October 25, 2019

Hallowe’en is just around the corner! You might be wondering why a couple of witches like Team Fergmeijer don’t like to ride their brooms when they’re angry? Because they’re afraid they might fly off the handle.

The scarecrow hunt is on for a few more days! Pick up an entry form at Bare Naked Beauty or Bridal Veil Variety, and then track down as many scarecrows in town as you can between now and October 31st. Entries with the most scarecrows identified will get a prize. Be careful… there are some tricky ones out there!

The weather has been a bit wild this week. Tuesday was so windy, we went for a walk in an orchard and got caught in an apple-lanche! 

Happy birthday to wild thing Rachel B who celebrated the big 2-9 just yesterday. Miss Meranda N is not yet at the ripe old age of 29, but she’s working really hard to get there. She’ll be celebrating on Tuesday. Happy birthday to you both!

The municipal office was closed for a few days this week for the move to the lower level of the Park Centre, at 39 Henry Drive. Things should be all set up and ready to go, and the office is back to their usual hours of Monday - Thursday: 8:30am - 4:00pm; Friday: 8:30am - 12:00pm. We heard Mayor Anderson was disappointed not to get the yellow cabana again, but they couldn’t find an extension cord long enough for him to run the space heater in there. 

This week is Waste Reduction Week! Last night, St. John’s Anglican Church, in partnership with the Billings Go Green Committee presented: A Plastic Ocean, an important film about our oceans. And tomorrow (October 26), be sure to check out Junk in the Trunk! If you have gently used clothing, books, household appliances, or furniture you no longer need, bring your “junk” to sell, swap or give away! 10am - noon at the Market Pavillion on Old Mill Road. For more information, call Sharon at 705-348-2722.

Got climate change on the brain? The Township of Billings has hired a Climate Change Coordinator to facilitate the development of a Climate Action Plan. This plan will outline strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions both on a corporate and community level. Please call the municipal office or contact Kristin Koetsier at centralcc@eastlink.ca if you would like to be involved.

There will also be a Climate Action Open House hosted by the township on Wednesday, December 4th at 7pm in the Park Centre.

24 players attended the monthly euchre tournament last week, with some folks coming from as far away as Meldrum Bay to join the regulars and local folks. Results for the night were: High score 74 Doris & Elva; Second 72 Mike & Susan; Third 69 Karen & Myra; Fourth 68 Fred & Jim; Most lone hands (4 way tie) 5 Kal & Lilly; Low score 58 (2 way tie) Bill & Brad and Donna & Eva; Special prize Myra. Special thanks to Pat and Elva for your help! The next tournament is on Wednesday, November 20 at 7:30 pm. Please note tables will be set up on the upper level at the Park Centre for the next several months.

Team Fergmeijer took part in a pumpkin carving competition earlier this week. We aren’t sure why we didn’t win. Our jack-o-lantern was gourdgeous!

Don’t forget! There will be an island-wide power outage on November 3rd from 8am until 2pm. We plan to put this power outage to excellent use. By napping.

It is never too early to start planning for the holidays! Christmas in Kagawong is November 15th - 17th with vendors all three days. In addition, this year’s community concert is booked for Saturday December 7th. Mark both events on your calendar!

Have a great week and a faboolous Hallowe’en!

October 18, 2019

With all the extra visitors to Kagawong this past weekend - including a film crew at the falls last Friday! - Team Fergmeijer couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw a guy trying to walk his pet cheetah. The cheetah was having none of it and refused to go anywhere no matter how much the guy hauled on the leash. We thought, that guy’s trying to pull a fast one!

The scarecrow hunt is on! Pick up an entry form at Bare Naked Beauty or Bridal Veil Variety, and then track down as many scarecrows in town as you can between now and October 31st. Entries with the most scarecrows identified will get a prize!

Happy birthday to Ken F this week. He’s not from Kagawong, so there’s no telling how old he’s turning, but he has many Kagawong connections and never misses an edition of Team Fergmeijer!

In addition to birthdays, we have several weddings to celebrate! Congratulations go out to Brianna and Neil who tied the knot just last week. Eric and Robin celebrated last month right in town at the Riverbend stage! Maddy and Justin took the plunge last week, and while not technically local, we know they want to be pretty badly, so we’ll give it to them just this once. 

Waste Reduction Week is October 21-27, and there are several events around the township worth checking out! To start, St. John’s Anglican Church, in partnership with the Billings Go Green Committee presents: A Plastic Ocean, an important film about our oceans. Thursday, October 24th at 7pm at St. John’s - admission is free and refreshments will be available. All welcome!

And then on Saturday, October 26th, be sure to check out Junk in the Trunk! If you have gently used clothing, books, household appliances, or furniture you no longer need, bring your “junk” to sell, swap or give away! 10am - noon at the Market Pavillion on Old Mill Road. For more information, call Sharon at 705-348-2722.

Team Fergmeijer had started putting things aside for the Junk in the Trunk event, including an old limbo stick. But wouldn’t you know it, someone broke into their garage and stole it! Seriously, how low can you go?!

Conspiracy, manipulation and trickery? No, we’re not talking about a new political scandal; we’re talking about... Café Murder! Join the MSS Musical Theatre program students, staff and alumni Oct. 25 & Oct. 26th for an evening of interactive, mystery dinner theatre! Dinner service begins 6:30pm at MSS (includes lasagna dinner with sides, drinks, and dessert, as well as laughter, mayhem, and just a dash of murder). $25 per person, admission by reservation only. To get on the guest list contact Yana Bauer (bauery@rscloud.ca), or call 705-348-2340. All funds raised support the Manitoulin Secondary School Musical Theatre program’s 2020 production.

Speaking of CURRENT events… there will be an island-wide power outage on November 3rd from 8am until 2pm. Since this happens every year at around this time, this news should not come as a shock to you.

It is never too early to start planning for the holidays! Christmas in Kagawong is November 15th - 17th with vendors all three days. In addition, this year’s community concert is booked for Saturday December 7th. Mark both events on your calendar!

We haven’t seen much of the sun lately, so Team Fergmeijer has been obsessing about it over the last week or so. We’ve had some deep thoughts on the issue. For instance, does the sun go to university to get brighter? Or does it not bother, since it already has, like, 28 million degrees? Have a great week!

October 11, 2019

The season has definitely made the switch from summer to autumn, and it’s time to get all of those outdoor jobs done before we settle in for a nice cozy winter in front of the fireplace. Team Fergmeijer had a big old maple tree, a bit too close to the house for comfort. We decided that it needed to be cut down last weekend, and hired a couple of scarecrows to take care of it. They put in a good effort, but in the end couldn’t do it. Turned out to be a tree man job. 

It’s October… which means the scarecrow hunt is on! Pick up an entry form at Bare Naked Beauty or Bridal Veil Variety, and then track down as many scarecrows in town as you can between now and Oct. 31. Entries with the most scarecrows identified will get a prize!

The Nobel Prize Laureates were announced this week. One of the winners was a scarecrow from out Grandor way. Why did he win the Nobel Prize? Because he was outstanding in his field. When asked about it, the humble scarecrow said “This job isn’t for everyone, but hay… it’s in my jeans. And I get a good celery”

Happy belated birthday to Leith W. He’s got a long way to go before he hits 29, but we hope he had a great day anyway!

Mary and Heather would like to thank everyone who supported them as they raised money for the CIBC Run for the Cure last Sunday. At final tally, they raised over $2600 between them, and were both in the top ten of all fundraisers for Sudbury. 

Team Fergmeijer went out for supper with a scarecrow the other night, but he didn’t eat very much… he said he was already stuffed.

Speaking of CURRENT events… there will be an island-wide power outage on November 3rd from 8am until 2pm. Since this happens every year at around this time, this news should not come as a shock to you.

Conspiracy, manipulation and trickery? No, we’re not talking about the upcoming election, we’re talking about... Café Murder! Join the MSS Musical Theatre program students, staff and alumni Oct. 25 & Oct. 26th for an evening of interactive, mystery dinner theatre! Dinner service begins 6:30pm at MSS (includes lasagna dinner with sides, drinks, and dessert, as well as laughter, mayhem, and murder). $25 per person, admission by reservation only. To get on the guest list contact Yana Bauer (bauery@rscloud.ca), or call 705-348-2340. All funds raised support the Manitoulin Secondary School Musical Theatre program’s 2020 production.

It is never too early to start planning for Christmas - this year’s community concert is booked for Saturday December 7th. Mark it on your calendar!

A visitor from Tehkummah was laughing at one of the Kagawong scarecrows, saying it was fat. It wasn’t really, just a little husky. We hope you enjoyed this week’s column. We don’t always make scarecrow puns, but when we do, they’re a-maize-ingly corny. Have a great week!

October 4, 2019

Happy Friday everyone! Or Saturday, if you didn’t get the paper until late. Or Sunday (possibly Monday) if you are our Manitoulin Mom who tends to let the papers pile up before reading them all at once. Whatever day it is for you, we hope it’s a good one!

Our first news bit of the column is about all the music that was in the village last weekend and we wanted to include some music puns, but there are just too many to choose from! Composer puns are especially popular, (like the one about the string quartet who couldn’t find their composer because he was Haydn). We started to make a Liszt of them, but quickly got overwhelmed. There was one piece of DIY advice we came across that was helpful: If you ever have to fix a broken brass instrument, just reach for a tuba glue.  

If you found yourself in Kagawong last weekend, chances are you heard music emanating from the Park Centre or the Old Church on the Hill! Special thanks to the 4elements Board and volunteers for an amazing Elemental Festival. From opera to celtic music, acoustic guitar to 8-part harmony, and workshops for all ages and interests, this festival had it all! We already can’t wait for next year.

Did you know? When going out for a dance, snails wear escargogo boots. Break out YOUR escargogo boots, and get ready to shake a leg tomorrow night! Come on out for the Fall n’ Angels dance fundraiser at the Burpee-Mills Community Hall from 8pm - midnight. Featuring Paul Best’s new band, tickets for this age of majority event are $15 at the door, which includes a silent auction. 

Happy belated birthday to John B who turned 29 last week. You can’t fool us with that phony Facebook birthday date of January 1st! Also celebrating another circle around the sun is Mark K. Though Mark doesn’t live in Kagawong, so there’s no telling how old he is at this point. 

It’s October… which means the scarecrow hunt is on! Pick up an entry form at Bare Naked Beauty or Bridal Veil Variety, and then track down as many scarecrows in town as you can between now and Oct. 31. Entries with the most scarecrows named will get a prize!

Conspiracy, manipulation and trickery? No, we’re not talking about the recent actions of world leaders, we’re talking about... Café Murder! Join the MSS Musical Theatre program students, staff and alumni Oct. 25 & Oct. 26th for an evening of interactive, mystery dinner theatre! Dinner service begins 6:30pm at MSS (includes lasagna dinner with sides, drinks, and dessert, as well as laughter, mayhem, and murder). $25 per person, admission by reservation only. To get on the guest list contact Yana Bauer (bauery@rscloud.ca), or call 705-348-2340. All funds raised support the Manitoulin Secondary School Musical Theatre program’s 2020 production.

Mary and Heather would like to thank everyone who supported them as they raised money for the CIBC Run for the Cure. At time of writing, they are both still in the top five of all fundraisers for Sudbury, with just over $2000 raised between them! If you are interested in donating before the run on Sunday, search for “CIBC Run for the Cure” in your favourite browser, and search for either of their names to sponsor them. 

Team Fergmeijer is considering a new “Haweater” line of Valentine’s Day cards. Here is our short list of romantic slogans, courtesy of some online friends: 

I love you so much that...

I would cross the bridge onto the Island at 5pm on the Friday of Powwow weekend for you. 

I would stay open on a Monday for you!

I’d go to Bridal Veil Falls on any day in the summer for you.

I’d take the Chi-Cheemaun on the stormiest day of the year for you!

I’d sit waiting for the bridge to swing on the hour for you.

I would go grocery shopping on the Friday of Haweater for you.

Now THAT’S love!! - have a great week!