Top 5 Feature Profile stories in Ajax, Whitby, Pickering, Oshawa and Clarington in 2021

There were plenty of interesting personalities and even an epic battle to write about this year as both an exercise in good writing and a reason to read about something that wasn’t COVID-related.

Here are the top 5 profile stories in indurham this year:

Mark Holland – from Government Whip to House Leader

Known as a member of the Rat Pack and a King-Maker while in opposition, Ajax MP Mark Holland has experienced the highs and lows of being a Member of Parliament since he was first elected in 2004. The ‘low’ came in 2011 when he was surprisingly defeated by Conservative Chris Alexander, the highs came four years later when he won the re-match by 12,000 votes and then this year when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered him the Government House Leader Post.

Still just 47, the future looks bright for Holland. Trudeau won’t be PM forever, right?

The Ajax Spider-Man

Wayne Young may not look like a superhero, but this friendly neighbourhood dude who dresses up like Spidey and runs for charity – a marathon a day for Terry Fox! – is exactly that.

We need more superheroes like Wayne Young.

End of an era as Buster Rhino’s closes

Darryl Koster is a larger-than-life icon in Whitby and Oshawa, having made his mark with a long-running craft beer and whiskey bar and barbecue joint in downtown Oshawa, as well as a production facility in Whitby that pivoted to making pork rinds, rubs and sauces during the pandemic.

Koster shut down the bar in 2018 and has now closed the Whitby facility after 16 years on Wentworth Street.

Bigger and better things to come Darryl.

Whitby paddleboarder attempts lake crossing

Mike Shoreman, a former professional paddleboarder and instructor who was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that caused hearing, speech and balance problems, was trying to become the first paddleboarder with a disability to cross Lake Ontario.

In the end weather got in the way of the completion of his journey, but he raised more than $50,000 for mental health and became an inspiration for many people.

Battle of River Plate

It was a profile of a Second World War battle, sure, but the ramifications of this naval battle fought in the first months of the war all the way down in South America were felt both militarily, and more importantly, right here in Ajax as the town would take its name from the victor, HMS Ajax.

Many of the streets in Ajax, which was not much of anything until a munitions plant was established here in 1941, are named after the sailors from that ship, as well as the other two Allied ships involved, HMS Achilles and HMS Exeter.