Latest news with #NewHamburg
CTV News
03-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Wilmot Township approves 20-year tax exemption for new affordable housing
Wilmot Township Council has approved a new policy that will exempt property taxes on newly built affordable housing units, in what officials are calling a significant step toward addressing housing affordability in the community. The policy offers a 20-year property tax exemption for affordable housing developments led by non-profit and cooperative housing providers. Mayor Natasha Salonen said the initiative is about enabling local solutions to a growing crisis. 'We know that real solutions require collaboration,' she said in a statement. 'This exemption creates the conditions for our non-profit partners—and potentially for-profit builders—to deliver housing that meets the needs of some residents, right here in New Hamburg, Baden, New Dundee, and beyond.' The new exemption policy is part of Wilmot's 2024–2027 Strategic Plan. It also builds on previous council actions, including the 2024 decision to waive regional development charges for Nith View Homes' new 160-bed long-term care facility. 'This is about taking meaningful, concrete steps to tackle the housing crisis in our community,' Salonen said. 'This policy is one way we can say: we see the need, and we're acting on it.' Council says it will continue exploring additional tools to address the housing crisis.
CTV News
26-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘Holy grail': Tobacco tin tracing roots back to Kingsville fetches $55K at auction
A tobacco tin from the defunct Erie Tobacco Company out of Kingsville sold for $55,000 at an auction in New Hamburg, Ont., on May 25, 2025. (Source: Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd.) A glimpse into Windsor-Essex's past in the tobacco industry fetched $55,000 at auction over the weekend. A 3 Strikes cut plug pocket tobacco tin from the defunct Erie Tobacco Company sold at an auction in New Hamburg, Ont., on Sunday. Ben Lennox, the head of sales at Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd., told CTV News the sale exceeded estimates indicating the tin would sell for about $12,000. 'There was a number of bidders active on the tin, but what took it to the end and really to the stratosphere was two folks that really wanted this,' Lennox said. The tin was found by a Kingsville couple who discovered the piece of history in their walls during renovations. 'The reality of it is people don't necessarily know what they have in their homes, and there's treasures everywhere,' Lennox said. The lithographed tin would have been used to store tobacco or cigarettes and features an image of a baseball player and ET Co. on the jersey. Erie Tobacco Company operated a factory in Kingsville. 'The reality of it is the gold that is on these tins oftentimes would have oxidized to the point where it almost rusts, and in this case, there was very little, if no rust. The gold was mainly there,' Lennox explained. 'The image was striking, that on top of the fact that it has crossover collectible appeal into the baseball world just made it a holy grail.' According to Lennox, this marked a record amount for the sale of a tin in Canada. He noted the treasure will stay in the country after being purchased by a Canadian.
CTV News
26-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Tobacco tin makes Canadian history at New Hamburg, Ont. auction
Ben Lennox held the 3 Strikes Cut Plug tobacco tin at Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd. in New Hamburg, Ont. on May 26, 2025. (Colton Wiens/CTV News) A tobacco tin in Ontario can now be considered a piece of Canadian history. The tin is being packed up in New Hamburg, Ont. before it hits the road to its new home. The small piece fetched an eye-popping price at auction, making it the highest selling tin in Canadian history. 'This is a record in Canada: $55,000. With buyer's premium, $64,900. There are some tins in Canada that have certainly hit five figures, but this is an exceptional result,' Ben Lennox, Head of Sales at Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd. said. What some may think of as just an old tin from the early 1900's, is worth more than a brand-new vehicle to the right collector. 'This is a piece that you look for many, many years to find. And I don't know if we'll ever find an example quite like this,' Lennox said. 3 Strikes Cut Plug Pocket Tobacco Tin record setting auction The rare 3 Strike Cut Plug tobacco tin stood in front of other tins in this undated image. (Courtesy: Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd.) It's known as the 3 Strikes Cut Plug Pocket tobacco tin. It stands vertically, has a flip lid, and features a baseball player with the Erie Tobacco Company Factory logo on his jersey. It's considered one of the last known examples of this type. 'It's the best-known example found of this tin rarity. We talked to somebody who's been in the advertising collectible business for 50 years, and this is only the seventh one he knows of. Then that crossover appeal to the baseball community. Baseball and tobacco go hand in hand all the way back to the early 1900's,' Lennox said. The tin sold during an auction on Sunday, but almost never made it to the block. According to Lennox, it was discovered by the sellers while they were doing renovations and didn't know what to do with it. 'At one point, the people were considering taking it to Value Village. It was just a tchotchke that they had in their house on display,' Lennox said. 'The daughter-in-law did some due diligence and tracked down an old auction record and recognized that there was some considerable value.' In the end, it sold for much more than the predicted sale price of between $10,000 and $12,000. The buyer is tin can collector Glen Paruk, who is a lawyer in Vancouver. Lennox said there is an American counterpart, the Ty Cobb Tobacco Tin, that has sold for similar prices. But he's happy to say this piece of Canadian history is staying in the country.
CBC
26-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Sold! Rare turn-of-the-century tobacco tin sells for $55K at New Hamburg auction
A rare, nearly 125-year-old red and yellow pocket tin sold for an astounding $55,000 at a New Hamburg auction on Sunday. When Ethan Miller, CEO of Miller & Miller Auctions, and his brother Justin came across the near mint condition 3 Strikes chewing tobacco tin, they knew they had just acquired a scarce piece of Canadian memorabilia. Miller explained pocket tins in general are hard to come by, but a pocket tin in the highest grade condition "is huge." "When Justin and I saw the image of this tin for the first time, we knew it was rare. There's been very little auction history on the sale of 3 Strikes tins," said Miller. So little history, in fact, that this is only the seventh known example of this specific brand of tin to surface since it was produced in the early 1900s. The small tin, made by the Erie Tobacco Company, is considered a "cross collectible" thanks to it being sports-themed. "One of the coolest things ... is the fact that it's baseball themed." said Miller "It has a ... turn-of-the-century, circa 1900, baseball player image on the front of the tin." Something that drew in sports collectors and tobacco tin collectors alike. "You can well imagine some of the bidding rivalry that we've seen." A pre-auction bid had already fetched the tiny tin a cool $29,000 a few days before it was set to go up. "When you get something rare in a desirable category and in very, very good condition you just never know how much it will command," said Ed Locke, a dealer of nostalgia for over 50 years. The tin was discovered during a home renovation in Kingsville, Ont., around 200 metres from the original Erie Tobacco factory. "I believe it was found in a wall cavity and a contractor that was working at the time passed it over to ... the family ... and said you might want this as a memento or a souvenir." said Miller. "Nobody knew the value." Originally estimated at $9,000 to $12,000, the family was "gobsmacked" and had no idea the tin would sell for that much.
Globe and Mail
25-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Rare Canadian tobacco tin goes for $55,000 at Ontario auction
Going once, going twice, 3 Strikes you're out. An early-1900s tobacco tin sold at an auction Sunday in New Hamburg, Ont., for $55,000, five times its presale estimate. The lithographed flip-lid container of the 3 Strikes brand of plug tobacco was discovered during the renovation of a turn-of the-century Ontario house. The winning bidder was Vancouver tin-can collector Glen Paruk, a 75-year-old practising lawyer. 'Can't go shopping like this without keeping practising,' he told The Globe and Mail. Mr. Paruk's wife found out what her husband had spent soon after the hammer went down on the tobacco tin, one of only seven known to exist. 'I can tell you that she gave me a very thorough frown,' Mr. Paruk confirmed. The tin, which sports an old-timey baseball player on its cover, was sold by Miller and Miller Auctions Ltd. The consignors, John and Tina Staples of Kingsville, Ont., had discovered it while renovating their bathroom more than 15 years ago. Not knowing its value, they used the vintage container as a kitschy knick-knack in their home. When advance online bidding reached $29,000, Mr. Staples told The Globe he was 'flabbergasted.' After the tin sold for $55,000, the retired HVAC designer said he was 'still flabbergasted.' Mr. Staples said he planned to invest the money in a tax-free savings account. The tin was found inside the walls of the Staples's house. Carpenters were known to leave empty tins behind while building houses. Undisturbed for a century, the 3 Strikes tin was in remarkable shape. 'It is the Holy Grail of tobacco tins,' said Ben Lennox, head of sales at Miller and Miller. For the winning bidder, the antique piece marks an acquisition a long time in coming. Mr. Paruk, known in collecting circles and on eBay as TinCanada, had begun obtaining tin cans in 1978 as a law student in Victoria. He once owned one of the rare 3 Strikes tins but sold it some 30 years ago to help finance a house he was building. 'I've been missing it ever since,' he said, 'and not really expecting to ever replace it.' Mr. Paruk would not divulge how much he was paid for his first 3 Strikes tin. 'I can't say things like that, but it was way, way, way less than this one I just purchased.'
