Year: 2012

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.”

[…]

“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.

[…]

“Everyone knows Brody,” says grandma Gail Robinson. And that’s a fact.

Many folks in the Morrisburg community know 16-year-old Brody Froats who has grown up here and has touched the hearts of so many with his delightful smile and his love to visit and chat with anyone and everyone, anytime.

Brody, the son of Mark and Lisa Froats and big brother to nine-year-old Brett, was diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) when he was six months old.

 PWS is a rare congenital disease which affects many parts of the body. Insatiable hunger and a low metabolic rate leads to obesity and reduced muscle tone and mental ability. Its complications are Type 2 Diabetes, right-sided heart failure and bone problems.

It is Brody’s current battle with heart failure and respiratory complications that landed him at CHEO a little over three weeks ago and had him pictured in the November 15 issue of The Ottawa Citizen for a story on Registered Therapy Dogs.

In the picture, therapy dog, Lia, a golden retriever, is cozying up to Brody in his fourth floor hospital bed where he is hooked up to a BiPAP machine and oxygen around the clock.

“There are actually two dogs that visit, and they get right up on his bed,” says grandma Gail of a smaller dog named Miron and Lia the golden in the photo. “The dog just lays there and Brody reads a story to him. He loves it, and he so looks forward to the visits which are usually on Thursdays.”

During his 16 years, Brody has been a frequent patient at CHEO. This time around he has everyone very worried.

“He went in with congestive heart failure,” says Gail. “He is on the BiPap machine for four hours, and then they take him off for 45 minutes although he remains on oxygen. He has someone in his room 24 hours a day, and he’s monitored constantly. “

While Brody’s dad Mark has not left his side, his mom Lisa, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for indolent follicular non-Hodgkins lymphoma, has been there every minute that she is feeling well enough.

According to Robinson, “Brody’s spirits are good. He actually thinks he is in a five star hotel. He gets to order off the menu and his food is delivered to him. There is always something going on with things like visits from Spartacat and clowns.”

Although it is not known when Brody may be able to return home, he is currently stable. His medical team is getting him up to walk more and more to strengthen his legs.

“He’s a tough little boy. When he went in the doctors didn’t think he would make it. He’s stable now, and we want to get him home so badly, but it’s up to God and his body.”

Gail says that the entire family is appreciative of the outpouring of love that the community has shown Brody and Lisa and the Froats and Robinson families in this very difficult time.

 In addition to the high costs of travel, parking and meals, along with the loss of income experienced when a family has one family member battling an illness, the Froats family has both Lisa and Brody seriously ill,  and is struggling through a very, tough time.

Note: Friends are launching an Every Penny Counts-Help the Froats Family fundraiser to assist this young family while they are on this very difficult journey. Donations can be made directly to any ScotiaBank branch in the name of Froats Family Trust Fund, Account #706720303984. Within this next week, the organizers are also hoping to have coin-collection jars out in businesses in the community. The Leader will certainly keep the community posted should there be any other upcoming events. In advance they thank everyone in the community for “your generous help and prayers for the Froats family”.

[…]