Grand Bend, Ontario community newspaper and entertainment events guide. Also serves Zurich, Dashwood, Port Franks, Exeter, Parkhill. Casey Lessard photos.
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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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
View from the Strip By Casey Lessard I’ll admit that I don’t spend a lot of time in downtown Grand Bend in the winter. My home base is in Parkhill, and I am usually heading in the other direction, to Toronto, during the school year. That’s why it was interesting to visit the strip April [...]
The Grand Bend Studio Tour runs May 1 and 2 in studios and galleries across the area. This year’s roster includes: Adelaide Glass (Linda Rupp), Anne Luxton, Barb McKnight, Barry Richman, Bill Nieuwland, Bliss Studio, Casey Lessard (I’ll be at Pine Dale and Sunset Arts), Christopher Grimes, David Bannister, Debra Bailey, Fran Roelands, Gallery Algo, [...]
High School Musical Presented by Drayton Entertainment Huron Country Playhouse May 19 to 30 Tickets: $39 for adults, $20 for under 18 Box office: 1-888-449-4463 Photos and story by Casey Lessard Aiming for fame, more than 100 teenagers joined auditions in Exeter and Guelph for Drayton Entertainment’s summer presentation of Disney’s High School Musical, which [...]
Fran Roelands is ABCA feature artist 21st annual Conservation Dinner Thursday, April 15 South Huron Rec. Centre, Exeter Tickets: $50 Phone: 1-888-286-2610 http://www.conservationdinner.com West McGillivray watercolour painter Fran Roelands is this year’s Ausable Bayfield Conservation Dinner feature artist, and is offering her painting, Along the Banks of Mud Creek (above), to this year’s auction. The [...]
Story and photos by Casey Lessard After winning Best in Show at Paint Ontario several years ago, Josy Hilkes Britton used her cash prize to buy a canoe. Her ensuing paddling excursions resulted in Reflections, Britton’s second Paint Ontario Best in Show painting. “That’s how I get inspired in the first place, canoeing,” Hilkes Britton [...]
The Grand Bend Strip leads all community newspapers in Ontario with eight nominations for this year’s Ontario Community Newspaper Awards, including best overall paper (a first for the paper) and photographer of the year for Casey Lessard, a two-time runner-up for this award. The paper also recently won two national awards, first prize ad design [...]
Photo and story by Casey Lessard A sight to see, thousands of tundra swans are now back at the Thedford Bog behind the Lambton Heritage Museum. The bog is a natural staging area for the swans, who are on their way from Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, to cooler climates in Canada’s North for the summer. The [...]
After suspending grants for a year because of the global economic downturn, the Grand Bend Community Foundation returned to the business of giving money to support community projects in 2009. The foundation gave four recipients a total of $38,500: The Friends of the Pinery Park, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, and Grand Bend Home [...]
Community/Charity Grand Bend Nursery School is now offering 5 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 2 [...]
Linked fundraisers result in first hair cuts since birth, father’s death Inspired by a desire to help raise money for residents of Haiti recovering from January’s earthquake, Ashlan Hollingsworth, 4, of Parkhill had her first ever hair cut at the hands of Rachel Michielsen of Beauty ‘n’ the Beach salon in Grand Bend. The $560 [...]
Story by Casey Lessard Drayton Entertainment is gearing up for the summer season at the Huron Country Playhouse, but needs your help finding accommodations for its cast and crew. More than 100 people will need a place to stay for their time here, which can range from five weeks to the whole summer. “It’s a [...]
