Providence Bay
Alexia Hannigan
Alexia here with your friendly fire lilies fly!
Here we are in the thick of it, the foliage is full tilt, fish are bountiful, as is the traffic. Summer markets and yard sales are everywhere. Kids and families playing, having fun splashing around; people reminiscing fireside with friends of bygone summers and baseball tourneys; men’s open rounds at Manitoulin Golf, Sunset Music Series melodies at Huron Island Time for those amazing sunset, beach and boardwalk strolls. Pink skies at night heed sailors delight always a good idea to check weather and marine reports before you venture out.
Here’s what’s happening: At the Providence Bay Arena and Fairgrounds, Summer Fun July through August from 8 am to 4 pm. Remember, max of 15 kids and you need to register at 4 pm sharp the day prior via the Central Manitoulin site at www.centralmanitoulin.ca.
Youth Rec Nite continues Friday evenings from 7 to 9 pm. Drop-in and join the fun!
The Providence Bay Curling Club Youth Curling Club had a fantastic and very successful pancake breakfast fundraiser, and the community yard sale had a good turnout! Always fun when the weather is fair.
Lions Club Bottle Drive: Drop off your empties next to the arena for a good cause. This helps keep our township clean and helps us give back to the Community.
Providence Bay Hall: Central Manitoulin Beachside Market
featuring local bakers, food and fun continues Thursdays, July through August from 11 am to 3 pm. Contact Central Manitoulin for vendor information and details.
Mindemoya: Manitoulin Zumba continues Thursday evenings behind the Lions Pavilion from 6 to 7 pm July through to August 22.
Taekwon-do continues July through August, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 8 pm at the Mindemoya Community Hall. Drop-in classes available for vacationers and summer residents.
Crafting Socials at Mindemoya Pioneer Museum. Limited registration, so please register at cmhsmuseum@gmail.com or call 705-377-4383.
Providence Bay Boardwalk and Discovery Centre: Always great activities and fun for the little and big kids. Sunset Music Series continues this weekend on Friday, July 19 with Jeff Wiseman Trio from 6:30 to 9 pm and Shawna Caspi on Saturday, July 20 from 6:30 to 9 pm.
Check the Huron Island Time Facebook page or Sunset Music Series online for the full musical lineup. Be sure to bring a chair or blanket and enjoy the shows!
The Discovery Centre is filled with all the wonders and teachings of elders and locally trained experts, drop by to learn about the incredible biodiversity of our Island ecosystem. Huron Island time is busier than ever! Be sure to ask Lance and crew about their awesome ice cream flavours and sweet and savory food! Stroll along the beach and boardwalk, take a dip or a wade in the warm waters of Lake Huron or the Mindemoya River. Make memories, snap selfies and enjoy the beautiful scenery, music and views! Be sure to visit our local eateries and cafés for some good eats, great inspiration and good company. You will meet a lot of locals here and there and perhaps meet some local artists as well.
Dear beachcombers, visitors, friends and neighbours, please keep our beaches clean and safe by using the blue bins all along the Boardwalk. If you see debris or refuse on the beach, please safely place it out of harm’s way if you can. Please keep our beaches and waterways clean and safe for our kids and pets!
Providence Bay Community of Christ Church: Sunday meeting at 10:30 am; Sunday Service at 11 am.
Youth Group McNevin Street meet-up. Pop by the Providence Bay Community of Christ Church weekly on Wednesdays at
11 am for cool activities, art, music, cooking, sports, community outreach, mentoring and more!
The Horses: Saturday, August 3 is the Haweater horse show in Little Current.
On Sunday, August 18 from 9 am to 1 pm is the Providence Bay Fair Horse Show. Please reach out to Katie SG on fb or Manitoulinhorseclub71@gmail.com for more information.
The Heavens: Time to wish upon a shooting star!
Perseids is noted as one of the most popular meteor showers
among sky watchers because it performs with visibility and is reliable, according to the American Meteor Society, the
summer meteor shower is active in the sky every year from July 14 through September 1 and should reach a maximum peak during the nights before early dawn of August 11, 12 and 13.
Island Wide Events: Manitoulin Art Tour communities across Manitoulin Island from July 19 to 21.
Southeast Manitoulin Lions Club Summerfest (Manitowaning Fairgrounds) from July 19-21.
Gore Bay Harbour Days July 27 and 28.
Little Current Lions Club Haweater Weekend, August 2 to 4. Also the Wikwemkoong Arts, Music and Cultural Festival is August 2-5.
Pride Manitoulin is August 8 to 11 at various locations.
Saturday, August 10 is the Chi-Cheemaun 50th Anniversary party.
Providence Bay Agricultural Fair at the Providence Bay fairgrounds is August 16 and 17.
Summertime is a cacophony of colours and songs that stir and conjure emotions and memories with all our senses heightened, triggered, tantalized. Rainbow and sunset swirls, a myriad of water colours, with top notes of perfumed lilies, milkweeds and lapping lakes.
From fireworks to ice cream flavours, yard sale memorabilia of bygone eras, faint sounds of children at play and dogs barking, calming coos of mourning doves and eerie echoing tremolos of loons feeding in the morning mist. These are the turns and tide pools of our core, our lessons, our friendships, our tight grip and hopeful cast for one more season under the sun.
Kagawong
Team Fergmeijer
Did you know? The United Nations declared 2024 the International Year of Camelids (IYC 2024). The Year highlights how camelids (such as camels, llamas and alpacas) are key to the livelihoods of millions of households in hostile environments across over 90 countries. Not sure how to celebrate? No prob-llama! Your best pal-paca Team Fergmeijer will get you over that hump! So, pour yourself a glass of llamanade and enjoy the jokes and puns in this week’s column. We are confident they aren’t an alpaca-lapse in judgment.
Don’t forget about the ongoing Pickle Dome naming contest. Name suggestions for the Kagawong covered rink are being accepted at the town office until the end of August.
Team Fergmeijer loves a good competition, so we are pleased to announce a (completely informal and not-affiliated-with-the-township) naming competition for the town’s recently acquired new tractor. In first place is Tractor McTractor-Face but also in the running are Tiller Swift, The Mower Ranger, Darth Blader, Tractosaurus Rex, Wheely Willy and the Tillage Tycoon. Email fergmeijer@gmail.com and let us know your pick!
The Manitoulin Tennis Club meets twice a week and welcomes players of all abilities to come out and play on Sunday mornings at 10 am and/or Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm, both at the Manitoulin Secondary School courts.
No one is afraid of llama kisses, so why is everyone so worried about the alpacalips?
Happy birthday wishes go out to a bevy of Kagawongians: Linda R, Ardiss F, Arik T, Ethan T and Carol G (who is Kagawong adjacent, but we don’t let that stop us) are all turning 29 this week. We hope your big days are absolutely llamazing!
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Kagawong Show and Shine car show last Saturday, and thanks especially to the Billings Parks, Recreation and Wellness Committee for sponsoring the event!
Thanks also to the Billings Public Library for hosting the beach movie Saturday night. We all learned that it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it’s what you do with your dancin’ shoes!
We tried to phone the spiritual leader of Tibet once but was sent a big goat with a long neck instead. We must have phoned Dial-a-Llama by mistake.
This weekend on Saturday, July 20, the Billings Library is hosting their annual book sale and a local author showcase on Saturday (11 am to 3 pm). Come on out to the picnic pavilion and get your read on and ask the township librarian about having your library card laminated. Also, that weekend, the Manitoulin Art Tour will spotlight a number of Billings artists in the region over the course of the entire weekend, don’t miss out! Finally, the Island-wide Household Hazardous Waste Day is also on Saturday, July 20. Residents of Billings Township can bring their batteries, old electronics, paints and chemicals to the Mindemoya Roads Building that day from 1 to 4 pm for disposal.
The annual marine service at St. John’s Church is this Sunday, July 21. The service starts at 9 am and all are welcome.
Riding a camel isn’t as hard as you think, though it does have its ups and downs.
Save the date! The annual History Day in Kagawong is coming up on Thursday, August 8 at the Park Centre in Kagawong. In both the matinée (3:30 pm) and evening (7:30 pm) sessions, author and journalist Mike Strobel will speak about the North Channel “Rhu” tragedy and author and journalist Richard Thomas will celebrate the Chi-Cheemaun with 50th anniversary sailing stories. Don’t miss out! Follow the Old Mill Heritage Centre on Facebook (facebook.com/KagawongMuseum) for more information.
This week’s words of wisdom: Llisten to your heart. Do your best to llook on the bright side. Llet your hair down once in a while, and llearn to llaugh more. Llive and llet llive, and most importantly, llove llife! Have a great week!
Barrie Island
Lilian Greenman
Dave and Theresa Carlisle have their daughter Stephanie home this week from Waterloo.
Sandy and Jim Miller from Ottawa are here for the summer at the Runnalls cottage, daughter Moya and husband Jeff Rothwell and girls Lucy and Olivia from Ottawa are here also for the week.
George and Carolyn Calback had her brother Lyle Phillips from Manitowaning visiting on the weekend.
Paul Calback and his wife Sylvia of North York arrived Monday to spend a few days with his parents Ashton and Nina Calback.
On Tuesday, Darlene Orford came for a yummy fresh fish dinner.
On Wednesday, Lynn Calback and her cat Gabe of Seguin arrived to spend a few days with her parents and her brother Paul and his wife Sylvia.
On Wednesday, Darlene Orford was hostess to a large group of relatives. In attendance were Ashton and Nina Calback, Lynn Calback, Paul Calback and his wife Sylvia, Marie Sloss of Mindemoya, George and Carolyn Calback, Marilyn MacNeall of Burlington, Cheryl Breukelman and Dan Medikovich of Hamilton and Charlie Medijovich and his fiancé Doria (Dasha) Tuzova. A good time was had by all. Genealogy was a big topic.
Silver Water
Karen Noble
On Friday, July 5, Albert and I went to Gore Bay in time for their market. Then we went to the Valu Mart to buy fruits and vegetables for the trays for Saturday’s party. In the afternoon, Paul Sorbara came over to help us put the trays together.
Friday night we went to euchre in Meldrum Bay.
Saturday morning, there was a vendor market in our yard. Gladys Duncanson, Sarah Pidgen and Jose Daniels were all out with their wares for sale. We had lots of people come out to shop but still have piles of books and yard sale stuff, with more arriving every week.
Saturday afternoon, there was a retirement party for fire chief Doug Wismer. His son, James attending with his wife, Michelle and sons, Reid and Julian, was the biggest surprise. Christopher Wismer was also there. Awards were presented, speeches made, and a big crowd to help celebrate.
After my swim and supper, I was invited to play six-handed euchre at Iris and Keith Clarke’s house with Tom and Linda Rumley and Myra Duncanson.
On Sunday morning, Albert and I made salads for the luncheon after church. St Andrew’s United Church Silver Water had a special service for the 25th anniversary of the new church building. There were 87 people in attendance.
At 12 noon on Sunday, Shawn Noble and I headed to Tehkummah to play in the euchre tournament. We brought home the third-place prize.
Monday was a busy day. It was garbage pickup in the morning. The recycle bins were open in the afternoon. At 7 pm there was a public meeting about the future of the Robinson Township fire department. A tentative plan to share the Burpee Mills fire chief, Rick Graham and deputy chief Nikki Middleton, was discussed at length and the group agreed. Thank you to everyone who attended including three from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office, Kevin Schooler, Tim Beebe and Ashley Barbeau.
On Tuesday morning there was a meeting at the fire hall for the team members with the OFM’s Kevin and Tim. On Tuesday evening there was regular fire practice with training on bush fires.
Murray and Gladys Duncanson left on Thursday morning to go to Ottawa to attend the funeral for Chalid Brockelbank. They were meeting their son Craig in Sudbury to go with them.
On Thursday morning, I baked cakes for the café at the Gore Bay market on Friday morning. The local UCW takes their turn serving coffee, tea and cake this week.
I had a visit with Colleen and Eric Julseth at the lake on Thursday. They were out in their kayaks enjoying the calm, quiet lake while I was having my swim.
On Thursday evening, there were eight tables of players out to euchre at the Silver Water Hall. Congratulations to DonnaKay McDonald and myself who shared the money jar.
Jim, Patsy and Bill Kling have arrived at their cottages for the summer.
Ed and Lee Alexander spent last weekend at their cottage.
Mike and Lynn Tyler were at their cottage for a week.
