Jim Campbell’s creating magic again. He did it three years ago when he and another dealer opened the Upscale Yard on Collier St. Jim took bright, airy space that used to house Ontario Hydro, and then the City of Barrie’s Engineering Department, and then the city’s Social Services department, and turned it into a mecca…
It’s that time of year when caring parents are struggling to find meaningful activity for their little ones. With home day cares a popular alternative, and private and non profit day cares experiencing waiting lists, the plethora of choice for parents can be awe-some. For south end families there’s a new alternative. Tom and Doris…
Tuesday’s horror is so big that it’s hard to embrace what happened. As we sat, numbed, in front of our television sets, it was like was watching a scene from a shoot-em-up movie. Independence Day. Except the tables turned. And on Tuesday, September 11, our lives were changed irrevocably. They will never be the same….
I don’t know about you, but I need time to think. If you’re on high speed internet, or if you grew up watching Sesame Street, you’re used to information fast! It’s been occurring to me that part of the “rage” we see in lineups, or on highways, or in vehicles or movie theatres has to…
About a year ago I had lunch with Judi Shields. We go back to 1972 when I hired Judi to “cover” news in Innisfil Township. And Judi went at it with the same enthusiasm she now uses to direct the public relations needs of the Simcoe County Children’s Aid Society. It was in this capacity…
It’s been a long four years. Let me take you back to 1998 when we were fortunate enough to put a down payment on a little piece of heaven in Georgian Bay. Built in 1938, our cottage is quickly becoming the place where our itinerant kids all get together and the family is once again…
Teenagers… lazy, menacing, group mentality, cruel, selfish, demanding. Right? Wrong! Let’s try again… teenagers: energetic, committed, involved, concerned, generous, empathetic. For Kathi Kelly the list is endless of the character traits of the teenagers she’s coming in contact with. Kathi is the bereavement coordinator for Hospice Simcoe. In her capacity she’s working with families who…
Fran Cooke is one wild woman! Better known to most Barrie library users as the Children’s Librarian, Fran long ago was part of a loosely knitted group called “The Toy Traders”. We got together when our kids were little, every Wednesday morning, rotating to each other’s homes, to area parks with juice, cookies and a…
So imagine this, if you can… I’ve bought three metres of waterproof canvas with which to sew a cover for our rowboat. I’ve laid it all out and sewn together panels of canvas, French-seaming them for extra strength. I’m sitting at the cottage; it’s a sunny, cheerful day. I’m an hour by boat from anywhere….
We were mowing the lawn at the “old” house for the last time this week. It made me think about Esther Aglukark and it’s a story that’s worth telling, I think. It was one of those significant lessons in life. I met Esther in 1991 at a youth conference we’d organized. We’d brought together 250…