Providence Bay
Alexia Hannigan
Alexia here with your friendly lake effect fly. If you’re reading this it means you survived the fast, furious squall and first drop of winter 2024. Like me, you’ve been shovelling and plowing ever since! We do live in Canada after all and it wouldn’t be a good winter without the ice and snow! Much to the delight of winter enthusiasts and snowmachines everywhere, there’s lots of it! So, boot up and suit up because baby, it’s cold outside, here we go! Let it snow!
Here’s what’s happening:
Puck drop at the Providence Bay Arena: Learn to skate on Sundays from 12 noon to 1 pm. Public skate on Sundays from 1 to 3 pm. Family sponge puck on Sunday from 3 to 5 pm. Sponsored by the Spring Bay/Providence Bay Recreation Committee. Helmets required.
Tournaments and game day, check your local team Facebook or social pages. Go Thunder, Panthers and Wolves!
Providence Bay Curling Club: The curling club season is popping and well underway! Youth curling continues Saturdays, and regular league meets continue in the evenings. Check out the Providence Bay Curling Club Facebook page for regular updates and events.
Providence Bay Community of Christ Church Sunday Service: 10:30 am meet up, 11 am service; Friday, December 20, Christmas fireside sing-along social.
Providence Bay Town Square and Hall: Tai Chi Class continues Mondays and Thursdays from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. Contact Jean Pearce at 705-885-8444.
Manitoulin Pet Rescue Operation Santa Paws pet food and supply drive is in full swing. Check the Facebook posts and ads on Facebook for details on where to donate and what items are needed!
Providence Bay / Spring Bay Lions Club bottle drive continues. Drop off your empties next to the arena for a good cause!
The Heavens: The next full moon will occur this Sunday,
December 15 at 4:02 am Eastern Time (1:02 am Pacific). It is also known as the Cold Moon. The next meteor shower is the Geminid meteor shower which is active to December 24 and will peak overnight on December 13 to December 14. Clear nights on the Island are always a delight, keep your eyes to the skies! Be sure to check the Norad tracks Santa Facebook page to keep an eye on when Santa is close to you!
Check out the fun games and videos at http://www.noradsanta.org/.
Shout out to everyone who participated in all of the local food and toy drives. Give back and donate whenever you can!
Jon Arbuckle: Garfield, I have a very important job for you. It’s a dangerous job, but if you succeed, you’ll be a hero. I want you to take this star up the tree and place it on the top.
Garfield: Climbing trees is my life, sir. If I’m not back in an hour, send a banana cream pie after me.
Kagawong
Team Fergmeijer
Team Fergmeijer hit the big city recently. We had to run a few errands, but also made plans to meet up with a friend. He texted us to meet at the vinyl shop in 45, but we actually made it in 33 (which was record speed). Afterwards, we wandered around the mall for a bit, though we didn’t stick around long. After all, once you’ve seen one shopping plaza, you’ve seen the mall. We only really spent time at the electronics store where there was a clearance sale sign that said, “television for $1, volume stuck on full.” We knew that was a deal we just couldn’t turn down!
Holidays are just around the corner! While you’re out running errands, keep in mind Billings Township will have special holiday hours for many of its services. The township office will be closed December 25, 2024 through January 1, 2025, reopening January 2, 2025. Both the landfill and library will be closed Tuesday, December 24, Thursday, December 26 and Tuesday, December 31, but otherwise open their usual days and times. Check out the township website for more information: http://billingstwp.ca.
With the winter weather seemingly settling in on us, don’t forget that Billings council meetings are all available by remote Zoom link if you are not able to attend in person. You can find more information on their Facebook page (www.fb.com/billingstownshipkagawong) or contact the town office directly.
The township is now accepting applications for those interested in joining the new Seniors’ Advisory Committee (SAC). If you are interested in this opportunity, check out the town website for more information and submit your application by December 11 (today!) at 4 pm to tmills@billingstwp.ca.
Party vibes and happy birthday energy go out to Katherine T. who is turning 29 and to Hailey F. who is not quite 29 yet. If the thought of another birthday is getting you down remember, you aren’t old, you are just well-seasoned. We hope you have an extra spicy day!
The library wishes to thank everyone who took part in the annual silent auction fundraiser. It raised just over $4,000 to support the library! A gentle reminder that auction winners can pick up their items by December 10 at the library (Tuesday and Thursday from 4 to 7 pm; Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm). Contact the library directly if you need to arrange a pickup outside of regular library hours. Any items not paid for/picked up by the deadline will be offered to the next highest bidder.
Remember that awesome pun we had in our column that one time? Catch up on all of Team Fergmeijer’s past columns in our archive at https://teamfergmeijer.blogspot.com/.
While we were out shopping, we decided to practice our haggling skills. We asked one salesperson if they could give us a better price since the item had today’s date on it. She told us we could either buy it at full price or put the newspaper back on the pile. Have a great week!
Barrie Island
Enid Runnalls
Condolences to the family of Rod Greenman, who recently passed at the age of 82 years.
Meanwhile, Lance is back home from the Mindemoya Hospital and is now recuperating on Barrie Island.
Steve Plant from Perkinsfield was here to visit Lance and Lil for a bit.
Carolyn and George Calback had Lorne and Dawn home for the hunting week.
Carrie and Pam and the Gordon/Barrie Island staff decorated the Community Centre with twinkle lights and boughs of holly for the annual Winter Market last Saturday. There was a good turnout of shoppers who put their cars into four-wheel drive and showed up to buy baskets, leather goods, baking, knit items, Christmas decor, jewellery, wooden charcuterie boards, greeting cards, fudge, artwork and to enjoy the chili luncheon – all in spite of the snowy weather. A fun time was had by all!
This week has been a snowy one and school buses have had to cancel their routes. Some little ones made snowmen and slid around on their GT-racers. Richard Runnalls made it to his camp only to be snowed in, but that’s just how he likes it.
Give me a call if you have some news!
Silver Water
Karen Noble
On Friday, November 29 we went to Little Current with a load of liquor containers. There is now $390 total to be sent to the food bank in Mindemoya. That will be the last for 2024.
Euchre in Meldrum Bay was cancelled in case the forecast snowstorm arrived.
On Sunday, December 1, I took Myra Duncanson, DonnaKay McDonald and Marie Leeney to Tehkummah for their euchre tournament. We had a lot of fun but no prizes came west.
On Monday, there were six-and-a-half tables of euchre players at the Burpee/Mills complex.
On Tuesday the ladies who showed up for yoga in the afternoon at the hall got an unpleasant surprise. The furnace had quit and the place was very cool. Thank you to Island Heating who showed up soon to replace the filter which was the problem.
On Thursday, the UCW held their Christmas party at the Silver Water Community Hall starting at 12 noon with a potluck lunch. There were over 30 ladies in attendance. A number of the ladies did a skit on the stage which was very amusing. There were games including one requiring exercise. Then the draws were held for all the items on the Loonie table. They raised $240.
Thank you to all the ladies who attended, cooked and donated.
On Thursday night, there were four-and-a-half tables of euchre players at the Silver Water Community Hall.
Craig Duncanson arrived on Thursday to stay with his parents, Murray and Gladys Duncanson, for a few days. He has plans for black powder hunting depending on the weather.
Padraig Duncanson-Hales was with his grandfather, Ken Duncanson, at euchre on Thursday. He had pictures of the buck he shot in the afternoon.
The snow has been falling every day this week and continues to be in the forecast for another week. I hope everyone stays safe while shovelling and doing other snow removal tasks.
Shawn Noble spent the week in Ottawa with his daughters.
Happy birthday to Kate Duncanson on December 1.
Happy 92nd birthday to my Aunt Audrey McCulloch next week.
Condolences to the family of Ken Blodgett.
Condolences to the family of Yvonne MacKay.
Condolences to the family of Eleonore Lamothe.
