Providence Bay
Alexia Hannigan
Hello my Jiminy Crickets and June Bugs! Alexia here with your friendly Fly.
Our little township saw a lot of visitors last long weekend with the Lions’ homecoming parade, Rib Fest, graduation and Canada Day celebrations. The rain certainly did not deter any of us. The hills were alive with the sound of music, fireworks and fun. Mindemoya Homecoming parade was a wonderful success, Ribfest was well organized and everyone had tons of food and fun.
Providence Bay/Spring Bay Lions had a busy, blustery yard sale. Everyone was in good form. Our fundraising spirits held high and steadfast despite the wind and the rain. Well done everyone and congratulations to the draw winners! I had some wonderful reunions with good friends, old and new. Always such a joy to see the happiness and peace in people hearts when they visit our beloved and beautiful Island, we are indeed very lucky and blessed to be here and call this place home. Community spirit is alive and very well indeed. Each and every one of us play a very important part. This takes dedication and a tremendous amount of hard work. It is important however that while we keep the momentum and mountain tops polished and well groomed, we also remember the importance of self-care, coming up for air and spending time with the ones we love. The work will always be there. Friends and family are here today, gone tomorrow. So be good to one another and take a minute to be happy like an outstretched cat in a sunbeam.
Here’s what’s happening:
Providence Bay arena and fairgrounds, summer fun pre-registered programs daily Monday to Friday, July through August from 8 am to 4 pm. Remember to save your spot via centralmanitoulin.ca.
Friday Family Rec Nite continues 7 to 9 pm. Drop in and play pickleball, badminton, basketball, cornhole, ping-pong and air hockey with friends, family and neighbours. All ages welcome.
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 Tuesday evenings behind the Lions Pavilion from 7 to 9 pm.
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.
Central Manitoulin Community (multiple household) yard sale is on Saturday, July 13 beginning at 9 am! Visit: https://www.centralmanitoulin.ca/ for details.
Providence Bay Boardwalk and Discovery Centre: Discovery Centre had an incredible opening weekend last week. The Sunset Music Series rocked hard with Saving Grace. Music continues this weekend on Friday, July 12 with Daniel Mourreale from 6:30 to 7 pm. Then Chris Walker from 7 to 9 pm and Saturday, July 13 with Moskito Bar 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 new 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 The Mutchmor Peace Café and Huron Island Time and go 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. Let’s work together to keep our beaches and waterways clean and safe!
Providence Bay Curling Club fundraiser: Youth Curling Club Pancake Breakfast is on Saturday, July 13 from 8 to 11 am at 84 Munro Street. The food is always delicious and it’s fantastic to get fed for a great cause! Providence Bay Curling Club is also participating in the Central Manitoulin community yard sale and will have a Providence Bay yard sale from 8 am to 1 pm at the corner of Munro and Mira Streets.
Providence Bay Community of Christ Church is all redecorated and wearing her Sunday best for summertime!
Sunday town meeting at 10:30 am, Sunday mass at 11 am.
The Horses: Saturday, August 3 is the Haweater horse show.
Sunday, August 18 from 9 am to 1 pm is the Providence Bay Fair horse show. Please reach out to Katie SG on Facebook or Manitoulinhorseclub71@gmail.com for more information.
The Heavens: This is the best time to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere. The next full moon is on Sunday, July 21. This moon is also known as the Buck Moon, Thunder Moon and Hay Moon. Happy stargazing and camping!
Toulin Turtles: Turtles are nesting all over the roadways and waterways now so please watch closely for them and watch your speed. If you see a turtle you can try to safely relocate it to the curb in the direction it was headed. Note: There are a lot of bunnies, foxes and other critters out there, including the Kamikaze birds that will jump out in front of your car so be very alert with eyes on the road at all times! If you see an injured turtle contact Turtle Pond at 705-691-0433.
That’s all for this week folks! Thanks for all the feedback and compliments everyone! Miigwetch. Make sure all you cool cats enjoy the dog days of Summer, settle in and stay awhile.
“When a cat falls out of a tree, it lets go of itself. The cat becomes completely relaxed, and lands lightly on the ground. But if a cat were about to fall out of a tree and suddenly make up its mind that it didn’t want to fall, it would become tense and rigid, and would be just a bag of broken bones upon landing. In the same way, it is the philosophy of the Tao that we are all falling off a tree at every moment of our lives. As a matter of fact, the moment we were born, we were kicked off a precipice, we are falling and there is nothing that can stop it. So instead of living in a state of chronic tension and clinging to all sorts of things that are actually falling with us because the whole world is impermanent, be like a cat.”
Alan Watts
Kagawong
Team Fergmeijer
If you haven’t heard already, the township has put out a call for name suggestions for the covered rink area. The township will choose their top three options of those submitted and Kagawongians will then vote on their favourite of those choices. Team Fergmeijer has already submitted their suggestion – with the new lines painted, we thought the ‘PickleDome’ has a nice ring to it. If you have a name idea that pickled your fancy, submit it! The process isn’t a jarring experience; it’s not cucumbersome at all. You don’t have to wait in a queue-cumber or anything – you can submit an entry any time. We are sure we’ll be dillighted with the final decision and Team Fergmeijer will relish the opportunity to announce it to you when the time comes.
The Kagawong market continues to impress! The largest weekly market on Manitoulin offers so many opportunities to pick up some great finds and to support local artisans and bakers. There is so much to explore with vendors in the covered rink, in the colourful cabanas, and in pop-up stores in the parking lot, as well as the many local shops in the village.
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.
Happiest of happy birthday wishes go out to Mary N and Laura H this week as they celebrate their 29th birthdays. It’s weird to be at an age when your back goes out more than you do.
Normally, yours truly would have spent a good portion of the weekend fangirling over Steve Paikin at the Jabbawong storytelling festival, but this year he had some competition with Waubgeshig Rice on the lineup. Congratulations to all the organizers and volunteers for a great weekend event!
This weekend! Come out to the Kagawong Show and Shine car show on Saturday, July 13. The cars will be at Dig and Doug’s Cedar Furniture on Main Street from 10 am to 3 pm. There will be lots of great vehicles on display for all to admire.
That same evening, Saturday, July 13, come out to the main beach to see a movie with a car that is auto-matic. It’s system-matic. It’s hyyyyydro-matic. Why, it’s greased lightning! Bring your own chair or floaty to see Grease, beginning at 9 pm that evening. Did we mention it’s a sing-along? This will be a great time out for the whole family! Check out the library Facebook page (fb.com/Kagawonglibrary) for more details.
Next weekend, things really take off! On July 20, the Billings Library is hosting their annual book sale and a local author showcase on Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm. Local authors interested in participating can reach out to the library (billingsreads@gmail.com) to be included. Also, that weekend, the Manitoulin Art Tour will spotlight a number of Billings artists in the region over the course of the entire weekend.
And don’t forget about the Island-Wide Household Hazardous Waste Day, also on July 20! Not as summer-y, we know. But an important part of helping the environment by keeping hazardous things out of our community landfill. Save up your batteries, old electronics, paints, and chemicals. Residents of Billings can drop off items at the Mindemoya Roads Building that Saturday from 1 to 4 pm.
Tip of the week: don’t ever let anyone make you feel like you aren’t a big dill. Have a great week!
Barrie Island
Lillian Greenman
Jim and Margaret Blanchard from Tucson, Arizona are here for the summer at their cottage.
Natalie and Roger Hayden from Lively as well as LilyAnn Hayden and Scott Morrier from Ottawa visited Lance and Lillian Greenman on Saturday.
Daphne McDermid and Tyr Home from Elliot Lake and her relatives. Nancy and Gerry Sponagl, also of Elliot Lake, arrived at Darlene Orford’s home with a surprise lunch on Thursday. Ashton and Nina were invited along with their daughter Tania Atwood and her husband. We had yummy hot dogs and salads and three pies for dessert. Darlene also showed us all the beautiful quilts that she has made. We had a great time and enjoyed lots of conversation and laughs.
Silver Water
Karen Noble
On Friday, June 21 we went to euchre in Meldrum Bay. Congratulations to Brenda Carter who won the money jar.
Colleen and Eric Julseth went to Southern Ontario to do some visiting. Colleen and her sister Shirley Anne and sister-in-law flew to the Netherlands for a week. They were attending her nephew’s graduation from the university in Delft.
Eric travelled to Quebec to spend the time with his brother-in-law Robin LeSage.
On Saturday, June 22 there was a roast beef dinner and dance at the Burpee Mills Complex. We fed 70 people. Thanks to Alber Meijer, Diane Jones and Brenda Carter for helping me serve the meal. Thank you to the crew in Evansville for doing most of the work. It was a well-organized fundraiser for them. We hope to do another one later in the year.
On Monday, June 24, Albert Meijer and I went to Massey to Emiry’s to pick strawberries. They were fantastic this year. We picked 13 baskets and then bought five more pre-picked ones. We dropped some of them off at the neighbours before going home to get them into the freezer.
On Monday evening we went to G.G’s in Evansville to play euchre.
On Tuesday, June 25 there was fire practice.
Thursday night there were a lot of euchre players out to the Silver Water Community Hall. Sara-Lyn Arnot is retiring from running euchre. We thank her for all the work and the donation of loaves of bread as prizes each week. DonnaKay McDonald will run it starting in July.
On Friday, June 28 it was the first street market in Gore Bay. The Anglican Church ladies provided the coffee and treats. We went for lunch at the Waters Edge with the Elizabeth Bay Church crowd.
Friday evening was euchre in Meldrum Bay.
On Saturday, June 29 the Canada Day celebrations were held at the Silver Water Community Hall. There was a lot of pies for sale, three kinds of ice cream, coffee, fishpond items for the children and there was a silent sale in the basement of the hall. For lunch, there were barbecued hot dogs and sausages. The parade was the best we have ever had with lots of entries that were a lot of work to get ready. There was a huge crowd to watch the event. The rain poured down, but it did not stop the fun. Thank you to everyone for the work, it took a lot of people to organize.
Sunday afternoon, Paul and Dianne McCallum and their family played ball in the field at the hall. The games were rained out on Saturday afternoon. We heard lots of laughter from our yard.
On Monday, July 1, Albert and I attended the pancake breakfast in Gore Bay. We watched their parade and then went to the waterfront where they were handing out free hotdogs and drinks for lunch. There were lots of children’s games happening and everyone had a lot of fun. We checked out the new ice cream store in the bottom of the pavilion before we left town.
Monday evening, we went to euchre at G.G’s. There were six tables of players.
Thursday evening, there were eight tables of euchre players at the Silver Water Community Hall. Lori Mastelko is at her cottage and was out to play euchre with her parents.
Gladys Duncanson and I have been swimming every day that there is no rain.
Shelley Cull is at her cottage.
Iain McDonald and Lois Miller were here for a visit and stayed at the Kling’s cottage. They have returned to Nova Scotia now. Jim and Patsy Kling arrived at the cottage before Iain and Lois left to have a visit with them. They got to see lots of people at the picnic and church.
We have a lovely deer that has been spending time every day in our yard. She ate off the hostas, hollyhocks, flox and even got through the garden fence to eat off the potatoes. The garden is doing well despite the wildlife. We ate the first raspberries and strawberries this week. The white currants are ready for picking. The asparagus is almost finished.
The ladies are invited to the ice cream party in the Silver Water Community Hall on Monday, July 15 at 7 pm. Bring a topping for the dessert. The theme for the 2025 picnic will be decided.
Happy 60th wedding anniversary to Ron and Marj Bailey.
Condolences to the family of Chalid Brockelbank.
Condolences to the family of Denis Lamothe.
Condolences to the family of Pearl McCallum.
Condolences to the family of Bonnie Henry.
Condolences to the family of Jacqueline Harley.
