September 28, 2018

There’s a certain chill in the air - it’s almost time for the fall harvest! As tasty as homegrown produce is, sometimes it doesn’t always look as perfect as what we find in the grocery store. But don’t worry - if you have a broken squash, you can fix it with a pumpkin patch.

Happy birthday to Katherine B who is a Kagawongian by marriage. Here’s hoping she gets a little quiet time to contemplate the many blessings of the last year. Or maybe just a nap. Either way, a good day.

Steve Burrow, author of the immensely popular Birder Murder Mystery series, is coming to Manitoulin! Manitoulin Nature Club is hosting a lighthearted evening with the author TONIGHT at St. Francis of Assisi church in Mindemoya. Mr. Burrows will be sharing his journey from bird watcher and award-winning nature journalist to murder mystery writer. The talk begins at 7:30pm with light refreshments to follow. Contact Marcel for more information (mbeneteau@usudbury.ca or 705-282-8513). Mr. Burrows will also be at the Billings Library from 10am until 1pm tomorrow (Saturday) for a book signing. Books will be available for purchase, also. Don’t miss it!   

Tomorrow night! Kagawong Folk Roots will be playing at the Old Church on the Hill on September 29 at 7:00pm. Tickets are available at the door for $15, with proceeds going toward church renovations. According to local music aficionado Jamie Ward, “We gonna raise the roof! To improve acoustic quality, yo.”

Harvest Glory Days” are on their way! Billings Township Rec Committee is once again planning to welcome fall by decorating the downtown, and any contribution would greatly be appreciated. Pumpkins, bales of hay/straw, colourful leaves, mums or any other decorations that could be used. Contributions can be left at the ‘podium’ by the millstone at the township office no later than tomorrow. On the 30th, come take part in decorating our corner of beautiful Manitoulin.

Last chance to donate! Kagawongians Mary Buie and Heather Theijsmeijer are donning pink and taking part in the CIBC Run for the Cure in Sudbury September 30 to raise money for breast cancer research. At time of writing, they’ve raised over $2000! Interested in pledging toward the cause? Go to cibcrunforthecure.com and click “Donate!”

Aus Hunt has spent more years in politics than many of us have been alive. He’s retiring from decades serving the community as mayor, so the community is coming together to show our appreciation and love. Come out to the Park Centre on October 7th for speeches and stories from a number of dignitaries, all headed up by Steve Paikin. Team Fergmeijer has also been assured there will be cake. We’re hoping it’s Aus-shaped, and life-sized.

When we were young, Team Fergmeijer was afraid of the dark. Now, when we get our electric bill, we’re afraid of the light! We won’t have to worry about that on Sunday, October 28, though - Hydro One has announced a power outage that day from 6am until noon. Plan ahead!

Euchre scores are in! First place was taken by Deanna Benoit & Anne Graham; they also get credit for most loners. Fred Pickard & Jim Lanktree took second, with Sharon Montgomery & Eva Bond coming in third. Bev Pickard & Sally Lanktree tied with Janice Phillips & Pat Dryden. The title of lowest score went to Candy Tracy & Phyllis Cacciotti and Janice Philips took home the door prize.

Before Team Fergmeijer wrote columns for the local paper, we used to have a job collecting leaves. We were really raking it in. Have a great week!

September 21, 2018

A pun, a play on words, and a limerick walk into a bar. No joke.

Happy birthday to Barb E who turns 29 next week. We hope she celebrates in high style; perhaps with a nice foot massage after all the walking she’s been doing lately.

Looking for a reason to dance? Kagawong Folk Roots will be playing at the Old Church on the Hill on September 29 at 7:00pm. Tickets are available at the door for $15, with proceeds going toward church renovations. According to local music aficionado Jamie Ward, “In order to repair the floors, we’re going to blow the roof off, yo!’

Looking for even more reason to dance? Zumba starts up again Thursday, September 27! Stop in at the Park Centre Thursday nights at 7pm to learn some new moves and boogie your way into shape.

They’re at it again! Kagawongians Mary Buie and Heather Theijsmeijer are donning pink and taking part in the CIBC Run for the Cure in Sudbury September 29 to raise money for breast cancer research. At time of writing, they’ve raised over $1300! Interested in pledging toward the cause? Go to cibcrunforthecure.com and click “Donate!”

Spoiler alert! The milk has been in the fridge for three weeks.

And another spoiler alert: “Harvest Glory Days” are on their way! Billings Township Rec Committee is once again planning to welcome fall by decorating the downtown, and any contribution would greatly be appreciated. Pumpkins, bales of hay/straw, colourful leaves, mums or any other decorations that could be used. Contributions can be left at the ‘podium’ by the millstone at the township office on or before Sept. 29th. On the 30th, come take part in decorating our corner of beautiful Manitoulin.

Kenjgewin Teg is hosting a Salmon Run event in Kagawong on September 26th. You can observe the salmon in the river and learn about the life cycle of the Salmon as well. Contact 705-377-4342 for more information.

Reminder that the library has returned to regular winter hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 4pm-7pm, and Saturday from 10am-1pm.

In a similar vein, the landfill will be changing to fall hours, but not until the end of October. Lots of time to practice our ‘I didn’t forget the dump has new hours, I left something at home and just happen to be turning around in the driveway of the closed landfill’ faces.

Regular Wednesday Euchre starts September 26 and will continue to November 14. You can BYOP (bring your own partner), or find that perfect partner when you get there.

Steve Burrow, author of the immensely popular Birder Murder Mystery series, is coming to Manitoulin! Manitoulin Nature Club is hosting a lighthearted evening with the author on September 28th at St. Francis of Assisi church in Mindemoya. Mr. Burrows will be sharing his journey from bird watcher and award-winning nature journalist to murder mystery writer. The talk begins at 7:30 with light refreshments to follow. Contact Marcel for more information (mbeneteau@usudbury.ca or 705-282-8513).

If you plant chocolate kisses this fall, will you grow tulips in the spring? We’ll let you know in April. Have a great week!

September 14, 2018

The weather is getting a bit cooler these days. Team Fergmeijer appreciates the relief from the heat and humidity of August, but can’t help but have a small sigh of regret that we will soon lose the dulcet calls of the sandhill cranes. We’ll have to content ourselves with practicing our sandhill calls over the winter in order to be competitive for the annual coo-ing challenge next spring.

30+ dogs brought their humans out to play at the annual Bark in the Park last weekend. The crowds agreed that the highlight was definitely the demonstration by Mike Buckner (MNRF) and his new trainee, Echo. Fun was definitely had by all, both four- and two-legged.

Happy belated 29th birthday to Jamie M. Remember, real rockers don’t get old, they just scale down. Celebrating 29 years young on Tuesday is former Kagawong resident, Kevin Miller (and presumably his twin brother Ken, though he doesn’t have his birthday listed on Facebook so it’s possible Ken’s is a different day. Team Fergmeijer can only dig so deep for personal information before someone calls the OPP on us).

Harpist and Singer-Songwriter Martha Gallagher is playing a concert Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7:30pm at the Kagawong Park Center. Tickets are $20 and are available from Central Pharmacy in Gore Bay, or by contacting Jane at jane@bestsongs.ca.

Looking for a reason to dance? Kagawong Folk Roots will be playing at the Old Church on the Hill on September 29 at 7:00pm. Tickets are available at the door for $15, with proceeds going toward church renovations. According to local music aficionado Jamie Ward, “Come cut a rug, so we can replace it, yo!”

Two mice are chewing on a film reel. One turns to the other and says, “I think the book was better!” Speaking of books, just a reminder that the library has returned to regular winter hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 4pm-7pm, and Saturday from 10am-1pm.

They’re at it again! Kagawongians Mary Buie and Heather Theijsmeijer are donning pink and taking part in the CIBC Run for the Cure in Sudbury to raise money for breast cancer research. Interested in pledging toward the cause? Go to cibcrunforthecure.com and click “Donate!”

The next Euchre tournament is on September 19, 2018. All players are welcome - play starts at 7:30pm at the Park Centre. Regular Wednesday Euchre starts September 26 and will continue to November 14 provided attendance is reasonable.

Hunting season is just around the corner - Team Fergmeijer went out to buy some good camouflage clothing the other day, but no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t find any. Have a great week!

September 7, 2018

For all those students and teachers who were getting sick and tired of sleeping in and having nothing but time on your hands, we hope you had a fabulous first week of school! Team Fergmeijer had an EXCELLENT first day of school - for once, we were completely caught up on our marking!

Happy early birthday to Kim Bilbija who, even at the ripe old age of 29, is still a force to be reckoned with. Happy belated 29th, too, to Amy H. Though she isn’t actually a Kagawongian, secretly she really wants to be.

Keep up the summer exercise regime this fall by shaking a leg at Zumba! Join Casey at the Park Centre every Thursday starting on September 20th. Class starts at 7pm, no experience (or skill) is necessary.

The moment Fido has been waiting for all year has finally arrived! Bark in the Park is TOMORROW! The dog park in Kagawong will be overrun with dogs of all description as they play, run, sniff and mingle. This year the Rec committee is pleased to welcome Education Conservation Officer (MNRF) Mike Buckner and his new partner “Echo.” The fun starts at noon; parking is in the Old Church on the Hill parking lot to keep people and puppers safe around the park.

Did you hear about the M&M who went to school? He really wanted to be a Smartie.

They’re at it again! Kagawongians Mary Buie and Heather Theijsmeijer are donning pink and taking part in the CIBC Run for the Cure in Sudbury to raise money for breast cancer research. Interested in pledging toward the cause? Go to cibcrunforthecure.com and click “Donate!”

The ruler really is the king of school supplies.

The next Euchre tournament is on September 19, 2018. All players are welcome - play starts at 7:30pm at the Park Centre. Regular Wednesday Euchre starts September 26 and will continue to November 14 provided attendance is reasonable.

Summer may be on it’s way out, but it’s not time to hibernate, yet especially with some of the amazing performances coming up. Harpist and Singer-Songwriter Martha Gallagher is playing a concert Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7:30pm at the Kagawong Park Center. Tickets are $20 and are available from Central Pharmacy in Gore Bay, or by contacting Jane at jane@bestsongs.ca. Also, Kagawong Folk Roots will be playing at the Old Church on the Hill on September 29. According to local music aficionado Jamie Ward, “All the cool kids will be there, yo!”

As we close out this week’s column, have a bit of sympathy for all the students who have managed to get through their first week of school, and be patient if they grumble. Starting a new school year is exciting, true, but so is riding a rollercoaster and there aren’t too many of us who would want to do that for 10 months in a row, either. Have a great week!