Sunday May 13, 2018

Ladies and Gentlemen

Seeing a lot more people out on the streets these day.  Must be spring.  And if spring is here our Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival is fast approaching.  They are looking for volunteers to help make the day a success.  If you, or someone you know, is interested in helping out on Saturday, June 9, please register at http://app.tandempark.org/Volunteer/Opportunities   There are plenty of opportunities to fit your schedule and interests.  All volunteers receive a t-shirt and lunch, including butter tarts for dessert – what else?

The Week Ahead

Monday the 14^th at 7:00 pm you are invited to the May General Committee meeting at 7:00 pm at the Town. A relatively short agenda including:

-       Discussion on how we will welcome our cruise ship visitors this summer

-       SGB Farmers Market requests to move back to its former location on Bay Street

-       Lots of festival requests including: Canada Day plans, Rotary’s Random Acts of  Kindness Day and summer music returns to Little Lake Park

On Tuesday the County of Simcoe, will hold a Public Information Centre regarding the reform of the property tax rebate program that currently exists for vacant commercial and industrial buildings. The goal is to provide background information to those interested and to seek their feedback on proposed changes. That’s at the Simcoe County Museum, 1151 Highway 26 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.  And from 4:00 to 7:00 pm our Community Living Huronia hosts an Open House at their 339 Olive Street location. You are most welcome to attend and find out how this important organization helps us all.

Wednesday May 16^th invites you to attend a review of Midland’s transit service. You chance to provide comment on how well (or not) our transit service fits your needs. The consultation is from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and again from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the NSSRC.  And to encourage your attendance, Midland transit will be free to all during the time of the consultation.

Thursday the 17^th local businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs from the skilled trades are hosting the 2018 edition of the Simcoe Muskoka Skilled Trades Expo at the Elmvale Community Arena. The student/school session for grades 7/8 is from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, while parents and the general public are invited from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.  Also at 7:00 pm you may wish to drop by the Midland Library as they hold their regular Board Game Night.

Friday May 18^th – are you ready for the long week-end? But first a busy Friday. At 9:00 am the County’s Affordable Housing Advisory committee reviews its 2017 highlights including a motel conversion in Barrie; allocating $2M for affordable housing in rural areas; building 1017 new affordable housing units over the last 3 years. Another very positive sign is that the Ontario and Federal governments are working together, committing an initial $4.2B for new housing over ten years.

At 11:30 am you are welcomed to Town Hall for the retirement party for Arlene Shirley.  Those who have met Arlene know of her sunny disposition and bottomless candy dish for all visitors.  She will be missed.  Port-O-Rama gets into high gear in Port McNicoll this week-end. All sorts of family activities. http://www.tay.ca/en/Calendar/Events/Details.aspx?Id=33bcf36d-8578-4d63-af26-2b2bdd4bf878&ref=%2fen%2fCalendar%2fEvents%2fdefault.aspx

And Friday also sees the start of the ever popular Uke Fest at the MCC.  This 3 day festival, the first Uke Fest in Ontario, allows ukulele players of all ages to participate in workshops, jam sessions, concerts and all things ukulele-based. http://midlandculturalcentre.com/page.php?page=Events&pageType=events&eventid=100046432

Week - End

Saturday May 19

-       All day - Port-O-Rama in Port McNicoll

-       All day – Uke Fest at the MCC

-       All day - Huronia Museum is now open 7 days a week

-       All day - Discovery Harbour is open for the season

-       12 noon - Opening of I’m So Cute a kids clothing store at the Georgian Bay Mall on King Street

Sunday May 20

-       All day - Port-O-Rama in Port McNicoll

-       All day – Uke Fest at the MCC

Council Issues Update

Downtown Safety

The first meeting of the Community Safety Task Force took place this past week.  The meeting confirmed the Terms of Reference and started organizing the consultation process that will engage interested parties in the community solution.

An informal survey shows relatively few safety related incidents in our downtown over the last few weeks.

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Two items in closing:

1)     Beginning this October, The County of Simcoe will stop sending its curbside organics (Green Bin) to Hamilton and will instead begin shipping the material to an Elmira facility.  This will allow Simcoe to add pet wastes to its curbside organics program, starting this fall. The County considered adding diapers and other sanitary products to its organics collection but decided to defer this decision due to the technical challenges.

2)     GUYS WHO CARE - North Simcoe raised $17,000 in 45 minutes for Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Simcoe. Now that’s efficiency for you!  I understand a lady’s group – GBay Gals Give – is being organized to give the guys a run for their money. If you are a gal and want to join the fun, e-mail gbaygalsgive@gmail.com.

Gord McKay

The Year for Forging Our Future - 2018