Santa made his way down Main Street in Orono this past Saturday. It’s been two years since we’ve had a parade and what an amazing day it was! Excited children lined the streets and waved greetings to the jolly old elf, while singing along and dancing to the holiday music.
A great way to pay your respects to loved ones is to memorialize their name in stone at the Newcastle Lions Memo-rial Forest Path. The forest it-self was established as a project for the Lions back in 2006, where there are approximately 348 trees beautifying the park at the foot of Cobbledick Road. The trees were planted, and people purchased a tree as a memorial to family members or as a friend to the service group. The forest has flourished with the ongoing maintenance of the Lions Club.
In August Cathy Sampson put out a call recruiting senior volunteers to help with her senior horses – 20+ and in their 30s. Matching senior with a senior was idea she had prior to COVID after 91-year-old Rod Taylor rekindled his love for Morgan horses.
On Monday Ontario passed Bill 23. A bill intended to spur housing development amid criticism that it will leave municipalities short billions of dollars, increase property taxes and reduce the role of conservation authorities.
Bill 23 will freeze, reduce and exempt fees developers pay. These are the fees that go to municipalities and are then used to pay for services to support new homes, such as road and sewer infrastructure and community centres.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario says the changes could leave municipalities short $5 billion and see taxpayers footing the bill, either in the form of higher property taxes or service cuts, and there is nothing in the bill that would guarantee improved housing affordability.
Recently, Newcastle’s Sierd Dejong found the remnants of an old McLaughlin horse drawn cutter. The cutter was the term used to describe a smaller horse drawn sleigh while the larger ones were referred to as sleighs. These were very common in rural communities as a way to get around in the winter.
Kirstine and Randy Farmer, owners of Ranfar Steel in Bowmanville, made a do-nation last week to Durham Hospice – Clarington and would like to encourage other business owners in the community to donate. Pictured from LtoR: Bonnie Wrightman, CBOT; Randy and Kirstine Farmer; Jackie Nixon and Leo Blindenbach, Durham Hospice – Clarington, Board of Directors. The location on Cobbledick Road in Newcastle is ear-marked with signage, and will break ground in 2023 if all goes as planned.
The Newcastle BIA, sponsors of last Saturday’s Breakfast with Santa, were overjoyed at the great turnout for the event. The hardworking chefs (LtoR) Jordan Parry, Taylor Ferguson, Doug Sirrs, Marni and Greg Lewis and Chantal Parry (front), we’re dispensing pancakes and sausages as fast as they could prepare them for the hungry crowd. Greg Lewis, who along with his wife chaired the event, noted that he was so happy to see the community come out, and thanked Kevin Adams of The Old Newcastle House, who sourced all the food for them at cost and volunteered his time as well.
The Newcastle U15 and U13 Stars hockey teams are pictured along with Santa and NVMHA board member Dawar Taylor. The guys were helping out at the pancake breakfast with set up, clean up and spreading good cheer among the many attendees.
Back in the day when roads were named, the Belden Atlas of 1878 was referred to. Families who owned property along the road had the roads named after them. The Langmaid family name is familiar in this area. “We had a farm just south of Solina. But the name of the road is named after Walter Langmaid, another branch of the large family on another farm.”
That’s a wrap! Rick, Tereza, Marie and Brian have shelved the last book for 2022. Time for them to relax and get caught up on their reading. Opening day is April 1, 2023, see you there!