Check Please! puts laughter on the menu with Seaway High School Play play

 

The veterans of Team Magee brought home their third consecutive “King of the River” title  as they took first place in the 44th Tubie Festival Race, August 3, 2014.

A return to the traditional race format, with crafts leaving from Arlor Haven Campgrounds and rowing to the Morrisburg Beach, saw Magee’s “Black Beauty” take an early lead in the field of seven tubies. “We were ahead all the way down the river,” said skipper Gary Magee. “It was a good race.”

“Black Beauty” and her crew of Gary, Jaime Notman, Stephanie Crowell, Sheri Halpenny, Mark Hayward and Mario Del Ricco pulled their Tubie on to the sand, to the cheers of a large crowd gathered at the finish line, in a time of 26.47 minutes. 

The second place team was also made up of river veterans. “Back in the Saddle With Our Paddles”, Team Barclay, came out of the water in 29.15 minutes. “I think we were the oldest people on the river today,” laughed rower Laura Barclay. “We’re exhausted.”

Taking third honours was the team skippered by Matt Laurin, who came ashore in 31.09 minutes.

To the delight of the crowd, the two craft contending for fourth and fifth spots turned the race into a real battle in the final stretch. 

Nose to nose all the way to the sand were the teams led by Josh Biemond and Corey Cassell. 

In a flurry of paddles, and the rush to get their crafts and crew completely out of the water (as per Tubie rules), the judges ultimately decreed that the Biemond Team was fourth, with a time of 34.00 minutes, and the Cassell Team fifth, with a time of 34.01 minutes. 

Coming in sixth place was the Gareth Cochrane/Jesse Swank craft and crew, with their time logged at 37.25 minutes. 

This 2014 Tubie Race definitely had its share of drama.

The Sage Barclay/Christyn Veinotte Tubie, turned turtle in the river about three quarters of the way along the race route. 

“We saw one of our tubes slipping,” said Veinotte, “then there was this big bang. The next thing we knew, our wood cracked, and we were all dumped overboard. It’s a bit of a blur after we hit the water.”

Spectators could see the South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services boat (which tracked the race from start to finish) rush to the stricken craft. However the crew of 10, all wearing life preservers, waved off the rescuers and boats offering to tow them.

Instead, the crew swam the remains of their tubie all the way to the finish line. 

When they finally hauled the  battered craft out of the water, 45 minutes after they started the race, the Veinotte/Barclay crew was met with loud cheers from the waiting crowd and congratulations from their fellow competitors. 

“I think we just wanted to finish with some pride,” a tired Veinotte said. 

First place in the 2014 race took home $400, second place, $250, third place, $150, and fourth, fifth and sixth places $50 each.  

The 2014 Tubie Festival, organized and run, for the first time, by the South Dundas Chamber of Commerce, was praised by all who attended the events as an unqualified success. 

“It was really just an amazing weekend,” said both Geraldine Fitzsimmons and Grace McDonough from the Chamber. “In the end, even the weather co-operated with us. The Tubie committee and our Board members from the Junior Bs, Lois and Kevin Casselman, really did an outstanding job. 

We had over 450 people at the outdoor dance, where One Night Standards was a big hit. We even had an unexpected but great fireworks display Saturday night, as Waddington, New York, was celebrating its Old Home Week. And our South Dundas community really came out to support the Festival.” 

The popular 44th Tubie parade took place on Saturday, August 2, at one p.m.

Despite the humidity, crowds lined the Morrisburg streets to cheer for the colourful and highly individual floats and their riders of all ages. The theme for this year’s Festival was “Splash”, in honour of the Splash Pad fund raisers hope to have started work on by fall.

Judges definitely had a hard time choosing winners among the Tubie floats, but finally made these choices.

First place, Disney on the River,  was created by the Morrell Sisters, sponsored by Classic Cuts and Lakeshore Massage Therapy. Second place was Splish Splash, the Veinotte/Barclay float. Coming in third was Matt Laurin’s Tubie Splash. Fourth was the Chamber of Commerce entry, Tiki Bar. Coming fifth was the Splash Pad Committee’s Splash Cash, while sixth place was given to the Domanko Tubie Colourful. 

[…]

 

“This maze will take you through the thoughts, feelings and emotions of our clients who are attempting to secure food, shelter and finances.”

On May 9th, at the Civic Centre in Iroquois, the Dundas Interagency Committee sponsored a Homelessness Maze.

The event was organized to give workers in the social service professions an opportunity to experience what their clients might experience and to provide a clearer picture of the hardships and frustrations they face daily while attempting to secure food, shelter and financial assistance. 

According to Julie Graham, a member of the Dundas Interagency Committee and a health educator and promoter for the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU), this was the second time the committee has run this event. 

“We had hosted our first in 2009 and it was quite the success thanks to the Canadian Mental Health Association. So, we asked them to come out again this year to  host one in South Dundas,” she said. 

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) of Champlain East organized and led the ‘maze’ at the May 9th event.

Kim Height, team supervisor in Cornwall for the CMHA, introduced the idea of the Homelessness Maze to the area four years ago when she created her own version of the maze in Cornwall.

Since then, she has led two maze events in Cornwall, one in North Dundas and, now, one in South Dundas. She was first introduced to the idea at an event in Toronto.

The idea, said Height, is to “instill compassion” in service agency workers and to give them the opportunity “to really experience what it’s like to be somebody searching for those services.”

Some of the agencies participating in the event were: Job Zone, Health Units in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark and Eastern Ontario, T.R. Leger, Ontario Works, the House of Lazarus, various ministries, Cornwall and Area Housing Authority, South Dundas Township, North Dundas Township, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, the Williamsburg Non-Profit Housing, and the Legal Clinic.

According to Graham, the day began with groups meeting outside the Iroquois Civic Centre  where they received their information package. 

Each group, whether it contained four, five or six members, received one package with details of the “character” they would be playing. 

Graham’s group of five were “pretending” to be a woman with two small children.

Height explained that the “characters” were chosen from the vulnerable sector or the high-risk population.

The maze portion of the event required each group to navigate through the various agencies as the character (client profile) they were given. 

In order to replicate the difficulty faced by those attempting to access help from one agency to another, barriers were set up. Finding and even getting to each station was a challenge.

In addition, there could be significant wait times, mimicking the reality many of their clients face daily.

“We’re making it difficult for them,” said Height of the participants in the event. “We’re asking them to work as a group and then come back and talk about their emotions.”

“If they’re experiencing this within an hour, then imagine someone living with this,” she said of the frustration some of the participants were exhibiting.

Graham pointed out that “it is not clear-cut, there’s lots of red tape. It’s not easy to acquire the basics that a human being needs.”

Mark Snelgrove, CMHA employee in charge of this year’s Homelessness Maze, pointed out that “we get as many of the real service providers – actual people with the actual knowledge – as possible.” 

He was referring to the many stations set up throughout the maze, including the food bank, Ontario Works, the landlord, the legal clinic, social housing, the bank, the resource centre, and the detention centre.

Snelgrove said “there’s a detention center for breaking the rules.” Graham had already been to the detention center once for breaking a rule.

Following the maze, which took approximately two hours, the participants were given the opportunity to come back together to discuss their experiences.

The main question they addressed, said Graham, is “What are some of the issues our clients are facing?”

Participants were given “the opportunity to suggest some potential changes to make it a bit more user-friendly,” reported Graham.

“It’s all about feeling the real experience that our clients would experience,” said Snelgrove. 

“It’s to remind people of the human side: everyone who comes through has a story and everyone is an individual.”

As to the success of the event, according to Graham, “this one exceeded the first.” 

Height added that “as for the comments I’ve been hearing, it’s working as successfully as it did the first time.”

Ben Macpherson, representative for the Township of South Dundas, said, “I was one of many who helped put the day together and also participated in the event.” 

“We had a very good turnout of 64 people across a variety of agencies. It was a great way to see the difficulties and frustrations that people face when dealing with the organizations that were represented,” he added.

After receiving the information package and before beginning the maze, the May 9th participants were treated to a one hour presentation about the 211 Ontario service.

According to their website, www.211ontario.ca, 211 Ontario “provides information and referral to community and social services in Ontario.”

[…]

The Municipality of South Dundas and the Township of South Stormont have gone live…with the launch of the new UpperCanadaRegion.ca website. 

All local businesses are invited to attend a Business Breakfast being held on May 8th, 2014 at the Upper Canada Golf Course Restaurant for the official launch of the website as well as to hear about how businesses can benefit from the branding campaign.

The Upper Canada Region brand was originally proposed in 2008 as an identity for South Dundas and South Stormont. The brand highlights the historical roots and provides a sense of location which is further refined by its connection with the area’s renowned tourist attractions, including Upper Canada Village and the Upper Canada Playhouse.

“The Upper Canada Region brand will allow us to market our unique and desirable characteristics to the world. Not only can the municipalities use this identifier to their benefit, but businesses can too. I’m happy that we’re moving forward with building the identity”, said South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds.

The integration of the brand into the hamlet signs for South Dundas was the first of many initiatives planned to re-introduce the Upper Canada Region. South Stormont will complete their new signage program this spring.

Mayor Brian McGillis of South Stormont said, “Featuring the Upper Canada Region logo on our hamlet signs, and now the launch of our new website, will help create recognition of the brand and start building the association between the identity and positive experiences that people have while visiting, living and, working in our two communities”.

Building this collaborative brand is an important step towards differentiating this area and increasing its ability to attract residents, visitors and businesses.

[…]