Georgian College’s huge gymnasium played host to a model of united community strength this week. As I stood near the back of the room, it was like watching a microcosm of all of Barrie. Its musical leaders, knowledge leaders, business leaders, institution leaders, medical leaders, education leaders, industrial leaders… leaders from the past and leaders…
“That will never happen to me!” So often when companies offer first aid and safety training at the workplace, employees decline because they can’t imagine ever needing to use it. Not so at Barrie Hydro. When Kevin Neil, Health, Safety & Loss Prevention Officer for Barrie Hydro Distribution, decided to offer specific training to all…
The numbers were up. The money was down. And the community came through! If you look in this issue you’ll see the kindly-donated Advance space for our Christmas Cheer Thank You ad. If you look in the background you’ll see literally hundreds of names… people, companies, donors, volunteers, the people who make Christmas Cheer happen…
The numbers are up. The money is down. Those of us who volunteer for Christmas Cheer are sitting at our new centre at 364 St Vincent St holding Christmas in our hands. We’ve just come from a team meeting. We have 4539 people who are counting on us for their entire Christmas this year… 1,513…
Imagine this, if you will. It’s the bustle of the Christmas season… little children have eyes aglow in wonderment, spouses are thinking about what ‘treat’ would delight each other. Grandparents are tugging little ones down to the lakeshore to walk through the fabulous lights. Life is good. For some. Last week Jacki Marchildon lay on…
A few years ago my friends David and Elizabeth Morley wrote a series of books with meaningful exercises for Canadian classroms. Their book about the ‘giving’ season was called Under the Tree. In it they challenged children to learn the difference between ‘want’ and ‘need’ without becoming Grinch-like in their attitude. The song that went…
I was at a business meeting last week and someone said there were 33 shopping days until Christmas! When did that happen? What a way to get people in high gear! I love this season, actually. I love snow. I love real Christmas trees. I love Christmas songs. I love thinking about people I care…
In its 30 years of service to the community, Christmas Cheer has moved twice. The hardy group of volunteers, determined that people without enough right now will be able to celebrate Christmas started their charitable life at the Armouries building, located in Queen’s Park in downtown Barrie. From 1978 to 2000, the Armouries was home…
Royal Canadian Air Force. Huronia Wing #441. It’s that low, flat building on Highway 90 with the red aeroplane parked at its side yard. Most of us have driven past it for years, but the energy that has kept it alive, bills paid, serving its community is second only to the commitment that its members…
There’s a cartoon in the paper called Zits. It’s one of those daily strips where you actually develop a relationship with the characters. The main character is Jeremy, a teenage boy who confounds his parents. I laughed out loud last week when his parents (aka anyone in that senior middle age category) are trying to…