Providence Bay
Alexia Hannigan
Alexia here with your friendly dock and garden fly!
Mid-April is here and everyone Island-wide has hit their panic button press…T-minus a couple of weeks until the masses arrive again in droves. The first Chi-Cheemaun sail is May 2 and then it gets very real folks! All the dockmasters and boaters are getting their game faces on ready for first sail and all business owners and staff are getting in full gear for the mayhem of May on Manitoulin, it’s never too soon to get our gardening on. Woot woot! Time to get dirty.
Here’s what’s happening! Providence Bay arena and fairgrounds: Providence Bay Youth Soccer kicks off again Saturday, May 3 and runs every Saturday at the Providence Bay arena fairgrounds. Please register online before April 25.
Providence Bay Community of Christ Church joys and community updates 10:30 am; service 11 am.
Providence Bay Curling Club: Thanks everyone for another incredible season and for all your support! Keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates and upcoming yard sale events!
Providence Bay Hall: Exercise Classes continue Friday mornings; Tai Chi continues Mondays and Thursdays.
On Saturday, April 26, join us at the Providence Bay Centennial Hall from 8 am to 12 pm for a pancake breakfast fundraiser benefiting Manitoulin Metal Robotics FRC 6865, Providence Bay/Spring Bay Lions Club.
Lions bottle-drive continues next to the Providence Bay arena!
Municipality of Central Manitoulin invites residents and user groups to participate in the preliminary public engagement sessions for the municipality’s recreation infrastructure master planning process.
Providence Bay Hall, Tuesday, April 29 at 6 pm
The Birds: They’re Back! “When Robins Appear, loved ones are near.”
The Heavens: The Lyrids Meteor Shower runs annually from April 16 to 25. It peaks this year on the morning of the 23. These meteors can sometimes produce bright dust trails that last for several seconds. The thin crescent moon will not pose much of a problem so this should be a good show.
Next full moon aka the Flower moon will rise on May 12.
Wishing you clear skies and bright sights! Happy sky-gazing.
The Friends: Happy Birthday to all of you late April babies! Wishing everyone a beautiful season under the sun.
“Now ’tis spring and weeds are shallow-rooted; Suffer them now and they’ll overgrow the garden.”
– William Shakespeare
Kagawong
Team Fergmeijer
They say finding workers is tough these days – good employees are hard to find. Which is why Team Fergmeijer hides as soon as we clock in at our job. That wasn’t always the case though. We once were fired from working at a barber shop. We just couldn’t cut it.
Speaking of, are you dyeing for a new look to brush off the negativity in your life? Good news! There is a new salon opening in the village. There is locks to talk about, but long story short, if you see some workers in downtown Kagawong, these jacks of all fades aren’t tress-passing, they are updoing the property so this trim-mendous new business can open soon. Stay tuned!
Saturday was an egg-citing day with many Easter enthusiasts willing to egg-nore their diet for the thrill of the hunt. Thank you to all the participants and the organizers for another fun event!
We have several Kagawongians (both full-time and seasonal) celebrating birthdays this week. Marilyn P, Kristy C, Jean W, Cameron H, and Gary H are all turning 29 this year! We wish them many happy returns and strongly encourage them to eat cake and just ignore the number of candles.
This Saturday! Join the Billings Climate Action Committee in a Neighbourhood Cleanup Day on Saturday, April 26. If you are cleaning up around your neighbourhood, bring any collected waste in clear bags to the Park Centre parking lot that day where it will be sorted, weighed, and then brought to the landfill. You can also clean up on some deals by coming out to the Park Centre for a “junk in the trunk” community yard sale. If you’d like to book a table for the event, reach out to Vince at vgrogan@billingstwp.ca.
Why did the librarian slip on the library floor? She was in the non-friction section. To protect against this, the Billing’s library has recently installed new flooring in key areas of the building. Check out the new additions (and maybe some books, board games, cake pans, or magazines, too) during regular library hours: Tuesday and Thursday 4 to 7 pm; Saturday 10 am to 1 pm.
There’s still time to take part in Manitoulin Streams’ Great Manitoulin Island Clean Up! With awards for the school, community, business, individual, seniors, and group of four who clean up the most bags of garbage, it’s a win for you AND for the Island environment! Check out Manitoulin Streams on Facebook for full details of how to take part.
Don’t yet have the TOWNApp on your phone? It’s time to auto-correct that! TOWNApp is a brand new, free app that you can use to stay up-to-date with all the goings-on in Billings, including updates about safety, events, road closures and taxes. It even allows you to directly report road issues, accidents, floods and other concerns. Just download the app and enter “Billings.”
If you are feeling down, try drinking a large glass of water before bed. It will give you a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Have a great week!
Meldrum Bay
Elaine Bradley
On Friday night, April 11 there were four- and three-quarter tables at euchre, there were 19 people at cards. High lady was Karen Noble with 72 points; high man was Harold Rogers with 70. Donna Kay McDonald won the ladies’ lone hands with five and Gene Cada won the men’s lone hands with four; most euchres went to Bob Benedict with 10; the door prize was won by Elaine Bradley; Donna Kay was the lucky person to win the money jar with 83 points; the 50/50 draw was won by Diane Jones; and Lois Wismer brought home the juice. We had a great time. Thanks to all who came.
On Easter Sunday, Meldrum Bay St. Andrew’s United Church had a sunrise service at the waterfront followed by a breakfast in the hall. Lots of preparations were made.
Many people looked forward to getting together with family for the Easter weekend. Rose was joined by her sister.
Last Friday we enjoyed our coffee hour, soup and cake at Almaz’s in Gore Bay. It was a really nice gathering. This week Diane did not bring her grandson and everyone missed him.
The ice is gone out of the bay. The spring flowers are starting. But it’s still pretty cold to be on the water. We are looking forward to warmer days ahead. Already Joe has prepared his poster for the Poker Paddle on Saturday, June 21. This is an annual event and is well attended, so come out and join in some fun. I am sure we will have wonderful weather by then and the water will be much warmer.
Barrie Island
Enid Runnals
I took Myra Duncanson, DonnaKay McDonald and Lois Wismer with me to euchre in Meldrum Bay on Friday night. There were 19 players.
Sunday afternoon, there was a euchre tournament at the Burpee/Mills complex. It was a fundraiser for the MSS Robotics team and the Easter egg hunt. There were eight tables of players. Congratulations to Paul Sorbara and Ken Duncanson who won first place and to Murray Duncanson and Harold Rogers who were in second place.
Albert Meijer had the recycle bins open on Monday afternoon.
Euchre on Monday night was cancelled.
On Tuesday I spent the day in Little Current taking three sessions of election training.
On Tuesday afternoons, the exercise class will continue until the end of May.
On Wednesday afternoon DonnaKay McDonald, Brenda Carter and Lynn Pickard did their training in Little Current for the election.
I have started walking along the highway to pick up the cans and bottles that can be turned in for money which will go to charity. There seem to be even more this year.
On Wednesday morning I had a visit from Todd Secord. My brother Shawn arrived with some syrup while he was there.
I have had a few people tell me their garbage is not always getting picked up. Please let me know if anyone else has the same issue in this township.
There are a lot of deer back now. We have not seen any in our backyard yet. We do have piles of birds of all shapes and sizes.
On Saturday, April 26 there is a ham and scalloped potato supper at the Silver Water Hall at 5 pm.
The federal election is on Monday, April 28 from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm.
On Saturday, May 3 it is the Snowduster fish dinner in Silver Water starting at 5 pm.
Happy 55th birthday to Tom Burt.
Happy 12th birthday to Ronan Callahan.
Get well to Amanda Secord.
