Zephyr & Sandford news

by Pat Asling

Another beautiful week to end official summer! Were you able to catch the superharvest moon and the eclipse? As seems to have happened a lot, it was hiding behind a thin veil of clouds. I didn't see many pictures posted of this special event. Hints of rain all week, which we do need again, but so far, it has held off.

I was hoping Saturday, in particular, was fine as so much effort was put into the auction, organized by Dick Ott, to raise funds for Ryan Fawns and his rehabilitation. Dick posted $100k was raised. What a fantastic feat involving many people, donors, purchasers, cookers, etc. I understand the auctioneer was our own Mike Risebrough, a talent I had forgotten he had. He also had a birthday this week.

There were a couple of mistakes in last week's news. Speaking of the Wilson family, there should have been brackets around (Prentice), the maiden name of Dorothy. That same family had a wedding in which Bruce's siblings Jean and Norman attended for the daughter of sister Helen and husband Rev. Floyd. That same day, we, relatives of Dawn Marie Prentice, were invited to her Celebration of life. Between the wedding and working at the Fair, none of us went to that event. Also, speaking of my Art on the Fringe friends, the name was Payne.

Last weekend Adele Boy was in the unique position of conducting the wedding of her son Chris. She had also organized a wedding shower at her home for the bride a few days before. A tragic event that seemed to touch a lot of hearts was the death of Meg, R 95, the mother swan, and all the speculation about what would happen to Dad and his seven cygnets. Hopefully, when the young fly off, he will find a new mate and stay on Elgin Pond. More sadness was expressed, of course, over the passing of Lois Elford. All but one of her children live outside of the province, one on an extended trip, so the Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, October 19th, at 1 p.m. Visitation is Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 12 to 1 p.m.

Lots of birthdays this week. Happy birthday to Julie Eng, mother of Gloria and her brothers. Older folk will recall the excitement in town when it was known that Terry was going to China for a wife. And he did and she came, this pretty little girl called Julie, who is now 85! Happy birthdays also to my oldest granddaughter, Sarah Grol, a beautiful and talented young lady, and to Mike MacDonald, who alternated between being fire chief, tour guide, grandfather and article writer. Remember the special event coming up for the Firefighter memorial is honoured at the Fire Hall coming up.Then there is Fred Wilson, 92, who gets around remarkably well! Birthdays for my Zephyr friends include Tanis Pottage Smith, wife to energizer bunny Bruce-such, a lucky man he has been. Also Linda Wagg and partner Elwood Kirton, celebrating only days apart. Birthday greetings also to my friend and sorority sister Shirley Baster. Happy anniversary to David and Dorina Meek, married 31 years, another one I met as a child, son of Bob and Sally Meek. They now live in Verner, and their father, Bob, is well but living in a care home close by.

Congratulations to Sarah Steinbeck of the Uxbridge Swim Club, who was awarded the Coaching Excellence. She was the first head coach in Uxbridge. Congratulations also to Dawson Ball of the Durham West 4H for winning fourth in showmanship and third in Confirmation. Like my great niece Hayley, he will soon be aging out of 4H but may take up a special place as she has.

Congratulations also to Uxbridge Bruins' new captain, Tanner Ryan, and his co-captains Jackie Kemp, Jake Rigello and my young cousin Ryan Shier. Ryan is also the great-nephew of Linda Wagg and her sisters.

Scott Central Public School held its first "Meet the Teacher" night on the 19th. I am sure many parents took advantage of this event. On Thursday night also the Uxbridge Genealogy Group met at the library. The topic of the evening was six free websites available to help find your ancestors. Membership is $25. Send it in care of the library or bring it to the next meeting. The North Durham Nature Group meets at the Scugog library this coming Wednesday night. Dr. Eric Nol is the speaker whose topic is "Will Our Songbirds Survive." I have seen quite a few birds this summer but what I haven't seen are butterflies. No lack of nectar-producing plants here, so not sure what the problem is. The series of concerts, "Friday Night at the Foster," is coming to an end this Friday. There was a good turnout to hear Andrew Heathcote last Friday, and this week, it is Mike Burns, who always brings in a good audience. Doors open at 7 p.m., concert at 7:30 p.m. I am always amazed at how many people have not been inside the Foster, and they are amazed at what they see and how the music sounds inside. Admission by donation.

If you will be looking for something musical to fill your a Friday evenings now, the Lucy Maud Society has begun a series of musical evenings. On October 18th and November 22nd there will be Chamber Music and on October 4th, November 1st and December 6th there will be jazz in the historic Leaskdale church. Admission by donation.

Uxbridge Warm Hearts will be open on October 19th to 20th, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. when donations of coats, mitts, hats, socks and other warm clothing can be dropped off at the arena. I also noticed our Food Bank is asking for donations of reusable bags in which to place clients food to take home. Several usual drop-off spots were mentioned.

The Uxbridge Scott Museum has had a busy summer hosting kite flying, a monthly market of produce and crafts, a Taste of Heritage event, and an evening all about herbs. Of course, there was the Art on the Fringe, which usually brings its own crowd. Now, after a long hiatus, the Uxbridge Scott Historical Society will meet in the school house on October 3rd at 7:30 p.m. The Uxbridge Scott Historical Society was founded by Allan McGillivray and Isobel St. John in 1971. All the buildings except the schoolhouse were moved from locations around the two Townships. Everyone is invited to this meeting to learn more about this and what you can do to help. The following week, at 10 a.m. in the school house, there will be an event to celebrate the 100th birthday of that building. Hopefully, a number of individuals who went to school there will be in attendance. My sister-in-law and siblings were among those.

On Thursday evening the Sandford Zephyr church board met with Rev. Li to talk about future events and what is needed to complete the transition after closure of Zephyr. We were told it will take several months before that process is complete even though after the end of October we will function as one church. Sandford anniversary will be at 10 a.m. on October 20th and Zephyrs final anniversary on October 27th, 11 a.m. All are invited to each and every service!