Here’s a look at what’s happening across Windsor-Essex this weekend.

STAR FAVES

Whisky Weekend: J.P. Wiser’s Canadian Whisky will hold the inaugural J.P. Wiser’s Whisky Weekend, at the historic Hiram Walker Distillery in Windsor, 2072 Riverside Dr. E., on Saturday, Oct. 3 and Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. The J.P. Wiser’s Experience grounds will feature live music, historical distillery artifacts, outdoor games, food trucks, specialty cocktails, whisky flights, and retail shopping. Distillery Tours offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Hiram Walker Distillery, taking guests through the history, production process, and craftsmanship behind Canadian whisky. Tickets available through Eventbrite:

Walking Dead: For ghouls and fans of the dead, the Downtown Windsor BIA and Scarehouse Windsor present the annual Zombie Walk & Parade. Hordes gather at 5 p.m. and start walking — as best they can, given they’re undead — at dusk, 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3. The route starts at Ouellette Avenue and Elliott Street and heads north towards Chatham Street and promises to make a “big show” along the way. The afterparty occurs between Villains Beastro and EKO on Pelissier Street. It’s a family affair and free. It also raises money through donations for the Downtown Mission. As a promo for the event says, “As zombies, just because we have no brains, doesn’t mean we have no hearts!”

Garage Bach: The Windsor Symphony Orchestra will perform its third annual Classical in the Concrete concert free of charge in, of all places, the Pelissier Street Parking Garage. It’s free of charge (though registration is required) and starts Saturday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. There’s even a cash bar. But seating is limited and assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. As the WSO says, you can “Hear Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and more in a unique setting.”

Taco Time: The inaugural TacoMania will add some zip to Windsor’s culinary scene. Tailgate Takeout and WindsorEats have partnered for a no-holds-barred taco battle. The fun and food take place on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 2 to 11 p.m., at WindsorEats, 400 Erie St. E. Several Windsor-Essex eateries will join the party, including The Grand Cantina (Windsor), El Diablo (Kingsville), El Patron (Tecumseh), Rico Taco (Windsor), Hot Tacos (Windsor) and more. They’ll prepare competition tacos for $5 a piece, so attendees can try a range of samples. The categories are: Judge’s Choice, People’s Choice and Most Unique Taco. Rounding at the fiesta is high-energy alt-rock band Disco Lemonade, and a cocktail menu featuring signature margaritas, of course.

Girl’s Giggles: Windsor Laughs presents Girl Night: An All-Women Comedy Show. The event promises to get the audience laughing with a different approach to jokes. According to the event website, “This is your chance to see critically acclaimed acts and rising stars all wrapped up in a fun environment curated for women but enjoyed by all!” Attendees can also join the Secrets Auction where players bid for prizes with “juicy secrets and confessions.” The laughs run from 8-9:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2, at the Tipsy Toucan, 1444 Ottawa St.

Prost! The Heimat continues its Oktoberfest celebration on Friday, Oct. 2, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 3, from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. The party includes German food, Bavarian dancers, fun competitions and one-litre steins of beer. Or is that bier? Either way, it sounds like a party. Oktoberfest also runs Oct. 9 and 10, and Oct. 16 and 17, at the Heimat, 1367 Drouillard Rd. Tickets start at $13.

Plan Ahead

Horsing Around: The Harvest and Horses Festival returns to the John R. Park Homestead on Sunday, Oct. 18, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 1850s style autumn celebration features cider pressing, pioneer demonstrations, seasonal crafts, traditional games and pony rides. More than 15 horse breeds will take part in parades at 1 and 3 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for children and seniors. The homestead is located at 915 County Rd. 50.

What’s On Windsor?

Share your upcoming events with us by e-mailing NewsWin@postmedia.com.

Alynn Godfroy says that despite uncertainties and challenges for some clients, a commitment to save and invest remains in Windsor, On.

Windsor, Ontario is arguably the most tariff-impacted community in Canada. Windsor’s economy is anchored by a Stellantis automotive plant, building the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and the Dodge Charger. The city of roughly 220,000 is built around its economic connection to neighbouring Detroit Michigan and since the onset of US tariffs targeting the automotive industry, the city has been in a state of limbo.

The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) projects that US tariffs will cause an additional 1.6 per cent rise in unemployment in Windsor. Production at the Stellantis plant was briefly paused in 2025 and roughly 3,200 workers were furloughed. While production has resumed, the uncertainty has had knock-on effects in Windsor’s real estate market. Real estate sales in Windsor had fallen by 15 per cent between early 2025 and early 2026. A recent report from Rentals.CA and Urbanation put Windsor on the list of the most tariff-impacted rental markets in the country. It is, on the surface, a community facing some existential challenges.

“It’s what everyone's talking about, all day, every day. I had a gentleman in this morning. He works at Chrysler. And Stellantis is in the news. So he's, he's waiting. He is of retirement age,” says Alynn Godfroy, founder and CEO of Godfroy Financial. “I have a couple dozen clients that are in this wait-and-see pattern. They're in limbo right now. Hopefully they'll have some answers soon.”

Guiding retirement plans amid uncertainty

Godfroy’s practice is focused on retirees and people approaching retirement. She says that of her client base, it’s the auto workers and families of auto workers who are in the most difficult position. Clients late in their careers, especially those approaching the 30-year point where they would get their full pension as Stellantis workers, are facing some hard questions and decisions. Others, she says, are dealing with the fact that their children who recently started working at feeder plants on a probationary basis have been laid off.

Even among those clients who don’t work at the plant, Godfroy says there is a general mood of apprehension and concern. She says her clients are watching the news more and making consumption decisions informed by the current state of tariff uncertainty. She says, for example, that among clients who can travel, the vast majority are now avoiding trips to the United States. Some clients are delaying projects like home renovations, or vehicle purchases.

While the whole community is feeling some of the impacts of tariffs, Godfroy says she’s paying particular attention to her autoworker clients and those who work at the feeder plants making parts for Stellantis. She notes that the tool and die industry has a tendency to be ‘feast or famine’ and that clients in that space may be facing some weakness now.

Advisors’ mistakes, best practices

Godfroy says that because of the typically older base of clients she serves, the current uncertainty has not caused much of an issue with savings. Most of her clients are already mortgage-free and live well within their means. She finds with retired clients she often still has to encourage them to spend rather than just save. That said, the wider climate of uncertainty has prompted some of Godfroy’s clients to revise their risk tolerances.

For advisors with clients in tariff-hit communities, Godfroy’s message is to stay in touch. Clients may be making decisions based off incorrect information, driven more by headlines than their own financial realities. Godfroy’s message is that without regular contact, an advisor can never know what’s going on in a client’s life and what they might be worried about.

Despite the ongoing threat of tariffs to her community, Godfroy says that she’s confident in her business continuing to grow. She attests to her own popularity with clients and hard work keeping in touch with people, as well as diversification in her client base across auto workers, health care practitioners, business owners, and others. She’s so confident that she just hired a new employee.

While the financial services industry might see a city like Windsor and its macroeconomic struggles as a reason to look at other markets for growth, Godfroy insists that there is still opportunity to be had there, especially for advisors who want to serve retirees.

“People are selling their houses for over $1 million in the GTA and moving here because it’s affordable and they can have some money left over to invest and live on. There’s still tons of opportunity,” Godfroy says. “I’m not going anywhere. There are still lots of thriving, booming businesses and hopefully they can get things sorted out.”

Rita Georgeff celebrated her 102nd birthday on Aug. 28

WINDSOR, Ontario – Many people have been excited to cross the Gordie Howe International Bridge for the first time.

But for one Windsor-area woman, the anticipation was about more than simply getting from one country to another.

She wanted to walk across the new span.

And she had been waiting a long time.

Rita Georgeff celebrated her 102nd birthday Aug. 28.

Her birthday wish was to walk on the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

“Oh gosh. I’m doing it,” Georgeff said.

A group of friends joined Georgeff for the experience, which had originally been planned for her 100th birthday.

“We were so happy to be able to do this with Rita,” said her friend, Gail Bondy. “We’ve been waiting for two years.”

Georgeff, a lifelong resident of Windsor’s Sandwich Town neighborhood, led the group for much of the walk.

Along the way, she stopped to greet well-wishers, pose for photos and take in the views.

“She’s such an inspiration for us,” said Jackie Craig, a 70-year-old Michigan resident who met Georgeff during the walk. “I’m 70, and we’re like, if she can do it.”

Her husband, Tom Craig, joked that they hoped to return to the bridge in 32 years.

“We’re hoping to be able to do that definitely in 32 years,” Craig said.

Georgeff’s connection to Windsor’s bridges goes back decades.

She remembers visiting the Ambassador Bridge as a child.

“I was seven years old, and I lived on the corner of Peter and Indian Road, and there was just mounds and mounds and mounds of people on the bridge,” she recalled.

Now, at 102, she was making a memory of her own on the Gordie Howe Bridge.

The walk was not without its challenges.

The bridge’s incline meant Georgeff and her friends took breaks along the way.

“Going downhill is going to be a lot easier,” one person told her.

“Oh yeah, because it’s quite an incline,” Georgeff replied.

Still, she kept going.

Georgeff made it far enough to look up and appreciate the bridge’s distinctive gables before turning around and beginning the walk back.

Bondy said Georgeff was determined to do it on her own.

“She was unbelievable. The way she was going without wanting any help at all,” Bondy said. “It was all Rita.”

For Georgeff, the experience was about more than fulfilling a birthday wish.

She also wanted to see firsthand a new piece of infrastructure that has changed the landscape of her longtime neighborhood.

“At my age it’s difficult to actually go down to Sandwich Street, but every time I do, I appreciate how much the Gordie Howe Bridge has done for the town,” Georgeff said. “It’s fantastic.”

And after waiting an extra two years to make the crossing, Georgeff said the wait was worth it.

“It was a fantastic trip,” Georgeff said. “Not only that, the Gordie Howe Bridge is really a feat of good engineering.”

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Here's some events being held to commemorate the day

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Windsor-Essex will mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Wednesday.

Several events, focused on remembering the children who attended residential schools, honouring survivors and their families, and supporting reconciliation, are planned to mark the day.

Here are some of them:

Orange Shirt Day Honour Walk

In Windsor, the Windsor Orange Shirt Day Committee will host an Orange Shirt Day Honour Walk and Community Gathering at Jackson Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Indigenous-led event will include speakers, fire, drumming, dancing, food, storytelling and other activities. Organizers are encouraging residents to wear orange, with the gathering providing an opportunity for remembrance, reflection and learning.

"We remember the over 150,000 children taken from their families on September 30 every year," said Eric Hill, executive director of Can-Am Urban Homes and a member of the Windsor Orange Shirt Day Committee. "There is a commitment that nothing like this will ever happen again."

Every Child Matters Walk and Flag Raising

At the University of Windsor, the campus community will take part in an Every Child Matters Walk and Flag Raising beginning at 9:15 a.m.

The walk will begin at the Big Turtle Sculpture at River Commons and conclude with a flag raising at the west steps of Chrysler Hall Tower.

At 1 p.m., Windsor Law will host its annual Orange Shirt Day Heart Photo at the west entrance of the Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law. Participants are encouraged to wear orange and join the photo.

Remembrance Tree

St. Michael's Adult Catholic School will also mark the day with an annual Remembrance Tree initiative beginning at about 9:30 a.m.

Teacher Simon Clarke and students will place paper leaves, cut in the shape of hands, on a tree located in one of the school's busy stairwells. Each leaf represents a student's personal commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous communities.

Caldwell First Nation community-led gathering

In Leamington, Caldwell First Nation will host a community-led gathering beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Caldwell First Nation Community Hall at 14 Orange Street.

The event will include remembrance, ceremony, drumming and dancing.

Participants will walk from the community hall down Erie Street to the Roma Club at 10 a.m., where a free lunch will be provided.

Flag-raising ceremony in Kingsville

Kingsville will also mark the day with a flag-raising ceremony featuring Chief van Oirschot of Caldwell First Nation.

The ceremony begins at noon at the front of the Kingsville Arena. Mayor Dennis Rogers will present a tobacco offering to Chief van Oirschot as part of the ceremony, followed by the annual Orange Shirt Walk.

The walk will travel north on Jasperson Lane, west on Road 2 and south on Jasperson Drive before finishing at Erie Migration District School.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is observed each year on September 30 to commemorate residential school survivors and victims, as well as their families and communities.

Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led initiative that raises awareness of the ongoing and intergenerational impacts of the residential school system and promotes the message that "Every Child Matters."