Grand Bend, Ontario community newspaper and entertainment events guide. Also serves Zurich, Dashwood, Port Franks, Exeter, Parkhill. Casey Lessard photos.
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School bands bring home gold, two silvers, and big awards from MusicFest Canada Story and photos by Casey Lessard They’re the best percussion ensemble in Canada, and they’re right here in our backyard. Led by music director Isaac Moore and coach Dave Robilliard, South Huron District High School’s percussionists won the Zildjian Outstanding Percussion Section [...]
SHDHS, Jon Gill named best in Canada Jon Gill (right) of Grand Bend is a member of the 2010 Zildjian Outstanding Percussion Ensemble of the year (below), and winner of the Zildjian Outstanding Percussionist Award. As told to Casey Lessard Photos by Casey Lessard When we won in 2008, it was the first time in [...]
A Killing Snow runs June 23 to August 13 and features Patricia Hamilton of Green Gables fame Patricia Hamilton is a Canadian icon best known as Rachel Lynde in Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea. A long-time stage performer at Shaw Festival and other theatres, she makes her Blyth Festival debut in Grand [...]
If Thursday’s opener is any indication, Sweet Charity is sure to please crowds at the Huron Country Playhouse. Starring Stratford legend Cynthia Dale as hopeless-in-love dancer-for-hire Charity Hope Valentine, the cast is rounded out by a line of women whose talent bursts from their barely-there costumes. Their necessary sex appeal is only effective because they [...]
Drayton Entertainment continues its tradition of tributes to popular music, this season bringing Country Legends to life at the Huron Country Playhouse. The Alex Mustakas show sold out last year in Penetanguishene, bringing a fusion of classic country, gospel and bluegrass music, dance and comedy to the Grand Bend stage. Among the highlights are songs [...]
Our Lady of Mount Carmel church celebrates 150 years as a parish July 18 with a mass, music, games, and a barbecue chicken dinner. Anyone interested in attending the 5 p.m. dinner must buy their tickets before July 4, the caterer’s deadline for attendance numbers. You can do so by contacting Judy Steeper (519-294-6639), Fran [...]
Advice from Mom By Rita Lessard The most popular month for people to get married is June. I suppose people figure if April showers bring May flowers, then June will bring good weather that is neither too hot nor too cold. This is a good time to start a new life with someone you love. [...]
Keeping the Peace By Tom Lessard, C.D. It was early November 1953 when my fellow apprentice soldiers and I arrived in Montreal by train. It seemed to us a huge city. We were staying at the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps on Hochelaga Street, and after debarking from the bus, we were taken to the administration [...]
South Huron District High School held its seventh annual Relay for Life for the Canadian Cancer Society June 11. The overnight walking relay raised $40,000 this year, bringing the total raised by walkers and their sponsors to $250,000 over the years. Next year’s relay runs June 10-11 with the theme of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. [...]
Community/Charity Grand Bend Nursery School is now offering five sessions a week of the Early Learning Program, a FREE high quality program designed to help prepare young children for school. If you have children 2.5 to 4 years old and reside in Lambton County, call Grand Bend Nursery School at 519-238-8514 Tuesdays 10 a.m. to [...]
Here’s your chance to mingle with local artists and enjoy an evening out: artists at the Sunset Arts and River Road Galleries, located west of Purdy’s on River Road, invite you to their 2010 gala opening June 25 from 4 to 9 p.m. Grand Bend Strip publisher Casey Lessard is among the artists selling art [...]
As we head into the fourth annual Grand Bend Burgerfest weekend, James shows you how to make his signature burger. Warning: it packs some heat! Recipe by James Eddington http://www.eddingtons.ca Eddington’s Burger Ingredients 2 lbs medium ground beef 1/2 cup bread crumbs 1 tbsp butter 1 small red onion, diced 3 tbsp minced garlic 3/4 [...]
View from the Strip By Casey Lessard I feel a level of simpatico with Mark Reilly. We’re not friends, not business partners; I met him once and talked to him on the phone once. But I know how he probably feels: he just wants to run a business in Grand Bend within the rules established [...]
The Grand Bend Strip and publisher Casey Lessard took home more awards than any other newspaper in Ontario Friday, May 14 at the Ontario Community Newspapers Association gala held in Toronto. Here are the results and judges’ comments: 3rd place – General Excellence (best overall paper), circulation under 1,999 Note: Top marks in 4 of [...]
Why you’ll see PVB on the beach this summer PVB Enterprises runs Canada’s largest independent beach volleyball camps. When one of owner and former national team member Mark Reilly’s club players, Taylor Ivey, and her parents Charlie and Katrine invited him to Grand Bend, an idea was born. Reilly proposed developing a program in Grand [...]
Ed Fluter is a Grand Bend resident and representative of a new community association supported by many residents in the area. Fluter and his group oppose the PVB project – and any others – using the public beach for commercial purposes. The Grand Bend Strip spoke with him shortly before Monday night’s council meeting. Interview [...]
And why council still wants to see beach volleyball in Grand Bend this summer Interviews performed by Casey Lessard in advance of May 17 council meeting Gord Minielly, Mayor Years on council: more than 25, mayor since 2006. Position sought in October 2010: none Did you support the initial proposal from PVB? Yes. Do you [...]
Grand Bend Speedway team in memory of his late son is a way to help others Larry Whiting formed the Derik Whiting Foundation in memory of his son, who took his own life in 2006 at age 24. Derik was an avid racer at the Grand Bend Speedway, and Larry Whiting has started a race [...]
Watch for Cole Martin, 9, of Zurich in his second War Amps TV PSA Cole Martin of Zurich is a fun-loving nine-year-old who loves to play soccer and swim. He’s also a double amputee appearing in his second PSA for the War Amps Child Amputee program. Cole was born with only three toes and missing [...]
Advice from Mom By Rita Lessard Happy belated Mother’s Day to one and all. What a great station in life it has been for me to have the privilege and fortune to have been able to attain. I hope it has been as wonderful an experience for others as it has been for me. Being [...]
Stratford actor and screen star Cynthia Dale is coming to the Huron Country Playhouse next month. Dale, star of CBC’s Street Legal and frequent stage presence at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, hits the stage June 9 to 26 as the title character in Sweet Charity. Set in New York in the 1960s, Sweet Charity is [...]
Community/Charity Grand Bend Nursery School is now offering five sessions a week of the Early Learning Program, a FREE high quality program designed to help prepare young children for school. If you have children 2.5 to 4 years old and reside in Lambton County, call Grand Bend Nursery School at 519-238-8514 Tuesdays 10 a.m. to [...]
Recipe by James Eddington Eddington’s of Exeter 527 Main Street, Exeter 519-235-3030 http://www.eddingtons.ca This is a simple little recipe that I hope will inspire you to plant some peppers and tomatoes this spring. If, as I do, you lack a green thumb, no need to fret; they are easy to grow. I bought the seeds, [...]
Disney’s High School Musical Written by David Simpatico Directed & Choreographed by David Connelly, with Louise Johnson and Luke Brown Musical direction by Peter Aylin Performed by David Cotton, Melissa O’Neil, Lisa Lennox, Chad McNamara, with Thomas Alderson, Mark Harapiak, Cassandra Kranjec, Amelia Sirianni, Stephanie West, Shaun Castor, Liam Flanagan, Alison Jantzie, Tim Porter, Liam [...]
