Changing guard at the South Dundas Chamber of Commerce

It’s a big month of ‘firsts’ for the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage. This will be one of the first times in their seven year history that they are presenting two shows only a week apart. 

“We’ve been taking our vitamins and getting ready,” board president Sandra Whitworth said with a small laugh. “We had already booked the fabulous Terra Hazelton for November, and then we had the opportunity to bring in Evalyn Parry’s SPIN on November 24th.”

 “This is a show we’d been keeping our eye on for a while, we were so excited to learn we might be able to bring SPIN to Morrisburg,  we decided to go for it.” 

The board members of the Acoustic Stage had been keeping their eye on SPIN because it is such an innovative show:  part musical performance, part spoken word, part documentary. The reviews describe it as “brilliant” and “a breath of fresh air.”

SPIN uses the bicycle as a metaphor for social change, but also as an actual musical instrument – the bicycle (along with percussionist Brad Hart) is Evalyn Parry’s co-star. 

In an interview Parry notes that this is one of the attractions of the show. 

“We’ve played the show in big fancy theatres and also in small community halls – it’s versatile that way, and seems to work in both intimate and larger settings.   Part of the unique thing about the show is the musical bicycle – and that always seems to go over really well wherever we play – Brad Hart is a talented drummer, and creates an amazing accompaniment with the bike.”

A musical bicycle? As Whitworth points out, that will be another first. “We’ve had a lot of musical instruments played at the Stage, but never a bicycle.” 

Describing her motivations in creating SPIN, Parry says that it brought together not only themes she wanted to explore, but also different parts of her creative life. 

“I had spent my artistic career with one foot in music and spoken word, and the other in theatre, and I felt I wanted to create a show that would bring my two worlds together into one show.”

“I am an avid cyclist, and thought it would be fun to create something about my passion for my bicycle.  Also, I’m a bit obsessed with advertising and the way things get “spun” – so I thought the theme of “spin” could encompass both the bicycling and the advertising, and maybe result in something interesting.   And finally, I had also heard somewhere that there was a connection between the bicycle and the early women’s emancipation movement in the 19th century, and I wanted to research that.   So I dove into the research – and discovered all these unexpected and amazing historical characters and information which connected all my chosen themes.”

SPIN has recently completed an eight-show run in Kingston, most of which were sold out. Some of Parry’s favourite venues are in smaller communities. 

“I love performing in small communities, where people seem to especially appreciate things that are different.   SPIN is a pretty ‘outside the box’ show, even in a big city context, but the show seems to be enjoying a pretty broad appeal. The themes and stories about the history of women and cycling, and consumerism, and advertising, and ‘freedom’ within the show are certainly not only relevant to city-dwellers – they are pretty universal. “

Whitworth commented that the show is drawing a lot of attention. 

 “I do hope the local crowd gets their tickets and has a chance to see this.  I can’t tell yet whether we will be sold out, but there’s been more interest than usual with a lot of online sales from Ottawa, and that’s wonderful of course. But we brought this to Morrisburg to make sure our community has a chance to see it.” 

 Make sure to get to the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage in the OETIO/Morrisburg Meeting Centre  to see this fabulous show. Tickets are $18 in advance at Basket Case or online www.st-lawrencestage.com. The door price is $20, show time is 7 p..m on Saturday November 24th!

[…]

Although it’s not unheard of, it is a rare occurrence.

Last week, from Tuesday through Thursday the Iroquois beach was posted as unsafe for swimming, while the Morrisburg beach remained open.

“Usually it’s the other way around,” said Ben McPherson, South Dundas recreation coordinator.

It was the last week for the lifeguards at the two area beaches so those in Iroquois were left to inform those wanting to use the beach that the water had been deemed unsafe, cleaning up the area and some, who were able, finished up some ongoing swimming lessons at the Morrisburg beach instead.

“It is strange to have the Iroquois beach posted and Morrisburg not posted,” agreed Don Lewis, long time manager of South Dundas parks and recreation. “But, it has happened once before,” he said, recalling one other similar circumstance in more than a dozen years.

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit samples the swimming water at all local public beaches throughout the operating season to ensure it does not exceed the established bacteria levels. If bacteria levels exceed the safe swimming limit of 100 E. coli per 100 ml of water, a sign is posted advising people not to swim. Beaches are re-opened after E. coli levels return to acceptable levels.

[…]

The township of South Dundas has declared the 397.31 acres of land opposite the Williamsburg Disposal Site on County Road 8, more commonly know as Church Road, as surplus land.

At the March 20th council meeting, Clerk Brenda Brunt recommended that the land be declared surplus and subsequently sold. 

The property is currently zoned as Rural Special Exception 22 & 27 as well as Wetlands and, according to Brunt, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has set out a list of conditions that must be met before the land can be sold. 

The most notable condition is a “species at risk” inventory which is expected to take between three to six months to complete.

Discussion arose in response to the cost of the inventory and how council might recoup the cost while waiting for a buyer. Brunt estimated the cost to be around $10,000 and, as Chief Administrative Officer Stephen McDonald pointed out, “any sensible buyer is going to want to see that before they agree to buy.”

As for possible MNR restrictions on the land, Brunt said, “they’re hoping they won’t clear it for farmland.”

“The other concern is there’s an allowance for a possible building,” said Mayor Steven Byvelds. He wanted assurance that should the buyer erect a building on the land, they do so on Mackenzie Road, rather than on “old Fifth Concession” which is not maintained.

[…]