Providence Bay
Alexia Hannigan
Alexia here with your post prov fair fly! I wanted to take this time here to make mention of all of the wonderful creative, hardworking, innovative, inspiring, dedicated and tenacious collective that makes up our wonderful community here of Providence Bay. Every last one of you are remarkable rockets that work tirelessly and devotedly season after season to keep our little community beautiful and thriving. Nothing demonstrated this more than the weeks leading up to the fair and the heart and soul of all of you, the fabric and fastidious framework of all that is wonderful of our little township all together under the roof of the exhibit hall. Beautiful beacons, mementos and handmade marvels, beautiful little windows into all that we are and all that we do.
Thank you to everyone who came out and hats off and high fives to all of the dedicated volunteers, organizers, entertainers and sponsors who keep the big wheels turning and the hearth stones hot. Providence Bay is better because of you and all you do! Big feather in the cap of this great community!
Here’s what’s happening: Fairground and arena clean up and turnover time! No events for now but there will be a bit of post fair clean up and work. So easy does -it- we will get it all done in due course.
Manitoulin recreational events calendar with class schedules for Providence Bay Hall, Mindemoya Hall and Spring Bay Hall visit: events.centralmanitoulin.ca or contact Alison Sloss at asloss@centralmanitoulin.ca 705-377-5726.
Providence Bay Beach: is an amazing two km sand beach on Lake Huron coast that is open to the public. Play safe and enjoy the beautiful beaches, boardwalk and epic sunrises, moon rises and sunsets.
Sunset Music Series: The series officially marshalled in the new music, check the Sunset Series posters and Huron Island Time and Manitoulin musicians Facebook page for updates. The music series features great musicians and artists who take to the stage right beside the Boardwalk and Discovery Centre every weekend though August from 6:30 to 9 pm. Bring your blankets and chairs!
Reuse/Recycle: The Providence Bay Reuse Shed is opened at the Providence Bay Transfer Station. For more information contact 705-377-5726. Visit the transfer station at 4077 Government Road. Summer hours are Thursday, Saturday or Sunday from 2 to 6 pm until the September long weekend.
The Lions Club Bottle Drive continues next to the arena -this program is open to the public and we encourage everyone to drop off their used bottles and cans. Your empties help fund great local initiatives.
The Friends: Happy birthday to all of you late-August babies! We welcome you all to Manitoulin Island, we wish you a wonderful, happy and safe summer holiday!
Social pages for special events. You can also visit the Central Manitoulin Township webpage or visit exploremanitoulin.com for updates on all the events happening near you.
“The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy. It’s all that matters.” – Ozzy Osbourne
Kagawong
Team Fergmeijer
We love walking the river trail and other off-the-beaten-tracks around the Island. We often indulge in deep, philosophical discussions as we trek, and the one thing that always stands out to us as we wander through this gorgeous landscape we live in is that squirrels always look and act as if it’s their first day being a squirrel.
Body Stories Dance has announced their 2025/26 dance schedule for classes in Kagawong, which include offerings for children, youth, adults and seniors. You can register on their website: www.bodystoriesdance.com.
We wish a very happy 29th birthday to Meg M and Andrew T, as well as Kagawong-adjacent Mike Z, and extended Kagawongian family members Tijs T and Emma T. Some of you might be feeling your age, but just remember, in geological terms, you are still incredibly young.
Billings Library has officially launched the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Billings Township! Each month, the Imagination Library program mails an age-appropriate book to registered children (age 0-5), free to the family. To take part, complete and return the registration form found on the library’s Facebook page (FB.com/kagawonglibrary), or visit the library in person for a paper copy and more information!
If you missed the opportunity to provide feedback regarding the township’s draft waste management by-law, here’s an opportunity you can’t, ahem, refuse. A second public consultation period is now being held to gather additional feedback on the revised version of the by-law and the supporting policy. No trash talking though – serious comments only as Billings Township looks to modernize waste management. The consultation runs until August 22, and can be found at https://www.billingstwp.ca/live-here/waste-and-recycling.
Some upsetting news: we’ve learned that there have been a number of thefts from local craft and fabric stores across the north shore. Based on the locations hit, the perpetrator seems to be following some sort of pattern.
The Manitoulin Tennis Club is hosting an “End of Summer” tennis tournament, Saturday, August 23, beginning at 9 am at the Manitoulin Secondary School courts. There will be singles and doubles competition, with players of all ages and abilities welcome. There will even be prizes! Age-specific categories available if enough players sign up. Register by contacting Chris at ctheijsmeijer@gmail.com.
For students (and teachers), August really is the Sunday of the summer and the new school year is just around the corner. Grade 9 students can come out to the annual Grade 9 barbecue at Manitoulin Secondary on Wednesday, August 27. Students can get their schedule, learn about high school, explore the school while finding their classrooms and even meet some of their teachers. The day starts at 10 am and includes a barbecue lunch. Parents are also welcome to attend! For more information, contact the office at Manitoulin Secondary School.
While watching some classic tennis matches this week, we realized that 50 per cent of Roger Federer’s name is ‘er’. Have a great week!
Meldrum Bay
Elaine Bradley
Rose’s granddaughter Micah was up for an extended stay and has now gone home. Now, her sister is up to help Rose celebrate Rose’s birthday.
A friend of mine has been dog sitting while a neighbour is away. When she went to go to bed, she found the dog stretched out on her bed with its head on her pillow. He did not seem to be suffering from any separation anxiety. We have been cat sitting. We don’t have any interesting cat stories to tell.
On Friday, August 8 at cards Elaine Bradley was high lady with 81 points; one more point and I would have won the money jar, sigh; high man was Karen Noble with 72. Donna K McDonald had ladies lone hands with four; Murray Duncanson had men’s lone hands with five; most euchres went to Tom Rumley with nine; Diane Jones brought home the door prize; Andy Cull won the 50/50 draw. Natasha McVey brought home the juice. We had a great time. Come and join us if you can make it.
Have a great week everyone.
Barrie Island
Enid Runnalls
The ‘dog days of summer’ are here (look up and you will find the Sirius star system rising) and the dry hay is being put under cover. The chokecherries are coming on, but they might not be easy to find, as Carolyn Lane-Rock and her friend Heather Wilson (Silver Water) report. Liz and Steve Clifford planted six zucchini seeds in the spring and have a bumper crop!
A Bald Eagle was sighted on the front lawn of Goldenbrook Farm, where it surveyed from high up in a tree, pausing to ruffle its feathers or rotate its head and finally flew off after an hour. The two little brown twin calves that were born on the grass last week and brought to the Grandview neonatal calf barn to be bottle fed have been named (Curley and Slick) and are successfully being bottle fed.
Greetings to Breanna Campbell and family who have just moved to Barrie Island!
Belated Birthday wishes to Reece Carter, who celebrated her 23rd birthday last Saturday!
Katie Runnalls has been home from Toronto for the week and staying with her parents while visiting family and friends. Diane (of Kagawong), Danielle and Nalu Brunetti-Rodrigues (of Vancouver, B.C.) were out to visit, and Micah took them on a farm and sugar shack tour.
Jim and Margaret Blanchard were officially proclaimed great-grandparents on August 8 when their grandson Ted and his wife Amanda welcomed daughter, Rory Joy Blanchard into the world! The Blanchards are currently hosting their son John from Palmdale, California, their youngest grand-daughter Samantha from Pittsburgh and their oldest grand-daughter Vanessa and her husband Alex Carpenter from Columbus, Ohio for the next two weeks. All four were able to take the North Channel cruise to the Benjamin Islands.
Three Barrie Island ladies, Ardiss Luce (Ohio), Sabine Schoen (Germany) and Enid journeyed to Dominion Bay, where they feted their dear friend Ursula Hettmann who turned 87 on August 11. On their way they stopped to safely usher a turtle across the road. Please be mindful of wildlife!
Scott and Enid were out for ice cream at Campbell’s this week. Katie joined them too. They enjoyed the generous scoops and the range of flavours and the soft serve. The establishment was full of Barrie Islanders, waving from the kitchen was Erin Montgomery and, on the deck, they visited with the ‘Matheson Girls’, Nancy Panton, Marylou Harper and Marylou’s daughters Louanne and Krista.
Oliver Runnalls and the Manitoulin Swing Band played at the Kagawong History Day. They were wonderful as always and it was a very interesting program (see Team Fergemeijer’s news for more details).
The Manitoulin Fine Arts Association Members’ Show is opening today until September 6 at the Sheguiandah Museum and Enid has submitted some Barrie Island portraits to be viewed.
Mark your calendars for the Julia Bay Beach barbecue at the causeway on Friday, August 22 from 4 to 7 pm. There will be free Burt Farm hotdogs and music by Elora Miller and Jon Best and even clowning by sweet and surprising MaD HoTdeR the clown! Bring a potluck dish and your picnic ware and a chair and join in the fun. (Rainy day location is the Barrie Island Hall).
Condolences to the family and friends of Raymond Runnalls who passed peacefully on August 5. Raymond grew up on his parents’ farm on the north line of Barrie Island. He was recently here in May with his sons Steven and Adam and had some really good visits. His funeral will be held on August 23.
Silver Water
Karen Noble
The date of the upcoming LSB meeting was listed incorrectly in last week’s paper. It will be on Wednesday, August 27 at 7 pm.
Mark Wismer and his daughter Reine were here from Vancouver Island to visit his brother and family in Ottawa and then his parents Doug and Jane Wismer here.
Doug and Brenda Carter had friends Chris and Deb visit them last week.
Ken and Doreen Duncanson joined Myra Duncanson for a visit with their cousin Pauline Lloyd Adams and her daughter Karen Adams as well as daughter Tracey DaSilva and granddaughter Jayde Lavoie. The journey to Silver Water was part of the 80th birthday celebration for Pauline on August 9. Pauline’s grandparents were the “Lloyd” of the store Thomson and Lloyd which is where Karen Noble and Albert Meijer live now. Her father Ewart was born in Silver Water at that time. Ewart Lloyd married Arden and Norman’s sister Gladys Duncanson on July 5, 1928.
Jonathan LeSage and his girlfriend, Emily, stayed at the family cottage last week. They left on Wednesday. Colleen and Eric Julseth arrived at the cottage later in the day and are here for a week. They leave for a two-week trip to camp on Lake Superior soon.
Max and Linda Trick are at their cottage.
Teddy and Becky and their children, Maddie, Brody and Ty have been at their cottage. Teddy’s sister, Heather and her family are with them. The mothers and children were enjoying Silver Lake when Gladys Duncanson and I arrived for our swim on Thursday afternoon.
Doug and DonnaKay McDonald had a granddaughter stay with them for a week.
Kate Duncanson and Chip Tomisch went to Marathon to attend a wedding on August 6 and then travelled to Verner for a wedding on August 9. They returned to Myra’s house on Tuesday.
On Sunday, after church in Gore Bay, Murray and Gladys Duncanson travelled to their son Craig’s camp on Lake Penage. Blake Duncanson and his daughters, Willow and Shelby, Alysha McDonald and daughters, Kinley and Everly, Jodie Duncanson and daughter Jordan were also at the cottage for the weekend. Gladys said she did lots of swimming on Sunday with all the girls and had a boat ride on the pontoon. They came home on Monday afternoon.
On Friday, August 8 we went to euchre in Meldrum Bay.
On Saturday morning we held a market in our yard with several vendors and lots of shoppers.
Sunday after church, I picked up Myra Duncanson and we went to Tehkummah for their euchre tournament. The high score was 94 points; second place was two teams with 83 points each; and third place was split by three teams with 72 points each. Mike and Susan Arbour and Myra and I were part of third place. We took 10 boxes of books with us to donate to the Tehkummah library. We will go there again on September 7 if anyone wants to send boxes of books with us.
Monday morning GFL did the garbage pick-up.
Monday afternoon, the residents came out to the recycling bins. We had a lot of people who donated over 700 hundred liquor cans and many boxes of bottles. They also filled both bins.
On Monday, I took Ken Duncanson and Myra Duncanson to euchre at the Burpee and Mills Complex.
Tuesday evening was fire practice.
On Wednesday, Albert and I went to Little Current to the Beer Store and collected another $170 for the Angel Bus. Thanks to everyone who donated their cans and bottles.
On Thursday I went to work in the morning.
Thursday evening there was euchre at the Silver Water Community Hall.
On Friday, August 22 the UCW is providing the cake and coffee at the Gore Bay Market Café in the basement of the Gore Bay Community Hall from 9 am to 1 pm. The rest of the market is held at the waterfront near the pavilion.
Condolences to the family of Ivan Wheale.