ZEPHYR & SANDFORD by Pat Asling

The heat is on, at least for awhile. This may very well happen for some time yet, this back and forth and as anxious as I am to get all my pots of begonias, out on the deck and dahlias in the ground, it is too risky as yet. The spring flowers and perennial, fruit trees and lilacs etc., display no hesitation though and suddenly, kazzam, everything is in bloom. One day nothing and the next every pear, cherry, apple are in full bloom, trees are fully leafed out.

I also have a lawn golden with dandelions. I like to cut my lawn before they all go to seed but this year I am trying to leave then as nectar for all the bees and other pollinators. Sadly it seems these creatures are few and far between. There are some large bumble bees and some flying biting insects but few honey bees or our native bees, even though I won a bee house at the Horticultural group Wednesday night (the first in-person), made by Rick Caustin.

This might be a good time to remind you of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society’s (LMMS) “Garden’s of Uxbridge Tour” coming up on June 25th. They are in need of volunteers to garden sit for a few hours during the day. Please contact LMMS members to volunteer.

I attended the final presentation of “Anne of Avonlea” at the Historic Leaskdale Church on Sunday afternoon. This was performed by Rylepuss and was excellently done. I knew none of the actors, most being many generations beyond me now, but certainly their performance augured well for the future. Actually, I only knew five of the audience too. But it was good for a first time out, after so long.

On Monday noon I attended an initial luncheon set up by Community Care. Only nine people attended and it was held at “One Eyed Jack’s” restaurant. To me it was rather strange but it appears Community Care has been considerably downsized and they now do all their organizing from their office in Port Perry, a building they own. They do have a virtual programme you can join most Thursday afternoons.

Talking of seniors, a big congratulations goes out to Carolyn Hicken who was awarded the “Senior of the Year” award from the Township, to someone over 65 who does considerable volunteering. And Carolyn certainly does that! For a number of years Carolyn was part of our Sandford United Church community, in later years she looked after our website.

A number of our senior friends are celebrating birthdays this past week. We will start with Bill Richardson, who turned 84. He has so many talents which keep him interested and helpful. Two other ladies of Sandford United Church also celebrated. Carol Johnson and Jenny Van Maurik both making 80 plus look good in spite of aches and pains. Carol goes to the gym every week and has been taking care of the decorating of the church each Sunday, when we hold service in Sandford. Jenny goes swimming at Uxpool most days and finds it a big help with an aching back.

Another well known lady, from Leaskdale, is Helen Herrema who is 85. Helen is still busy in many activities and oversees farm operations at Herremalea when Howie lets her. And of course, she also now has a great- granddaughter that gets a lot of attention.

Coming to a bit younger, Wayne Gunn had a birthday. Wayne was a great computer expert but I haven’t seen him for ages when he was a fixture in front of the Canadian Tire selling hotdogs and hamburgs to hungry customers. Happy birthday also to Ellen Ballinger, wife of Jack, and a member of the Lapp family who grew up around Sandford, but moved to town when the children were older. There are still relatives around here.

Happy birthday also to Trevor Cox who farms up the 6th and does a few other things as well if his posts on FaceBook are to be believed. Trevor is the younger son of Elaine and Murray. Then there is Lorraine Morrison Jennings who is one of the many daughters of Hugh and Ruth Morrison of Uxbridge, a very happy family in my memory. And youngest of all, Christopher Leppard who changed up to 19 the other day, son of John and Jackie.

The Leaskdale Loop second tour was this past Saturday. It was a gorgeous day so I expect there would have been a good crowd of tourers. Sadly, two of the people who have been involved in organizing this, Barb and Stewart Blower are leaving Uxbridge and moving to Ingersol, a great loss for the town in many ways. Barb was also responsible for starting Maamawi Collective, a group dedicated to indigenous culture.

#sandford #shorelines #Zephyr