Last Tuesday, much of the world was walking children to school, some for the first time. It’s a tough day. It’s also an exhilarating day. Kids are going to grow, risk, make mistakes, learn how to get along. Or not. Last Tuesday, my baby sister (who is 45 and many years younger than I), my…
Two weeks ago–August 20, to be exact–Sally Elston gave an interview clip to CTV, dedicated her first skydive jump to her ex-husband, gathered the financial support she’d received in pledges, met her jump partner at the last minute and boarded a plane. She was doing this in support of Lou Gehrig’s disease research, and the…
We called it Toy Trade… Pam, Marg, Yvonne, Tiina and I. Our kids: Tommy, Cheryl, Valerie, Krista and Em. Every Wednesday morning… a craft, a treat, a song, coffee for moms and, at the end of the morning, a toy to take home that belonged to one of your friends. Enormous benefits for all of…
I feel sorry for some kids, jammed into collapsible strollers and whipped around mall stores where all they can see is other people’s knees. And back-to-school time is likely the worst, after Christmas, for toddlers. A toddler isn’t interested in going shopping unless it’s to run around clothing racks playing hide and seek… not a…
For Jews, the word mitzvah means ‘giving of yourself.’ It’s customary for congregations from synagogues around North America to celebrate their communities with a ‘mitzvah’ day, which involves the congregation going into the community to give of themselves. Am Shalom Synagogue in Barrie, a community of 80 families, is now six years old. Its rabbi,…
When you think of it, Terry Fox was a normal kid. He loved watching TV, eating pizza, spending time with his girlfriend. He was a normal kid who just decided to prove that cancer can be beaten. When he dipped his prosthetic leg in the Atlantic Ocean in Newfoundland in 1980, he wanted to raise…
Perspective helps. Sometimes. My friend, Helen is a dynamite financial services professional and resourceful business woman. She gives off an air of confident competence. Pleasant, efficient, detail-oriented, we were dealing with paperwork recently and discussing the challenges of ‘doing it all.’ I was sharing the trials of a client of mine, a terrific web designer…
The Civic Holiday weekend signals Kempenfest for most of Barrie. Two days before signal Dill Pickle time for me! As you read this, I’ll have many many litres of sealers all sterilized and ready to go. Lids boiled and waiting. Dill weed cut so stalk and bloom can both do their work. Coarse salt. Alum….
Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000175 EndHTML:0000013734 StartFragment:0000002590 EndFragment:0000013698 SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/donnadouglas/Desktop/Examiner/6.docWhat a great heat wave we’re having! As I drove along Lakeshore Dr one day this week, I was struck by our beautiful waterfront and the thousands of people who use it. People were frolicking in the water and on the water, walking and riding the bike path, or helping…
Now, here’s a winning story. It’s a social media story, a charity story, and it involved the whole community, and Barrie’s a winner. When The Keg restaurant chain was deciding how to celebrate its 40-year anniversary with a Thanks a Million campaign. The company decided to engage communities in its celebration. They divided North America…