Zephyr & Sandford News

by Pat Asling

What more could be asked for than a continuation of the weather we experienced this past week? A good soaking rain and sunny, pleasantly warm days. What more? More of the same! As far as crops go, what is, will be. A great many acres of corn have been processed, one way or another, and several neighbours have been able to get a third, sparse cutting of hay. Mostly, what is left in the field are the soybeans, which are usually a late harvest. I suppose it depends on your land type and how abundant your crop turned out to be. With some parts of Canada relying on the sale of beans to China, a huge crop might not be advantageous, but surely they can be utilized here in Canada.

There were not a lot of birthdays this week. Happy birthday to our church pianist, Ruth Baker, who makes sweet music for us most weeks and also keeps the great trio “Reflections” in tune. Also celebrating birthdays this week are Jean Scott Sopel and Cor Van Maurik, both highly active members of the church and community. Speaking of Sopel’s, Al informed the church, the young man who was shot and killed in Wisconsin was from Stouffville, had played hockey since age seven with their son Scott, and recently had become a father at age 32. A very sad and quite unnecessary death. Best birthday greetings to Grace Risebrough home from university, to have a special meal with her dad, Mike, who also recently celebrated. Another one of our young people, Dawson Ball, celebrated his 23rd birthday. Hard to believe they are growing up and accomplishing so much quite quickly. Continued best wishes for academic success! Birthday wishes also to Nancy Threan Loraine, who is often away on some missionary endeavour!

Last week, when they met at the Museum, the Horseshoe Club completed its competition, with Murray Smith and David McElroy winning the Kirvan Cup as club champions, and Ted Eng and Tim Thompson winning the Ken and Irene Watts Trophy. Play continues during October, at 5 p.m., or until it gets too cold or snow flies!

On Tuesday evening, the North Durham Nature, meeting at the Scugog Library, had an almost overflow crowd. The speaker was David Ellis, expounding on the Wildlife of Kawartha Lakes. I assume many attendees were from that area, as I don’t recall having so many participants before. An amazing night! Visit the website for information on walks scheduled for the month and the upcoming October talk. On Thursday evening, the much-anticipated WI Fashion Show and Dessert event took place at the Seniors' Centre, with over 100 attendees (my estimate). ‘Threads’ and ‘Woods’ once more exhibited their clothing with a variety of models showing off. The clothing was delicious, and so were the desserts! The money raised goes to two scholarships for young ladies from Port Perry and Uxbridge High schools. Friday was the last concert of the season at the Foster. A good crowd welcomed back Mike Burns and his three companions. Mike has closed off the season for a number of years now and always brings many followers. The Zephyr Lions held a Seasonal Fair on Saturday. In the words of Shaun Schevers: “The autumn market went great, we had a steady flow of people, say 60-70 people? All kinds of crafts: woodworking, knitting, epoxy and woodworking, fresh flowers, Scentsy, fresh lemonade, and Dirty Pop mix, which was so good. The lions did a BBQ as well!”

This coming Friday at the Historic Leaskdale Church, jazz is in session featuring Tom Baker, James Warburton, and singer Whitney Ross Barris, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is by donation. On October 16th, there are three events: the 25th Anniversary of the Uxbridge Genealogy group, 7 p.m. at the library. At the Uxbridge Scott Museum, Walter Campbell, painter and musician, and the induction of six well-deserving individuals into the Kinsmen Hall of Fame, including Allan McGillivray and Ray Newton!

Looking ahead to October 25th and 26th is the Lucy Maud Montgomery Conference. There is a great variety of presentations on both days, lunches, and a special meal available. Check out the website for daily details. There are several pages to click through! On October 18th, the Zephyr Scott Lions and Community group is sponsoring Yuk Yuks, a costume contest, and a dance at the Zephyr Hall. Activities start at 7:30 p.m., with the dance from 9 to midnight. Tickets are $35 each.

Church on Sunday was conducted by Ken McEvoy, LLWL. This was the second time he has been with us. He neatly tied together the reasons for Orange Shirt Day, the Day of Reconciliation, and what it all means for us in our daily lives. Rev Li will be with us next week when we will celebrate communion. Following church, I went over to Greenbank and the town hall for a presentation sponsored by the Scugog Historical Society. A great variety of books, pamphlets, pictures, etc., were on display about the Cragg family and the Greenbank area. Larry Doble gave a resume of the history of the building, which began as St. Agnes church! President Marilyn Pearce opened the meeting and introduced the speaker, Barb Dickson (author of “Bomb Girls”) gave a great slide presentation about the journey the Cragg family had as they immigrated to Canada in 1820. It took almost three months for them to cross the Atlantic and gather in Toronto, and another several before deciding to go north, ending up in Reach. My own family came to Canada in 1819, and it wasn’t until 1834 or so that they arrived in the Greenbank area, via Brock. Because of the swamp, Reach was later opening than Uxbridge or Brock Townships!