March 29, 2019

With the end of March comes the beginning of April. As we trade lions for lambs (and hopefully snow for daffodils), we hope everyone has a wonderful April Fool’s day on Tuesday!

At time of writing, the elusive sandhill crane has yet to be seen or heard, though a couple of Canada geese were spotted at Riverside on Tuesday, presumably on the hunt for french fries. The 2019 Great Billings Sandhill Crane Spotting Competition continues until we hear of the first sighting! If you see or hear these iconic critters in the fields or flying overhead, let us know (kagawong@live.ca). The first to notify us wins bragging rights for the next year and the official Sandhill Spotting trophy! 

Team Fergmeijer is sending healthy thoughts out to Denis this week as he recovers from what we can only assume is the plague. We appreciate the volunteers keeping our landfill going in his absence, but no one can truly replace Denis.

As self-appointed, self-important, unofficial, unrealistic, unauthorized, informal, insubstantial, uninvited, unauthenticated, uninformed, unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, unknown, unratified, unorthodox, unapproved, unlicensed, unsanctioned, undercover, underappreciated members of the new Rebranding Committee, Team Fergmeijer has launched a new contest to help rebrand the township: a limerick to represent the fabulousness that is Billings Township! We are still accepting submissions to kagawong@live.ca… be sure to get yours in! Sadly, nobody submitted one this week, so we pulled this one from the vault:

When Kagawong events transpire,

Or an update on gossip, you require:

We report on what’s new

And most of it’s true!

We are, yours truly, Fergmeijer!

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

As you know, the de-moulding process at the Old Mill has been taking longer than expected, and no date of completion has been determined. In order to free up the Park Centre, the township office staff has agreed to relocate to the colourful cabanas until further notice. Deputy clerk Megan Bonenfant was quite pleased, saying, “I always wanted my own office!” Mayor Ian Anderson, with an executive order, claimed the yellow one for his own before anyone else could call dibs. “It’s always been my favourite colour,” he said. Move-in date is scheduled for April 1. 

Of importance to all Kagawongians, a petition is making its way through the township, requesting a name change for the town. The anonymous creator of the petition, known only as MBB, feels that the village name should be more closely tied to the geographic location along Mudge Bay. The petition suggests the village be renamed Mudge. A second petition, acknowledging that the geographical location is just as important as the historical name of Kagawong, proposes a combination of the two: Mudgewong. A referendum ballot is scheduled for Tuesday, April 1; stop by the purple cabana that day to vote.

Two local cooking enthusiasts have recently announced they are writing a new cookbook. This newest effort is a follow-up to their as-yet-unpublished (and incomplete) debut effort titled, “Soy Tubes and Yuck Patties.” You can look for their sophomore effort, “Chocolate-Covered Failure” to be in bookstores April 1, 2027. You can also look on Youtube for their cooking channel “Cooking with Jill and Heather” (but since they have yet to post anything you might not find them). 

Have a great week!

March 22, 2019

The 2019 Great Billings Sandhill Crane Spotting Competition has officially started! If you see or hear these iconic critters in the fields or flying overhead, let us know. The first to notify us wins bragging rights for the next year! There’s even talk of a trophy...

As self-appointed, unofficial, unauthorized, informal, insubstantial, uninvited, unauthenticated, unsubstantiated uncorroborated, unratified, unorthodox, unapproved, unlicensed, unsanctioned members of the new Rebranding Committee, Team Fergmeijer has launched a new contest to help rebrand the township: a limerick to represent the fabulousness that is Billings Township! We are still accepting submissions to kagawong@live.ca… be sure to get yours in! Submitted by the Kagawong Gobble Brigade:

When I think of an animal that’s quirky,

Yet stately, highfalutin’, and perky,

Out by the hill, 

They never stand still!

I speak of the noble wild turkey.

Submitted by an anonymous reader (though there was a suspicious chocolatey smudge on one corner of the email):

Unique things in Kagawong? Please!

We’ve streets that are named after trees.  

Our mascot is Plucky;

The turkeys are clucky!

And the First Lady of Chocolate is Louise. 

Today is the last day to sign up for the MBA 2019 Basketball Association. Leagues available for Junior (grades 1-4) and Intermediate (grades 5-8) players, starting the week of April 1. Contact manitoulinsports@gmail.com for more information, or search Manitoulin Basketball Association on Facebook

Happy birthday to Sharon J who celebrates the tenth anniversary of her 19th birthday today. 

The MSS Music Program, led by Chris Theijsmeijer, is having a Roast Beef Dinner & Dance fundraiser at the Burpee-Mills complex tomorrow night (Saturday, March 23) at 6pm. Music students will be performing after the meal, and you’ll be able to dance the night away to the toe-tapping tunes of Missy and the Speed Wobbles. Tickets are $20 per person, and are available by calling 705 968-0404, or at the door.

Do you have photographs from any decade for St. Paul's on the Hill? The search is on in order to create a photo collage with a written history of St. Paul's for display at the church. Photos can be of any event wedding, christening, youth group, UCW. Your original photos will be returned. Drop us a line if you have any you would like to share, or contact Deb Flaxman directly.

The Township of Billings is currently seeking members for the new Lake Kagawong Resource Committee. The committee is looking for seven (7) members of the public representing permanent and seasonal residents as well as the local business community. The committee terms of reference are available on the public documents page of the township website. If you are interested in this volunteer position and are an eligible elector in the township, please submit a letter outlining your qualifications to Kathy McDonald at kmcdonald@billingstwp.ca. The deadline for applications is March 26, 2019.

Have a great week!

March 15, 2019

It’s St. Patrick’s Day this weekend! Remember, if you are lucky enough to be Irish, you are lucky enough. For those of us who aren’t Irish, we can pretend. (It’s okay, we pretend we’re good on Christmas, don’t we?)

We are formally announcing the official opening of the 2019 Great Billings Sandhill O’Crane Spotting Competition! If you see or hear these iconic critters in the fields or flying overhead, let us know. The first to notify us wins bragging rights for the next year! There’s even talk of a trophy...

As self-appointed, unofficial, unauthorized, uninvited, unwarranted, unapproved, unlicensed, unsanctioned members of the new Rebranding Committee, Team O’Fergmeijer has launched a new contest to help rebrand the township: a limerick to represent the fabulousness that is Billings Township! We have been fielding submissions all week, and are still accepting submissions to kagawong@live.ca. Here is one of the standout entries, submitted by Willa O’W:

Team Fergmeijer’s contest is sticky

I’ll think whilst I drink a lime rickey

Kagawong is superlative

The Falls? No alternative

Have you noticed? We’re getting quite lim’ricky.

The MSS Music Program, led by Chris O’Theijsmeijer, is having a Roast Beef Dinner & Dance fundraiser at the Burpee-Mills complex Saturday, March 23 at 6pm. Music students will be performing after the meal, and you’ll be able to dance the night away to the toe-tapping tunes of Missy and the Speed Wobbles. Tickets are $20 per person, and are available by calling 705 968-0404, or at the door.

If you cross a four leaf clover with poison ivy, do you get a rash of good luck?

Do you have photographs from any decade for St. Paul's on the O’Hill? The search is on in order to create a photo collage with a written history of St. Paul's for display at the church. Photos can be of any event wedding, christening, youth group, UCW. Your original photos will be returned. Drop us a line if you have any you would like to share, or contact Deb O’Flaxman directly.

The Township of O’Billings is currently seeking members for the new Lake O’Kagawong Resource Committee. The committee is looking for seven (7) members of the public representing permanent and seasonal residents as well as the local business community. The committee terms of reference are available on the public documents page of the township website. If you are interested in this volunteer position and are an eligible elector in the township, please submit a letter outlining your qualifications to Kathy O’McDonald at kmcdonald@billingstwp.ca. The deadline for applications is March 26, 2019.

Mayor Ian O’Anderson would like to remind you that council passed an updated by-law to regulate the parking of motor vehicles on, and the obstruction of, municipal roads. No overnight parking (10:00 p.m. – 8:00 a.m.) on any township road or right-of-way from October 1-April 30; No daytime parking on any township road or right-of-way when the road has not yet been plowed; No obstructing township roads at any time with any object or material (e.g., snow pushed into or across the road from a driveway) Failure to follow these regulations may lead to your vehicle being towed, cost-recovery for township expenses and a $200.00 fine.

Your favourite journalistic duo is taking it easy on St. Patrick’s Day this year. Last year we had a few too many and ended up taking a bus home. Sure, sure, it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but neither one of us had ever driven a bus before. 

March 8, 2019

That collective sigh you heard this afternoon was the mingling sighs of students excited for a solid week of holidays and those of parents bracing themselves for a solid week of trying to entertain the little ones at home over March break. 

If daylight savings time messes up our sense of time of day, all this snow really messes with our sense of time of year. We went back into the archives and realized that this time last year we had launched the Sandhill Crane competition! We almost missed the start of this annual spring competition. You know, because of the 5 feet of snow on the ground and more falling from the sky. Not that we’re bitter or anything. But we digress. 

We are formally announcing the official opening of the 2019 Great Billings Sandhill Crane Spotting Competition! If you see or hear these iconic critters in the fields or flying overhead, let us know. The first to notify us wins bragging rights for the next year! Competition is fierce among the locals with long-standing rivalries cropping up even during good natured Christmas concerts. 

As self-appointed, unofficial, unauthorized members of the new Rebranding Committee, Team Fergmeijer has launched a new contest to help rebrand the township: a limerick to represent the fabulousness that is Billings Township! We have been virtually flooded with submissions already, but are still accepting submissions to kagawong@live.ca. Some of our favourite ditties so far:

There once was a town small and quaint,

Where hustle and bustle, there ain’t.

There’s friendly folks and good fun,

Also meatloaf on a bun,

And Turkeys are the patron saint! 

Speaking of the Billings Sandhill Crane competition...

One spring, just after the thaw - 

You’ll never guess what they saw!

The coo of the crane,

Peter and Willa could name:

CAAAWWCAAAAWWWCAAAAAAWWWWW

This last one, just signed “JW,” aptly describes Billings this past winter:

I’m getting so sick of this snow

I honestly wish it would go!

Shoveling’s the pits...

I’ve gone through eight pairs of mitts!

I want summer’s heat and sand, yo!

A reminder that council passed an updated by-law to regulate the parking of motor vehicles on, and the obstruction of, municipal roads. No overnight parking (10:00 p.m. – 8:00 a.m.) on any township road or right-of-way from October 1-April 30; No daytime parking on any township road or right-of-way when the road has not yet been plowed; No obstructing township roads at any time with any object or material (e.g., snow pushed into or across the road from a driveway) Failure to follow these regulations may lead to your vehicle being towed, cost-recovery for township expenses and a $200.00 fine.

Don’t forget! Clocks move one hour ahead this weekend. Last year at this time, Team Fergmeijer went to a rally to protest and boycott daylight savings time. Unfortunately, we showed up an hour late…Have a great week!

March 1, 2019

We hope that everyone weathered the weather and the power outages this past week. Team Fergmeijer fared just fine and didn’t get too cold. Finally all those years of getting coal in our stockings at Christmas is paying off! It could have been much worse - last time Team Fergmeijer was at the mall, the power went out, and we were stuck on escalator for four hours!

Seriously though, hats off to the Hydro crews who worked around the clock to get power restored to the island after this week’s blizzard. 

Happy 29th birthday goes out to Sandi H. We hope you get to rest up on your big day before you have to gear up for a heck of a busy spring and summer season. 

Billings Town Council has recently established a Rebranding Committee. As self-appointed, unofficial, ex-officio members, Team Fergmeijer is launching a new contest to help rebrand the township: a limerick will do the trick! Submit a limerick praising the virtues of our community to kagawong@live.ca to have your ode to the village published right here in this very column.

The results are in for February’s euchre tournament as reported by the organizers: first place, Brad Parkinson & Bill Traynor with Mike & Susan Arbour coming in a close second. Karen Noble & Myra Duncanson were third, and Chris Bigras & Dorothy Antoine / Jim Lanktree & Fred Pickard tying for fourth. Most Loners went to Brad Parkinson & Bill Traynor, while low score went to Donna Vanhorne & Eva. The door prize was won by Myra Duncanson. Brad Parkinson & Bill Traynor generously donated back their winnings. 

Speaking of competitions, believe it or not, the sandhill crane competition is a mere month away. Who will be the first to hear the melodious coo of the first sandhill cranes to return to Kagawong? We’re just estimating that timeline for launching the competition. The way the weather’s been this winter, we’re not convinced that any crane in their right mind will be coming out any time soon.

The next Museum Committee Meeting will be held on Monday March 4, at 7pm, at St.John's Anglican Church Hall. Members of the public are welcome.

We had a friend who was in the pharmacy to get the flu vaccine when the power went out. She didn’t call ahead and wasn’t sure she’d be able to get the needle. It ended up being a shot in the dark.

Council for the Township of Billings passed an updated by-law to regulate the parking of motor vehicles on, and the obstruction of, municipal roads on February 19, 2019. Please note the following restrictions are now in effect:

No overnight parking (10:00 p.m. – 8:00 a.m.) on any township road or right-of-way from October 1-April 30;

No daytime parking on any township road or right-of-way when it is obvious that the road has not yet been plowed;

No obstructing township roads at any time with any object or material (e.g., snow pushed into or across the road from a driveway)

Failure to follow these regulations may lead to your vehicle being towed, cost-recovery for township expenses and a $200.00 fine.

Next week, don’t forget to march forth and celebrate the only day of the year that is also a verb! Have a great week!