Providence Bay
Alexia Hannigan
Hello, my May flies! Whoosh! is it me or is this year flying by in a hurry? I had a walk on the boardwalk today after all my meetings and admin work and it dawned on me that by the time you are all reading this, Mother’s Day will have already come and gone. I reflected on motherhood a lot today, on how I am a mother and how I love being Ceilidh’s mom. I thought about my own mother who I lost years ago and still miss dearly. Just like Earth Day, Mother’s Day really is every day. We live on our earth mother, we drink of and swim in her waters, we live off her bounty.
In May, on Manitoulin, we are all mothers.
We nurture, provide and care for the people, pets, places and things that we love and they grow. Our families, gardens, ideas, beliefs, businesses, teams, industries, environment, ecosystems, community.
Manitoulin was voted one of the top 10 best places to visit after all, according to the brainchild of CBC’s, The Current, who had an idea about creating a best place to travel to in Canada bucket-list and encouraged listeners to respond to a poll. See? One person gets an idea. 50,000 people vote and just like that we grow. Our Island has a beautiful, strong and incredibly talented community and we are glad you chose here as your place of peace and providence. Welcome friends, visitors and neighbours, old and new. Take care of this beautiful land and legacy. We are so lucky to call this our home.
Here’s what’s happening: Providence Bay Arena and Fairgrounds: Providence Bay Youth Soccer started Saturday, May 3 and will run every Saturday weather permitting (Sundays if Saturday rain) with weekly practices that will be held in Providence Bay until the Island Wide Soccer Tournament in Little Current on Saturday, May 31. There will be no soccer on Saturday, June 7. Our final year-end practice and beach party will be in Providence Bay on Saturday, June 14. Practices will run as follows TFN: U6 (2019-20) 10:30 to 11 am; U8 (2017-18) 11 am to 12 noon; U10 (2015-16) 11 am to 12 noon; and U13 (2012-14) 10:30 to 11:30 am.
Providence Bay Community of Christ Church: Joys and community updates at 10:30 am and service at 11 am.
Providence Bay/Spring Bay Lions Bottle Drive continues next to the arena, return your empty bottles and cans (we know there are lots during the playoff season), your empties help give back to your local community!
Providence Bay Hall: exercise classes continue Friday mornings at 10:30 am; Tai Chi continues Monday and Thursday.
Providence Bay Beach Boardwalk and Discovery Centre: Providence Bay Beach is an amazing 2 km sand beach on Lake Huron coast that is open to the public. Play safe and enjoy the beautiful beaches, boardwalk and views! Restaurants, cafés and other attractions coming soon! Stay tuned. Let’s continue to do our part to keep our beach and boardwalk clean and litter free.
PSA: If you see a horse and rider on the road please slow down and give ample room when passing and use caution and don’t honk unless necessary! Horses are beautiful but can be unpredictable if startled. Riders should be brightly dressed (including helmet), single file at the edge of the roadway and be using hands signals.
Toulin Turtles: Turtles are nesting all over the sides of the road right now, please watch closely and slow down while driving around lakes and wetlands. If you see an injured Turtle contact Turtle Pond at 705-691-0433 or visit Friends of Manitoulin Turtles online.
The Heavens: May brings all five bright planets to the sky and even Neptune makes an appearance in the morning before sunrise. The reliable Halley’s Comet is back!
When skies are clear Eta Aquarid boasts one of the best celestial shows of the season – you May see shooting stars right up until May 27. The Milky Way rises before dawn at the end of ever shorter nights for northern stargazers, while longer and cooler nights south of the equator enable longer contemplation of the dazzling deep southern skies. Here’s what to see in the night sky this weekend through to next week of May 17. Uranus lies in conjunction with the Sun. It will slowly emerge in the constellation Taurus in the morning sky by next month.
Last quarter moon, 11:58 UT on May 20.
Again, in the morning sky before sunrise, look east to see a waning crescent moon with Saturn rising behind it by nearly 4o. Venus also shines brilliantly to the east. If you have a telescope handy, look also for 8th-magnitude Neptune about 2o northeast of Saturn.
The Friends: Happy Birthday to all of you mid-May babies. Sincere thoughts and regards to the friends and family of Ravi Baniwal! A special Happy 100th Birthday to Twighlighter Betty Kerr! Happy Birthday Jordan Stephens!
Wishing everyone a beautiful middle of May – soak up the sun whenever you can, remember to pace yourself, the work will get done, balance your honey do’s with leisure and fun. We are about to set our clocks to ‘Toulin time and the May 2-4 tourist season!
To all you moms out there, love and light! Happy daffodil and tulip time!
“May, sweet May, again has come. May that mother be of all flowers.”
– Guillaume De Machaut
Kagawong
Team Fergmeijer
A friend of Team Fergmeijer has allergy issues and decided her only option was to get a pet tree. She says it’s a lot like having a pet dog, but the bark is much quieter. She was trying to film the chipmunks that play in her pet tree and while she was distracted, ran into a lamppost. Luckily, she only sustained light injuries. When she looked back at the video, she realized she had accidentally taken a 10-minute cellphone video of her shoes. It was actually some pretty good footage.
Birthdays are like spotting Bigfoot: you really do want to see them but you’re a little afraid of what they’ll look like. That said, we want to wish happy birthday to Kagawongian Sherri C and aspirational Kagawongian Leslie M who are turning 29 this week.
This event is sure to be a smash hit! This Saturday (May 17) is the annual Black Fly Doubles Tournament. Everyone is welcome to come out and shake off the winter rust. All ages and ability levels can participate – no partner, no problem! Registration is free. Contact ctheijsmeijer@gmail.com or check out Manitoulin Tennis Club on Facebook for more information or to register.
Have you heard? Bird is the word! The museum opens again for the season this weekend – be sure to stop in and check out the new exhibit!
The Island Singers are presenting their spring concert, Songs for the Earth, on Sunday, May 25 at 3 pm at Manitoulin Secondary School. The concert will feature a variety of pieces from various genres and will include a special performance by a member of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra. Tickets are $15 each and are available at the door. Children 12 and under are free.
Manitoulin Metal Robotics is once again hosting their annual e-waste drive. Stop by Manitoulin Secondary May 26 to 30 from 3 to 5 pm, or Saturday, May 31 from 10 am to 2 pm to drop off any dead electronics, including appliances, batteries of any kind, and devices. Look for the robotics team members outside by the basketball court on those days.
June may still be a little way off, but word on the street is that the first Kagawong market of the year will be Wednesday, June 25. Save the date! We can’t wait to welcome all our summer vendors back to the Kagawong River Complex.
Mark your calendars – June 28 is Team Aelick’s annual stroll for liver in support of Liver Canada. This 5k walk through the village starts at the Park Centre at 11 am. You can join the stroll, support from the sidelines, and donate through their team page (bit.ly/teamaelick). Donations over $20 qualify for a tax receipt.
Little known fact: Team Fergmeijer does all our own stunts. Just not on purpose. Have a great week!
Barrie Island
Enid Runnalis
It is another beautiful day in paradise here on Barrie Island! Green grass, golden daffodils, rising tulips, playful calves in the pastures and spring skies. Please take care in the coming days to watch for turtles who are crossing the roads. The Barrie Island Causeway is a popular spot for wildlife and it is important for their safety to drive slowly there.
In the garden: asparagus has just begun to poke up and that means you’d better get out there and cut it right now because it’s a short season! Rhubarb is crowning and it won’t be long before it’s ready.
Garth Baker has been out to inspect bird nesting boxes and reports that he has seen the usual species of birds for this time of year: ducks, geese, cranes, red-wing black birds, grackles, sparrows, etc.
Sandy and Jim Miller of Ottawa were here this week to visit family and spend some time at their cottage.
Carolyn Lane-Rock dropped by for a few nights to check on things. She’s looking forward to the upcoming season. She stopped in to have a visit with Steve Prior and Cathy.
Richard Runnalls is back on his land. He has lost five out of six beehives due to a sudden change of temperature. But Richard is a problem-solver, he quickly moves on to solutions and production concerns.
On Friday Lisa Robbins of Gore Bay joined Enid in her art studio where together they worked on their compositions for the “Little Black Canvas” art event (a group exhibition of little black paintings on Saturday, May 17 at 11 am in Studio 6 at the Gore Bay Harbour Centre in Gore Bay).
Last Saturday a group of Barrie Island citizens kicked up their heels at the Water’s Edge Restaurant at the dinner/dance night. After a delicious dinner Missy’s Groovy Little Band (Heather and Wayne Bryant, Paul Best, Jon Best and Warren Schlotte) played all the slow dancing and rock and roll favourites and then Joe and Beth of Island Time Dancing dj’d for the line dancers!
Debbie Heitkamp was out for a visit last Sunday. She and Enid painted together and Debbie’s work was absolutely beautiful! She reports that art was always her favourite school subject ever since she was a little girl in Holland and at almost 93 years her eye for a good composition and her drawing and painting skills are better than ever.
The Little Free Library box at the corner of 5th Side Road and Eastline Road is stuffed with books for the time-being, so come out and have a look (and please bring a book or two to add to the box).
Have a great week — let me know if you have any news!
Silver Water
Karen Noble
On Friday, May 2 in the evening, we went to Meldrum Bay to play euchre.
Saturday morning a group of us went to the hall to set tables, wash and cut up 100 pounds of potatoes, make coleslaw and more to get ready for the fish dinner.
Saturday night the Manitoulin Snowduster fish dinner was held at the Silver Water Community Hall. The fundraiser proceeds were $3,574. Thank you to everyone who came out to eat and to everyone who worked to make it a very successful event. We had over 40 volunteers who worked at various jobs.
On Sunday afternoon, Myra Duncanson and I went to Tehkummah for the euchre tournament where there were 52 players. Congratulations to Janice and Gene Cada who won first place and to Myra and myself who won second place. The next tournament will be on Sunday, June 1.
We took several boxes of books, videos and DVDs to a lady who helps the Tehkummah Library fundraise. She said they will take as many as we have, so we will take more on June 1.
Monday night was euchre at the Burpee/Mills Complex.
There was exercise class held on Tuesday afternoon in the hall.
Tuesday evening was fire practice with 14 team members out to work on how to extinguish grass fires.
Albert Meijer and I took a load of liquor containers to Little Current on Thursday morning. It is another $150 for the fundraising efforts. On the way home, we stopped at Berry Boats to pick up a new Stihl zero turn lawn mower.
Euchre was held on Thursday night at the Silver Water Community Hall. There were 27 players.
Heather Wilson told me she has already had several swims in lakes in Espanola. We are planning one for next week when she is here. I am hoping for warm weather before then.
On May 17 there is the ATV run in Meldrum Bay with lunch for the participants and anyone else.
On May 24 there is the fashion show at the Silver Water Hall starting at 2 pm.
On May 25 there is a barbecue lunch and euchre tournament at the Silver Water Hall starting at 12 noon.
Hope everyone had a happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Victoria Day!
