Percussionist Jon Gill performs at MusicFest 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 six or seven years that any of our bands had earned gold at nationals. It wasn’t a tradition before, but over four years, we’ve earned seven golds at eight festivals. It’s a legacy of excellence at South Huron.
I still can’t believe it (the individual award). I know a couple of guys who have won it before, and I look up to them as amazing people who I want to be half as good as they are. To be compared to them on a national level, it’s mind-blowing for me.
I wanted to start playing drums in Grade 4, but my parents wouldn’t let me. They got me started on bass guitar, and then I came here to the high school. Mr. (Bob) Robilliard recognized that I had a sense of rhythm, so he gave me a pair of drumsticks and stuck me in the percussion ensemble. It really caught on and I really enjoyed playing. I bought my own drum kit and I started playing a lot.
A lot of us take lessons from Dave Robilliard, and he’s taken that percussion ensemble further than we could have imagined.
I don’t think we could do it without the help of dedicated professionals. It just gives us the real world experience and the ability to go beyond just playing. I’m hoping to be a high school music teacher (attending UWO in the fall), and I want to give back to students what my teachers have given to me.

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 Bend resident Paul Ciufo’s A Killing Snow, which runs June 23 to August 13.
Nominated for the Governor-General’s award for drama for his play Reverend Jonah, Ciufo’s follow-up was inspired by the 2007 murders of Bill and Helene Regier, and focuses on the way people react to such events. “The panic people were feeling, and also the feeling of how could something like that happen here,” Ciufo says. “I explored that fear in a different way. My way of exploring that is writing a play.”
The play also examines the surprising complexity of small town life. One character is a pig farmer who also models. Patricia Hamilton’s character runs a lunch place in Clinton, but is also a psychic. Big cities aren’t always as dangerous as we think, and small towns aren’t always safe. These ideas are brought to light in a thrilling ensemble piece, and Casey Lessard spoke with star Patricia Hamilton to learn more.

Interview by Casey Lessard
Photo courtesy Blyth Festival

You are performing in Paul Ciufo’s play A Killing Snow. Tell me about the play and your role.
It’s a murder mystery about a group of people who get stuck in a farmhouse for four days because they can’t get on the road due to whiteouts. Murders ensue.
I play a middle-aged woman with a grown-up family who is on the road and ends up at this place. Her old lover owns the house and she hasn’t had anything to do with him for a long, long time. One of the other people stuck is her daughter’s ex-boyfriend. They all know each other, so when people start dying, you wonder who is killing whom.
It’s an interesting play by Paul because he doesn’t only write murder mysteries. He’s trying to broaden his writing. If you get a good murder mystery, it will do the circuit and can make the playwright some money.

I take it there aren’t very many older women in theatre; it’s really a young people’s game. Does that give you an advantage?
I think it does. There are a lot of plays being written about older people. The baby boomers are interested in people their own age and the problems of those people. I think you will see a lot of plays about people of that group. They’re going to see things that interest them about themselves. The second play I’m doing here at Blyth is called Pearl Gidley, and it’s about two elderly women living together in Blyth in 1969 who take in a boarder who is a deserter from the Vietnam War. It will speak to the audiences that come to Blyth.

Most people would recognize you from the role of Rachel Lynde, but you’ve been doing much more over the years as an actress. What has brought you to perform for the first time at Blyth?
I like the theatre more than I like television and film, although the Green Gables stuff was fantastic. I did it for seven seasons plus the four movies, so I played that role for about a decade. But I really am a theatre actress mainly, and I love working in repertory theatre, which is what they do at Blyth.
For the last 12 years, I have been at Shaw Festival, and I love doing that. Before that, I used to do a lot of new Canadian plays. There is nothing more wonderful than being the first person to say a writer’s words on stage.

Our most memorable moment from your career is in Road to Avonlea, where Rachel Lynde has a stroke. It’s such a touching concept.
That series was very good to work on, and it was given good production values from the beginning. And it was about an iconic book that every Canadian girl had read as a child. As we went along, the scriptwriter had already seen what I could do, so that script was written for me. When you got an episode where you were featured, like that one, it’s very exciting.

Sarah Polley was also in that show. She directed a film called Away From Her (adapted from a story by Alice Munro) about Alzheimer’s. It’s so interesting that you’re able to perform acts of reality for older people, for example strokes. Other Canadian films are also about this reality, for example Juno. Do you think we are different from the Americans in what we’re doing?
Yes. That’s one of the reasons we fight so passionately to have our own culture. We are not like the Americans in so many ways. Our culture should reflect who we are. We have to stand up for our culture, and Blyth is a place that really does that.

What’s special about Canadian theatre in particular?
It’s ours. We’re writing about what we know. And the actors who live in Canada have a better chance of being able to perform it because we know it. It’s fun to do plays about a place you know. That’s what Anne of Green Gables was about, too. It’s about doing things that are part of your culture.
I’m an actor. I’m a Canadian actor. I love performing on stage, and I love it in all its forms. There are plays from all over the world that attract me. I look for plays where there is a part for me, where it has something interesting to say, and where I can work with congenial comrades, all of which is true at Blyth.

Actress Cynthia Dale

Casey Lessard stole Dale away from her lunch break to discuss the role and how she ended up in Grand Bend.

Interview and photo by Casey Lessard

Cynthia Dale: Sweet Charity had been a dream role of mine for 30 years. It’s been the part I have wanted to do, and I’ve had some fabulous parts. In January, I was out with some girlfriends, and they said, well, why aren’t you doing it? I said I was too old, etc., but they convinced me to do it.

You’ll be 50 this year.
In August. It’s hard on the old bod. I am a dancer, thank God. I didn’t have to learn how to dance for the part. It’s a full part for anybody at any age. It’s just a lot of work, but that’s okay.

What attracted you to this role?
It’s who Charity is. She wears her heart on her sleeve and is full of moxy and sass. She’s a broad, but she believes in love and sees the world through rose coloured glasses and dreams of another life. She’s a part of everybody in the world because everyone has those qualities.
The show has some of the best music to sing and dance to. It’s just a fabulous show for music. It doesn’t come along that often. It had a revival on Broadway a few years ago and had a brief tour. If I didn’t step into it at this point, I may not get the opportunity again.

This is your first time with Drayton. What’s that been like?
It’s great because I know so many people in the cast. I’m doing it because it’s Michael Lichtefeld’s production. I did six shows with Michael at Stratford over the years. He knows me really, really well and knows what my strengths and weaknesses are. I knew I was going to be in really good hands with him.

You’ve been performing for a long time; most of your life. Do you find the roles you think you should be doing are changing?
No. I’ve been really lucky in the past two or three years. That hasn’t hit me yet. I played the crème de la crème parts in theatre for 10 years. There weren’t many more that I wanted to play other than this. There are others, but they are older ones. I’ve got some time for those.

You’ve also done some production work, including judging Triple Sensation (she spent the last two years co-producing a CBC movie). With your reputation, are you able to write your own ticket?
No, I don’t write my own ticket. I still audition.

But your name must carry some cachet.
I guess it does. I got offered a play in Toronto this week I’m probably going to do. I still lose parts I really want to do. Usually they’re TV or film roles. I’ve done pretty much every role I wanted to do in theatre. There are parts that come along and the director just doesn’t think you fit into his vision. That’s what theatre is.

There’s a mystique about people who are on television or film that they are different from other people, but it doesn’t exist.
No. We go buy groceries. We’re normal people and we have every single joy and hardship that everyone else does. I love performing, but it’s not the be all and end all for me.

This is your first time being to Grand Bend, but you haven’t been downtown yet.
I’ve been too busy. I started training in January, and Michael and I started rehearsals a month beforehand.

I see you also do art, and especially beach scenes. I’m surprised you haven’t been down to the beach.
I know, that’s what people keep saying. Go paint the beach. Part of the plan in July is to paint.

Looking at where you’ve been and what you’re doing, what would you like to do for the next 25 years?
I want to raise a good kid. That’s the dream. That’s all. If I work, that’s lovely, too.

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 by Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Patsy Cline, and many others. Country Legends runs from June 30 to July 24. Tickets are available at huroncountryplayhouse.com or by calling 519-238-6000.

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 at Sunset Arts this summer. His photo of tundra swans mid-flight is one of the works featured in his Casey365.com project from 2009.

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 by the prevailing authority.
When I started the Grand Bend Strip, I got a some nasty looks from people I didn’t know. Others simply ignored me, considered the paper junk mail, or didn’t care. They liked the old way, the other newspaper. But, as I believe Mark Reilly is, I was committed to doing my best every day and showing that I wanted to be part of this community. Luckily, there is a vocal minority – you who are reading this – who said, let’s support this guy. He’s doing something good.
I think Reilly’s dream of making Grand Bend a destination for athletes is a good thing. Somewhere along the line, he screwed up the execution. Too much, too soon. The town just redid the beach and downtown, after all. Add to that a contract that was too long for too little.
But let’s try to determine who is responsible here. It is really Mark Reilly?
Mark Reilly simply made a proposal to run a business. He did nothing wrong in that respect. His idea had no fundamental flaws. However, he made some mistakes by not communicating with residents, by not paying his initial fee, and by not securing insurance for the season. After his first mistake and the resulting meeting May 1, I can’t blame him for making the other two mistakes. He probably didn’t expect this project would happen this summer.
Is it Lambton Shores council, or perhaps the administration, that should bear the blame for the controversy and uproar by a group of concerned citizens? The administration wrote the terms of the agreement under direction of council, and made some critical errors in its construction. After a series of mistakes, council had enough reason to be concerned that it gave 60 days notice to terminate the contract with PVB. Good thing for them that PVB made the mistakes it did.
I’m going to take it one step further, though. If council and the administration are responsible for this mess, then perhaps the person ultimately responsible is you. After all, you voted in the council and they direct the administration.
I want to hear who you think is responsible. Visit our website and answer our poll, which is active now. It’s an early way to express your opinion to council. You’ll get another opportunity in October with the municipal election.
Regardless of your opinion, it looks like this project will go ahead. Ed Fluter says those supporting this project are a silent minority. But when it comes down to decision time, there may be a more important portion of the population that emerges. They’re the ones who vote in the councilors for wards other than Grand Bend. And when the residents of Grand Bend say, not in my backyard, are they listening? If not, who is in the majority here?

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:

Is mom stunned by the success of the Grand Bend Strip? Unfortunately, they only take one photo at the Ontario Community Newspapers Association awards banquet in Toronto, and this is the one they sent us. From left: publisher Casey Lessard, mom Rita Lessard, OCNA president Don MacLeod, and co-owner Anjhela Michielsen hold the most plaques taken home by any newspaper at this year’s awards, held May 14.

3rd place – General Excellence (best overall paper), circulation under 1,999
Note: Top marks in 4 of 11 categories, including Front Page, Presentation, Photography, and Production Quality
Judges Norm Park, Cindy Beaulieu, Kelly Clammer, Heather Thomson: The most eye-appealing publication in this class. No question about artistic quality and photo presentation. That is tops in the class. This paper also provides good, easy to read features with strong leads. It’s a home-spun feel-good paper with a professional flair.

2nd place – Photographer of the Year (competing with all newspapers)
Judge Bill White: Strong features. Some very nice lighting.

1st place – Best Creative Advertising (under 9,999) – ad promoting Casey365.com
Judge Wayne Aubert: Unexpected clean layout for the clutter of ads in a community paper.

1st place – Best Feature Photo (under 9,999) – cover photo from Parkhill fair
Judge Dave White: I think the photographer made some smart decisions regarding depth of field and camera angle to help us feel this child’s pure joy. The viewer is right there with her. I really love this image.

2nd place – Education Writing – SHDHS music trip to Chicago
Judge Richard Dal Monte: Great photos and a good idea going along for the ride on the band trip to the Windy City.

3rd place – Best Sports Photo – Hockey Night in Zurich dressing room photo
Judge Ron Scheffler: The photographer is commended for exploring behind the scenes to reveal a closer look at those who play simply for the love of the sport.

3rd place – Best Photo Layout – Parkhill’s Five Fun Days
Judge Joe Callahan: An uncomplicated layout and typography that allowed the photograph to communicate effectively.

3rd place – Best Rural Story (under 9,999) – potato farmer Marcus Koenig
Judge Jake Boudrot: Well written, well researched, significant local story, with a nice layout and excellent photographs.

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 Bend similar to the one he started in 1999 at Ashbridge’s Bay in Toronto. With plans to operate youth and adult camps and tournaments on the town’s north beach, Reilly and PVB approached Lambton Shores council in October 2009 and entered into a contract March 29, 2010 to run 15 courts for ten summers for $1500 per year.
Residents were informed April 5, and expressed to Reilly and the Iveys at a PVB-hosted meeting May 1 that they disapproved of the project and wanted it stopped.
While council supports the project, contractual problems (discussed on page 4 of this edition) led Lambton Shores to give PVB the 60 days notice required to void the contract. Council decided Monday night to renegotiate, and the matter is before lawyers. The Grand Bend Strip spoke with Mark Reilly Sunday night, ahead of the meeting, to see what he’d like to see now.

Interview by Casey Lessard

Grand Bend, Ontario - Mark Reilly of PVB volleyball.

Some changes to your original contract have been made as of Friday. What is the status?
Following the May 1 meeting we had with the community, we realized and were sensitive to many of the residents’ concerns. We’ve scaled back the contract and nothing has been signed yet, but we’ve had discussions with the municipality on how we could change a few clauses. Essentially adapt the contract to better suit the needs of the community and the municipality. We realize that the nature of the contract will demand an exceptional relationship with the municipality.

Here are some quick facts about the program: the original contract pitched 15 courts on the north beach for 10 years at $1500 per year; basically 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week for 15 weeks. What is the new agreement you’ve come up with the town?
We’ve scaled back the number of courts from 15 to 10 in year one. We’ve cut out all of the adult programming, all of the liquor licences and the idea of running tournaments where liquor would be involved for year one. We’ve entered a profit sharing agreement with the municipality where registration that comes through on the tournament side would result in revenue for the municipality. We’ve taken all of their concerns and digested them and came up with a proposal we believe will be suitable to the municipality and the residents.

Is the time length pretty similar?
We’ve scaled things back big time. We’re trying to show the residents and the municipality that we are listening and we’re hoping the residents will be sensitive to the changes and aware that the changes were made on behalf of them.
The courts are not being used nearly as much as it appears. In terms of the beach being used 24/7 by the beach volleyball courts, that’s not even close to a true equation. We have three child youth camps in place that are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, and that’s for a total of three weeks. We’re running three OVA youth tournaments; we cancelled our first tournament in June.

One big change is the venue.
Yeah, the venue is now being changed to the main beach. For us, it’s equally exciting. Each beach has its advantages, but the main beach, we’re very happy to be there.

Would you consider other venues?
The program needs to exist and function out of the Grand Bend beach. The beach is the lifeline to the success of the program. Tourists and volleyball clientele want to be on the beach and experiencing beach volleyball on the beach in front of the water. Grand Bend presents an exceptional beach to do that on.

A lot of people remarked on the dollar figure for the original deal. What is the situation now?
The municipality will be making more money now, but it’s a win-win. What will end up happening in the new deal, the town will make more money with more programming. Should we be offered more tournament time, the municipality and businesses will make more money. Should they decide to lighten the tournament load, they end up getting less revenue. They want more money, they’re getting more money. But with that, we have to have more tournaments.

What is your vision for beach volleyball in Grand Bend?
We’re going to take slow steps and see what the market yields. If you do your research, some of your top volleyball players, including the top male and top female, came from the London and Kitchener-Waterloo areas. Western Ontario has a great volleyball history, and that history will get better. You’ll start to see beach volleyball athletes develop. Athletes simply don’t want to travel to Toronto and Cobourg, so our hope is a lot of families will see an opportunity to stay close to home and invest their time and energy in Grand Bend.

What’s your reaction to the way the community reacted to your proposal?
You have a generational gap who don’t understand the demands that young children are faced with and the many routes young children and adults can take these days. They don’t get the PlayStations and all the other distractions life presents for these families and young kids. I’m sensitive to that. I’m not calling them naïve. I’m calling them unfamiliar with the environment kids are dealing with.
At the same time, I’m completely aware and sensitive to these families who are craving more for their children. This program, without a doubt, is going to give the community a healthy, athletic focus. There are many residents, older and younger, who are afraid to speak. The way the other side presented their case, it was quite bluntly very aggressive. Any time people are afraid to speak, you have a problem. People should be able to speak openly and voice their opinions, and that certainly was not the case with this item. A lot of misinformation was dealt initially, and that bred anger and created a revolt against the project. As a citizen, I don’t agree with that.

I understand you have received some threats. Do you have any safety concerns?
I don’t. I think there will be a lot of focus and attention dealt toward volleyball and I think it’s a good thing. People are going to quickly realize this is a good, sound project, and we’re doing a good thing for the community. People involved in the project are going to take a lot of pride in the program, what we’re doing. I’m not concerned about safety at this point. We’ve addressed some of the safety issues, and we made it very clear that we’re going to be watching very carefully for outsiders who are not in support of the program.

There have been suggestions that because of your relationship to Charlie Ivey, who is related to former mayor Cam Ivey, that some favour was curried here. Has your affiliation with the Iveys led to any special treatment at council?
For anyone who wants to know how the volleyball business works, this has been the most taxing volleyball project I’ve ever been attached to. For anyone who thinks this has been an easy journey and that the Iveys have helped streamline this process and make it easy for us to get a contract, they’re sadly mistaken. Of every deal I’ve ever put together – with literally 20 or 30 companies or municipalities – this has been an extremely detailed process. Charlie has been a mentor to me, but in no way, shape or form has the Ivey name taken this deal through the pipes easily.

How do you heal the gap between your company, which wants to be here, and the people who are already here, especially the group led by Ed Fluter? What steps can you and they take to heal that rift?
I think they have to understand that there is a generation looking for more. We’re very grateful and thankful to be on the beach. We plan on working through a program model that is respectful to the community. If they plan to continue to slam the program and ruin the program, if that’s how they want to spend their lives and create their legacy in Grand Bend, that’s their path. If that’s the path they want to take, no one can stop them. But I’ll tell you that they’ll be upsetting a lot of families if it continues.

What is Grand Bend missing if it decides not to do this?
It’s a watershed moment. In the community of Grand Bend, we’ve had countless people email us to say they’re scared and are starving for a program like this. There’s a group of people that yields a lot of power and they do it in ways like mobbing. That’s what this was. They created misinformation and have managed to get a whole lot of people angry.

What if you aren’t here? What will you do?
I’ll continue on. I’m a passionate guy who’s involved in a game that’s done a lot for me. I don’t plan on ever stopping my volleyball journey. The sport has done wonderful things for my life and I feel I’m a disciple of the game.
If we need to go an alternative route, we will. But my hope is we don’t have to go down that road. I’m really confident that Grand Bend is the right spot to be.

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 photo by Casey Lessard

What are your main issues with volleyball on the beach at Grand Bend?
This is not a volleyball issue. I am a strong proponent of volleyball and other sports. My career was as a physical educator and coach. I love volleyball and sports and the benefits of sports. This issue is about commercializing our beach, a beach that has been designated for public use. It’s my feeling and our feeling – I represent a fairly large segment of the population right now – that no commercial activity should take over any portion of any of our beaches.
Beach volleyball is big business. If you have John Morrison of Not So Pro owing the City of Toronto $328,000 (including, according to the Globe and Mail, $113,000 for three months rent), you have to know this is big business. Even if it weren’t a huge potential for business, it’s still a for-profit activity on our beach.

So what do you say to suggestions that many of those opposed are of a certain generation that does not understand the needs of young people?
It has absolutely nothing to do with it. We are trying to protect this beach for people of all ages. We feel it is totally unfair that an organization of any kind is allowed to take over and lease a portion of public beach for private use for four months. One of the great joys I’ve seen over the years, on that part of the north beach that is not used for bathing purposes, the area considered underutilized is often used for spontaneous free play for people of all ages. I’m a strong advocate of that. Zoning regulation states that lakeshore be used for such passive recreation.
This deal is a precedent we don’t want to be set. I’m not against non-profit groups coming in and using a portion of the beach for a weekend, preferably during the shoulder seasons. In fact, I would be a proponent of that.
That portion of the beach that will be used for beach volleyball can be used by nobody else if they’re running from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week for the entire summer.

You are part of a new group referred to at council as the Community Association of Lambton Shores. Can you tell me about that?
We felt that our voice was not being heard. When you can show up with 100 people at three or four council meetings, when you can show up with 200 at the only meeting we had any opportunity to have input in (the PVB meeting on May 1), when you can get over 1000 names on a petition, including 50 businesses, when you can get that kind of vocal majority and be totally disregarded, you have to take further steps to fight this and other concerns through a group.

This has become quite a heated debate. Someone suggested they would put spikes in the courts where the children were playing volleyball. Do you and your group condone such violence?
Absolutely not. We condone no form of civil disobedience.

What do you plan to do if the revised agreement with fewer courts, shorter hours and fewer tournaments goes ahead this summer?
We are against that because it still doesn’t solve the bottom line issue. We have a number of strategies planned that I would prefer to keep in confidence at this point in time. We’re not going away. We’re not going to roll over and give up on this issue. We’ll take it as far as we possibly can.
There’s a small minority – I call them the silent minority – who claim they haven’t been heard, but have made no attempt to be heard in a formal, professional way other than complaining and gossiping in the background. Let them step forward and speak out.
We’re not getting personal in this debate. I have no personal issues with the proponents. This is an issue we’re fighting because we strongly believe in it.

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 support the contract the way it was signed?
Yes, I did. We’ve certainly altered it since the original, so I’m supportive of what’s being changed since the original.

Is there anything you would change about the contract?
I think it’s still a good idea, although there is a percentage of people who don’t support it. I like the concept of volleyball for kids on the beach, and I think it’s going to be beneficial to some of the people on the main strip. Maybe we should have done it on a yearly basis. We haven’t done anything about tournaments, but the fact that they’re not going to have any alcohol is a positive. The food voucher thing used to be done by the guy who rented the beach house, but it certainly wasn’t our intent to include that, so it’s gone.
If you bring more people to Grand Bend, the revenue of the businesses should increase. With Americans not coming the last little while and probably again this year, it’s an opportunity to get folks to bring their kids and generate revenue for the main street.

Do you think PVB should be operating on the Grand Bend beach?
I think they should. If they become successful, perhaps we can find a second venue so some of it can happen on the beach and some of it locally nearby without having to drive four or five miles to do that.
We’re kind of out of the contract, in my opinion, so we do have an opportunity to renegotiate if they’re interested. We’re not sure if that’s true or now. As of Friday afternoon, with 60 days notice, we’re out of the contract. They have been given notice.
It gives council some control to tighten up the contract if they’re still interested.

What rationale broke the contract?
It was the insurance portion and the fact that they were supposed to pay their $1500 by a certain date, which they didn’t do. The beginning of the season in the agreement was May 1. (They’ve been informed of this?) Yes.

Do you plan to make a new contract?
If council agrees, we will. If council doesn’t agree, we won’t. As of now, they still have the right to renegotiate. Because of the 60 day notice, there’s a little more time on our side to modify the agreement to what the residents were looking for.

What is your vision for the long-term use of Grand Bend’s beach?
The beach is for everybody’s use. If we can make this successful and bring more people, the long term would be to have two venues. Volleyball on the beach and volleyball close by. It would bring more folks and help everybody be a little more economically viable.

Carolyn Jamieson, Deputy Mayor
Years on council: more than 20
Position sought in 2010: Deputy mayor

Did you support the initial proposal from PVB?
Not the way it was, no. It was way too large.

Do you support the contract the way it was signed?
In principle. I still think it’s probably too big. I had my doubts about the number of courts, but I went along with the majority.
Is there anything you would change about the contract?
No.

Do you think PVB should be operating on the Grand Bend beach?
I do not have a problem with them operating on the beach.

If you could get out of the contract today (interviewed May 16), would you do it?
I have no idea. I hadn’t thought about that.
What is your vision for the long-term use of Grand Bend’s beach?
As a beach. They play volleyball there now, so they should continue to play volleyball. They swim, they sunbathe, they walk. You use it as a beach. I am not a beach person, so I am a poor person to ask. I do not like the water and I do not swim. But I understand that many, many people use that beach. They enjoy the beach.

John Dehondt, Ward 1
Years on council: four
Position sought in 2010: mayor

Did you support the initial proposal from PVB?
Yes and no. I supported a volleyball school. I didn’t support tournaments, beer tents, food concessions, or the size that it came up at. Actually I suggested it be two-thirds the size they suggested.

Do you support the contract the way it was signed?
No.

Is there anything you would change about the contract?
There was to be a clause in it that should the residents not be on side, that we can terminate the contract. There are a number of things wrong with it. That would be the simplest. The way I saw it happening, they would go out and do their communications program. They would come back and say, “it’s not going the way we thought, why don’t we do this and this?” Work out a collaborative agreement between what the residents and PVB wanted.

Do you think PVB should be operating on the Grand Bend beach?
No, I do not.

If you could get out of the contract today (as of May 16), would you do it?
Yes.

What is your vision for the long-term use of Grand Bend’s beach?
My vision is to keep it uncommercialized. I qualify that, too. I’d like to see an international rugby tournament. I’d like to see volleyball played, but being played on four permanent courts that allow people to play, including the teams that have been coming there for years. I’d like to see a committee created that would be made of people from the service clubs that would come up with recommendations of what and how we should protect our beach. That would be the best solution. As far as the volleyball goes, it should go back to the recreation and leisure plan. I think what would be supported would be a small community-based volleyball school. We have enough talent in the community that we could probably create some sort of volleyball school that would be at a different scale than PVB but still give us the opportunity to let young people have sports activities. But it doesn’t have to be on the beach.

Is Klondyke still an option?
Kids don’t care if volleyball is on the beach or at Klondyke. I really don’t believe that. The kids just want to learn and go play volleyball. I can see doing 90 per cent of the activities off beach. They could do finals and tournaments on the beach. That would be perfect. I think residents would get behind that.

Bill Weber, Ward 2
Years on council: 22
Position sought in 10/2010: mayor

Did you support the initial proposal from PVB?
The initial proposal from PVB was different than what was approved by council. Many changes and controls were added by staff following council’s direction from discussions held in open council meetings.

Do you support the contract the way it was signed?
Yes. The contract was moved and seconded and passed by a quorum of council so I support it as a member of council. No, I do not agree with all of the terms in the contract.

Is there anything you would change about the contract?
Things I believe should be negotiated: I have always said that a smaller number of semi permanent courts would be better – six may be a good number; and I think the contract should able to be reviewed, amended, extended, or cancelled each fall after the season of operations.

Do you think PVB should be operating on the Grand Bend beach?
I believe a school for volleyball on the beach can be beneficial to our residents and our businesses, so yes.

If you could get out of the contract today, would you do it?
Anyone can get out of any contract. But what is lost in reputation or opportunity for the community may take years to recover from. The last motion from council was to look at options and negotiate with PVB to address concerns and work toward a volleyball program in Grand Bend.

What is your vision for the long-term use of Grand Bend’s beach?
The beach is public and should be enjoyed by all.

Mark Simpson, Ward 3
Years on council: seven
Position sought in 10/2010: mayor

Did you support the initial proposal from PVB?
In principal I did support the concept. I had concerns with the number of courts, parking, the amount of the lease, and alcohol at events.

Do you support the contract the way it was signed?
As a member of council, I accept the contract as written.

Do you think PVB should be operating on the Grand Bend beach?
The municipality does not provide programming. We provide the facilities for both non-profit and for-profit organizations to provide the programs.

If you could get out of the contract today (as of May 16), would you do it?
While I wasn’t at the council meeting where the contract was approved (I have missed 2 meetings in 7 years, and that was one of them), I support all the decisions made by my colleagues that night.

What is your vision for the long-term use of Grand Bend’s beach?
Passive recreational use with the continued use by community groups for their activities, and for other programs that are suitable for beach use.

Ruth Illman, Ward 4
Years on council: seven

Did you support the initial proposal from PVB?
I supported the concept of a volleyball school on the beach as I believe it provides increased opportunity for physical activity for youth and adults. The volleyball school can also be seen as having potential for economic spin off for community businesses.

Do you support the contract the way it was signed?
Lambton Shores does not have a parks and recreation department and I can support the for-profit proposal provided that we treat this organization consistently with other for-profits that have provided programming in our Lambton Shores facilities and that all operational costs be the responsibility of the organization. I do not envision provision of alcoholic beverages on the beach, use of food vouchers, use of amplified music or PA systems. It is also important to have an evaluation of the program at the end of the season.

Is there anything you would change about the contract?
If I had this to do over, I would prefer that the municipality initiate the communications plan and that we start smaller than what we initially agreed.

Do you think PVB should be operating on the Grand Bend beach?
Yes.

If you could get out of the contract today (as of May 16), would you do it?
We agreed as a council that we wanted staff to go back to PVB and discuss a modified version of the volleyball school. I am hopeful that negotiations and discussions can achieve some positive adjustments.

What is your vision for the long-term use of Grand Bend’s beach?
I see the Grand Bend beach as one of the many jewels of this municipality. I want to see the beach as an attractive, safe and fun place for all of our residents to live and play and for tourists and families to visit. I want to see opportunities for both organized and unorganized play for children and youth.
I want to see the beach continue as an internationally recognized “Blue Flag” beach with more opportunities for environmental programming in partnership with other community groups and organizations. The opportunity for partnerships for environmental education and partnerships in beach safety education is certainly possible in conjunction with a beach volleyball school.
I want to see more opportunities for the handicapped and disabled. The main beach enhancement goes a long way to making the area more accessible but we do need to review the overall beach enhancement plan and consider accessibility possibilities for the north beach. I look forward to community discussions of these issues as we move forward with the Recreation and Leisure Master Plan.
We do not staff a recreation department and we do not have the financial means to do so unfortunately. We facilitate programming by partnering with both public organizations and private profit and not for profit organizations.

Gerry Rupke, Ward 5
Years on council: four
Position sought in 10/2010: Ward 3

Did you support the initial proposal from PVB?
I thought it was a great concept. We had some significant concerns, and they were to be addressed and brought back to council again. I wasn’t there when it came back to council.

Do you support the contract the way it was signed?
It didn’t address all the concerns we had, and one of them was communication with the local residents. We realized from the start that would be problematic, and would require significant effort by the company to sell their program to residents.
Is there anything you would change about the contract?
The communication plan. Nothing proceeds until local residents are happy with the plan.

Do you think PVB should be operating on the Grand Bend beach?
I think it’s a good potential use of the beach, yes. I’ve seen it done in other communities. In fact, I was just in Israel, and in Tel Aviv they have a very similar beach. There were four or five courts there in continuous use and quite compatible with other uses adjacent to it.

If you could get out of the contract today (as of May 16), would you do it?
Yes. I would alter it. (But you support them offering something on the beach?) Yes.

What is your vision for the long-term use of Grand Bend’s beach?
It’s a primary asset of our municipality and should be used for the benefit of our municipality as a whole. All the way along our shoreline we have a great asset, and we should ensure it is used in an environmentally appropriate way to benefit this community.

Doug Cook, Ward 6
Years on council: A few months
Position sought in 10/2010: Ward 6

Did you support the initial proposal from PVB?
(Was not on council at the time.)
Do you support the contract the way it was signed?
I would support most of it in principle.
Is there anything you would change about the contract?
I’m a business owner, so I thought they were given a pretty lucrative opportunity for $1500. That’s my only position.

Do you think PVB should be operating on the Grand Bend beach?
I have no problem with that.

If you could get out of the contract today (as of May 16), would you do it?
I still like the premise. The fact that you’re giving young people the opportunity to have a sports program in Grand Bend is a good thing. The spinoff benefit to the local businesses was another opportunity for them. Businesses on the main drag tend to need some support, so I think more traffic in town wouldn’t hurt them at all.
What is your vision for the long-term use of Grand Bend’s beach?
I really don’t know the issue very well. I’d have to find out more about what’s going on in Grand Bend. There is a recreation committee being put together right now that will be coming out in the next few months, and it will give direction for what we will see in parks and recreation use across Lambton Shores.

John Russell, Ward 7
Years on council: less than a year
Position sought in 10/2010: Undecided

Did you support the initial proposal from PVB?
Yes.

Do you support the contract the way it was signed?
I don’t support the existing contract because I didn’t know it was going to be signed (missed meeting due to family concerns).

Is there anything you would change about the contract?
Those are all details. The issue is for or against. I’m for it. I’m for volleyball. I’m for recreational opportunities. We made mistakes and PVB made major mistakes because they didn’t listen to us when we said they had to deal with the public. That’s our mistake, too, because we didn’t force their hand with that.

Do you think PVB should be operating on the Grand Bend beach?
I have no problem with them operating on the beach.

If you could get out of the contract today (as of May 16), would you do it?
Yeah. I made a motion that was defeated at the last council meeting that referred the issue of volleyball as a use of beach. It should be referred to the master plan on recreation, which is starting as we speak. We have a strategic plan. Recreation, heritage and culture are not in that plan. A strategic plan without recreation is not strategic.
I supported what they were trying to do. The idea of having volleyball on the beach is a good idea. But we have a bad history on this council of not using the public in a correct manner. That’s why you have these types of documents and public processes (master plans, etc.). Because this wasn’t quite correct, I suggested that the world wouldn’t come to an end if you don’t do it right now.

What is your vision for the long-term use of Grand Bend’s beach?
I don’t have one. That’s why I go through processes like that. I spent a lot of years chairing planning in Bosanquet, and my feeling is this: it’s not my vision; you get public input and find out.

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 team to help stop other youth from sharing Derik’s fate.

As told to Casey Lessard
Photos by Casey Lessard

Amanda Welsh is this year's team driver for the Derik Whiting Foundation race team.

He said he was going to hang up his helmet in 2006. He wanted to try some other stuff. He was working for me doing some property management, and was in the process of getting a truck on the road. He had gone through school for tool and die, and had passed with flying colours. His school had five awards, and he won all five. I think it was because I told him that if he flunked, he was paying for it, and if he passed, I would pay for it, so he made sure he passed.
He had a job working in tool and die for a short time in Strathroy, but it was the beginning of the crunch and they were laying people off. He struggled to get a job in the industry and came back to work with me in maintenance.

It was May 29, 2006. It was the morning, and I was working at the medical centre around 8 a.m.. I used to have another shop with my friend Rick Maguire. Rick called and said, “Can you come over to the shop?”
When I got to the shop, Rick met me outside and told me that Derik had hanged himself. It was hard to believe. First you think, no, it didn’t happen. I put reality together and knew it had.
I was dumbfounded. Lost. I did go in and look. I felt I needed that to know that it really happened. Then the police showed up.
At the funeral, I didn’t realize he had so many friends. Jim Hoffman told me it was the second largest funeral they’d had. I can understand it because he was so well liked.

I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that I don’t think about him or wonder why. He was a vibrant young man who loved life and made the best of everything he did. People called him a greeter because he was so friendly. He was the life of the party. We were all very shocked when it happened because, to this day, we don’t understand why.
It was a real shock to the family. He did leave a letter to the family that he was tired of crying himself to sleep, which we found very shocking.
A depression that’s held inside is the worst kind. If he had reached out to my wife Marlene or myself, or to his sister, or to someone at the medical centre where I work, that might have changed something.

It took about six months before I came up with the idea for the Derik Whiting Foundation. Derik was working on saving the ball diamond, so I took that on. It was something I would never have done, but Derik started it, so I felt I had to finish it. So far, with Bud Desjardine and Vince Bury, we’ve got that done. We put an ad in the paper and in the first year, we had 35-36 T-ball kids. Today, we have five traveling teams and still T-ball. The diamond’s still there. The diamond’s used so much now, we have actually taken over Dashwood for the bantams, and hopefully we’ll add two more teams, the midgets and mosquitoes.
A few people commented that Huron County has a higher than average suicide rate. I realized there weren’t a lot of programs for kids to hear about this, and I felt I had to do something. I knew how much Derik liked getting into the race car, and thought this was a good way to get kids who were having a rough time in life, or couldn’t afford it, into a race car. Give them some self-esteem and help them get over that hump in life.
A year passed, and another. We got the charitable status, but didn’t have the funding. We’re at the stage now where we have enough funding to buy a race truck and get kids into the program. We don’t just race. It’s a program where they learn mechanics, auto body, all the way down to writing stories for the local papers and taking pictures, speaking, announcing at the track, and so many other things. If one likes mechanics, we’ll try to help get that person into a garage or school for apprenticeship. Same with auto body or photography. And provide counseling while they go through the program.

We have three kids in the program now, Amanda, JJ and Jason. Amanda is driving this year and we’d like to put another car on the track next year.
We don’t pick people off the street to be part of this. They have to be in a counseling program. They’re being counseled because they’ve either made an attempt on their life or they have a real rough life. If the counselor feels the person needs a boost and is stable enough after counseling, that person can come to us and be part of the program.
We welcome any volunteers. We are looking for people who would be interested in helping the kids. Over the next winter, we would like to build the trucks, so when they get on the track next year, they know they’ve built that truck.
The end goal is that if I can save one person’s life, I’ve accomplished it. I’d like to do more than that. I have a feeling we will do a lot more than that, and that the program will grow. The future doesn’t have to involve racing. They could build a house. Let them do it and learn that they did something. That they’re part of a team. That’s what it’s all about. At the end of the day, the team did it.

I feel like I’m doing something for Derik. I miss his smile, his jokiness, his little smirk. I miss everything about him. I totally miss him. I miss him every day. It’s been frustrating getting this foundation going, and I think he’s the only one keeping me going. It was at a point about a year ago that I almost gave up on it. I’m glad I didn’t, because now we have some kids – team members – in the program, and it’s really satisfying knowing I could be helping save their life.

Larry Whiting would like to acknowledge the support of the team’s sponsors: Prosper’s Garage, Mike & Terri’s No Frills, Track21 Graphix, MacTools, Four Seasons Performance, MacFadden’s Welding, TNT Security Systems, Warwick Collision, and Glassford Chrysler.

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 Neil Simon’s Tony Award-winning musical about an optimistic young woman who always wears her heart on her sleeve.
For tickets, call 519-238-6000 or visit huroncountryplayhouse.com.

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 Tobin, Jonny Wexler, Ken Chamberland, Caitlin Goguen, Susan Johnston Collins, Alana Randall, Sarah Vance.
Drayton Entertainment Production

St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, Waterloo – April 21 to May 15, 2010
Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend – May 19 to May 30, 2010

Entertain This Thought!
By Mary Alderson
(Disclaimer: The reviewer’s son is in the cast.)

Last year, when High School Musical hit the stages in St. Jacobs and Penetanguishene, it was an amazingly energetic show.  This year, the energy has been kicked up a notch or two, if that’s possible!
The show is lots of fun, with enthusiastic singing and dancing.  It’s back at St. Jacobs after completely selling out there last year, then in mid-May, it opens Huron Country Playhouse’s season in Grand Bend.
Director David Connelly describes it as a Romeo and Juliet story; two kids from opposite sides fall in love – the jock and the brainiac.  Troy, the school’s basketball star, meets Gabriella while on a ski vacation.  They take part in a karaoke contest and are surprised to learn they can sing.  But when Gabriella enrols at Troy’s school, he’s embarrassed to tell his friends he likes singing.  She is pressured into taking part in a math competition, rather than audition for the high school musical.
This show is also the new Grease, but instead of peer pressure on the couple to conform, High School Musical celebrates the differences.  The cliques can mix: the jocks, brainiacs, skater dudes and musical theatre geeks can all be friends.  They can even admit to enjoying activities outside their clique, like the jock who bakes, or the skateboarder girl who plays cello.  In act one, they are afraid to mix up the cliques, singing “Stick to the Status Quo”, but by the end, the kids declare, “We’re all in this together.”
With 10 of the 20 cast members returning from last year, the show has all the same good qualities.  Plus, 10 new cast members have joined, bringing with them experience playing the same characters at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax.  Like the plot, the two groups have come together, raising the energy level.
David Cotton reprises the role of Troy Bolton – this year with hair à la Zac Efron or Justin Bieber, which is sure to impress the girls in the audience. But more impressive is David’s voice.  He nails every song perfectly, with better harmony than Efron’s movie versions.
Canadian Idol Melissa O’Neil returns as Gabriella.  Her character is quiet, shy, smart, and endearing much like O’Neil herself.  Her solid singing experience is certainly evident.
Lisa Lennox is the evil Sharpay, with ideal comedic timing and plenty of energy.  Her twin brother Ryan is played perfectly by Chad McNamara.  The two of them are amazing dancers.  Lennox and McNamara, along with Jonny Wexler, who plays Chad Danforth, are TV’s Doodlebops.  All three know how to hold the young audience’s attention.  In addition, there are four other members of the Doodlebops live touring shows in this production: Shaun Castor (Mongo), Tim Porter (James), Amelia Sirianni (Kelsi) and Sarah Vance (Cathy).
Susan Johnston Collins is back as the eccentric drama teacher Ms Darbus, perfect in the comedic role.  She talks to her class in a variety of accents, each one funnier than the last.   Mark Harapiak, just back from a North American tour as King Arthur in Camelot, plays the nasty, tough Coach Bolton well.  After Bolten has his revelation, Harapiak infuses some comedy into the character, joining the students for the final dance numbers.
The rest of the cast, Thomas Alderson, Cassandra Kranjec, Stephanie West, Liam Flanagan, Alison Jantzie, Tim Porter, Liam Tobin, Ken Chamberland, Caitlin Goguen, and Alana Randall, are adept at handling various parts and many quick costume changes.  They also bring great enthusiasm and energy with their singing and dancing.  An audience favourite is “The Start of Something New” where the cast sings and signs the lyrics.  The huge megamix finale with the entire cast is spectacular.
This show is very family friendly with a 7:00 p.m. start, wrapping up at 9:30 so the kids can get home to bed.  There are also booster seats available for diminutive theatregoers – extras were brought in from the Elmira McDonalds.
Kids love seeing the movie brought to life on stage.  They have the DVD memorized and know exactly what will happen next.  For the most part, they love the predictability.  However, last year, I chatted with one young fan who was upset that a new song had been added that wasn’t in the movie.  But then it was forgivable when her friend reminded her that the song was an “extra track” on the CD.
If you have pre-teens in your family, take them to the show.  But even if you don’t have a handy youngster, go anyway.  It is a great evening of entertainment, with superior singing, lively choreography, and a positive message.  All ages can enjoy High School Musical.
Just a note – if you have the Drayton Entertainment Theatre Guide 2010, there have been changes:  The booklet lists High School Musical as appearing at the Drayton Theatre, but the show has been moved to St. Jacobs due to renovations at Drayton.  Also, the booklet shows that High School Musical runs until June 5 in Grand Bend, but now it is scheduled to close May 30.  Order tickets now, last year it sold out.

High School Musical continues with eight shows a week until May 15 at St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, and then from May 19 to May 30 at Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend.  Tickets are available at the St. Jacobs box office 519-757-7788, Huron Country Playhouse box office at 519-238-6000, Drayton Entertainment at 1-888-449-4463, or check out www.draytonentertainment.com.

A member of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association, Mary Alderson reviews shows at area theatres and posts her reviews at www.entertainthisthought.com.

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 2. The day was too beautiful not to see whether others would be soaking up the sun and getting sand stuck between their toes. They sure were. It felt like July.
More interesting, though, was seeing the main street construction that will be done by the time most people expected summer to start (i.e. not April). Regardless of what you think of the width of the road, the remake looks promising. The facelift was a long time coming.
I can understand why some people are nonplussed about the process. It makes life tougher if the road’s not wide enough. But let’s be honest. This construction is not to make life easier for drivers. It is for the walkers, and those using wheelchairs. In other words, it’s for the shoppers. Someday, that may even be you.
That will be some time from now, though, if you won’t go downtown while visitors run amok. If a town can’t sustain its downtown economy year-round solely on its residents, what do you expect? Businesses are going to continue to plan for the summer economy, and had people known it was going to be so beautiful Easter weekend, more businesses would have opened to serve the influx.
There’s no turning back on this downtown project, and we may have the best infrastructure around by this summer. With the new look, we may even be able to attract a few more downtown businesses that cater to locals, as most people say they want.
But it will take some more vision, like that of a select few (including Kazwear, which is finishing its own intriguing renovation), to get us to the point where the majority make a living off the residents instead of the visitors.
Is that right for Grand Bend? You tell me.

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, Helga Otton, Jack Winn, Josy Britton, Kristyn Watterworth, Laura Jones Wright, Mary Lynn Fluter, Michael Billett, Patricia Downie, Sunset Arts, and Teresa Marie. Admission is free to all.
The best place to start is at Baillie’s Framing, where you can find maps to the various locations, including the River Road strip of galleries, Pine Dale Motor Inn, Bliss Studio in Port Franks, and various home studios.

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 runs at the Huron Country Playhouse May 19 to 30. After a weekend of auditions, including a full Sunday at South Huron District High School, 80 actors were chosen to join the P.E.P. Squad, the play’s chorus.
“I saw it in the paper and right away I knew that it was something I had to do,” said Alicia Veens, 16, a student at North Lambton Secondary School in Forest. “I love the play a lot, and I love to sing. I love to dance, even though I’m not very good.”
Veens and the rest of the teens had to show their abilities in both areas. Director and choreographer David Connolly and dance captain Michelle Black taught the audition attendees one of the routines those selected will be performing in the play, “We’re All In This Together”.
“It was nerve-wracking,” said Viktor Coletta, a South Huron student from Parkhill. “I was scared out of my mind. I wasn’t expecting what they did. I felt better when we were in groups, but I think I did pretty good.”
The Drayton team acknowledges the fear auditionees have. After all, for some, this is their first time trying out for a professional role.
“We had kids coming to the door, still not convinced of whether they were going to do it at all,” Michelle Black said. “Still thinking it over and they got here. The fact is, they got the courage to learn the material and present at the end.”
The process is not new for Grand Bend’s Meaghan Forrester. She was in the chorus of last season’s Oliver!
“With my Oliver! audition, I screwed up, too, and let my performance suffer,” Forrester said. “This one I screwed up, but I felt my performance was better. You miss a step or have to catch up.
“I hope I get in, but if I don’t, I’m applying to university and those auditions need work,” she added. “If I do get in, I plan to work a lot harder than I did on Oliver!, because we had a lot more time and it was less complicated. This will be less time and more complicated.”
It seems Forrester impressed Connolly and Black; she was among those chosen to join the squad for eight performances this summer. But Connolly understands the pressure the audition process puts on a new performer.
“These kids are making courageous choices to be here,” he said. “For some, it’s an obvious choice; their parents support them and they drove them and it was a no-brainer. There are others who moved mountains to get into that room. When you know what an audition is, it’s scary enough, but they don’t even know what an audition is and they’re walking into a room to put it all on the line.”
Alicia Bradley, 17, of London put it on the line. The Central Secondary School student, who spends summers at a cottage in Grand Bend, has experience at the Grand Theatre in London, where she was a pianist. She was hoping to move from the orchestra pit to the stage.
“I love to dance and sing, Bradley said. “I want to go into theatre at university, but I didn’t realize that until last year, so I’m trying to get my show experience now. I have a couple of auditions at Ryerson, York and U of T. I’m a dancer, so I thought this would be a good chance to get on stage.”
Unfortunately, Bradley is not among those who will be on the Playhouse stage this summer. Neither will Beth Smallman, a South Huron student new to professional theatre.
“I want to go into acting after high school,” Smallman said. “This was my first audition. I’ve been in a lot of drama things through school. I wanted to see what an audition is like and see whether I get it.”
No matter, though. It was a worthy experience for the teen.
“It went really well,” she said. “I learned a lot. I tried my hardest and it was a lot of fun.”
That’s the kind of attitude David Connolly was looking for, even if it didn’t translate into a position with the cast. The overwhelming desire to succeed reminds Connolly of his early theatre years.
“My first big audition was for Alan Lund at Kitchener-Waterloo Musical Productions. I had done some dancing with dance studios and competed a little, but Alan Lund was standing in front of me with Cynthia Toushan Brnjas, who was his assistant, and I didn’t even know that choreographers had assistants. I remember being in awe of that. I must have been so bad and awkward. But we’re looking for passion, someone who can’t think of anything else they’d rather do, and I must have had that.”
It’s all about perspective, Michelle Black said.
“If they did it again, it’s less of an audition and more of a workshop on life. Every time I spend time with David, I learn a little more about myself. Today, if they don’t get the show, the confidence they’ll get from being in the room with him is huge.”
And it’s not for everyone.
“We had a girl yesterday break down in the middle and say, ‘I can’t do this,’” Black said. “You can see that, for some of them, it’s terrifying.”
It wasn’t a problem for Virginia Iredale of Exeter, who earned a spot on the squad.
“The hardest part is keeping it all together,” the Grade 10 student said. “I don’t get embarrassed on stage. The easiest part was coming. I just decided, I’m going, my mom will bring me. Then it’s like, I’m here, guess I get to do it now.”
Family support is important, and makes the process easier.
“My mom made me (audition),” said Viktor Coletta. “I did this in London with Original Kids. I was Zeke Baylor, the cook. It’s a fun show, a lot of energetic people.”
Alicia Veens came wearing a shirt that reads Born to be Famous.
“My grandma bought me this shirt,” Veens said. “She loves what I do and hopes for the best for me. I want to be famous really bad.”
And she knows what it takes to get there.
“If you have it, you have it. You don’t have to be good looking, as long as you have the talent and believe in yourself.”
Words David Connolly might argue were taken right out of his mouth. He hopes some kids discovered this about themselves during the audition process.
“You can tell somebody they’re great, but that will never replace them feeling that they did it themselves,” he said. “That moment of doing it for themselves will stay with them.”
Veens walked away wanting the moment to last.
“I would love to get a letter in the mail saying I’ve made it. I’ve always wanted to be in a play like this.”
“I’d like to see all the good people get it,” added Virginia Iredale. “I will definitely go see it now because it looks like fun.”
No need to buy a ticket, Virginia, because you and Alicia are in it. Veens and Iredale were both added to the P.E.P. Squad roster. And yes, High School Musical looks like fun. To see it for yourself, visit http://www.draytonentertainment.com

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 painting depicts a late winter scene at the back of her family farm on Creamery Road, where she has lived for 30 years with her husband, Matt.
Casey Lessard visited her home studio and gallery to discuss art and conservation.

As told to Casey Lessard

I’m an outdoors type of person. I enjoy the scenery and we’re blessed to have this beautiful climate we live in with all its seasons. I enjoy every kind of weather.
We live on the land. We appreciate the beauty that we’re surrounded by. We appreciate the clean water and clean air and try to keep it that way for generations to come. We tap into all the resources we can to do things properly.
I was inspired (to pursue art) years ago when I was young. My dad had a lot of books with drawings and I felt someday I could do that.

The artist’s way
My approach is very simple. If I’m driving around, I always have my camera with me, and if I see something interesting from a different angle, I like to capture that. I’m also interested in our modern agriculture. As much as I like the older antique nostalgic feeling, I appreciate the newer, more modern ways of farming as well. I’m interested in painting what I see as the way our future generations will be farming.
It all starts with the initial drawings, figuring out what lines of direction you’re going to use to get your viewer into the picture and to what you want them to see. You do a light and dark value sketch to make sure that image is going to work. You don’t want something that is off-balance or boring. Contrasting colours are huge; everything you do, you try to create conflict. You try to just bring that emotion out in the painting. That’s my goal.
I take lots of photographs and sometimes combine different images from different photographs. I’m very particular about the design and composition. I look at what’s important to me in this painting and I do everything I can to get my viewer to know that that’s the focal point.
My colour choices come into that. It shows what kind of day it was, or what I was feeling that particular day. Along the Banks of Mud Creek is a painting more of what I was feeling that day than the actual site. I just felt the warmth of the sun and thought, this is the best day to be back here appreciating this winter day. We’re lucky to have that in Ontario.
Local details add an emotional feeling that I want my viewer to get. I painted an old barn near Dashwood, and I love the aspects of decaying wood; I have an appreciation for things like that because I know they won’t be here forever that way. As far as animals in pastures, I see changing times. Life is change and I’m trying to capture images of this moment in time as well.
Light can give you the mood in the painting. I like to paint something that gives the viewer a positive feeling. It’s not part of the business approach; it’s my outlook on life. I try to be positive and have a good attitude about what I’m doing. I just feel I need to be true to myself when I paint. I enjoy the interaction with people coming and talking about the art, and it’s a really personal decision to them whether they would like a piece of art.
I hope people get a peaceful sense of pleasure looking at it. I did a painting once of a crazy storm in the summer time, and it was the wildest sky. Three quarters of the painting was the sky, and there was a streak of light on a farm. I did this painting and I got it framed. That was the first year of the studio tour, and I hung it up. A couple came in and said, “When we drive to our work in London, there have been so many storms this summer, and we saw that sky. And that is exactly what we felt when we saw that scene.” They bought that painting. When someone buys a painting of mine, they are buying something of me. It’s very personal.

Moving forward
I hope to keep growing and never lose enthusiasm about what I’m doing. I’m an independent spirit and I will go where I think I need to go. I hope to venture into more colourful scenes, and this one is part of that journey. I’m having fun with it, so that’s where I’m going now.

If you’re not passionate about what you’re going to paint, don’t bother because you won’t enjoy it. You have to know what inside of you drew you to that subject, and do everything you can to make your viewer know that, too.

Fran Roelands
Creamery Road Studio and Gallery
519-294-6710
http://www.franroelands.com
Viewings by appointment. Giclee prints available at Baillie’s Framing in Grand Bend and Beside Mom’s café in Parkhill.

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 said after winning the prize Friday night. “This year’s painting is what I see when I canoe down the Ausable River, where you see the full reflections of the trees and it makes the water look really deep.”
The complexity of the work requires a skilled artist, and a discerning eye.
“I like a painting to work from two distances,” she says. “From a distance, I want it to draw you in closer. Then, when you’re close, I think you shouldn’t be disappointed that you took the trouble to get close. In this painting, from a distance, you might think it’s upside down. Then, when you get closer, you see the leaf and it makes sense.”
The realism of the painting is pervasive in much of the work at Paint Ontario, a show that showcases representational work, in other words, paintings that illustrate real things.
“When you look at the artwork, you will know what the artist was trying to paint,” says founder Barry Richman. “That doesn’t mean the artist can’t push the boundaries toward abstraction. This isn’t by any means a competition of magic realism, of who can paint the most fur on the fox or feathers on the loon.”
Still, that type of work is welcome at the Lambton Heritage Museum hosted show. About 145 artists from across Ontario submitted 288 paintings, and 180 were juried into the exhibition. In its 14th year, Paint Ontario has sold more than 400 paintings over that time, resulting in more than $250,000 in sales for artists.
“We will bring in more than 2000 people to the museum in the shoulder season,” Richman says. “It’s a win-win for the artists and the community.”
Artists interested in entering work in the 2011 exhibition should contact Richman through http://www.paintontario.com.

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 and third for photo essay in the Canadian Community Newspapers Association Better Newspapers Competition.
The top three OCNA entrants were announced March 1. The Parry Sound North Star has the second most nominations with seven. Winners will be announced at the OCNA’s annual conference in Toronto May 14. CCNA winners were announced March 15 and will receive their awards May 13 at the CCNA conference.
To learn more about the Grand Bend Strip’s history of awards since its first publication in May 2007, visit http://www.grandbendstrip.com/about/awards.

The Grand Bend Strip and publisher Casey Lessard are nominated in the following categories:

Canadian Community Newspapers Association

Best Ad Design (circulation up to 3,999)
1st place – Casey365.com – ad promoting website
Runners-up: The Chief (Squamish, BC), Wainwright Review (Wainwright, AB)

Best Photo Essay (circulation up to 3,999)
3rd place – Five days of good, clean fun – Parkhill Five Fun Days
Winner: The Provost News (Provost, AB)

Ontario Community Newspapers Association

General Excellence (best overall)
Class 1 [under 2,000 circulation]
Other nominees: Cobden Sun, Manotick Messenger

Photographer of the Year
Casey Lessard
Other nominees: Belleville EMC and Peterborough This Week

Education Writing
Chicago! – SHDHS music trip
Other nominees: Parry Sound Beacon Star and Richmond Hill/Thornhill Liberal

Best Photo Layout
Five days of good, clean fun – Parkhill Five Fun Days
Other nominees: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser and North York Mirror

Best Feature Photo (circ under 9,999)
Best Seat in the House – Dashwood soap box derby cover photo
Other nominees: Aylmer Express and Bracebridge Examiner

Best Sports Photo
Hockey Night in Zurich – Mark Buruma in dressing room
Other nominees: Brampton Guardian and Mount Forest Confederate

Best Rural Story (circ under 9,999)
Fields of Gold – Marcus Koenig, potato farmer
Other nominees: Listowel Banner and New Hamburg Independent

Best Creative Advertising (circ under 9,999)
Casey365.com – ad promoting website
Other nominees: Mount Forest Confederate and Nunavut News/North

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 trip is 6,500 km, so it’s understandable they’d want to stop for a rest and some food. Here, that includes the grains left in the fields from the fall harvest.
To celebrate the annual migration, the Lambton Heritage Museum (on Highway 21 south of Greenway Road) hosts the Return of the Swans festival. With displays, videos, and other resources, the museum is a good home base to learn more about North America’s smallest and most abundant swan.
For the month of March, the Lambton Heritage Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors/students, $3 for children, and $15 for the family.
The best source of updates for people interested in watching the birds is the museum’s website, http://www.returnoftheswans.com, which has a migration report that is updated daily with locations where the birds are gathered. If you don’t have internet access, you can also call 1-800-265-0316.
If you go
Dress warmly and bring binoculars. If you plan to take photographs, here are some tips from the publisher:
- Assume you will need a long telephoto lens (at least 300mm). The birds are pretty far away, but there are locations where they fly over a road to move from field to field, and here you need only about 100mm. This is where I stand because you can capture them coming at you, and then over you. Just watch out for small falling objects.
- Remember to look behind you. If they fly toward you and over, they will come back later.
- Use a fast shutter speed (1/1000 or faster). These birds flap their wings quickly, so if you want sharp images, you need to freeze that motion. I try to get to about 1/4000 if I can. Can’t get that high? You might need to raise your ISO (but if it’s daylight, try to avoid higher than ISO 800)
- Use a slow shutter speed with a tripod. Breaking the rules can get some interesting motion photos. This works best in lower light.
- Use your burst mode or continuous shooting mode. You’ll want to take a rapid series of shots to get one you like. There are times when you wait five minutes for 20 seconds of action.
- If you use continuous shooting, make sure your focus is set to Servo AF, which means the camera continues to focus as long as you hold the shutter button down. Remember that the birds are constantly changing your focal point.
- Shoot at your highest resolution. You will have to crop most of these photos later.
- Bring lots of memory cards or film. You will shoot a lot, and you might get a couple of good shots from the whole day. It’s worth it, though.
- Try to arrive early. The light will give you good texture and colour, and you might be the only one there.

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 and School Association’s Wheelchair Accessible Playground Campaign received a total of $13,500; a bequest from the late Dorothy Child of Grand Cove sent $25,000 to the Grand Bend Area Community Health Centre.
“The educational experience of the students at the School has been so enriched by the opportunities created through the grants from the Foundation,” says Grand Bend Public School principal Susan Manz. “It also sets a real example for volunteerism and gifting for our students.”
Donors gave $106,000 in 2009, including a major gift from Jean Muma to establish the MJ Muma Endowment Fund and from Nancy Poole to establish the Charlotte Edwards Robinson Memorial Fund for the Arts. The annual fundraising drive brought in $10,000 in individual gifts to support grants for community projects.
To make a contribution, visit http://www.grandbendcommunityfoundation.ca

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 p.m. – Port Franks Community Ctr.
Kids Matter every Tuesday. Join us as we crochet sleeping mats out of milk bags to send to the children in Africa and South America. Bring your lunch, scissors and a #7 crochet hook. Call Peggy Smith at 519-296-5834 for details.

7 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Bingo

Fridays
5 to 7 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Meat Draw
Until Sunday, April 4
12 p.m. – Greenway Road just east of Highway 21
Return of the Tundra Swans. Bring your binoculars. On weekends naturalists will be on-site to answer any of your questions. For more info visit www.returnoftheswans.com.

Thursday, March 18
1:30 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Grand Bend Women’s Institute. Topic: the Community Living Program in Dashwood.

Wednesday, March 24
12:30 to 3 p.m. – Colonial Hotel
Huron Country Playhouse Guild monthly luncheon. New members and guests are welcomed. Please call Mary at 519-238-5640 for details.
Monday, March 29
7 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Grand Bend Horticultural Society. Topic: Eating your Weedies – edible weeds presented by Kerry Hackett. Everyone welcome.

Saturday, April 3
11 a.m. – Port Franks Community Ctr
Easter Egg Hunt. Presented by Ausable Port Franks Optimists
 
Wednesday, April 7
9:40 a.m. – meet at Lambton Heritage Museum parking lot
Savanna Strollers Pinery Walking Club. Each Wednesday morning, participants will meet at the side parking lot at 9:40 and car pool with others in the group to the walking trail. With financial support from the Grand Bend Community Foundation, eight annual passes for Pinery have been purchased for the group.
If you are interested in attending or becoming a Volunteer Coordinator please call us at 519-243-1521 or email fopp@oxford.net for more information.

6:30 p.m. – Grandpa Jimmy’s Scottish Bakery, Grand Bend
Planning meeting for 2010 Grand Bend Relay for Life.Team Captains at 6.30 p.m. and the general meeting at 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome. The relay date is Friday July 9  at 7 p.m to Saturday July 10 at 7 a.m. at the Klondyke Sport Park.

Friday, April 9
9:30 p.m. – Aunt Gussie’s
135 Ontario St. S., Grand Bend
Fundraiser for Grand Bend Public School Athletic Department. Presented by Grand Bend Home and School Association and Aunt Gussie’s. Music by Brian Dale and Patrick Powers.
Tickets: $20; call Jenn Maguire at 238-8687 or Amy Wiseman 238-1116. Some tickets may be available at the door, but only tickets purchased ahead of time will go into a draw that night for a dinner theatre package for two. Free hors d’oeuvres and door prizes. All proceeds go to support athletics at the Grand Bend Public School.

Arts & Entertainment

Mondays
1 to 3 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Golden Agers Shuffleboard

7 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Dunes Duplicate Bridge

Tuesdays
1 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Bridge

Wednesdays
7 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Dunes Duplicate Bridge

Thursdays
1 to 4 p.m. – Pt. Franks Comm. Ctr.
Shuffleboard

1 to 3 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Golden Agers Shuffleboard

7:30 p.m. – Pt. Franks Comm. Ctr.
Cards

Fridays
10 a.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Badminton

1 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Bridge

1:30 to 3:30 p.m. – GB Youth Centre
Grand Bend Drum Circle. Contact Anita at the Youth Centre or call 519-238-8759.

7 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Dunes Duplicate Bridge

Saturday, March 20
3 to 6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
St. Patrick’s Day. Live music by Mike Fagan. Corned beef and cabbage.

Saturday, March 27
3 to 6 p.m. – GB Legion
Horse Races

Thursday, April 1
7 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Sunset Cinema presents: Bright Star, love story of the poet Keats and Fanny Brawne

Saturday, April 3
3 to 6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Live Music by DJ Barry Sheppard

Saturday, April 10
3 to 6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Live Music by The Persuaders

Health & Fitness

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
8 to 9 a.m. – Southcott Clubhouse
Workout for your Life. To learn more, call Beth Sweeney at 519-238-5555

8:45 to 10 a.m. (Mon/Fri), (to 9 a.m. Wed.) – Grand Bend Legion
TGIF Exercise classes with Elinor Clarke. $3/week – all proceeds to charity.

Mondays and Wednesdays
6 to 7 p.m. – Precious Blood Catholic School gym, Exeter
Workout for your Life. To learn more, call Shelley Van Osch at 519-234-6253.

Tuesdays and Thursdays
9 a.m. – Port Franks Comm. Centre
Healthy Lifestyle Exercise Program. Cost: Free!! Everyone welcome. Register: Cindy Maxfield 519-238-1556 ext 6.

Tuesday, March 23
2 to 4 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Aging at Home. Please bring your questions to our drop in session and meet Occupational Therapist Shawna Palmar.

Wednesday, March 24
10 a.m. to 12 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Mental Health Support Group. Contact Lise Callahan at 519-238-1556 ext 230.

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Men Can Cook. Advance your cooking skills and enjoy a tasty healthy lunch for $5. Contact Miranda at 519-238-1556 ext 222.

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 she raised went to support The House that Jack Built, a charity named in Rachel’s father Jack’s honour.

Her sister, Jessica Michielsen, also got a cut; she raised $12450 by cutting her dreadlocks, growing since Jack’s death in 2005. The money goes to Baptist Haiti Mission’s fund to rebuild Haiti.

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 great way to bring in some extra money if you have an empty room or two in your home, or a private apartment, basement apartment, or empty cottage that would be available during the summer,” facility manager Paul Pembleton said in a release. “Some of our accommodation partners open their homes to several actors for the entire season while others choose to house an actor for just one five-week period.”

Proximity to the Playhouse is important, but some performers will have access to vehicles, so communities other than Grand Bend are an option for them.

Pembleton says the average accommodation rate is about $100 per week – with certain amenities that must be included, such as cooking and washroom facilities. Most productions run for three weeks, plus an additional two weeks of rehearsals.

“We rely heavily on the community’s support and generosity to help maintain the calibre of production that our patrons have come to expect and Huron County never lets us down,” Pembleton says. “Everyone loves coming to this area. They always feel very welcomed into the community.”

For more information, or to add your name to the list for available housing, please call Paul Pembleton at (519) 238-8387 ext. 50.

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 and photographer of the year for Casey Lessard. The top three entrants were announced March 1; winners will be announced at the OCNA’s annual conference in Toronto May 14. The Parry Sound North Star has the second most nominations with seven.
To learn more about the Grand Bend Strip’s history of awards since its first publication in May 2007, visit http://www.grandbendstrip.com/about/awards.

The Grand Bend Strip and publisher Casey Lessard are nominated in the following categories:

General Excellence – Class 1
(Award for best overall paper from two random issues submitted)
Other nominees: Cobden Sun and Manotick Messenger

Education Writing
(Chicago! – SHDHS music trip)
Other nominees: Parry Sound Beacon Star and Richmond Hill/Thornhill Liberal

Best Rural Story (circ under 9,999)
(Fields of Gold – Marcus Koenig, potato farmer)
Other nominees: Listowel Banner and New Hamburg Independent

Best Feature Photo (circ under 9,999)
(Best Seat in the House – Dashwood soap box derby cover photo)
Other nominees: Aylmer Express and Bracebridge Examiner

Best Photo Layout
(Five days of good, clean fun – Parkhill Five Fun Days)
Other nominees: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser and North York Mirror

Best Sports Photo
(Hockey Night in Zurich – Mark Buruma in dressing room)
Other nominees: Brampton Guardian and Mount Forest Confederate

Photographer of the Year
(Casey Lessard, photographer)
Other nominees: Belleville EMC and Peterborough This Week

Best Creative Advertising (circ under 9,999)
(Casey365.com – ad promoting website)
Other nominees: Mount Forest Confederate and Nunavut News/North

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. For children 2.5 to 4 years old who reside in Lambton County. Call Grand Bend Nursery School at 519-238-8514.

Tuesdays
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. – Pt. Franks Comm Ctr.
Kids Matter every Tuesday. Join us as we crochet sleeping mats out of milk bags to send to the children in Africa and South America. Bring your lunch, scissors and a #7 crochet hook. Call Peggy Smith at 519-296-5834 for details.

7 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Bingo

Fridays
5 to 7 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Meat Draw

Thursday, February 18
1:30 to 2:30 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Grand Bend Women’s Institute (Please bring item for children’d hospital).

Saturday, February 20
9:30 to 11:30 a.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Grand Bend Community Foundation 2009 Donor and Grant Celebration. Everyone welcome.

Monday, February 22
7 to 9 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion.
Grand Bend Horticultural Society. Chris Thompson and OPP Constable Crystal Jones. Topic: Identity Theft & Security

Wednesday, February 24
9 to 11 a.m. – St. John’s by the Lake Anglican Church, Grand Bend
Matters Meeting making mats for 3rd world countries

Wednesday, February 24
12:30 to 3 p.m. – Schoolhouse Restaurant, Grand Bend
Huron Country Playhouse Guild Luncheon. Guests and new members welcome. Contact Mary 519-238-5640.

Monday, March 1 to Wed. March 31
12 p.m. – Greenway Road e. of Hwy 21
Return of the Tundra Swans. Bring your binoculars. On weekends naturalists will be on-site to answer any of your questions. For more info visit www.returnoftheswans.com.

Tuesday, March 9
9:30 to 11:30 a.m. – GB Legion.
Women’s Probus. Anyone interested in joining is asked to call membership chair, Susan Trumper, at 519-238-5516.

Monday, March 16
10 a.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Grand Bend Men’s Probus club. Topic: Sailing Across the Atlantic with Brian Hall

Arts & Entertainment

Mondays
1 to 3 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Golden Agers Shuffleboard

7 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Dunes Duplicate Bridge

Tuesdays
1 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Bridge

Wednesdays
7 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Dunes Duplicate Bridge

Thursdays
1 to 4 p.m. – Pt. Franks Comm. Ctr.
Shuffleboard

1 to 3 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Golden Agers Shuffleboard

7:30 p.m. – Pt. Franks Comm. Ctr.
Cards

Fridays
10 a.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Badminton

1 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Bridge

1:30 to 3:30 p.m. – GB Youth Centre
Grand Bend Drum Circle. Contact Anita at the Youth Centre or call 519-238-8759.

7 p.m. – Port Franks Comm. Ctr.
Dunes Duplicate Bridge

Thursday, February 18
1 to 2 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Grand Bend Golden Agers Euchre

Wednesday, February 24
1:30 to 2:30 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion.
Grand Bend Golden Agers Euchre

Saturday, February 27
3 to 6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Horse Races

Thursday, March 4
7 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Sunset Cinema presents: Shattered Glass, drama based on a true story.

Saturday, March 6
3 to 6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Live Music by Midlife Crisis

Health & Fitness

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
8 to 9 a.m. – Southcott Clubhouse
Workout for your Life. To learn more, call Beth Sweeney at 519-238-5555

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
8:45 to 10 a.m. (Mon/Fri), (to 9 a.m. Wed.) – Grand Bend Legion
TGIF Exercise classes with Elinor Clarke. $3/week – all proceeds to charity.

Mondays and Wednesdays
6 to 7 p.m. – Precious Blood Catholic School gym
Workout for your Life. To learn more, call Shelley Van Osch at 519-234-6253.

Tuesdays and Thursdays
9 a.m. – Pt Franks Community Centre
Healthy Lifestyle Exercise Program. Program includes warm up, low impact aerobic workout, strength work and stretching. Sponsored in part by Healthy Living Lambton. Cost: Free!! Everyone welcome. Contact Cindy Maxfield, Health Promoter at the GBACHC, 519-238-1556 ext 6 to register.

Thursday, February 18
Grand Bend CHC
Pick Up Good Food Boxes

Tuesday, February 23
1:30 to 3:30 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Stop Smoking Program

Wednesday, February 24
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC.
Men Can Cook. Advance your cooking skills and enjoy a tasty healthy lunch for $5. Contact Miranda at 519-238-1556 ext 222.

Thursday, February 25
1 to 2 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion.
Grand Bend Golden Agers Euchre

Wednesday, February 24
10 a.m. to noon – Grand Bend CHC
Mental Health Support Group. Contact Social Worker Lise Callahan at 519-238-1556 ext 230 for more info.

Thursday, February 25
2 to 4 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Health Screening Day. Screening is one of the best ways to detect and correct your health! Screening will be offered for Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Senior Nutrition, Occupational therapy needs, Exercise and Mental health! Refreshments and door prizes too! Contact Health Promoter Cindy Maxfield 519-238-1556 ext 231 for details.

Area high school students will hit the stage at the Huron Country Playhouse this summer as members of the chorus of Disney’s High School Musical May 19 to June 5. Auditions for Avon Maitland, Bluewater, Huron Perth and Lambton Kent District School Boards take place this Sunday, February 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at South Huron District High School; London and Thames Valley District School Boards will audition from 2 to 5 p.m.. The auditions are exclusively for students in Grades 9 to 12, and 36 students will be chosen to perform in the show alongside professional actors, including Canadian Idol winner Melissa O’Neil.
“Since the show is High School Musical, what better way to show that than by casting high school students to be in the show,” says Drayton executive producer Steve Roth. “We’re looking for enthusiastic high school students who can sing and dance but who also have a passion for theatre.”
Other than that, no specific preparation is necessary, but students should come with a recent photo and comfortable clothes and shoes.
Students cast through the auditions will be involved in five numbers. Roth says auditionees will learn the music and choreography for one of the songs they’ll be performing if chosen. Those chosen will spend one week learning their roles before joining the professional cast two days before the first show.
“Getting the community more involved in Grand Bend is something we’ve talked about for years, and I hope that in the next year or two, we’ll go back to the way it used to be, where we have our professional company, but community members are invited to be part of the show.”
Meaghan Forrester, 18, of Grand Bend (left) was a member of the children’s chorus in Oliver! this year at the Playhouse, and is eager to audition for a role that fits her age more appropriately. The South Huron student encourages other students to try to be part of the process.
“Try to have fun with it. Even if you don’t get in, it’s a really good experience. Getting to know people and doing the work is so nice. I made tonnes of friends, and I’m actually keeping in contact with the director as a reference for university.”
The show premiered last year at St. Jacobs to sell-out crowds, with O’Neil, the 2005 Idol winner in the starring role. David Connolly (Miss Saigon) returns as director after successful runs in St. Jacobs and Penetanguishene.
For tickets to the Drayton season, call 1-888-449-4463. Audition forms: http://www.draytonentertainment.com/

By Casey Lessard

Sisters Rachel Michielsen-Gray and Jessica Michielsen are running two hair-cutting fundraisers this month to benefit a charity honouring their father, the late builder Jack Michielsen of Arkona.
Rachel, a hairdresser at the Beauty ‘n’ the Beach salon, will be cutting hair this Saturday, February 20 at the salon’s temporary location, 20 Ontario Street South in Grand Bend (across from New Orleans Pizza). She and Barb Speirs will be donating all proceeds from hair services bought that day to The House that Jack Built, a fund named in her father’s honour that builds homes for needy families in Haiti. In the wake of last month’s earthquake, the fund needs to be filled to help as many families as possible. The salon will offer draw prizes, refreshments (by donation) and hand massages. To book an appointment, call 519-238-6520.
Rachel’s sister Jessica is running a separate fundraiser that involves donors cutting the dreadlocks she has been growing since 2005 as part of the process of grieving their father. Each dreadlock was worth $100, and with 50 dreadlocks available, Jessica has already exceeded her $5000 goal, raising $8000 for the fund.
All dreadlocks are accounted for, but those interested in donating and being part of the cutting process (if dread purchasers don’t show for the event) are invited to an open house at 27 Eastglen Drive in Arkona from 3-6 p.m. on Sunday, February 28. Jessica invites interested donors to make a long-term commitment, and says fund managers, registered charity Baptist Haiti Mission Canada, will be on hand to discuss monthly withdrawals; any sized commitment is welcome.
Since the earthquake of January 12, Jessica says donations The House that Jack Built fund have exceeded $16,000. Donations are collected by registered charity Baptist Haiti Mission Canada and donations over $10 are receiptable.

Richard Webb wins second Canadian Poker Tour title

Story and file photo by Casey Lessard

Canadian Poker Tour champion Richard Webb will retain his crown after winning the championship this weekend in Calgary, Alberta. The Grand Bend resident beat the tour’s 50 best players, and wins a second $100,000 contract that pays for his travel and entry fees to tournaments around the world.
“I think I’m happier the second time,” Webb said in a phone interview from Calgary. “It was a tougher field this time with even better players.”
In addition to the $100,000 contract, Webb took $120,000 in winnings from the tournaments he entered last year on behalf of the Canadian Poker Tour, among them a win at the Regina Harvest Poker Classic and a second place finish at the Barcelona Open, a stop on the European Poker Tour. The Canadian Poker Tour takes 20 per cent of his winnings, and he donates an additional 10 per cent to charities, including the Grand Bend Public School playground and Grand Bend Rotary.
Considering he spent 90 days on the road this year, he is thankful for his brother and staff for keeping the family business running. One of the highlights of his year was traveling with his wife, Jackie Stenhouse, and their daughter Sarah. This week’s he’s off to join Jackie in Phoenix, Arizona before tournaments in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. In addition to visions of Germany and Greece, a trip to compete in the EPT event at San Remo, Italy, is one he’d like to repeat.
“I love the place. The country is wonderful, the city is wonderful, and we’re going to go back there.”
Webb’s win will be available for viewing at canadianchampionshippoker.com soon. His 2009 win continues to air on The Score.

Summer resident Carla Johnston set to spend winter, spring in central India

A summer resident of Grand Bend, Carla Johnston is known to many in the area as the daughter of Chris Bregman, manager of the Grand Bend Chamber of Commerce. Johnston is finishing her last semester at F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham before flying February 1 to Indore, in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. There, she will volunteer until June 8 at the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women, a vocational and residential school for rural, tribal and village women to learn basic domestic, literacy and job skills. The trip was suggested by Grand Bend’s Gord Britton, who visited the institute in December after several years of interest in their project.
“So much of social and economic development does not hit the mark,” Britton says. “The West tends to see social and economic development delivering a package from developed countries to undeveloped countries. We’ve been doing this since the mid-20th century and the formation of the United Nations in 1948. The greatest minds came together to solve global poverty, and all these NGOs started. The United Nations contracted a study in 1968, and it showed to everyone’s dismay and complete surprise that poverty got worse in those 20 years. Ten years later, they did another study and got the same results.
Economic development is not about delivering a package, but rather developing the capacities of the people themselves. This institute views the person as a noble being lacking some capabilities that they have the capacity to learn. Local people teach local people. It’s peer mentoring.
When a woman is not educated, they’re told what to do by their fathers, brothers, husbands, and the local village leaders. The women have no power to make any decisions whatsoever. They literally don’t know how to make a decision because they don’t need to make any.
“(At Barli) they’re taught is to speak the national language, Hindi, and then they’re taught to read and write Hindi. These women go back and transform their families. A literate woman will educate her kids. An illiterate woman will not. The cycle of poverty stops by simply focusing on women, on mothers.”

As told to Casey Lessard
Portrait by Casey Lessard
India photos courtesy Gord Britton

Even though I live in a small area, I’ve always wanted to learn about other cultures. Small town life is great, but I’ve always wanted to see more and see the world. I’ve always wanted to break away from the small town, but I know I’ll probably get into the big city and find out that I want to go back to my small town. I’ve always wanted to bring some sort of positive social change to the world.
I will be working in the office and I will also be helping teach a computer class. They do gardening work because they are self-sufficient, so everything they need they grow, except for rice. The gardens are extensive, so all of the trainees – the women who come to the institute – work in the gardens, and I’ll get to help out with that.

Indore is in the state of Madhya Pradesh, in central India, and it’s one of the poorest states in India. Indore is a city about the size of Toronto. It’s not very well known because it doesn’t have any tourist attractions. It’s a relatively poor city because Madhya is so poor. It has a very low education rate in that area. One in 100 girls who start high school graduate. In India, the national average is 14 out of 100.
Women are in this situation because of the social issues that have always been there related to the social inequality of men and women, the historical prejudices of what a woman’s role is supposed to be there. They’re not supposed to be the head of the household, and that’s why they don’t get an education and further themselves.
The institute was started 25 years ago by Dr. Janak McGilligan, who is a Baha’i interested in doing something good for India. It started as a three-month program and turned into a six-month program. The women come from all over India, but most from Madhya Pradesh.
They learn domestic skills, job skills and social and community skills to build their communities and the people around them. They give them job skills, but simple job skills. They give them domestic skills, like sewing and cooking. Things that they can bring back to the community that are modest in the amount they’re moving forward. They give them skills that wouldn’t isolate the women from the community. They want them to be a special part of the community to help it develop.
Most communities are actually very welcoming to it. There have been some communities where the men try to sabotage the institute representatives going in to talk to women. They’ll say you have to pay to go to the institute when it’s actually free, they’ll make up rumours that they teach evil things or will make havoc for the community. There are some men who aren’t happy with this, but most communities are happy because the women don’t just develop themselves; they’re learning skills to help that whole community to come out of their poverty. They have prejudices that women should have certain skills and a certain place in the community, and that they should stay in that place.
The families that send the women to the Barli Institute are very supportive. They want the women to go there because they want them to develop and be a strong part of the community. It’s usually other community members who are holding them back.
One woman, before she went to the Barli Institute, couldn’t read or write and one day, a group of men came to her door and told her she had to sign a contract. She didn’t know what it was about, and they told her it was a building contract. Later, she learned she was signing off on a loan that was very substantial with interest rates that she couldn’t afford. After the Barli Institute, she now has her own job, she can read and write, speak a little bit of English, and she got out of the loan. She has confidence now that she doesn’t have to follow what people say; she can make her own decisions.
You need to be able to make your own decisions to break out of poverty. You need the education that can get you a job to bring development to your country. We take our education for granted here in Canada. It’s the social norm to go to school. We get it and don’t realize it’s the education that has developed our country. In India, to get a simple education can bring the standards of a village up much higher.

I think I’m going to learn more to appreciate education. I know that I’m very privileged living in Canada. They’re getting the simplest education they can get. I think I’m going to learn to value the education we have available to us and make that part of my life.
In June, I’ll be coming home to work in Grand Bend, and then I’m off to university for International Development. I’d love to work for the UN; that’s my dream job. I’d like to do what I’m doing in India for the rest of my life.

It was one year ago this month that it was decided that the Grand Bend Home & School Association would start fundraising for a new wheelchair accessible playground for the children of Grand Bend Public School and the youth of the community. The goal was $70,000, daunting to say the least. It was through grant applications, letters to Grand Bend community organizations, H&S fundraisers and public donations that our goal was reached. There are so many people to thank, and thank you just does not seem to suffice.
It is because of the people in this town that we can be so proud and that our children are being given such a great start in life. The children are so excited to be getting a new playground that all of them will be able to play on every day.

There are so many organizations and individuals that I would like to thank:
The Grand Bend Rotary Club; they were the first to lend support. It shot us forward, knowing that without a doubt we would succeed.
The Grand Bend Royal Canadian Legion not only supported us, but also enjoyed partying with us along the way.
The Grand Bend Lioness are a wonderful, thoughtful group who I enjoyed sharing a “spot” of tea with.
From Lakesmith Conservation I received some life lessons over coffee, tucked some future metaphors in my pocket for later use and got the biggest hugs.
Kause for Kids Easy Riders led by Nelson Desjardine donated the last of their fundraising efforts to our cause.
Thanks to Grand Bend Mariners Hockey Team, Grand Bend Women’s Institute, Sunrise Garden Centre and the Grand Bend Community Foundation.
The Million Dollar Round Table grant would not have happened if it weren’t for Mr. Brian Hall of Waypoint Financial.
Thanks to Mr. Paul Ciufo from Godbolt Ciufo Insurance & Financial Services.
Thank you to the Grand Bend Optimist Club, where I have gained many new friends.
Thanks to all of you who sacrificed the calories for our children with the yummy Smile Cookies, and Brian and Cheryl Dallner from Grand Bend Tim Horton’s.
Thank you to Jennison Construction who will always have a special place in my heart.
Huron Woods Inc., Hayter’s Turkeys, DJ T&A.
Thank you to Bob Uhrig of Grand Bend Sobey’s, who works well with short notice and to Mac’s Milk customers who spared their change.
Thanks to Casey from the Grand Bend Strip and Lynda from the Lakeshore Advance who did what they do best, get the word out.
Special thanks to all the Grand Bend families that supported our fundraisers throughout the year.
Thanks to ALL the children, who not only danced their way to a huge contribution, but also those who dug into their own piggy banks… honorable mentions are Paige Elliott, Hunter Penford, Aylish Betts, Ava Duffield, Bridget Donaldson and Caleb Rood.
Many people made personal donations including long time friends Cam & Randi Ivey whom I love dearly. Randi started the H&S at GBPS and also fundraised for the original playground structure at the school. Some passions never die.
Peter & Esther Warner, Tony & Fran Relouw, Richard Webb, and Stephanie Donaldson endlessly give to our community.
Grand Bend is a community but has proven to be more than that; we are family. To our family at GBPS, teachers, staff, students and our H&S members, thank you. It has been quite a year for all of us. The glue that holds any family together are the friends you can count on to weather the ups and downs.
Special thanks to Craig Wiseman for his endless patience and I am compelled to thank my children Ridley & Aidan. Without them I would not have discovered the thrill of such an amazing event.
Thank you to Jennifer Maguire my co-chair, who has been by my side from the beginning.
Susan Patton is the world’s best cheerleader.
Honorable mentions to Andrea Matheson, Erin Sageman, Kaleigh Clemens, Jennifer Blackhall, Jennifer Mossop, Julie Beattie and Kelly Stanlake for assisting in our many playground fundraisers.
Thanks to Susan Manz for her continuous support to us and our children.
We hope to see everyone at the unveiling of the playground in June. Heartfelt appreciation to all involved.

Amy Wiseman
Playground Committtee Chairwoman

Friday, February 5
6 to 9 p.m. – GB Public School
Sobey’s Drive-in Movie Night. Build your own car and come to the movies. Ages 12 and under.

8 p.m. – Various Locations
Opening Ceremonies. Torch Relay beginning at Municipal Parking Lot across from FINE A Restaurant. Lighting of the Flame at Paddington’s.

Saturday, February 6
9 a.m. – Grand Bend ball diamond
Sno-Pitch Tournament

11 a.m. – Oakwood Inn
Snow Golf

11 a.m. – Paddington’s
Children’s Piñata Party. Mexican theme. Limo contest and more. Call 519-238-5788.

1 to 8 p.m. – Riverbend
Riverbend Olympics

2 p.m. – Gables
Fat Kat Karaoke. Win prizes.

5 to 8 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Spaghetti Dinner. $8 adults, $5 children.

6 p.m. – behind Legion
Fireworks

Sunday, February 7
10 a.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Register for Veteran Memorial Dart Tournament. Mixed doubles and teams. Contact Legion or Sam Bell (519-243-2452) or Bob Chapdelaine (519-238-2775)

Second weekend

Friday, February 12
TBA – Gables
Bring Your Own Meat BBQ. Age of Majority. Reserve early. Call 519-238-2371.

Saturday, February 13
9 a.m. – Grand Bend ball diamond
Sno-Pitch Tournament

9 a.m. – Pine Dale Motor Inn
Winter Carnival Craft Show. Vendors register: call 519-238-2231.

11 a.m. – Main Street Grand Bend
Rotary/Chamber Parade

11:30 a.m. – GB United Church
Lunch. $6/person. $3/child 12 and under.

12 to 4 p.m. – Colonial parking lot.
Kids’ amusement rides

3 p.m. – Gables
Search For Talent. Win prizes. Age of Majority.

3 to 6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Live music by The Persuaders

5 to 8 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Steak BBQ. Limited tickets $12/person.

9 p.m. – Riverbend
Karaoke Contest (age of majority event).

Sunday, February 14
8 a.m. – Grand Bend fire hall
Firemen’s Breakfast. $6/person. $3/child aged 5-12. Free for children under age 5. Please bring canned goods for the Food Bank.

10 a.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Register for Youth Dart Tournament. Free admission. Lunch provided by Legion.

2 p.m. – Colonial parking lot.
Waiters’ Race. Music by Lance Bedard.

TBA – Oakwood clubhouse
Children’s Talent Show. Free admission. Call 519-238-7325 to register.

6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Closing Ceremonies. Tickets $10/person. Join us as we put out the flame on another Winter Carnival. Dress as your favourite Winter Olympic athlete. Medal presentations for business and community awards and snow sculptures. Carry The Torch Passport Lottery draw at 8pm.
Other community events

Monday, January 25
9:30 to 11:30 a.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Heart Health Workshop. Free program. Patricia Baker 519-238-1556 ext 235.

Wednesday, January 27
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Men Can Cook. Advance your cooking skills and enjoy a tasty healthy lunch for $5. Contact Miranda at 519-238-1556 ext 222.

10 a.m to 12 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Mental Health Support Group. Lise Callahan 519-238-1556 ext 230.

12:30 to 3 p.m. – Southcott Pines clubhouse
Huron Country Playhouse Guild monthly luncheon meeting. Mary 519-238-5640

Thursday, January 28
2 to 4 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Blood Pressure Clinic. Free service.

Thursday, February 4
7 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Sunset Cinema presents “Amal”. Admission: free.

Police seek driver, family seeks closure after Jason Pearson’s death near Grand Bend during Not So Pro volleyball weekend

Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Jason Pearson of Waterloo was an avid volleyball player, and serious about taking part in Grand Bend’s Not So Pro tournament each year. After the first day of competition at this year’s event, Pearson was killed while walking back to his campsite at the Grand Bend Motorplex when a truck hit him at 5 a.m. July 26. The vehicle and its driver are still at large.
Days after what would have been Pearson’s 32nd birthday (November 29), Casey Lessard visited Waterloo to speak with his fiancée Erin Jobidon and their friend Drew Neath.

Erin: We hit it off right away. He just glowed. He drew everyone into him. He’d go out of his way to do whatever he could for you. He was always up for something new and was good at everything he did.
I came here to go to the University of Waterloo, and I met Jay at the Boa Nova, a Portuguese-style high-class restaurant. I was working there with Drew’s ex-girlfriend and Jason’s roommate. I was serving and bartending, and he was working there as well; he had a share in the restaurant.
I was getting a tour of the restaurant after getting hired, and he was working in the back. I think even then, there was a sparkle in his eye that caught my attention.
We did everything. Skied, kayaked, fished, played volleyball, traveled, you name it. He got into horses with me. Name a sport, he was probably into it and good at it.
Drew: The first time I ever heard about Jason was from my ex-girlfriend. He was looking for people to play volleyball with him, but I had to try out because he would only play with people who were good. We ended up playing together at the pickup courts at University of Waterloo. I still have a lot of close friends from elementary school, and Jay was one of my first friends outside of that group of friends, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of people through Jay.
Erin: We moved in together after a year of dating because we were at each other’s house every night anyway. We lived in a house for a year and a half after that. He made a point of bringing me everywhere. He was like that with his friends, too. He had five groups of friends that co-mingled.
We lived together almost two years. He was great to live with. We had talked about getting married, but we had a mutual agreement that nothing would happen until I finished school. We went away to Kicking Horse, where his brother has a condo, and he proposed without a ring, but our intentions were known to his family. Our long-term goal was to have a farm for our horses. This house was our first step toward that.
Drew: I remember him saying the weekend in Grand Bend, “Save up your money, because when we get married, we’re going to go away somewhere.”
Erin: We were going to go somewhere warm and have a wedding.
He traveled way more than me. I had never really gone anywhere before I met him, and he used to go to Europe every year. He lived there for a year and played football. His family’s out west, he went out east every year, he went to Europe every year. Just a busybody.
We had known each other three months and he asked me if I wanted to go on a cruise to Greece in November. I said sure, but thought it would never pan out. But November came and we planned a trip. We stayed in Paris for three days and he knew every corner. It was crazy. The Greek cruise cost him $80. He could get anything for a deal. Anything. He wouldn’t tell anyone how he did it. Tickets for plays and concerts. He had connections everywhere.
Drew: For example, we went to last year’s Stanley Cup finals. His brother got us tickets and we all went down.
He told me two days before the game and we just packed up and went down to Detroit for the night. I think we paid $230 US, and we were very close.

For the love of the game
Erin: His friends were his life. His friends and volleyball. I wasn’t allowed to play on his volleyball team. I wasn’t good enough.
Drew: Jay was always the team captain. If someone was playing badly, he was the one to get them going. He’d have everyone’s spirits as high as could be so they could play well. We followed the Not So Pro tour. Hang and Bang was our team name most of the time.
He always wanted to win. In Grand Bend, we played intermediate because the competitive teams were fours, and he wanted everybody to play, so we played the intermediate sixes. It was still really competitive, and this year we probably would have won if this hadn’t happened. The year before we got third and second in the two tournaments I played in.

The fateful weekend
Drew: I got to Grand Bend two hours late. Jay saw me and looked at my girlfriend. He was about to say something, but he said the look on her face was so bad that he couldn’t get mad.
(At the end of the day,) we sat in the beer tent for a bit, and there was a girl trying to learn how to jump serve, so we stayed a while teaching her how to do it. We went back to the campsite and started partying.
Erin: I got there later. I had to work the Saturday night and I got there at midnight. We went to Gables and were there until close.
Jay and I got into an argument hanging around the bar waiting to go back to the campsite at the Motorplex. One of the girls we were with hadn’t been drinking, so she was going to drive my car. There were four of us, and Jay was being stubborn as usual. He said he was going to walk and stormed off. There’s no arguing with him when he’s like that. And it’s not unusual for him – he walked everywhere.
In the morning, he still wasn’t back, which was kind of weird, but he’s slept in bushes before. I was just going to head home for the day, and I saw there was an emergency road closure. I went back and started getting a little worried. There was a rumour that a girl had been hit. I kind of brushed it off but I had a bad feeling. I drove into town because, with volleyball starting in half an hour, I knew he wouldn’t be late for that. He still didn’t show up, so I drove back to the roadblock and the officer wouldn’t say anything.
One of the girls went back to the campsite to see if he went back there. She ended up talking to the investigator, and she said it sounded like it was him.
She came back to the beach. I remember sitting with Drew’s girlfriend watching them play a game and I saw Sarah, the girl who went back to the campsite, walking with the police officer, and my heart sank. I just remember looking at both of them and no one would say anything to me. They just stared blankly. I knew. I fell.
Drew: I remember driving and saying to my girlfriend, if he’s not at the courts, something’s happened. As soon as I saw her, she said yeah, and I collapsed. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say.
We just sat around waiting for the officers to do what they needed. We stuck around for interviews and headed home after that.

The aftermath
Erin: I waited in Grand Bend for my mom to come so I didn’t have to drive home. By the time I got home, everyone was calling. They all knew. It traveled so fast, and everyone was horrified. It seemed unreal and still does.
For me, one of my biggest fears was getting in a fight with someone and something happening. That’s how you ended it. That’s something I’ve always been terrified of. But it doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. A little fight is nothing. I know he still loved me.
The officers said they’re shocked nothing has come out yet. They interviewed hundreds of people. From what I know, they looked through the list of everyone registered at the Motorplex. They highlighted everyone who they think might have been leaving that evening. Their vehicle of interest is the truck with the trailer. But that could be from anywhere in Ontario or the States. We don’t know.
They did a reconstruction, and they think he was on the west side of the road walking back, and then may have been crossing the road. He was 100 meters from the Motorplex, and was hit at a low speed by a vehicle heading toward Grand Bend. It happened between 4 and 5 a.m. To their knowledge, they found him within 15 minutes. It was not very long.
I think about it and wonder why I torture myself. I hope it was someone who was driving and didn’t see him, and then freaked out.
Drew: They obviously didn’t stop. If they’d known, I’d hope they would have been nice enough to stop and get help, but from the sounds of it, they didn’t do anything.

Moving forward
Erin: I didn’t even know where to begin. I stayed with my mom for a week and then went to a friend’s house and stayed with her. We went out to Regina for the funeral and stayed with his family for a while. It was really important for me to be up there.
When I came back to reality, it was a huge slap in the face. We were living here, and I thought about moving out of this place, but I finally clued in that that’s not the way to deal with it. This is where there are memories and I want to hold on to that. Remember good things and try not to run away from thinking about it.
Drew: He was just a really good guy. The Monday after Jay died, a bunch of us gathered and everyone realized none of us had each other’s numbers because he was the one who got everyone together. He was that kind of person.
Erin: Our group of friends isn’t going to be the same. He always managed to get people together for something all the time.
It’s causing ripples in his family, for sure. His mom and sister are in horrible shape. His brother is super strong, and he’s held the family together while working full-time as a doctor.
For me, I do what I can to keep myself busy so I don’t have to think about it all the time. I’m not sure that’s a good thing. I work full-time and go to school full-time, and he’s on my mind every minute of every day. I can’t imagine moving on. I can’t imagine his clothes not being in the closet and his pictures not being on the wall. But I know that will happen one day.
For me, I didn’t think it would make a difference if we found someone. But I want to know what happened. He was always with people, and I just feel terrible that he was alone.
As Jason’s dad, Carl, says, “Someone knows something.” I can’t imagine being that person. I can’t imagine knowing something that horrible and not feeling the need to say anything.

In hopes of encouraging information that leads to the case being solved, Pearson’s parents posted a $25,000 reward, which was recently bumped to $35,000.
Any information is welcome; you can call Huron OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Public policy and regulation among subjects of winter Partners in Learning discussions

The winter season of Partners in Learning, a discussion group that meets at the Southcott Pines clubhouse, runs Wednesdays from Jan. 13 to Feb. 10 and then March 3 to 31. This season’s topics include Science, Serving the Public Interest?; Has Big Brother Gone Too Far?; Theatre, Behind the Scenes; and The World of Books. Socrates Café runs Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m. every other week from Feb. 4 to April 1.

“Has Big Brother Gone Too Far”
Molly Russell, moderator

I find that hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear on the news that there is some law being instituted to “protect” the public. I think these laws have gotten out of hand. That’s the premise of my course.

Give me some examples.
For instance, when the actress went skiing in Quebec and died of a head injury, they wanted to bring in a law that said everyone has to wear a ski helmet all of the time. And people are saying, come on, that’s too much.
Seat belts are another example. Most people would agree that seat belts are probably a good thing, and they have saved lives. My mother was in a car crash, and in those days (1952), they didn’t require seatbelts. My dad was saved because he had the steering wheel. But my mother was tossed from the car and she died. So seatbelts are at least rational for most people.
Another one: people were in a boat, and had lifejackets in the boat. The boat capsized and they weren’t wearing them, and one of them drowned. So now in a boat you have to wear a jacket at all times. How are you going to get a suntan or swim off the boat in your bikini, etc.?
To protect us, they put laws in, but they base it on a small part of the population. What are they really afraid of? I think people are afraid of being sued. (Demonstrating a coffee cup cardboard sleeve) This is from VIA Rail. They decided they had to do this to protect people from the heat of the cup. Is this really necessary? It’s very costly.

But laws are made by people. How do these laws come into place if people don’t think they’re a good idea?
I disagree with that statement. Laws are not made by people; laws are made by politicians. And politicians wish to be reelected. They get on bandwagons and lose the rationality that’s really behind a lot of human behaviour. Most people would say there is too much regulation because we are not making these laws, but are subject to these laws.

So what would you like to see? What is the solution?
I’m going to throw that out to the participants. I think there are two things: one, the politician thing; and two, people protecting themselves from being sued. Should we have people sign a waiver saying, if they get hit by a car and they’re not wearing a helmet, that they can’t sue?
The problem lies where laws infringe upon my freedom. Human beings are individuals. Every one is different. You can’t do a blanket law and treat everyone the same.
I feel we need more examples of people taking responsibility for their actions, and not having Big Brother telling them what to do.

Science, Serving the Public Interest?
Mike Ash, moderator
It’s exploring whether science supports or doesn’t support the benefit of society. And how that connects with public policy because public policy gets formulated by interest groups and input from the public, but also hard information – let’s call that science. How do those things all connect?

What are some issues you are looking at that are hot topics influenced by public policy?
With the Copenhagen conference going on, what is science telling us about the future of the environment and sustainability? This is probably one of the areas we will explore. For 20 years, scientists have been warning us about global warning, but why hasn’t this translated into public opinion and public policy action to make a change and an improvement? What’s the problem there?
How is science providing information to predicting the future or the formulation of public policy that supports the public interest?
How well can we predict the future? Do we believe these predictions? Does the public understand what science is telling them? How good is science at communicating that to the public? Why are there contradictions in scientific evidence, for example when one group says one thing and another says the opposite?

Why is this topic important right now in Grand Bend?
I think probably because there’s so much conflicting information out there and I think there might be a perception that science isn’t held in the esteem it once was. Why is that? We need to know why we can’t have fact based, research based decision making for the betterment of society. I know people think that happens a lot, but I’m not sure society is taking full advantage of scientific information.
Certainly locally, there are some issues to talk about. Wind energy; are there really health issues related to wind energy?
One interesting topic might be whether public opinion and public interest are one in the same. This comes across in the balance of the welfare of individuals and special interest groups and society overall. How does that translate into the best solutions and policies overall?
Today, public input seems to be dominated by opinion and communication through social networking tools. Fact based decisions are less, rather than more, common at all levels of society. Today, with the Internet, anyone can put out information and sway the public without any basis in fact.

It’s a challenging and demanding topic, and I think it will be very interesting for the group.

To register, visit partnersinlearning.ca

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

With the mediocre weather and mediocre economy we experienced this year, it’s tough not to feel glum. I’m happy, though, (for the most part) with how 2009 went here.
No health problems this year. Missed the swine flu this time around.
Anjhela is almost done school. Well, for now, anyway.
We got a new little dog, and she is delightful. A true joy, minus her piercing barks.
Made inroads on improving myself, creating new photographs for almost 300 days in a row. Too bad the project was supposed to last 365. Oh, well.
Perhaps I should stop tempering all the positives with a negative. So, here are some truly good things I’m thankful for:
Got more hours working at Humber College. My car is still kicking at 340,000 km. My parents still want to do their articles. James, Lance, Jenipher, and Yvonne have really helped give some needed breadth to the paper. My photo project forced me to take my work more seriously. You, the reader, responded to keep this paper going, and for that, I am truly grateful.

So, what about 2010? I’m interested in seeing how things pan out. In Grand Bend, there’s the promise of the new Main Street, which some argue is too thin for traffic. They’re probably right, and we’ll measure it before the summer to see. There’s the prospect of sewers, and most of you affected by this – according to our small survey – are opposed to the project. For you, there is a municipal election to anticipate.
From a personal level, I’m looking into returning to school part-time, and looking at ways to improve both my photography and the paper. Do readers want a heavier web presence at the expense of the print product? It’s a prospect we all face in the media industry, and I’m going to push that way very soon.
I’d also like to spend some time (if I can find it) actually getting some exercise. Another new year’s resolution.

For you, I hope you can savour the joys, find shelter from the storms (they’re coming), and see the light in the darkness. Just keep pushing and I’ll see you next year!

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

I’m sure Gord Minielly is ready to let someone else be the front man (or woman) for the municipality after last month’s meeting to discuss the Lambton Shores sewer project. It’s a tough job and he has to do it. You can imagine why his health has suffered; more than 300 people attended the meeting, with most ready to fight him to the death over the project (only a slight exaggeration).
So what should residents do? It’s not for me to say. But I think the decision can only be made after the final numbers come out. If it’s more affordable than septic, doesn’t it make sense to share the burden among your neighbours? Sewers make a home more attractive to buyers, and housing prices go up as a result. I do understand Dick Matzka’s point about the cost of living pushing people out of the market here; I know I’ll likely never be able to afford a house here.
But when the provincial and federal governments are willing to invest in your community, it’s hard to say no. They sent money for the beach and money for the main street. If the money’s still there, it seems foolish to turn it down. But someone has to make the decision on how to spend it. Let’s make sure it’s an informed council. Election day, as Minielly reminded the crowd, is set for October 25, 2010.

Keeping the Peace
By Tom Lessard, C.D.

I was privileged to attend the Grand Bend Legion’s Remembrance Day dinner on Saturday November 7.
My first order of business was to purchase a nice cold beer at the bar. Next was to find where Rita was sitting. My sister-in-law Joan, who volunteers at all of the occasions, directed me to the table, which was right in front of the head table. I’m usually the type who goes to church and sits at the back, so I felt hemmed in sitting in the front: too far from the bar. I felt embarrassed getting up and walking down the middle aisle for refreshments and back up to my seat with all the people eyeing me, so I didn’t. One beer to last me all through the evening? I don’t think so.
Anyway, after the guest pastor said grace, we made our way to the food tables. Legion members and guests are always so friendly and laid back at these functions. Even though everyone is hungry, no one pushes or complains if things don’t go as smoothly as they would like. Once the super volunteer ladies had everything in place, the lines began to move. Plates were filled – some with lots of food and others with less, depending on the individual. I just said, “Keep it coming,” because I didn’t have to cook it. The beef was cooked like no restaurant can do it. These ladies – God bless them – know how to put on a meal that has no equal.
After we were filled with food we were treated with the guest speakers thanking the veterans and those who never made it back to Canada. One speaker made reference to a Canadian who had travelled to France and at immigration he was asked for his passport. Fumbling for it in his pocket, the French officer said, “Don’t you Canadians know that you have to have your passports ready when you come to France?” The Canadian replied, “The last time I was in France was at Dieppe in 1944 and none of you Frenchmen stayed around to check my passport.”
The guest of honour was a young RCR corporal who had recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. This soldier did himself proud in his presentation. He shows us slides depicting the environment in which he served: pretty desolate. The conditions reminded me of my tour in the Gaza Strip in 1957. He spoke of the living conditions his unit was forced to put up with. The temperature change between day and night can be very disturbing. The ground does not absorb the heat like it does in Canada and therefore, it can drop from 50 C at noon to 15 C at 4 a.m..
He stressed that he and his comrades try very hard to represent Canada well to the locals, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. They do think that they are making a difference.
Every year the Legion is making improvements to educate Canadians of the importance of remembering those who have and still do give their lives for all of us. I witnessed this in the number of school children attending the cenotaph ceremony on Wednesday.
I have one request: one of my uncles was torpedoed twice in the North Atlantic while working as a boiler man in a convoy heading for England. He was a civilian, but was never recognized by the government. We need to consider changing the rules for how civilians serving in the theatre of war are recognized for their contributions.

Lambton Shores mayor wants low-pressure sewers before infrastructure funding runs dry

The Lambton Shores sewage treatment plant and Zone 3 sewer network could be the last project mayor Gord Minielly is involved in before he retires. Casey Lessard sat down with the mayor to discuss the projects.

Why is this project necessary now?
We just spent a big chunk of money on our beach, and any day you have a beach closing, it’s a negative for us. The Blue Flag designation will put up with two or three per summer. Our water comes south from Bluewater. If we can get them on sewers along with South Huron and us, we’re not going to be affecting the quality of the water in the Grand Bend area. It makes it safer for our visitors and our residents, and gives us a positive over some other areas in Ontario that are having more pollution days. We were lucky last year and had very few, but if you look a few years ago, we were closed many days. Whether it was our fault or animal runoff, we don’t know. If we can take care of our part, then we’ll know.

Where are you at today?
I’ve asked Maria (Van Bommel, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP) to set up a meeting with the infrastructure minister for us to firm up whether there’s going to be two-thirds funding for us. When we met with David Caplan, he thought it was a great idea; “Do the plant first and come on back.” We’re going back to see if we can get that two-thirds funding, and if we do, Caplan told us 2014 was the cutoff. I would hope we can get some funding by 2012 and be completed along with Bluewater and South Huron by 2014.
There are effects going on in the water table that are not positive. I know people in Grand Bend are environmentally friendly, so I think we will get this done to the liking of the majority. Right now it doesn’t seem that popular, but the reality is, we are treating that water in a negative way. The lake water and the groundwater levels are the same, so it’s flowing into the lake. If we clean up our act, we can’t be blamed any more when there’s high E. coli; it’s got to be coming from runoff or something else.
One of the main reasons you feel you need to do this now is because of the money, right?
Two-thirds funding is not going to be here long. I suspect based on the deficits the province and Canada are going to have, there won’t be any money past 2014 while they try to clean up their debt. I think now is the most financially possible time to do it. If we can get two-thirds funding, it’s not going to be a burden. If we can spread it over 12-15 years, I think it will be doable for most people.

I was reading in the tri-municipal meeting minutes (where the three municipalities are discussing plans to build a shared treatment plant) that South Huron CAO Roy Hardy had spoken to someone who said there was no money.
I was at the same meeting that Roy was at, and I didn’t hear that. He was talking to people who were nervous about the downturn in the economy, but I have spoken with some of the ministers and as far as I know the stimulus package is going to continue because the economy is still in a trough, and they plan on doing what they planned in the beginning, which is going to 2014 and spending that money. Roy has his opinion about many things, and we don’t often see eye-to-eye, but the fact that we’re on track to get an appointment with the minister tells me they’re willing to talk to us; they must think this is going to continue on.

Is that the stumbling block from South Huron’s perspective? Is it the money or something else?
I have no idea. If you read the Lakeshore Advance, I made the comment that I thought we had a deal. Mayor Oke commented that he thought we had a deal but it wasn’t in the minutes. Mayor Oke didn’t come to the next meeting and it was in the minutes. It’s ready to be signed and we’ve invited them to come to a meeting in a couple of weeks and Bluewater and South Huron will hopefully sign along with us and then move on to the collection system.
That’s the sewage processing plant, which is quite a big project in itself. But that’s a separate project.
We got $15 million of infrastructure funding, and we have to add in another $5-7 million depending on how the tenders come in. But we have additional funding for energy efficiencies like solar panels.

And you do have that money secured?
Yes, we have $17 million of the total cost, so we’re well on our way to having that looked after. When that’s done, we hope to have the collection system ready to go if not in the process already.
Do you think that regardless of whether South Huron comes on board that you will go ahead with it?
We’re definitely going to build the plant. We have the funding, and it’s needed. We have no capacity for development, they have no capacity for development. Certainly Bluewater wants to get in there so they can clean up their beach-front. So for me, we have to go ahead. There’s no debate.

You’ve said changes are “coming down the pike”. What did you mean by that?
I’ve chatted with people from the ministry, and you can see that in Bruce they’re doing mandatory inspections of septics, and if your septic isn’t working, then you’re being forced to upgrade. The upgrades are not typically the normal. A gentleman told me the other day that he paid $18,000 for one that he had to redo. Would you rather do that and have something that will last 15-20 years or a permanent collection system you can depend on?
The question of whether it’s low-pressure or gravity is still being debated. Maybe we can do a combination. I know in Bayfield they have several low pressure tanks operating for the last 10 years with no maintenance. Maybe in the less dense areas we can use those and in the more dense areas, we can use gravity. But it’s twice as expensive, so it’s a debate that hasn’t been completed.

I’ve seen the numbers; will it be twice as much overall or per house?
I think it’s an overall view. Where I live, my sewer is 17’ down. When you excavate that far down, you have to have a much wider hole. In places like Beach o’ Pines, we’d have to excavate the road and probably damage many trees trying to get down so you do have a flow. We have to look long and hard. Doing gravity feed is not environmentally friendly; if you have a greenfield site, it’s not bad, but when you have a woodfield like that, it’s pretty bad for devastation. Then you have to rebuild all those roads and it’s part of the cost. The low-pressure system is less intrusive.

The gravity system construction would also take the roads from having a cottage feel to having new roads like downtown, right?
People like it that way (narrower roads) because it forces people to drive slow. Fix them up and put them in (to standard) and they’ll be like speedways. Walking to the beach will be more scary than it is today. But the fact is it’s much more expensive.

You spoke of development at the meeting. What is the vision for how these communities should look in the future? Should they always have the style of roads they have now or should they be at today’s standards?
Any new development will have 66’ roads with proper sewer lines. Southcott Pines and those subdivisions built them purposely (narrow) because they don’t want visitors coming in and out. Unless their board makes a decision, the roads will be like that until they change. They were designed that way and will stay that way. (But with gravity) there certainly would be a lot of damage. I suspect they would have to be (restored to the new standard).

Of the three options – gravity, low-pressure, and septic tanks – which one makes the most sense to you?
In my opinion, in the areas along the lake, the low-pressure is the least intrusive, the least expensive, and based on what I know about those pumps, should be as good as the gravity feed.
The issue with no power, I don’t know how many of the folks in there have generators, but I suspect it’s a lot. Our power grid around here is not what it used to be, and when you’re out for 24 hours, especially when it’s cold, you either have to move or have some form of heat. Especially along the lake in the gated communities, the low-pressure makes the most sense.
In new developments, the gravity feed makes sense. It makes lots more expensive because the contractor is responsible for that cost. I don’t know if we can do this one way and the other. That’s why it’s hard to answer questions because we don’t have the answers. Hopefully by this time next year, we’ll have a plan in place they can go forward with.

When I look at the numbers of people affected by this, the count I saw was 1500 homes in Lambton Shores that don’t have sewers. How many people are there year round?
I don’t know. In Beach O’ Pines, it’s likely the majority (that aren’t there). That’s changing. If I look down the road 15 years, I see Grand Bend having two-storey buildings all along Main Street with business on the main floor and apartments above.

How important is it to have services like this?
I’ve moved around Ontario and I always tried to find places that had sewers. I’m sure the tiles in Huron Woods are being filled with tree roots. A sealed low-pressure system doesn’t allow roots in, while a gravity feed does.

What is your current feeling about what people think about what you’re proposing?
I’ve been elected one way or another, sometimes in and sometimes out, over the last 30 years. Change doesn’t come easily to the average person. Here in Forest, the fire hall had been let go and we decided to build a new one. People threatened us and we had public meeting where people yelled at us. Carnegie Library wasn’t wheelchair accessible and we built a new library; I lost an election over that because I was the chairman of the committee that put it together. But the reality is that once it’s done, people go on with their lives and say, “Isn’t that a lovely library? What a beautiful fire hall.” People have difficulty with change and if it hurts them in the pocketbook, they have greater difficulty.

What is the actual cost per household expected for the sewer project?
We haven’t figured out the final numbers. I suspect that probably by spring, we should have those numbers down. We have to go to the ministry with firm numbers. I’d like to get them done sooner, but there are some decisions we have to make first. If your septic system is five years old, how long will you be grandfathered? If you grandfather nobody, there’s more people to pay for what you’re doing. If someone put one in yesterday and spent $20,000, it’s hard to ask them to cough up another $12,000-15,000.
The other thing we have to do is, if someone wants to build tomorrow, do they put in something less expensive than a whole septic system?

If the province and federal government do not have the money for this project, will it happen?
I guess I could answer that by saying I won’t be the mayor when that decision is made. Depending on the council of the day, and how much they think this is important, they will make that decision. Personally, I think there’s a 50-50 chance we will get funding. We have a good argument to make: we have a great beach, we’re trying to be as environmentally friendly as we can, and we need their help in getting us there. Tourism has been down in Ontario, but we are a destination and they know that. I have a good feeling we’re going to get some funding. I said that about the plant and it came through, and I hope it carries on. We’ve been very fortunate.

What is the timeline on this decision?
We’re trying to get a meeting for mid-December with Gerry (Phillips, infrastructure minister), and if we get some positive news there, I suspect we’d talk to him at the OGRA (Ontario Good Roads Association) convention in February, give him an update on numbers. The environmental assessment in Bluewater and South Huron, so they should have good numbers by then. I emailed them to say we were arranging this meeting and to ask if they’d be interested in coming. I got an immediate response from Bluewater and I’m still waiting for South Huron because they don’t want to play with us. Hopefully they come around. We’re meeting in Varna again and hopefully they’ll be there and sign the agreement so we can go to Toronto.

When do you think you’ll have something to tell people in the community?
At the latest in May, and at the earliest before we go to Toronto in February. I don’t think we need to have a meeting. We’ll put it out at a council meeting and I’m sure everyone will hear very quickly. Toronto and Ottawa have treated us very well, and other municipalities are jealous of the success we’ve had. I don’t think there will be money after 2014 for a long time.

Southcott Pines resident Dr. Carl Belke retired from Brandon University after 31 years teaching chemistry. Dick Matzka has cottaged in Southcott for 58 years. Neither is in favour of the sewer project proposed.

What are your concerns?
Dick: There are two major concerns. One is the expenditure the township plans on making. Two is that they keep telling people they’re going to get financial support from the province. A letter from the tri-municipal meeting says the province is not going to be able to assist them. Apparently there’s $8 million in the Build Canada fund, and it’s going to go to major metropolitan areas (Mayor Gord Minielly’s disputes this).
Carl: I’m concerned that they present the numbers correctly. Let the people decide if there’s a problem or if there isn’t a problem. How big of a problem is it and is it worth spending the money on a sewer system?

They mentioned nitrates at the meeting as being a concern. How do nitrates become part of the ecosystem as a result of human activity?
Belke: Our elimination process puts out ammonia and nitrogen products from the metabolism. The bacteria found in most systems are aerobic, which means ammonia gets converted to nitrate. Nitrate is very soluble. It’s an excellent fertilizer and plants require it. Nitrates can cause algae in the lake, but it’s good for plants. If you give nitrate anaerobic bacteria, that turns it into nitrogen gas, and our atmosphere is mostly nitrogen.
The limit for nitrates in drinking water is 10 parts per million. If you look at Pinery Park, the level is 0.2 ppm. If you look at Southcott, the average here is 3.1 ppm. If you compare that to what the river is putting into the lake – mostly from farmers’ fields – they’re about the same as what we’re doing.
Golder says we’re polluting the water, but who knows what the level was before we were here in the 1950s. We have geese here that contribute a lot of waste and that contributes to the nitrates.
Dick: They’re going to build a sewage plant and they don’t have to. The plant is going to pump more nitrate into the river than they allow.

Is the plant necessary?
Carl: Yes, in one respect. The Clean Water Act says any new development will have to have both municipal drinking water and municipal sewers.
In 2006, Dillon recommended a plant that would cost $13 million and a sewage collection system that would cost $40 million. Fast forward to 2009, the plant will cost $23 million. At the meeting the man from Dillon said the cost had gone up by 25 per cent. But it’s gone up 73 per cent. What’s the collection system going to cost? Sixty-eight million (based on extrapolating the numbers by 73 per cent)?
Dick: And they’re not finished with the plan. We’re only talking about 1500 homes in Lambton Shores. This town operates full bore for three months. For nine months it’s low key and casual. We’re spending a tremendous amount of money for a project that’s not necessary.

Carl, you hoped to speak at the meeting. What did you want to present?
Carl: I wanted to present the analytical data on the water wells in a normal light. They directed it to one parameter and ignored everything else to scare people that everything is bad. Maybe it is bad, but is it as bad as they say? Since no one in the area is on well, no one is directly affected by the drinking water.

You’re saying it’s still bad. What do we do to fix that?
Carl: Have better septic systems, I guess. The problem is, none of the septic systems here are inspected. Everyone waits until there’s a problem.

There are three choices: low-pressure, gravity and septic tanks. What is the most logical or best situation?
Carl: If they were honest with the numbers, the best we can do is let the people decide. I don’t think there is a pollution problem, and we’re not going to be growing in this neck of the woods (Southcott Pines).
Dick: I firmly believe that septics have done the job over the last 50-70 years. We should stop the sewage plant, grow the lagoons, and stop the sewers in the dunes area completely.

Industry professional thinks septic tanks are fine, gravity next best option

Richard Webb of Stewart Webb & Sons has been installing, repairing and replacing septic tanks and sewer line connections for more than 20 years. His family has been in the excavating business for more than 75 years.
The Strip asked the Southcott Pines resident for his expert advice about the sewer project plans.

As told to Casey Lessard

It would greatly benefit us, but I don’t see the benefit of spending the money if it’s not necessary. Certainly if it can be proven that huge of a negative effect on the environment, but we’ve done all we can to protect the environment. The septic systems here work properly.
There’s thousands and thousands of dollars that we would earn if sewers went ahead. For the amount of repairs that we do in septic systems, we might do 10-15 installs a year. If the sewers went ahead, our company would have work unlimited for 10 years. Then there’s the repair work after.
For the people in this area right now, private septic systems are the way to go. If they’re going to force us to go to sewers, a shallow-dug gravity system, meaning 5-6’ deep along the road with pumps in our basements would be my choice. A low-pressure system would be my last choice.
If they’re going to force people to put in sewers, don’t do low-pressure systems. From a maintenance standpoint, with pump chambers, they’re just a maintenance nightmare. If you’re going to install sewers, make sure they’re gravity fed.
The low-pressure system is not commonly used. It’s not a preferred method. Let’s say there are 20 houses on a street and 18 of them are owned by people who only come to Grand Bend in the summer time. The remaining two pumps have to push your effluent down the street to a central boosting area. When the system was designed, it was built so 12-13 pumps were kicking in. What’s it going to work like? That’s what the engineers are going to have to answer.
They’re trying to put in low-pressure sewers with as little disturbance as possible, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do it. Why not pump the sewage from several main pumps instead of pumps on each individual property?

I feel they’re trying to fund this sewage lagoon expansion project and they need to have a certain number of homes using this system. I’m a big advocate of future development. But here in Southcott, in VanDongen, in Beach O’ Pines, we all sit on good soil for private septic systems. There’s more than enough area and the load rates are acceptable to have private septic systems on these lots.
Before they considered the water quality, they had a signed, sealed and delivered deal that everyone was going to be on sewers. We convinced them to come back with some data, and the highest readings that came back were from the oldest area in Southcott and the highest load areas; the highest readings were 5.5 ppm, and the acceptable limits for drinking water are 10 ppm.
We take sand from excavations here, take it back from the site and reuse it in septic systems to the north in the clay. We know the sand has a T time (percolation rate) from 3 to 6 minutes per centimetre. That’s the time the water takes to pass through the material. We know that’s an acceptable rate.
In Bluewater, they need sewers. The lots are too small and the clay conditions are too heavy to make a septic system work properly. In clay, they have a T time of greater than 50 min/cm. It needs to be lower than that, so we bring sand in and put it in the septic bed. Here, we don’t need to do that.
An engineer from Golder got up and said we were sitting on soil that was unacceptable, but any indication that we have, the soil is more than acceptable, and in fact is ideal. In Southcott Pines, I have a contact area of 300 square feet because the soil absorbs the water at a good rate.

We need a council that will take a hard look at whether this is necessary or not. I’d like to see all the associations that fall within this area stand up and say no to this.
I’m hoping they will stick with their word and let the new council decide, which will give us enough time to put in a council that will do what’s right for the people in this area.

The Grand Bend Chamber of Commerce named its 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year and Business of the Year at its annual general meeting November 12. Colonial and Gables won the business award, while Paddington’s Pub owner Jen Gaukroger won the entrepreneur honour.

Interview and photo by Casey Lessard

What makes you successful as an entrepreneur?
I’m trying desperately to get business owners in Grand Bend to work together. When I first came to Grand Bend, I met so many nice people and I was surprised at how they weren’t supportive of each other. I’ve designed this logo and program called the Grand Bend Dining District. I’m trying to say to the restaurants, we’re all very diverse, we all have different things to offer. If you have regulars, and we all do, they don’t want to sit in the same restaurant every time. And instead of tourists going to the first place they see, how can we give them to the type of restaurant they want?
The municipality supports the idea of a sign with a You Are Here locator that has all the restaurants on it. I’d really like everyone to pay into a pot so we can all advertise as a group and cut down on our marketing costs. If we all work together, we can do more.
For the Winter Carnival, this being the Olympic year, I’ve designed a passport with each page representing a country, and each page would be dedicated to one business. Instead of buying a ticket to be entered into the cash draw at the end of it all, each page would be a ticket and as soon as you redeem your coupons, you get a ticket into the draw. Up to 40 businesses can be involved. It’s about trying to get more people and more businesses involved.

You have all these ideas about marketing Grand Bend and the business community here. Why do you care?
People ask me why I bother. But it’s what this town needs. Why would a clothing shop downtown say they don’t know that there’s a pub down the street? I’d like to be in this town long-term. A lot of restaurants pop up and leave, and I don’t want to be one of them. I want to stay and sustain here. I don’t like the idea of having to move my daughter. I like it here and I’d like to see it grow. But I’m very anti-franchise; big box stores hurt little businesses.

How did you get into this business?
I was in radio for nine years, and I loved that but it became very corporate. At my first station, I worked with an owner whose office was in the building so we did some cool stuff. We threw pumpkins off a firefighter training tower for Smashing Pumpkins concert tickets; as creative as you could be, you could do it. As these stations were bought by bigger companies, with liability and corporate policies, all the fun went out of my marketing job.
I was living in Grand Bend and commuting to London. I got the opportunity to open a restaurant for a silent owner, and that was fun, and then I thought, why not do it on my own?

It’s quite a risk to take to do this on your own. Tell me about that decision.
My first thought was I didn’t want to do it because of the risk and start-up money it takes to do it. But if you want to live in Grand Bend, you need to either make yourself a job or travel outside the area to work, which is too bad. We shoestring-budgeted the little place and it was two solid months of 12 hour days of dealing with Alcohol and Gaming, and building code.
In England, people go to pubs like we go to coffee shops. It’s very social. Here, I’m trying to create that, but Canadians associate that lounging around with coffee. In England, people bring their kids and partners to the pub. If you don’t have good food, you’re sunk.
Pubs in England can be anything from a hole in the wall, beer only joint, to a fancy pub. I wanted it to be somewhere in the middle. Grand Bend had a variety of places to eat, but they were either burgers and wings on one end or very fine dining on the other. There wasn’t anything middle range. I knew I wanted to find that middle range before I knew it would be an English pub.
The beer is my favourite part. We carry 50 at any given time. We carry a lot of wine, too. We’re going to start promoting a wine luncheon that is social and laid back. We also have 30 types of tea if alcohol is not your thing.

You’re the Chamber’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Do you have any advice for people considering starting their own business?
I really believe you need to have the funds behind you. The first few years are really tough. You have to love what you’re doing; otherwise, it’s not going to last. You have to love every aspect of it, including cleaning the bathrooms and vacuuming the floors. There is a not-so-glamourous side to it.
I live on life balance. If I wasn’t a parent, I don’t think I’d ever leave work. My daughter keeps life in balance. You don’t want to work too much, party too much or parent too much. You have to get it all in there.

The Grand Bend Chamber of Commerce named Paddington’s owner Jen Gaukroger its entrepreneur of the year, and named the Colonial Hotel and Gables Bar the business of the year for 2009.
The awards were presented at the chamber’s annual general meeting Thursday night at Hessenland Country Inn in St. Joseph.
Guest representatives from Saugeen Shores also shared their first impressions of the area at the meeting (see our story from our visit to Saugeen Shores and my editorial comment).
The Grand Bend Strip will profile Jen Gaukroger in the November 19 edition, and the owners of Colonial and Gables in the December edition.

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

In the wake of Thanksgiving, it’s important to take a moment and consider what we’re thankful for. I’m thankful for the support I have for the work I do here and at home, support that comes from readers and my family.
I also want to send a message of thanks to my mentor Martha Perkins, who is leaving the Haliburton Echo (where I worked before returning to this area) after 24 years (more than half her life). As editor, she has won more than 60 provincial and national awards for her work, so you know I was trained by the best in the business. She’s moving to Vancouver to take an editor’s position at the Bowen Island Undercurrent. Best of luck, Martha.
She’s a big supporter of small towns, and gave me a sense of community. If you believe in community, too, vote for Grand Bend in the CBC Radio 2 SongQuest contest featured on pages 2-3. It’s a long-shot, but let’s try to win!

My apologies to the cast and crew of Our Choir’s the Pitts; a change in publication deadline meant I didn’t have a chance to promote or attend the play, but I hope it was a great success.

Story by Casey Lessard
Painting by Helga Otton

After a trip to Cuba, an inspired Helga Otton returned to Grand Bend with plans to document the town in the way Caribbean artists do. The result is Dreamin’ Grand Bend, a surreal collage of favourite Grand Bend landmarks painted in acrylic on canvas, as seen at left.
“I put in what I wanted, but I’m sure some business people will say, ‘How come I’m not in there?’ But I was looking for interesting architecture.”
The buildings that are included are iconic, Otton says.
“I knew I had to have a steeple in it for the skyline, and the rest are landmarks of Grand Bend. The church is a landmark as are the lighthouse and the bathhouse. I used a couple of cottages from the old village. Dairy Dip is pretty important; you can’t come to Grand Bend without having an ice cream. FINE is a cute little building.”
Otton, who is inspired by Lake Huron and often paints the lake, admits she left out some iconic parts of Grand Bend.
“I don’t have any sand. I couldn’t put sand in it. (Casey: “No bikinis either.”) I do have T-shirts in the Island Beach Company window!”
Several prints have already sold, including one on its way to Florida, and another to Toronto. It’s enough to inspire Otton to consider more using this technique.
“With the response I’ve gotten, I think I might do more.”
If you’re interested in getting a print, Otton will be part of the Sunset Arts Christmas show November 7 and 8 at the gallery in the River Road art complex. Otherwise, you can contact the artist directly at 519-238-6671.
Prices are as follows: 8×10 matted prints are $55, 8×10 framed prints are $100, 16×20 prints on canvas are $275, and 20×25 prints on canvas are $385.

Story by Casey Lessard

Disney sensation High School Musical will kick off a musical summer at the Huron Country Playhouse as Drayton Entertainment prepares for the 2010 season. The playbill also includes Sweet Charity, Country Legends, Cagney! and the world premiere of Dance Legends.
The playbill “offers something for everyone,” artistic director Alex Mustakas said in a release, “and appeals to avid theatergoers who want a taste of all genres.”
The season opener, High School Musical, runs May 18 to June 5 and follows Troy and Gabriella as they navigate the tricky world of high school. Based on the Disney film series, the musical was a big hit in 2009 at St. Jacobs and Penetanguishene. A full review is available at grandbendstrip.com.
Sweet Charity follows June 9 to 26, and follows the misadventures of Charity Hope Valentine in 1960s New York. Country Legends, which features tributes to Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline and more. comes to Grand Bend after a sold-out run in Drayton and Penetanguishene; it runs June 30 to July 24. The Canadian premiere of Cagney!, a celebration of silver screen legend James Cagney, runs July 28 to August 7. The season ends with Dance Legends, a Drayton Entertainment original production; it hits the stage August 11 to September 4.
On the second stage, watch as two couples from contrasting walks of life face the unpredictable waves of romance in Separate Beds. It runs at Playhouse II August 3 to September 4.

To learn more and to buy tickets, which are already available for members and go on sale to subscribers November 1 and the general public January 4, call 1-888-449-4463 or visit draytonentertainment.com.

After learning that the annual Kause for Kids fundraiser was cancelled after seven successful years, Jen Gaukroger at Paddington’s decided last week to revive the event as Bikes for Tykes November 7.
“There’s not a lot going on in Grand Bend in November,” Gaukroger says, “and when you get 600-700 people coming in and supporting our town, I’d hate to lose that crowd.”
Like Kause for Kids, motorcycle riders will tour the town starting at 11 a.m. in support of the Huron-Perth Children’s Aid Society. Gift donations will go as Christmas gifts to children who are wards of the state.
Tickets for the event, which includes a barbecue and party at Paddington’s, are $20; $135 gets you two tickets and a hotel room for the night. Tickets are available at the pub or by credit card at 519-238-5788 Thursday through Saturday.

Inspired by Brian Dale’s Miss Grand Bend, a group of radio listeners is fighting to win CBC’s Great Canadian SongQuest

Story and file photos by Casey Lessard

Only days remain to vote for Grand Bend (or its competitors) in CBC Radio 2’s Great Canadian Songquest, a contest to choose one town from each province to be immortalized in song. Grand Bend made it into the top five for Ontario thanks to some aggressive voting by enthusiastic radio listeners, including Brantford resident and Klondyke Park trailer owner Frank Beattie, University of Western Ontario sociology student Heidi Klopp and others.
“It’s about getting Grand Bend noticed and recognized,” says Klopp, 20, a Zurich veteran who now considers Grand Bend home. “It’s an awesome small town with as much to offer as the big towns.”
Beattie and Klopp thought the contest would be a good way to promote their favourite iconic song about the village, Brian Dale’s “Miss Grand Bend”, which is now available on Dale’s peace/love/waves/song CD that came out this summer. Plans to promote Dale’s music changed somewhat after nominations began and the nominators realized the contest wasn’t to recognize songs that already existed (vis-a-vis “Miss Grand Bend”), but rather to find 13 places across Canada that would be written about by an artist from each province. For Ontario, the artists are Jully Black (R&B/soul), Hawksley Workman (alternative), Shad K (rap), Lynn Miles (folk/roots), and Justin Rutledge (alt-country).
“It’s too bad they’re not using local artists like Brian, Greg Gallello, Natalie Tobin,” Klopp says, “but it’s still a good thing for our town.”
It’s a misunderstanding shared by early Grand Bend bid supporter Frank Beattie, 56, who heard about the contest from a friend.
“All I could think about was Brian’s new album, released after all these years, and thought maybe this is a place to suggest ‘Miss Grand Bend’ as a candidate for the contest,” Beattie says. “They had a few blogging tools that allowed you to create a blog to promote your place. Every time you logged in, you could nominate your town, so on the first day while updating the blog, I voted enough to get us off to a pretty good start.”
A good start is an understatement. At times, Grand Bend was in the lead, and finished in the top five, good enough to be a finalist. After a week of voting, says CBC Radio director of music Mark Steinmetz, Grand Bend was fourth after Algonquin Park, Sleeping Giant (Thunder Bay) and Toronto; Picton was fifth. It’s a proud accomplishment for Beattie, who nine years ago had no idea where Grand Bend was.
“After finishing a big project at work, my boss said we needed to get away,” he says. “There were eight of us involved in that project, and our entire company was dependent on our group, so he decided to leave them on their own while we went away during the middle of the week. We rolled in on Wednesday night. I remember calling my wife and saying, ‘This is unbelievable. It’s an hour and a half away from home (Brantford) and it’s got everything we want.’”
Two weeks later, he brought his wife for a stay at the Oakwood.
“We sat in the dining room for a late dinner and the sunset coming down Oakwood Drive hooked us.” Later that summer, they bought a used trailer at the Klondyke Trailer Park. “Best investment we’ve made,” he says.
His passion for the village is apparent, and his love for local music – among the reasons he and his wife decided to stay – makes him want to promote it across Canada.
“Brian has been adamant since this started that we promote the town, not him. To me, Grand Bend is a secret and a gem. It’s priceless and not well-known. Do we want to lose our paradise? The answer is no, but I’ve been promoting Grand Bend for eight years and the only person to ever take me up on my offer, my neighbour at work, is now my neighbour at the park. He and his partner just love it.”
“It’s a town for everybody and every age group,” Klopp says. “No matter how old or young, there’s something for you.”
For Klopp, the people are the main attraction, then the location. And of course, there’s the music.
“We’re a very musical town, and everyone feels the music. Even if you can’t get up and dance (at a Gables jam night, for example), you can bop to the music.”
For Beattie, the location is the inspiration.
“The beach, the lake, sunsets, the strip, the atmosphere. It’s like Gravenhurst, but it’s 40 minutes from London and an hour from Stratford.”
That’s why CBC Songquest is a good fit, Klopp says.
“I thought it was exactly what Grand Bend needs with the new downtown and beach renovations. What’s the point of spending those millions of dollars if no one comes? Tourism has definitely been down these past few years. It’s great that the locals get to enjoy it, but we want to share it with everyone else as well.”
Just the type of message CBC hopes will come out of the contest, in addition to raising awareness of a recent format change at Radio 2.
“We wanted something to engage Canadians, the artistic community, and our people here to come up with 13 new songs commissioned by the CBC that represented towns across the country,” Mark Steinmetz says. “Rather than us dictating how it was going to go and who we would commission, we thought it would be great to open it up to Canadians.”
While expecting major urban centres to make the top five for each province, he notes that smaller centres are leading the pack. “It’s a tight race right now for what people are voting for,” he says. “It’s a way to discover new artists in this country. We play a diverse range of music, and there are so many great artists out there that don’t get played on private stations.”
Plus it’s a good way to create new music about Canada.
“I don’t know if you know this, but Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘Canadian Railroad Trilogy’ was actually a CBC commission (for the centennial year, 1967),” Steinmetz notes. “We’ve commissioned many types of music. That came from internally. Now Canadians get to help us decide who we’re going to commission. And who knows, one of these songs could become a song that gets embedded in the nation’s consciousness.”
Local listeners hope Grand Bend inspires that song. The final days of the contest will be tough, but Beattie remains as optimistic as he can.
“I think it’s going to take a miracle now to win. Toronto has a few million people, while we have a few thousand. Brian Dale says it right: to be successful in the music business, you need luck and connections, and for us to win this contest, it’s going to take a lot of both.”
“Vote as much as you can,” says Heidi Klopp. “You can vote once a day. Tell everyone you can. Listen to CBC radio, and spread the word.”
To vote, visit: http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/songquest/

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

I had the pleasure of driving up the coast a few kilometers with Chris Bregman of the chamber of commerce, business owner George Appel, and Lakeshore Advance editor Lynda Hillman-Rapley Friday. We took Chris’ van to Saugeen Shores to see what we thought they were doing right and wrong. It was an eye opener, more than anything, to see how it compares to Grand Bend. That was my main focus.
After spending the day in two communities, it was clear that Saugeen Shores – although a beach town, too – is more interested in the locals than the tourists. Sure, tourists come, and people I spoke with said they fill the beach, but there is no beach house, no splash pad, and no paid parking. You read that correctly.
They’ve built their town around the beach, but it’s a side salad to the main course: the business centre. And there are no t-shirt or tattoo shops (nothing against them), but plenty of restaurants (not fry shacks) and bars. Just like a normal small town. Not a beach town. Think Exeter with a lake where the river is.
So, is this a good thing or a bad thing? It seems like a shame not to embrace the beach and its tourism opportunities. But they have a beach and still bring tourists. How? Big events. International tourist events. Pumpkinfest vegetables have set world records in the past. Plus their Wikipedia site says National Geographic selected the town as one of the world’s prettiest sunsets (sound familiar?).
For people there, at least it seems by looking at the thriving locally focused businesses, the tourists are secondary to year-round residents. Sound good? Easier said than done.
Grand Bend is a beach town, and it is a tourist draw. We don’t have a major employer like the nuclear power plant, and I doubt we want one of those here. We’re too close to London to have key year-round businesses like bookstores and movie theatres. So, what do we do?
If I had my way, I’d see every downtown building owned locally with residential features to all of them. George Appel thinks main street living year-round will breed main street businesses year-round. I think he’s right. Let’s bring the tax base down low enough that people will see a profit, and let’s put by-laws into place that give the municipality some control over the appearance of main street facades. I’ve heard that Stratford does it, and look at their businesses.
If it’s going to work, it will take cooperation between businesses, building owners and the municipality. Is that possible?

What Grand Bend can learn from a visit to Southampton and Port Elgin

Story and photos by Casey Lessard

What is the first thing a visitor notices about Grand Bend? The answer to that question will soon be delivered by a delegation from Saugeen Shores as part of an exchange program organized by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). The program, called the First Impressions Community Exchange, involves a diverse group of business owners and residents traveling to a community similar to theirs but a few hours away.
This week, Grand Bend Strip publisher Casey Lessard was among the group organized by Grand Bend Chamber of Commerce manager Chris Bregman on a Lambton Shores sponsored trip to Southampton and Port Elgin to assess the first impressions of the communities.
“The first impression is an invaluable marker for communities to decide which things they need to work on first,” Bregman says. “That could be signage, or working on infrastructure. It provides guidance to the community to know which projects to move ahead with.”
Captain’s Cottages owner Dinah Taylor joined the trip to assess retail and business services in Southampton, a beach town similar in size to Grand Bend.
“Our observations on Highway 21 were not terribly positive, but my view of Highway 21 going into Grand Bend isn’t all that positive, either,” Taylor says. “But once we got onto the high street, which is the main retail area, we were very impressed. What they have there is very much the sort of thing we’d like to see on main street Grand Bend.
“There was a huge mix of stores and services. They had a kitchen store that has everything you could want. They had a 100 mile grocery store that was like going back in time. The store had whole wheat pasta grown and manufactured in Ontario. I didn’t know you could get that stuff. They had a lingerie store that you might find in London somewhere. A sporting goods store that had kayaks for rent, lifejackets for rent, and really interesting gear for sale like snowshoes and surfboards.
“Talking to people there, they said they had no drop in business this summer, and sales were actually up at the lingerie store during rainy weather.”
While concerned about the lack of wheelchair access consistent throughout the town, and a lack of activities for children, Taylor came away from the experience envious.
“They had exactly what we want, and at the right level. They gave the feeling of a comfortable year-round community where it would be nice to raise a family.”
A commercial and residential property owner, chamber treasurer George Appel assessed recreational activities and was impressed, returning to Grand Bend with a sense of where village needs work.
“(Saugeen Shores) presents much better. Our main street doesn’t have the look it should. The buildings need a lot of work. I don’t know how to do it, but part of the problem is the tax rate businesses have to pay and the fact that we have such a short season. The businesses don’t have the revenue to pay for remodeling.
“We have the attractions they do,” he says. “We have the Pinery Park, the Playhouse, the Motorplex and the drive-in. But they don’t drive people downtown.”
Appel noticed excellent signage in Port Elgin pointing visitors to the beach, which is not immediately visible the way it is in Southampton. A group of British visitors at the beach in Southampton said they stopped simply because they could see the “sea” from the highway. It’s something Chris Bregman would like to see mimicked here.
“If there was a way we could make the visible from Highway 21, it would capture more first time visitors,” she says. “Whether that’s possible or not, I don’t know. Maybe clearer signage saying ‘Beach This Way’ would help.”
And once the people are drawn in, Dinah Taylor thinks it would be nice to explain what’s significant about the area.
“I think what’s missing here are the historic plaques explaining the history of our area,” she says. “Grand Bend is a historic place, and many of the people who come here don’t know the first thing about Grand Bend.”
One of the key successes for Saugeen Shores is a business centre that is focused principally on local residents, with tourism – and yes, even the beach itself – secondary to local traffic; it’s almost the opposite approach to that taken in Grand Bend.
“I hope the Main Street project is going to encourage a different kind of retail business,” Taylor says. “In Southampton, there was a very comfortable feeling. It was clean. The downtown was well maintained and there is a sense of pride in the community. I’m not saying that’s lacking in Grand Bend. They have a tradition of a year-round population. Our downtown doesn’t reflect that yet.”
It will take some time, says Appel.
“Maybe we’re being unfair comparing Grand Bend with Saugeen Shores with the higher population and high-paid people. Retired people don’t spend as much money as people making a living with children.
“They’ve got the Bruce nuclear plant with high paid people who are living there year round,” he says. “The solution is more year round people in the area. Then we have to get stores downtown that people want to go to year round. There just isn’t enough traffic downtown.”
Chamber manager Chris Bregman learned a lot from the trip, and will be pushing for one change to mimic what is done in Saugeen Shores.
“Their chamber takes charge of events and promoting them, and the municipality provides funds for the tourist information centre. (Seeing) the very close relationship the chamber of commerce has with the municipality; I think we could make a real difference to the economic development if we had that kind of relationship.”
Bregman hopes to exchange thoughts in person with the Saugeen Shores delegation; she’s inviting them to the chamber’s annual general meeting November 12 at Hessenland.

Let’s Play Bridge

Musical comedy presented by the Grand Cove Musical Theatre Group
Fri. October 2 – 7 p.m.
Sat. October 3 – 7 p.m.
Sun. October 4 – 2 p.m.
Grand Cove Caddyshack. Tickets: $7.50; on sale Mondays and Fridays from 1-3 p.m. at Caddy Shack or call Jo Dabrowski at 519-238-5156.

Grand Cove’s actors are back at it with another adaptation of life in the Grand Bend retirement community. This year, writer-producer-director Doreen Newell took her inspiration from the Cove’s most popular card game: bridge.
“It’s about the people playing bridge,” Newell says. “It highlights the type of characters we have in the Cove and the different walks of life. Everybody here has lived their lives, everybody has been captain of their own ship, everybody has their own ideas of what it should be.
“The Cove’s a melting pot. We’ve all walked our lives all over the world. We’re getting old. We have to come somewhere to melt down, and this is where, and this is a show about the meltdown (laughs).”
Building on the success of two sold out productions in a row, Let’s Play Bridge gives audiences what they expect: familiar music, great costumes, and local flavour.
“We incorporated the gossip of the Cove and the Bend,” Newell says, noting the importance of this last aspect, “and all the little funny things in every day life here. The familiar put into a story that’s not old hat.”
Newell writes what she sees, and the story is inspired by the characters she casts.
“Isabel Sweeney is the hostess with the mostess. Seeing Isabel walk around the park, she’s an elegant lady. She’s an immediate part. And she sings beautifully.
“Georgina Bellamy originates from Liverpool. She was at the wedding of one of the Jerry and the Pacemakers! She was a policewoman on duty for several of those things. She can slip back, after 30-odd years in Canada, into the Liverpudlian mode. She knows it.
“Peg Seller does all the costumes for here. She’s a magical fairy. She belongs in fairy land. She loves pretty things and creating. She lives in Never Never Land; make-believe land.
“Bev Breen is fairly new to the Cove. I felt when I put her in there, she could relate to the country scene. She typifies the typical Canadian from the country.
“Brenda Clark is the clown. When we had a winter teach-in, we gave everyone parts. It didn’t matter what we gave her, she could clown around and do it.”
To Newell, life at the Cove is “one big pantomime” and the play is a projection of what its characters believe are “the highlights of their lives”.
“It’s a really good sing-song with good humour,” Newell summarizes. “They’ll have a really enjoyable evening. It’s going to be a fun show with a lot of class.”
Tickets sell fast, so act soon.

Story by Casey Lessard

Although it’s not very common in Canada today, polio had a serious and sometimes deadly impact on Canadians until the 1950s. Today, polio (or poliomyelitis) affects about 1,000 people worldwide, with almost all cases occurring in India, Afghanistan and Nigeria. That’s down from 350,000 cases in 1985, when Rotary International pledged to eradicate the disease from the planet. Since then, Rotary has raised billions of dollars to fight polio, and plans to continue until it’s history.
“There is no cure for polio,” says Grand Bend Rotary’s Foundation coordinator Brian Hall. “The only cure is to wipe it out.”
Hall’s father contracted polio at age two. The virus destroys neurons, stopping communication between the nervous system and muscles. This can cause temporary or permanent paralysis.
“They told his parents that he would never walk,” Hall says of his father. “He did ultimately walk, but the leg that the polio affected was two inches shorter than his other leg. He could never run, skate, or walk like a normal person. He limped and was lucky to be able to walk at all.”
For Rotary, the only solution is to immunize all of the children in the countries where polio still exists.
“Our big push this year is the Rotary toll road on the Labour Day weekend,” Hall says. “This year, our club has committed all of the funds from the toll road to polio.”
Each shot costs between $0.50 to $0.80 to administer, depending on the child’s location. India alone plans to vaccinate 172 million children in a series of six national vaccination days, and another 69 million children after that.
“No question we’re going to eradicate it,” Hall says. “The quicker we get this done, the sooner we can direct the funds toward other causes.”
To show your support, the Rotary club will be at the main lights in Grand Bend on the Labour Day weekend collecting donations. Anything you can offer will help.

Survivor stories:
Hugh Marsh
Reg Copeman
Marian Maguire

“It’s always with you.” – Hugh Marsh

As told to Casey Lessard

Hugh Marsh is a former area resident whose family ties remain in and around Grand Bend. He has lived in California most of his life, and spent much of his career teaching engineering writing at the University of California Santa Barbara.
A polio survivor, Marsh has long fought for improved accessibility for people using wheelchairs.

I had just turned 14 in the summer of 1948; it was August 19th as I recall. We went to a family picnic at Springbank Park in London. My friend Greg Seabrook and I were playing miniature golf and running back to the picnic table where our families were; I could always beat in a foot race, but this time I couldn’t keep up with him.
That was a Friday night. Late afternoon Saturday, I went to go to the bathroom and I fell on the way to the bathroom and had to crawl in. That was the last time I walked.
I don’t remember the moment when they told me I’d never walk again. I don’t remember it being a traumatic time for me and I never had any psychological trauma from it. I’ve thought about the months in the hospital, and there must have been times when I was depressed, but I just kind of took it as it was. I always expected I would live a normal life, and my parents made my life as normal as possible.
I was in the War Memorial Children’s Hospital (in London, now Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario) from the 21st of August until the following May. For the first month, you’re in an isolation ward and really sick. The polio virus settles in the spine and, depending on where it settles, it affects you from below that point. If it settles behind your belly button, you become paraplegic. Mine was a wee bit higher than that, so it also affected my left arm a little, but that appeared later.

Those were the days when they kept you in the hospital. I recall it being a rather enjoyable time. There were five or six of us boys, and an old lady teacher would come in and give us our lessons, so I didn’t miss a grade of school as a consequence.
I don’t remember anything bad about the hospital at all. We were always getting into mischief. In the spring, there was a roof garden, and we would go up there and play on the roof. I had a big old wooden wheelchair and we were racing around on the roof one time. It had a board floor, and one of the wheels caught between the boards and flipped the chair over. It shattered into a pile of kindling.

Moving on
I was treated pretty much as an ordinary kid, except for the fact that I had a wheelchair. My parents did what the doctors told them to do and that was not to do anything for me that I could do myself. I was taught to be independent and I pretty much was. When I was old enough, I got a driver’s license and hand controls for the car.
The biggest change was figuring out ways to get around. My dad always made it happen. But it was always something that we as a family had to deal with. I’ve dealt with access issues all of my life.
London Central High School had steps into it. My brother Barry, who was a couple of years younger than me, would simply pull me up the half dozen steps into the first floor. If I had to go to the second floor, a few of the boys would grab my wheelchair and lift me up the stairs. We’d find a way around it. Now, it looks a lot the same, but there are ramps and elevators, so you can get everywhere.
We moved to California in 1953 when I was 19, mostly for my father’s health because he had asthma. I went to college and did some graduate work. In my last year of college I was working full-time. I had married young and had a baby girl, so coping with polio had a real life lesson for me to deal with the issues I had to deal with myself. Polio taught me how to do that.
I got a job in the aerospace industry as a publication editor for a while. I started to run technical publications groups in the California area for a company making infrared spy satellite technology. While I was there, I was asked to teach a class in engineering writing at the University of California Santa Barbara. I taught one class and then they asked me to teach two. A few months later, they asked me to teach three and that meant full-time. I left aerospace and spent the last 20 years of my professional life at the university teaching, and I just loved it.

Pushing for access
I’ve been involved in all sorts of disabled rights groups here in California, and as a matter of fact I was information officer for the state’s department of rehabilitation for a couple of years between my years in aerospace. I’ve been very involved in getting access here. I’ll continue to be involved. It takes people who care about it to get in and do it. Change doesn’t come unless people who are involved participate in that change. That’s a must.
For every disabled person who needs access, there are up to a dozen people who the lack of access affects if they want to go places together. It’s taken a long time, but it’s slowly changing.
I remember I got a job at Aerojet, a big corporation. I was hired May 9, 1960, and they had to modify bathrooms so I could get into stalls, and offices had to be enlarged where I was working. There had to be access into the buildings I needed to go into, and there were some buildings that wasn’t possible, so I just wasn’t involved in working in those buildings. The publications department I worked in eventually got to be pretty accessible. Later on, when I worked in Sacramento for a few years, when I was part of the state government, I was essentially advocating for more access to businesses and public buildings in California. I’m still involved in that on a city council committee here in Santa Barbara.

Post-polio syndrome
It turns out that polio isn’t a disease that, once you’ve had it, you stay pretty much the same. I began to notice symptoms of increasing weakness and pain around 1980. My slightly weakened right arm became much weaker, and about 10 years ago I had to go from a manual wheelchair to a power chair. And, the progression of the weakness and pain hasn’t slowed down, even though I’ve been through various courses of physical therapy and pain management. Pain management has brought new problems that accompany the “hard drugs”, OxyContin and Norco in my case.
After the the Salk vaccine in the early 1950s, most research on polio stopped. Now it has picked up again, but – to my knowledge at least – no explanation for the phenomenon of post-polio syndrome has appeared, to say nothing of a cure.
Organizations like Rotary who put their financial resources behind the project are doing a tremendous amount to finally get rid of polio. It’s absolutely important to get to that final step. It was getting to the point where it was almost eradicated and a generation of young parents came along who weren’t sure that all of these vaccinations were good for children. There was an uptick again because parents weren’t having their children vaccinated. It’s a simple thing to do and it needs to be done.

“There are different ways you learn to cope with it.” – Marian Maguire

Although Marian Maguire of Grand Bend had a mild case of polio as a child, the disease has more of an impact on her life today than ever. She, like so many others, has post-polio syndrome, which progressively disables nerves and muscles in polio survivors.

As told to Casey Lessard

There was an epidemic in the summer of 1938. My cousin had it and I had been visiting her in Parkhill the week before, so they were keeping an eye on me. They caught mine very early because of that.
I was only about four at the time, and all I can remember is being in the hospital in isolation. My mom and dad would come to the hospital but they couldn’t come into the room.

Giving it a second thought
My parents told me I had had it, but I never had any aftereffects from it. I never gave it a second thought until 1970 or ‘75. Someone noticed that I had a slight limp.
It progressively got worse. The muscle in my right calf has deteriorated. The second toe also drops, and you have to watch it or you’ll trip very easy. In the last couple of years, I’ve also noticed my right arm getting weaker.
When you’re younger, some of the nerves will take over and compensate for the ones that are dying. When you get older, they can’t compensate. That’s when you really notice it. They call this post-polio syndrome. I was diagnosed in 1996.

Coping mechanisms
I get muscle spasms, especially at night. You have to get up and move or it drives you nuts. I’ve been dealing with this for 20 years at least.
We used to do a lot of walking, and you can’t do that as much. Fatigue is a big thing.
The drug Mestinon had side effects that I thought I was better off without. But I was on another medication that really helped. No more aching leg at night, and I could sleep. After about two years, it wasn’t working as well and got to a point where it wasn’t working at all.
There are different ways you learn to cope with it. If it bothers me in the evening, I go out for a walk. You need something to get it off your mind. If I have company playing cards, it doesn’t bother me. If I’m sitting watching TV, it bothers me.

Prioritize
Until recently, I have been able to do pretty much everything I wanted. I’m 75, so you can’t expect to do what you did when you were 50. But I notice now that I prioritize things. I don’t want to do something I won’t enjoy because I know I can’t do everything; I can’t stay at something as long as I used to.

Marian’s experience led her to discover post-polio support groups, which she attended for some time. The one she attended was in London, and meets the third Saturday every other month including October. Call Heather McAdam at 519-764-2481 for more information. The March of Dimes (http://www.marchofdimes.ca/) is also active in supporting polio survivors.

To the Editor,
Here’s a bit of verse I wrote about ten years or so ago,  With the upcoming enhancement and change in the appearance of Main St., I thought it might be appropriate.

Ageless Grand Bend
 
Every weekend, rain or shine,
People flock in cars so fine,
Lining up with engines running,
Hoping soon they’ll all be sunning
On our beaches, vast and sandy,
Cheek by jowl, and often randy!
Red and burning, sleek with lotion,
Coolers full of “magic potion”.
Later on they cruise our Main Drag,
Check the shops, the games, then brag
How until six their party ran.
(Sleeping an hour in an old sedan!)
On the sidewalks, road and front lawn
Cups and plates and forks get thrown down
Flow’rs get torn and tossed around,
Dying on the grungy ground!
Miraculously, The Bend maintains
It’s own mystique. And see those stains?
Those blots you walk on everywhere?
Your Grandpa dropped his bubblegum there!
Oh! Oh! New plans will pave it over.
Century-old stains go undercover.
These paving stones – a fresh new page
How will they fare in this bold new age?
 
(The last four lines were added today.)
Cheerio,
Marie Strapp (via email)

To the Editor,
I, too, attended the library room meeting a few Thursdays ago to see the plans that are going forward. It was clear political types and designers were going through the required motions of ‘public input’ and ‘public participation’ to get on with it as soon as they can to capture the much revered infrastructure/stimulus money from other levels of government.
The first $2.5 million comes from the provincial and federal tax base (Editor’s note: prior reports stated the total cost was $2.6 million, but the Lambton Shores municipal website now says that is the amount of funding received); the tremendous funding balance will come from our municipal tax base. It’s very much a Larry the Cable Guy program: Git R Done now or lose the lion’s share of this found cash.
As I type this letter, I am sitting in Grand Bend’s most popular meeting place (Tim Hortons). Wouldn’t it have been creative to have exposed these plans to the people over the last three months by using some wall space?
We might have then seen the green spaces and proposed trees, etc., and been able to compare the green spaces drawn on the beach enhancement sketches and ask if the green would be the same brown spaces of excessive mulch ground cover employed in that glorious job. One might have asked with the reduced parking at the beach whether we can really afford another “just 20 parking space loss” on Main Street?
Like any good plastic surgery clinic, the town has the deposit so let’s get on with the face lift. And as I head next door for breakfast at a business far from the pending minor distraction this enhancement work will be, I think about a good omelette: if they break some eggs, let’s hope we don’t end up with scrambled eggs when served up by reopening in June 2010.
Robert Webb (via email)
(see lambtonshores.ca for draft proposal)

Needs supporters to maintain River Road presence

Story and photos by Casey Lessard

The Grand Bend Art Centre could give up the lease on its River Road space if a fundraising effort fails to generate enough interest before October. Artists (including this reporter) use the space to teach art workshops to community members. Artist Teresa Marie, who launched the centre last summer, hopes to sell enough books of coupons valid year-round at local businesses ($40 each, available at the River Road Gallery and elsewhere locally) to pay the rent and secure programming for the fall.
“We have to let Milford know by October whether we’re going to keep this facility as an art centre,” Teresa Marie says. “If we can sell 150 coupon books before the fall, we can probably pull ourselves out of this. Then in April we’ll do the coupon book again with more coupons and have a fresher book for the new season.
“I’m looking for people who want to support the art centre, and this is our gift back to them and our gift to the community to keep the money spent in the community.”
The centre has $15,000 in annual expenses, and rentals and workshops do not cover the cost completely. Even with donations from Rotary and some private donors, the centre has not been able to cover costs.
“We fell short of our budget last year. Milford Purdy, who has been very forgiving, has let us continue to have the place and we’re paying him on a catch-up basis right now.
“As a painter, I was trying to get all of the painters in town together to form groups to use the art centre. For the short term summer season, I wanted it to be available for visiting artists who would stay for the weekend, take some workshops, meet some artists, spend some money in town, and get to know our community through the art.”
Regardless of whether it has a permanent physical space, Teresa Marie says the centre will continue to operate.
“If we can’t come up with the funds to keep that location, I will have to farm out the workshops elsewhere. I will continue to do this on a smaller scale, but I would like to see it continue here.”
Judy Steeper of Corbett hopes the space can maintain the status quo.
“I love the classes,” Steeper says. “They’re Grand Bend’s best kept secret. We’re really fortunate to have it because it’s a treasure. It’s great, especially for me. I work as a wedding planner and designer, and this helps me keep my creativity up.
“It’s handy and it’s close to home. It’s adding tourism and it’s a plus all around.”
Marie Hughes of Bayfield agrees.
“I hope it keeps on going,” says Hughes, who has taken several classes at the centre. “I’ve been hoping to do this for years and years. It’s an opportunity to do some learning close at hand without driving to the big city.”
Hughes notes that the centre is special because students of all abilities are welcome.
“It’s suitable for people who have never picked up a brush. I like that everyone in the class is at different stages in their ability.”
That’s what attracted Rosemary Stevens of London to the Teresa Marie’s painting workshop.
“I always wanted to find out if I could paint,” Stevens says. “I just retired in January and I established a bucket list of things to do that I never had time to do. My mother painted for pleasure and I always admired her work. I thought I’d like to try that and come down and take a class.”
How has the experience been?
“It was very scary when I first started, but now I’m developing some self-confidence. It shows you that you just have to try.”
“People don’t always want to buy things,” says Teresa Marie, “but they want to do things. Grand Bend needs to offer that so people can stay active physically and mentally.
“I started to paint when I was 28 years old and I learned to paint from Barry Richman, David Bannister, and Klaus Verboom. Through them, the art gallery developed. Good things happen when good people get together. Out of that has grown a second gallery. I was taught by other people hands-on, and I want to share that with other people.”
For Rosemary Stevens, supporting the art centre is important for Grand Bend, not only for the students but also for the greater community.
“I think it’s an expression of people in the community and their appreciation for where they are. It’s very important.”

To show your support, buy a coupon book ($40 at River Road Gallery and elsewhere) or sign up for a class.
To find out more, call 519-238-8978 or email grbartcentre@hay.net.

Federal and provincial funding means project has to finish by June 1, 2010, but Lambton Shores was ready thanks to master plan

Story and photo by Casey Lessard

Grand Bend’s Main Street is less than a year away from a major makeover that will see few major changes, but which the municipality believes will make Grand Bend a better place for pedestrians and motorists.
“The whole idea is to make the street more humanized,” says Patrick Li of EDA Collaborative Inc., the company that mapped out Grand Bend’s beach enhancement project. “Encourage pedestrian safety and enjoyment without compromising the cars. We maintain what is required for two-lane traffic, and we clearly identify parking on both sides. We create angles in and out so it’s easier to park. We also begin to introduce colour and graphics, trees and banners, benches and bicycle racks.”
The thrust of the project is reworking the road and sidewalks to meet current provincial standards for accessibility and safety. The road will be graded and sidewalks will allow for smooth entry to most businesses, Li says. Parking will be reduced by about 20 spaces on the main street. Trees will be replaced with native trees; the new trees will be given appropriate room to breathe and grow. Hydro wires will be buried on the north side and poles on the south side will be replaced. Paving stones at intersections will form visual mosaics that symbolize local themes, and a new meeting space will replace some parking spaces at the former Finnegan’s parking lot.
“We have an opportunity to make the street easier for pedestrians and traffic,” says Ward 1 Lambton Shores councillor John Dehondt. “We can fix a lot of the things that were done in the original design. If you look through the main street, we’ve lost a bit of parking, but everything flows better and it’s safer for pedestrians.”
The project is going forward thanks to a federal/provincial infrastructure grant that will cover 2/3rds of the $2.6 million project. Thanks to advanced planning by the municipality in the form of its master plan, the project was an easy pitch.
“We went ahead in each of our communities and put together what we would like the communities to look like. When we found out that infrastructure money could happen, we were shovel-ready, and they said go for it. It all has to be done by June 1, 2010, and we can accommodate that.”
The plan is not perfect, say business owner Greg Gallello and artist Teresa Marie. Gallello says he came to the Thursday show-and-tell meeting with a closed mind, and left putting his trust in the municipality.
“Grand Bend is what it is because of the beach,” Gallello says. “Without that, we’re just like any other small town. We have to remember our main attraction is the beach. When you turn on Main Street now, you see the sand and the water, and it looks amazing. Looking at these plans, it looks like you’re not going to see the beach anymore because of all the trees.”
Teresa Marie believes the municipality handled the process poorly, racing through the process that will still see local funds pay almost $1 million for the project.
“It could have been on display all summer,” she said of the plans displayed Thursday. “They’ve known about this. They’ve got the money. It’s not like they found out about this yesterday.”
In fact, last time this newspaper was invited to a meeting about the downtown was in May 2008, when plans included angled parking.
“They want me to believe that this is what they’ve come up with in a year,” Teresa Marie says. “And no price breakdown. How much will those paving stones cost? Why are you putting paving stones on a road where no one’s going to see them? Why not put that money into sculpture instead of trees on the street? Everyone has trees. Sculptures are more unique.”
For John Dehondt, majority rules, and he says most people are on board with the project, even if the details cause disagreement.
“I think everyone’s on side with the project fundamentally. If we don’t inconvenience people during the process, I think we’re good.”
There is still some room for public input, but it seems as if the bulk of the project is a done deal. The municipality will be putting it out to tender soon so the project can meet its June 2010 completion deadline.
“This kind of development can bring in a new clientele for merchants,” Li says of the benefit of supporting the project. “Before, merchants relied on teenagers driving their hot rods. We’re trying to encourage young families to come. Creating a more comfortable environment to come here and spend money.”

Story by Casey Lessard

Sometimes the Huron Country Playhouse saves the best for last, and this year is one of those times. Evita, playing now until August 29, is top quality theatre thanks to excellent hiring decisions that include a star director, a perfect Evita, and great talent all around.
Michael Lichtefeld, who was a performer in the original Broadway cast of Evita, directs and choreographs the Playhouse version to great effect.
“I’m not recreating what we did on Broadway,” Lichtefeld says, “but you can’t do a show for two years and not be influenced by what you did. I’m trying to make it my own and make it fresh for now.”
For Lichtefeld, a key part of making it fresh is the star he discovered after a chance audition.
“I think we’ve found a Canadian star in Dena Chiarcossi,” he says. “She’s exactly what I was looking for because I was looking for someone young and on the verge of a breakthrough. For me, she’s spectacular in the show. The whole cast is terrific.”
Chiarcossi planned to audition for a secondary role, Juan Perón’s mistress.
“I asked my agent if I could audition to play the part,” she says, “but they said it was already cast, but they’re looking for an Eva. I said, all right, I’ll try.”
“She’s an incredible actress and has an amazing voice,” Lichtefeld says. “I asked her at the audition if she could dance and she said ‘a little.’ Well, she dances a lot more than just ‘a little.’ She’s quite a find for me, and she knocked my socks off.”
The show opens with Eva Perón’s 1952 death at age 33, and flashes back to show her life from age 15 to her rise to power with her husband Juan Perón, who was Argentina’s president from 1946 to 1955 and again from 1973 to 1974. During her time at Casa Rosada (the presidential residence), Eva Perón championed women’s rights and the rights of workers.
“I’ve always been on her side,” Lichtefeld says. “There’s something interesting about a woman, especially in the ‘30s and ‘40s, who worked her way up through a male-dominated society to become as powerful as she did. At the end, it went to her head. But look at how many young stars spend all their money or get burned out at the end.
“She’s kind of an anti-hero. She’s a tough character and you’re either going to love her or be elated that she dies in the end.”
Chiarcossi believes the script makes Evita (or Little Eva) look worse than she was.
“Eva Perón was for the people,” she says. “The reason she wanted power and jewels and money was to show the upper class and middle class that they’re not the only ones entitled to this. She, being lower class, wanted to show the people of Argentina that they too could have all of those riches. That’s what I believe. The script is a little different. It manipulates that a little. It shows her more on the arrogant and greedy side.”
This is the challenge for viewers: is Evita (the character) good or bad?
“For me, it’s about how power can corrupt,” Lichtefeld says. “She started off with ambitions to be greater than what fate had dealt her at the beginning. She worked her way up to be the first lady of Argentina. She did some great stuff but also some really bad stuff.
“She slept her way to the top. But she got the vote for women in Argentina, and that itself is a big deal.”
As a counterpoint, Stephen Patterson plays narrator Che Guevara, who never met Evita.
“I tried to find out why they chose him,” says Patterson, who plays a central role in the success (once again – he starred in Miss Saigon and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) of this Playhouse presentation. “What would his problems be with Perónism? A revolutionary acts from the heart. She might have believed she was there for the people, but Che would likely say that she wasn’t.”
With strong singing, dancing and acting, perfectly simple set pieces, and wonderful orchestration, Evita is a perfect reason to spend a couple of hours in the Playhouse theatre on a hot August afternoon or evening.
“It’s controversial, which makes good theatre and makes you think,” Patterson says. “If you can leave the theatre and think about something, we’ve done our job.”

Evita
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed & Choreographer by Michael Lichtefeld
Performed by Dena Chiarcossi, Stephen Patterson, Kyle Dadd & company
Drayton Entertainment Production
Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend
August 12 – 29, 2009

Live! On Stage!
Review by Mary Alderson

To wrap up the 2009 season in Grand Bend, Huron Country Playhouse is offering a brilliant production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita. More opera than musical, this show features a fascinating story, great music, excellent cast and good orchestra.
The show opens with revolutionist Ché Guevera in a movie theatre in Argentina in 1952. The movie is interrupted to announce the death of Eva Peron, wife of Argentinean president Juan Peron. The people of Argentina are devastated by the demise of their beloved Evita, their pet name for her. Then Ché, as the narrator, takes the audience back through time to tell the story of Eva’s life. Born illegitimate and in abject poverty, Eva Duarte convinces a lounge singer to take her away from small-town Argentina to the big city of Buenos Aries at age 15. There, she gets what she wants – working her way from model to radio announcer to famous actress by offering sexual favours to influential men. Finally she meets Juan Peron, a candidate for president of Argentina. She dispatches his 15-year-old mistress, and puts herself in that role, eventually getting him to marry her. With her strength and drive, he becomes president. She ingratiates herself with the working class people and is their “spiritual leader”. The Perons travel the world on their “Rainbow Tour”, where Eva is very popular in Spain and Italy but snubbed by England. Ché points out the discrepancies – money in a charity she creates goes missing, and the poor people are no better off under the Peron regime. The Argentinean military doesn’t like Eva’s power, which only strengthens her desire to be vice-president. But she becomes ill, and her body prevents her from doing all that she wants. She dies of cancer at age 33.
Dena Chiarcossi is outstanding as Eva, playing the character as strong and feisty, ready to take on the world. Chiarcossi sings the many difficult songs beautifully, including the showstopper “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”. Chiarcossi was part of the cast of Miss Saigon two years ago, and recently played Sharpay in Disney’s High School Musical for Drayton Entertainment.
Stephen Patterson as Ché is also exceptional. Last summer at Huron Country Playhouse, Patterson was Freddy Benson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, where he also had the outrageous Ruprecht role. Returning from a North American tour of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Patterson shows his strength and wonderful voice as Ché, narrating the story through song. He easily handles the many different music styles and tight lyrics, getting the story told without slowing the action. Together, Patterson and Chiarcossi sing a moving version of “High Flying Adored.”
Kyle Dadd is excellent as Juan Peron. Earlier this summer he played Bill Sykes in Oliver! at Huron Country Playhouse. Keely Hutton gives a very good rendition of “Another Suitcase in Another Hall” as Peron’s young mistress, and Jay Davis as Magaldi is entertaining with “On This Night of a Thousand Stars.” Michelle DiGioacchino, another Drayton favourite, gives an amazing performance as the tango dancer.
The large cast of 23 plus a children’s chorus of six, give a rich, full sound to the songs. “A New Argentina” is a strong, rousing close to act I. Comedy is created with the stuffy British at the polo match, and with the tap-dancing military.
The set is sparse – just a few pieces of furniture along with the famous balcony where Eva greets the masses. But by using actual photographs and newspaper accounts from the times, the feel of Argentina in the 30s and 40s is created.
This is a top quality production and the abilities of Broadway director Michael Lichtefeld are evident. The very full house on opening night was thrilled with the show and showed their appreciation.
Evita continues with eight shows a week until August 29 at Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend. Tickets are available at the Huron Country Playhouse box office at (519) 238-6000, Drayton Entertainment at 1-888-449-4463, or check www.draytonentertainment.com

Mary Alderson offers her view of area theatre in this column on a regular basis. As well as being a fan of live theatre, she is a former journalist who is currently employed with the Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporations.

The Band In You is building a following for bands that might hit their peak 10 or 20 years from now

Photos and story by Casey Lessard

Sitting outside a basement studio in the Dalton Subdivision south of Grand Bend, four teenagers wait their turn in Ken Dinel’s domain: his professional music recording studio. Surprised by the success of his project, The Band In You music school, Dinel has had to abandon basement space to expand the studio and the lounge, which is still in the renovation stage.
“I thought I might get five students and teach a little music,” Dinel says. “I didn’t expect a big turnout, but it just took off. And it took off fast. I didn’t do any advertising other than in the Strip, and the word of mouth spread. Kids started telling their friends they were in a band. My five-year-old group members are six now, and they went to Florida for a month; they drove their mom nuts telling everyone they’re in a band.”
Their passion for being part of something bigger than themselves has led to performances by The Band In You students at various community events this summer, including at the Canada Day celebrations and the Relay for Life.
“It’s different from what I’m used to, but a good different,” says 14-year-old Blake Percy of Grand Bend, a guitarist in the band Sweet ‘N’ Toxik. He joined the school after his mom saw the ad in this paper.
“I’m learning a lot of new things. Before I would learn how to play the guitar and go home and practice for hours and hours. Here, you’re learning how to play with other people in a band. The timing is a whole different thing. It’s like comparing an individual sport like tennis to a team sport like soccer.”
The band members range in age from three to 18, and there are seven bands in total. Band members come up with the names, such as Famous, Victim, and Rocket Stars. Everyone is involved in songwriting, which is the main thrust of the school.
“They come in and sit down, and we start writing,” Dinel says. “We’ll rewrite together until the song’s somewhat complete, and then it’s introduced to the band. If the bands are less capable of writing, we each take a turn writing a line and then it’s edited that way. The Rocking Kids are five years old, and they all wrote me a bunch of lyrics about being rock stars and I put it together for them. With Sweet ‘N’ Toxik, Kyla came in with a semi-finished song (“Building My Time Machine”), and we tore it down and rewrote it with new elements. Then we sat down and worked on the music for it. It all came together very quickly.
“From there, we go into the studio and lay down a bed track where the band performs the song together to a click track. Then we just start replacing parts one at a time. We redo it until it’s radio-worthy.”
That level of professionalism and solidarity is what attracts Dinel’s students.
“I thought I was the next Taylor Swift,” says Sweet ‘N’ Toxik singer Megan O’Brien, 15 of Zurich. “But then I got into the band and this is so much cooler because you get to share the hard work and pride with other people. I really want to hit it big with the band. I love sharing our music with people. When I’m listening to the radio, I’ll hear a song that makes me say, ‘I’m so glad they wrote that.’ I want to share that with people.”
Sharing the music is part of the appeal for Kyla Hunt-Beach of Grand Bend, also a singer with the band.
“I like being able to perform and entertain,” says the 17-year-old. “I like being able to work in a team as a band. It’s been really amazing.
“The highlight is playing at concerts,” Kyla says. “The first one at the Grand Bend Public School Family Fun Day was amazing. I loved how there was a big crowd and how enthusiastic they were. I loved how they came up afterward and complimented us.”
Blake Percy agrees.
“It’s great seeing people come out to watch you play because I’m not used to that. Our band is good, so we get good applause and that’s a rush.”
Dinel estimates the school’s show has about 200 loyal fans, so he’s looking forward to taking the bands on tour locally. Coming off well-received shows this summer, Dinel has started picking up paying gigs for his students.
“The original goal of the school was to teach them how to write songs and record them,” he says. “Now that the school’s full, we’re going to develop a show. They’ll write and perform originals and covers, and each band will have its own set.
“We’ve been promised radio. Next year, I want to take these kids on tour locally. Then it’s TV. They’re very young, but there’s an It factor. We’ve performed with some bigger bands, and the bigger audience seems to be when the kids are on. We don’t see kids play, so it’s a rarity. And it’s coming out of Grand Bend.”
That said, the performers are still kids, so they’re not polished professionals, although there are a few prodigies. For Dinel, career longevity is the key, and that comes from accountability and desire, even if their age sometimes shows in the lyrics and sound.
“There’s a lot of editing at this stage,” Dinel admits. “But they get better each time they do the process. They’ve been here six months, so imagine them in two years. Grand Bend’s going to have some serious music out of this. Victim is a very committed band; my daughter’s in that one. They’re the real deal, and in two years they’ll only be 10!
“Most garage bands typically envision these ideas (touring, recording, etc.), but don’t go any further because they don’t have anyone to help them get there. I always push them to look forward. It’s more of a preparation mentality than a practice mentality.”
“I had lessons before,” adds Megan O’Brien, “and you go home and play, but it’s not fun. With a band, people are depending on you. We’re looking at the bigger picture.”
Mom Yvonne O’Brien is impressed.
“On several occasions, our daughters have been jamming and performing with other friends who have a lot more formal or traditional training. Their experience with The Band In You’s format was very apparent, and helped produce a more confident performance.”
Shannon O’Brien, 13, plays drums and is learning the bass. She agrees that the experience has helped boost her confidence in performance.
“Before, friends would come over and I’d be totally lost,” she says. “Now I can play with bands and it’s a lot better.”
“Ken is phenomenal,” Kyla Hunt-Beach says. “He’s really good to work with and easy to get along with. He gets you on track when you need to. It’s really fun and you don’t even realize when you’re practicing because you’re having so much fun. You get lost in the music because it’s so much fun.”
Dinel believes his process helps students relax, creating a desire to come back for more.
“When Kyla came in, she was conservative, safe and tense. Now, you see her in there and she’s a whole different person.
“I’m trying to put together bands that really get along well. There’s no inner dating. They’re respectful to each other. For the sake of longevity, they have to share the limelight, be respectful and encouraging to each other.”
That was a challenge at first for Kyla and Megan, who share the stage as singers in Sweet ‘N’ Toxik.
“At first, when we didn’t know each other, we kind of competed,” Megan says. “Not too bad, but we’d almost scream trying to get over each other. Finally we said, we want to sound good, and we sound good together. We’re both equally in this, so let’s just do it. Now we hang out all the time. We’re good friends. It wasn’t like that before, but now it is.”
Together they are stronger, they say, and they’re in it for the long haul.
“I want our band to get big and become well known, ” Kyla says. “ To be able to travel and tour. I just hope it grows. It’s going to be hard, but that’s how you get big.”
Thirteen-year-old Shannon’s prepared for the ride.
“I’d like to see people know our band. That would be the coolest thing.”
For Dinel, the end result is up to his students.
“It’s a self-defined experience,” he says. “We have a great time, but I do have expectations. If they don’t come in prepared, it’s not cool. As a band, they all feel part of something greater than their everyday life.”

The school’s roster is full, but has a waiting list that could be drawn upon in the fall. To join the waiting list and be part of the process, contact Ken Dinel at thebandinyou (at) hay.net

Do one (or more) of the following to conserve and protect our water

• Take shorter showers
• Wait until your dishwasher and clothes washer are completely full before running them
• Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth
• Instead of washing your fruits and vegetables under running water, use a partially full sink
• Avoid using fertilizers on your lawn
• Avoid watering your lawn during the day
• Use refillable water bottles instead of plastic water bottles
• Get a rain barrel to collect water for your garden
• Get your septic tank checked professionally for leaks

One day event includes visits from Maude Barlow and Cindy Cook

Story by Casey Lessard

Considering the fact that Grand Bend’s economy is based on the attractiveness of the waterfront, it’s surprising no one thought of celebrating the natural resource before. Aquafest 2009 runs Saturday, August 9 all day at locations around the area, including the main beach, Pinery Provincial Park, and River Road. The free event celebrates the value of water and stems from the Grand Bend Community Foundation’s environment committee.
“It’s a natural for this area to think about water,” says Pat Morden, who co-chairs the event with Jennifer Mossop. “It’s something we see every day.
“It occurred to us that a beachfront festival that drew attention to environmental issues in a fun and celebratory way would be very appropriate with what Grand Bend is. We have this magnificent resource and we want to be able to swim every day when it’s hot and sunny. We want to enjoy clean water and feel good about our kids paddling in the water. We now have these wonderful enhancements to the beach that make it more attractive. We want beautiful and clean water for us to enjoy.”
It’s good for the greater community, too, especially considering the fact that most of the water for the region comes from the lake.
“We have a role as stewards of a precious resource and one that’s becoming more rare all the time. This is our way of drawing attention to it without too much gloom and doom, but with an attitude of ‘Let’s see what we can do.’”
The event was scheduled for mid-summer so the committee could reach cottagers, residents, and visitors in town for the day. The hope is to raise awareness of water issues and to promote conservation and preservation.
“We’re emphasizing the usual things you can do at home to conserve water,” Morden says. “We can think about our water use and our septic systems and avoid pesticides and harsh cleaners. I’m hoping people will become more involved in the broader issues related to water and the first step is to create awareness and activity at the grassroots level. Every time you do something for the environment in your own life, that’s going to prepare you and encourage you to take broader action.”
The event includes activities for children and adults, and includes a visit from Cindy Cook of Polka Dot Door fame. Author and activist Maude Barlow, the senior advisor on water issues to the president of the United Nations, is the event’s keynote speaker.
Everything is free and runs rain or shine.

Grand Bend Aquafest
Saturday, August 8
Rain or shine. Free admission

Grand Bend beach
10 a.m. – Oakwood team building games
11 a.m. – Live music by Pedro Quintana
12 p.m. – Lambton Main Street Players
12:30 p.m. – Cindy Cook (Polka Dot Door) – environmentally themed children’s show
1:15 p.m. — Mr. Something Something – Juno-nominated afro-jazz band powered by the SoundCycle.
2:15 p.m. – Maude Barlow
2:30 p.m. — Brian Dale and other local musicians take the stage
4 p.m. — Mr. Something Something

Other Main Beach Activities:
• Children’s activities & face painting
• Kite surfing demonstration by Eclipse Kites
• Vendor/exhibitor Fair
• Shoreline aerobics provided by Workout For Your Life
     
11 a.m to 5 p.m. – River Road Gallery
Aquafest Art Exhibit featuring underwater photography by Mary Lynn Fluter.

11 a.m to 5 p.m. – GB Art Centre
Children’s Art Exhibit. Amateur photo contest submissions on display.

Pinery Park
8 a.m. – Riverside Trail
Birding hike guided birding tour.
9 a.m.
Nationally renowned canoe maker Skip Izon will discuss canoe design/construction.
2 p.m. – General Store Parking Lot
Lambton Main Street Players
7:15 p.m. – Outdoor Theatre
Maude Barlow: keynote address at Outdoor Theatre. If severe weather approaches Ms. Barlow will speak at the Grand Bend Legion (20 Municipal Drive)
8 p.m. – P9 beach parking lot
Sunset hike

Review by Casey Lessard

Like a train ascending a mountain, See How They Run (playing now to August 8 at the Huron Country Playhouse) starts out slow but picks up speed as the comic antics get out of control.
The first laughs come almost near the end of the first act, courtesy Ida the maid, played by Karen Wood.
“From day one, our director Marcia Kash said to keep it real,” Wood says. “It may not have seemed totally real to you or the audience, but in our world, on stage, whatever we’re doing, if you play it for real, that’s where the comedy lies. We’re in unbelievable situations and because we’re playing it for real, that’s what makes it funny. If you go for stupid, it’s not nearly as funny.”
“You try to walk on and be debonaire and in control,” says Paul McQuillan, who plays a smooth soldier visiting an old friend, “and that all goes away very quickly in this melody of craziness that happens on stage. You think you’re insane like everyone else is. That’s the premise of the piece. You start with your sanity and then you question it.”
If looking like a comedian helps make one funny, Clive Walton is a step ahead of his castmates. Walton resembles Rowan Atkinson, better known as Mr. Bean.
“My kids sometimes tell me I look like him,” Walton admits. “He’s a bit shorter. I wish I were as successful and rich as he is, though.”
As Reverend Lionel Toop, Walton is the centre of the confusion after he is attacked by a Soviet spy on the loose from the local air base. Performing in a play set in war-time England, Walton need not learn a new accent: he’s a recent immigrant to Canada.
“I just came over about five years ago. I don’t know how I ended up here. I didn’t know where Grand Bend was. I must admit I’d never heard of it. But it’s lovely. It’s like the Mediterranean going down to the beach.”
Back in the theatre, McQuillan admits the actors often didn’t know how they ended up where their characters were.
“When we were in rehearsals,” McQuillan notes, “we had to ask each other questions to make sure we were all on the same page. ‘Do I know that this person’s in the closet right now? Who do I think is Rev. Toop right now?’ Sometimes nobody had the answer, and you’d connect the dots.”
That, to Wood, is the secret to the success of the play’s humour.
“There’s lots of embarrassment and frustration and that’s real life.”

Hard worker makes cozy nest for himself and cat by restoring century home across the street from his parents

Now 23 years old, Tom Love got the idea three years ago to buy the home and acreage across from his parents after it came up for sale. After a year of hard work, with help from his parents and grandparents, he’s living a comfortable life with his cat Tye in the century home at the intersection of Highway 81 and Crediton Line.
“There’s no house around here like this one,” says Tom’s dad John Love. “We knew Ila, who lived here before, and she had Alzheimer’s, so her son was taking care of the place,” Tom’s dad John Love says. “We said to him that if he ever wanted to sell it, we’d be interested. In 2006, he came along and said he was ready to sell.
“It was a lot of work,” John adds. “We pretty much ripped it down to the 2×4 studs and started over. We put spray-foam insulation in the outside walls and went from there.”
The restoration took a year and a lot of savings. “I’ve been pretty good with my money,” notes Tom, who has been working since he was six. “I was nine years old when I bought my first lawnmower. I sold pumpkins, cut grass, washed windows at the drive-in, worked at POG, Sobey’s and Best’s. Now, my dad and I do grass-cutting, leaf cleanup, painting. If I saved up enough, I could buy good things to make more money.”
With a little bit of help from mom and dad, and a mortgage, the result is a spectacularly restored turn-of-the-century beauty.

As told to Casey Lessard
Photos by Casey Lessard

This was once a village named Harpley. There used to be a post office on the northeast corner that was owned by my great-great-grandpa. There was a hotel across from the post office, and a shingle mill on this farm originally. David Hollenback started building the house in 1877, and when the supply of cedar shakes ran out, that’s when he decided to move. James B. Hodgins bought it in 1877, and it was in his family (Hodgins had three granddaughters, Nola, Beulah and the youngest Ila, who last owned the house) until I bought it.
The house came up for sale in April 2006. It was a pretty good deal because we didn’t have to go through the real estate broker. It’s a good place to live and it’s right across from my parents’. I wanted it to be a nice place, a place that was good to live in.
The house needed a lot of work. It needed all new electrical and insulation, and we had to put a new furnace in. The whole house had electric baseboard heating, so we tore that all out and have a gas furnace outside that also has air conditioning in it.
We finished the floors and put new drywall in and painted it. We tore out the laundry room beside the kitchen. It was rough; the floor had tile on it and we needed an electric cleaner to get the glue off.
We had to refinish the staircase spindles in place because if we took them apart, we figured we might not be able to get them back together again. My mom did it. There was a lot of wax on them and it was difficult for her to get it off. They are a mix of walnut and pine. I think the pine spindles were put in because the people who lived here wanted to stop the kids from getting stuck between them.

I figured since it was an old house, we should go with the antique theme. The trim we got made in Exeter to make it look like antique trim. We got an antique stained-glass window from an old hotel in St. Joseph, and made a matching one at Sunrise Windows in London.
I have one grandfather clock in the living room that my grandpa made when I first moved in, and I have a wall clock for my bedroom that he made 10 years ago.
The Hodgins family came to my open house last year, and they were very interested to see the place. We planted three trees to remember the girls who lived here: Ila, Nola, and Beulah.

It’s nice, and it’s convenient because my mother can do my laundry.
John: Notice he doesn’t have a laundry room?
It’s nice and relaxing. No one bugs me when I’m trying to watch TV. Eventually I hope to get a plasma TV to put on the wall, and I hope to build a new deck. The current one’s in rough shape.
In my spare time, I enjoy cutting the grass, and going outside at night in the summer time. But I don’t have a lot of spare time.
Nobody else has anything like it. Everything’s new these days. Figured I’d have something different.

Story and photos by Casey Lessard

Master boat-builder Skip Izon has been working on a non-aquatic project for the last little while: restoring what’s believed to be the oldest horse-drawn ambulance in Canada. The ambulance, built in Petrolia in 1908, spent the last 25 years at the Lambton Heritage Museum after it spent ten years at a private museum.
“It was originally built by JR Fennell of Petrolia Wagon Works, who signed the work February 4, 1908,” says Tom Moore, a Lambton County paramedic raising funds to restore the wooden vehicle. “It was kept in Petrolia and used at the town hall, which was also the fire hall. It was used up to about 1919. What’s special about this one is it’s the last horse-drawn ambulance in Ontario, and probably the oldest in Canada.”
While it is relatively well preserved, the two side-boards and some other parts were damaged because the vehicle was kept outside under a lean-to for the 10 years before LHM curator Bob Tremain acquired it.
“It was exposed to the elements so the original basswood was cupped and split on the back and one side worse than the other,” Moore says. “We went and got the exact kind of wood and Skip milled it all down to the 3/8” that it was. He’s put it on in the exact way it was, using the same screw pattern and techniques with a few more modern materials.”
For Izon, it’s a relatively simple, yet delicate, operation.
“Compared to what I do on the boats, this is pretty straight ahead. For me the challenge is to do it exactly the same as they did it.
“There’s a connection (to the original builder),” Izon adds. “I’m using most of the same tools they use. Hand tools, chisels and hammers. They used metal screws with wooden plugs, and mine are the same.”
Not much has changed
Both men, Moore a paramedic and Izon a firefighter, see similarities between how emergency vehicles were used then and now.
“I’ve been a firefighter for 18 years,” Izon says “and Tom’s been a paramedic for 25 years. I will often go in the back of the ambulance to perform CPR, so this looks very familiar to both of us.”
“It’s kind of the same configuration as we have today,” Moore notes. “We have room for the bed, a medicine cabinet, a seat for the attendant, who likely would have been the doctor in 1908 in Petrolia.”
When it comes to history, the ambulance has a great deal of significance for paramedics and firefighters across Canada.
“It’s an important part of our heritage. A lot of firefighting apparatuses have survived, but not a lot of ambulances. There’s not a lot of heritage pieces for paramedics across Canada, so I think once word gets out that this has been restored, there will be quite a bit of interest.
“For the public, we can say there’s been an ambulance service here in Lambton County for over 100 years.”
And for Moore, it’s a special piece because unlike other ambulances, this one served only in its designed role.
“This ambulance was built and only used ever as an ambulance,” Moore says. “A lot of ambulances were also used as hearses and some for delivering milk on the weekends. This was only ever used as an ambulance. The oil and petroleum industry around Petrolia was very dangerous at the time, so a lot of people were getting hurt, and badly. I believe the town of Petrolia commissioned this to get the people from the oil fields who were hurt and bring them back to town.
“We actually know the last patient” who rode in the ambulance, Moore notes. “The guy who restored the bell told us it was his mother’s first husband, who was transported to Petrolia hospital in 1919 after being electrocuted. He died at quite a young age and his name was Howlett.”
Once Izon’s work restoring the siding is done, the foot-operated bell will be returned to its place, as will the lettering and logo on the side.
“I’ll paint it black again,” Izon says, “and we’ll find an artist to paint the red and gold cross like it was. It’s going to be quite striking.”
Moore has raised $10,000 through corporate sponsorship, personal donations, and the Association of Municipal Emergency Medical Services of Ontario. A memorial fund for Paul Patterson, a Kerwood-born paramedic who died in the line of duty two years ago, also contributed $2,100 to the project; Moore says the restoration will be dedicated in Patterson’s memory in September.
Moore would like to see the project finished by early that month so the ambulance can take part in the Petrolia Fair parade. There’s one catch. “We’ve yet to find a skilled horseman to pull it,” he says, noting Izon hasn’t volunteered.
“It’s almost a kind of time machine,” Izon says. “It goes from this time back to 1908. It’s a common bond between those two times. We haven’t changed much in what we’re doing or who we are.”
For more information, or to donate, visit http://www.horsedrawnambulance.com

Story and photos by Casey Lessard

When Deb and Jim McCann bought a lakefront cottage last year, it came complete with a dead tree. Of course, they thought what anyone would: make a pirate.
“It’s an elm tree that was hit by lightning about four years ago,” Deb says. “The bark flew off it one winter and we got it cut down last fall. We left the stump, and Jim thought a pirate would look good looking out to sea.”
They asked around if anyone knew a carver, and the Wilhelms of Exeter suggested Paul Frenette, who had carved one of their trees. Frenette, of Kitchener, has been carving for five years.
“I carve all kinds of stuff, but my favourite to do is stump carving,” Frenette says. “Bring a tree back to life and give it a second life. I’ll do pretty much anything they ask, but if it’s up to me I do something mythical, like spirit faces, dragons, or gargoyles.”
For this project, he took his inspiration from the Wexford shipwreck off the Lake Huron coast, and from popular culture.
“I like pirates, so the Pirates of the Caribbean movie was the ultimate resource. I did a clay model of what I wanted to do, and I do that for complex jobs. Otherwise I carve what feels good.”
Neighbour Daphne Johnston is impressed.
“It’s terrific. I think it’s a very creative way to use a dead tree stump rather than cutting it up. It’s neat to have pirates guarding our little section of Elmwood.”
The pirate took several visits to complete, and is all freehand carving using a variety of tools.
“It’s about 99 per cent chainsaw, so I have five chainsaws of different sizes, and when I get to the details, I use chisels for eye balls and fine details I can’t get into with the chainsaw.”
With proper care, the carving can last a long time.
“I’ll use a wood hardener because it’s already been dead for four years. I’ll treat it and finish it. This should last 15 to 20 years if they take care of it. Ideally you would cut it off at the bottom, seal it and reattach it. Then it would last forever because water’s not getting into from the bottom.”
Frenette’s clients include homeowners like the McCanns and several Kitchener area golf courses. For more information, visit http://www.rantandrave.ca or call 519-744-9544.

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

I am delighted to see that – so soon after the beach enhancement project – Lambton Shores has received $2.6 million in economic stimulus funding to rework Grand Bend’s Main Street. The work will involve burying above ground hydro wires, and replacing curbs. Work begins in September and ends next May.
As you may be able to guess, most interesting to me was the note that the sidewalks will be replaced to improve access to stores for people using wheelchairs. Lambton Shores has been actively pursuing this for a long time, but – as reported in this paper last summer – the main street has a long way to go before it is wheelchair accessible. There are large steps into entryways, bumps in the sidewalk, and the curbs are often impossible to navigate.
This project is a long time coming, and hopefully it will be done right the first time. I expect some stores will remain inaccessible, but hopefully they are the minority. The next step is to fix the insides of the stores, where access is limited by inside steps, and by clothing racks and other impediments to access. The municipality can’t do much about those; hopefully the storeowners read our survey last year to see where they need to help.
By the way, to be reminded of the results, see our 2008 Wheelchair Report.

Story by Casey Lessard

Fresh out of college, fresh-faced Thomas Alderson of Strathroy is hogging the spotlight in Camelot, playing now to July 25 at the Huron Country Playhouse.
“It’s a dream come true,” says the 21-year-old, whose mother Mary writes theatre reviews GrandBendStrip.com and other newspapers. “I grew up coming to see every show here for the last 20 years, and I always joked with my mom that if I ever lived in Grand Bend, I would come and live with her. I was thinking that would be a few years from now. I just graduated from Sheridan College two months ago, and I was so lucky to get this job.”
Luck seems to have little to do with it; Alderson perfectly portrays the conniving Mordred, who draws the play to its climax. Still, Alderson believes fortune played a role in getting him here.
“It was all luck,” he says. “Drayton Entertainment did High School Musical live and because I look young, that’s a show I can be in, right? Through that, I got an audition for Camelot and the stars aligned.”
The role of villain is a new experience for Alderson, and he says he needs to stay focused because of the fact that he plays such a pivotal part.
“I don’t come in until intermission, so I have time to do my hair the way I like it and get ready. Then I hide in the tree before I come out, and I listen to their (Arthur and Guenevere’s) song. It’s like Mordred’s actually spying on them. I’m able to plot and then I come out and give ‘er.”
And he’ll be “givin’ ‘er” for a while. The show is going on tour across North America from October to March, with a stop at the John Labatt Centre in London.
“When I heard the possibility this would go on tour, I thought that was crazy. That IS my dream come true. That takes us through to March. After that, who knows? Maybe back here again.”
And back in with mom. Why not? At this pace, he’s got a long career away from home ahead of him.
For tickets, call the box office at 519-238-6000 or visit http://www.huroncountryplayhouse.com

Review by Casey Lessard

It’s a good thing 2 Pianos 4 Hands is running most of the summer at Huron Country Playhouse II – it’s good enough that there should be no empty seats all summer. The comedic musical (versus a musical comedy) centres around two pianists and their careers starting from their first lessons to the moments they have to decide whether they will make a career out of classical music.
Jonathan Monro has been portraying Ted Dykstra “on and off for 11 years”, while Patrick Burwell takes his first swing at the role of Richard Greenblatt. Dykstra and Greenblatt wrote the play; Greenblatt directs the Playhouse staging.
“It’s really hard to cast this show,” Monro says, “and once they have people they don’t really like to find new ones for a long time. The first thing I did was the U.S. tour and we went everywhere for that.”
“One of the challenges is that you have to play and act and do physical comedy at the same time,” Burwell says. “Jonathan has been a big help.”
In the play, the two characters dream of playing Carnegie Hall one day, but Monro actually did as a teenager.
“I started out as a classical pianist; that was my career path. Then so many things happen to block the way of that occurring. This show showed me there’s life after the death of my career as a pianist.”
And that life, ironically for Monro, has included 11 years of portraying a pianist. His practice has paid off; a must-see for music lovers and anyone who had to endure any kind of lessons or coaching as a child.
2 Pianos 4 Hands runs through August 29. For tickets: 519-238-6000 or visit http://www.huroncountryplayhouse.com.

Late night television fans have the opportunity to see Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night house band, The Roots, when they perform at the Cutting Edge Music Festival August 2 at the Motorplex. Named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the “twenty greatest live acts in the world,” The Roots are releasing a new album this summer. The eight-piece Philadelphia hip-hop band has performed with such greats as Paul Simon, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, and Mos Def.

It may sound like an odd place for a metal concert, but the Grand Bend Legion will host four metal bands, including Toronto’s To Cherish, Battlesoul from London, Grizzly from Wingham and a band yet to be announced. Also on the roster are indie rockers Blaze ‘n’ Murder of Wingham and punk group Streetcore of Clinton/Bayfield. The show is July 25 at the Grand Bend Legion.

2 Pianos 4 Hands
Written by Richard Greenblatt and Ted Dykstra
Directed by Richard Greenblatt
Performed by Patrick Burwell and Jonathan Monro
Drayton Entertainment Production
Playhouse II, Grand Bend
July 15 to August 29, 2009

Live! On Stage!
Review by Mary Alderson

Anyone who has ever taken piano lessons and hated it when your mother forced you to practise every night for one full hour, will appreciate the opening of 2 Pianos 4 Hands. Any parent who has paced in the hallway, straining to listen while your son or daughter struggles through a Conservatory piano exam, will enjoy this show.
2 Pianos 4 Hands is a funny and touching musical comedy currently on stage at Playhouse II, inside the old barn beside Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend. Playhouse II’s intimate space is perfect for this production as we get to know the characters well.
The story is semi-autobiographical, written by Richard Greenblatt and Ted Dykstra, two Canadian actors/pianists who realized that they had the same experience growing up and learning to play piano. They collaborated on the play, which was first performed in 1994 in Toronto. Since then, it has been off-Broadway, all across Canada and the U.S., as well as London, England; South Africa and Japan. It’s been called Canada’s most successful musical comedy. Greenblatt and Dykstra originally played the roles themselves, but many others have followed, including female performers playing characters Rachel and Thea.
The story starts off with Richard and Ted as little boys. While one is at the piano, the other plays a strict parent or a strange piano teacher. We’re with them as they prepare for the music festival, and the elderly Kiwanis member stumbles through the introductions while the bizarre adjudicator offers words of advice. There is an assortment of eccentric piano teachers as the boys cram for conservatory exams and practise their ear training. Somewhere along their journey, the emphasis shifts from trying to avoid practise to spending every spare minute at the piano. As nerdy teenagers they are told to find other interests and get out more. Finally comes the crushing blow – reality sets in and they realize they aren’t going to be classical concert pianists. Harsh teachers tell them they are good, just not good enough.
Patrick Burwell plays Richard, and Jonathan Monro plays Ted. Both are accomplished pianists and excellent comedic actors. With author and performer Richard Greenblatt directing, we can rest assured that this production is exactly as it was intended to be.
The music played ranges from Bach, Beethoven and Mozart to Heart and Soul and Chopsticks. Among the great classical music is a pop medley including Elton John, John Lennon and even Linus’ song in the Peanuts movies.
It’s a poignant everyman story – from the kid on the hockey rink who’s sure he’ll make the NHL but gets cut from the try-outs, to the smart university student who can’t get the marks for med school. Sometimes the dream doesn’t always unfold as hoped, but the journey is always interesting, and in this case funny, emotional and entertaining.
Fortunately for Richard and Ted, they do move on in the world of entertainment – acting, directing and writing a wonderful musical comedy. The result is worth seeing.
2 Pianos 4 Hands continues with eight shows a week until August 29 at Playhouse II, Grand Bend. Tickets are available at the Huron Country Playhouse box office at (519) 238-6000, Drayton Entertainment at 1-888-449-4463 or at www.draytonentertainment.com.

Mary Alderson offers her view of area theatre in this column on a regular basis. As well as being a fan of live theatre, she is a former journalist who is currently employed with the Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporations.

Camelot
Disclaimer: the reviewer’s son appears in this production
Book & lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Fredrick Loewe
Directed by Timothy French
Musical Direction by Stephen Woodjetts
Performed by Jayme Armstrong, Mark Harapiak, Gabriel Burrafato, William Fisher, Thomas Alderson, and company
Drayton Entertainment Production
Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend
July 8 – 25, 2009

Live! On Stage!
Review by Mary Alderson

It is said that John F. Kennedy loved the Broadway show Camelot. He asked that the cast recording be played throughout the White House. His short tenure as U.S. President has been compared to the kingdom of Camelot’s brief shining moment. In both cases, idyllic civilizations were destroyed by human weakness.
Camelot, now playing at Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend, offers three shining hours of superior entertainment. Director Tim French and Musical Director Stephen Woodjetts have brought together a high-quality cast of great voices to tell this timeless musical story.
Young Arthur, nicknamed Wart, reluctantly becomes King of all England when he pulls the sword Excalibur out of the stone. He grows up at Camelot and resolves to build a utopian kingdom. When a marriage is arranged between Guenevere and Arthur, they are both nervous and shy, but soon fall in love. Camelot becomes the perfect place where by decree, it can only rain at night, and the amount of snow is regulated.
Arthur decides that rather than fighting, knights should be out doing good deeds. They gather at the round table (where there can be no jealously as all are equals) to come up with ways to improve civilization. When Lancelot hears about this in France, he travels to Camelot to join the Round Table. Lancelot is so self-righteous that Queen Guenevere mocks him, but she comes to appreciate his purity and they fall in love, even though they both love and respect Arthur. King Arthur turns a blind eye to the affair, but it causes unrest in the court. The elderly King Pellinore is caught in the middle as the kingdom starts to unravel. Then Mordred, Arthur’s illegitimate son shows up, jealously points out the hypocrisy, and destroys Camelot.
There is also fantasy in the plot. Merlyn is Arthur’s mentor, Nimue is a fairy spirit and Morgan Le Fey is a sorceress who assists Mordred in plotting against the Royals.
The casting is excellent. Jayme Armstrong takes Guenevere on a journey, from a spirited young bride to a frightened adulterer. Armstrong will be remembered as the 2nd runner up on CBC TV’s “How do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” Her beautiful voice is reminiscent of Julie Andrews on the original cast recording. Mark Harapiak is a perfect King Arthur – strong and commanding attention, but at the same time, very human and vulnerable. Gabriel Burrafato channels the late Robert Goulet when singing the show-stopper “If ever I would leave you”. He plays an understated Lancelot, but it works well in endearing the audience to him.
Great credit goes to William Fisher in the dual roles of Merlyn and Pellinore. Douglas Chamberlain was originally cast in the two roles; but unfortunately, he suffered a medical emergency during final rehearsals and could not carry on with the show. Fisher came in at the last minute, performing on opening night with script in hand. Nevertheless, Fisher had the audience’s full attention and was a given a loud and long round of applause, for his delightful and humourous portrayal of both characters.
My son, Thomas Alderson, plays the evil villain, Mordred. It’s difficult for me to be objective – I enjoyed seeing him in the malevolent role, with his surprise entrance. The audience appreciates his sarcastic solo “The Seven Deadly Virtues” and his rousing number with the knights “Fie on Goodness”. Susan Johnston Collins is wickedly charming as Morgan Le Fey, especially as she and Mordred tease each other. Linda Gallant is enchanting as Nimue, singing with great clarity. Henry Firmston, a youngster from London, plays little Wart at the beginning and young Tommy at the end of the show.
The rest of the Ladies of the Court and Knights of the Round Table are all strong singers, each bringing unique personalities to their characters. The chorus numbers highlight their truly outstanding voices.
There are many delightful costume changes, with colourful dresses on the ladies, and golden gowns for Guenevere. Similarly, the men all have colourful medieval costumes and make several changes. The jousting knights wear convincing armour and chain mail.
The set is the only disappointment in this production. The tree and castle wall are abstracts, and resemble a poor quality digital photo with boxy pixels. In the May Pole dance, the pole looks wobbly, and the “rocks” aren’t convincing when they turn into the famous round table.
If you can’t make it to Huron Country Playhouse to see Camelot before it closes July 25, there is still a possibility to catch it. Drayton Entertainment has once again contracted with a New York company and this production is going on a North American tour. In fact, it will be in London at the John Labatt Centre January 10th and 11th, as part of their Broadway in London season. But best to see it now with better sightlines and acoustics than an arena.
Camelot continues with eight shows a week until July 25 at Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend. Tickets are available at the Huron Country Playhouse box office at (519) 238-6000, Drayton Entertainment at 1-888-449-4463, or www.draytonentertainment.com.

Mary Alderson offers her view of area theatre in this column on a regular basis. As well as being a fan of live theatre, she is a former journalist who is currently employed with the Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporations.

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

I want to send my gratitude to everyone who came to my art exhibition opening over the weekend. It was not only a pleasure to see old faces, but also to see the silent supporters who had never previously said hello. I had people visiting from as far away as England and Denmark (thanks for coming Darren). I am especially grateful to the few, including the Brits, who supported me by buying my work; you know who you are, and I hope others follow your example. It proves to me that the work I’m doing is valued, so thank you very much.
Thank you also to Anjhela for performing, and to Tony and Lorraine for hosting. As always, my mom is my biggest fan, so thank you especially. The show continues until the 26th, so be sure to stop by Bliss Studio in Port Franks when you get a chance.
Thanks also to you, the people who are reading this paper right now. If you have this in your hands, it means that you believe in what I’m doing, and for that I’m grateful. If you’re not a subscriber, I hope you will consider signing up as it is the best way to give me the flexibility to cover events and find stories that no one else is covering. This area is full of interesting stories, and I do my best to report on as many as possible.
It’s a short summer, and we’re already into it. Enjoy the good weather when it comes, and stay safe.

Joan Love hopes charity will spread like fire, especially when people stop by her house to buy campfire starters she is making out of wax, wood chips, and candle wicks. The idea fulfills a challenge by Reverend Harry Disher, who gave a group of congregants at a swim meet $1 each as seed money to raise funds for a good cause. Love’s firestarters are inspired by a cub scout idea.
“They work excellent in a campfire and in a woodstove,” Love says. “They last maybe 20 minutes to half an hour. People who use them are really impressed at how well they work.”
People have donated almost all the materials to Love; she spent the $1 seed money on twist ties to seal the packaging.
Priced at $1 for four starters, interested readers can stop by her home on Highway 81, just south of Crediton Road. A firewood trailer on the lawn has starters in milk bags and an honour jar for payments. All proceeds go to the Caring through Sharing program that buys canned and dry goods for the local food bank, as well as covering medical expenses not covered by OHIP.

Bob Teskey was “a good listener and companion.” This week, his wife Barb pays tribute to his legacy by walking in the Relay for Life. Her lesson: live your dreams.

Originally from Sarnia, retired teacher’s assistant Barb Teskey, 58, and her family are participating as team Family Ties in Grand Bend’s 12 hour Relay for Life at Klondyke Sports Park July 10 and 11. The survivor lap starts at 7 p.m.
Teskey’s husband Bob was a teacher for 30 years, and was six months away from retiring from Cathcart Public School when he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Two weeks later, doctors had bad news: he had lung cancer, and it had already spread to his bones. Despite radiation on his hip, Barb and Bob received disheartening news on February 14, 2005: Bob would have to move into palliative care. Bob Teskey died two months later aged 54. He left behind two sons, and an expectant daughter-in-law.

As told to Casey Lessard
Photos courtesy Barb Teskey

Bob was a good companion. I miss his presence. I used to go out and walk all the time and knew that he was there waiting for me. Coming home at night and knowing that he’s not here to greet me and be here for me – you just have to cope. You have to go on.

Bob and I were born and raised in London, and we went to the same high school. There were a bunch of us who hung out in a coffee shop after high school, and we knew each other and had been friends for a long time.
We were very good friends, so it was difficult to make that leap into romance. It just happened. Then we decided that we would be together. He had a wonderful sense of humour, and I think that’s why I was attracted to him. We had a lot of the same interests. Our favourite thing to do in Sarnia was walk in Canatara Park, and we spent a lot of time at a cottage in Kettle Point until the boys were 16. We always loved being at the beach and having a cottage. When he passed away, I knew a lake setting was where he would have loved to have been.

With the pneumonia, we just assumed he would be okay. He was on medication for a couple weeks and it wasn’t going away. He went in for another x-ray and they saw a mass on his lung. In the original x-ray, it wasn’t there. You’re in a state of shock, and that point we weren’t aware of how aggressive it was. But it became very apparent that it was moving very quickly. It was Valentine’s Day that he had to go into palliative care. The cancer left him paralyzed from the waist down from that point.
It doesn’t even give you enough time to think and to process it. You’re also in some denial that this is meaning that it’s the end. We hadn’t really wanted to believe it.
He never once complained. He told me, “Barb, there are worse things with parents losing children to it.” He didn’t seem frightened. He didn’t say, Why me? He was very brave through the whole thing.
His battle with cancer was very short. It was such an aggressive cancer, and for the last two months of his life, I lived in palliative care with him. We had all the comforts we needed, but it was a difficult time, especially at the end when he lost consciousness. The last few days were very tough, just sitting beside him.
He was so looking forward to retiring and pursuing other interests, such as traveling. In an instant, your life is changed.
When he was in palliative care, he was quite ill when I found out that our son and daughter-in-law were going to have our first grandchild, so I very much miss that he didn’t get a chance to meet his grandchildren. That’s one of the toughest things because we were looking forward to being grandparents. I believe he is with us and knows that he has a lovely granddaughter and grandson.

He asked my daughter-in-law to make up photo boards for the funeral home, so she made them up really quickly so we could have them. We had the pictures in his room so that when people came in, we would talk about all the different pictures. It made it easier because we would talk about old memories. We didn’t really talk about his passing that much, other than he and I personally. We would just talk happy memories. A friend taped an interview with him for many hours, which I haven’t yet been able to listen to. He tells me he hasn’t yet, either.
Because he was a Grade 8 teacher and young – he was only 54 when he died – of course, the children were devastated. He received all kinds of wonderful messages from the kids and parents.
This was the first time my children had to go to a funeral, and it had to be their father. They were both overwhelmed by the number of people who were there. It was very difficult for them.

Because this happened so quickly, we didn’t have time to prepare. If there’s anything you want to do in life, don’t put it off. You don’t know when your day is going to come.
I was nervous I wouldn’t have a travel partner, but people always call. I basically say yes to everything people offer. Wherever they want to go, I’ll go. It’s very important to be happy and live your dreams before anything happens to you. Do what you want to do.
We shared wonderful times together. I know he would have loved being up here at the water with me. It’s very difficult that he’s not able to share this with me.

Barb recommends everyone should attend or participate in a Relay for Life. To donate, visit www.cancer.ca/relay

Leading lady in Camelot was finalist on CBC’s How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria

Fifty years after celebrated musical writers Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe wrote the hit, Camelot makes its Huron Country Playhouse debut this week, with eight shows a week from July 8 to 25. Set in medieval England, the musical – from the team that created My Fair Lady, which appeared at the Playhouse last year – tells the story of King Arthur, his Queen Guenevere, and her lover Lancelot.
“The Huron Country Playhouse is renowned for staging extraordinary musicals, and this production is no exception,” Drayton Entertainment artistic director Alex Mustakas said in a release. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to present this spectacular production to our audiences in Grand Bend for the first time.”
Full of action, magic, and romance, Camelot is billed as a musical for everyone. The original Broadway production won four Tony awards, and spawned a film version that won three Oscars. Jayme Armstrong, a contestant on How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria, takes the lead role of Queen Guenevere, made famous by Julie Andrews. Mark Harapiak is King Arthur, and Gabriel Burrafato plays Sir Lancelot. In all, the cast consists of 16 performers under the direction of Timothy French.
Tickets for Camelot can be ordered by calling the Huron Country Playhouse Box Office at (519) 238-6000 or toll free at 1-888-449-4463. To find out more about the 2009 season, visit www.huroncountryplayhouse.com.

Hotel management sends message of thanks to all those who helped preserve and restore the beachfront landmark

Heading into their 52nd year as a beachfront inn, The management of Bonnie Donne Manor-on-the-Beach are thankful that a small March 29 fire contained to one room didn’t destroy their entire business.
Although small, the fire led to two months of restoration; luckily, the inn was able to open before the summer season’s onslaught. General manager Kristie McIndoe explains what happened and the fallout.

As told to Casey Lessard
Photos by Casey Lessard

Mom and dad started 52 years ago with five closet sized rooms, one shared bath but no tub or shower. Everybody washed their hair and bathed in the lake 52 years ago. There were no locks on the doors; every door had the little hook and eye job, so you could lock yourself in, but you couldn’t lock your stuff in when you left the room. Life was pretty simple.
By the sixth year, they winterized it and we moved up here permanently. They slowly acquired the property around it. They lived in the business for 32 years, and eventually built their own home on one of the cottage properties.

The fateful morning
In a typical year, we get a drain snaked from the top of the manor to the sewers. It’s a typical thing that Andy O’Brien (of Grand Bend Sanitation) comes and does. We had set it up for a month earlier because, although we usually do it at the end of April, Dave saw Andy at the Tim Horton’s and said, let’s do it.
They were here the next morning, and they were digging a hole to send the camera down. Dave had turned on the hydro just prior to that, and Andy handed him the cord to plug the camera in. Dave went inside and smelled smoke. He came out and asked Andy if he smelled smoke, too.
Dave tried to go upstairs, but he couldn’t because the smoke was that intense. They figure it had been 10 or 15 minutes, tops. Dave called the fire department. The firefighters were so happy to save the building because in most cases, they just can’t get there in time or no one was around to see it start.
The fire was contained to one room. They threw everything out the window and got the fire out.
We called the insurance company who called in the restorers, WinMar. Literally within an hour-and-a-half, we were underway with restoration. We had vanloads of people here.
They say they have a 48-hour window to get the soot off so it doesn’t etch. Even with all the doors shut, there was soot in every room upstairs. Because it was cold, the hot fire led to condensation of soot. It was dripping down the walls and looked like someone brought in a hose and sprayed it down with tar.

A new experience
I’d never experienced a fire, and I had no understanding of devastation that was involved. I give WinMar so much credit. Everyone involved was so empathetic and knew their jobs inside out. They seem to understand that everything starts from scratch and you build on that.
They understood that we are a family business that has a regular clientele and we didn’t want to disappoint them because of the many months we had prepared to get open. The insurance company cooperated with us on that, and gave us a six-day workweek instead of five.
The month of May was gone. There was no office, no area for us to receive people. The building was turned back over to us June 1. Our season starts May 1, so we were a month behind. It took another two-and-a-half weeks to get the rooms rentable again.
We didn’t have an area where patrons could approach us, so it was frustrating because no one could approach us other than by phone. Our biggest concern was that you build on the regulars with newcomers. Because they weren’t able to come and look around, for example if they come to the beach or for a drive and notice us, and we give them a tour, we lost that opportunity.

Preserving the business
Not a lot has changed here. We replaced our TVs with flat screen TVs, and any flat goods had to be replaced, like beds, linens, fridges and carpeting. But your perspective changes. You don’t worry about the little stuff so much. We’re very happy that we didn’t have to turn all our people away. It would be a horrible thing not to see our regulars again. We were very fortunate. The fire was going to happen, but if we hadn’t planned to clean that drain a month early, I’d be pulling my hair out right now.
This week, we have people in their 18th year of visiting, and Shirley has come here 30 years. That’s what makes it all worthwhile, when those people come back and you get to see what has happened in their lives. That’s really why we’re here.

EDIT (Adding events):
Saturday June 20, 2009
1:00 p.m.
Visitor Centre, Pinery Provincial Park

3:30 & 4:30 p.m. – Rum & Spirits program
& Voyageur Canoe trip (Canoe Dock)

Story by Casey Lessard
Photos courtesy Pinery Provincial Park

It has been a big part of family life for area residents and visitors for 50 years, and this weekend the Pinery Park is celebrating that milestone with cake and more at the visitors’ centre.
Friends of Pinery Park is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year; the non-profit is dedicated to education, promotion, preservation and support of the park and its activities. Brenda Kulon, 55, of Bright’s Grove has been coming to the park most of her life, and chairs the committee.
“My first time in Pinery park was as a kid,” Kulon recalls. “I was amazed at the tall pines. In my high school years, we did a lot of camping here. And then as a young adult, I volunteered here counting butterflies and was a photographer for the park during my 30s.”
Over the years, Kulon has noticed major changes in the features and operation of the park, including the move from planting pines to restoring the native habitat, the oak savannah. Some changes were for the better and others not.
“Environmentally, we’re losing a lot of the insect population and species, and we don’t understand why,” she says. “A lot of it is habitat loss, but there has to be another reason. We don’t have the knowledge. As far as staffing, there used to be numerous people working as educators, and now the Pinery is threatened with fewer and fewer of them. The role of volunteers in the park is still very important because your experts are often outside of the park system. You need both. There’s a happy medium.”
Marty Page also remembers early days at the park, enjoying time swimming and having barbecues. His father installed the hydro lines as an employee of Ontario Hydro that first year.
“My dad said that they rather enjoyed working in the Park in the winter, as the trees blocked the cold winds,” Page says. “There were two trucks working everyday. Each truck had a foreman, a driver and four linesmen. There were First Nations people hired from the reservation at Kettle Point, I believe, and their job was to dig the holes for the poles to be set in and they had to be paid cash each day when they were finished.”
Park lovers like Page are critical to the Pinery’s ongoing success, Kulon says.
“Friends was formed by caring people who were dedicated to the preservation of what’s inside Pinery park and to the education and promotion of the park. Friends was designed to be the voices of the Pinery and show people what a beautiful place it is.”
Getting involved by volunteering could mean anything from fundraising, to educating visitors, to helping with promotions.
“We do a lot for the park, and a lot of those things they (the ministry) can’t do on their own,” says Friends manager of operations Jessica Brownlee. “We do a lot of fundraising for park projects. We do the trail guides, educational exhibits, interpretive signs. We built the Savannah bike trail, maintain the website, and run the nature store, which is a fundraiser for the Friends.”
Noting the variety of family experiences possible, Brownlee notes the Pinery’s value in giving people a chance to commune with nature while helping in the preservation of the wildlife, culture and history of the park.
“It is a big place with lots to offer,” she says, mentioning the variety of activities from hiking, biking, swimming, to toboganning, snowshoeing and skating that take place. “It’s really a special place.”

The Grand Bend Horticultural Society hopes this year’s Festival of Homes, Gardens and Arts sells out like last year’s event did. On board for the June 27 event are nine homes and gardens, 23 artists and 2 nurseries. Passports for the tour are $15, with locations disclosed that day. The passport includes treats such as homemade cookies and lemonade, and samples from local restaurants, Parmalat Cheese in London, and Brantford’s The Cider Keg. M&M Meat Shops is a major sponsor, and is donating proceeds from a lunch barbecue to the event.
Entertainment will be provided by UWO’s New Horizon Band, with Paul Seagrave performing at the Putherbough home in St. Joseph during the afternoon.
To reserve your passport, call 519-236-7884.

Grand Bend Canada Day 2009 festivities
Wednesday, July 1 – Main Beach
4:30 p.m. – Ken Dinel’s The Band In You students present rock music
5 p.m. – Ruth’s Hat, Lance Bedard, Brian Dale, Vintage Moments
10 p.m. - fireworks

Zurich native Lance Bedard is on a roll after launching his debut solo CD, Restless, this spring; he’s already working on the second.
“I just went back in the studio last week,” Bedard says, “and I’m waiting on a reply for another (recording) grant so I can release a CD in the next year and a half.”
Bedard’s debut was recorded in Goderich at Dig Productions, where Rob McKercher blended Bedard’s sound with guests Nick Haberer, Marcel Gelinas and Mike Klaassen.
“You write a song, but you hear everything else,” he says, describing the value of collaborating with other artists. “You hear it in your head, but you can’t do it all at once. So when you finally get a chance to build a song from a small four chord progression to a full band production, that gets you fired up to make more music.”
Success at local gigs gave him the push he needed to record the songs he started writing more than five years ago. Early experiences with the Pillowheads and Point of Impact gave him his first exposure to putting together a studio album, but this time, he took the process much more seriously.
“To put this out on my own was something I always wanted to do and to get it out to everyone was the greatest feeling in the world. It’s probably my biggest accomplishment since I entered the music industry. To get everyone’s positive feedback made it all the better.”
Now the push is on to sell, sell, sell. He recently hired a manager to promote his work.
“This guy could take me to the next level. If I hadn’t made the CD, I wouldn’t have this opportunity.”
So it’s back in the studio for round two.
“Hearing the way the music is played and changing is an addicting process. You go there every day and you’re excited about making music. Just hearing yourself and some of the things you can do, it’s like raising a child.”
To hear samples from Lance Bedard’s Restless, visit http://www.myspace.com/lanceromance01

Grand Bend Canada Day 2009 festivities
Wednesday, July 1 – Main Beach
4:30 p.m. – Ken Dinel’s The Band In You students present rock music
5 p.m. – Ruth’s Hat, Lance Bedard, Brian Dale, Vintage Moments
10 p.m. - fireworks

Long-time Grand Bend performer Brian Dale has finally gotten around to putting together a CD for his fans, and he can’t wait to get it in their hands. There’s a catch, though; a manufacturing delay means it will be two weeks after the July 1 launch party (as part of Grand Bend’s Canada Day celebrations) before he can deliver the product.
“I could have done it a long time ago and pushed it and rushed it,” Dale says. “I didn’t want to force it.”
After all, after 15 years performing, you can wait two extra weeks for your first CD, right?
“I’ve been putting it off for close to 10 years,” Dale says. “It always seemed like whenever I got the time and money to do it, I would go on vacation and spend all of my time and money.
“I came home for Christmas from Costa Rica and was planning on going back. I went up to this little studio in Goderich that Lance Bedard was recording at, and he introduced me to the engineer. I finally decided I needed to get this done. ”
Although he won’t have the CD, tentatively titled peace/love/waves/song as a tribute to his email signoff, ready by the Canada Day event, he will be distributing free preview copies of a single from the album at the event. The CD will have 11 tracks, all originals written over the last 15 years. Some are old favourites for fans, while others are new songs to most.
“The songs were always written and performed acoustically. I always had a picture in my head of what the songs would sound like and I had never put it together with a group. Once I started recording, the songs matured, even more than we were expecting.”
“It’s been a long time coming, but we’re really, really happy with the way it’s turned out.”
Just what fans want to hear.
Brian Dale’s CD peace/love/waves/song will be available for $15 at Archies and local bars where he performs, and through online retailers. To learn more, visit his facebook fan page.

Friday, June 19
Main Beach, Grand Bend
2 to 9 p.m. – Burgers and beer
9 p.m. to 1 a.m. – Live entertainment

Saturday, June 20
Main Beach, Grand Bend
11 a.m. to 9 p.m. – Burgers and beer
11 a.m. – Bed races on the beach road
3 p.m. – Mr. & Mrs. Burgerfest contest on stage in the main tent
All afternoon – DJ music
All day – Games and face painting for kids of all ages
10 p.m. to 1 a.m. – Live entertainment

Sunday, June 21
Main Beach, Grand Bend
11 a.m. to 6 p.m. – Burgers and beer
2 to 3 p.m. – Kids and father figure sand castle contest
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. – DJ music
2 to 6 p.m. – Live entertainment

South Huron District High School’s music department spent four days from May 13-16 in Chicago as part of an experimental type of band trip. The Strip’s Casey Lessard tagged along.

Story and photos by Casey Lessard

“Two years ago in Cleveland, I met Benjamin Washington by happenstance,” says South Huron music teacher and band director Isaac Moore, speaking of Chicago King College Prep High School’s band director. “He needed a bass amp and I needed a trumpet, so we ended up talking and exchanging instruments for an hour or so. Because of that, we ended up talking about where each of us was from and how neat it would be if we tried to do something together. ”
Each year, South Huron’s music department takes a trip, but most of the recent trips have been for competitions.
“We could have done that again this year. But I wanted to give the kids a varied experience; we had never gone to Chicago, and a lot of kids were interested in going there.”
Sixty-six members of the band joined the trip, along with eight chaperones. The visit to America’s third largest city included sightseeing, a trip to the famed Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Sears Tower, and lots of music. The band performed all day its second day, starting with a master class at a college for music teachers, followed by a jazz combo performance at Buddy Guy’s Legends bar. Then it was off to King College Prep for an afternoon and evening collaboration, which started with watching the one of the city’s best marching bands practise.
“Our marching band is everywhere, winning competitions,” says Benjamin Washington. “We’re like the Soul Train of Chicago. Just last year, we opened for the Stone Temple Pilots concert, Wynton Marsalis dropped by and played with us here. [U.S. President Obama’s house] is about three or four blocks from here. Marching around in the summer time, we would pass by it. I didn’t even know he lived there until the presidential election.”
Whether Obama ever noticed King’s marching band or not, percussionist Joe Pavkeje of Exeter found it valuable to see how King’s musicians perform, bobbing their heads while playing.
“It showed we could be doing a lot of things we’re not doing. Not that we’re not doing enough, but they have a different style that I thought was interesting. They really got into their music, which helps them with their stage presence. It makes them sound better. If they’re more into it, it makes it more enjoyable for everybody.”
While Pavkeje noticed the contrasts, Moore hopes he also noticed the similarities.
“We often think these major cities are better than what we’re doing here. Rural schools are have not and city schools are have. It shows the kids how special this school is and gives them perspective on how great they’re doing and how wonderful the music they’re doing is.”
Kristy Pavkeje is thankful for the experience, and knows who should get the credit.
“It’s a really high quality program. If you look around (elsewhere in our region), we seem to be more dedicated or something. A lot of that is due to Mr. Moore. He knows how to get the most out of this program for us. With the SHSM (Specialist High Skills Major) program (in Arts & Culture), it looks good when you go to university or college, and he worked hard to get it at the school.”
For Moore’s part, he notes he couldn’t pull it off without the overwhelming support of the community.
“The community is so, so important to what we’re doing here. They support our concerts to show our kids that what they’re doing is important. The fact that we have this extremely supportive community and excellent tradition of music at this school, it’s a machine that doesn’t seem to stop. Every day I come here, I don’t know who I’m thanking, but I’m thanking someone.”
Moore is eager to show the music program’s supporters what King College Prep is doing, and hopes Washington is able to bring his students to Exeter next year.
“Having the opportunity to see their marching band and the enthusiasm they have for music, it was infectious. Our kids loved watching their band perform, and this community would love seeing it, too. It’s really fun to watch.”
Washington is on board, too, and hopes it can happen.
“It gives the kids the opportunity to see children from other areas and see we’re doing the same thing,” he says. “I’m sure Mr. Moore is saying the same things: you’ve got to practise, you’ve got to listen, you’ve got to watch the rhythms. It gives the children a chance to see that what I’m trying to provide for them is what others are trying to do as well.”
Looking back on the trip, Moore hopes his students got enough time to interact with their Chicago counterparts.
“The students said the best part of the trip was socializing with students from the other school, and you can’t plan that. It would have been nice to have more time for that. It’s through that social bond that they see that we’re doing the same things here.”

Story and Photo by Casey Lessard

Drayton Entertainment has struck gold this spring, discovering an adorable ingenue who should have audiences (especially grandmothers) coming back for more Oliver! The play, based on Charles Dickens’ story of the orphan who falls in with a gang of pickpockets, opens June 2 at the Huron Country Playhouse.
Joel Cox, 10, is a Grade 5 student at Mary Johnston Public School in Waterloo. At 4’4”, and with curly golden locks that extend to his shoulders, it’s hard to picture Mr. Bumble (the orphan’s caretaker) refusing him more Food, Glorious Food. Cox was discovered at a open audition for the role.
“My music teacher said I should try out for Oliver,” Cox says, “then Kim and my dad asked me if I wanted to do it. I just came here (to audition) for the experience to see what it would be like. Three days later, they told me that I was Oliver. I didn’t think it was that big. Then after a few days, I finally figured out, Whoa, this is huge.”
Dean Cox, Joel’s dad, moved the family to a cottage for five weeks during Joel’s two-week rehearsal and three-week run.
“It’s a cool story. He’s gone from nothing to everything. He’s a bright kid and he likes to be challenged. I hope he enjoys it because I don’t think he realizes how big it is yet. He’s still innocent, and that makes it special.”
With thousands of ticket-holders expecting big things from the young star, it’s a good thing he is innocent, considering this is his first professional performance.
“I did have some experience singing for about two years,” says Joel, who also plays guitar, “but I don’t have any drama experience other than community theatre.
“Now I’m in this acting thing. My school supports me well, and I don’t think they’re too worried. I didn’t have to do any homework over this, so that’s good.”
Joel’s innocent attitude could rule the day, with Kim Cox noting Joel is eager to return even after long days in rehearsals.
“It’s been really fun,” Joel says. “Usually I pick up things really quick. When you’re having fun, it’s a blast.”
With dreams of being a professional actor, a guitarist and a midfielder for the British soccer club Chelsea, Cox is focused and exudes confidence that he can pull this off. His secret?
“Just be myself. Just act.”
Oliver! is directed by Ron Ulrich, and runs June 2 to 20. For tickets, visit huroncountryplayhouse.com or call 519-238-6000.

When it comes to making money, the Huron Country Playhouse Guild has chosen the right person for its upcoming fundraiser. Humourist and motivational speaker David Chilton, renowned author of Canada’s all-time best selling book, The Wealthy Barber, knows his finances and can help you find your way out of the current economic mess.
Chilton will speak at the Playhouse Friday June 12, with the $25 tickets more than half sold. All proceeds go to the Huron Country Playhouse Capital Campaign, and with a copy of Food Network stars Janet and Greta Podleski’s Eat Shrink & Be Merry (a $30 value) included, as well as performances by the stars of the 2009 Playhouse season, organizers expect the show will sell out soon.
The Huron Country Playhouse Guild is a volunteer organization of 100 theatre members who support theatre enhancement projects through a variety of fundraising initiatives. Tickets can be ordered by calling (519) 238-6000 or toll free at 1-888-449-4463.

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

It’s no secret that the newspaper business is in free fall as businesses tighten their advertising budgets. Local papers, like the Grand Bend Strip, are supposed to be immune to such a tightening, but that’s changing. I have to admit that I didn’t see the change coming.
It’s my worst kept secret that my profit margins are so slim that they’re often non-existent. And that was before the economy tanked. I faced this reality earlier this month when I headed into early May prepared to put a newspaper together. News came that several key clients decided not to return to the fold for the summer, and it became apparent that I would no longer be immune to the changes that are happening in this industry. Faced with taking a fairly large loss, I was forced to cancel the May 13 edition of the Strip. It was a hard decision to make.
Even harder is the decision I’ve had to make since then, and that is the one to end free distribution of the Strip. It’s simply no longer sustainable, especially for an independent publisher like me. So, despite a letter that went out to subscribers outside the free coverage area of Grand Bend, Exeter, Dashwood, and Crediton, the paper will no longer be available free anywhere after the June 17 edition. Starting with the July 8 edition and going forward, the paper will only be available by subscription or paid at local shops.
Going forward, I want to thank you, the reader, for helping the Strip achieve the success it has to date, and hope you’ll continue to support it. I am especially grateful for the 600 loyal subscribers who mailed in their cheques, often with kind notes. It’s important for someone like me to receive such affirmation, especially considering I have done this for two years without pay.
Not that there haven’t been other rewards. Last year, I earned first place in Canada for reporting, second in Ontario for photography, and third for photo page design. This year, mostly for my reportage, I earned two first-place awards in Ontario, a second in Canada and one in Ontario, and four thirds in Canada. It’s among the best turnouts for any paper in Ontario (and possibly Canada) this year. A full list of the honours can be found on page two and at GrandBendStrip.com.
So, if you think what we are doing with this newspaper is worthwhile, please support it financially. First, I hope you will subscribe, and second, support the businesses that have advertised in the past and those that continue to advertise in the Strip. I also hope you’ll consider taking one of my photography classes, and attending my art show and sale at Bliss Studio this summer. Reprints of photos from the newspaper are always available for sale, so if you like a photo, please consider taking one home.
I’ve said this in the past, but I’ll say it again: Thank you. I can’t do this without you.

Excerpts from comments by CCNA and OCNA award judges:

CCNA judge Michelle Stewart (2nd place in Canada for feature series):
Casey Lessard’s series on wheelchair accessibility had touching personal stories of people confined to wheelchairs and their everyday struggles with limited access. Lessard accompanied his subjects in their everyday activities and spent time getting to know this issue through their eyes. This writer wasn’t satisfied to just report on an issue, he took time to live it and do his part to remedy it.

OCNA judge Ted Murphy (1st place Sports & Recreation story for No Lifeguards…)
Lessard did a masterful job on two fronts: he highlighted a dangerous situation (three drownings in three years) in addition to paying tribute to the most recent victim, a 14-year-old girl. It was a clear cut winner.

OCNA judge Kelly Clemmer (1st place Best Editorial for No Lifeguards…)
This editorial… was striking. It was worth the additional effort. It begs the question, how much is a life worth?

Community/Charity

Tuesdays
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Pt Franks Comm Ctr
Kids Matter every Tuesday. Join us as we Crochet sleeping mats out of milk bags to send to the children in Africa and South America. Bring your lunch, scissors and a #7 crochet hook. Call Peggy Smith at 519-296-5834 for details.

7 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Bingo

Fridays
5 to 7 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Meat Draw

Wednesday, May 27
Grand Bend Horticultural Society.
Plant sale.

Tuesday, June 2 to 20
Huron Country Playhouse
Oliver! For tickets, call 519-238-6000.

Wednesday, June 3
Grand Bend Horticultural Society. Bus Tour to Sipkens, Degroots, Sarnia parks, Forest Glen Herb Farm and mystery spot as shown on separate flyer.

12:30 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Grand Bend Golden Agers Luncheon. Guest Speaker, Casey Lessard. Shuffleboard every Mon. & Thurs. at 1:00 p.m., Euchre every 2 & 4 Wed. at 1:30 p.m. New members welcome!

Tuesday, June 9
9:30 a.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Grand Bend Women’s Probus meeting. Annual General Meeting. Annual reports and voting on the new slate of officers will take place. Refreshments and fellowship will end the Probus year until September.

Friday, June 12
Huron County Playhouse Guild presents an Evening with David Chilton, author of the Wealthy Barber. For tickets contact Val at 519-236-4404 or HCP Box Office at 238-6000. Tickets $25 and include a copy of “Eat, Shrink and Be Merry”.

Tuesday, June 16
10 a.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Grand Bend Men’s Probus Club Meeting.

Wednesday, June 17
1 to 5 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
10 year Anniversary Celebration of Midwestern Adult Day Centre. Speakers, music from the Grand Bend Beach Boys, open house and refreshments

Arts & Entertainment

Thursdays
1 to 3 p.m. – Grand Bend Art Centre
Open Painting. Cost is $10 – bring a project and materials and paint with various artists.

Fridays
1:30 to 3:30 p.m. – GB Youth Centre
Grand Bend Drum Circle. Contact Anita at the Youth Centre or call 519-238-8759.

To May 30
Arts Project, London (Dundas St. between Richmond and Clarence)
South Huron DHS Visual Arts students present a variety of art (paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints and mixed media pieces) created by students in grades 9 through 12. http://www.artsproject.ca

Saturday, May 30
3 to 6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Live Music with Midlife Crisis

Saturday, June 6
2 to 7 p.m. – Bliss Studios, Pt. Franks
Opening for Lead and Feed the Creation, featuring work of Sarah Westgate and Ryan Thomson. Runs to June 25. All welcome.

3 to 6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Live Music with The Persuaders

Saturday, June 13
3 to 6 p.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Live Music with Cactus Jam

Health & Fitness

Mondays
8 to 9 a.m. – GB Lion’s Pavilion
Workout for Your Life. $8 per class; $5 for spouses and students. Call Beth Sweeney, (519) 238-5555.

8:45 to 10 a.m. – Grand Bend Legion
T.G.I.F. (Thank God I’m Fit) exercise class with Elinor Clarke 519-294-6499. $3 per week; all fees go to charity

6 to 7 p.m. – McNaughton Park, Exeter
Workout for Your Life. $8 per class; $5 for gym members, spouses and students. Call Beth Sweeney, (519) 238-5555.

6:45 to 8 p.m.
Anne’s Yoga Works studio, Port Franks
Yoga Classes, info and registration call Anne 519-243-3552. Beginners welcome. 

Tuesdays
9 a.m. – Pt Franks Community Centre
Healthy Lifestyle Exercise Program. Sponsored in part by Healthy Living Lambton. Cost: Free!! Everyone welcome. Contact Cindy Maxfield at the GBACHC, 519-238-1556 ext 6 to register.

Wednesdays
8 to 9 a.m. – GB Lion’s Pavilion
Workout for Your Life. $8 per class; $5 for spouses and students. Call Beth Sweeney, (519) 238-5555.

8:45 to 10 a.m. – Grand Bend Legion
T.G.I.F. (Thank God I’m Fit) exercise class with Elinor Clarke 519-294-6499. $3 per week; all fees go to charity
 
10 to 11:30 a.m. – Grand Bend Legion
Line Dancing

6 to 7 p.m. – McNaughton Park, Exeter
Workout for Your Life. $8 per class; $5 for gym members, spouses and students. Call Beth Sweeney, (519) 238-5555.
7 to 8 p.m. – Parkhill Leisure Club
Yoga Classes, info and registration call Anne 519-243-3552. Beginners welcome. 

Thursdays
9 a.m. – Pt Franks Community Centre
Healthy Lifestyle Exercise Program. Sponsored in part by Healthy Living Lambton. Cost: Free!! Everyone welcome. Contact Cindy Maxfield at the GBACHC, 519-238-1556 ext 6 to register.

Fridays
8 to 9 a.m. – GB Lion’s Pavilion
Workout for Your Life. $8 per class; $5 for spouses and students. Call Beth Sweeney, (519) 238-5555.

8:45 to 10 a.m. – Grand Bend Legion
T.G.I.F. (Thank God I’m Fit) exercise class with Elinor Clarke 519-294-6499. $3 per week; all fees go to charity

Monday, June 1
7 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Alzheimer Caregiver Support. A great monthly facilitated group program that provides education and support to caregivers. Please contact the Alzheimer’s Society of Huron at 1-800-561-5012 for details. Last meeting till fall.

Tuesday, June 2
9 to 10 a.m. – Grand Bend Catholic Church or Port Franks Comm Centre
Walking for Wellness. Each Tuesday and Thursday. Contact Cindy Maxfield at GBACHC 519-238-1556 ext. 231.

Thursday, June 11
12 to 4 p.m. – Grand Bend CHC
Community Health & Safety Day. FREE Car seat check, BP clinic, cooking demonstrations, information on low cost things to do this summer for fun, tips and strategies to help you deal with the current economics along with contact information, stress reduction, home safety, falls prevention & checklists, refreshments and door prizes.

Cooks working for one of Canada’s top chefs are peeling potatoes grown in Corbett

Marcus Koenig, potato grower

As told to Casey Lessard
Photos by Casey Lessard

We had a mixed vegetable, dairy and cash crop farm in Switzerland, very small and very intensive. When we came here, we took over a potato operation that grew roughly 800 acres of potatoes conventionally. I had more and more trouble with chemicals, health-wise. In 2001, it was very bad and I could hardly work. Just by accident, I got a book about a different way to look at the soil from an organic, natural standpoint. That got me started on the organic thing. I needed an eye-opener to see there was another potential way to do it. I couldn’t keep spraying. For us, it was either sell the farm or go organic.
The University of Toronto needed a local (meaning Southwestern Ontario) supplier of potatoes. We are not a large acreage grower, but for an organic grower with 30 to 50 acres of potatoes, we are one of the larger ones. They needed someone who could give them a continuous supply of potatoes. They called me up, and I said they should go to Pfennings, and because they sell my potatoes. They said, “No, we’re not going to do that. When we pay a premium, we want that premium to end up in the producer’s hands. Otherwise, we’re not going to do it.”
I think that’s a very healthy way of thinking, and I was impressed, so we thought maybe we should supply them. They liked our products because we supply them with the varieties they need and we know how each variety behaves in the kitchen. We give them new stuff to try, and if they don’t like it, we don’t supply it. They get what they need and for us, it’s more work because we have to go to Toronto, but we are able to capture the wholesale premium, the delivery premium, and keep it for ourselves. On a long-term basis, we can justify it.
A Toronto farmers’ market focused on bigger volume producers approached us. Most farmers’ markets want people who will supply quarts of apples or quarts of potatoes, but they wanted people who could supply bushels and bigger volumes. I wasn’t really interested in doing it, but they kept asking us if we could come. At exactly the same time, a friend said he would have time to help us part-time on the farm, so we could justify trying it out. We started at the end of September, and we immediately got positive results from it.
The first day, chef Alex Johnston from Jamie Kennedy’s restaurants came and asked what we had. We told him we had potatoes, and he asked how we grow them. We told him we grow organically and use some biodynamic processes. So he took a 50lb. bag home.
The following week he came back to our truck. He’s a very quiet guy and doesn’t talk much. But he was very excited and said, “Hey, we had these potatoes, and these potatoes are awesome. We’re going to buy your potatoes.” We didn’t discuss price. He just said these were the potatoes they were going to buy. That’s it. No discussion.
They take quite a volume, so we gave them our volume discount and that was it. We have done business with them now since last September. I go to his restaurant every week for breakfast and coffee.
We now supply four restaurants in Toronto, including Jamie Kennedy’s chain; we supply all his potatoes. We supply Crush, Cava, and a new restaurant. They’re not all top-end restaurants, but good ones that want to use the potatoes mostly for fries. We have enough sales to justify driving to Toronto on a weekly basis.

A better way of life
I enjoy farming this way better. It’s more independent. In conventional farming, you rely so much on external input. You buy the fertilizer, you buy the chemicals, and the only thing you do is apply the stuff. You supply the land and they take your crop. I never really liked that system because it’s not truly independent. The farmer is the supplier of the soil, but someone else does the managing. It’s going more and more towards that.
Don’t misunderstand me: there are good conventional farmers. This way is more independent because you rely on your own knowledge and your own labour, and you produce your own inputs by composting and animal production. That’s what I enjoy about organic farming.
Also, you have a product that the market wants. I don’t have to go to market and ask, “What will you give me for that?” We are in a strong position: we produce for a market that appreciates our product, and we deal with customers that say, Thank you.
In conventional farming, your customer doesn’t really need you. For them, they are so big worldwide, that one farmer doesn’t make any difference. With organic, you deal with smaller companies that need you, but you also need them. It’s a much healthier relationship between the customer and the producer.
Local food will be way bigger than organic in the future. This is the real way to go. This is going to be the big thing and that will give anybody who produces good stuff on a local level a chance.
Energy has to go that way, too. We should be putting a wind turbine up and one guy can supply our neighbourhood with power from it. The guy who has 1000 pigs should put a manure digester up and produce electricity or natural gas for his neighbourhood. The economic situation now will drive more people to that.
Our so-called leaders talk about how important it is to keep up free trade, but that’s because they’re afraid free trade will collapse. That’s exactly what’s going to happen because it has no future. It gave us all these problems. Worldwide trade and all these products from China gave us the problems we have now. So the solution is to keep going the same way and expect different results? It doesn’t make sense.

Looking for a better future
We as suppliers are not taken very seriously by our suppliers and customers anymore. As a farmer, it is very nice to work with people who appreciate what you are doing. We are not going to get rich quick, but we can survive and increase our wealth slowly. I’m pretty sure I can provide a future for someone down the road.
Every person who lives on this Earth has a purpose, and some people are just born and naturally find their way to that purpose. Some people never find their purpose. I don’t know what my purpose is, but right now, what I could do to bring humanity forward is by supplying good quality food that makes you think straight. Good food, good thoughts; junk food, junk thoughts. It’s that simple.

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

If you haven’t seen the amazing internet sensation, Susan Boyle, get yourself to YouTube right now and search for her performance on Britain’s Got Talent. Go ahead. I’ll still be here when you get back.
Anjhela and I were among the very first people outside of Britain to see the video (Anjhela remembers there were only 30 views when we watched it last Saturday night, and as the Strip goes to press, there are now a million times that amount). The Scottish woman’s performance of “I Dreamed A Dream” from Les Miserables is stunning, even after listening to it 100 times (seriously). It’s no surprise that Ms. Boyle, a single 47-year old woman from southern Scotland, is a global phenomenon.
What should be surprising, but depressingly is not, is how much attention has been paid to her appearance and the fact that she said she has “never been kissed”, which was a self-deprecating comment taken seriously by every media outlet. One went so far as to interview Drew Barrymore, the star of the film, Never Been Kissed, who Boyle should kiss first, like either woman cares about the answer.
Susan Boyle was judged by her looks – called frumpy, dowdy, ugly, plain, simple, and all variety of negative terms by other media – from the moment she took the stage with her freshly curled hair and a gown she bought for her nephew’s wedding. But to her, this is how she wanted to appear in front of the judges, her nation, and now the world. She may not qualify as the top choice for next year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, but neither would 99.99999 per cent of us. Seriously, who are we to judge her looks?
Besides, does that matter? She didn’t go on Britain’s Got Talent to be a model; she went there to sing, and her talent has sent shockwaves through the world wide web. She is an amazing singer, and she has a joyful sense of humour. She is debunking perceptions of how celebrities and regular people should appear in public (she’s disarmingly normal in interviews), and turning the global (especially North American) standard of beauty on its head. She’s not actually that unattractive (physically or especially intrinsically), and would be as welcome at a dinner party as any celebrity I’ve ever met.
More disturbingly is the answer to the following question: would Boyle’s appearance be so heavily criticized had she been a man? Perhaps one wearing a suit from a supermarket with worse teeth? If you look back, the winner of the inaugural Britain’s Got Talent, Paul Potts, fared much better when he meekly presented himself in front of the judges. The fact that he was respected before and after he opened his mouth (although his teeth were heavily debated and eventually fixed) reflects our bias against women who aren’t visually perfect compared to men who present themselves similarly.
The judges and audience never expected an average looking single woman in her late-40s to have any talent or value. It’s shameful, and not only do we need to realize that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (as has been said far too many times this week), but we should also consider that the cover is fine just the way it is.
Love you, Susan.

Parents hope for new jungle gym for kids to monkey around on; need to raise $70,000

Story and photos by Casey Lessard

Concerns about safety and the prospect of a child who uses a wheelchair being unable to enjoy the playground have triggered a push by the Grand Bend Public School’s Home and School Association to fundraise for new playground equipment. With designs by Active Playground Equipment of Point Edward based on wish lists from teachers and parents, the association’s proposed equipment will cost $70,000 to make and install.
While some of the money may come from pending grants, fundraisers expect they will have to find most of it through donations from local businesses, community organizations and fundraisers.
“It’s a lot of money,” says Amy Wiseman, who is on the playground committee. “Half the price goes to making it wheelchair accessible. My hope is to have it by this summer, but it may be 2010.”
Wiseman is hoping a Hydro One grant for $25,000 comes through to excite others in the community.
“I’m hoping the community does step up. These are our kids and we’re doing this for the community.”
“It’s a great idea,” says principal Susan Manz. “The children need it. But it has to be safe and accessible to everybody.”
“There’s a small playground now that is about 15 years old,” Home and School Association president Andrea Matheson says. “The new one will be four times the size and wheelchair accessible. It’s quite an improvement, for sure.”
Currently the equipment services only kindergarten to Grade 3, and Grade 8s do a souvenir photo on the climber at graduation. There are limits to when the equipment may be used and also how long it is open in the fall and spring. The new equipment would extend all of the above, Manz said.
Despite previous reports to the contrary, the board of education will not be matching funds raised. The board’s beautification grant is about $5,000.
So far, fundraisers and requests have raised several thousand dollars, including fundraisers (Little Caesars Pizza Kits, Mabel’s Labels, and Ian’s Kitchen) and donations (Stewart Webb & Sons, and Grand Bend Women’s Institute). Tim Horton’s has committed to donating the proceeds of its Smile Cookie Campaign, Mac’s is putting a donation box on their counter, and Hayter’s Turkeys is donating food for a fundraising barbecue May 16.

To donate or for more information, contact Amy Wiseman at 519-238-1116 or Andrea Matheson at 519-238-1710.

Grand Bend gambler Richard Webb will travel globe after winning the Canadian Poker Tour crown

Richard Webb hit it big January 21 when he won the Canadian Poker Tour Invitational Finals at Ocean World Resort and Casino in the Dominican Republic. Webb was the best of Canada’s top 43 players, who were invited to the Caribbean resort to compete for the $60,000 title and a sponsorship contract worth $100,000. With the win, Webb will represent Canadian Poker Tour as the Canadian poker champion, and the company will pay his entry fee and all expenses when he competes in tournaments across Canada and around the world this year. He also gets to keep most of his winnings from any tournaments where he places “in the money”. It’s a high level of success for this 48-year old Dashwood native, who grew up playing cards and still plays poker weekly with his friends and family.

Photos and photo illustration by Casey Lessard
As told to Casey Lessard

When did I start playing poker? Probably with my dad when I was a young child. He would deal hand after hand of seven-card stud, and practice and play. He was a card player, and I learned my card skills from him. As we were growing up, we played cards all the time: euchre, solo, hearts – all the card games you play as a family.
Along came the charity casino days, and I played poker at those not knowing much of what I was doing. It was mainly limit poker, so there’s a fixed small blind and large blind, and there are only three or four raises. Each game would be $5 to $20 per game.
We started playing out at a local establishment in Exeter on Monday and Tuesday nights, and we moved out here for a regular Tuesday night poker game (his basement has a poker room complete with a beautiful poker table, comfortable chairs, and a painting of dogs playing poker). We had been playing various types of games, but we could see that no-limit hold ‘em was where the future of poker was. In no-limit, you can raise any time. This was in the fall of 2004 after Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker, which really was the start of the explosion of the poker trend.
In February 2005, I entered my first tournament, the Bluewater Championships at Point Edward charity casino, which was their first. There were about 400 people putting up $500 each. Lo and behold, I finished second. That was a good start. I took a good portion of the winnings and took a month long motorhome trip across Canada with my family.
I played the Bluewater Championships again in February 2006, and won it that time. They had another one in September, and I won that, too. I think first prize was something like $50,000 each, so that set me off. I made headlines in poker magazines, and the international poker rankings mentioned it because it’s unusual to win back-to-back.
In 2007, I made the money again at Bluewater, finishing 12th. Then I went to Regina, where I won a tournament. It’s not the biggest tournament in Canada, but it’s one of the best.
In 2008, I came back and won the Bluewater for the third time. That gave me entry into the Canadian championships, which were put on by the Canadian Poker Tour. They decided to have a tournament for the top point getters throughout the year. In any given year, I’ve never been the top points person, but I’ve always come close. Historically, since I started, I am number one overall.

Canadian championships
It was a very good field of experienced players, all of who had won tournaments or come close, and we played in Puerto Plata. It was well put together with a big reception party. I went through day one, not as the top chip player but as one of the top 12 moving into day two. By the time we got to nine players, I started to take the lead. When we made the final table, I was the chip leader. Not by a lot, but I was chip leader.
I played well. I made two bad calls throughout that time where I actually got in the hand when I was behind. In one case I lost the hand, and the other I drew out on a guy from Toronto. He had an ace/nine versus my king/jack. You get two cards and you’re trying to make a five-card hand. Three cards are flipped – the “flop”. The “turn” brings another card, and then there’s the “river”. I got a jack on the flop to make a pair and that eliminated him.
That was good luck. You want to get in when you’re the favourite. His hand was 55 per cent favoured to my 45 per cent because he had the ace. He had one card that was over my two, but my two were over his bottom card. He had to hit an ace to win. It worked out for me.
I proceeded to knock out the rest of the field. I got down to playing heads-up with a guy named Robert Beveridge, who won two Grey Cups as a CFL player and now coaches football at the University of British Columbia. I trapped him on a hand. I had pocket queens and he had ace/seven. I was 75-80 per cent favoured to win the hand and luckily he got an ace in the flop. The very next hand I picked up pocket sevens and moved all in against his ace/queen. A seven on the flop gave me three of a kind and I won the tournament.
With the $60,000 prize, I get a $100,000 contract to go around the world and play poker. I give them 20 per cent of what I win and I give 10 per cent to charity in the city where I win. If it’s an international win, I’ll donate it in Grand Bend, Dashwood or Calgary, where the Canadian Poker Tour is based.
I’ve worked my schedule so I can still run my business (Stewart Webb & Sons septic systems, which he runs with his brother), and have already started touring. I went to Los Angeles for the LA Poker Classic, which is one of the premier events. The winner takes $1.7 million, and I played well, but didn’t make it into the top 63 to get into the money. I jumped on a plane a couple days later to Calgary and finished 38th, which was in the money, and came home.
I’m going to Regina this month; to Sanremo, Italy in April, to play in the European Poker Tour event there; Calgary for the Canadian Open; Las Vegas for the World Series; Barcelona, Spain; hopefully the North American championships in Niagara; and a whole bunch of tournaments across Canada to represent the tour coast-to-coast.
For the World Series of Poker, there will be 7,000 players putting up $10,000 each, so first prize is about $9 million. Last year there were two Canadians at the final table.

Keeping everything in perspective
Cards are a hobby for me. You see the glamour and glitz on TV, but there’s so much more that goes into it that it isn’t something I would want to have to depend on for rent payments at the end of the month. It would certainly subsidize my income if I decided to retire, but the pressure wouldn’t be there to perform.
I’ve been fortunate. But if I never won another tournament again, I’d be quite satisfied with what I’ve achieved. That said, the Canadian Poker Tour wants me to win. Next year they’re planning to do the same thing but offer contracts to all of the players that make the final table.
If I walk into a poker room anywhere in Canada, they know who I am because of the previous years. I play as hard as I can, but it’s always about the W for me. I don’t look at the money – I look for the win. That might help me be more relaxed at the end, and I think that’s one of my strengths. Plus I have a lot of final table experience.
I wear sunglasses and a hat, and I’m listening to music a lot of the time. I try to establish how good someone’s hand is, and if I’m right 60 per cent of the time, I’m doing well.
The more hands you see, the better. In no-limit poker, there’s raising (the stakes) and folding (your hand); no calling. Calling will just get you into trouble unless you’re trying to trap somebody. A good fold is as good as a good call. Maybe better. You’ve got to be able to fold when you’re beat. If you don’t, you’re going to be out of the tournament in a hurry.
It doesn’t matter if it’s for $10 or $10,000; it’s still about winning. I still like to play. Cards are a social sport. At tournaments, you’re sitting at tables for 10-12 hours, so I want to be able to talk to the person next to me. If you’re likable, maybe people don’t try to knock you out as hard. I always shake hands and say goodbye to everyone.
I’m definitely living the dream. It’s always nice to take Jackie and Sarah with me to places where it’s nice and warm, or places they want to see. Jackie will be going with me to Italy, and hopefully Jackie and Sarah will go with me to Barcelona. When I’m there playing, I don’t do anything other than play, but if I take an extra week, we can enjoy the places together. The money I’ve won has been used for things for my family and extended family, so it goes to good use and isn’t wasted.
We still play every Tuesday night with the boys, and they beat me all the time. I play with my father every Tuesday and he beats me quite regularly. I like the ability to play with my dad. I’ve taken him to some tournaments; he sees the success I’ve had, and he’s proud of that.
If I win $50,000 Sunday night, I still go to work Monday morning. If I were given a long-term contract to represent an organization, I probably would take it. I like the ability to get out there and meet people. If they want me to do charity events, I’m happy to do it. If I have interviews to do, I’m happy to do that. If I win one of the big tournaments this year, it’s not going to change the way I am and I’ll probably still come to work the next day. Well, maybe I’d take a couple days off before coming back.

To see Richard Webb win the Canadian Poker Tour Invitational Finals, you can watch The Score in April. Air dates and times are not yet set, but will be listed at thescore.com

Tim Hoffman of Dashwood and Cathy Costello of Mitchell met through a mutual friend two years ago, and started dating. They got married February 14 on a three-layer cake made of snow as part of the Grand Bend Winter Carnival.

Interview & photos by Casey Lessard

Take me back to when you first met.
Tim: It was a blind date, so I had no idea what she would look like. You never know what to expect, but it was good. We had good conversation that night and everything went well, and when I left, she told me to come and give her a hug.
Cathy: He was a gentleman. Very nice. He seemed really down to earth. He deserved a hug.

The first date is one thing, but what was the impetus to say this is going to work?
C: I brought him to a party with the girls I work with, and the Mitchell girls are pretty wild. He fit right in with them. It was very important that he could put up with their craziness.
T: They all seemed to enjoy a good time and were fun to be around. Then Cathy came up and gradually met my family more and more and fit in really well.

Family is really important to both of you. What was it like to think about merging the two?
C: We just felt it was the next step to take. I was ready to move out of Mitchell, out of the small town – and into another small town. We were driving a lot; he came up pretty much every night to Mitchell. We just thought it would make more sense to be in the same household.
T: As time goes on, you can see you will be compatible together and it makes sense to take the next step.

What were you looking for? What was special about Cathy?
T: Someone who takes interest in what I do, and we can have a good time together and laugh together.

What was special about Tim?
C: He had to be compatible with my daughter Olivia. Whenever they met, they just clicked. That was nice to see.

Cathy, you had a family already. How did that play into things?
C: It was hard. I didn’t trust many people. I could see with Tim that he was a genuinely nice guy and treated her and me with respect.
T: I just tried to be a good role model for Olivia and build a family with them.

How did you propose?
T: We were going on a camping trip to Tobermory last August, and I knew prior to the trip that I would do it. There’s a high cliff on the Bruce Trail, and it’s the most beautiful spot that I’ve ever seen. There’s nothing manmade as far as you can see. Years ago, before I had met Cathy, I said that would be the spot if I ever had to propose.
We had quite a challenging time to get to that point. It was a holiday weekend, so you had to take a narrow provincial park road and I was towing a big trailer. It was pretty much impossible for two cars to go side-by-side. Someone pretty much ran me off the road and I ended up getting stuck in the gravel going partway up the hill. We thought we were going to be there for the day. Finally, a bunch of good old Canadian boys came along and gave us a push out.
We got it out and got over the hill, and we couldn’t go any further because there were all these cars parked there. So we pulled off the side as far as we could and went swimming. When I went back to the truck, the cars were gone and I was able to move the truck to the parking lot.
I told Cathy I wanted to go for a hike before it got dark, and luckily enough, Cathy, Olivia and my nephew were willing to go. Olivia was apprehensive because she didn’t want to walk, but she got in her head that she was going to be the leader and she beat us to the top.
Once we got to the high cliff, I told the kids I needed to talk to Cathy in private for a minute.
C: I didn’t know what was going on. We had gone up the trail the year before and up to the cliff. He shooed the kids away and proposed. It was very sweet. Olivia didn’t know what to think, but she was fine. She gave Tim a big hug and she was happy.

Then this contest comes up. Whose idea was it to enter?
C: We had gone out to supper with a bunch of people from his work, and the whole month before they had been saying, You’ve got to enter. They were on us all night long and we came home and decided to put our names in. We didn’t think too much about it.
I was at work and it was 7:50 a.m. They said “Cathy Costello, Line 1.” I picked up and the voice said, This is so-and-so from 104.9 The Beach. Do you have a few minutes to talk to us? I was like, not really, I’m at work. I tried my best to get out of the phone call, but he said he would call back in half an hour. My heart was racing the whole time. All the girls were wondering what was wrong with me.
They called back and gave me the spiel about how we had won and would be the couple on the cake. I went to my supervisor and asked if I could make a long-distance call to Tim. His boss answered and she started screaming. It was crazy.
T: We had only entered the week before and the wedding was two weeks later.
C: We hadn’t told anyone at all that we had entered. People were calling and it was crazy that day.

The big day comes around, and you’re on a big snow cake. What was it like?
C: I was really nervous until I got on top of the cake and it was so calm and quiet up there. It was fine once we were up there.
T: You’re kind of apprehensive about the crowd of strangers watching you, but it was just us up there.

What was most interesting about getting married on the snow cake?
T: Getting Cathy known in the community. Everyone’s going to know her now! We pretty much went for a month straight being on the front page of the paper.
C: At the time, it was so completely stressful, but I look back now and think it was a cool way to do it.

Tim and Cathy will have another wedding this summer. They are thankful for the work of Linda Hillman-Rapley and Diana Simpson for organizing the wedding.

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

You may have seen – or not seen but noticed – that A-Channel London no longer has a morning show. The people who lost their jobs there are among many cut from the television station, including some who will be let go in August. Also gone are two bureau stations in Wingham and Windsor. It’s a tough time for television journalists in southwestern Ontario, that’s for sure.
I used to be one of those people, working at CKCO in Kitchener until 2005. And I went to school, worked with, or worked beside several of the people who lost their jobs this week at A-Channel. Anjhela and Gloria played their music on the morning show a couple of years ago, and my dad was interviewed several times by Wingham’s Scott Miller when the sewer debate was happening in Crediton. I saw many of these journalists after Bill and Helene Regier were murdered, and again at the Imeson trial. I’m sure you’d recognize some of their faces.
Television is facing tough times as advertising dollars dry up in the current economic climate. But let’s be honest; does local television serve a purpose? If the advertising dollars aren’t there, isn’t it just a big waste of money on a very large make-work project? Who needs local TV when we have the internet?
You can do pretty much everything you need on the net, including watching your favourite shows, talking to friends, making friends, making enemies, whatever.
More importantly, you can even read the news on-line. Who needs TV news? Heck, you don’t even need to buy a newspaper – you can get that on-line, too. And it’s free!
In fact, that’s true for journalists, too. We don’t need to be in Wingham, Dashwood, or even Varna to know what’s happening there. It’s all on the internet, and a TV assignment editor can simply send someone from London to do the story when it’s needed. Even better, forget London and centralize in Toronto. It’s not that far to drive.
Besides, do you really care what happens in your own community, on your street, to your neighbours? That information is overrated, and someone has to be blogging about it on the internet, right? Maybe even someone who actually lives in this area.
Personally, I don’t own a TV, but you probably do. Let’s look at the bigger picture. The loss of local programming at A-Channel is not just about the fact of the loss. It raises a larger question: do we really need local news?
A few hundred people in this community (meaning you, the Grand Bend Strip subscriber) think it’s important to read the local news in this newspaper, and the other paper has a few readers, too. But how long will that last before the internet takes over and you’re the last to know when someone from your community is named a Canadian champion, or that your child did something great? When local news outlets leave, start the clock.
The most important part of this equation is the one the TV networks and the internet news providers can’t provide. Every news story starts as a local news story. Then it goes regional, then provincial, national and international. If there’s no local news provider, there’s no news. That’s the truth.
You know the value of local news – you even pay me to do it. Thank you. Now spread the word. Maybe we can keep some of those people at A-Channel producing news that matters to you.
If you think local TV news is important write your support for A-Channel news to the CRTC, CTV Globemedia, and your MP.

Focus of annual show is representational art

Paint Ontario
March 14 to April 5
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Lambton Heritage Museum

By Casey Lessard

“Fight poverty, buy art.”
That’s the mantra Paint Ontario founder Barry Richman uses to encourage people to support the representational art show he started in 1996.
“Paint Ontario was established by me, selfishly,” says Richman, “to serve artists like me – representational artists. We paint something that looks like that thing. Not abstract, not installations.”
This year’s juried show accepted 300 entries from about 110 artists; only 120 fit on the walls at the Lambton Heritage Museum. Most artists are from Ontario, with some from Michigan and elsewhere. Some artists will have no pieces accepted into the show, and the most an artist can have in the show is three.
It’s an attractive venue for artists for a reason. Forty-three paintings sold last year, an increase from the year before; this year may be different because of the economic climate.
“I don’t know any place that sells 43 pieces in three weeks. I don’t know how sales will go, but we’re up 50 per cent in entries from last year.”
All of the art is available for sale, with prices ranging from $175 to $6,000. Last year’s average sale price was $645. To prize for best in show is $2000, with other prizes offered. They include purchase awards for two pieces: $750 for a local piece featuring people living a healthy lifestyle that will be purchased by the Grand Bend Area Health Services and paid for by John and Helen Walsh; and $500 for a piece chosen by Richman to join the Paint Ontario permanent collection.
Richman is available to give tours to anyone coming to the show for the first time; he also has a wall set up with a good cross-section of the different subjects represented in the show.
“The biggest thing I enjoy is watching how artists have grown compared to last year. Artists come and are very objective about why not all of their pieces got in the show, or why none got in. They find out where they’re falling short and talk to me about what makes a good painting or a great painting. To me, that’s very important.”
For more information, visit www.paintontario.com

To get you in the mood for spring, Grand Bend artist Jack Winn presents an exhibition of small panels of winter scenes at Baillie’s Framing (beside the Grand Bend post office). The 15 panels, ranging in size from 6”x8” to 12”x15”, all depict local scenes. Some of the paintings are part of the juried show, Paint Ontario. The show runs from March 14 to April 3, with an opening reception Saturday, March 21 at noon. For more, visit jackwinn.com

Return of the Tundra Swans
March 14 to April 5
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Lambton Heritage Museum
www.returnoftheswans.com

If you’re a fan of birds or awesome spectacles, you should visit the Thedford Bog east of the Lambton Heritage Museum this month as the tundra swans return. Every spring, thousands of tundra swans leave the eastern U.S. seaboard en route to the Canadian arctic. There’s no specific date to predict when they will first arrive, but the museum’s website can keep you up to date on their progress.
“It’s just part of their migration habit,” says director and curator John Tremain. “They’ve been raised with that route. It’s a nice 24 trip for them from Chesapeake Bay. They arrive tired and rest and feed here for about two weeks.”
The birds return in the fall, but don’t rest for long because it’s not as safe; spring thaw waters on fields give them space from predators and plenty to eat in the form of corn left over from the harvest.
The best place to find the birds is off Greenway Road, on the road east of Highway 21 just before the road curves north. Bring binoculars and a camera with a telephoto lens (perhaps even a tripod or monopod), and dress appropriately. Pinery naturalists and Friends of the Pinery make regular trips to the area with spotting scopes for visitors to view the swans.

More than 100 performers, musicians, directors, stage managers and production crew need temporary rental accommodation for the 2009 Huron Country Playhouse season.
“We rely heavily on the community’s support,” facility manager Paul Pembleton said in a release.
The average accommodation rate is $70 per week, Pembleton said, and cast and crew work five weeks at a time, including two weeks of rehearsals and three weeks of performances; some work the whole season. Accommodations close to the theatre are appreciated, but some performers have access to vehicles. Required amenities include cooking and washroom facilities.
“It’s a great way to bring in some extra money if you have an empty room or two in your home, or a private apartment, basement apartment, or empty cottage that would be available during the summer,” Pembleton said, noting some people host several actors for the whole season, while others host for just one five-week period.
Info: Paul Pembleton (519) 238-8387 x50 or paul@draytonentertainment.com.