OPP needs your help

“They had so much fun. It’s such a positive experience,” said Fiona Carr, Family Resource Coordinator for GIAG.

Carr was referring to the full-day events on February 22nd, Ash Wednesday, marking the first day of Lent.

Organized and planned by Lutheran and Anglican churches in South Dundas, the base of activities took place at St. James Anglican Church in Morrisburg. Children from kindergarten to grade 12 were invited to join in the day’s activities where the theme for the day was “Lord Teach Us to Pray.”

According to Carr, “we had kids from tons of different schools.” The similarity? “They have a commonality of believing in God,” she said. 

Kids in Carr’s group, the intermediates, were exchanging phone numbers because although they hadn’t known one another before Wednesday, many of them “became instant friends.” 

Both the intermediate and senior groups took trips to the food bank where they dropped off donations, took a tour and helped out. 

“I was really impressed with them,” said Carr, of her intermediate group. “They helped pack some snack bags.” 

Carr was told that “they asked more questions than they’ve ever asked before,” and, in addition, they were fascinated to learn that donations can include pet food and toiletries, things they hadn’t thought of before the tour.

The primary group was led by Carol Rumble of Iroquois. According to Rumble, aside from honouring Ash Wednesday and having some fun in the process, the day’s purpose was to deliver the message of outreach to the children.

The primary group spent time during the day making cards for orphans in Madagascar. Mary Sherwood is a missionary at an orphanage there and had previously visited the area, giving a presentation of her work and what’s needed. According to Rumble, the cards will be forwarded to Sherwood who will see to it that the children receive them. 

The intermediate and senior groups had a visit from Karen Marshall who spoke about the outreach work her son Chris and his partner Shayna Campbell are doing in Uganda.

Currently, the couple is in the midst of a year-long mission to make a difference at St. Francis Health Care Services located near Mbiko, Uganda. They are trying to raise $33,500 to build a maternity hospital at the center. 

[…]

Rusty

South Dundas Animal Shelter Name:Rusty. Four month old mixed, female puppy. Not neutered. Perhaps collie/lab/boxer mix. Not spayed. Hi folks, my name is Rusty and I am a happy go lucky young puppy looking for a loving forever home where I can grow up to become a family’s beloved best friend. I am a very good sized dog for my age, and I need puppy training asap. I would also need to be spayed in the next few months. I am a large, fun-loving, excitable puppy. Like all young puppies I like to chew and play and jump and play and play and play and play. You know how it is. If you would like more information on Rusty or to meet Rusty, please call Kevin at the South Dundas Animal Shelter for an appointment at 613-543-2980 or 613-913-1476. There is no adoption charge for Rusty but a donation of dog food is sure appreciated by all the boys and girls at the shelter. It is a kind of pay it forward system to help the Shelter care for my buddies while we wait for someone to come and pick us as their new best friend. If you do decide to make an appointment with Kevin to come and meet me, don’t forget to bring along a collar and leash so I  can go home with you. The Shelter has also asked us to try get the message out to everyone that appointments with Kevin to meet our dogs are mandatory…this is a necessary precaution to make sure everyone is safe, both perspective families and the dogs. All persons whether looking for their missing dogs or simply wanting to drop off donations are asked to please call and make arrangements with Kevin before stopping by…again just keeping everyone safe. So remember my name is Rusty….and I am a young lady lookin’ for a new loving home.

[…]

“This show just seemed to push all the right buttons with me,” said Donnie Bowes, artistic director of Upper Canada Playhouse, “I really liked the idea of a play about interesting people, and about rural people like many of our audiences. I saw Mark Crawford’s Stag and Doe, a play about small town weddings, and the funny challenges they bring, and it appealed to me: I thought it would appeal to Playhouse audiences.” 

Stag and Doe, a brand new play, opens at Upper Canada Playhouse on June 11, and runs until July 5. Featuring a cast of six, the comedy is being directed by Bowes on a spectacular set designed by former Playhouse technical director, Sean Free.

The play is built around the wonderful, and hilarious crises that erupt in a small town when a bride and groom from one side of the tracks, due to a wedding tent ‘disaster’ that features pig manure, must suddenly hold their reception at the only town hall on the same day that another engaged couple, (from a different side of the tracks) has scheduled their Stag and Doe party. The comic chaos that ensues will leave audiences in stitches.

“Mark Crawford just seems to have his finger on the pulse of small town life,” laughed Bowes. “You look for humour and conflict in a play, and this show has it all. And it asks some questions about weddings and pre-wedding events that must cross the minds of a lot of couples. Is there such a thing as a ‘perfect wedding,’ really? And is a Stag and Doe held so that friends who aren’t going to attend the actual ceremony can celebrate with the bride and groom, or is it held for the money?”

Entertainingly, two performers are getting to experience a vicarious look at this whole on stage wedding ‘scene’,  just as their own special day draws near. 

Parris Greaves and Jody Osmond, who play Rob and Mandy in Stag and Doe, will be married this September. For real.

“We actually met here at the Playhouse, doing a show,” Greaves said, “and we’re delighted to be back at UCP with a chance to play a couple on their wedding day. Our characters Mandy and Rob are facing some issues as their wedding gets bigger and bigger, and the whole event seems to be growing more important than what it is supposed to mean.” “That’s not Parris and me, of course,” laughed Osmond.

Cast members create characters who may be very familiar to anyone who has ever been involved in the small town wedding experience. Bonnie (Julia Lederer) and Brad (Zach Counsil), who have the Stag and Doe planned, are also in a kind of “pre-nuptial crisis.”

“Bonnie is very focussed on fixing her financial issues through the Stag and Doe,” said Lederer, “because she has overspent ‘just a little’ on this wedding.” 

“Brad, the small town guy, just wanted a nice, simple, reasonable wedding,” said Counsil, “and everything is spiralling out of control. Then they have to deal with this other couple.”

Colleen Sutton is Dee, who is donning bridesmaid’s clothes “for the fifth time, and is getting pretty ‘vexed’ that she has never been the bride. And she may have a bit of history with Mandy’s man.” Jay, the caterer, played by Perry Mucci, isn’t actually marrying anyone, but he’s still got wedding issues of his own. What do you do when your entire staff gets themselves arrested on the day of the wedding, and the wedding cake itself has vanished?

This is a production that is going to demand a lot of the backstage crew as well. With particular sound and props cues scattered throughout the show, costume changes, and food that must be both realistically ‘fake’ some times and realistically edible other times, they are very, very busy in this new show. However, stage manager Liz Campbell, production assistant Tristan Goethel and apprentice stage manager Bradley Dunn will have the action well in hand according to director Bowes. The show is being lit by the theatre’s new technical director, Jenna Robinson.

Stag and Doe, a comic and wonderful look at a slice of small town life, runs at UCP until July 5. For tickets and information contact 613-543-3713 or 1-877-550-3650.

[…]