Sports

 

The South Dundas Atom B Lions packed a powerful offensive punch here Saturday, November 29 when they connected for a 11-2 win over the hosting NGS Braves.

The Braves struck early, just 59 seconds into the first period with an unassisted goal by Mason Mekker. 

Cam Shaver evened the score at 7:58, when he took a pass from Quade Mullin, head faked a defender then fired a wrist shot past Braves goaltender Jane McManus.  

Just over a minute later, Spencer Barclay set up Sam Connors to give the Lions a 2-1 lead.  

Braden McRae tied the game 2-2, after taking a feed from Matthew Lalonde at 3:24, and it appeared that the period would likely end that way until Dryden Buter, from James Martens, put the Lions in front for good with 1:16 left on the clock.

The Lions didn’t look back from that point on and scored four more times in the second.  

Owen Patterson got it rolling when he finished off a pretty passing play by his linemates Buter and Martens and Monty Dejong got an unassisted marker to make it 5-2.  

Buter made it 6-2, assisted by Patterson and with just 37 seconds left in the period, D-man Nate Paulino got his second of the season, unassisted.

The third period was similar to the second period, with the Lions putting up another four goals.  

Dejong got his second of the game after taking a pass from Shaver to make it 8-2.  

The Lions got more offence from their defence when Stefan Kronstal got his first goal of the year, unassisted, and Patterson made it 10-2 with help from Dejong.  

Buter completed a three goal performance after being setup by his winger Martens to close out the scoring at 2:38 and give the Lions the 11-2 win.

Brayden Lalonde-Thomspon who was called up from the Atom C Lions to play goal, had a good effort in net.

This was the Lions fourth victory in a row.  

Lions next action will see them on the road this Saturday in Perth tournament.  

Sunday, the Lions will host South Grenville, and are hoping for a win to “leapfrog” them in the standings.  The Lions currently sit third in the East, a point behind South Grenville with two games in hand. 

[…]

 

Glenn Cougler’s annual stick bonspiel was held in Morrisburg, on Wednesday November 19, and raised nearly $500 for the club. 

Our Pete Zeran won his games handily and won the overall championship with some deadly shots and skilful strategy.  His team, Karl Duncan and Don and Laurie Lazenby curled well, and were full value for their trophy-winning play.

They defeated McGinnis from Prescott in the morning and the local McGann foursome in the afternoon. 

Four local teams were involved, as well as foursomes from North Grenville, whose skip, Virginia Cunningham, won both games in her draw, and teams from Russell, Winchester, Prescott, Maxville, Lancaster and Cornwall.  

Sid Morrell, Bud Perry, Neil Williams and Andy Patenaude played well, losing their first match, but emerging victorious in the second, while Greta McGann, Kathy Johnston, Kathy Killick and Linda Murphy won their morning game, but lost in the afternoon against Pete Zeran. Greta’s quartet finished third overall.

Our fourth local team was Keith Robinson, Arnold Barkley, Bill Laurin, and Ron Brinston. They played with skill and enthusiasm, but the happy warriors were unable to solve their opposition in their morning and afternoon matches.Glenn arranged a top competition, with two full draws, plenty of volunteers, good food for the competitors, and fine prizes for the players. He’s gradually built this event to be a great annual success, and a boon for those of us who need to use the stick to continue playing the sport we love. Thanks again, Glenn!

      A team of our over 70’s men was in Navan last week for their annual bonspiel. Sid Morrell, Neil Williams, Andy Patenaude and Bud Perry played two Carleton Heights teams, losing the first match by a single point, but winning their afternoon game. They had a great time and enjoyed a delicious lunch. 

Sorry Bud, your secret is out; you look youthful, but you’re almost as old as I am. No prize money for the Morrisburg foursome, but you all played well.

We’re told that four of our little rockers competed recently in a bantam bonspiel, and acquitted themselves well against older and more experienced curlers.

We had ladies’ teams at bonspiels in Brockville and Lancaster last week. 

In the former, Greta McGann, Kathy Norg, Yvonne Mabo and Linda Murphy curled well. They won both games, defeating North Grenville in the morning and Smiths Falls in the afternoon. Royal Kingston finished first and took the trophy, while Greta’s foursome finished second and got their names on the trophy as well.

In the Lancaster bonspiel, Alice Thompson, Betty Locke, Sharon Van Allen and Sandra Beckstead lost their first match against Lancaster on the final rock, but won their afternoon game against Cornwall. Their victory enabled them to get the high one-game score, with suitable prizes. Well done, ladies!

That’s it for now. 

[…]

 

Dennis Casselman has put the rumours to rest with his recent announcement that the 15-year-old back nine portion of the Cedar Glen Golf Course located east of Williamsburg has been sold to neighbouring farmer Robert Byvelds. 

In an interview on Monday afternoon, Casselman said the sale of the back nine land will probably be finalized in late January.

It’s pretty disappointing for us,” said Casselman. “The way things have been going, every year the revenue is dropping and the expenses are going up.”

With two thirds of the 165 acre property occupied by the back nine layout, Casselman says that two thirds of the maintenance budget was going on the very spacious back nine holes which totalled 3,453 yards from the blue tees.

In addition to the longer holes, the back nine Cedar Glen holes featured huge expansive greens, large-sized tees and extensive mowed areas between holes.

With the Byvelds farm expected to put the land back into crop production, Casselman says it is certainly not something he or his family want to see. 

Casselman recalls the building of the back nine holes and its opening in July of 1999, with his sons David and Paul and workers, David Stewart, Bunny Bennet and Randy Burke. “They were a great bunch of guys, and we all put in a lot of hard work.”

Although the back nine is sold, the Casselman family is pleased to be able to keep the land for the driving range intact along with the parking lot and current clubhouse location.

The northern boundary will be along the North tower line, which runs about halfway through the current 10th tee.

“Basically, we had too many holes and not enough golfers,” says Casselman of the current trend of fewer members and decreasing guest play in the golf industry. The current Cedar Glen membership of 350 members is well down from when the game was peaking in this area in the mid to late 90s.

 “All the revenue streams are down,” says Casselman. “It isn’t just the fewer green fees and fewer members, but the members are getting older and not sticking around as much. And there just isn’t the young people coming up. Around here, it is also crazy competitive.”

“Our membership is great. We have a very longtime loyal membership. We have met a lot of nice people and made a lot of friends over the years We are hoping that most of them will stay with us, but we do realize that we are going to lose some for sure who enjoyed the 18 holes. That is why they were here.”

“So far the reaction from the members is that they are sorry to see it [back nine] go, but happy that we were able to hold onto our front nine. We still have our club, it’s intact and our nine hole original course is intact.”

Dennis who is 70 and perhaps looking forward to a little retirement golf himself, says [son] David will be getting more involved. “The 18-hour days are getting hard for me to take.”

For the 2015 golf season, members and the golfing public at the Cedar Glen Golf Course can expect conditions to be every bit as good as they were this past summer, and they were great. Casselman suggests that they will even get better with the focus now on just nine holes.

Work continues on the new tee on the second hole and plans are in the works for some other sodding in needed areas.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but we will make the best of it. We look forward to continuing with all the fun events of the past and to develop new ones. We believe that with the lessened pressure of maintaining the entire 165 acres, we will be able to provide better facilities, better course conditions and an even more enjoyable golf experience.”

Golfers were out and about thanks to the warm spell earlier this week and play will continue until the snow flies…again.

In the spring, it will be golf as usual at Cedar Glen with golfers returning to the 42 year old original nine holes for their action.

[…]

 

The South Dundas Novice C Lions ran into a couple of hot goaltender in Upper Canada Minor Hockey League action in their last two matches and ended up giving up a pair of 4-0 loss.

The Lions travelled to Westport last Saturday, November 8th to play the hosting Rideaus who proved too much for the Lions as they came away with the 4-0 victory.  

The young Lions played well, coming up short on numerous scoring opportunities. 

Ruby Jansen was a force to be reckoned with at both ends of the ice, earning her “Lion of the Game” honours.

The Lions played host to Kemptville 4 this past Saturday, November 15th.  

The powerhouse Panthers broke out quickly to a 3-0 lead in the first and never looked back, on route to a 4-0 win.  

The Lions just couldn’t seem to solve Kemptville’s hot goalie, who stymied them at ever chance.  

Kade Van Beilen was denied on a glorious opportunity early in the third when he couldn’t quite lift the rubber over the goalie’s outstretched arm, as the defenceman hauled him down from behind.  Van Beilen’s line mate, Jack Croteau gave the opposing team fits as he always seemed to be on the puck.  

Lanie Verhey and her Legion of Doom line also played an impressive game, controlling the play in both ends of the rink.  

“Lion of the Game” was given to power forward Owen MacDonald.  

“Number 22 played a great game for us,” coach Froats stated after the game. “He lugged the puck all night and just missed on multiple scrambles around the net.”  

The Lions face off against County rival, North Dundas 1, in a midweek tilt before hosting them back at home Saturday for the much anticipated Lions Day.

[…]

 

This past  weekend, two Morrisburg Curling Club mixed teams competed in Winchester at the Gamble against Metcalfe and Russell as well. 

Andy Patenaude, Susan McIntosh, Neil Williams and Claire Locke lost their first match to Winchester, but won their afternoon competition against a Russell quartet. That qualified our folks for the ‘B’ championship in the evening.

Our other foursome, Joe McCooeye, Kathy Norg, Mahlon Locke, and Leanne McCooeye lost their morning game to a Russell team, but they dominated play against a Metcalfe challenger to win the other spot in the evening ‘B’ final. That left our two champions battling each other.

Morrisburg’s highlight was the competition for the Gamble plaque with our two athletic teams. Neil Williams was unable to play in the evening match, and Dave McIntosh filled in for him. Both foursomes played very well, but the younger team, skipped by Joe McCooeye, won out and will keep the plaque in our club for the next year. Well done, everyone!

The evening meal was spectacular, by the way. Winchester catered roast pork, roasted potatoes, a variety of vegetables and a fine dessert.

The two teams who won both of their daytime matches also played off in the evening for the ‘A’ title. The Metcalfe foursome prevailed and claimed the Gamble trophy.

Sunday’s two-person bonspiel was re-scheduled because of insufficient entrants. They’ll try again another time soon.

 Susan McIntosh took Kathy Norg, Joanne Baker and Claire Locke to the Richmond ladies’ bonspiel last week.

They won their morning game against Pembroke, but dropped their afternoon match against a Carleton Heights foursome. 

The meal was excellent, and our ladies have high praise for the atmosphere and the food. They look forward to next year, even though the Richmond Bakery is no longer open.

We have a couple ladies’ teams at bonspiels in Brockville and Lancaster, and we’ll report on those next time. 

Today, Glenn Cougler’s annual stick bonspiel is scheduled, and we’ll have the details next time. Four local teams are involved, as well as foursomes from Kemptville, Russell, Winchester, Prescott, Maxville, Lancaster and Cornwall. It’s an all-day affair, so feel free to drop in for some or all of the matches.

Thursday, November 26th three Russell teams will be out in the morning to have a friendly match against 12 of our Thursday mixed curlers. There will be a return visit later. As always, visitors are invited to drop in and watch the matches.

Looking ahead, a “Grey Cup” spiel at the club is planned for November 30th. Tentative plans are for a two-game competition beginning at noon. A lunch and refreshments would be provided for $2, and the evening would see the exhausted but well-fed curlers relaxing in the club’s comfortable chairs to enjoy the 2014 Grey Cup match in athletic company. The western and eastern champions will be decided this weekend. Look over the details in the lounge and 

[…]

 

There were nearly 50,000 participants in the 2014 New York City Marathon, November 2, but only one of them was from South Dundas, Ontario. Seaway District High School principal, Don Lewis, finished the gruelling race, which takes in five boroughs of the Big Apple, in a time of 3:36.09. 

From start to finish, Lewis found the marathon challenging and exhilarating: he has nothing but praise for the race organizers, the police who lined the route and for the ordinary people of New York City who turned out in their thousands to support the international runners, many of whom had travelled thousands of miles to take part. 

“The crowds were huge; at places like 1st Avenue, five or six people deep,” Lewis said. “I was wearing a red shirt with Canada written across it, and I could often hear people shouting “Go Canada!” when I ran by. It meant a lot.” 

Lewis dedicated his run to raising awareness about PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) which has affected a member of his family.

Lewis has taken part in six previous marathons, including the run in Ottawa (now a gold standard meet) four times. He has been training six days a week since June to prepare for the world class NYC event. 

On Sunday, November 2, all the runners were bussed to the start point of the race, on Staten Island, around 6 a.m., although the event did not begin until after 9 a.m. 

“It was a little chilly waiting,” Lewis said, “although later in the day it was ideal running weather (except for the wind which got gusty at times), around 8-9 degrees Celsius. The organizers are really efficient. There are four different start times, and within each of the start times there are six different corrals.”

“Wheelchair athletes start first, then the elite women, then the elite men. The elite runners are all in serious contention so they can’t get caught up with the masses. Everyone runs at his own pace. I noticed,” he laughed, “that the guy running next to me was actually in his bare feet.”

Lewis said that he felt really good for the first 30 kilometres. “Then, around the Queensboro Bridge, I thought oh boy, my quads are shot. Gusts of 60 kph wind in some places really slowed the race, and cross breezes on the bridges made it tough. My hat blew off. Everyone’s racing bibs were flapping up and down like sails: you can’t lose your bib, so you end up holding on to it as you run. There are also slight upgrades on 5th Avenue, and I remember thinking are these hills ever going to be done?” 

Then he saw the 800 metre sign in Central Park, “and I got that adrenalin rush. I’m going to finish this race.”

Lewis crossed the finish line a little over three and a half hours after he started. There are medical tents at the end of the race because some runners experience cramping and some distress, but Lewis said that he was all right. He was given a poncho to wear until he could back to where he had left his outer clothes at the start of the race. He was also given his precious medal of participation, which he was able to get engraved the next day. 

Principal Lewis is very encouraging to Seaway students who want to get involved in running. 

“I try to suggest that kids try a 2, 5, 10 or half marathon, or a full marathon in Ottawa. We have a lot of kids in our local schools who have been attempting the Kids Marathon, a local event, and there is technology for young runners to track their progress. We’ve got some students now who are seriously working on distance running.”

There was a time when the four minute mile was “the Holy Grail of running. But now it’s the two hour marathon.” There was only seven seconds between the first and second place women marathoners, three seconds between the men. A two hour marathon may one day be reality. 

Would he compete in the New York City Marathon again?

Don Lewis says a resounding yes. “It was my toughest marathon so far. And next time I’ll factor in the hills and wind, and adjust my pace a little slower at the beginning, but yes, I want to go again. This was my fastest marathon since I took up running again last spring.”

[…]

 

 got off to a rough start in Alexandria, on Friday night, when the Glens put together a 7-4 victory, and it didn’t get any better Saturday, November 15 against the Winchester Hawks.

The Saturday night effort in Morrisburg saw the Hawks come out on top by a 10-3 score.

Although it remained relatively close in the first periods of both games, the Lions couldn’t keep it together in the second periods.

Friday night in Alexandria, Bradley Gabbour put the Glens on the board 3:32 into the first period and Zack Renfrew (from Cole Beckstead and Cole Fowler) evened it at 8:57.

That was it until the second period when the Glens struck for three more from the sticks of Adam Cooke, Tristan Sabourin and Ben Poirier. That put the Glens up 4-1 heading into the third period.

In the third, the Lions found their game and managed to tie the period, 3-3, but they couldn’t erase the damage done in the three goal, Glens second period.

Scoring for the Lions in the third period were Michael Paquette (from Zack Renfrew), Renfrew (from Paquette) and Dallas Blacksmith on the Lions power play (from Cole Fowler).

Gabbour answered for the Glens to complete a three goal performance and Poirier counted his second goal.

Keiran Weir was in the Lions’ net for the loss, and Nicholas Maheux got the win for the Glens. Weir faced 33 Glens shots, while Maheux faced 34 from the Lions.

The Lions served 58 minutes on 13 infractions and the Glens sat out 40 minutes on 12 infractions.

Saturday night, the Hawks were in town to pick up a 10-3 victory in front of the Lions home town fans.

Again the first period remained close. Steve Ray Adams opened the Hawks scoring at 4:11 of the frame, and Jacob Guillot answered back, unassisted, on the Lions power play at 7:07. The tie lasted until 10:04 of the first when Franco Gagnon gave the Hawks a 2-1 edge.

The second period belonged to the Hawks as they struck for four in a row to go up 6-1 before the Lions could get them stopped with a Michael Paquette counter, assisted by Zack Renfrew and Justin Rutley.

Josh Stubbings counted two goals against Lions goaltender John Gilmer in the second period, and Tim Conlin and Austin Rothe added singles.

The third period was again a Hawks affair, with the Hawks counting another four goals and the Lions managing only one.

Stevie Ray Adams completed a three goal performance with two counters and Kyle Richardson and Bryden Van Kessel added singles for the 10-3, Hawks victory.

Dallas Blacksmith scored for the Lions with Landon Veenstra and Jacob Kendrick providing the assists.

The game was unusually low in the penalty department. Just three minor penalties were assessed in the first period, two going to the Lions. The second period was played penalty free, and one minor was handed out to each in the third for a game total of 10 minutes served on five minor infractions.

Gilmer handled the entire game for the Lions and Brandon Lowry earned the Winchester win.

Coming up, the Lions host the Char-Lan Rebels, Sunday, November 23 at 2:30 p.m. 

The Rebels are chasing the Lions and this past week picked up two points on them with a 3-1 win over the Akwesasne Wolves.

[…]

 

On Sunday, November 16, the South Dundas Atom B Lions picked up right where they left off from their November 8, 5-2 win over Brockville 2 Braves, this time with an 8-0 shutout victory over the Brockville 1s.

The Lions controlled the game right from puck drop, with the starting lineup of Quade Mullin, Cam Shaver, Monty Dejong, Jack McCann, and Alek Larocque hemming the Braves in their zone for the opening shift.

The highlight was when Mullin finished a pretty passing play from Dejong and Shaver just 50 seconds in for a 1-0 Lions lead.

Then it was Dryden Buter who hammered home a rebound from Stefan Kronstal’s point shot to put the Lions up by two. 

The play was started by Buter when he passed the puck back to defenceman Kronstal and then had the smarts to go to the net.

It took the Lions power play just four seconds to capitalize on a Braves hooking penalty with 4:08 left in the first period.

Then Spencer Barclay won the face off cleanly to his right winger Sam Connors, who one timed it past Braves goaltender Tyler Serson for a 3-0 Lions lead. 

Dejong made it 4-0 with 1:20 left in the first period after taking a feed from Mullin.

Barclay had the lone marker of the second, at 7:52, assisted by Connors, which enabled the Lions to carry a 5-0 advantage into the third.

At the midway mark of the third period, Dejong chipped the puck past a pinching Braves defenceman, then skated the length of the ice where he beat Serson high on the glove side to make it 6-0.  

Sean Nicolaassen put the Lions up 7-0, unassisted, and Buter was rewarded with 4:24 left on the clock on a play initiated by an Owen Patterson wrist shot into heavy traffic.

Once again, the Lions limited the Brockville 1s scoring chances with some great team defence.  

Goaltender Mateo Lacroix made the saves whenever he was called upon and was able to get his first career Atom shutout.  

Zach Scarbeau made a key play with just over a minute remaining to help preserve the shutout when he beat a Brave to a loose puck and fired it safely out of his zone without taking an icing call.

The win gives the Lions a record of 4 wins and 3 losses.  It also has them second in the East Division.

The Lions will practice twice this week before hosting division rival, North Dundas here Saturday November 22nd as part of Lions Day.

[…]

 

The Casselman Vikings steam rolled over the Morrisburg Junior Lions in St. Lawrence Division Junior B division hockey this past week, with a 9-4 victory in their home barn on Thursday, November 6, and a 7-0 shutout in Morrisburg on Saturday night, November 8.

The division leading Vikings have only one blemish to date this season, and that was handed to them by the Lions recently when they lost in an overtime shoot out.

The Vikings hold the division’s top spot with 25 points on 12 wins and the single point for the overtime shootout loss.

The Akwesasne Wolves are in second place with 18 points, the Alexandria Glens are third with 13 and the Winchester Hawks and Lions are tied with 12 points apiece. The Char-Lan Rebels are in the basement position with just four points.

Thursday night in Casselman, the Vikings went up 4-0 in the first period. The Lions played a strong second period (outscoring the Vikings, 3-2), but that was as threatening as they would be.

A Justin Rutley goal (assisted by Eric Evans and Michael Paquette) 29 seconds into the third period cut the gap to 6-4, but the Vikings added another three for the 9-4 win.

Nicolas Brazeau led the Vikings scoring with three points and Luc Forget added a pair. Single goals were scored by Grant Hebert, Sébastien Plante, Samuel Gosselin and Jérémie Lefebvre.

Answering for the Lions were Cole Blanchard, Jacob Kendrick, Justin Rutley and Dallas Blacksmith.

Lions goaltenders Keiran Weir and John Gilmer shared the net duties.

Saturday night in Morrisburg, the Lions held the visiting Vikings to a scoreless first period.

But they couldn’t contain them in the second period when they collected four goals off Gilmer to go up 4-0 heading into the third period.

Leading the Vikings charge, with another three goal performance, was Nicolas Brazeau. Gosselin, Maxime Choquette, Taylor Widenmaier and Mathieu Galipeau all added singles.

Coming up on Friday, November 14, the Lions travel to Alexandria to take on the Glens and Saturday night, November 15 they host the Winchester Hawks. Game time is  7:30 p.m.

[…]

 

South Dundas and area crafters and artists will be packing up their products and heading to the Legion in Morrisburg, this coming weekend to participate in the 38th annual Craft Show.

Organized annually by the Morrisburg and District Arts and Crafts Association, the show offers up some great products for some early Christmas shopping or shopping in general.

Members of the association and guest artists will be on hand this Saturday and Sunday (9 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day), November 15-16, for the always popular show that has made itself part of the South Dundas community.

In the last few years, the association has set up a $1 or non-perishable food donation  for entry with the money and food collected to assist the Dundas County Food Bank.

“In addition, after all of our show expenses are paid, the leftover money is divided and donated to Winchester District Memorial Hospital, Hospice and a Seaway High School bursary for a student in an Arts program,” explains association chair Linda Schenck.

“Everything we do is helping somebody in the community,” says Schenck. “We are completely non-profit.  We rent from the Legion, and try to make a small donation to the local church group that provides a food table.”

Schenck has been crafting for many years, and has been with the local association since the early 90’s. Although she has had some health issues the last few weeks, she says she is excited about the show.

“I don’t have much crafts, but I will have my baked goods,” says Schenck who is well known for the goodies she sells Sundays at Mchaffie’s Flea Market north of Morrisburg.

“I do have some floral arrangements ready, and some tole painting along with my dolls (lace attired angels).”

Schenck is excited to welcome to the show, a friend from Nova Scotia who will be featuring her thrummed mitts. “They are the mitts the fishermen wear on the boats. They are really thick and really warm. Your hands will never freeze in these as the wool is all inside and they repel the water.”

Schenck, who sells the mitts on a regular basis, says, “I’ve had people come and buy them, and then come back for more.”

As for her own work, she has “its and bits of things. I do quite an assortment. I like taking old posts, putting a base on them and turning them into snowmen. I use all salvaged wood pieces that you would normally throw in the burn pile.”

Schenck is co-chairing this year’s show with Melinda Wert, who will be there with her stained glass art. “The show has really come along well. We have some new crafters who will provide a real variety of products.”

“We will have maple syrup products and a lady who makes cosmetic out of bee products. There will be stained glass, tole painting and Dwight and Helder (Morrisburg artists) will be there with their new fabulous crafted baby dolls that look just like new born babies.”

Barn Full of Goodies is also new this year, and a florist who will have fresh flower arrangements.

“This is what I love doing,” says Schenck of her crafting and of all the good the show does in the community. “I love to raise money to give to people who need it. I have spent most of my life helping people. I love doing the crafts and my baking, and of course meeting all the people. It gets me out of the house and keeps me occupied.

The South Dundas Arts and Crafts Association is inviting the South Dundas community and neighbouring communities to come out, make a few purchases and help to support local artists and the community.

[…]