A new flagship program, Renewable Energies Technician, will start in Fall of 2012 at the St. Thomas Campus of Fanshawe College. Establishment of the program is part of a good-news story of community partnerships in action – funding from two local sources will help keep the St. Thomas/Elgin Campus of Fanshawe at the forefront of technology and innovation. 

A celebration of the generosity of donations from the Estate of Dorothy Palmer and the Alma College Foundation was held Friday morning at Fanshawe in St. Thomas. Acting college chair, Donna Gates noted “I could barely keep the smile off my face this morning.” It is a sentiment that was echoed by each of the other speakers who included Catherine Finlayson (Executive Director, Fanshawe College Foundation), Bruno Castellani (Program Coordinator), Mayor Heather Jackson-Chapman and Susan Cluett (Dean, Centre for Community Education & Training Services) as they recognized the contributions and the vision which have made the new program possible.

The Essentials provided a crowd-pleasing, energizing show at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre this past Saturday evening. It was a farewell performance, their last “on Canadian soil” for the group which began as four guys singing acapella doo-wop songs in the parking lot of the Merla Mae Ice-Cream parlour in London, Ontario. 

Consisting of Dan Speck, Thom Speck, Janet Turner, Luke Stapleton and Jo3 Oliva, they put all of their considerable talents into delivering an impressive evening of music. The playlist for the second set was decided by audience vote. The interaction was enthusiastic, though it was clear that most of those in attendance would have been happy with anything the group performed. The group’s beatboxer, Luke Stapleton, provided a solo which was quite beyond belief, and Thom Speck’s daughter made a charming appearance as well. 

The St. Thomas  Fantasy of Lights began in 1993 with 23 displays and has grown to a yearly light show with over 100 displays. They are the work of community volunteers – individuals, churches, social clubs, businesses, industries, police association and professional firefighters.

Money raised through free-will donations has allowed the Fantasy of Lights organization to fund a long list of projects, fulfilling their mandate to use monies raised for improvements to parks throughout the City of St. Thomas. They have installed electrical wiring throughout the park, new electrical outlets and eavestroughs at the West Pavilion, insulation and heating in the washrooms in the park, and completed a multitude of other projects.

The continued generosity of the visitors to Pinafore Park during the Fantasy of Lights will “Help the Fantasy Grow”.

Entertainment in the Dance Pavilion is also provided on many evenings throughout December. For more information and entertainment details, visit http://www.fantasylights.org/.

Enjoy a few photos by Mark from a recent evening in the park. 

The weather outside was frightful (or at least dreary and wet) but inside the St. Thomas Seniors Centre this past Sunday, the kids were having a ball. Volunteers of the Alzheimer Society of Elgin-St. Thomas got together to present their long-standing annual tradition of treating kids and parents to breakfast and pictures with Santa. 

Events coordinator, Chris Smith, noted that the breakfast is a nice family event and way of increasing familiarity of the community the with the local Alzheimer Society.

Pancake and sausage breakfast, games, activities, pictures with Santa and entertainment by Traci Kennedy, John & Carol and Gerry Costello made for a room full of busy children.  

Photographer Mark Girdauskas was on hand to capture the morning’s excitement.  

It's also a good time to start thinking about participating in Walk for Memories, a major fund-raiser for the Alzheimer Society. It takes place in St. Thomas on Saturday January 21, 2012 at Parkside Collegiate (indoors). 

Fugitive Light: Clark McDougall’s Destination Places was launched at a Sunday December 4th afternoon reception at the McIntosh Gallery. The beautiful, richly illustrated 80-page hardcover book is the first major publication on the artist in over 25 years.

It features essays by two women who have had a long-standing interest in McDougall’s work, York University professor Anna Hudson and McIntosh curator Catherine Elliot Shaw. Both were on hand to sign copies of the book.

The essays, generously sized reproductions of McDougall’s paintings plus a thoughtful layout of the material make for a captivating opportunity to learn more about the artist.   

Fugitive Light ($30) is available from the McIntosh Gallery and UWO Bookstore at The University of Western Ontario.  

Volunteers of the Tyrconnell Heritage Society treated fourteen diners to a unique 1850s experience at the Backus Page House this past Saturday.

The historic house was decked out for Christmas, fire lit, tables laid, and foods prepared. Mother and daughter team, Martha and Dora Foster had poured over their extensive historic recipe book collection to come up with a multi-course dinner prepared from authenticated recipes.

Each delicious course of the many served was graciously presented by costumed volunteers, complete with interesting tidbits about the foods, the recipes and the way they would have been served and prepared.

The yearly event is a fundraiser for the Heritage Society.    

A few scenes from the 2011 Christmas feast at the Backus-Page House. Dora and Martha Foster (bottom left) researched and prepared the delicious, authentic feast experience, and were assisted by gracious volunteers of the Tyrconnell Heritage Society.