November 2012 – Page 3 – Morrisburg Leader

Fifty year celebration for Timothy Christian School

November 21, 2012 Editor

Students at Timothy Christian School (TCS) celebrated the 50th day of their school’s 50th year on Wednesday, November 14 with a fun day of dressing up, decorations, cupcakes and more.

Many Grade 1 students in schools across the country mark the 100th day of school with special activities where they have an opportunity to count to 100.

In honour of Timothy Christian’s 50th school year, all students from junior kindergarten to Grade 8 were involved in 50 day.

Each class worked together to make a display or structure using 50 pieces of a school supply/item.

Creative ideas included 50 magnets to spell TCS, 50 blocks lined up like dominoes, 50 pencils in the shape of the number 50 and 50 pieces of chalk to make a building using clay as the vertices.

Students also dressed up to showcase the number 50.

They wore 50 bracelets, put 50 hair ties in their hair, put 50 post-it notes or stickers on their shirts and painted the number 50 on their faces.

For 50 cents they could purchase a cupcake at recess with the money raised to be used to buy school supplies in a developing country.

In the morning, at a short chapel (assembly), the students shared their top 50 reasons why they love Timothy Christian School. Reasons ranged from “we have great teachers” and “we can learn about God every day” to “fun intramural programs” and a “new play structure to play on”.

“Fifth day is just one of the activities planned to celebrate our school’s 50th anniversary year,” says Gary Postma, principal of Timothy Christian School. “TCS began offering Christ-centred education to area students in 1963. Now we’re teaching the third generation of students and it’s an exciting time in our school’s history.”

More can be learned about Timothy Christian School visit at the school’s website at www.tcswilliamsburg.ca or by visiting on a Welcome Wednesday.

There is no appointment necessary to meet the staff, see the facility and learn more about how faith is incorporated into everyday learning.

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Spin at the St. Lawrence Stage

November 21, 2012 W. Gibb – Leader staff

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!

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Increased funds for Community Care

November 21, 2012 Editor

A recently announced $11 million increase in provincial government funding supporting community-based services in the Champlain Local Health Integration Network is designed to give area residents more options for home and community care.

Among the health care providers who will increase their services due to the extra funding is Williamsburg Non-Profit Housing Corporation.

That organization will share in a $1 million increase in funding for personal support and respite programs that offer assistance to clients living alone, and caregivers in need of respite. Services include grooming, dressing, bathing, transferring, bed care and medication compliance.

These services are aimed at lower-risk seniors who do not qualify for Community Care Access Services, and is more of a service aimed at preventing problems.

“What this means is that Williamsburg Non-Profit Housing will be providing more hours of service and seeing more people,” said Janet Levere, executive director of WNPHC. “These are important services to the many seniors who are staying in their homes longer.”

WNPHC was also named as a service provider agency that will share in a $400,000 annual funding increase to the Assisted Living Services program which provides health services at home for high-risk seniors needing personal support services including hygiene, assisting with medication and homemaking, 24/7 monitoring and care coordination.

The bulk of the increased funding, just over $7 million, will benefit the Champlain Community Care Access Centre in delivering services through a variety of programs across the region, with the aim of supporting seniors' transition from hospital to home. These services assist clients with moderate to high needs either to avoid unnecessary hospitalization, or once in hospital, to go home sooner with appropriate supports in place.

According to the LHIN news release, 90,000 more seniors across the province will receive care at home thanks to the addition of three million personal support worker hours over the next three years.

“The Champlain LHIN is making important, strategic investments that will help transform the health system by expanding services in community settings,” said Chantale LeClerc, Champlain LHIN CEO. “In particular, seniors and people with mental health conditions and addictions will benefit from the new programs, which aim to improve quality of life, prevent avoidable emergency room visits, and keep folks healthy at home.”

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Over 850 students explore Trade Roots

November 21, 2012 Editor

The response to the Trade Roots event held here Wednesday, was unreal, according to event coordinator Elaine DeKroon.

DeKroon has been part of events all over and said, “I have never seen as much support for an event as we have had today.”

The career event gave high school students, and members of the public, the opportunity to see skilled trades in action and gather information from skilled tradespeople and educators about career opportunities.

“A lot of the interest in this (Morrisburg) event is because of this facility,” said DeKroon of the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario which offers heavy equipment training.

“It is a really good fit for us to have our event here. People really want to see what this place is about.”

Twelve high schools from Prescott to Cornwall to Ottawa, including Seaway, North Dundas and Rothwell-Osnabruck, were bussed into the event that was also open to the pubic.

They were treated to 46 exhibits showcasing various trades.

“It is great when we have the trades programs from the colleges participate,” said DeKroon.

St. Lawrence College had a strong presence with culinary arts students providing samples of their work and hairstyling students demonstrating their skills on willing volunteers.

Other, more obscure programs, such as the control engineering technology program, also had exhibits to show students what they do and how their efforts are put to use in various industrial applications.

This is the third year that Trade Roots has taken place in Morrisburg. The Morrisburg event was hosted by St. Lawrence College and is funded by Service Canada, in part by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy. The final opportunity to attend a Trade Roots event will take place in March 2013, when they will be in Kemptville.

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Curling Chatter

November 21, 2012 Editor

The stick bonspiel organized by Glen Cougler at the Morrisburg Curling Club last week went over well, with two teams from Morrisburg, two from Winchester and Russell, as well as ones from Maxville, Kemptville and Prescott taking part.

In the first draw, one Winchester rink won out, while the second finished third. Our Morrisburg foursome, Pete Zeran, Andy Patenaude, Greta Mc Gann and Bob Bechard defeated one Winchester team in their first match, and last year’s champions from Kemptville in their second. They were both tight games, and our local heroes finished in second place.

In the second draw, Sid Morrell, Neil Williams, Don O’Brien and Alice Thompson finished in first place, defeating Lancaster in the morning and a strong Russell foursome in the afternoon to finish first overall on the day. Lunch was delicious and ample.

Last week, in Cornwall for their 24-team bonspiel, Jack Barkley, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and George Rutley finished first in the competition, defeating a Montreal foursome for their repeat win. Our second team, Pete Zeran, Karl Duncan, Earl Jeacle and Paul Gunther were neck-in-neck with the other winners, defeating Laval, but lost out on draws to the button.

Two days later, three of our teams of senior men returned to Cornwall for a friendly bonspiel. Jack Barkley, Ron Beaupre, Earl Jeacle and Paul Gunther tied their match. Wally McDonald, Ray Benoit, Doug Jarvis and Fred Langlotz lost their game, while George Rutley, Dave King, Sam Locke and Keith Robinson won theirs. As always, it was a very pleasant social event.

Morrisburg hosted the Gamble, the annual four-club mixed bonspiel on Saturday.

John Allison, Carolyn Beckstead, and Jim and Wendy Casselman were tied coming home in their first game against Russell but lost the exciting match on the last rock. They were defeated in their second game by a Winchester team, and failed to advance to the final.

Our other curlers, John Toonders, Susan McIntosh, Sam Locke and Ruth Kelly lost their first match to a powerful Russell team, but won their afternoon game handily against John Allison’s Winchester opponents to advance to the ‘B’ final.

After a delicious dinner, catered by Bill Laurin, with pork as a main course, and a short business meeting, the two Russell teams did battle in the ‘A’ final, with Trottier winning out. Our Toonders foursome defeated Lapierre from Winchester in a thrilling match which went to an extra end, to claim the champions’ pins and get their names etched on the winners’ shield.

Our thanks to the organizers, to our ice man, to the chef, and to the many volunteers without which these events could not function.

On Sunday, the first annual Two-Person Bonspiel was organized again by Susan McIntosh. Thanks to Dave McIntosh for the fine chilli luncheon, to Wally Baker for setting the ice up for us, and to the many volunteers who kept the ice prepared through the day, and handled the other aspects of the bonspiel.

As always, there were champions declared in three divisions, and the profit for the day was dedicated to paying for a second new measuring stick.

In the ‘C’ Division, Sam Locke and Darryl McDonnell defeated Josh Laurin and Judy Morin. The ‘B’ division saw Paul St. Pierre and Ron Beaupre victorious over Claire and Paula Locke, and in the ‘A’ division, the top prize for the day went to Ian and Kathy Wilson, who won out over Peter Zeran and Bud Perry.

It was another great day, with people from every league in the club participating.

That’s it for this week,

Good curling to all!

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Funding for new MRI

November 21, 2012 Editor

Nine months into a fund raising campaign to pay for a new MRI that will be located at the redeveloped Cornwall Community Hospital, campaign officials have asked South Dundas to contribute to the cause.

Roy Perkins, campaign co-chair for the Cornwall Community Hospital Foundation initiative, made the funding request to South Dundas council at the November 6 meeting.

The request was simply for financial support, with no dollar figure attached or suggested. Similar requests have been made to every council in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and Akwesasne, United Counties council and will be made to the City of Cornwall.

The ‘To Your Health!’ Campaign aims to raise $3.5 million by the end of the year to fund the MRI and a digital urology table for the Digital Centre of Excellence that will bring these diagnostic tools closer to the residents of this region. Presently, those needing the use of such diagnostic tools are travelling at least an hour to Ottawa or Kingston for the services.

Cornwall is the only approved site for an MRI in this region.

According to Perkins, $2.5 million of the $3.5 million campaign goal has been raised. He reported that the councils they have visited have expressed their in principle support to provide funds to the campaign, but most are deferring their final decisions until budget time.

Erin Killoran, campaign manager, explained the many benefits of having an MRI in a small community hospital in Cornwall, including easing the burden on the health care system that presently has long wait times for MRI. Quicker access to such diagnostic equipment allows for early diagnoses, faster treatments, all the while being much less invasive than traditional methods of diagnosis.

MRI and the digital urology table, like the addition of any new equipment, has the added potential benefit of enticing new medical professionals to the region.

Once it is up and running early next year, the MRI will operate five days a week, eight hours a day. That means about 3,000 tests per year will take place at the site, which accounts for the number of patients in the region who are being sent to Ottawa or Kingston.

South Dundas council was generally supportive of providing some funding to the campaign, however they would like to see what the Counties and other communities pledge. They also want to wait to discuss the amount in the context of budget discussions.

“It kills me that hospitals have to keep coming to the community,” said South Dundas councillor Archie Mellan who suggested that if the people of South Dundas think it’s a worthy cause that they should donate themselves.

However, the nature of provincial funding only provides funds for buildings, leaving communities to fund raise for the equipment that goes into those hospitals.

South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds said that he has personally supported this campaign and that council will consider providing some funds, an amount to be determined, closer to budget time.

Counties contribute $500,000

CORNWALL – The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry will be contributing $500,000 on behalf of the taxpayers of SD&G to the “To Your Health!” campaign to raise funds to pay for an MRI and digital urology table that will be located at the new Cornwall Community Hospital.

“It is certainly something that is needed in this area,” said South Dundas mayor and counties councillor Steven Byvelds who seconded the motion tabled by North Stormont mayor Dennis Fife at the counties council meeting on Monday. The $500,000 will be allocated over two years.

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Read it here first, South Dundas that is

November 21, 2012 Editor

Reading a book with a child is about to take on a whole new meaning in South Dundas.

Beginning this week, youngsters and their parents will be able to head down to the waterfront in the villages of Morrisburg and Iroquois to read together a new book. And they’ll be doing it as they walk along the waterfront paths in the two communities.

“I saw The StoryWalk® Project on the Web and I thought, what a great idea,” says Fiona Carr, Family Resource Coordinator for the Ontario Early Years Centre. “When I saw it, I thought of course we are going to do that in South Dundas. So I pitched it to Ben, (Macpherson, Recreation Program Coordinator for South Dundas).”

The StoryWalk® Project, developed in 2007 by Anne Ferguson of Vermont, promotes physical fitness and literacy skills by creating opportunities to walk and read outdoors.

A child’s book is selected, the pages are separated, then laminated and attached to posts which are driven into the ground at regular intervals along the path.

With the two beautiful waterfront paths in Morrisburg, between the dock and the beach, and in Iroquois, between the beach and the marina, it is a perfect fit.

“So families can go to the dock, park their car and walk along the path where we have the posts with the story pages,” says Carr. “By the time they are finished the walk, they are finished the book.”

“It’s brilliant and even the library is on board. Ben did up all the wooden posts, and I did all the books and the laminating.”

The kick off for the StoryWalk® launch was yesterday, November 20 which is also National Child Day.

Carr says she has selected two different books for the two communities in the hopes that perhaps families will take in both locations.

She is also looking to expanding it to include the Two Creeks Forest area north of Highway 2 where the book selection will be geared to older children, with a longer story to accommodate the longer trail. “That will be our winter walk, which I hope to put out before the first snow.”

It is expected that the two riverfront StoryWalks® will be left in place for several weeks. At the Morrisburg Dock starting point, and the Iroquois Beach starting point a red bag will be suspended at the first pole.

Carr is asking that those who take in the walk will sign in, on the books enclosed in the red bags, and perhaps comment on the concept.

“That way we will an idea of numbers and whether or not there is enough interest to continue.”

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Tourism strategy taking shape

November 21, 2012 Editor

A snapshot of tourists in South Dundas: Generally, they tend to be adults, they come from within a 100 kilometer radius, are either here on a day trip or here visiting family and friends. While here, they want to enjoy the outdoors, cycle along the waterfront trail, visit Upper Canada Village, or maybe see the ships passing through the Iroquois Locks. While enjoying these activities they want to enjoy a fairly unplanned but truly authentic experience.

Having done all the research to create this snapshot of tourists in South Dundas, a project team of 10 people recruited from stakeholders in the local tourism industry, with South Dundas economic development officer Nicole Sullivan, have come up with at strategy which identifies what they believe the priority areas should be to successfully grow South Dundas’ tourism sector.

“This is our stab at it,” says Sullivan. “What we need now is for the community to come and check out our strategy to help us determine if our priorities match the community’s.”

The team believes that the historical sector should be a top priority, followed by the arts and culture sector, the cycling sector, motorcycling sector and the fishing and boating sector.

“The historical sector is fascinating, as it can be used to enhance everything else, by adding to the visitor’s experience,” said Sullivan, who sees the historical sector as a natural top priority for South Dundas.

Using this list of priorities, the team is working on a draft Tourism Sector Development Action Plan and are wanting community input to ensure that they are working in a direction that suits the community’s needs.

Sullivan, along with members of the project team, will be hosting an event, called Our Passport to the Future: A Tourism Stakeholder Discussion Forum, November 29, from 5-8 p.m. at the McIntosh Inn, Morrisburg.

“This is not your traditional type of public meeting,” said Sullivan explaining that it’s more of an open house forum whereby people are welcome to drop in at their convenience to see the plans and provide their feedback.

The meeting will be set up in four stations with a facilitator at each station to listen and discuss with those attending.

“I really want it to be a relaxed atmosphere that will allow for discussions,” said Sullivan. “What we really need is feedback and comments about the priorities and a general feeling about whether our perspective matches that of the community.”

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Junior B Lions win one for Ronnie

November 21, 2012 Editor

Friday night, the Morrisburg Junior B Lions dedicated their game against the Char-Lan Rebels to their owner, Ron Casselman, who died suddenly last Tuesday, November 13.

And in honour of the longtime hockey club owner, the Lions put together a very impressive 8-4 victory over the visiting Rebels, who until the last couple of weeks had been on top of the St. Lawrence Division standings.

The Rebels are now holding second place, behind the Casselman Vikings, the Vikings counting 27 points and the Rebels 21.

Friday night’s win for the Lions marked their sixth of the season as they continue to chase the fifth place Alexandria Glens who have posted 15 points.

Dylan Dejong opened the Lions scoring at 16:27 of the first period of Friday night’s game with Nicholas Pilon providing the assist.

The Rebels got that one back with a short-handed goal, but the Lions answered in kind with just four seconds left on the period clock to carry a 2-1 advantage into the second.

Sylvester Bzdyl did the scoring with Chris Rutley providing the set up.

The Rebels came charging back in the second period to take a 3-2 edge, and they held it until 18:19 of the frame when Drew Veenstra tied it, 3-3, with help from Bzdyl and Brandon Chaffe.

Nicholas Pilon gave the Lions a one goal edge early in the third period with Zach Seguin and Peter Ketcheson helping out, but again the Rebels charged back.

At 5:29 of the third, Grant Cooper collected what would be the winner with help from Bzdyl and Rutley. It was in the dying minutes of the game that the Lions put it out of reach starting with a short-handed Rutley goal assisted by Brandon Chaffe and Sam Hodgson.

At 17:21, Rutley counted his second (Drew Veenstra and Cooper assisting) and Dylan Dejong closed it out with help from Rutley and Veenstra for the 8-4 win.

Lions goaltender, Mikael Dion stopped 40 of the 53 Rebels shots while Rebels goaltender Alex Boileau gave up eight goals on 41 Lions shots.

The Lions were unable to score during any of their nine power-play opportunities and likewise for the Rebels, in eight chances.

The Lions were coached by Cody Casselman, Ronnie’s grandson, who for some of his junior playing years played defence for the Lions and then held an assistant coaching role for a couple of seasons.

Casselman was assisted on the bench by Thom Racine.

In other weekend action, the Lions came up flat in a penalty-filled game against the Akwesasne Wolves on Sunday, in the A’nowara’ko:wa Arena on Cornwall Island.

Grant Cooper managed the lone Lions goal, while the Lions were playing short-handed late in the first period, while the Wolves collected six goals off goaltender Ryan Cooper for a 6-1 win.

The game was tied after the first period, and the Wolves carried a 3-1 lead into the third.

The games saw a huge number of penalties with Morrisburg claiming the Lions share.

The Lions were assessed 23 minor penalties by referee Phil Gilmour, while the Wolves were close behind with 22.

In addition, the Lions added a misconduct, a five minute major for kneeing and game misconduct to Chris Rutley and a team game misconduct for harassment of the official.

The Lions were unsuccessful in 12 power-play opportunities while the Wolves counted once on their power play.

The bottom of the St. Lawrence Division remains close with the Wolves totalling 19 points, the Hawks 18, the Glens 15 and the Lions 12.

Coming up, the Lions are in Winchester, Friday night, November 23 and on Sunday, November 25 they host South Grenville. Game time is 2:30 p.m.

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Playhouse Christmas show offers everything we love about Christmas

November 21, 2012 Editor

“I think people are really going to enjoy this show,” says Upper Canada Playhouse artistic director Donnie Bowes of Everything I Love About Christmas by Robert More which opens this week.

“I went to Toronto six weeks ago and auditioned some people out of theatre school who have been trained in singing and dancing,” says Bowes. “So we have a wide variety of talent and experience and 10 people on stage singing, dancing and acting. They are all multi-talented and our audiences are really going to enjoy this.”

“I am really thrilled at the way things are going. Everything I Love About Christmas is a brand new show. It’s never been done before, and we have been working on it as we go. I want a show that appeals to kids and adults alike, and I think this is really going to work.”

“We’ve been adding festive music because we have found that music really appeals to everyone at this time of the year. So there is music throughout the show, although it is not a musical.”

Everything I Love About Christmas has everything that makes a good show–a good story, some great mystery, exciting magical moments, everyday ordinary characters, magical extraordinary characters, a snow storm, a Christmas tree and lots of wonderful live singing and dancing.

The story revolves around the Barnes family who are preparing for Christmas Day when everyone is around the tree. Alas, it might not happen this Christmas since their older daughter, Susan, is stuck at a bus station in the middle of a snow storm.

Enter a team of mischievous elves, merry old Santa, a visit from a less fortunate family who live down the road and a witty and wise grandad and you have a mix of Yuletide characters to spin a holiday tale that’ll make you feel warm all over.

“We have some familiar faces,” says Bowes. “Of course we have Doug Tangney who is playing Grandpa Barnes. He’s a real character.”

“On top of that we have four elves, which I call the four stooges, who dive in and try to fix things. There are a lot of physical antics.”

“Everything I Love About Christmas has all that going for it and I think people are really going to enjoy this.”

Doug Tangney is joined by Meredith Zwicker as mother, Maggie Barnes, and Jeff Mulrooney as dad, Ted Barnes.

Zwicker has been seen in the last three Christmas shows, not only as an actress, but as musical director and pianist. She creates the wonderful harmonies and exciting piano accompaniment that help to make the shows truly memorable.

Mulrooney was last seen on the Playhouse stage five years ago in Too Many Cooks.

Also returning to The Playhouse is Parris Greaves who appeared in another past holiday hit, The Christmas Express. He plays the Head Elf in this year’s show and does an Elvis rendition of Blue Christmas.

Bruce Tubbe, who was last seen in the 2001 production of The Wild Guys, returns to play neighbour Brad Brannigan and also plays an impish Elf who sings All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.

Schools will remember Ryan Jacobs and Jody Osmond who were Charlotte and Avery in The Playhouse School touring production of Charlotte’s Web in 2011. They play Billie Brannigan and Gracie Barnes respectively.

New comers to Playhouse audiences are Jess Vandenberg who plays Betsy Brannigan and also choreographs the show’s musical numbers, Clayton Labbe, who plays Robbie Barnes and Katie Edwards playing older sister Susan Barnes.

Vandenberg recently appeared in Cabaret at Brampton’s Rose Theatre, while Edwards was seen in the Ross Petty Panto The Wizard of Oz in Toronto and Labbe has recently completed a tour of Back In ’59 with Meredith Zwicker.

“Everything I Love About Christmas is a really good story,” says Bowes. “We are doing a revolving stage which the kids really love, the adults too for that matter, and there are some visual effects that will be really nice.”

Tickets are really moving and Bowes is advising anyone who wants to take in this year’s Playhouse Christmas Show not to delay. “We are 80 per cent booked now, and for our summer shows, if we are at 75 per cent at this time, we usually end up topping well over 90 per cent.”

“This is a good festive time for everybody, and maybe there will be a surprise visit from someone we all know,” suggests Bowes with a twinkle in his eye.

Everything I Love About Christmas runs November 23-December 16 with 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. public performances and 11 a.m. school shows. For tickets contact the The Playhouse at 613-543-3713/1-877-550-3650 or www.uppercanadaplayhouse.com.

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