse in the campground. Using this watercraft is a great way to experience the reservoir you just admired from afar. We suggest bringing a camera (at your own risk) to capture this memorable experience, lots of water to keep yourself hydrated, and a kayaking partner who will do most of the paddling for you!

When kayaking the reservoir, it was very enjoyable and relaxing. Everything was so still and the nature surrounding the reservoir was so peaceful. It is a great way to clear your mind and become one with nature.

​We saw a lot of wildlife, including various species of birds, beavers, and fish jumping out of the water. Be sure to not only keep your eyes on the water, but also up in the trees because as we continued we spotted a beautiful bald eagle perched high up in a pine tree! We admired its beauty for about 5 minutes until it showed off it’s impressive wingspan and continued across the reservoir. For the bird enthusiasts out there, be sure to bring binoculars to get a better look at some of the cool species that call the Dalewood Reservoir home!

​Overall, I was impressed with this hike, and I got to experience firsthand everything the Dalewood Reservoir Trail has to offer. After today, I feel extremely accomplished and I will definitely incorporate this hiking trail into a weekly exercise routine, so I can take advantage of the nature that is so close to home!

​The route of what was the London and Port Stanley Railway is one of the oldest in the province. The northerly portion, now owned by CN, from St. Thomas to London has been in almost constant use since 1856. The southerly portion, from St. Thomas to Port Stanley, was put back into service by the Port Stanley Terminal Rail in 1988.
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The origins of the line lie in the extensive use of lake transportation for freight in the pre-rail era and the need to bring the freight up to London. In the 20th century it gained a new lease on life as the flagship for Ontario Hydro’s planned province-wide electric rail system.  Today, its two functions, as a freight hauler and as a tourist line, reflect the uses to which it was put from earliest times.

A large part of London’s growth came about as the result of being near a lake port. The lakes, as late as the 1850s, were still a key means of shipping goods. London was connected to Port Stanley by a plank road, one of the best in the province by the 1840s as the local MPP was chairman of the colony’s Board of Public Works.  But, like all roads at the time, it was a slow, cumbersome means of shipping with the potential for damage to man, beast and cargo.

The railways were an attractive alternative to ships and roads bringing about a boom in rail line construction at the beginning of the 1850s. The province’s largest railway, the Great Western (GWR), passed through London in 1853 linking it with Hamilton and Windsor. Its key function was the transfer of US goods from the mid west to the Atlantic seaports. With a link to the continental rail system in place London businessmen looked for an alternative way to bring goods to the city partially to provide competition to the GWR and keep freight rates low.

Their link to the lake was chartered as the London and Port Stanley Railway in 1853 and after nearly three years of construction the line opened for traffic on October 16, 1856. A majority of the stock was held by the City of London, the Counties of Elgin and Middlesex, and a lesser amount by St. Thomas then a small village of about 2000 persons.
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The man now at the controls was Adam Beck. Since denying the Walker Family an extension of the L&PS lease in 1903 he had become MPP for London and had also been chairman of Ontario Hydro since its founding in 1906. Beck had been waiting out the lease planning to rebuild the line into a model of what a radial railway should look like. The radials would link cities and towns across the province with efficient, quiet, inexpensive electric passenger trains. Beck’s gruff, acerbic personality didn’t do much to advance his cause and the railways were not inclined to give up the passenger traffic in populous southern Ontario. What finally did the ambitious project in however was the change in government in 1919 which saw the United Farmers of Ontario take over. The party actually asked Beck to be premier but he declined. The conservative minded E. C. Drury became premier and wouldn’t support the project.  While Beck’s province-wide plan was never built, electrification of the L&PS proceeded as soon as the lease expired.

Between January 1, 1914 and July 22, 1915 when it reopened the line was completely transformed. A commission was established to oversee the rebuilding and operation of the line. Beck, knighted in 1914, forecast a total of 450,000 riders following electrification. Stations were either rebuilt or replaced. The St. Thomas station was replaced with a new one opening April 23, 1920. The most extensive redevelopment occurred in Port Stanley where the railway built a huge bathhouse where one could even rent a bathing suit. The baseball fields between the tracks and the hill were improved, walks and lights were provided on picnic hill.
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The ridership increased even beyond Beck’s estimate with over a million rider-trips a year by 1921. Much of the traffic was from cottagers and from large picnics organized by schools, clubs and businesses. Among the largest were the Irish Benevolent Society’s and the Commercial Travellers’. Both would see 10,000 to 12,000 people flood the picnic areas on the bluffs and the flats near the incline. Races, baby contests and band concerts entertained the picnickers. In 1926 the L&PS built a huge dance pavilion right on the lake front. Later known as the Stork Club, the dance floor could accommodate 5,000 dancers. Dozens of well-known bands and orchestras played the Stork Club into the 1960s.
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