November 29, 2019

Congratulations to the Kagawong Scarecrow Hunt winners! Alec & Mack Mills of Kagawong, and Brett Denning of Echo Bay found all 13. Well done! 

A reminder that the Kagawong Mall has switched to winter hours. Saturday and Sunday stay the same (10am-6pm and 1pm-6pm respectively), but the opening hours for Tuesdays and Thursdays have changed and are now 2:30pm - 6:30pm in order to take advantage of as much daylight as possible. Of course, no one tells us anything, so we are just assuming it will be the same as last year at this time.

Up for a little Song and Cider? The Manitoulin Community Choir’s annual winter concert will be held in Gore Bay this year, instead of in Kagawong. Stop in at the Gore Bay Community Hall tomorrow (November 30) at 7:30pm for a great evening of music. And cider! 

Don’t forget! There will be a Climate Action Open House hosted by the township on Wednesday, December 4th at 7pm in the Park Centre. All are welcome.

Last Wednesday we had 6 tables of players come out for euchre night in Kagawong! High score went to Bill & Rita; second went to Cathy & Eva; third was Mike & Susan; fourth was Ann & Sally. Bill & Rita had the most lone hands, and the low score went to Doris & Elva. The very special prize was won by Eva. The next euchre tournament will be held January 15th in the Park Centre. 

On Thursday, December 5, come out to the high school to hear students from around the island perform in the annual MSS Christmas Concert! In addition to the high school students singing and playing instruments, students from C.C. McLean, Central Manitoulin, and Lakeview will also be performing. Admission is by donation at the door, and the concert starts at 7pm. See you there!

Only one week away! The Kagawong Community Christmas concert is set for Saturday, December 7th. We have a full slate of performers (though more are always welcome! Contact MBB at willismjc@coomes.ca). Admission is by cash donation with all funds going to the local library and the Heritage Centre. Rumour has it there will be chances to bid on great prizes, too!

And if all that doesn’t get you into the Christmas spirit, The Island Singers are having their Christmas concert Saturday, December 14 at the Little Current United Church, and Sunday, December 15 at the Mindemoya Missionary Church! Both concerts are at 3pm; tickets ($10 per person or $20 per family) are available from any choir member.

With all these musical events, Team Fergmeijer thought it might be appropriate to tell some musical jokes (noteworthy puns, after all, are our forte!). We wanted to tell one about a staccato, but it was too short. And we wanted to tell one about a fermata, but it was too long. In the end, we thought maybe we could make a suggestion for how to fix a broken tuba. It’s easy, really, just get a big tuba glue.

As a follow-up on a recent story, you may remember reading about the alpacas and donkeys up at Cookilburrow. Well, apparently the alpacas, in order to separate themselves from the donkeys, have decided to form a choir. We’ve heard them sing - they’re pretty good! They don’t even need any accompaniment: they’re an alpacapella choir. Have a great week!

November 22, 2019

Deer season is upon us! We hope everyone has had a successful and safe rifle season. Team Fergmeijer was talking to some local hunters this past week, and they offered up tips and tricks to make sure you’re not “tagged” this hunting season. 1) Dressing up for Christmas? Don’t break out the festive reindeer headbands until AFTER November 25. 2) Feeling a little peckish? Don’t be tempted by that big pile of free apples over there in that field. Better to splurge on fruit from Bridal Veil Variety. 3) Prefer salty snacks? Nice try, but that giant salt lick isn’t for you. Try some sea salt caramel from Chocolate Works instead! 4) When kneeling down to examine tracks, make sure to keep an eye out for the train. 

The village was a-hustlin’ and a-bustlin’ this past weekend at Christmas in Kagawong. Collectively, we must have all been pretty good this year as Santa himself even showed up on Sunday! Thanks to all the vendors and visitors for making this past weekend so festive!

Happy birthday to Justin C who celebrated a monumental 29th birthday last week with his inaugural visit to the island. Nora U is also celebrating the big 2-9 - alles gute zum geburtstag!

On the hunt for Song and Cider? The Manitoulin Community Choir’s annual winter concert will be held in Gore Bay this year, instead of in Kagawong. Stop in at the Gore Bay Community Hall on Saturday, November 30 at 7:30pm for a great evening of music. And cider! If you can’t make it on Saturday, the open dress rehearsal is Wednesday, November 27 at 7:15pm.

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. All are welcome.

The Kagawong Community Christmas concert is set for Saturday, December 7th. We’re looking for skits, songs, poems, interpretive dance… anything you’d like to share! Contact MBB at willismjc@coomes.ca  And let’s be real, the talent part is genuinely optional, just look at the regular hosts. Remember, the more acts we have, the less time the hosts have to ‘entertain’ the crowd with their ‘jokes.’ Admission is by cash donation with all funds going to the local library and the Heritage Centre. Rumour has it there will be chances to win great prizes, too!

As many of our readers know, Team Fergmeijer is awfully fawn’d of puns. We often rack our brains to come up with ones in season. Not all the pun ideers are ours, though. Sometimes we buck the trend and ask our deer friends for help. When local ruminant-enthusiast Jamie Ward was asked about this time of year, he said “my favourite game to hunt is chocolate chip cookie doe, yo.” Have a great week!

November 15, 2019

In an effort at reversing this unseasonable cold snap, MBB hosted a select group of locals for an impressive bonfire, melting a good portion of the snow and ice in his backyard. Like the good Brit he is, MBB and friends lit the Guy and celebrated nothing happening on November 5th a long time ago. Susie provided an excellent spread as per usual, and didn’t get mad when someone (certainly not one of yours truly) may or may not have started in on the chili a bit early. In related news, MBB launched his own clothing line last weekend. In hindsight, he probably shouldn’t have lit the fireworks so close to the laundry. 

Speaking of the cold, we hope you can read this column. It's hard to understand a message when it's typed while wearing three pairs of heavy woollen mittens.

Happy birthday to the inimitable Mary B who turns 29 on Monday. We are confident her fun with sparklers at Guy Fawkes was just the tip of the iceberg of the fun she and the family have planned for this big day!

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. All are welcome.

Did we mention it was cold this past week? One half of Team Fergmeijer needed a local anesthetic for a dental procedure on Monday, and was told by the dentist to just stick her face outside the window for a few minutes!

The most Christmasy weekend in Kagawong is here! Stop by the Park Centre today (November 15th, 4pm - 8pm), tomorrow (November 16th, 10am - 4pm), and November 17th (11am - 3pm)  and check out all the vendors and festivities. The jolly old gentleman himself might even make an appearance on Sunday! While you are out and about that weekend, be sure to stop in at St. John’s Anglican church to see their fantastic angel display, pick up a little something from their bake sale and gift tables. They will have their famous mulled cider and activities for the kids available as well! Make the Christmas shopping trifecta complete by stopping over in M’Chigeeng at the high school craft fair, too!

Have a talent? Have no talent, but are comfortable performing in front of a crowd anyway? Sign up for the Kagawong Community Christmas concert! This year’s community Christmas concert is set for Saturday, December 7th. We’re looking for skits, songs, poems, interpretive dance… anything you’d like to share! Contact MBB at willismjc@coomes.ca  And let’s be real, the talent part is genuinely optional, just look at the regular hosts. Admission is by cash donation with all funds going to the local library and the Heritage Centre. Rumour has it there will be chances to win great prizes, too!

How cold was it this past week? Kids at school have started using flannel notebooks! Sorry, that’s not true. We’re just trying to tell outrageous lies so that our pants will catch on fire and warm us up. Have a great week!

November 8, 2019

Team Fergmeijer believes in setting goals for ourselves and this fall we decided to learn french. We thought we were starting easy with how to count in french, but it’s been pretty tough. At one point we 5 to our knees in frustration. Seriously, it was so bad we were ready to 7 our textbooks on fire. We’d had just about e9, but then realized that we were starting to understand what the passage 16. Turns out 10 isn’t so difficult after all! Of course the real trajeudi is that next week we are starting to learn the days of the week. 

Happy birthday to Rachel M who turns 29 this weekend. She’s also known as The Cute One (for obvious reasons). Also turning 29 is Jody K. We’re not sure what she’ll be doing to celebrate but it’s probably outside and decorated with pink!

Monday is Remembrance day and Kagawong will have its annual service at 11am in the Park Centre. There will be no potluck this year, but there will be a silver collection.

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. All are welcome.

You better watch out… and you better not cry! Christmas in Kagawong is right around the corner! Stop by the Park Centre November 15th (4pm - 8pm), November 16th (10am - 4pm), and November 17th (11am - 3pm) and check out all the vendors and festivities. The jolly old gentleman himself might even make an appearance! While you are out and about that weekend, be sure to stop in at St. John’s Anglican church to see their fantastic angel display, pick up a little something from their bake sale and gift tables. They will have their famous mulled cider and activities for the kids available as well!

Have a talent? Have no talent, but are comfortable performing in front of a crowd anyway? Sign up for the Kagawong Community Christmas concert! This year’s community Christmas concert is set for Saturday, December 7th. We’re looking for skits, songs, poems, interpretive dance… anything you’d like to share! Contact MBB at willismjc@coomes.ca   And let’s be real, the talent part is genuinely optional, just look at the regular hosts.

Because the renovations at the Old Mill has the town office in the downstairs of the Park Centre (where both groups would normally hold fundraisers during Christmas in Kagawong) the annual fundraisers for both of these worthy organizations have been put on hold until next year. So, this year’s community Christmas concert will raise funds that will be split between the Billings Library and the Heritage Centre. 

The library would like to offer their heart-felt thanks to Tizzy who donated a large variety of hand-knit hats and scarves. Her beautiful (and warm) creations are available for purchase in the library with all proceeds going to support library initiatives!

We noticed that Ted and Sandy seem to be working on some secret (probably government-funded!) genetic engineering project up on the hill these days. Don’t think we didn’t notice the addition of donkeys to the herd of alpacas. What do you suppose one would call such a mix? Alponkeys? Donpacas? Regardless, we look forward to socks woven from the softest donpaca fur for Christmas!

Have a great week!

November 1, 2019

It’s hard to believe October is Octover. Sadly, that means Novembrrrrrr is officially here. 

Team Fergmeijer knows how much you love our puns, and we had quite a few lined up for Hallowe’en. Some of our skeleton ones are pretty humerus. We have some vampire puns too, but they suck. And our autumn ones will certainly leaf you smiling. 

We can’t wait for Sunday morning - an extra hour of sleep due to changing our clocks back, and no alarm clock to go off due to the power outage! That’s right - there will be an island-wide power outage on November 3rd from 8am until 2pm. Stay warm!

Happy birthday to Gail L. It’s hard to believe such a tiny frame can support a whole 29 years, but she does it with style!

The municipal office has made the big move to the Park Centre and is back to their regular hours: Monday - Thursday: 8:30am - 4:00pm; Friday: 8:30am - 12:00pm. A little birdie told Team Fergmeijer that someone at the town office has been looking into purchasing a small (perhaps cabana-sized?) fireplace. We’ll let you draw your own conclusions about the who and the why of that one.

Did you hear about the man who unsuccessfully sued the airline for misplacing his luggage? He lost his case.

Congratulations to the Billings Go Green Committee on their Waste Reduction Week activities last week. Still 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.

Christmas in Kagawong is right around the corner! Stop by the Park Centre November 15th - 17th and check out all the vendors and festivities. The jolly old gentleman himself might even make an appearance!

This year’s community Christmas concert is booked for Saturday, December 7th. Have a talent? We’re looking for skits, songs, poems, interpretive dance… anything you’d like to share! And to be honest, talent is optional. Contact MBB at willismjc@coomes.ca  

Because the renovations at the Old Mill has the town office in the downstairs of the Park Centre (where both groups would normally hold fundraisers during Christmas in Kagawong) the annual fundraisers for both of these worthy organizations have been put on hold until next year. 

So, this year’s community Christmas concert will raise funds that will be split between the Billings Library and the Heritage Centre. 

With the arrival of November, Team Fergmeijer has started thinking about Christmas presents for family. For our uncle, the music lover, we found a very rare, unreleased rap song by Gershwin. It’s a double CD and has beautiful sapphire cover art. He’s going to love Gershwin’s rap CDs in blue. 

Have a great week!