Month: November 2011

Are you looking for a community playgroup for you and your toddler?

The Ontario Early Years Centre (OEYC) returned to Morrisburg on November 7th at the St. James Anglican Church on High Street and every Monday, except for holidays, parents and caregivers are invited to bring their little ones for some social time.

OEYC offers a “comfortable, safe learning environment where parents/caregivers with children 0 – 6 years can come to play and interact with each other. You will find a variety of creative and learning activities during free play, circle time and story time.”

According to OEYC Family Resource Co-ordinatior, Fiona Carr, the sessions are free and the facilities are many. 

The church facilities come complete with an elevator. This comes in handy for those who can’t tackle the stairs with two toddlers, a stroller, and a sleeping baby.

In addition, there is a change room as well as a washroom. There is a room for nursing or for quiet play. The main activity room comes complete with a large play space, snack table, and a  playdough and crafts table. 

The toys are washed frequently in the adjoining kitchen. 

Generally, the first couple of hours are for free play and fun. Then, at 11:30, it is time for clean-up and then circle time.

Circle time is filled with songs, stories, instruments, and guided fun.

 Carr revealed, “we’re happy here and it’s such a nice space. The parents seem to really like it.”

Go to www.giag.ca for more information. The South Dundas Playgroup has two sites: St. James Anglican Church in Morrisburg  (613-360-9934) and Iroquois Public School in Iroquois (613-652-1100).

[…]

 “For death begins with life’s first breath; And life begins at touch of death,” wrote John Oxenham.

On November 23rd, the Dundas County Hospice (DCH), located on Villa Drive in Williamsburg, saw a group of 13 volunteers graduate from their 10 week/ 30 hour Hospice Palliative Care course. 

According to material provided by DCH, “volunteers make the difference. DCH volunteers are special people who are warm and caring, and offer emotional support.”

DCH defines hospice as “a philosophy of care,” which basically sums up their purpose: “DCH recognizes the uniqueness of individuals and their families, and how life-threatening illness affects them. Compassionate care is directed at improving their lives physically, emotionally and spiritually.”

The hospice offers service seven days per week. They provide trained volunteers, support groups for anyone suffering from a life-threatening illness, support groups for families, and bereavement support. Loans of specialty equipment, books, videos, or video recording equipment are also available.

Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement, once said “families need support and help to draw on their own strengths and patients’ understanding of their emotional problems and aid in their spiritual search for meaning, sense of self and the possibility of growth through loss.”

For more information on available services, or to find out more about the next Hospice Palliative Care course, to be held in the spring of 2012, phone 613-535-2215 or go to the DCH website at www.dundascountyhospice.ca.

Dame Cicely Saunders is quoted on the first page of DCH’s yearly newsletter saying, “you are as important on the day that you die as the day you were born.”

[…]

The results of Iroquois Pubic School’s annual food drive for the Dundas County Food Bank are in, and once again the students, their families and the teaching staff have achieved a passing grade. 

Actually, it was more like first class honours with 419 items added to the Food Bank shelves.

The drive was run by the student council under Prime Minister, Alyssa Grant who announced the success of the drive at the school’s regular monthly assembly on Friday morning. 

“This is the last day of our food drive, and we are having a pyjama day to celebrate,” said Grant. “I am very proud of our school for doing this. Everyone did a great job.” 

Following the assembly, the council reps met with Food Bank chair Brenda Millard. 

Thanks to the fine record keeping of Margaret Phifer’s grade 5-6 class, Millard was told the collection resulted in 294 canned goods, 117 dry goods and eight other. 

“I see some soups, some beans and lasagna,” said Millard as she checked out the wonderful pile of donations. “We don’t often get things like cereal and baby food, so they are important too.” 

With the school’s food drive following on the heels of the recent Stuff a Cruiser and before that the Halloween, door to door, collection,  Millard says the Food Bank is in fairly good shape. 

Although the Bank never has too much food, “we are in good shape now and should have enough to get through to February. Our three main food drives all happen in November, which is good because we need the food in December. And they help us get through the winter.” 

At the schools’ monthly assembly, a number of achievements were recognized beginning with the success of the fund-raising (bracelet sales) effort for the annual Ecole de Neige trip. The top fund raisers were recognized and Shelby Martineau was named top sales lady. 

Named as artists of the month and having their framed artwork on display in the school’s front showcase were Hannah Rolfe at the junior level, SheeAnne Hunter at the primary level and Anthony Walsh in kindergarten. 

Thirteen students were awarded for various accomplishments including enthusiasm, attentive  listening, being a good friend, showing kindness to a friend in need, for being a great mentor etc. 

It was also announced that the school’s Cookie Dough fund raiser resulted in some $15,000 worth of dough being sold for a profit of $4,000 for the school.

The money raised from this project is used to enhance technology and expand the selection of books in the school’s book room.  

Travis Walters was the top salesman with $778 in sales,  and he was presented a pair of Sens hockey tickets and a family movie pass. 

Draws were made for prizes donated by the school’s staff. The students received tickets for their sales and then placed them in the draw for the prizes they most desired. This is the major fund raiser of the year, done by the school. 

The parents council runs other events to raise money for playground equipment.

[…]

November 25th was a day of celebration for the Williamsburg Non-Profit Housing Corporation.

The morning’s events began with the unveiling of the Tolley Place sign. The Tolley Place townhomes opened in 2009, offering quality housing to younger seniors.

James Kooistra, Chair of the Board of Directors for the corporation, said, “the idea of this started long ago. I was told it was Trevor (Tolley, former Chair of Board) who had this idea.”

Tolley reminded everyone present that he did not do this alone. He listed all of the people and organizations that worked hard to make Tolley Place a reality.

From the unveiling of the sign, the group moved to one of two new sheds recently erected. Here Kooistra informed everyone that the corporation had received a $15,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, which financed the two sheds, two dedication trees, as well as the walkway between Tolley Place and J. W. MacIntosh Seniors Support Centre.

According to a press release from the corporation, due to a 2010 gardening project started by Tolley Place residents, “a garden shed has been placed at Tolley Place and will be available for tool storage. A second shed was placed at the east end of the walkway and will store maintenance equipment.”

As for the trees, Kooistra said, “some years ago the Board said farewell to three board members: Trevor Tolley, Joan Findlay, and Barbara Phifer. They served on the board for many, many years.”

“They were promised that we would plant some trees, one for Trevor and one for the two ladies.”

He then thanked the three again, for their “years of commitment and dedication to the Board.”

A sign dedicating the trees to the three former board members will be affixed to the garden shed.

The walkway, which was completed this fall, finally “links two projects that should always be linked,” said South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds.

As Kooistra pointed out, “the walkway was constructed to provide easier access to the services of the Community Support Centre. These services include exercise classes, hot meal programs, health and wellness clinics and educational presentations. The sidewalk encourages regular walking which is great exercise in itself.”

Jim McDonell, MPP for SD&SG, concurred, saying, “the constructed walkway will provide easy access while promoting a healthier lifestyle.”

“We have a plaque here from the Trillium Foundation to commemorate the volunteers,” who, as he later pointed out, “come out and make a difference.”

Catherine MacLaine, representative for the Ontario Trillium Foundation, said “in October of last year the grant review team was happy to support their efforts with a $15,000 grant.”

She said, “we see a group of dedicated staff and volunteers.”

With that said, Mary Salmon, tenant of Tolley Place, cut the ribbon, officially opening the walkway between Tolley Place and the support centre.

Kooistra then said, “you’re now invited to walk the walk.”

Williamsburg Non-Profit Housing Corporation oversees the operation of Tolley Place, Park Drive Villa, County Road 18 Group Home, Schell Street Group Home, as well as the J. W. MacIntosh Seniors Support Centre.

It also provides community support in the way of meals on wheels, adult day services, transportation, respite, foot care, assisted living services, and diners club. 

For more information, contact them at 613-535-2924 or at 613-535-2470. They also have a website: www.wnphc.ca.

[…]

Several local people are out hundreds of dollars thanks to a recent cold call scam involving non-existent computer viruses.

Recently, local computer technician, Michael Prunner of MP Computer Services reported several incidents to the local police involving clients who had received calls.

In fact, Constable Peter Robertson, Media Relations Officer for the SD&G OPP, said this will be Crime Stoppers “Crime of the Week.”

Prunner said the people calling most often say they are from Microsoft and “they tell you that you have a serious problem with your Windows. One even told the customer that their Windows had expired.”

Here is an example of a typical cold call: “Hello, I’m calling on behalf of Microsoft Support Team. Your computer is sending error messages to us, which tells us that you have viruses and some corrupted files. I can help you fix that now.”

“They sit you down in front of your computer telling you that you have bad stuff on your computer and they need to work on it. Basically, they use all free cleaners and they charge you 10 times more than it’s worth,” informed Prunner.

According to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Kerry Petryshyn, this is what is called “deceptive marketing.”

What this means is that the person calling is from a “legitimate” company of sorts, but has nefarious intentions in terms of charging you for something you could have gotten for free, charging you for something you don’t need, or charging you much more than necessary for something that may or may not be useful.

The best option for dealing with this sort of scammer is to contact the Competition Bureau of Canada. Petryshyn said, “they deal with companies that are deceiving clients.”

As with other “viruses,” the “computer scam virus” has many different strains. Petryshyn said, “there’s a few potential possibilities that can occur as there’s a variety of anti-virus scams coming out.”

According to a release from the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (CAFC), “the virus scam has grown to epidemic proportions in Canada, now accounting for between 70 and 80 per cent of frauds reported daily to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre.”

“This dramatic increase means the scam is working – more and more Canadians are being targeted by the virus scam.”

“Allowing a third party to download software or remotely access your computer carries a number of serious risks.”

“Malicious software can be installed to capture sensitive data such as your online banking user names and passwords, bank account information and your personal identity information.”

“Your computer can also be converted to a bot-net, which means criminals can use it without your knowledge or participation. It can then be used to spam other people, spread viruses to your friends or overload computer networks.”

“Getting your credit card information is the second important part of the virus scam. Once a criminal has that information it can be used to make purchases without your consent.”

The CAFC also warns that “not all virus scams are conducted over the phone. Many CAFC callers report being scammed after responding to internet pop-up ads for anti-virus software.”

As for Microsoft, they do not cold call customers. An employee of Microsoft Ottawa pointed out that it would be almost impossible to do so because of the immense number of users all over the world.

For those who may have already given a scammer access to their computer, Petryshyn has some advice: “If you think somebody’s had access to your computer, I wouldn’t be going back on the Internet until I’ve gotten the problem solved. It’s like opening the door again.”

He advised that anti-virus and anti-spy programs do not check for peer-to-peer applications. For this, “you may need a technician to check your system.”

Peer-to-peer applications are those that give someone else remote access to your computer and files. 

Petryshyn uses a house metaphor to explain the situation more clearly: allowing someone to install peer-to-peer software, giving them remote access to your computer, is basically the same as giving “the bad guy” a key to your back door. They can come in whenever they like, invited or not. 

As for credit cards, Petryshyn advises checking with your bank or credit card company right away.

For questions, or to report a scam incident, contact the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre via email at info@antifraudcentre.ca or via the telephone at 1-888-495-8501.

[…]