Sunday, November 19, 2017

Sunday November 19, 2017


Ladies and Gentlemen



It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Hope you’re ready. As you will see below, this week kicks off the festive season with parades, parties and tree lightings. Please come on out and be a part of our small town Midland Christmas.



The Week Ahead



On Monday the 20th our Physician Recruitment group meets at 8:00 am at GBGH.  At 5:30 pm Big Brothers Big Sisters invites you to their AGM at the Penetanguishene museum.



Tuesday sees the start of the 2017 edition of the Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) program .  Our Midland Police will be down at the launch event in Innisfil: showing us the importance of making our roads safe for all. At 7:30 pm a Day in the Life hosts Tim Danson at the MCC. Mr. Danson is a near legendary lawyer who has played a key role in Canadian history. He has represented the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy (victims of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka), equestrian Olympic gold medalist and world champion Eric Lamaze, hockey superstar Bobby Hull and track and field superstar and Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis. 



Wednesday the 22nd sees another special salute to our veterans. Askennonia is hosting their annual Veterans Lunch at their NSSRC location. Vets are free - all others pay a $15 cover charge. And then we swing into Christmas with the magical lighting of our Town Christmas Tree.  The fun starts at Neezhoday Park at 5:00 pm including the Midland Public Library and Cafe Roxy providing hot chocolate, crafts, music and more! Lighting of the tree will take place at approximately 7:00 pm. 


On Thursday November 23rd I will be in Toronto for a discussion with our government about Midland’s developing cruise ship industry. But lots going on in Town.  From 10:00 am to 1:00 pm the NSCFDC Speakers Series presents “Tame the Paper Monster” – a new technology to manage and access electronic records and services. The event takes place at Midland Public Library. Please register at www.nscfdc.on.ca 



At 5:30 pm the annual First Light event kicks off at Sainte-Marie and the Martyrs’ Shrine. The event runs from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. from November 23 to 25; from November 30 to December 2; and from December 7 to 9. For more information visit their website at www.hhp.on.ca. At 7:00 pm you are invited to a joint Council discussion (councils from Penetanguishene, Tiny, Tay and Midland) to hear how the province’s changes to the Provincial Growth Plan will affect us.  The meeting takes place in the Library’s assembly room.



Friday the 24th features the Town’s Christmas staff party at the NSSRC.  At 7:00 pm be sure to take in the “Coal Patrol” at the MCC.  It features our own improv troupe Good Morning Apocalypse taking a satirical look at the Christmas season.



Week - End



Saturday November 25



-       11:00 am - The 40th annual Civitan Christmas Parade starts at Little Lake Park and proceeds down King Street

-       9:00 am to 1:00 pm - The County of Simcoe is recruiting volunteers to enhance and enrich the lives of clients in our long-term care homes and seniors programs. The event takes place in the Georgian Manor front lobby, 101 Thompson Road, Penentanguishene

-       3:00 pm - Sharon Boutique Plus opens under new management at 317 King Street





Sunday November 26



-       All day - Big Brothers Big Sisters is hosting a charity bonspiel at the Midland Curling Club at 474 King St.

-       1:00 pm - The Annual Waubaushene Santa Claus Parade takes place, in Waubaushene

-       8:00 pm - Pavlo entertains with warm international/Mediterranean melodies at the MCC https://www.youtube.com/watch/?ref=0&v=B3NwPG9X_vw



Council Issues Update



Service Delivery Review



The first phase of the Service Delivery Review is reaching a critical point with the findings to be released in a special afternoon meeting of Council next Monday the 27th. Quite an emphasis on using modern information technology to significantly improve the efficiency of how we do our work at Town Hall. 



Budget



The County has just about completed its 2018 budget with a tax rate increase of just over 1 per cent. As I had mentioned earlier, the Town will not get into its budget debate until early 2018 – too much going on this fall. Will have to see if we can keep our own tax increase in line with the County’s.



                                                                *****



While Hallowe’en may be a distant memory, our neighbours over at Huronia Historical Parks report that their Pumpkinferno event was a “spooktacular” success.  They welcomed 18,336 visitors, an increase of 44% from 2016. The economic impact was $1.3 million to the local economy including an estimated 16% of our visitors spending the night in the area. Some 66% of the visitors came from outside of North Simcoe.



We are becoming known as a “go to” tourism place.





Gord McKay





The Year for Getting It Done - 2017

                                                                                              


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