January 31, 2020

After Team Fergmeijer’s exposé last week on which animals we can legally keep as pets in Billings, we’ve received a number of name suggestions for the newly-formed Billings Pigeon Club (BPC), including the Bridal Veil Pigeons, Where Wings Rise Over Falling Waters, and the Smidgen of Pigeon Religion. Doves of Retired Kagawongians (DORK) and Pigeons of Retired Kagawongians (PORK) also both came with strong recommendations. Perhaps our favourite, with a solid nod to the new town slogan, is “Come Experience... Pigeons!” 

Regardless of the name, the first thing we want to do as members of this club, is to breed a woodpecker with a carrier pigeon. Not only will it deliver a message, it will knock on the door when it gets there! Next we intend to cross a pigeon with a parrot - voice mail!

Yo, Daddy-o! Be prepared to be whisked away to the 1950s with Manitoulin Secondary School’s production of Bye, Bye Birdie… it’s the ginchiest! This big tickle of a show is playing February 13th, 14th, and 15th, with the curtain rising at 7pm. Tickets are $16 each, available at the door. Or if you can beat feet to the various island drug stores (where advance tickets are available in limited quantities), you’ll be made in the shade. See all you cool cats there!

A happy belated birthday goes out to Jenna C, who turned 29 last weekend. That’s 116 in goat years! Susie D turned 29 recently, also. Rumour has it she may need a reminder that if she lives anywhere else, there’s no telling how old she’ll get from year to year. Another Susie, this time Susie H, will be celebrating a birthday next week. We hope she has big plans to live it up! You only turn 29 once! Sort of…

In other celebratory news, John and Joan H recently marked their 45th anniversary together. A commendable achievement (especially since, as Kagawongians, they both turn 29 this year). Congrats to you both!

Get ready to dance your heart out - Zumba is up and running again! Come on out Thursdays from 7-8pm at the Park Centre. You can pay either the monthly rate (number of classes that month x $5) or the drop-in rate of $10/class. Time to bust a move!

While trying to get out of a stupor, 

Margie couldn’t find anything to suit her.

To the Park Centre, she came

And found a good game:
There’s not that is better than Euchre!

Next Euchre tournament is Wednesday, February 19th at 7:30 pm. Just a friendly reminder that the tournaments are on the top floor of the Park Centre. Bring a friend or find a partner there! Subsequent tournaments are every third Wednesday of the month.

A flock of pigeons have been trying to take over the KGB’s territory at the bottom of Lebar Hill. It’s a coo d’etat! Have a great week!

January 24, 2020

Last weekend’s storm caught us a bit off guard. We went out the next day to scrape ice and snow off our windshield, but couldn’t find the scraper. In desperation, we used our supermarket loyalty card. We only got 10% off. 

The second annual Kagawong Women’s March was held last weekend. Two dozen stalwart and enthusiastic marchers braved the snowy weather to take a stand against inequality and to create transformative change. 

Have you ever dreamed of owning an unusual or exotic pet? WE HAVE!! To make our dreams a reality we looked into the township bylaws on the keeping of animals. Turns out, elephants are off the table. On the upside, sugar gliders and African pigmy hedgehogs are in. Lizards and snakes have to be less than one meter long, and non-human primates are totally off limits. No word on the rules for keeping human primates. Pigeons are limited to a flock of just 10, UNLESS you are a member of an organized and generally recognized homing or racing pigeon club - then there doesn’t seem to be a limit. This leaves us with one obvious question: Who wants to form a Billings Pigeon Club with us?! Next week, we’ll tackle what to name the club. Stay tuned!

You know it’s a slow news week when we resort to writing about updates on township by-laws (which can always be found, by the way, on the township website, at http://billingstwp.ca). Recent posts include feeding of animals, and snow on roads and laneways.

Get ready to dance your heart out - Zumba is up and running again! Come on out Thursdays from 7-8pm at the Park Centre. You can pay either the monthly rate (number of classes that month x $5) or the drop-in rate of $10/class. Time to bust a move!

Wednesday Jan. 15th’s euchre tournament had 20 players, including some newbies! Results are as follows: High score 80 Donna and Eva; 2nd highest 75 Mike and Susan; 3rd highest 68 Judy and Rita; Most lone hands 6 Donna and Eva; Low Score 51 Kal and Lilly; Special prize Brad. Next tournament is Wednesday, February 19th at 7:30 pm. Just a friendly reminder that the tournaments are on the top floor of the Park Centre. Bring a friend or find a partner there! Subsequent tournaments are every third Wednesday of the month.

The MSS musical is just around the corner! Be prepared to revisit the 1950s with Bye Bye Birdie, February 13-15, 2020. More details coming soon!

Are you sick of winter yet? Team Fergmeijer is having a hard time complaining too loudly about the snow we got on the weekend after seeing pictures from Newfoundland (especially that lady who left her car window open overnight). Besides, look on the bright side - we haven’t seen a mosquito in months! Have a great week!

January 17, 2020

It’s only two weeks into the new year and Team Fergmeijer is proud to announce that we have checked off the first item from our 2020 bucket list - we have a bucket! Our weight loss resolution is also going pretty well. We burned 3000 calories yesterday. We left the brownies in the oven too long.  

Speaking of significant achievements… hats off to Heather Jefkins, recipient of the 2019 Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching! From the Canada’s History website, “The individuals and organizations being recognized [by this award] deepen our understanding of the past by highlighting lesser-known stories, representing the diversity of our experiences, and encouraging meaningful public dialogue around history.” Congratulations, Heather!

The second annual Kagawong Women’s March is tomorrow! Everyone is welcome to unite for global and local change for all women! The march will start at the Kagawong sign at the main intersection in town, and ending at the Aus Hunt marina. Marchers will then head to the Park Centre to warm up together with light refreshments. Please leave your car at the Park Centre. Sign making starts at 9am with shuttles up the hill from 10:15 - 10:45 for an 11am start to the march. This is a community event that welcomes many voices. If you would like to say something, sing, drum, dance, bake or add any other awesomeness to this event, please get in touch with Meg (705-348-1461) or check out the Kagawong Facebook page for more information.

We’ve decided that in 2020 we are going to push our boundaries a bit, so we decided to try stand up comedy in the new year. We were so nervous for our first show, our lips were all dry and chapped. We balmed. 

Some of you may recall that last year Pat Best generously donated a beautiful, handmade quilt the Angel Bus fundraising committee. The committee’s dedicated volunteers spent a good portion of the year selling tickets for the chance to win the quilt. By the time the draw was held at the Gordon/Barrie Island Advent Christmas Market, a total of $3,163.75 had been raised! The Angel Bus is a wheelchair accessible bus for use, without charge, by adults on Western Manitoulin who need accessible transportation. To make a donation to this worthy cause, contact the Gore Bay Manitoulin Lodge Auxiliary. 

Team Fergmeijer has jumped on the Dry January bandwagon. We are committed to only drinking dry martinis until February. 

Get ready to dance your heart out - Zumba is up and running again! Come on out Thursdays from 7-8pm at the Park Centre. You can pay either the monthly rate (number of classes that month x $5) or the drop-in rate of $10/class. Time to bust a move!

There’s a new procrastinators club starting up in Kagawong. We were planning to contact them to join today, but maybe tomorrow…

The next euchre tournament will be held on Wednesday, February 19 at 7:30pm at the Park Centre in Kagawong. Bring a friend or find a partner there! Subsequent tournaments are every third Wednesday of the month.

The MSS musical is just around the corner! Be prepared to revisit the 1950s with Bye Bye Birdie, February 13-15, 2020. More details coming soon!

Lastly, on a more serious note, we have a message to the person or persons who stole our copy of Microsoft Office. We will find you - you have our Word. Have a great week!

January 10, 2020

Happy New Year! Did you go out and party for new year’s eve or did you chill out at home? Team Fergmeijer stayed home and watched the festivities at Times Square. We were really hoping for a great show, but as usual they dropped the ball. Regardless of our disappointment with that, we still were determined to make some quality new year’s resolutions. Our first resolution was to read more. We’re off to a good start - we put the subtitles on the tv. We thought we should probably get fit this year, so we resolve to lose 10 lbs. Only 15 more to go! Then we thought maybe we would go a bit broader in our approach, so we decided we were just going to quit all of our bad habits for 2020. Then we remembered that nobody likes a quitter.

Happy birthday to John F who turned 29 on Monday. Welcome to an age that your childhood self couldn’t even fathom!

The next euchre tournament will be held on Wednesday, January 15th at 7:30pm at the Park Centre in Kagawong. Bring a friend or find a partner there! Subsequent tournaments are every third Wednesday of the month.

We have to give a huge shout out to Andrew Preyde who has been going above and beyond to get the town rink iced up. To Andrew and the other volunteers - THANK YOU!! 

The MSS musical is just around the corner! Be prepared to revisit the 1950s with Bye Bye Birdie, February 13-15, 2020. More details coming soon!

One last resolution to add to the list: Our new year’s resolution is to be more positive and less sarcastic. Like we won’t screw that up right away. Have a great week!