March 31, 2017

April Fools’ Day Pro Tip: Caramel onions are just as easy to make as caramel apples, but they don’t taste nearly as good.

Spring has sprung, the grass is riz! Keep an eye on downtown Kagawong as a new season ushers in some new changes to the business landscape.

The next library movie night is tomorrow (April 1 - no joke!). The fun family movie Monster Trucks will be on the big screen; show starts at 7pm with free admission as always. Check out the Facebook page for more information and trailers.

Also tomorrow night, Mimi O’Bonsawin will be launching her new album “Connected” at the Park Centre. Contact Pat Hess to get your tickets for this fantastic concert.

Need some down time after a movie or concert Saturday night? You’re in luck! Hydro One has a power outage planned for April 2nd - 7:30am-11:30am. Stock the wood stove and fill some buckets with water to get through the morning. Or do what we intend to do, just pull the covers up and sleep until the outage is over.

It is with very heavy hearts that we said good-bye to friend, mentor, and musician Don Bainbridge this week. He will most certainly be missed. A celebration of his life was held on Wednesday with many coming out to share stories and memories. Donations in Don’s memory can be made to the Angel Bus.

Be sure to mark the weekend of April 22-23 on your calendar! Start the weekend with an Earth Day celebration on the 22nd, brought to you by the Billings Township Go Green Advisory Committee and the Recreation Committee. Follow that up with the first event of the Fibre Arts Festival on the 23rd: a mixed media paint social. We’ll post more details as they become available, or check out Daffodil Fibre Arts Festival Facebook page.

Congratulations to Willa W who used her new bionic eye to spot a Sandhill crane flying high above the village last week, giving her bragging rights in this year’s Team Fergmeijer Sandhill Crane Challenge! She edged out last year’s champ who notified Team Fergmeijer just one day too late. When asked how she felt about achieving this feat, Willa shook her fist at the house across the street and said, “We’re even now, Peter!”

Happy birthday to Micki B who turns 29 today! Once a Kagawongian, always a Kagawongian.

Euchre results for last week’s game are in! Women's High Score was Elva Lloyd, Men's High Score went to Mike Arbour, Sally Langtree took Women’s loner, and Men’s loner going to Fred Pickard. Low score prize went to Doris Tustian and Jim Langtree. (We’re no card sharps, but didn’t they used to call that the skunk prize?) The door prize went to Jim Langtree.

April Fools’ Day Pro Tip 2: Attaching an air horn underneath your boss’ office chair is not as funny as you’d think. But putting a sign on the coffee maker that says ‘Voice Activated’ is.

March 24, 2017

We’ve had news of a celebrity sighting in the area! Rumour has it that actor/singer Will Smith is hiking on the Island this week! He is keeping a low profile so if you want to find him you’ll have to look for the fresh prints in the snow.

Tonight! Join the Billings Recreation Committee as they host Marcel Beneteau and Sabine Huege on an armchair voyage to Australia! Discover the landscapes, ocean views and wildlife of Australia and Tasmania without spending 24 hours on a plane. The evening includes a fascinating slideshow presentation and a ‘dessert social.’ The event starts at 7pm at the Park Centre; admission is by cash or non-perishable food donation (all donations go to the local food bank).

The Sandhill sound-off hasn’t been heard yet, but we have two possible sightings. Sandy and Ted K. write that they “are almost 100% sure” they saw a crane flying last week. Willa W. has also reported seeing what looked like a Sandhill. Team Fergmeijer has not instituted a scale of certainty for the contest, so we will reserve judgement until we have a fully confident report of a sighting (or sounding).

Sandhills aren’t the only birds flocking north this month. You can look for the elusive Snow Birds to start migrating back to the Island over the next few weeks, too.

The Fibre Arts Festival has their first event coming up on April 23rd: a mixed media paint social. Check out the Daffodil Fibre Arts Festival Facebook page for more details.

Next library movie night will be April 1st - no joke! The fun family movie Monster Trucks will be on the big screen; show starts at 7pm with free admission as always. Check out the Facebook page for more information and trailers.

Take note! Hydro One has a power outage planned for April 2nd - 7:30am-11:30am. Stock the wood stove and fill some buckets with water to get through the morning. Or do what we intend to do, just pull the covers up and sleep until the outage is over.

Don’t forget, Mimi O’Bonsawin is returning to Kagawong as she launches her new album “Connected.” Contact Pat Hess to get your tickets for the April 1st show at the Park Centre.

Happy belated birthday to Patrick McColman who turned 29 last week, just before St. Patrick’s Day.

Convenient timing for celebrating, if you ask us. Fellow journalist and proud Kagawongian Sharon J also celebrated the big 2-9 this week. Honourary local Tahnee will, shockingly enough, be 29 years old tomorrow. Many happy returns to you all!

Random thought for the day: Do you suppose that when cheetahs race and one cheats, the other one is like, “You are such a cheetah!” And then they laugh and laugh, and eat a zebra or whatever.

March 17, 2017

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We thought we’d kick off this week’s column with an Irish blessing: “May those who love us, love us, and those that do not love us, may God turn their hearts. If He can’t turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles so we’ll know them by their limping.”

The return of spring marks the return of the annual Team O’Fergmeijer Sandhill Crane Challenge! Who will be the first to spot (or hear!) the soft, melodic coo of the Sandhill Crane?? Email us at kagawong@live.ca to report your sighting.

Next library movie night will be tomorrow (March 18th) when the library will be showing the Oscar-nominated movie, Lion. Show starts at 7pm; check out the Facebook page for more information and trailers.

If movies aren’t your thing, maybe board games are. The library will be launching their new board game collection next week, along with a board game club starting in April! Games for all ages and skill levels can be played in the library or checked out a week at a time to enjoy at home. Rumour has it the librarian, Jill O’Ferguson, is quite the gamer and can offer suggestions for the best board game for you and your family.

Take note! Hydr O’One has planned power outage planned for April 2nd - 7:30am-11:30am.

Join the Billings Recreation Committee as they host Marcel O’Beneteau and Sabine O’Huege on March 24th on an armchair voyage to Australia! Discover the landscapes, ocean views and wildlife of Australia and Tasmania without spending 24 hours on a plane. The evening includes a fascinating slideshow presentation and a ‘dessert social.’ The event starts at 7pm at the Park Centre; admission is by cash or non-perishable food donation (all donations go to the local food bank).

There was a full house in attendance at the most recent music night at Main Street Cafe, as hosts Jean and Jamie O’Ward welcomed Jennifer O’Holub and Matt O’Marranger. Rumour has it more musical acts are being lined up - we will pass on the details as soon as we receive them!

Speaking of music, Mimi O’O’Bonsawin is returning to Kagawong as she launches her new album “Connected.” Get your tickets for the April 1st show at the Park Centre from Pat O’Hess.

Happy birthday to Sharon O’Jackson who is turning 29 next week. We don’t think she looks a day over 28 - must be those good Irish genes.

It really does feel like summer is just around the corner, so it might be time to start thinking about sprucing up your deck. Maybe dig out some paddy o’furniture, or brighten things up with a string of paddy o’lanterns.

March 10, 2017

It’s hard to believe it’s March already. Spring will be here before we know it, and you know what that means….. Yep, it’s almost that time of year when we put off our spring cleaning until next year. You know, we can forgive Disney for the majority of the unrealistic expectations they promote, but we are most upset about the unwillingness of forest creatures to clean our houses.

If you are pretty much over winter, there’s lots to look forward to when the snow melts. Billings will be launching a new community event this spring with the Fibre Arts Festival in May. We’ll keep you updated as we get closer to the date, but one thing is for sure: Team Fergmeijer is hoping it will become a REGULAR fixture in the township.

The return of spring also marks the return of the annual Team Fergmeijer Sandhill Crane Challenge! Who will be the first to spot (or hear!) the soft, melodic coo of the Sandhill Crane?? Email us at kagawong@live.ca to report your sighting.

Next library movie night will be March 18th when the library will be showing the Oscar-nominated movie, Lion. Show starts at 7pm; check out the Facebook page for more information and trailers.

Join the Billings Recreation Committee as they host Marcel Beneteau and Sabine Huege on March 24th on an armchair voyage to Australia! Discover the landscapes, ocean views and wildlife of Australia and Tasmania without spending 24 hours on a plane. The evening includes a fascinating slideshow presentation and a ‘dessert social.’ The event starts at 7pm at the Park Centre; admission is by cash or non-perishable food donation (all donations go to the local food bank).

As sure as the sun rises, the township is set to celebrate Earth Day again this year! Come and celebrate our planet on Saturday, April 22 for Earth Day 2017, brought to you by the Billings Township Go Green Advisory Committee and the Recreation Committee. Stay tuned for more information!

Where can you find fish, finger painting, and FUN? The River School is back! Join the folks at 4e for a special one day program over the March Break featuring river science, artmaking, and great activities! Contact Mira at 282-0444 for more information.

Happy birthday to Tizzy, who in addition to never admitting when her actual birthday is, also refuses to reveal her actual age. Of course, here at Team Fergmeijer, we delved deep with an intensive background search, interviews with friends, family and neighbours, and may or may not have run her social insurance number through a national database in order to find out Tizzy’s real age. With no stone left unturned in our search, it would appear that Tizzy is officially 29 this month.

Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour this weekend. Sure we lose an hour of sleep, but we gain an extra hour to BBQ supper in the daylight! Have a great March Break!

March 3, 2017

It’s been a lovely spring this winter, but it looks like Mother Nature has sorted out her issues and is back on track with our regularly scheduled freezing temperatures and snow.

If you are pretty much over winter, there’s lots to look forward to when the snow melts. Billings will be launching a new community event this spring with the Fibre Arts Festival in May. We’ll keep you updated as we get closer to the date, but one thing is for sure: Team Fergmeijer is hoping it will become a REGULAR fixture in the township.

Last week’s euchre scores were: ladies high - Susan; men's high - Lil; ladies’ most loners - Laurene; men’s most loners - Dave; low score - Ria; door prize - Lil. Come out to the Park Centre on Wednesday nights to join the fun and competition!

This week, the Extreme Euchre Champion of Kagawong (EECK) was awarded to… Jamie W! Congratulations, Jamie! Jamie had this to say during his acceptance speech: “I wasn’t even there that night, yo.”

Next library movie night will be tomorrow (Saturday, March 4) with Collateral Beauty starring Will Smith. Show starts at 7pm; check out the Facebook page for more information and trailers.

As sure as the sun rises, the township is set to celebrate Earth Day again this year! Come and celebrate our planet on Saturday, April 22 for Earth Day 2017, brought to you by the Billings Township Go Green Advisory Committee and the Recreation Committee. Stay tuned for more information!

Where can you find fish, finger painting, and FUN? The River School is back! Join the folks at 4e for a special one day program over the March Break featuring river science, artmaking, and great activities! Contact Mira at 282-0444 for more information.

This just in… a mistake has been made, and we received the wrong envelope. Jamie, unfortunately, did NOT win the EECK. Instead, the EECK goes to... Craig J. Congratulations! While wiping away a tear, Craig had this to say: “What an honour to win this award! I feel like I just won an Oscar!”

Happy birthday to Sandi H who turned 29 this week. This feels a bit like deja vu; like we’ve wished her a happy 29th before. Nah. I’m sure this is her first 29th birthday.

Tai Chi has started up again on Tuesday nights at 6:30pm at the Park Centre. Beginners welcome! Zumba continues to shake it up Thursdays from 7-8pm, also at the Park Centre.

It’s been a lean month for Team Fergmeijer and we’ve had to go looking for extra work. We finally took a job at a bakery, because frankly, we kneaded the dough.