ETC prescribes a touch of Insanity
Balk at giving some spare change to the guy who walks around talking to himself? How about inviting him over to stay at your place? Maybe he can bring a couple of friends? Get past the shock, and you might even have a few laughs. Well, at least if you’re Victoria, the sweet but scattered soon-to-be-ex-wife of a psychiatrist who finds herself playing host to three patients from the nearby mental hospital when it burns down.
Susan Parr and Rob Gray rehearse a scene from the Elmira Theatre Company production of From Here to Insanity, which opens Feb. 5 and runs until Feb. 14.
The fun that ensues forms the basis of the Elmira Theatre Company comedy opening next week, From Here to Insanity, written by Caroline Russell-King.
Two of the visitors welcomed by Victoria (Sue Parr) have multiple personalities (ETC newcomers Kimberly Young as Sarah/Gladys/Lola and Rob Gray as James/Rita) and the third only communicates through sound effects (Michael Grant as Benny). The rapid switches from one character to the next provide fertile material, and Benny’s method of relating to others is ripe with opportunities for physical comedy.
Beyond that, however, there’s a touching story about human relationships, said director Ken Harkes, drawn to the play when he first read it some eight years ago and feeling the time was now right to stage it here.
“From a director’s point of view, this one has got a little more meat in it. It’s more than just a comedy,” he explained …Read more
Passion for crafts leads to retail operation
It wasn’t long after retiring from her job in politics that Dianne Baker realized she wasn’t quite ready for the home life.
Instead, she enlisted the help and support of her daughter and son-in-law and turned one of her life-long passions – arts and crafts – into one of Elmira’s newest businesses.
The result? Gramma B’s Craft Den on the top floor of the Elmira Shopping Village at Arthur and Church streets.
Cassie and Brittany Cowan join their mother Joanne and grandmother Dianne Baker – aka Gramma B – at Elmira’s newest crafts store.
“It came about because I retired. I didn’t think much of that. I thought I’d want to retire because then I’d have all kinds of time to do crafts and kind of woke up and said, ‘I’ve got nowhere to go in the morning,” Baker told the Observer.
“So, I decided to open a business.”
For 15 years, Baker had worked as a constituency assistant, managing the office of former MP Andrew Telegdi.
Although there are obvious differences between running a political office and operating a craft store with her daughter, her son-in-law, and her enthusiastic grandchildren, Baker noted that there are in fact, many similarities.
“You’re still selling a product … you’re still dealing with the public. You have to have something you believe in, …Read more
Winter woes
With yet another blast of witherBreslau becomes
the region’s number-one short-term tourist destination.
Tories winging it with new budget
If Preston Manning were dead, he’d be rolling in his grave this week following the release of the new federal budget. The massive amounts of spending and huge deficits are anathema to the Reform party and its followers, the core supporters of Stephen Harper’s Conservatives …Read more
Young hockey players in need have a new friend
A year ago, six-year-old K.J. Ferguson wanted to become a bricklayer.
“Now that he’s playing hockey, that’s out the window,” said his grandmother, Ruth Usick. “Now his goal is to play for the Calgary Flames.”
Ferguson isn’t quite ready for the NHL draft just yet, but his skating is improving and he’s having a great time learning the game with his mini team.
K.J.’s hockey debut was made possible by the Friends of Hockey, a new community fund to help minor hockey players who wouldn’t otherwise be able to participate.
Mark Fackoury, left, and Bob Waters, right, hold some of the equipment Friends of Hockey has provided to players like K.J. Ferguson. The goal of Friends of Hockey is to help boys and girls who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford equipment and registration fees.
After K.J.’s mother, Valerie Ferguson, was killed in April 2008, there was a huge outpouring of community support for her two children. Bob Waters, one of the founders of Friends of Hockey, knew K.J. wanted to play and decided to make it happen.
“I asked a coach of a team just a little bit older than him if they would help, and within one day, we had more than enough equipment for the boy.”
Then staff at PIB Insurance got wind of what …Read more
Woolwich contingent takes to the pond
The Menno Flyers grew up in arenas around Woolwich and Wellesley, but this weekend they’re taking hockey back to its roots: on an outdoor rink, where the only requirements are a stick, skates, helmet and puck.
The Flyers are competing in the Canadian National Pond Hockey championships in Huntsville for the second year in a row.
Pond hockey is played four-on-four, with no goalie, and a net that is six feet wide but only 10 inches high. There are no blue lines, no offsides, no faceoff circles and few stoppages in play.
Shawn Brubacher, Jason Camm and Paul Lucier put their sticks to the ice on the outdoor rink at Camm’s house. The three men are members of the Menno Flyers, taking part in the Canadian National Pond Hockey Championships this weekend.
“It’s very fast-paced and there tends to be a lot of goals because there’s no goalie,” said team captain Paul Lucier. “It’s really traditional shinny rules that you would get when you throw your sticks in the middle of an old pond somewhere.”
They won’t be playing on just any old pond this weekend; they’ll be on one of 24 natural ice rinks, covering six acres of ice at Deerhurst Resort. Over the two weekends of the tournament, 288 teams will lace up their skates and take to the ice.
Lucier and his teammates are playing in the master’s recreational division, for men over 35 …Read more
Winter driving hazards
Two minivans collided on Northfield Drive north of Line 86 around 9:15 Friday morning.
The driver of each van and two passengers suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Bus to Waterloo in final stages
Even as the finishing touches are still being put on a pilot project to extend bus service to Elmira, residents are being warned to “use it or lose it.”
Grand River Transit’s yearlong project will see buses connecting Elmira to the terminal at Conestoga Mall in Waterloo beginning Apr. 6.
Route Map
Strong public support for the idea has to translate into ridership in order for the service to continue past the trial stage, Mayor Bill Strauss indicated during a GRT presentation at council Monday night.
“You’ve got to use it or lose it.”
“The onus is on the community to step up and use the service,” agreed Coun. Mark Bauman.
If the numbers seen in the public consultations so far hold when the buses start rolling, the service should be well used.
Transit planner Blair Allen said the turnout at public meetings and positive feedback have surpassed anything …Read more
Hockeyville contest becomes a waiting game
After a marathon day of hockey and a weekend blitz of voting, Woolwich residents are waiting to see if their efforts will be rewarded with a spot in Hockeyville’s top five communities.
Woolwich could know as soon as Sunday or as late as Feb. 21 whether it made the top five. The first finalist will be announced during the NHL all-star game Jan. 25, and another finalist will be announced on consecutive Saturdays after that.
For 26 hours last weekend, Elmira was teeming with energetic hockey fans supporting Woolwich’s bid to make the top five list for CBC’s Kraft Hockeyville contest. One finalist will be announced weekly, starting with Sunday’s All-Star Game.
“I think it’s already been decided but I have no idea whether we did it or we didn’t,” said Graham Snyder, who’s spearheading the Hockeyville entry. “I’ll just keep on with the positive thinking.”
Snyder was happy with the turnout for last week’s hockey day that saw minor hockey players, hockey families, Mennonite players and Sugar Kings alumni take to the ice. He guessed that more than 800 people laced up their skates over the 26 hours, and hundreds more were in the stands watching …Read more
Music on the path to acceptance
The outpouring of support that the family and friends of Valerie Ferguson received in the days following her death last spring has been so abundant that they are now seeking to express their appreciation by staging a concert in her honour.
On Feb. 7 at Woodside Bible Fellowship in Elmira, friends and family of the murdered woman will get together to celebrate her life and to give back to the greater community for its unrelenting support through the tragic days following her death.
Perry Domzella is organizing a concert at Elmira’s Woodside Bible Fellowship in memory of Valerie Ferguson, with proceeds going to support programs combating family violence.
The body of Ferguson, a 44-year-old mother of two, was found in her Elmira home Apr. 3, 2008. Her husband, Kenneth Michael Ferguson, 41, was subsequently charged with first-degree murder in the strangulation death.
“The reason why we’re doing this concert is, while we acknowledge that this has been an absolutely tragic and horrific event, we are so aware of how God and the community have blessed the people who …Read more
