Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
Take a drive or a stroll along Toronto Street in Newcastle. John Albi of Rona Hardware has once again put together a festive Christmas Light display.
Take a drive or a stroll along Toronto Street in Newcastle. John Albi of Rona Hardware has once again put together a festive Christmas Light display.
he weeks leading up to Christmas are always super hectic. On my end, it is making sure community holiday events are covered for the paper – the ones I know about anyway. Each year it feels like there’s so much to do, that I can’t find the headspace to think about much else. Then poof, the day after Christmas everything slows down again and it suddenly hits me that we’re in the final breaths of this year.
For me, it’s always been a time to look back over the past year and think about all the things I’ve done and what I might have done differently. Some years it’s good, other years… not so much. I’ve had years where I’ve looked back and felt massively frustrated and disappointed because of how little I thought I had accomplished.
I’m guessing I’m not the only one who experiences these thoughts at this time of year. The time leading up to the end of the year seems like an appropriate point to be thinking about such things, but it’s much easier to focus on and recall all the things we did badly, or the things we thought we should have done. It’s easy to get stuck in a continuous loop of criticizing yourself, without coming up with ways to make it better.
On Sunday, December 12 the Orono Firefighters Association held another very successful community food drive collecting food, toys and money. Ethan Rogers (L) and Coulson Smith (R) were very excited when they saw the four-wheeler pull up.
On Thursday, December 9, Durham Region Hospice – Clarington received a very special Christmas present. Domenic Tassone, CEO of Highcastle Homes and Seven Developments announced a lead donation of $1million towards the building of the new hospice care centre in Clarington. The donation secures the naming rights for the hospice.
Susan Pascoe and Elsa Barkley are busy packing up the Christmas food hampers that were distributed last Saturday at the Clarington East Foodbank.
Complete with the Angel of the Lord, the Holy Family and assorted onlookers, the Nativity scene lights up the Newcastle sky along Toronto Street.
Children of all ages can enjoy beloved characters such as Thomas the Tank Engine, the minions and other Disney characters.
On a chilly Sunday morning, there is nothing better to warm up a person than frolicking with three adorably wrinkly Shar-pei dogs on their home turf. These three are unaware of how cute they are, they live to love and play and bring joy to their owners, Rhonda and John Holloway, and polish off the odd snack or two. They are also blissfully ignorant of the awards and prizes they have won. Meet 8 Ball, Cue Ball and R.J., Newcastle’s canine royalty, on national and international levels. They are the face of the uber successful ‘Periwrinkle Kennels’.
Every good Christmas tale has its antagonist. Ebeneezer Scrooge. Granville Sawyer. The Grinch. The Burgmeister Meisterburger. The pages of the Orono Times, in the spirit of fair and unbiased journalism, has over the years provided column inches to those who lacked the Christmas spirit.