Seems like the gremlins got into the Seagrave news last week. We can't blame Mother Nature for that, but we sure can blame her for the messy weather we are getting this weekend. I hope that everyone could stay indoors and be safe. There were a lot of businesses closed this week. Seagrave and Greenbank Churches cancelled their services

Condolences to Betty and Len Somerville and their family on the recent passing of Betty's father, Ray Munro.

Five Seagrave ladies enjoyed a delightful High Tea Luncheon at Anne St. John’s home a week ago.

April 9th to June 3rd, Seagrave Church is fundraising with Otter Greenhouses at 315 Medd Rd., in Epsom. Simply buy your flowers and let the cashier know you wish to place your purchase with Seagrave Church.

NOTE: Rosalind and Ken Stephens are moving to Bowmanville from our area and would like to meet and greet their church friends at Col. Mustard's in Port Perry on Water Street on April 22nd, after church. Mark your calendars and see you there. If you wish to send them a card, please send to: 21671 Brunion Ave., Seagrave Ontario L0C 1G0. There is a sign up sheet in the foyer.

There will be a scrap, e-waste and bottle collection at the Earth Day event on Saturday April 28th, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Seagrave Park. There will also be a used book sale. We are accepting donated books at 16 Coryell St., across from the church. Please place books in the bin on the front porch.

You can bring your milk bags for the Seagrave United Church to use for their milk bag mats. All funds raised go to improving the park. Registration is now open for Ladies (Over 40) Fun baseball league. Games are Tuesday nights in Seagrave. Please call Sharon Mason at 905-986-1400 or Dianne Lewis at 905-985-1529.
April 26th, at 7:00 p.m. Let's Talk About! Cancelled.

April 29th, at 9:15 a.m. Guest Speaker Betty Somerville .

May 3rd, at 7:00 p.m. Let's Talk About! All welcome to join us in discussing Acts 10:44-48.
May 3rd, at 7:30 p.m. Stewards Meeting to discuss yard sale.

The Seagrave men's group again this year are looking to send two young people to camp Quin-mo-Lac in the summer, cost covered by the men's group, please contact Rick Mcaskill at 905-985-8383 or barberick@sympatico.ca.

The Seagrave men's group are once again having a fun day of golf and dinner at Sunnybrae Golf course Saturday June 23rd, tee off time 2:00 p.m. dinner around 5:00 again please call to hold a spot 905-985-8383 or email barberick@sympatico.ca.

Check our website www.seagrave-church.com for recorded Sunday services, up to date activities, history, local news, etc.

If you wish to rent the hall, call Rick at 905-985-8383 or barberick@sympatico.ca.
If you have an item for this column phone Jean at 905-985-9921, or email Jean at grammiejean2010@hotmail.com.

Due to the weather, Sunday Church Service was Cancelled. Call to worship will resume next week.

Also due to weather, the offices on the First Nation were also closed and school buses were cancelled. The weather has been the talk of day! Hopefully everyone has made it through the ice storm safely.

The next activities to happen at the Health and Resource Centre will be the annual Native Arts & Craft Show and sale. Many vendors will be out with their many Arts/Crafts and it is always nice to grab a bite for lunch, usually Indian Taco can be found and enjoyed. There will be free admission and free door prize tickets. 50/50 and raffle tickets will be available for purchase. Everyone is welcome to come on April 28th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Door prizes will be given every hour on the hour, raffles and 50/50, take place around 3:30 p.m. It will be located at 22600 Island Rd., 1 km north of the Casino on your left hand side. There is lots of parking.

Happy Birthdays this week go out to Bill Bell and Joseph Kozlinsky on the 17th; Chris Johnson on the 18th; Alice Edgar on the 20th; and a very special birthday on the 21st, celebrating a milestone birthday is my Gramma, Christena Edgar!

I can be reached by email at blanckwe@hotmail.com or by land line at 905-985-7662.

Blackstock & District Lions Club
Ordinarily, our Lions try to clean up our park and the cenotaph on Church Street in Blackstock during the middle of April, but this year the weather has become a factor. Therefore, we have moved the event to Wednesday, May 2nd starting around 5 p.m. If you would like to join us, let us know you are coming, and bring along a rake; we’ll have the leaf bags.

On Tuesday, May 8th we’re looking forward to providing vision screening for the senior kindergarten students at Cartwright Central P.S. The permission forms have gone home to the parents.

Another date for your calendar is Saturday, May 26th; that’s our annual Blackstock Lions Car Show which is being held at Cartwright Fields in Nestleton. If you have any queries, contact the chairperson, Lion Keith, at 905-986-5603. More details will follow.

Pineridge Chorus
On Monday, April 9th Pineridge Chorus, the Uxbridge chapter of Sweet Adelines, hosted a Family & Friends Night. This was an opportunity for its members to have a dress rehearsal for the two numbers they will perform this weekend in Region 16 competition in Syracuse, New York. You can watch this live by Googling Sweet Adelines Region 16. It’s an early start because they are on first on Saturday morning, so probably around 9:00 a.m. Good luck, Pineridge!

Caesarea Nestleton Euchre
Thirty people came out to play euchre on Thursday and here are the results: Pat Allemang finished in first place. There was a tie for second between Val Priebe and Jocelyn Bradbury. Pat Currie was third. Roy Bradburn finished in fourth and had the most lone hands. Brigitte Moase came in fifth. Ann Mastin had the low score. The bonus number was won by Bryan Allemang.

Congratulations to all of our winners and we look forward to seeing you on Thursday evening.

Caesarea-Nestleton Euchre is held every Thursday (except holidays) at 7:30 p.m. in the Nestleton Community Hall; everyone is welcome.

Good to see the power stayed on during this past weekend, with what looks like minimal damage across the board.

The Bethesda-Reach W.I. would like to thank the Epsom ladies who assisted with the recent Spring Luncheon and Fashion Show. Your support is greatly appreciated. The April (Annual) meeting of the Bethesda-Reach W.I. will be held on April 25th, at the Epsom United Church at 7:30 p.m. This is a great time to learn about the many activities of the W.I. during the past year. You can call Barbara at 905-985-3976. if you have any questions.

The Epsom/Utica Church Ham and Scallop Potato Supper which had to be postponed because of inclement weather, is this Friday evening April 20th, from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Utica Hall. On Saturday evening April 21st at 7:00 p.m. there is a Jack and Jill party arranged for Danica Ashton and Anton Filatov at Utica Hall.

This week the community said a final goodbye to Honny Urich. Honny lived on Christie Crescent in Utica for many years. Our condolences to daughter Jane and Eric Sobil and Family.

Hopefully the weather will be more obliging for the Epsom/Utica Church Roast Beef Supper on Friday May 11th, at Utica Hall.

Wishing better health for Grace Medd, along with Milton and Elaine Rainey, who are hospitalized at this time.

Enjoy a safe week, send me your Epsom/Utica news to kem@powergate.ca. Go leafs go!

News of the week, which is not really news to anyone in most of Ontario and into the eastern and central U.S., is the dismal weather we had over the weekend. Ice pellets mostly here and less than others areas got closer to Toronto, while some areas north got feet of snow and then the rain and freezing rain on top of all that. So many photos on Facebook of conditions in friend’s backyards!

Many events were cancelled such as the Epsom/Utica Ham and Scalloped potato supper (which has been rescheduled for Friday, April 20th, don’t go on the Saturday April 21st as that is my great niece, Danica Ashton and her fiancé Anton’s Jack and Jill) as well as other local events including the Half Marathon. Many church services, including ours, were cancelled well ahead of time, as the forecast was serious.

Many people, perhaps because they had to work, others because they thought they needed to shop, or lay in supplies in case of a hydro outage, were on the roads. Meanwhile the traffic reports were filled with accident sites and road closures because of them. Hopefully there were no fatalities!

Wednesday morning was the time for the Funeral of Ray Munro. Ray and wife Dorothy (Graham) had celebrated their 74th anniversary only five days before his death at almost 97 years of age. He lived all his life in the Epsom area and farmed all those years where he died. Our sympathies to Dorothy, children Helen, Ross, Betty, and Suzanne and their families!

Wednesday evening was the first meeting of the season for the Uxbridge Horticultural Society. There was a large crowd who were entertained and informed by Conrad Richter saying “Plants Have Rights Too”. There were a number of door prizes given out and I was the winner of a Curves subscription, which has to tell you something, most needed!

On Thursday the Sandford U.C.W. hosted a large group of ladies, and a few men, at their meeting where Rachel Clements showed slides and talked about her work in Jerusalem and Israel, where she travelled three times living in refugee villages. Thanks to the Uxbridge ladies who cancelled their own meeting to come and to all those others who arrived. It was a great afternoon topped off with lovely desserts as usual!

Our church service this week was to have Debbie Siertsema as guest minister and a group of 30 senior men’s choir providing extra music. However, as I said previously, church was cancelled. We hope both Debbie and the choir can come to us at a later date.

Next week, April 22nd, is Holy Humour Sunday. You are asked to wear a funny hat and bring along your good clean jokes. Presently services are scheduled for each church but this might change, so watch the website and/or Face Book page for any changes. However, it is also the day when photos will be taken of the Sandford church families. This is to follow the service at Sandford, from about 10:45 to 2 p.m. Anyone with any association with the church and its members are encouraged to come out and bring their children to be photographed for the booklet to be produced.

Next Tuesday evening at Epsom Church the president of the Ontario Canadian Food Grains Bank will be in attendance to talk about what the Epsom/Utica group has done, as well as what the organization country-wide does around the world. Anyone interested is invited to come at 7:00 p.m.

The Uxbridge Genealogy Group meets Thursday night, at 7:00 p.m. at the Lower hall of the Uxbridge Library. Lynn Palermo will speak on “Writing a Family History: Turning Research Into Story”, how to make facts and figures into a story your family and others will want to read. As usual there will be a 50/50 draw and admission is $2. All are welcome.

The cold weather with rain, sleet, snow, and freezing rain, off and on, Saturday and Sunday, was a good time to chill out at home. Church service was cancelled due to the weather.

However, several attended Audrey Baylis' 80th birthday party on Saturday, and Audrey thanks the Greenbank U.C.W. evening ladies group for the beautiful lunch they provided. The weather was the pits, however the party was great. It was wonderful seeing all who braved the elements. Job well done, ladies, from Audrey Baylis.

It's still hockey playoffs for the NHL and Jr. Teams. Locally some local teams finished their playoffs. Congratulations to Walker Phoenix who played for the AA North Durham Novice Warriors as a goalie. They won an OMHA Championship defeating Kingston.

Jackson Nelski, Weston Phoenix, and Jack Raines played for the A North Durham Novice warriors as defencemen. They won their division, but lost the championship to Owen Sound. Congratulations to both teams on a great year.

Congratulations to Helen Hadden with the arrival of her tenth great-grandchild (on April 15th), a wee girl, Jayden Brethour, a sister for Bronson, daughter of Jeff and Lainey Brethour, and granddaughter of Joy and Jim Miller. Best wishes to all.

Wick Church Ladies are serving a salad supper on May 11th, with one setting at 6 p.m. Adults $18, under 12 years $5, pre-schoolers free. For tickets call Helen at 1-705-357-3704.
If you would like to receive the United Church Observer magazine, it costs $25 per year. Please call Cheryl A.S.A.P, at 905-985-4337, if you wish to subscribe.

Sunday School and Church service on April 22nd, will be at 11 a.m. with minister Stephanie.
On Sunday April 29th, at 11 a.m., George Timms will be the guest speaker, with message in word and song.

The Sunday School children are collecting non-perishable Food Bank items over the next month and will appreciate donations in the box at church.

The Fidelis U.C.W. unit are collecting layette items for newborns and up, to be brought to the May 2nd meeting. Greenbank Lions are holding a Scrap Metal and Electronics Collection at Greenbank Hall on May 12th. For both items call 905-985-3723. Also for free delivery of fertilizer (21-7-7) $27 a bag, and 500 ml bottles of Maple Syrup $10, call the above.

Happy 56th anniversary wishes go to Lester and Audrey Baylis on April 14th.

Happy Birthday to Wanda Foster April 14th, and belated birthday wishes to Joanne Olivero who celebrated a special B-day a few days ago.

Welcome back to snow birds Suzanne Lee, Marilyn Loder, and Ted Blanchard. You came back to winter!

Durham School buses were cancelled on Monday due to the ice storm, giving the school children a long weekend.

Jack and Jill for Brook-Lynn Luchka and James Adderley, Saturday, April 21st, at Scugog Community Centre (Arena), from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. $15 at the door.
Those milder days can come anytime for most of us!

What a weekend for the weather! Both the Church and the church choir supper were cancelled due to the storm. The choir supper will be rescheduled for a later date.

Plan to attend the Talent Auction on Friday evening at the church with viewing at 7:00 p.m. and the auction to begin at 7:30. This auction is filled with fun and entertainment. It is certainly a fun way to raise money. Try not to miss it.

Don and Louise Swain have returned from Florida. They and her sister Evelyn and Larry Ashton, of Port Perry, enjoyed a holiday in the sun.

Noreen Malcolm enjoys visitors in the Villa in Port Perry. Shirley Turner also enjoys visitors since she moved to the Villa.

Sympathy is extended to Ken and Maureen Dowson on the death of their daughter Angie Cooper of Little Britain. Sympathy is also extended to her husband Briab and twin teenage sons and to her aunt Shirley Gibson.

It is refreshing with everything covered in new snow to be thinking of lob ball. If you are interested in joining the over 40 women’s league that play on Tuesday evenings at Seagrave, call Sharon Mason at 905-986-1400 for details.

Congratulations to Anthony Gledhill who won $5000 from Vos Independent Grocery Store in Port Perry. It certainly pays to shop locally!

Winners at the Tuesday evening card party were: first Gary Davidson who had the most lone hands, second Pat Allemang, third Ellen Gibson, fourth Eileen Nelson and Doug Day. The specials were won by Elmo Gibson, Ellen Gibson, Doug Day and Garry Davidson.

Blackstock & District Lions Club
Once again we thank all those who attended our March Madness Dance at the Rec. Centre on March 24th. We commented on the fact that everyone enjoyed dancing so much; they danced from 8:00 p.m. until well after 1:00 a.m. Thank you to the Blackstock Curling Club who partnered with us for this event, to Stack’s Smokin’ Grill who fed us, and to Steve Waters and his band for entertaining us. Plans are in the works for another dance in the fall.

Our next project will be vision screening of the senior kindergarten students at Cartwright Central Public School. Once a date is in place in early May, permission forms will go home and we’ll set up in the stage room at the school. We use three screening procedures: far visual acuity, alignment, and auto refractor. No attempt will be made to check the health of the eyes. A vision screening does not replace a complete eye exam. It is designed to identify children who have trouble seeing things at a distance, up close, or who have difficulty making both eyes work together. A report with the results will be sent home in a sealed envelope.

Caesarea Nestleton Euchre
This past Thursday night we had 38 people come out to play euchre.

The winners were: Doug Day came in first with 90 points. There was a tie for second between Jim Tucker and Jim Kushner. Alma Manns finished in third place. Pat Allemang was fourth and had the most lone hands. Dianne Norton finished in fifth place. Ruth Jackson had the low score. The bonus number was a tie between Linda Carder, Dianne Slute, and Shirley Oldfield. Pat Allemang and Jim Tucker also had 21 points in one game.

Congratulations to all of our winners and we look forward to seeing you on Thursday evening.

Caesarea-Nestleton Euchre is held every Thursday (except holidays) at 7:30 p.m. in the Nestleton Community Hall; everyone is welcome.

A huge Chi' Meegwetch goes out to everyone who helped in some way big or small to make the annual drum social go off so smoothly. There was a great turn out for the social, followed with some drumming and of course dancing. Prizes were won and spot dances were danced.

The next activities to happen at the Health and Resource Centre will be the annual Native Arts & Craft Show and Sale. Many vendors will be out with their many arts/crafts and it is always nice to grab a bite for lunch. Usually Indian Taco can be found and enjoyed. Free admission and free door prize tickets, 50/50, and raffle tickets available for purchase. Everyone is welcome to come. The date is April 28th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with door prize every hour on the hour, raffles and 50/50 take place around 3:30 p.m. The location is at 22600 Island Rd, 1 km north of the Casino on your left hand side. There is lots of parking available.

Call to worship was called by the congregations Lay Worship Leader/Preacher Douglas Baird. The service was a John Wesley service. A warm greeting was extended to everyone who was out to the service.

April 15th, is the pulpit exchange.

April 29th, is the Conference Annual General Meeting.

This is the last week to order stones for the church's flower garden and to help fundraise. Please call Elizabeth, at 905-985-6759, if you're interested.

Happy Birthdays this week go out to Steve Ciecwierz, Kale Thompson, and Tara Hogel, all on the 10th; Della Charles, Ron Crozier, and Cheyenne Williamson, all on the 11th; Brandon Needham on the 13th; and Ruby La Rocca on the 14th. Happy Birthday to anyone who may of been missed.

I can be reached by phone, on my landline, at 905-985-7662, or by email at blanckwe@hotmail.com.

The community was saddened to hear of the passing of long time Epsom resident Mr. Ray Munro. Ray was one of the three oldest residents, at age 96, to be recognized at our Epsom school closer. Ray was a farmer who loved his occupation and loved his wife Dorothy and four children; Ross, Helen, Betty, and Susanne, and their families.

The Epsom/Utica Church Ham and Scallop potato supper is on Saturday April 14th, from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m., and is being held at Utica Hall. Tickets at the door are $15 for adults, $8 for kids six to twelve, and free for those five years of age and under.

On Tuesday April 17th, at 7 pm the Canadian Foodgrains Bank national executive will meet at Epsom church to celebrate with the community, on the occasion of their 35th project year. Please come and celebrate this very worthwhile mission.

Best wishes to Margaret Taylor Sevier as she undergoes a knee replacement this Tuesday.

Send me your Epsom and Utica news to kem@powergate.ca and let us all try to live by the Golden Rule this week.