2007 Marten River Winterfest

This years Winterfest was a resounding success. Many people marvelled at our newly expanded and refurbished fire hall. Many volunteers donated their time and expertise to finish off the interior of the kitchen and equipment area. Equipment and appliances have been acquired to prepare and keep food for events that go on throughout the year.
The fire hall was adorned for St. Paddy's day this year since this date coincided with Winterfest Day and most of us will find some Irish blood in our ancestory. Every participant was a winner in our colouring contest and are sure to find a place of honour in their parents and grandparents houses. There were many colourful and imaginative costumns in the crowd this year. The winner was our own Joanne Myers of Marten River. The pancake and sausage breakfast and the beef on a bun at lunchtime were delicious as usual. There were many events going on outside with the dogsled rides proving popular again this year, along with outdoor curling, a tea boiling contest and chainsaw carving.
Lois Livingston, our resident artist, donated her painting entitled "Come Walk With Me" for auction. It was admired by all. The lucky winner of the quilt crafted by the Sisters By Choice was won by Denise Wert of Kenogami.

An Interesing Talk

At the end of February Kay McKinnon who lives here in Marten River came to talk to our Sisters By Choice group. She runs a wildlife rehabilitation centre here and is an expert in the field. She looks after birds and animals with the goal of returning them to their natural habitat and works closely with other wildlife rehabilitation centres in Ontario, the Ministry of Natural Resourses and the Canadian Wildlife Services. Her goal is to educate people in the area through workshops and talks about what and what not to do when we want to "rescue" animals and birds who seemingly need our help. To learn more about her work, please contact the Northern Lights Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre at northernrehab@vianet.ca.

February Happenings

February brought winter cold but not much snow.
While the winter winds blew blustery outside it was warm and cheery inside at Beaverland Camp at our Valentines Day potluck lunch and lepricon making session. Our lepricon snowmen turned out fabulously and will decorate the firehall at the Marten River Winterfest on St. Patrick's Day.
The day will have a St. Patrick's day flare with a "Top of the Morning" pancake and sausage breakfast, dog sled rides, log sawing events, snow golf, "Pot-Gold" treasure hunt, kids games and colouring contest, bingo and autions, etc. Lunch and refreshments are available.
Wear some green or start planning for the St. Patrick's Day Irish Costume competition or Irish karaoke contest. Passports to enjoy all of these events are on sale for $5 at local businesses in Marten River.
Work has been going on since January at the firehall with painting and building bees getting most of the interior work done by Winterfest. The work the volunteers have done has been phenonimal.
Winterfest will be a great opportunity of show off the spiffy new interior of our firehall. Hats off to our volunteers and helpers who supplied food, coffee and encouragement.

Bonnie Renaud giving us instructions for sewing quilt blocks  

Ellie Mitchell with her finished wreath 

Some of us working hard on our centrepieces 

A "Naughty" view of Mrs. Claus entertaining us 

Ollie Page reciting her rendition of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" 

Another View of the Sisters at Our Lunch 

A View of the Sisters at Our Christmas Lunch 

A Long Overdue New Posting

A lot has been happening since I last posted, so I will try to catch up on some of the events that have gone on recently.
Our boxes to Afganistan were safely and promptly delivered and Gilles (Madeleine's son) was delighted to receive them. He distributed them among his unit and the front lines and they were much appreciated. We are discussing the possibility of sending "care packages" to the troops every six months to boost their moral and let them know they are in our thoughts.
We had a great Christmas party with a lot of laughs and were treated to a visit from Santa and helpers. Ollie Page read us her rendition of "The Night Before Christmas" which was received with great delight.
At our last meeting before Christmas we had a wreath and centrepiece making session with some beautiful results. We got back together after several weeks off around Christmas to enjoy with our families.
Bonnie Renaud has been planning and putting together our new quilt blocks for our new fundraising quilt for several months. They were given out at our last meeting to those who wanted to work on them. Many thanks go to Bonnie for all her hard work.
The Marten River Winterfest commitee have been meeting for several weeks to plan for this year's event which will take place on March 17th. It will have a St. Patrick's Day theme since it falls on that date. Things will get underway with a "Top O The Mornin" pancake breakfast. Children's activities include a colouring competition, minnow races, and a "Pot O Gold" treasure hunt. There will be a costume contest featuring the best St. Patrick's Day costume. A Karaoke contest featuring Irish songs is in the planning. Log sawing and chainsaw demonstrations will take place outside, and there will be the popular beef on a bun, hot dogs, homefries and pop available at lunchtime. It sounds like a wonderful day to get out and enjoy your neighbours and friends and have some fun and entertainment.

Another view of the items we are sending 

A Happy Picture of Some of Us 

A look at some of the items headed for Afganastan 

Another pic of our first meeting 

Our First Meeting of the season at the Rockpine 

The fall season has started and so have our meetings for our Sisters By Choice group. Since Madeleine Jackson's son is serving in Afganastan, we have decided to send him and some of his friends over there a Christmas box filled with things they can use. All manner of things have come in to fill the box, such as pens, writing paper, jigsaw puzzles, crosswork puzzle books, paperback books, Canadian magazines, toothpaste, handy wipes etc. etc. etc. The box will be taken down to the air base in North Bay and flown there on one of our transports. In a week or two we hope, a Christmas box of baked goods will also be on it's way.
The kids of Marten River each received a goodie bag for halloween thanks to the generosity of our sister's group. A bag was filled for each of them and taken to the post office where Ursula distributed them.
Everybody has survived the 2 snowfalls we have had in October and the ensuing blackout. There's never a dull moment here!

Here are some of Us Arriving at Bonnie's 

Another View 

A View of Some of the Gardens of Tom & Bonnie 

Looking Over the Plants 

Plant Exchange

The plant exchange held this morning at Bonnie Renaud's was a lot of fun. There were a ton of plants brought and lots to choose from. It was a blast looking at Bonnie and Tom's beautiful gardens.
I saw the finished quilt and it's beautiful. Bonnie did a terrific job finishing it. Tickets are already being sold on it. We have a head start on ticket sales and we should sell a lot.
A reminder about the concert being held at Gramp's Place this Saturday. It's $20.00 a ticket and should be a lot of fun.

An Outside View 

The Bake Sale Table 

A View of Some of the Sale Tables 

Yard & Bake Sale

The Marten River Fire Department's yard and bake sale was a great success. The bake sale items were bought up early by eager and hungry customers. They thank everyone who contributed their delicious baking and used items for the yard sale. As you know, one man's garbage is another's treasure! There were some nice items for sale this year.

Great Friends