January 25, 2019

It’s Tuesday night as Team Fergmeijer sits down to write this column and let us just say, it’s snow going plowing through all these winter puns. Every snow often we feel a bit ice-olated living on the Island in the winter, especially when the snow piles up, but we just have to tell ourselves that with great powder comes great responsibility. Frost things first, we bundled up all our best jokes and are slowly warming up to this week’s writing effort. You snow full well that with the severe cold weather this week, the snuggle is real. 

Frost and foremost, kudos to the 30+ men, women and children who braved the cold to come out for the Kagawong Women’s March last Saturday!  

Happy birthday to two fantastic women: Susie D and Jenna C. These crazy, wonderful women both turn 29 next week!

Snow you’re already feeling the winter blahs? Break out the plaid! Winterfest is coming to Kagawong! Come out Saturday, February 9 from 10am to 2pm at the Park Centre for all sorts of snowlesome wintry festivities! There will be lumberjack-themed games for the snowle family outside, as well as a warming station with coffee, tea, and the Snowflake Café canteen inside. Proudly sponsored by the Billings Recreation Snowmmittee.

Euchre Night in Kagawong lives! Every third Wednesday come out and try your luck in the monthly tournaments. There is al-snow a euchre tournament as part of Winterfest, beginning at 1:30pm at the Park Centre. Last week’s results are: 1st Place - Karen Noble & Myra Duncanson; 2nd Place - Bev Pickard & Sally Lanktree; 3rd Place - Fred Pickard & Jim Lanktree; Most Loners - Karen Noble & Myra Duncanson; Low Score - Diane Larocque & Candy Tracy; Door Prize - Chris Bigras.

 

Breaking news! Scientists have discovered what may be the world's largest bed sheet. More on this story as it unfolds.

Brad and Miranda McKay have been hard at work this past week finishing Phase 1 of the rejuvenation of the Old Church on the Hill! Thanks to their efforts, and to everyone’s donations at concerts throughout the summer, the venue now has a brand new stage. When asked for a comment, local live-music enthusiast Jamie Ward exclaimed, “I’m already looking forward to a new concert series there in the summer, yo!”

 

Ready to get a workout that keeps a smile on your face? Ready to listen to some awesome beats and shake what you got? Ready to scream and shout and let it all out? Zumba classes have returned! Every Thursday from 7-8pm at the Park Centre. Drop in rate is $10 per class, or pay the entire month at a time at a rate of $5 per class x the number of sessions in the month. Choose the plan that works for you!

Save the date! Manitoulin Secondary School is presenting The Mikado, featuring a number of local youth onstage and in the band, February 14-16. Don’t miss it!

For those of you who have been trying to convince us to write more wintry puns beware - you are going down a slippery slope! Have a great week!

January 18, 2019

One half of Team Fergmeijer has been doing a lot of house cleaning this past week. Unfortunately, we left the front door open, and the Roomba went right out! We can’t find it, and are quite worried for it. While it has no natural predators, everyone knows nature abhors a vacuum.

Feeling the winter blues? Come to the Cabin Fever Adult Games Night at the Park Centre tonight! Game time is from 7pm to 10pm; come with a team or bring a game buddy - teens welcome too! Bring some cash for the canteen for yummy homemade treats and beverages, and donations to the food bank will be gratefully accepted as well. Sponsored by the Billing Recreation Committee.

Tomorrow (January 19), the first annual Women's March takes place through the village of Kagawong. The mission of Women’s March is to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change. This event is not exclusive to women - all allies in the cause are welcome to join! The march begins at 11am outside the Main St. Café (but you can meet at the Park Centre at 9am for sign- making - bring your own materials) and ends at the Marina dock. Warm up in the Kagawong Park Centre afterward with coffee and tea. Feel free to bring finger foods or baked goods to share, but please keep it simple as there is no access to the kitchen.

A warm welcome home to MBB and Susie who have arrived back in town after galavanting across the globe. Everyone knows if you celebrate your birthday outside of town there’s no telling how old you might turn, so we are inclined to believe it’s no coincidence that these two returned to Kagawong just in time for Susie’s birthday next week. Either way, happiest of happy birthdays to you, Susie, on your 29th birthday!

Now that we’re back to work and a regular schedule, Team Fergmeijer has been re-evaluating our eating habits. We’ve finally managed to get over our addiction to chocolate, marshmallows, and nuts. We won’t lie - it was a rocky road.

Euchre Night in Kagawong runs every third Wednesday of the month, starting in January with regular tournaments.

Ready to get a workout that keeps a smile on your face? Ready to listen to some awesome beats and shake what you got? Ready to scream and shout and let it all out? Zumba classes have returned this week! Every Thursday from 7-8pm at the Park Centre. Drop in rate is $10 per class, or pay the entire month at a time at a rate of $5 per class x the number of sessions in the month. Choose the plan that works for you!

Save the date! Manitoulin Secondary School is presenting The Mikado, featuring a number of local youth, February 14-16. Don’t miss it!

Have you missed some of Team Fergmeijer’s columns? Are you new to the community and need to get caught up on the happenings over the last 3.5 years? Good news - we’ve been keeping an archive! Visit teamfergmeijer.blogspot.com for more Gobble Brigade antics, local news, and bad puns than you could ever want. 

You may have noticed a distinct lack of puns in our column lately. With all the cold weather lately, why don’t we tell more winter puns? Because the weather is snow joke. Have a great week!

January 11, 2019

Merry January! (‘Cause Merry Christmas is sooo last year).

We got a surprise snow day this past week and buses were cancelled - hope you were able to make like your favourite snowman and chill out! Team Fergmeijer couldn't find our scraper that morning and had to use a grocery store loyalty card to clear the ice from the windshield. It didn't work very well; it only got 10% off.

Congratulations to Aus Hunt on being named to the Order of Canada! It doesn’t get more Canadian than that, eh?

Many happy returns to John F. who turned 29 on the weekend. Also celebrating last week was Harrison N. Although he has not hit the big 29 yet, we are sure Harrison celebrated as only a 23 year old can. He probably had a third slice of cake and it didn’t faze his metabolism at all. 

The Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Sports is coming to the Island, and they want your participation! This is a great opportunity to establish some contacts and connections with the greater province. Show them that Manitoulin Island is a beautiful part of our province. The meeting is Monday, January 14, 2:00pm to 4:00pm at the Mindemoya Community Hall. Contact Kristina.Dejak@ontario.ca for more information.

Euchre Night in Kagawong is kicking off with regular tournaments running every third Wednesday starting on January 16th.

Save the date! Manitoulin Secondary School is presenting The Mikado, featuring a number of local youth, February 14-16. Don’t miss it!

Have you missed some of Team Fergmeijer’s columns? Are you new to the community and need to get caught up on the happenings over the last 3.5 years? Good news - we’ve been keeping an archive! Visit teamfergmeijer.blogspot.com for more Gobble Brigade antics, local news, and bad puns than you could ever want. 

Speaking of all this snow we’ve been getting, what did one snowman say to the other snowman? ...Do you smell carrots? Have a great week!