HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-04-07, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011. PAGE 9.
The “Romeos” of Brussels
enjoyed breakfast out on Monday
morning as usual. What was
different was they had breakfast at
the Freedom Syrup Shack at the
back of the McGavin farm. Their
hosts were Neil McGavin, Gerry
Wheeler and Bob Rowe, who
served the 15 gents a delicious
breakfast, which included Freedom
maple syrup. The “Romeo’s”
are “retired old men eating out”
and they have breakfast out
most every Monday morning
somewhere.
The Freedom Syrup Shack is a
venture of the three host men. They
have about 500 trees on tap line and
they have about 50 trees with tap
pails. The tap pails are very special
because of their lids. The lids have a
Canadian Maple Leaf on them and a
name. The name is one of the
Canadian soldiers who lost their
lives in Afghanistan. They have 155
pails with the names on the lids and
are using 50 on pails on trees. The
men had a goal of 100 gallons of
syrup and have met that goal and are
now closing up shop. Their regular
jobs are calling for their return. Any
donations the men receive for syrup
is given to the Military Families
Fund that helps provide medical care
for the children of the families of
fallen Canadian soldiers.
Congratulations to these men for
their generosity in thinking of
others.
Kicking off the month of April
with birthdays are Shirley Clark,
Pam Carter, Matt Lee and Lily
Fincham. Also celebrating this first
week of the month is Peter Bennett,
Mary McCall, Susan Yan-Yu
Watson, Krista Shortreed, Shirlee
Bachert Groothius, Duncan Wey,
Gary Bennett, Nate Fritz,
David Baan, Colleen McCallum
Bromley, Donna Hannon, Stephen
Gulutzen, Shelley McGavin, Janet
Mitchell, Doug J. Mitchell and
Wayne Regele. Happy birthday to
all.
March came in like a lamb, I think,
and it went out like a lamb as well.
Now we can hope that April showers
bring May flowers. The snow has
managed to slip away again and the
sidewalks are clear and the roads are
good. The sun has warmth but a cool
wind seems to keep blowing.
Forecasters predicted a cool, late
spring, and it looks like they might
be right. Farmers have reported that
last year at this time they had been
able to plant spring grain. Sunday
night was rather a surprise with the
falling of a heavy wet snow. The
back roads were quite sloppy on
Monday morning for the drive. Well,
that’s spring – never know what will
happen next.
Snowbirds are returning from
wintering in Florida including Bruce
and Marg Whitmore. They were
close to Tampa for their two months
away and enjoyed everything.
The former home of Nelson Ryan
was taken down last week and the
ground is being prepared for the
arrival of a new home. Jack and
Maryanna Ryan are expecting the
new home to be in place in April.
Gerald Watson remains a patient
in Seaforth Hospital and Leola Hoodis a patient in Listowel Hospital. Wehope both are doing well.
Laurie Finch has undergone a
kidney transplant in London
Hospital and is doing very well.
Reports are that the kidney started
functioning right away and they
anticipate Laurie being in hospital
for another week or so. Laurie has
been on kidney dialysis for many
years and this is a wonderful event
for her. We hope she continues to do
well and will soon be home.
The Cranbrook dart club enjoyed
its last night of darting on March 30.
They ended with three last games
and then enjoyed beef on a bun,
salads and dessert goodies. The
downstairs hall and kitchen having
been repainted looks renewed and
ready for spring. They appreciate the
Lewingtons, Smiths, Evans and
others from the club for their hard
work. The club donated a clock in
memory of Keith Williamson, a
valued and good player, who they
miss seeing every week at darts. A
toast was made to him. The high
lady of the night was Jane Zwep
with 100 and high man was Rob
VanderVeen hitting 92. The darts
will start again in January of 2012.
Have a good summer everyone.
The buck and doe for Katie
Williamson and Darren Janmaat was
held at the Seaforth Agriplex on
Saturday evening. There was a really
great crowd on hand for the fun
evening. The couple will wed in
July.
It was a busy afternoon on
Saturday for a very special lady.
Mary McCall celebrated her 90thbirthday with a “Mad-Hatter Tea” atthe Northside United Church in
Seaforth. Many of the over 150 well-
wishers attended with their finest of
spring hats, funny hats and top hats
on to wish Mary well. Mary and
many of her family had beautiful hat
creations for the special event. The
members of Northside Church
served a lovely lunch of ribbon
sandwich loaf and squares along
with tea and coffee. Mary greeted
her well wishers from a comfy
armchair with extra chairs for those
to sit and chat with her. Mary’s two
sons, Jack and Murray, and members
of their families were in attendance.
The family enjoyed a Chinese
dinner, Mary’s favourite, following
the afternoon party.
Murray and Sherry McCall had a
houseful of their family home on the
weekend to celebrate Mary McCall’s
birthday. Oldest daughter Shawna
and husband Doug O’Neill and
boys, Kolton and Jadon arrived,
Marci and youngest daughter, Indre,
arrived from Geneva, Switzerland
and Carili arrived from London,
England, to celebrate with Grandma
Mary. It was a whirlwind visit being
home only a couple of days. They
saw many of the extended family
and friends at grandma Mary’s
party.
I have heard of another project for
the Brussels United Church. A
combo of minds came up with the
unique idea of making wreaths for
different occasions. They have met
for three weeks and are making
wreaths for spring and Easter. Betty
Graber-Watson, Shirley Wheeler,Joan Jacobs, Deb Campbell, HollyMcCutcheon, Mabel Glanville,
Sharon Robbins and Don Chesher
have produced some beautiful
creations. They have gathered up
items for their project from various
sources and appreciate donations of
yarn, ribbon, knick knacks, old
wreath forms or any accessory that
you don’t want anymore. The
creative ideas of this group is
amazing and remarkable. Their
creations are on display at Brussels
United Church. They hope to extend
their creations to cover other special
times of the year and we wish them
well in their venture. This is another
great idea for fundraising.
Johnny L. Holiday (John Lowe)
has returned from a nine-day trip to
Florida to visit Aunt Kathy and
Keith Schaeffer. They are at
LaBelle, near Fort Myers. It was a
laid-back holiday with time spent
golfing, going to the beach, flea
markets and shopping. It was great
weather with mid-to-high 80s
everyday. Great weather to get a
good tan.
Returning from a March break
get-away were Jeff and Cathy
Cardiff. They flew from Detroit to
Los Angeles to join a bus trip in
California and Arizona. It was early
to rise every day and go, go, go.
They were the only Canadians on
the bus trip, but made many new
friends from Australia, England,
Scotland and Ireland. They toured
the areas of L.A, Palm Springs,
Phoenix and Las Vegas. While in
Las Vegas, they saw a Beatles
Tribute show and the Cirque de
Soleil performance Mystere. Jeff
was asked if he did any gambling
and his reply was he gambles
enough farming.
They went to the Grand Canyon
and toured up through the San
Joaquin Valley on the way to
Sacramento. They went to see
orange groves, lemon groves and
wheat fields knee high and almond
trees in blossom.
It is a great farming area. They
also toured some dairy farms. The
tour ended up in San Francisco
where they spent the last few days
before flying home again. Number
one chore boy, son Matt, was glad to
have them home again, having had
to cope with no hydro one morning.
Jeff reports it was a very nice
break and they saw some wonderful
sites.
Four Brussels-area couples
enjoyed a trip to Punta Cana,
Dominican Republic lately. Bill and
Marion Sellers, Murray and Marlene
Fischer, Gord and Dale Finch and
Don and Darlene Fischer vacationed
for a week away. They had a great
time and great weather. They tried
zip lining and report it was great.
The climb up was a killer, but the zip
down was exhilarating. They went
on an outback tour and had a lot of
fun. Welcome back folks.
Murray and Sherry McCall have
returned from a visit with daughters
across the pond. They spent a few
days in Courchevel, France with
John and Marci, Alivia and Indre
where they went skiing and hiking.
The group then went to London,
England to visit with Carali and
Daniel Hughes. They were kept
busy babysitting, and Sherry went
with Marci to Oxford University for
a couple of days. Marci is studying
for her PhD. The group also
celebrated Carali’s birthday which
was March 11, with her friends and
others. They were away nine days,
two days travel, seven days of fun.
Paul and Cheryl Ryan have
returned from a holiday. They flew
to Texas to tour parts of the state.
They rented motorcycles and toured
around the Houston area for a week.
Paul reports that it was great
weather and they had a great time.
Paul says they really enjoyed riding
the bikes and seeing the countryside.
Four area men have returned from
a short trip to Louisville, Kentucky.
Don Dalton, Gary McNichol, Bill
McClure and Stan McClure went to
the Louisville Truck Show. They
were away about six days.
There was a group of Brussels-
area girls off to a Dance Canada
competition in Brantford last
weekend. They did very well
participating in solo, duet and group
competition. The girls train at the
Dance Techniques Studio in Clinton.
Young ladies at the event included
MacKenzie McNichol, daughter of
Ron and Michelle McNichol, Geran
and Jayden Johnston, daughters of
Kevin and Kelly Johnston, Brooklyn
Mitchell, daughter of John Mitchell
and Pam Barker, Kaitlin and Haley
Wick, daughters of Charles and
Terry Wick, Alaina and Lorren
Poland, daughters of Chris and
Cindy Poland, Ava McCutcheon,
daughter of Steve and Holly
McCutcheon, Ashley Johnston,
daughter of Ian and Laura Johnston,
Abby Johnston, daughter of Scott
and Leslie Johnston and Teagan
McGavin, daughter of Jeff and
Shannon McGavin. The group and
individuals captured various medals
and will continue competing in
Peterborough this weekend.
Congratulations and good luck to
these young ladies.
Cranbrook Dart Club ends season
‘Romeos’ of Brussels meet
Locals return from
exotic holidays
A wreath for every occasion
Wreath-makers, from left, Deb Campbell, Betty Graber Watson and Joan Jacobs pose with
some of their finished products at Brussels United Church. The wreaths have been under
construction for three weeks and are on sale for $20 to $30. All sales will go towards the
church. (Denny Scott photo)
By Jo-Ann
McDonald
Call
887-6570
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