Welcome to the archive of Team Fergmeijer's Kagawong news column in The Manitoulin West Recorder and The Manitoulin Expositor.

Friday, March 20, 2020

March 20, 2020

Here at Team Fergmeijer, we have been known to exaggerate, or even *cough* make up *cough* the odd story for this column, but this week has been crazy enough that even we couldn’t make this stuff up. Covid-19 has been top of mind, for good reason, and we hope you and yours are healthy and practicing responsible social distancing. It’s important to be selective in our decisions to venture into public, but it is not a time to panic, though it might be best if someone checked to see if the dolphins are still here. With all the events and sports cancelled, finding ways to pass the time has been a challenge some days. Currently spending a lot of time watching birds fight over worms. Cardinals lead the Blue Jays 3-1.

There are many closures in our community:

The Park Centre will be closed until at least April 6th, this includes all Community Events (Euchre, Zumba and Church Services) and Council and Committee Meetings.


The Kagawong Fitness Centre will be closed until at least April 6th. All current members will be compensated with an additional month.


The Billings Library will be closed until April 7th, or until further notice. 


The Kagawong landfill will be closed until April 7th, or until further notice.


The municipal office is open, but access is restricted. Please call or email for assistance. Contact information for staff is available here: http://billingstwp.ca/administration/staff/


If you are worried about paying your taxes, the township encourages you to utilize online bill payments through your bank (TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC, Royal Bank and Northern Credit Union). If you do not bank at any of these institutions, please call the township office - they will waive the $15 administration fee for credit card payments processed over the phone.


Please call the municipal office (705-282-2611) for the most up-to-date information regarding municipal facilities.


If you know of someone in the community who may need assistance, OR, if you are interested in volunteering to help, please call or email the township office (705-282-2611; mbonenfant@billingstwp.ca).


One of the best parts of living in Billings is being able to get outside and enjoy being out in nature. If your and/or the kiddos are feeling a bit of cabin fever, why not walk the river trail or take your four-legged friend to the off-leash dog park? If you’ve got time on your hands, why not track down all the historical plaques that were put in place a couple of years ago, or all the sculptures 4elements and the township installed? The dedicated (and much appreciated) volunteers that have been flooding the rink all winter have been working to keep it in shape while schools are shut down, so you can always check that out, too! 


One of the most exciting things you can do while practicing responsible social distancing is to take part in Team Fergmeijer’s annual Sandhill Crane spotting competition! Consider this the official kick-off to the most anticipated event of the entire spring (in our opinion, anyway). For those of you new to the game, the rules are easy: let us know when you have seen a Sandhill Crane or heard its delightful coo (date and time is needed), and if you are the first to report in, you win! You don’t win anything other than bragging rights, but still, you win! 


Online, we keep seeing all the jokes about toilet paper shortages. We don’t find them very Charmin’. It’s Scott to stop soon. This is Northern to laugh about! There’s a lot of information out there; very hard to absorb it all. It wipes us out. We suppose we’ll just have roll along with everyone else. It might be time to lie down, all this anxiety is making us feel flushed.


As it turns out, our normal everyday lifestyle is considered ‘quarantine’ by most of the rest of the world. Be well, everyone!

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