Easter Bunny comes for Breakfast in Iroquois

 

The fourth annual Jumpstart Day held at Morrisburg’s Canadian Tire on Saturday, May 26, has once again helped to ensure that no kids will miss out on organized sports in Canada.

This year the Morrisburg store, owned by Ninon and Michel Proulx, was able to raise $2,068.11 for the cause.

“All of the money we raise with the Jumpstart program comes back into North and South Dundas to help out our local kids,” said Ninon Proulx. “This year again our entire staff got behind the effort.”

The Jumpstart program, which was supported on May 26 by most Canadian Tire stores across Canada, is designed to help kids get involved in organized sports. Research indicates that one in three families cannot afford to enroll their children in organized sports and recreation in this country. 

With its One Million Red Balls  campaign, Canadian Tire asks shoppers to donate $2 for the purchase of a red ball, the national symbol of child’s play.

“This fund raiser really helps our local kids,” Proulx said. “Many sports cost more than many parents can afford on their own. Some kids would not have the opportunity to take part in sports without these funds.”

The store offered a raffle for a patio set valued at $470, and two beautiful planters. The furniture was won by J. Manneck, the planters by ticket holders Thompson and Adrian.

Tribeck Inflatables were set up to amuse small visitors while parents shopped. Fiona Carr of the Ontario Early Years operated a crafts and colouring area where children could make paper bag puppets, and  take part in other activities. The Morrisburg and District Leos club was also on hand to run a barbecue for shoppers. 

[…]

He’s an easy man to talk to.

Despite being forced to stand outside his car, struggling to keep decent local cell phone reception, despite having just pulled into town after a long drive down from Port Dover, Norm Foster handled yet another interview with grace, and with the trademark sense of humour for which he is known.

Foster, one of Canada’s most produced and most beloved playwrights, is in Morrisburg to star in Upper Canada Playhouse’s fourth summer production, On A First Name Basis, opening September 4 and running until the 28th of September.

Foster also wrote the play.

“Actually, I find it easier to act in my own plays than in someone else’s. I know the material well, and I can certainly interpret my character the way the ‘author’ sees him,” Foster laughed. “But I will say that I set high standards for myself as an actor because I want the show to be the best it can be for the audience.”

On A First Name Basis is a ‘two-hander’, staged with a cast of only two. Foster’s character, David Kilbride, is a very successful, well-to-do author – and a rather less successful human being. 

“It’s not so much that (David) means to be a jerk,” Foster explained. “The reality is that he has no social skills whatsoever. He speaks his mind without any regard to anyone else’s feelings.”

Enter Lucy Hopperstaad, Kilbride’s housekeeper of two decades, performed by noted actress of stage and television, Patricia Vanstone. Her Lucy has been with this man for more than 20 years, Yet, in the course of an evening, it becomes very clear that David knows absolutely nothing about the woman who has, for all intents and purposes, been closer to him than any other human being. 

“I’ve know Patricia since 1984, when she played in my Melville Boys,” Foster said. “We have done a lot of projects together over the years. When I asked Patricia to  take on the role of Lucy, it was because I thought she was perfect to play the wise-cracking, clever maid. Lucy has to show David that he can’t say the things he says, act the way he does. She helps him work on being a ‘human being’.”

As in all Foster plays, there is witty, hilarious, unexpected dialogue in On A First Name Basis. But, as is also a characteristic of Foster’s work, there are “tender moments” between these two very unique individuals as well. 

Foster is acclaimed for his ability to create ‘people’ on the stage that audiences understand.

“My characters are based on people I know, real, everyday people. Audiences may know someone like them, may even see themselves up there,” Foster explained. “I have a certain comfort level writing about those people because I feel that I understand them.”

Where do his ideas for plays come from?

“A lot of times a piece of music will put me in the mood to write. I may even be in the middle of writing one play when another play idea springs out at me. On very rare occasions, people may make suggestions to me that intrigue me, and I may develop a play from those conversations. And,” he added laughing, “those people get absolutely no credit whatever for the finished play!”

Foster often speaks his lines aloud as he writes them. 

“I want a natural flow of words  in my dialogues. Basically, I like to make an audience feel as though they are eaves-dropping on a conversation between two people. This is particularly true with On A First Name Basis, where audiences share two hours, in real time, of the exchanges between David and Lucy.”

Norm Foster also staged the premiere of The Ladies Foursome this summer at Upper Canada Playhouse, where it proved to be  an enormous success.

“I like the Playhouse,” Foster said, “It’s great to have the big crowds, and to have audiences which appreciate theatre. Donnie (Bowes) is also an old friend, and I enjoy bringing a show to him.The Playhouse is simply a great place to work.”

On A First Name Basis is directed by David Nairn, “who is the only director Patricia and I have had since we began touring this production three years ago,” Foster said. The set for the show has been designed by the Playhouse’s John Thompson, to adapt the blocking to the wider stage area at the Playhouse.

Audiences can look forward to a wonderful production as Upper Canada Playhouse welcomes Norm Foster and Patricia Vanstone, starring in Foster’s On A First Name Basis running from September 4-28. Contact the Playhouse at 1-613-543-3713.

[…]

South Branch Community fund agreement is now in place, and within 60 days, the Municipality of South Dundas should be receiving the first $30,000 cheque for the fund they will distribute.

South Branch Wind Farm officials and interested community members attend the recent council meeting when the funding guidelines were approved by South Dundas council.

The South Branch Community Fund has been established to provide funding to benefit the community near the South Branch Wind Farm.

Through an application process the funds are meant to help promote and/or benefit;

• Public recreational facilities and programs 

• Community gathering facilities, events, and related Municipal usage fees

• Educational and job training related to sustainability or renewable energy

• Other community related activities approved by the Municipality of South Dundas.

The South Branch Wind Farm will pay $30,000 into the fund annually for a term of 20 years, starting in 2014 and ending in 2033. 

To qualify for funding the facilities or residents must be from within the boundaries outlined in the agreement, which are Irish Headline Road/ County Road 5 to the north, County Road 18, including Matilda Hall in the south, Taylor Road to the west and Heritage Road, including the Dundela rink property in th east.

The fund is intended for community benefit and could help, for example, with community spaces such as the Dixon’s Corners Community Centre, Matilda Hall, Dundela rink and area parks. 

Any single release of funds greater than $5,000 requires the approval of EDP Renewables Canada.

The project is owned and operated by South Dundas Wind Farm Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of EDP Renewables Canada Ltd. The project began commercial operations in March 2014. In July and August all of the site restoration work was completed.

South Dundas is awaiting a report from EDP regarding a road use agreement between EDP and North and South Dundas.

[…]