HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-05-29, Page 9What a wonderful weekend we
just had, a change from the long
weekend. In my travels I heard a
variety of activities that kept people
busy on the long weekend. There
were quite a few folks went
camping, (ugh, in such weather),
some of my boys went fishing and
some went four-wheeling in the
mud.
A drier activity was to go to a
movie and McDonald’s.
The Saturday wasn’t quite so bad,
so there were some folk who went
plant shopping and did gardens and
flowerbeds.
Our family had a variety of things
going on. Our daughter Kelly
finished school in Toronto so it was
moving weekend for her. What an
amazing amount of stuff can gather
in an apartment in a mere three
years. A combined effort of her
brother’s truck, her uncle’s trailer,
her sister and husband and Kelly’s
boyfriend doing the Toronto loading
and dad, mom and brother helping
with the unloading on the return to
Seaforth. My professional student,
as we have nicknamed her, is finally
done school after six years of
university. We will explain further
once we have a graduation.
I, myself had a really nice
experience on the weekend. I have
six female cousins close in age. As
we get older, we have felt the need to
get together and recall our youth. We
last gathered three years ago and it
was about time to gather again. We
agreed to meet in Bayfield at my
sister-in-law’s cottage. There were
five able to come and one maybe, so
our weekend was on. But as with all
well-laid plans, things happen. One
cousin was sick and one had a death
in the other side of the family, so
they were unable to make it. Three
of us had an absolutely marvelous
time, sharing dinner, talking into the
night and enjoying a few bottles of
wine. It was a great time and
weekend for me.
It was also a weekend of
celebrations. Irma Williamson had
her family members in to celebrate
her daughter June’s birthday. They
had dinner at Huronlea. Also
attending were Arlene, Ben and
Melissa Van Den Akker of Seaforth,
Keith and Dianne Williamson,
Walton and Ross Veitch of Listowel.
The family of Marie McTaggert
also gathered at Huronlea to
celebrate her 97th birthday. They
had a delicious potluck meal in the
common room, with nearly 22 of her
family members there.
Marie’s children, Ruth Lowe,
Cathy and Dale McTaggert with
family members were there, along
with other special guests.
Travelling to Sarnia to surprise a
family member for her 50th birthday
were Jim and Linda McDonald. Pat
McDonald Parr actually hit the big
50 on April 29 but with big families,
it sometimes takes a little time to get
everyone together especially when it
was a surprise. Bruce Mcdonald and
Linda, Hanover; Marilyn
McDonald, Grand Bend; Ron and
Heather Clark, Crediton; Rob and
Jeanne Dionne, St. Joseph, along
with their families landed in on the
Parr family on Sunday. They all
went out for dinner, then had a great
time together socializing as families
do. Happy birthday Pat!
It was also a time for a gathering
of good friends and neighbours at
the Kinburn Hall. It was a year ago,May 15 I believe, that the smalltwister went through our area anddid some damage. It was Orville andLila Storey’s shed that wasdestroyed and within hours, acleanup crew was on hand to helpout the Storey family. The Storysheld an appreciation afternoon at theKinburn Hall for all those who
helped out in any way. A delicious
brunch was put on for the over 50
friends, neighbours and family to
thank them for their help in the days
following the damage. There were
lots of thank yous and a wonderful
afternoon enjoyed.
Long weekends also give families
that live a ways away to come home
to visit. Jeanne Kirkby had the
pleasure of her son Paul, wife Van
and their children, Sean and Melanie
from Ottawa home for the weekend.
They enjoyed having breakfast out at
the Walton Inn on Saturday morning
and having a great visit.
Neil and Ruth Schade had visitors
for the weekend from Sudbury.
Friends, Terry and Sharon Mason
travelled to southwestern Ontario to
spend a couple of days with the
Schades.
Our condolences are expressed to
the Wheeler and Coultes families on
the passing of Mabel Wheeler.
Mabel was an avid card player and
attended many of the card parties
around the area. Our sympathies to
everyone.
Our congratulations to Dana Shaw
on the birth of a daughter. The little
girl has been named Peyton.
Customers of Foodland will be
pleased to hear all is well with Dana
and baby and I’m sure wish them the
best.
A story that could have had a
worse ending but turned out al lright
happened a week or so ago. Bill
Siemon was heading west down
Sawmill Road drawing a load of
straw. Unknown to him, the load of
straw had taken fire. Working
outside, Brian and Connie Alcock
could see the smoke coming and
flagged Bill down to alert him to the
situation. His first reaction was to
get the vehicle off the road, so he
pulled into the laneway at the home
of Les and Brenda Bernard. The
Seaforth fire department was called.
Obviously, most of the load of straw
and the wagon was destroyed and
the Bernards are still cleaning up the
straw mess in the field. Thankfully
nothing else took fire but the
unpleasant odour of smoke hung
around for a few days.
Returning from an absolutely
incredible and amazing time is Jacob
McGavin. Jacob was one of the
winners at the Avon Maitland
Regional Science Fair and and was
sent on to the Canada-wide Science
fair in Ottawa. There were four
representatives and two adult
chaperone delegates from the Avon
Maitland region sent on the 10-day
excursion. Jacob’s science fair
project was on biomass pellets, an
environmentally-friendly source of
heat. Jacob tested pellets made from
corn, oats, switch grass and wood to
determine which pellet was most
cost-efficient, heat efficient and
environmentally-friendly.
Jacob was competing in the Grade
7-12 category and he is in Grade 7.
Jacob was fortunate to receive
help from Grain Stoves Inc. and the
Gulutzen family in his research.
They were a huge help to allow him
to use a stove to burn the different
pellets and to record the
temperatures and facts needed for
his project. He appreciates and feels
very fortunate to have had the
Gulutzens aid him in his project.
Jacob was not a winner this time but
reports that he had an amazing
experience and learned so much and
met so many interesting people and
now friends.
Ben Underwood, also representingAvon Maitland won a bronze medalin the 7-12 category.The week wasn’t just about thefair itself, but about learning as well.The over 500 in attendance also hadactivities and tours to take part in.Jacob was involved in a ziplineactivity. They were strapped intotheir harness and soared above and
through the trees. There were no
parents on this trip, but they were
invited to attend the award ceremonyon the last Friday night. Jeff andShannon made the trip to Ottawa toattend the award evening and to seethe public viewing of the projects onthe Saturday morning. The familythen returned to Walton together. Congrats to Jacob for a job welldone.Returning from a holiday at
Manitoulin Island is the McCallum
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2008. PAGE 9.
Members of the Walton Women’s
Institute met at the home of Helen
Craig. There were seven members in
attendance. Ruth Axtmann is
president and Helen Craig is the
secretary/treasurer.
The members discussed the
upcoming District annual meeting
they are co-hosting with the
Brussels Institute the next week.
Guest speaker, Graeme Craig,
spoke on his trip to Kentucky and on
the upcoming IPM in Teeswater in
2008. Graeme joked it was his first
stop on his world tour, on promoting
the International Plowing Match.
Helen provided a fresh fruit flan
for the ladies to enjoy for lunch.
H. Craig
hosts
Institute
Get cracking
Val Pethick of the Blyth Legion Ladies Auxiliary whisks up
the scrambled eggs for the Sunday morning breafast at
Memorial Hall. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Give us a call 519-887-9061
Fax 519-887-8734 Cell Phone 519-357-6547
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NEWS
FROM WALTON
By Jo-AnnMcDonaldCall 887-6570PEOPLE AROUNDWALTON
The ball season has started at the
Walton Ball Park with three adult
teams playing. The Walton Brewers
had their first away game against the
new Blyth Barons team and lost 9-7.
They battled back from a 5 -0 deficit
to forge ahead 6-5 but a series of
errors led to the eventual final score
and loss.
The Brewers home opener against
Zurich Rangers resulted in the win
for Walton. Scott McDonald was on
the hill for 5 and 1/3 innings, then
Scott Cox came in for the save.
Scoring for the Brewers were Scott
Leonhardt with a solo homerun, and
Bruce Pearn with two homeruns
scoring the other four runs to finish
the game 7 – 5. Ron Strome was two
for three at the plate and had a strong
game in field with lots of action.
The Brewers played errorless ball
this game. Matt Shortreed and Adam
McClure also had strong games for
the Brewers.
The Brewers are at one and one for
the season. The next home game is
June 11 at 8 p.m.
The Walton Wonders ladies
slopitch team hosted the Young
Guns, then the RBIs. Off to a slow
start and suffering losses in both
games, the ladies hope the warmer
weather will improve their game and
hitting. The ladies play Thursday
evenings.
The Indians slopitch team play
Thursday evening after the ladies.
They were winners this past week.
Local
teams
play ball
Continued on page 10