Woodstock, Ontario

Woodstock (2005 population: 34,000) is a city and the county seat of Oxford County in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Woodstock is located 80 miles southwest of Toronto, north off the 401, along the historic Thames River. It is known as the Dairy Capital of Canada and promotes itself as "The Friendly City."

The city was first settled in 1800, when it was determined by Sir John Graves Simcoe, governor of what was then known as Upper Canada, that the area would make a good townsite. Woodstock was incorporated as a town in 1851 and a city in 1901.

Vansittart Avenue (named after Admiral Henry Vansittart, an early settler) in Woodstock's west end has one of the finest residential Victorian streetscapes in the province.

Springbank Snow Countess

While a special place is reserved in the hearts of older Woodstonians for their beloved "Springbank Snow Countess", it is looked upon by most of the city's population as a not very noteworthy monument. The "Springbank Snow Countess" was commemorated by a life-size statue (designed by acclaimed Oxford County agricultural artist Ross Butler) which is located on Dundas Street East in Woodstock.

This concrete statue was made to honour a record-setting milk production by a Holstein Freisian cow. The statue was first unveiled on August 4, 1937. Springbank Snow Countess was born on November 18, 1919 and died August 9, 1936. During her lifetime, she produced 9,062 pounds of butterfat, impressive at that time. The statue was erected by the Holstein Freisian Association of Canada. It cost $4,000 to design and erect.

The cow has become an important symbol to Woodstock and is used in many cultural events, such as the annual Cowapolozza Festival. As well, the word COW has become an operating anagram for the CITY OF WOODSTOCK (COW).

Many find the statue of the cow to be somewhat of a joke on the local populance, with comments about "country bumpkins" having a cow as their graven image.

New Toyota Plant

In June 2005, Toyota, the world's second largest automaker, announced plans to build a new, $800 million automobile assembly plant in Woodstock on a 1,000-acre undeveloped site in the city's northeast end. The plant is expected to employ 1,300 people and begin full production of RAV4 sport utility vehicles in 2008, at the rate of 100,000 a year. It will be the first auto assembly plant to be built in Canada in two decades.

Woodstock's current mayor, Michael Harding, has reportedly played a key role in attracting Toyota to Woodstock.

On February 7, 2006, the president of Toyota Canada announced that the Toyota plant would be much larger than first planned. Instead of costing $800 million to build, the assembly plant will cost $1 billion, instead of employing 1,300 people, it would employ 2,000. Instead of producing 100,000 vehicles a year, it would produce 150,000 per year.

Hino Motor Sales Canada

Early in March, 2006, Hino Motors, a Toyota Motor Co. subsidiary, announced that it will be the first Japanese truck manufacturer to build its vehicles in Canada with a new Woodstock plant slated to begin production in April, 2006, in the former General Seating plant in the Pattullo Ridge Business Park near Highway 401 and Highway 59.

The $3 million, 120,000-square-foot plant will employ 45 and assemble 2,000 trucks a year when it begins production.

Media

Woodstock has one daily newspaper owned by Sun Media Corporation, the Woodstock Sentinel-Review and one licensed radio station, FM 103.9 CKDK. The city also has a rebroadcaster of Toronto television station CITY, operating on channel 31 and primarily targeting London. Woodstock also has a Christian radio station, CJFH 94.3, HopeFM.

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