News

There’s a very good reason why No Sex Please, We’re British had a 17 year run, before packed houses, in London’s West End.

It’s simply, (and outrageously!) hilarious. 

Upper Canada Playhouse artistic director Donnie Bowes was certain this classic comedy by Alistair Foot and Anthony Marriott, would “cause the parking lot to overflow.” Judging by the exuberance of the 10 man cast, and the enthusiasm of director Richard Bauer, he is probably right. Tickets are already springing off the shelves at the box office.

No Sex Please, We’re British, debuts on the Playhouse stage on August 1, and runs until August 25. 

Richard Bauer, who is directing this show for the Playhouse, is no stranger to theatre audiences. He has appeared in several productions as an actor, and in more recent years, has directed a number of comedies, including last season’s hit, Wife Begins At Forty.

“No Sex is a wonderful farce,” Bauer said, at the recent press conference. “I first did it as an actor 25 years ago, and now I’ve graduated to directing it. It’s typical of many farces. The comedy develops out of a moment when ordinary life goes terribly wrong, and the characters simply get caught up.”

The comedy is firmly set in the 1960s, the era for which it was written, and focuses on Peter and Frances Hunter, newly married, and living over the bank where Peter works. She is hoping to start a comfortable little mail order business from their living room. Something to do with nice, family glass ware. 

“But instead of glass,” Bauer laughed, “erotica starts arriving at their flat by the boxload.”

The comedy escalates as the young couple (newly wed husband and wife in real life, Katie Lawson and Derek Moran) attempt to cope, secretly, with an apparently ceaseless flood of erotic material. Ultimately the situation takes a u-turn into hilarious madness. In short order, a bank examiner and bank supervisor, inquisitive, if plodding, police officers, some unexpected ‘ladies’ whose intentions are unclear, a well-meaning bank clerk friend and, most fearsome of all, Peter’s mother-in-law, Eleanor (played by Linda Goranson, who likens her character to Keeping Up Appearances’ Hyacinth Bucket) land in the Hunter home.

“There’s lot of action in this farce, continuous action,” laughed Bauer. “I would say there is just as much comedy back stage at times with this play too. Melissa, Justine and Jocelyn (crew members) are coping with the timing, the revolving props and shoving actors out on stage on cue.”

“It’s timing, timing, timing in a farce,” said newcomer to UCP, Jackie English, who plays one of the mysterious ladies. “And in this play there are so many surprises. The stakes just keep going up.”

“There’s not just one big revelation in this show,” Derek Moran added. “There’s a hundred big reveals.”

Because farce demands stamina and agility from the cast, blocking has to be thoroughly worked out. Actor Katie Leamen admitted that she’d already gone flying when she rounded the sofa a little too quickly (“In Go Go Boots, yet!”) in rehearsal. But, “this is a wonderful cast,” said Bauer, “and we’ll make sure everyone can be seen, that no one crashes into anything and that an actor can actually make it from one side of the set to the other in 30 seconds flat.”

Brian Young, well known to local theatre goers, said “It’s true that farce makes big demands, but it also gives actors a lot of energy. It’s fun.”

Veteran actor Walter Learning is returning for his ninth production at the Playhouse. “I may soon get it right,” he laughed, then added that there is “lots of energy here, and a great environment. Audiences are wonderful.”

Katie Lawson, also a returnee to the Playhouse, remarked that “it’s great to come here to Upper Canada, to enjoy being in such an hilarious comedy. It’s good to hear audiences laugh.”

And Shaun Clark, who first stepped on to the stage in Seduced by Moonlight, in the original Toothbrush Factory some 20 years ago, feels like he’s come “full circle.”

Director Bauer is confident the cast dynamics, the hilarity of the script, and the wonderful set built for the production will ensure a rollicking good time for all as No Sex Please, We’re British prepares to open August 1.

“It’s great to be working with wonderful old friends and with exciting new actors in this production. What a strong mix!”

For  tickets to No Sex Please, We’re British, contact Upper Canada Playhouse in Morrisburg at 613-543-3713 or go to uppercanadaplayhouse.com.

[…]

 

John Ross and his volunteers (Ross Video people in the kitchen, other helpers landing and guiding planes) looked tired Sunday afternoon on July 21. However, everyone was smiling.

“I think this Fly In Breakfast may be one of our most successful ever,” Ross said. “We served 700 breakfast. It would be impossible to run this event without these wonderful volunteers.”

The annual Fly In, which makes Iroquois the ‘go-to destination’ for pilots and planes, and those who are simply interested in seeing the aircraft and chatting with the flyers, saw 60 planes arrive before 9 a.m. All told, as many as 80 or 90 dropped in during the morning.

After some definite weather concerns Friday (high winds, downpours and tornado watches), Mother Nature decided to co-operate. The skies were sunny, the humidity gone, and the crowds were out in force from 7:30 a.m.

Pilots registered from such places as Rockcliffe, Beaver Lake, Montréal, Belle Isle, Kingston, and even farther afield. Many, like Henri Monnin, who brought his yellow Murphy Rebel in from Indian Creek, were return visitors who look forward to the annual Iroquois Fly In Breakfast.

Jean Sebastien Dominique, who arrived in his Piper Cherokee 140  shared a story with people. He flies with the registered charity, Pilots and Paws Canada. Its members, volunteer civilian pilots, transport abandoned or abused dogs to adoptive homes all over Canada. They have also flown animals out of the North for emergency treatment and care. As    Dominique said, with a laugh, “I’ve flown my Cherokee with a St. Bernard and a Great Pyrenees acting as my co-pilots.”

Also garnering much crowd interest were a World War II Harvard trainer, and a group of Ultra Lights that dropped in from Belle Isle. 

Pilot Richard Hudin described his Ultra Light as a “weight shift.” “I fly it by shifting my weight from side to side in the seat. The craft’s top speed is around 85 to 90 miles and hour. It took us about 90 minutes to fly here.” 

He pilots a Quik R model Explorer, an ultra light that comes from the United Kingdom, and has earned the nickname, the “Trike,” for its three landing wheels.

Joining the Fly In again this year, were members of the Golden Gears Car Club. The crowd was eager to look at the nearly 40 models on display in the field next to the landing strip, and to talk to owners and restorers. A little “cruisin’” music playing in the background set the mood.

“I believe that the combination of cars with the flying added hugely to our attendance at this  local event,” said John Ross.

Funds raised at the Fly In Breakfast are employed in the maintenance and care of the Iroquois airport.  

[…]

Messy Day on July 19 is one of the special beach days sponsored by South Dundas Recreation and the Ontario Early Years Centre. The beaches project is now in its third season with events also taking place in Iroquois. Dozens of children gathered in Morrisburg to enjoy exciting and delightfully messy activities under the supervision of Ben Macpherson, recreation program co-ordinator and Fiona Carr of the Early Years, and the Morrisburg life guards. With magic mud, gooey slime, volcanoes in the sand, face painting, the Duckie wading pool, a slip and slide, Pie in the Eye, and of course, Shaving Cream Musical Chairs, there was little doubt that everyone could be just as messy as they wanted.

[…]

 

The antiques themselves were wonderfully old, but the location of the 2013 Antique Festival in Morrisburg was very new. This year, the Festival, which was held July 20-21, was set up in downtown Morrisburg, in the plazas.

“From all that we are hearing, we have a success on our hands, said Gerri Fitzsimmons, manager of the South Dundas Chamber of Commerce. “The vendors (about 20 this year) told us they were very happy with the new venue. We found that we had steady visitors to the tents both Saturday and Sunday. Everything set up on the main mall, and really visible,  which seemed to attract a lot of visitors. Also there was no admission price for the Festival.”

This year’s Antique Festival was operated for the first time by the Morrisburg Business Improvement Association, after the Morrisburg & District Lions Club indicated they were no longer able to operate the popular event. Carl McIntryre served as the chair  of the committee, which assumed responsibility for organizing the festival in May.

“Earlier this year, our mayor outlined goals for South Dundas,” McIntyre said. “An event like this festival, bringing partnerships with business, government and local groups, really speaks to those goals. Doug Grenkie and the Pinkus family were very generous in donating their buildings to our  event.”

“From a business poll we took,” Fitzsimmons said, “local businesses saw a substantial increase in traffic and revenue. Many felt that this move was a great idea. We are going to use feedback from the surveys to determine where to concentrate advertising in the future and to determine improvements for next year’s event.”

Shoppers could visit places like the tent of Brian Wildsmith, a specialist in antique ‘advertising.’ “Signs and any kind of advertising  materials are top sellers in the antique market today,” he explained.

Mistralle Brouillard of Ottawa was interested in old books, while Susan and Chris Dwyre of Brockville were “looking for old toys.” Donna Leroux of Glen Walter came to Morrisburg’s Antique Festival to examine estate jewellery.

Times Past Antiques, from Ottawa, specialized in silver and antique objects from England and the continent. There were booths showing  furniture,  china, music and other collectibles and even a display of Ken Carter memorabilia.

“We talked to visitors from as far away as Pennsylvania,” said Festival volunteer Kim Morrow.

“The response has been wonderful this weekend,” said Helen Laurin, also manning the welcome desk. “This is the Morrisburg BIA’s first time running the Antique Festival, and we will use what we learn this week to make the event even better next year.”

[…]

 

 It was supposed to be an ordinary Sunday afternoon, July 14.

“We’d just come home from playing golf,” said Walter Reid of Bridlewood Crescent in Iroquois. “I’d noticed that the brakes on my golf cart seemed to be sticking, so I thought I would fix them. While Lyse (partner Lyse Scharfe) made lunch, I put the front of the cart up on a block so  could get underneath to spray the brakes with oil.”

This is the point that an ordinary day turned into a very frightening one for Walter, Lyse and their neighbours Mike and Donna Zeron and Kirk Hunter and Tracey Beckstead-Hunter. 

As Walter lay under the 1,000 pound golf cart, “I reached for something and accidentally hit the accelerator from underneath: the cart suddenly came off the block and ran over me.”

Walter said that, had the machine not somehow caught his arm and rolled him over on his stomach, the full 1,000 pounds would have come straight down on his chest, crushing it immediately. As it was, he was pressed face down, deep into the dirt,  tightly jammed there, unable to speak or move, in terrible pain and slowly being smothered.

Lyse called him from the house, and when he did not answer, she came out. 

“I started screaming right away,” she recalled. “I could not shift the cart at all, and Walter was turning blue.”

Still screaming, she ran next door to the Zeron home, “and burst through their front door.”

Mike Zeron immediately raced over, but he too, could not shift the cart alone. 

“I remembered seeing Kirk (Hunter) out cutting his grass down the street,” Mike said. He leaped into his truck, flew down the street and yelled at Kirk to get in immediately.

“I didn’t completely know what had happened,” Kirk recalled much later. “But I got in right away. Mike drove me to Walter’s so fast I thought we’d go through the garage.”

Donna Zeron and Tracey Beckstead-Hunter, both of whom have taken first aid courses and know CPR, also rushed to the scene. 

“By now,” Walter said quietly, “I was in a really bad way. I remember heavy, heavy pain. Suddenly I know I saw bright lights, and then the pain just stopped. I think now, that for a minute, I might have actually passed away.” 

His condition terrified his rescuers. Walter, they say, was blue down to his shoulders. “His lips and ears were blackish purple, like he’d had a severe beating. We were really afraid he was gone,” Mike recalled.

Zeron and Hunter, with strength they didn’t know they possessed, flat lifted the golf cart off Walter, actually suspending it in air for nearly four minutes while the women grabbed Walter’s legs and dragged him to safety.

Donna immediately started CPR compressions. Suddenly, they heard Walter gasp, and then he began to choke.

“I heard Donna say he’s got a pulse,” Tracey said. “When he began to choke, I said get him into the recovery position. We immediately began talking to him, reassuring him, trying to keep him conscious. He was moaning and couldn’t form words at first.”

At that point, the Iroquois Emergency Fire Rescue vehicle pulled into the Reid driveway, responding quickly to Lyse’s 911 call. “I heard Walter suddenly ask for his phone,” said Mike Zeron, smiling now. “That’s when I began to think maybe everything was going to be alright.”

Trevor Riopelle, Andre Menges, Bill Ewing and Rick Cogdale of the South Dundas Fire Emergency Services “knew just what to do,” said Lyse. 

“What a huge relief it was to see them arrive. They set up oxygen, put on a neck brace and started alert tests.”

Gord and Cheryl Barton, who had just been passing by, also stopped and promptly looked after all the Zeron and Hunter children during the emergency. 

Walter was ultimately transported to the Ottawa Civic Hospital, which has a trauma centre. He suffered three broken ribs and bruising. 

He and Lyse are certain that he would not be alive today had his friends and neighbours not responded so fully to the crisis.

“I can’t thank everybody enough for what they did for me,” Walter Reid said. “They absolutely saved my life. I really wanted to recognize these good neighbours for their quick thinking and for helping me when I was in trouble.”

Incidentally, Walter says that “from now on, I will definitely not be fixing my golf cart myself.” 

[…]

 

Sherry-Lynn Harbers says she likes working outdoors, and she likes working with seniors. So when the opportunity presented itself to return to her summer job for a second year, it wasn’t a tough decision.

Harbers, 20, is employed by the J.W. MacIntosh Seniors’ Support Centre in Williamsburg, as a helping hand to seniors living throughout South Dundas.

She quite simply, does the various summertime jobs that seniors living in their homes or apartments might have a difficult time getting done.  These summertime chores include lawn mowing, planting of beds and gardens, weeding and cleaning and minor maintenance around the home, both inside and out.

“One of the hardest things I have had to do was cut out pieces of sod and move them to an old garden area. It was a lot of work,” says Sherry of the summer job she truly loves.

“Generally, I do a lot of lawn mowing, which has been difficult to keep scheduled this year because of the rain. But, I also weed beds, wash windows and even help clean decks.”

The Leader caught up to Sherry-Lynn recently, at the home of Earl and Sheila Hummell in Morrisburg. While Sherry-Lynn was busy mowing the lawn, Sheila pointed out how valuable her help has been this summer, their first time involved with the program.

“Our riding lawn mower quit. I’ve tried to cut it, and my husband has tried but we can’t do it. It’s wonderful to have Sherry-Lynn help us out. She does just about anything you ask her to do. One day she helped me clean the deck. She has a really nice personality. She is always friendly and always smiling. We have really lucked out with this.”

The Hummells have Sherry-Lynn booked for two hours on Thursdays, and Sherry-Lynn explains that some of her seniors may have her only once all summer for a special project, some appointments are for an hour or two every couple of weeks and some are on a weekly basis.

Now preparing to head into her third year at Brock University where she is studying Recreation and Leisure, Sherry-Lynn says she hopes to work in a recreation program in a senior facility or perhaps in a sports complex setting.

She says she is quite busy and has a list of some 40 to 50 seniors she will work for over the summer. 

Clients pay an hourly rate and Sherry-Lynn is employed by the Senior Support Centre. She puts in a very full 35 hour week, and covers all of South Dundas. She is available until August 23.

In addition to the outdoor gardening work, seniors can find themselves in need of some help indoors. “I might clean their windows, or I might go into their home once a week and help them to clean out a cupboard or two. They often can’t reach the higher cupboards or lift the heavier things. Some have arthritis which prevents them from doing things.”

Seniors who are interested in having Sherry-Lynn help out around their homes can call the J.W. MacIntosh Seniors’ Support Centre in Williamsburg at 613-535-2924.

Now in her second year of employment with the centre, Sherry-Lynn says she has enjoyed the work and the people she has met. “They really appreciate what I do, so they are always nice.”

The summertime student position is partially funded by a government grant, donations and by the charge assessed to the clients. 

[…]

 

Police and the Ontario Fire Marshals Office are investigating the cause of a July 21 fire that destroyed a camper trailer and damaged an adjacent home.

At 2:47 a.m. a tenant woke up to a fire at the side of his house located at 13027 Froats Road. 

The tenant reported the fire to emergency officials.

South Dundas firefighters from the Williamsburg station attended the scene. 

They quickly extinguished the flames that were burning in a makeshift wooden box. 

“Looking further, it was observed that a camper trailer, adjacent to the house was completely destroyed by fire,” said Chris McDonough, Fire Chief for South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services. 

“Exposures from the fire had melted the siding and facia down to the wood framing,” he added. 

Nearby lawn tractors and equipment were damaged as well.

Crews remained on scene until 4:19 a.m. No injuries were reported.

Fire Chief McDonough estimated damage at approximately $2,500.

[…]

 

A vacant house at 10873 Seibert Road was completely destroyed by fire July 21.

The call came in at 11:30 a.m. Firefighters from the Iroquois station attended the scene.

“Upon arrival, the building was fully consumed and the structure was down,” said Chris McDonough, fire chief for South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services.

“The amount of garbage and combustible debris that people have been disposing at this location made it very difficult for fire crews to access and extinguish the fire,” he explained.

An excavator was called in to remove excess debris to allow firefighters to ensure that the fire was completely out.

Crews cleared the scene around 3 a.m. and no injuries were reported.

[…]

 

Eleven-year-olds from Iroquois Public School and Morrisburg Public School will be the first students to get a chance to participate in a new pilot program that will get kids out on the golf course, with mentors, to learn the game of golf and the important life skills inherent in the game.

The pilot program, Stay on Course, was the idea of OPP Constable Pete Robertson, who is the local media relations officer and an integral part of the Seaway Valley Crime Stoppers Program.

OPP and the Upper Canada District School Board have teamed up with the Iroquois and Morrisburg Golf Courses, Archies Driving Range and the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Community Futures Development Corporation to make this program possible.

“Stay On Course is a pilot program structured to present a quality curriculum that teaches students values such as integrity, respect and perseverance through the game of golf,” said Frank McDonald, Seaway Valley Crime Stoppers board chair, at the Iroquois Golf Course July 17, where the program and funding announcements regarding the program were made during the Seaway Valley Crimestoppers annual fundraising golf tournament.

“In addition to learning fundamentals of the golf swing and the game, this program will instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices which will help young people, starting at the age of 11 prepare for success in life,” said McDonald.

This program will not only allow Crime Stoppers and the OPP the opportunity to be more proactive in the community, it will allow them to form meaningful connections with this community’s youth. “All of the hard work that goes into this will pay off,” said McDonald.

“We are pleased to be a partner in this program,” said Dave Thomas, director of education with the Upper Canada District School Board, speaking about the benefits of the skills children learn while they are at play.

“We are really pleased for the federal government to invest in our youth for a better future,” said MP Guy Lauzon. The SD&G CFDC, which is funded by the federal government, through the Eastern Ontario Development Fund, has contributed $30,000 to Seaway Valley Crime Stoppers to support the new Stay On Course program. “The Government of Canada recognizes the important role that not for profit community based organizations play in strengthening our rural communities. We want our children to be active, healthy and have fun while participating in sports and physical activity.”

“This program will be a real asset to the community,” said South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds. “It will provide a great foundation for those who don’t often get the opportunity.”

“It is great to see this program for youth that will help before it’s too late,” said Dennis Fife, chair of the SD&G Police Services Board.

Although the full details of the program are still being ironed out, it is known that the program will be free, it will be organized through the schools and all of the necessary equipment for participation will be provided.

[…]