So this is a good news/bad news story.
The bad news is that some ignorant moron(s) chose to smash the front window of the Canadian Café on Bridge Street, an Almonte institution since the 1960s.
The good news is that a GoFundMe campaign set up by Corey Logan and Ryan Kane has already brought in nearly $5,000. This is well more than the amount needed to repair the damage, as the organizers say in a recent update:
We had a local business, Brown and MacFarlane Glass Co Inc., reach out to help. They stopped by today to take a look and have generously offered to order in and install 2 new windows for Mary at a cost of $800 for material only, no mark up and no labour. I cannot express how incredible this town and surrounding community can be when unfortunate events occur. They are working out a lead time and will set up replacement with Mary!
All additional funds donated are being given directly to Mary to help her business at this time. We cannot thank everyone enough for their generosity. We are certain that this money will truly help her business and I know without a doubt Mary will pay it forward as she has all these years.
We will leave this fundraiser open until tomorrow April 13th for anyone else wanting to contribute to help Mary!
You can listen to an interview with Mary about the history of the restaurant on the Tale of a Town website, which was created in 2017 in collaboration with The National Arts Centre for Canada’s 150th anniversary.