Providence Bay
by Alexia Hannigan
Hello Prov! Alexia here with your post fair exhaustamundo fly! Just like that, August is closing the book and barn up for the fall season and we are getting in gear for the cold months! So, what does that mean for Providence Bay? It means everyone and their mother’s-brother’s-cousin’s- sisters’ dog is getting ready for fall fairs, winterizing, back to school and you guessed it, harvest time, hayrides, hockey and hunting season! Can you feel it? That chill and year-end countdown cross check?
Here’s what happening: Providence Bay Arena and Fairgrounds: Summer Fun continues 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.
Family Rec Nite continues Friday night from 7 to 9 pm, drop in and join the fun! Drop in to play pickleball, badminton, basketball, cornhole, ping pong and air hockey with friends, family and neighbours.
Spring Bay/Providence Bay Lions Club events: We are looking forward to our golf tournament and Fundraiser on Saturday, September 21. If you are interested in registering your golf team and sponsoring this event, please contact Chris Bryan by August 31, chris_bryan84@outlook.com
Lions 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: Central Manitoulin Beachside Market featuring local bakers, foodies and fun continues Thursdays through August from 11 am to 3 pm. Contact Central Manitoulin for vendor information and details.
Spring Bay: Yoga continues at the Spring Bay Hall on Tuesdays from 2 to 3 pm and Wednesdays from 6:15 to 7:15 pm.
Music Events: This Saturday marks the 10th annual Play Music on the Porch Day! A lot of our friends and neighbours will be jamming out on the porch, sure to be a fun-filled day, for more information check out playmusicontheporchday.com.
To participate just go outside and play music! Then share a video on any social media with #playmusicontheporchday. Follow the hashtag #playmusicontheporchday to see musicians from around the world participating!
Providence Bay Boardwalk and Discovery Centre: Always great activities and fun for the little and big kids. Sunset Music Series continues this weekend. Check the Huron Island Time Facebook page or Sunset Music Series online for the full musical lineup. Gisun plays on Friday, August 30 from 6:30 to 9 pm and Ian Reid plays Saturday, August 31 from 6:30 to 9 pm. 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.
Providence Bay Tent and Trailer Park continues to be busy with campers and visiting friends and neighbours. Be sure to get a selfie at the cool butterfly mural by Manitoulin artist Maxim and pop into the store, they carry great sundry and other camping necessities and are open to the public! Dear beachcombers, visitors, friends and neighbours: 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 6 pm for cool activities, community outreach, mentoring and more!
The Horses: The fair horse show was a success, thanks to all the trainers and volunteers. Congratulations to all on a successful fair and show. Reach out to Katie SG on Facebook or Manitoulinhorseclub71@gmail.com for more information and upcoming events.
The Heavens: Perseid Meteor shower is active till September 1. We observed a big Blue Super Sturgeon moon on Monday, August 19. Next one is the Corn or Harvest moon on September 17. That power outage last week was an opportune time to sky gaze. Reminder: The DarkSky Preserve at Manitoulin Eco Park is a communal, wide-open space offering 360-degree sky viewing, perfect for stargazing. In fact, Manitoulin Eco Park was Canada’s first RASC designated commercial Dark Sky Preserve and continues to provide exceptional dark skies showing 7.5+ magnitude stars. Beyond the preserve, the park extends into the hardwood forest and offers rustic, earth-friendly accommodations. Check for upcoming astronomy events and presentations. It is located at 18777 ON-6, Tehkummah.
School Crossings: The kids, teachers and bus drivers will be back at it again next week, make sure to keep your eyes on the road, bus stops and crosswalks, as there will be a lot of kids crossing streets and getting on and off of buses. Be safe and happy back to school countdown kids.
Mentions: Happy before and after birthday wishes to Carol P, Kat Young, Junior Young, Evelyn M and Auntie Sharon. Congratulations to all the fair ribbon and contest winners, to all the fair Ambassadors and to Bev Cress who took first place in the NEMI Butter Tart competition. Wishing everyone a wonderful long Labour Day weekend.
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” – A. A. Milne, Winnie The Pooh
Kagawong
by Team Fergmeijer
Our faithful readers will know that here at Team Fergmeijer, we tend to see August as the Sunday of the summer. That might not be totally fair to Sundays in general. Sunday might be a little sad, but the day before Sunday is definitely a sadder day. And Sundays always start off great, but then just have a weekend. Although we’ll never forget the time we took our car in for a service on a Sunday. It was such a tight squeeze getting it through the church doors. Regardless, even though we’re almost through the Sunday of the summer, rest assured that whichever day you read our column, it’s always Punday!
If you are strolling the river trail or stop in at the falls this week, you will notice some new signage has been installed. It is meant as a gentle reminder to locals and visitors that things like stacking rocks, building rock walls or dams in the river or falls pool, as well as disturbing the spawning fish, are all harmful to the overall health of the natural systems and should be avoided. The best policy is to leave no trace.
The Manitoulin Tennis Club is hosting an end-of-the-summer tennis tournament on Saturday, August 31 at the Manitoulin Secondary School courts. Players can compete in singles or doubles. Everyone is welcome. Contact Chris at ctheijsmeijer@gmail.com for more information or to register.
We are sending many happy returns to Kagawongian Susan S and Kagawong-adjacent Amy H who are both turning 29 right around the time this will be printed. Team Fergmeijer stopped at a Mexican food truck before completing the column this week, and while it might be the chips and salsa talking, we hope you both have a birthday that is nacho average celebration. It’s your big day, so get out there and guac and roll!
Summer in Canada can seem to go by in a flash. Make the most of the swiftly dwindling days by hitting the Wednesday market in Kagawong! Come down into the village and make your way to the rink area Wednesday from 10 am until 3 pm to check out the over 70 regular vendors at the Kagawong Market.
The regular Wednesday markets are always fun, but the annual evening market put on last Saturday was a unique delight. In case you didn’t know, the amazing Ethel Newburn volunteers her own time to organize the weekly Kagawong markets and the evening market as well. Thank you, Ethel, for the enormous amount of time and effort you put into it all. The markets have become a ‘must-see’ attraction to the town and we don’t know what we would do without you keeping it all running smoothly!
You’re almost out of time! The township is still accepting name suggestions for the Kagawong covered rink. Proposed names are being accepted at the town office until the end of this week. Check the township’s website or Facebook page for more information.
We heard this week that the incomparable Tina B is moving on to new challenges. Thank you for all that you have done for the township and we wish you good luck on your new adventures! That does mean, however, that there is an opening at the township office for any interested parties. The township has posted an Administrative Assistant – Finance position and is accepting resumes via e-mail or snail mail to Véronique Dion, CAO/Clerk, Township of Billings, 15 Old Mill Road, Kagawong ON P0P 1J0 or cao@billingstwp.ca. Friday, September 6 until 12 noon is the deadline for applications. Get full details on the township Facebook or web page.
Team Fergmeijer bought a second-hand time machine next Sunday. They don’t make them like they’re going to anymore! Have a great week!
Barrie Island
by Lillian Greenman
Last week a group of seven members of friendship force Toronto toured Manitoulin and visited at Carolyn Lane Rock’s cottage. They enjoyed a trip to the west of the island and were greeted by Myra Duncanson who shared the story of the settlement of Silver Water. They enjoyed Queen Mom Park and Meldrum Bay. Stop 540 provided a great dinner. On Friday they visited Wiikwemkoong and other points to the east. Hank Mandamin gave an excellent presentation on life in Wiikewmkoong.
The group loved their stay on the Island and will recommend it to their friends.
On Sunday, August 18 Carolyn hosted her brother and sisters for an excellent dinner during the power outage. Who knew that corn could be boiled on the propane fireplace. The salmon on the barbecue and the salads were delicious. Gloria and Bruce Tuck from Toronto, Ted Lane and Lorraine Wayne from Mt. Bridges, Grace and Bryan Turner from the Sault, and Jeff Rock from Vancouver enjoyed the day with Carolyn.
Natalie and Roger Hayden were over on the weekend at their parents. Don and Betty Greenman from Innisfil visited Lance and Lillian Greenman last weekend and we went to the funeral for our cousin Mrs. Jacqueline Bryant (Jim) in Manitowaning on Tuesday.
Ashton and Nina Calback are happy to announce that their first great-grandchild Lexi Rose Atwood was born on August 17,2024 at the hospital in Sudbury, her family are very happy.
Silver Water
by Karen Noble
On Friday, August 16 the electricity went off in the afternoon and did not come back on for several hours. Euchre in Meldrum Bay was cancelled due to the outage.
On Saturday morning, Brenda Carter and I went to Norm Morrell’s house to travel to the auction in Green Bay. It was a big crowd with lots of stuff for bid. We were home in 12 hours.
On Sunday the electricity was out for most of the day and was restored at 10:30 pm here.
Tuesday morning, Albert and I went to the Kits and Quilts meeting in the Meldrum Bay Community Hall. Janet Joyce had taken a load of items to the warehouse in New Hamburg recently and had some information about the process to get the productions from Canada to a warehouse in Rotterdam, Netherlands and then on to Ukraine and other countries in need. The next session in Meldrum Bay is on Tuesday, September 3 from 10 am to 12 noon. Everyone is welcome to come out and help.
There was fire practice at the fire hall on Tuesday evening.
Albert went to a fire practice on Thursday morning to test the pump with three others.
There were six tables of players out to euchre on Thursday night in Silver Water.
Gladys Duncanson and I went swimming several days last week. The water has cooled down a lot. We are hoping that the warmer temperatures in the forecast will help so we can keep swimming for another few weeks.
Our garden continues to produce lots of yellow beans, cucumbers and now tomatoes. I also picked a bunch of transparent apples which will be turned into pies this week.
There will be a market in our yard on Saturday, August 31 from 9 am to 12 noon. We have raised $1,000 for the doctor recruitment fund which has been given to the Town of Gore Bay. We are now raising money for the food bank in Mindemoya. We would also collect any knitting for the Christmas food baskets if anyone wants to drop it here.
There will be a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Silver Water Community Hall on Saturday, August 31 starting at 3 pm followed by a lasagna dinner.
The next UCW meeting is Thursday, September 5 at St. Andrew’s United Church Silver Water.
The UCW is hosting a fashion show on Saturday, September 21 in the afternoon.
There will be a luncheon followed by a euchre tournament on Sunday, September 29 at the hall.
Condolences to the family of Rhea Woods.
