(Photos by Mark Girdauskas) Shows and plays at the Princess Avenue Playhouse have been introduced over the past few months with an acknowledgement of last year’s funding from the estate of Dorothy Palmer. That gift allowed substantial improvements to the theatre, including a new sound system. The sold out Joel Plaskett show on Sunday evening (April 29) rocked the pews of the former church, and gave that sound system its best test yet. Both performer and sound acoustics proved worthy of rave reviews.

April 25, 2012, London, ON – A generous donation of $500,000 from the Estate of Mrs. Dorothy Palmer is helping thousands of children and their caregivers at Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre.  The gift is also honouring the memory of an Aylmer couple who cared deeply for children and for their community.

The $500,000 gift will be used to support simulation training for health care professionals and to purchase specialized equipment and supplies.  A number of hospital departments will benefit from the purchases including the Paediatric Medical Day Unit; Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Child and Adolescent Mental Health and the Art Therapy Program.

(Story by RE, Photos by Mark Girdauskas). It was Railway City Brewing Company’s fourth anniversary and their first off-site tasting night on Thursday (April 19) at Kenny Iguana’s on Talbot Street. “The restaurant regularly features the RCB beer on tap,” says Ken Kokko, “even the stranger-sounding seasonals – many patrons love to try something new”. Ken welcomed the brewery and tasters for the evening.

As well as their fourth anniversary, Railway City has been celebrating another win at Queen’s Park. Breweries from across Ontario compete in six categories for the right to be served in the Legislature Dining room and at Queen’s Park events. Dead Elephant Ale was in the winner’s circle again this spring with the best bold flavoured ale, stout or porter. You can also find the Dead Elephant (in the funkily labelled can version) in this year’s Craft Beer Discovery 6-Pak at the LCBO.

Community Fellowship Dinners volunteers and sponsors make a little noise annually at with their fundraising ‘Bean Blast’. For the rest of the year they work without fanfare to fring an invaluable service to the community. 

Thursday (April 19) was the 15th Annual Bean Blast where volunteers serve up a baked bean lunch at St. Anne’s Centre with proceeds going to support the Community Fellowship Dinners.  Ontario White Bean Producers is among several sponsors of the spring-time event which features yummy slow-baked beans, door prizes and entertainment.

An opening reception Saturday (April 14th) launched the energetic, “Great Beginnings Secondary” at the St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre. The bi-annual exhibit showcases the works created by secondary school students in St. Thomas and Elgin County. The opening provides a special couple of hours in which students can bring family and friends to see their work, to experience the fun of an “opening” event, and to appreciate the wide variety of developing artistic talent in our area schools. 

Singer-songwriter Murray McLauchlan appeared at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre this past Saturday (April 14). The show was the grand finale of the 2011/2012 Music Series from Centrepiece Marketing. A 10-Juno Award winner, Murray charmed a sold-out crowd with his music and anecdotes. Mark Girdauskas was on hand for the music and to snap a few photos of the show.

As an artist, Laura Woermke aims to keep the mystery alive in her work as much as possible. This is reflected not only in the questions she asks through her work, but also asking the viewer to keep an open mind about how they engage the work. This honesty leads to new discoveries, new accidents, and further engagement with the questions.

Kenny Iguana's  brought the UWO Jazz Band to St. Thomas on Thursday evening.  An appreciative crowd enjoyed opportunity to listen to a couple of hours of their big jazz sound and some very talented musicians.  

The Kinsmen Annual Easter Egg Hunt tradition continued on Saturday (April 7th) for the 35th year. Families gathered at Pinafore Park on a picture-perfect sunny morning to seek out chocolate treasures hidden in the grass.

With 150 vendors, last weekend's St. Thomas Home, Garden & Outdoor Living Show (March 30 to April 1) was the perfect place to source a local supplier of goods and services for home or garden renovations. Even for visitors without an upcoming project in mind, the event was a showcase of many other community organizations, businesses, people and intriguing initiatives.  Read more about a few of them…