Touch and Go coming to UCP

Winchester District Memorial Hospital announced Friday, February 1, that a new Sleep Lab is being added to the list of clinical services available for local communities. 

WDMH has teamed up with Hospital Alliance Group to offer this important service close to home. The Sleep Lab will operate in the Dillabough Building from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Monday to Friday. 

Overnight sleep studies will help diagnose a wide range of sleep disorders, from insomnia and sleep apnea, narcolepsy and night movement disorders such as limb movement disorder. 

As the demand for service increases, it is expected the service will expand to seven nights a week.

“Hospital Alliance Group is pleased to be working with WDMH. We know that sleep disorders affect 15 to 20 per cent of the population and if left untreated can result in higher risks of diabetes, heart disease, impotence, depression and arrhythmias. 

Sleep disorder patients also may have daytime sleepiness which increase motor vehicle accidents, work related accidents, poor job performance and decreased quality of life,” adds Lino Di Nardo, President of Hospital Alliance Group.

“WDMH is continually looking for ways to better serve our communities and the sleep lab will be a great benefit to local residents,” notes Lynn Hall, Vice President, Clinical Service and Chief Nursing Executive. 

“We spend about one third of our life sleeping, and sleep is important to help repair and restore our bodies. Our specialists at the Sleep Lab look forward to helping you manage any sleep related ailment and will provide guidance in the treatment of such disorders.”

Patients should speak to their family physician for a referral.

[…]

The Provincial Government is providing small, rural and northern municipalities with stable, annual funding to build and repair critical infrastructure and help to create jobs across the province.

Premier Kathleen Wynne and Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, were in St. Thomas to announce that the new Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund will provide $100 million per year in funding for critical road, bridge, water and wastewater projects. 

Half of the funding for the initiative will be allocated annually using a fair and transparent formula, which recognizes that municipalities have different infrastructure and fiscal needs. The remaining $50 million will flow through an application-based process, allowing municipalities to continue partnering with the province to invest in critical infrastructure projects that will create jobs and support growth. 

The Premier also announced that Ontario municipalities can now propose infrastructure projects to be considered for support through the Small Communities Fund. Through this fund, Ontario and the federal government will each provide $272 million to support projects in municipalities with populations less than 100,000.

The province is now accepting expressions of interest for the application-based component of the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund and the Small Communities Fund, with grants expected to be awarded in early 2015.

To be eligible for the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund, municipalities must have a population of less than 100,000 as of the 2011 census or be located in northern or rural Ontario.

To ease the administrative burden for small municipalities, the province worked with the federal government to closely align the Small Communities Fund with the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund.

Ontario plans to invest more than $130 billion in public infrastructure over the next 10 years. This will support more than 110,000 jobs on average each year in construction and related industries.

“Our government is fulfilling a commitment to provide a permanent infrastructure program that will continue to build up small, rural and northern communities. We listened to our municipal partners, who know what’s best for their communities. This is why providing predictable, sustainable, annual funding is a key component of this new fund,” said Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

[…]

 Spring is coming, and so are the laughs at Upper Canada Playhouse.

It’s only two weeks to the start of the new season at the Playhouse. A rip-roaring and hilarious production of Norm Foster’s The Foursome will kick off 2012, with a special two week run, March 16 to April 1. 

“We wanted to introduce a new spring time slot into our season,” said artistic director, Donnie Bowes, at a recent press conference. “People have been asking us to run a spring show, and we thought why not a familiar, funny and popular play like The Foursome? We’re starting right now to get out our brochures and publicity, especially as this initial production will only have a two week run, rather than the four week runs in the main season: there are still some good seats available.

And this play is such a fun time for the audience and the actors too. People will really enjoy seeing it.”

It was evident at the press conference, from the closeness of the cast, that The Foursome is going to be a show no one will want to miss.

Jesse Collins, who is directing this production, is a veteran actor and director. He has worked extensively on television (he starred in Katts n Dog), on stage and on screen, and appeared at Upper Canada Playhouse in The Affections of May.

“It’s going to be great doing double duty as the character Ted and as the director. Our initial read through of the play was wonderful,” Collins said. “The camaraderie and relationships between the four guys are crucial. This play is an ensemble piece where everyone is out there the whole time. There are terrific one liners and rich comedy in Norm’s show. That makes it even better to have such experienced and collaborative actors to work with.”

Richard Bauer, who plays Rick (“slightly obnoxious with a lot of bravado”) has acted in The Foursome before. (“He’s taken the same role again so he doesn’t have to learn any new lines,” Collins chimed in to laughter from the cast) “This is a wonderful show, a real treat,” Bauer said.

Brian Young, as Cameron, the “cheerleader” of the group, admits that he loves the show and  “playing non stop golf. I’ve always wanted to do The Foursome.”

Sweeney MacArthur, who plays Donnie, the only character in the group who has no idea how to golf, describes him, with a grin, as the “doofus.” “But it’s great to work with friends in a show about friends.”

“The Foursome is about so much more than just golf,” Donnie Bowes said. “It carries so much of the trademark Foster hilarity that appeals to both men and women, whether they play golf or not. Actually there isn’t much in life that Norm loves more than golf. He wrote the script in six weeks, following a round with three old friends. I actually like to think that Norm may have named his character Donnie after me,” he added.

“Yup,” said MacArthur, to cast laughter, “the one who absolutely can’t play golf.”

The cast has been rehearsing the show on a striking set especially designed by Playhouse technical director, Sean Free. 

“We wanted a golf course on the set, and we wanted it to mimic a real course,” Free explained.

By actually removing parts of the existing stage to open up the space, Free has been able to skillfully “suggest literal items on a golf course,” director Collins said. “He has been able to create  levels, depth and a versatile, workable and practical set for the actors.”

And by using a black scrim as part of the set design, Free will be able to bounce light, creating sun movements and sky effects throughout the play. “It allows me to create the passage of time. It should make the entire golf game very interesting for the audience.”

With its strong cast and direction, performed on a breath-taking set, brimming with the  memorable characterizations and non-stop laughter so typical of Norm Foster, The Foursome is the ideal way to start the new season at Upper Canada Playhouse.

For tickets and information, contact 613-543-3713

[…]