The deadline for Christmas hamper registration is Friday, Dec. 8, at 4 p.m.
There’s hardly been snow so far this season.
And that’s what often reminds folks to register for Christmas Care.
But this Friday is the deadline to speak up for a hamper of holiday groceries and presents for the kids.
“Oftentimes, people don’t think of Christmas Care till the snow flies,” president Richard Auckland updates on this year’s campaign.
“But our registrations close Friday, Dec. 8, at 4 p.m. and invariably we always get a few people wanting to register after the closing date.”
The number of individuals who are asking for assistance this year is expected to increase from previous years.
But donations of money, non-perishables and toys are down.
“Donations, both food drives and monetarily, have dropped somewhat this year.
“With a report on CBC that about 25 per cent of families are still paying off last year’s Christmas presents, it is no wonder that there is less disposable income for donations to charities.”
By the end of next week, the organization will transition from packing hampers at Memorial Auditorium to distribution beginning Thursday next.
“We plan to have things wrapped up by Dec. 21 and will hold a volunteer appreciation lunch that day. We anticipate upwards of 100 folks to join us that day.”
And, adds Richard, “We couldn’t do what we do without our volunteer base!”
Volunteers.
They’re an integral – and invaluable – part of life in the township, says Southwold Mayor Grant Jones.
“We really couldn’t get along without them.”
And, recently, the municipality recognized their contribution in an annual evening at the Keystone Complex in Shedden.
The Distinguished Citizen Award was presented toJamie McArthur, who has served on many committees and boards, and has contributed in other ways to community life.
Long-service awards were to 12 volunteer firefighters. Dave Palmer received his award for 45 years!
Certificates for volunteer service awards were given to Middlemarch Women’s Institute members.
There are 16 members, but only seven were able to attend: Anne Brown, Pat Zegers, Anna Lunn, Lois Kruppe, Frances Fodor, Luella Monteith, and Mary Clutterbuck.
And the mayor’s own award was presented by himself to Perry and Mary Clutterbuck
Perry is a former Southwold mayor, serving on Southwold council for 18 years, and was Elgin county warden in 1998. He has been active on many community committees.
(And he was a volunteer firefighter for 37 years.)
Mary served on Southwold War Memorial Committee for 20 years, is on Southwold’s history committee, and is active in Elgin District Women’s Institute.
Volunteers!
The Hort’s 2023 garden emporium has paid off for the campaign to raise $8 million for an MRI machine at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital.
At the St. Thomas and District Horticultural Society’s recent meeting at the CASO Station, past-president Jean-Marie Steward presented a cheque for $2,000 to STEGH Foundation director of development Bobbi-Jo Gardiner and volunteer Susan O’Brien.
The donation supports the foundation’s Transforming Tomorrow fundraising campaign for an MRI machine and renovations to the diagnostic imaging department.
Hort president Diane Vaughan has been the driving force behind the yearly plant sale and garden emporium at the CASO Station that has enabled the society to support various charities. The Hort last year donated to Hospice of Elgin.
But Diane didn’t get to see her hard work pay off. Unfortunately, she had to leave before the start of the meeting.
Though Handel’s Messiah may be old hat for St. Thomas musicmaker Hugh Van Pelt, there’s always something new to discover in the 282-year-old masterwork.
“It’s one of those pieces. There are certain elements that are always exciting, and that never goes away.”
Next week Hugh will take up baton to conduct a yearly performance of the classic oratorio by Choral Connection.
The evening – starting at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at Knox Presbyterian Church in St. Thomas – is the first of two concerts for the choir’s 20th anniversary season. Tickets are available by clicking through choralconnection.ca or by calling 519-661-6902.
Joining the 40 voices of the choir, which is accompanied by a 14-piece orchestra, are four top-notch soloists.
Soprano Ariel Harwood-Jones, whose Early Music group Kammerchor London was the 2020 and 2023 Forest City London Music Awards recipient in the classical choir category; mezzo-soprano Whitney O’Hearn, a University of Toronto master of information candidate who is a veteran classical performer, as well as a multimedia theatre creator; tenor Bud Roach, founder and artistic director of the Hammer Baroque concert series in Hamilton, which welcomes audiences to accessible performances from the finest early music singers and players from Canada and beyond; and bass baritone Aaron Dimoff, whose recent seasons saw him debut the roles of Sparafucile and Monterone in Rigoletto to great acclaim with the Edmonton Opera, and who previously sang with Choral Connection in a performance of Ein Deutsches Requiem.
(Their impressive full bios are to be posted to the choir website.)
Founded in 2003 by Hugh and spouse Lucy, Choral Connection has performed Messiah yearly since 2010, and audiences remain enthusiastic for what has become another St. Thomas Christmas tradition.
Tracking ticket sales, Hugh says the choir also attracts a large following from London and area – and as far away as Toronto. Indeed, 10 per cent of last year’s audience was from TO.
About 400 persons are expected to attend next week.
The continuing success of Messiah means the choir can afford to introduce its audiences to less-familiar works.
The choir is to return in March to Knox on Good Friday to offer Mozart’s Mass in C Minor.
Our Donald D’Haene, who forcefully spoke up for survivors of sexual abuse in his well-received memoir, Father’s Touch, is back on the best-seller list with a followup book.
No One Wants to Read That You’re Happy was No. 1 this week in hot new releases in amazon.ca’s LGBTQ@S+ history category. The tome was also No. 3 in most-gifted.
The book is a tribute, in part, to Donald’s late brother, Erik, a talented poet and artist who died in 2020 after a troubled life that came to a sad close on the streets of Vancouver.
“The only reason I wrote the book is for Erik,” Donald says. “I want the world to know people like my late brother – the homeless, disenfranchised, displaced souls – they all have a story. They have a life; they have dreams. Through Erik’s own words, his letters, poetry, stories and art work, Erik is alive to all who read my memoir.”
But the volume also explains how Donald and siblings Ronny and Marina still have faith.
“Easy answer, ‘You never met our mother.’ A faithful Jehovah’s Witness until the day she died – most of her adult years in Elgin county.
“Third, I wanted to thank the angels I met along the way. Ron, an amazing St. Thomas elder who helped this tortured soul in the ‘80s when I was on the brink of death. He has an important role in my journey in the book. I just wished Erik had met a loving minister like Ron in his life. “
Donald hopes readers will be encouraged.
“Love and kindness, and less judging. I hope that’s an ultimate take away from the book.”
* * *
This corner will return.
Stay well.
ericbunnellspeople@gmail.com
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