The Navy League of Canada is a community-based, volunteer-led organization which dedicates itself to the development of the resources, vitality and leadership of the Youth of Canada through the appreciation of the great naval traditions. The branch in Ottawa is an equal partner with the Department of National Defense. The Navy League of Canada warmly welcomes their guests to join their activities since they have a lot every year. This year, their highlight was the fund raising event, which was absolutely successful. It was a fun event wherein everyone who attended appreciated the cause of the event.

The fund raising event interestingly commenced at exactly 12 midnight on the 6^th of May and closed at exactly 11:59 in the evening on the 7^th of May. With a lot of activities for children and adults alike, the The Navy League of Canada Tag Day Fundraising Event was a great fundraiser. It is clear that next year, even bigger surprises will be waiting for everyone.

This seemingly fantastic idea grew into the present form, in which we show a variety of films generally made before 1945. One film always features Ms. Dressler, but others range from very old, silent films starring Mary Pickford, Erich von Stroheim or Douglas Fairbanks, to talkies and musicals. More on Marie Dressler. And here.

This year’s event for the Cobourg location will be Victoria Hall and the Port Hope location will be the Capitol Theatre.

With its attractive location in the rolling hills of Northumberland County where accommodation is varied and readily available, the Vintage Film Festival in historic Cobourg and Port Hope is an event not to be missed. Come for one film or for the whole weekend!

The 2010 Festival will be held October 29, 30, 31, 2010
Classic Films from the 1920′s to the 1940′s

Tickets may now be purchased online or by calling 905-372-2210 or 905-885-1071

For more information visit: www.vintagefilmfestival.ca

At The Tate Gallery: Oct 9 & 10 – Pam Tate, painting demo, 10-4; Scott Li, guitar and Tyson Galloway, bass 1-3

At Practically Potty Studio: Oct 9 & 10 – Susan McDonald and Susan Lago, pottery demo, 10-4, Raku firing 1:00pm, you can glaze and fire a piece yourself for $10!

Oct 16 & 17 – OFFICIAL GRAND OPENING OF THE TATE GALLERY with paintings by Pamela Tate, jewelry by Linda van der Beek, sculptural vessels by Monika Devine and fine woodwork by John M. Mills

Oct 16 & 17 – Susan McDonald, pottery demo 10-4 wheel throwing, Charles Funnell, silversmith, 10-4

Oct. 23 & 24 – Pamela Tate, painting demo, 10-4, Cindy Osland, hand spinner, 10-1 (Oct 24 only), Jeanette Froncz Winslow, singer/songwriter, 1-3

Oct 30-31 – Pamela Tate, painting demo, 10-4, Phil and Sandra Boyco, wood turning demo, 10-4 Oct 30 and 12-4 Oct 31.

Oct 30 & 31 – Susan McDonald, abstract work in clay, slip decoration, 10-4, student demos. Directions – take 401 exit for Port Hope/ Welcome, come north to Welcome and follow our signs!

Thanks to contributions coming from local residents, businesses, the municipality, and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the goal of reaching the $365,000 finally came true, helping give birth to the Municipality’s much-awaited skate park. The strong community spirit and local support just goes to show what people can accomplish when they get their heads together, one local official said.

As of writing this blog post, work on the park is now underway. Once completed, the skate park will be open to roller skaters, skateboarders looking for a safe spot to unwind, and everyone in the family.

According to Port Hope Mayor Linda Thompson, the local community is to thank for the park’s construction. After years of waiting, she joked that local Moms can now get on their BMXs and ride in the park. It used to be that those on non-motorized vehicles could only safely enjoy themselves in the remote and out of the way parks.

When the skate park finally opens this September, it seems that won’t be a problem any longer.

Some of the popular items and equipment put on display include ambulances, police vehicles, fire trucks, and a whole lot more.

One of the show’s biggest highlights took place on the 20^th, with the unveiling of a cutting-edge impaired driving simulator car, designed and put together by the whiz kids of Port Hope High School. Using the simulator vehicle might have been easy for those who came to the event, but building it was a totally different story.

The vehicle was apparently put together by taking a Sony Playstation (we assume it’s a PS3) and placing it in underneath the hood of the car, which had its “innards” taken out. A video game steering wheel was then outfitted into the car, which was complimented by a pair of specialized goggles that gave the “driver” a simulated feel as to what it’s like to drive drunk.

Unfortunately, the simulator was only available yesterday, but there are plenty of other activities to check out before the show ends this Saturday.

As proposed, both the federal and provincial governments will shoulder one-fourth of the cost, while the ratepayers were arranged to take care of what remained of the facility’s budget, which was originally pegged at $27 million.

According to Port Hope officials, the added $9 million is due to the unexpected cleanup of PCBs or Polychlorinated biphenyls around the old plant in 2008 – something that resulted in a halt of work, fees for hauling toxic waste, and subsequent penalties coming from the project’s contractor.

But to Sarah Clayton, a resident of Port Hope, this added fee is just plain unacceptable. She notes that the contaminated soil should have been part of the agreement in 2001 between Port Hope and the Federal Government that indicates 40,000 cubic meters of industrial waste in Port Hope to be up for remediation.

She points out that the treatment facility property could possible be contaminated with federal waste.

Municipal engineer Peter Angelo is puzzled as to why Port Hope was unaware of this contamination before entering into a legal agreement, but Mayor Linda Thompson commented that she’s exhausted efforts to fit the material into the federal clean up.

As of the moment, the municipality is concentrating on reducing the financial impact of the new sewage plant on the community.

For the 3rd consecutive year, Cameco Corporation has donated $5,000 for the purchase of more cheese products to be used in the nutrition drives and programs of 37 different schools in Northumberland County.

Not many people may know it, but cheese is a vital part of snack programs that are organized in the county’s schools. These programs are aimed at providing balanced and nutritious diets to students and youngsters – food they need to excel in class and everyday tasks.

Susan Greenwood, who works with the organization Northumberland Food for Thought, the group in charge of school food programs, said that Cameco’s recent donation is a big help to their efforts in promoting the importance of nutrition in the county. No matter what language you use, $5,000 is generous enough, she added.

To make the contribution formal, Cameco GM Andrew Thorne will be a guest of honor today in a ceremony and program held at the Ganaraska Trail Public School in the town of Port Hope, where he’ll present the check to NFFT and help out with the feeding efforts.

A recent survey that polled numerous residents in the Municipality of Port Hope showed that many still had confidence in the local government’s plants to dispose and manage the town’s low-level radioactive waste. A long-term facility is currently in the works. Most residents who were polled also said that Port Hope is a still a good place to live in.

An issue that drew heated debate was the Port Hope library’s reduction of funding worth $10,000. The move was met with some controversy after chief librarian Barbara Stephenson pointed out that the reduction had to do with their receiving a donation from the company behind the ABC series “Happy Town,” which was shot in Port Hope.

Just recently, a wave of debit card fraud hit some residents in Port Hope, prompting police officials to launch an investigation into the matter. Police have not confirmed the number of people affected due to the lack of facts and details.

And finally, the third annual CanSkate Provincial Olympic celebration took place in Port Hope last week, hosted by the Port Hope Figure Skating Club. Every child who participated in the event was a winner, bringing home their own medal.

Last Friday, February 5, police from the Municipality of Port Hope took action as people began to notice that they had money go missing from their individual accounts.

Port Hope’s police authorities don’t have a final number of the residents affected by the fraud, but their investigation led them to believe that a number of merchants in the Port Hope area had compromised machines. One local bank in the region pointed out that this wave of debit card fraud is the largest they’ve ever seen.

According to Bobbi Lax VP of operations at Ganaraska Financial, there’s a major difference to complaints of credit and debit card in the past and what’s happened now. The marked increase is disturbing he added.

Investigation on the case is still ongoing.

It could have been much worse. In a budget meeting held on the 26^th of January, Port Hope’s council dismissed a motion to reduce the library’s budget by $17,000, changing it instead to $10,000.

According to Councilor Karen O’Hara, the reduction was necessary, seeing as how funding was donated by the library to the Friends of the Library, when it should have been used by the library’s costs like maintenance and the like.  She motioned for the reduction of $17,000.

Stephenson argued that the donation by Stage 49 Ltd, the company behind ABC’s TV series Happy Town, worth $15,000 is responsible for the negative reactions of local media and some in the community. She pointed out that the donation was received in good faith. Stephenson added that she didn’t even know council had an issue with the donation, so she was more than taken aback by the decision to reduce funding.

A next council meeting will be scheduled if councilors deem it necessary.