By Stew Slater
After 21 years of practicing in the Opera House block, Dr. Paul Battler of St. Marys Family Chiropractic has moved his clinic – offering acupuncture, chiropractic and rehabilitation services – to his family’s home at Red Mill Farm.
It’s located at 2379 Perth Rd. 133 in the Township of Perth South, a five-minute drive north on Emily Street out of St. Marys.
Red Mill Farm is situated on a hillside looking out in one direction across the Thames River towards Science Hill Golf Course and, in the other direction, across a meadow of pasture, creek bed, gardens and naturalized spaces that Dr. Battler and his wife, Ingrid Vanderschot, have lovingly nurtured since moving to the property.
St. Marys Family Chiropractic – now set to expand its offerings thanks to the addition, on a part-time basis, of Dr. Paul Rankin to the practice – welcomes the community to an open-house celebration on Saturday, June 8. Dr. Battler explained recently that he has already been seeing regular patients in a newly created clinic constructed during the past few months within the historic Red Mill building.
“(The patients) really love this space and this location,” he said. “Already, I have had so much positive feedback about the land and the clinic, particularly about how it feels very healing.”
The Red Mill – a landmark for those who frequently drive north out of St. Marys on Emily Street (the “east river road”) – dates back to the 1930s. Constructed by the Enright family, the mill was a gathering place for the community from the outset. Not only did they bring their crops there for grinding into livestock feed, the Enright business was also home to state-of-the-art Buckeye egg incubators, which are still in place in the basement of the building. Area residents would bring their fertilized eggs there to be hatched.
Dr. John Pook eventually purchased the building and constructed an event hall upstairs in the mill and a dog-boarding kennel in another building.
The farm was subsequently purchased by the Stam family and operated as Stambourne Farm, offering yoga classes in the hall and dog-boarding in the kennel.
“When we became stewards of this land, we continued to host events,” said Dr. Battler, noting those events include healing retreats, concerts, film screenings and learning workshops. Events are posted on the Red Mill Farm Facebook page.
During the COVID-19 slowdown, Dr. Battler and Vanderschot created a bed and breakfast to, in Dr. Battler’s words, “share the land and give people a chance to reconnect and recharge by interacting with nature.”
Since opening the bed and breakfast, he adds, “We’ve had a lot of people from large cities coming out to enjoy the green space.”
Dr. Battler and Vanderschot take their stewardship of the land very seriously.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into ecological restoration,” Dr. Battler says.
This includes planting more than 3,000 trees, overseeing the installation of a water-retention pond and incorporating a range of food and herb plants into the property’s landscaping. From these plants and other natural sources on the property, Vanderschot creates a fantastic array of herbal-based products including salves and soaps that she sells on a regular basis at the St. Marys Farmers’ Market.
All of this contributes to what Dr. Battler says is a wonderfully healing environment into which he can now welcome his patients.
“As stewards of the land, it’s so nice that we can now offer this space to the rest of the community,” he said.
St. Marys Family Chiropractic welcomes the community to an open house on Saturday, June 8 from 1-4 p.m. Open for viewing during the event will be the St.Marys Family Chiropractic clinic, the Red Mill Countryside Retreat guest suite, the Event Hall and Vanderschot’s herbal botanical products.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to meet Dr. Rankin, who incorporates the use of acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and formulas, tuina massage and various other tools in his approach to patient care. For more information about Dr. Rankin, visit drpaulrankin.com.
To contact St. Marys Family Chiropractic call 519-284-4200 or email drpaulbattler@gmail.com