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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-08-27, Page 30It has been back to our usual activities this past week. The summer heat finally arrived just in time for us to go back to school. The freak storm that went through the area on Thursday afternoon luckily did not do much damage around here, but I have been told those driving at that time, found it very difficult. Parents have been busy getting children ready for school and next week there will be many happy parents. The summer and holidays are great but getting back into routine is also good. Our get-well wishes go out to Jean Bewley. She was hospitalized for a few days last week and has been released into the care of her daughter Mary. We are pleased to report that Jim Alton has been released from hospital and is at home recovering from surgery. He will be awhile before he is out and about, but our speedy recovery wishes go out to him. Our thoughts and hopes go to the Dilworth family at this time. Mary Dilworth has been hospitalized in London for a while and we are hoping that she shows improvement soon. The coffee girls had their monthly birthday party on Wednesday at JR’s. They celebrated the August birthdays of four of their friends, Fran Bremner, Nora Stephenson, Leona McDonald and Mary Huether. They enjoyed dinner and had a nice time together. Returning from a wonderful trip to the east coast are Roy and Donna Fischer. They went out to visit their son and family, Randy, Cathy (Sholdice), Lacey, Jody and Travis. They live in Summerside, P.E.I. They were away eight days and spent time golfing and touring around the area. Donna reports doing a lot of cooking and laundry, the same things as if she was at home, but when it’s for her grandchildren, it’s not work at all. The girls are going off to university this fall and they saw the one girl’s apartment in Charlottetown. The Special Olympics are being held in Summerside and both Randy and Cathy were going to be volunteer drivers. Donna reports a wonderful trip but as usual, its nice to be home. My friend Lily Fincham has returned from a trip to Albany, New York. She was there for four days and the celebration of the 500th birthday of the Hudson River. It was a trip packed full of activities including a dinner cruise down the river and a tour of the VanTeck estate, a beautifully restored settlement home. They went to a nearby stadium for a Daniel O’Donnell concert and also saw Yakim Smirnoff, a hilarious comedian. She reports that it was a busy four days but a really wonderful trip. The Hastings family has returned from a week away in Michigan. They were at Brooklyn, Michigan which is close to the Michigan International Speedway. It’s a good guess they went to a race at the speedway. Enjoying the vacation time together are Dave and Karen, Don and Dawn, Darryl and Bonnie, David and friend, Krista and JohnNesbitt and families.Our condolences are expressed toShirley and Ross Smith on thepassing of her brother Bill. Theytravelled to Sault Ste. Marie for thevisitation and funeral last week.I bet Gerry Exel was surprised toarrive home last Wednesday night tofind his lawn decorated withballoons. It was in celebration of his 40th birthday provided by his family. Happy birthday Gerry. Welcome back for a visit to Ontario to Gerald and Joan Miller. They will be around the area for about a month and will be visiting with son Rob (Brussels) and daughter Donna (Hensall) and families. Hopefully they will get a chance to catch up with old friends in the area. Neil and Marie McGavin spent the weekend in North Bay a week ago. Their daughter Heather had a torn retina and had to go to Ottawa for eye surgery. They headed up there on Saturday and came home again on Tuesday. Heather had the surgery on Monday, which to Marie’s surprise, only took about 15 minutes, and they were able to return to North Bay. Ottawa is about a four hour drive from North Bay. Neil was the chief babysitter while the women were away. To pass some time, Neil took the kids for a drive to check out Les Bernard’s hay farm. Rick and I, and Karin McDonald Calhoun, attended a special occasion party on Saturday evening in Hanover. Rick’s cousin Bruce McDonald, who had the honour of receiving the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award from the Rt. Honourable Michaelle Jean, Governor General of Canada on June 30 at Queen’s Park, held a party. He wanted to thank his friendswho nominated him and to have acelebration for all who have workedwith him, supported him and havebeen there to help him in the manyorganizations and endeavours he hasformed, chaired and organized overthe last 25 years in the Formosa,Mildmay and Hanover area. All of his immediate family werethere including mother Marilyn McDonald, Grand Bend, sisters, Heather, Cathy, Pat and Jeanne and brother Jim and their spouses as well as many extended family members. Walton area friends attending included Keith and Gloria Wilbee, Neil and Marie McGavin, Graeme and Helen Craig, Paul Storey and Ken and Gail Moffat. The party started with a welcome by Bruce and by the mayor of Hanover. She read an address of Bruce’s accomplishments and congratulatory messages from many. The gathering of over 200 was then treated to a performance by the Grey Bruce singers, which Bruce is a member of, for almost an hour. A cold plate dinner was served and dancing followed for a wonderful evening for all. Congratulations again to Bruce on the honour bestowed upon him. Congratulations to Abe and Frances Vanderveen on celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary on the weekend. They were joined by 21 members of their family in a celebration dinner at J.R.’s on Saturday evening. Abe and Frances have six children, Sylvia, Jeanette, Andy, George, Robert and Frank. All of their children live in the area except for Frank who makes his home in B.C. and was unable to be home at this time. The Vanderveens have 17 grandchildren to be proud of. There were many friends of thecouple who dropped into their homeon the weekend to congratulate thecouple.Congratulations to Ron and JoanLee on celebrating their 62ndwedding anniversary on Sunday.Ron and Joan retired to the Lucknowarea but were residents of Walton formany years. They have two children,Chris and Christine, and four grandsons. Members of the family dropped into their home for an afternoon of family time. Friends also dropped in to wish the couple anniversary wishes during the afternoon. Cheryl Lee was also celebrating on the weekend. She turned the ripe old age of 30 and celebrated with the Lee family first, then had her family and a few friends in to celebrate later on on Sunday. Happy Birthday Cheryl. The Walton Hall was the venue for a Blyth Festival dinner on Friday evening. The Walton Area Sports Club hosted 51 diners who enjoyed a roast beef dinner prior to attending the show The Nuttalls. Helping out for the evening were Gloria Wilbee, Heidi McClure, Valerie Shortreed, Jo-Ann McDonald, Linda McDonald, Mary Bernard and Cathy McClure. Howard and Audrey Hackwell have had daughter Patricia and grandson Sebastian home for about a week’s holiday. They tried to get some of the outside work cleaned up and as usual, Sebastian likes to spend time at great uncle Elliott Hackwell’s farm. Brian McClure had the unfortunate circumstance of losing his hay storage barn to fire on the weekend. Seaforth Fire department spent most of the day on Saturday fighting the stubborn blaze. The Stevens family reunion was held Sunday afternoon at the Seaforth Lions Park Pavilion. There were 24 descendants of Ernie and Alberta Stevens in attendance. Members of Leona (Stevens) McDonald family and Doris (Stevens) Criche family and Marg (Stevens) Rogerson had an enjoyable afternoon. A short version of a wedding shower was also held for a member of the family. A potluck meal was enjoyed by everyone to complete the afternoon. Another act of vandalism and theft has occurred at the Kerr apartments. Around 4 a.m., on Thursday someone broke into vehicles of the residents of the apartments and tried to get into some others. He was disturbed when one resident heard noises and yelled out at him. A tall man was seen leaving the area heading east. There was damage to locks on vehicles. Loose change and a camera are some of the items stolen. Maybe large floodlights need to be installed both back and front of the apartments, or a large dog that barks, is needed to secure the area better for these residents. Some local area fishermen have returned from a fishing excursion.Harold Bridge and Lorne Glanvillehave returned after six days away innorthern Ontario and a verysuccessful trip. They caught a lot offish and ate a lot of fish while away.They had rain everyday, but went outin the boat fishing anyway. They didnot bring any fish home with thembut hope the rest of the group thatstayed for a few more days will bring some home. Our son Scott McDonald has returned home from a trip to Quad City, Iowa. He is a member of the Kitchener Outlaws Fastball team and was participating in the ISC II World Fastball Tournament. The Outlaws did not have a very successful tournament losing three out of their four games and not making the playoff round. It was a wet and cool six days away, with many game delays and the men were glad to be home again. Participating in the ISC Tournament was another young man formerly of Walton. Scott Smith is the son of Gerald and Nancy Smith formerly of the Walton area. He is a pitcher for the Mildmay team and played for the Port Elgin team that were winners at the tournament. Congrats to Scott and the Port Elgin team. Baseball basics has concluded in Walton for the summer and thanks to Ron Stevenson and Blaine Marks, along with many other parents who helped out. The kids had fun and hopefully learned a little more about baseball. The Huron County Fastball year end tournament is being held in Blyth this weekend. Drop by and see some fine fastball play beginning Friday evening until the finals on Sunday afternoon. Celebrating birthdays this past week are Christine Gulutzen, Nicole McIntosh, Emerson Mitchell, Gloria Wilbee, Terri Gulutzen, Pat Nolan, Bradley Shortreed, Viola Travis, Blaine Hackwell, Cheryl Lee, Earl Pennington, Sarah Fraser, Kelly Hackwell, Brent Godkin, Mary Huether and Sandra Zwep. PAGE 30. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2009. Connecting Six-year-old Jacob Flood gets a little batting practice at the Walton diamond last week. Blaine Marks and Ron Stevenson have been leading informal workshops for youngsters to teach baseball basics. About 15 children have been turning out on average each week. (Vicky Bremner photo) Blyth Power and Figure Skating Registration The Blyth Skating Club is having registration for the upcoming season at the Blyth Arena on Wednesday, September 2 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and on Saturday, September 5 from 9:00 - 11:00 am Questions?? Please contact Pam Chalmers at 519-523-4766 By Jo-AnnMcDonaldCall 887-6570PEOPLE AROUNDWALTON