Column 139 When a few people come up with an idea, help it take shape, and watch it sell out almost instantly… well, you just know you’re onto something great. Early last fall when I wrote about the inaugural four sessions for Barrie’s first Third Age Learning, I also signed on almost immediately. Imagine!…
Patricia O’Connor has been appreciating and working with people on the Autism spectrum, particularly people with Aspergers Syndrome, for many years. They are frequently brilliant, focussed and gifted with great attention to detail. But, just as frequently they are challenged with social relataionships. They are sometimes anti social, and usually very very anxious. Often, despite…
Picture this: it’s your husband’s birthday. (or your significant other) You want to do something different, something that includes fellowship with good friends, good food, great wine, and a permanent reminder of a special evening. So you book for 10 people at Canvas and Cabernet. When you arrive, you’ll have the choice of a number…
Column 136 You can just feel the energy of the Christmas season in the air. Christmas music concerts. Beefed up TV commercials, the suggestion to a child that asking Santa for one gift would be enough, discussions about who’s going where on ‘the day.’ A few friends gathering to make cookies. Others celebrating over…
Column 136 “No, Diana, that doesn’t go in the dumpster! It’s going to one of the grandchildren!” “I’m going to try to take this.” “Let that go for the Goodwill box.” As pragmatically as she has selected music and played the keyboard, Marge Wagner is dealing with the downsizing of a lifetime of possessions….
How can physical activity have a positive effect on attitude? How can a group of girls come together, talk, share, play sports together, and get stronger as a result? Olympic athlete Molly Barker took a long hard look at that pivotal moment of change in her development as a person, and in 1996 decided that…
Column 133 Maybe it was her training as a nurse that made her so empathetic to those without a voice. Or maybe it was because life handed her a set of challenges that she met head on. Whatever, Marion Fell came up the dirt road that was Hwy 27, landing in Barrie in 1933 as…
Column 132 It’s an idea that got its start from a program called A Day in the Life… in Midland. Lin Wilson had attended this event and joined forces with Beth Foster to give Barrie its very own four-night event of sharing, learning, and stimulating conversation. Called Illuminating Conversations, this four-night opportunity got its…
Column 130 It’s so typical of Marshall Green to turn a tribute dinner for him into a fundraiser for three charities! In fact, it’s really been Marshall’s way since he moved to Barrie as a young man seeking employment in the legal field, and seeking family life with his bride, Susan. Along the way,…
Column 131 Ron Lynch 1932 – 1914 “One Hundred Percent!” Suffering horribly from recurring pneumonia and respiratory problems, when doctors and nurses entered his room at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, and asked Ron how he was doing, he’d smile and say “one hundred percent!” That was the mantra with which Ron lived his…