Columns

Galvanize to make a difference

I was looking at an interesting article recently showing the toll that high office has on leaders. Pictures of energetic, optimistic election winners were shown next to pictures of the same individual at the end of his or her term. Without a single exception, each picture showed an older, greyer,...

Inspiring doctor earns award for cerebral palsy work

This year a local physician was honoured with a very special award for outstanding support to individuals with cerebral palsy. At the annual conference of the Ontario Federation of Cerebral Palsy, held in Toronto Oct. 17-19, local physician Dr. Corinne Gehrels was presented with an award celebrating...

Former resident talks world poverty at UN

The All Saints Anglican Church Christmas Bazaar takes place on Nov. 1 at their hall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There is a door prize and baked goods, loonie, and craft tables. The MacTier-Foots Bay United Church is holding another fundraising dinner also on Nov. 1. The menu is grilled chicken breast, roasted...

Beaver tales, a mixture of woe and reassuring results

When we see a creature whom we have been privileged to help return to the life intended for it — to the woods and the wild — we experience a deep joy which I cannot explain: this creature, somehow mutilated by humans, has once more been given a chance to be itself. And sometimes, when we hold a creature...

Highway 518 improvements were worth the inconvenience

Fall must be one of the most popular times of the year. Gone are the mosquitoes and blackflies and the trees are in their glory. It’s a great time to be walking and taking photographs. Our luncheon for the West Parry Sound Municipal Association went very well and we received a standing ovation from...

What’s in a name? Armstrong’s Rapids suited McKellar

This is a sequel to last week’s column about McKellar’s founding fathers, Samuel and John Armstrong. John Armstrong was the woodsman in the McKellar-based logging partnership S&J Armstrong – the most hands-on in running the lumber camps. It was he who knew how many lumberjacks and horses it took to...

School debate: what we’ll end up with

I have been following the school closure issue with interest over the last few years.   It’s pretty impressive that Parry Sound area parents tackled the problem together and came up with recommendations that almost everyone can live with: that eventually, a new “super school” will replace both Victory...

Prepare for annual Christmas bazaar

What a great week of wonderful fall weather. Monday bid euchre came up with a good high count for Don Johnson, giving him 337. Elaeanor Land was well behind for second with 289. Only two moonshots were made, with Don getting his eleventh one. Cribbage on Thursday showed Mabel Harris in first place...

Family photos ease loneliness

Depression is a common affliction. It hits us all from time. Or sometimes it just sort of eases its way into our lives and starts to take over. There are remedies for this ailment of the heart and soul. Therapists and psychologists are trained to diagnose the severity and prescribe a treatment that...

A lioness never forgets

Remember those cold January winter days - bitter cold and deep snow? We all like to stay in our warm houses and as near as possible to a good, roaring fireplace. Remember, too, all you have read about lions - huge and fierce and fearless. And then there is Subira - about 400 pounds of lioness, well-equipped...

The K Handshape mystery delves into murder on the shores of Lake Couchiching

Book ReviewThe K Handshape, by Maureen Jennings Maureen Jennings is the author of “The Murdoch Mysteries” set in Victorian Toronto. Granada T.V. has created a new 13- episode series based on these books. This mystery book, her second featuring Christine Morris, is set in Orillia, which, of course,...

Does a tax-free savings account fit your retirement plan?

The Federal Government’s new Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) tax-saving option for Canadians comes into effect in 2009. Is a TFSA a good addition to your retirement planning? Yes, when you make it a part of your overall financial plan that includes your most important tax-saving, income-building investment...

Tuesday’s seven-table bridge game results

At our duplicate game on Tuesday, Oct. 7, it was pleasant to welcome Stephen Duff and Peggy Graham for the afternoon. We said goodbye to Arnold and Delores Nussey and Betty Houle – we’ll see you in the spring. We enjoyed a seven-table game of bridge. When the scores were calculated, the results were...

A curtain call for McKellar’s founding fathers

My very first column in a Parry Sound newspaper told about an old logging chain into whose toggle a blacksmith had stamped the letters “SJA.” When I was shown the chain, by the late Nelson Clelland of Maple Island who unearthed it beside the Magnetawan River, I recognized the letter combination as...

Two exceptional novels from one magnificent writer

The past year has been a good one for Helen Humphreys. Last fall with the publication of The Frozen Thames and this fall with a new novel Coventry – both superb. The Frozen Thames is about the River Thames and the years during which it has frozen – most often a rare occurrence and one that will no longer...

Be a tourist in your town

I can look out the windows of my third-storey apartment on James Street and see the old fire tower on Tower Hill jutting from the now red and orange speckled forest that hugs Parry Sound. And since I moved into town last month, every glimpse of the tower, standing sentinel, has made me eager to climb...

God is missing in election talk

Here we are in full election mode, and the candidates are trying hard to present themselves in an acceptable manner. One says he is a family man, who “cares about people.” Another is driven by the ideals of politics. The third says she knows the roads of this riding like the back of her hand. The fourth...

Cub kicks off TV career at the sanctuary

So far this year, we are not caring for the overwhelming number of bear cubs we raised last year (over 90) and that we spent a long time taking to safe-release areas this spring – yes, they are all free!. So far, we have merely eight cubs - though the fall hunt is not nearly over and we can certainly...

Take a hard look at local arts this election

Like everyone else, I have been watching the election as it unfolds across the country, and like many of you, I don’t feel too upbeat about our choices. I was pleased to hear Mr. Harper’s promise to give parents who enroll their children in arts programs the same break as those parents who enroll...

Nature always wins

Nature always wins. That seemed to be the lesson in seeing a simple weed growing up through a crack near the edge of the pavement of a busy highway. Traffic just roared by. Maybe even flattened the little plant from time to time. Yet there it was, green and defiant. Further proof of this principle...