Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 442 FOCUS - JANUARY 2017 ...................... More letters on page 27 Please send us your letters, maximum of 250 words. Be aware that we cannot publish negative letters about individuals or businesses. Submit to: focus@focusonscugog.com Thanks for the largest village ever! Dear Editor What a great response we had for our annual Animated Bakersville Gingerbread Display at the library during the Holiday Season! Thank you to everyone who participated by making a creation – it was a huge success. There were over 65 wonderful entries of varying styles and skills and once assembled into a town, the moving parts of the train, and animation including the skating rink, hockey players and snow boarders, brought it to life. It was great to see so many individual entries as well as those from a local Beaver group, various schools and businesses; it was our largest village ever! This village wouldn’t be possible without the wonderful support of our library’s administration and its staff. We greatly appreciate the financial support that we have received from The Bagwaating Community Association and Vos’ Independent Grocer this year as well as all of our past sponsors. Thanks again to Master Engineer Alan Locke and conductor Neil Bradley, who kept the village train on its track, Alana Andrews for printing and Mag Brown for distributing our flyers. Brianne Mercer is our fabulous social media queen and publicist – again, great work! Our local press were wonderful with all of the support, printing our releases in a timely matter in our community newspapers. We were desperate for ongoing storage for all of our accessories associated with the village. Thank you to the Hvidsten family who has offered space for us within the Scugog Focus building. Thanks also to our patient families who never mentioned how many dinners were late because of our pre-occupation with everything gingerbread. We are looking to expand our gingerbread committee. If anyone with a creative flair would like to join us, we would love to hear from you! Please call Tracy if interested 905-985-7030. Next year will be Canada’s 150th Birthday, and what better way to celebrate than to celebrate Canada in gingerbread. Start thinking of what Canada means to you – what landmarks, celebrations, and culture are important. Keep in mind that we do have limited space, so please don’t make the bases too large. We are eager to see what this community can come up with! This is a community event made by and for the community – so it’s never too late to start baking! “The Village People” Sue Bradley, Tracy Pastic, Kathy Payne-Mercer, Terry Glenn, Carolyn Humphrey and Cathryn Hall. Caring community thanked Dear Editor I would like to acknowledge the good-hearted citizens who assisted me after a recent fall (December 13) in downtown Port Perry. To Sharon Oak who called and stayed with me until the ambulance arrived, to the kind others who graciously covered me with their coats, to the young mother who covered me with her baby’s blanket and Meta4 for the warm blanket. We are so fortunate to live in such a caring community. Thank you to all involved for being so kind and compassionate. Sincerely, Donna Schewaga Firefighter’s Christmas party fun Dear Editor On Sunday December 4th the Port Perry Firefighters’ Association held its Children’s Christmas party. The weather was perfect for our visit to the tree farm for the selection and cutting of the kids’ choice of tree. Decorating our tree showcased the creativity of our children who were then treated to a visit from Santa, arriving to the party in true firefighter fashion. The PPFA would like to thank a number of community members and businesses, which made our Kids Christmas, party the success that it was. The Eastview Tree Farm allowed us use of their beautiful property and donated a very nice Colorado blue spruce tree for use as a centerpiece for the party. Thanks to Paul Arsenault who owns the farm and to Randy, Christine and Mason Arsenault for the guided tour on the quest for our tree. Dominoes Pizza provided the fuel for our little tree-trimmers. Andrew Johnston held the position of honour, arriving with a big bag of gifts for the kids. Scugog Fire Department Chief Richard Miller and Deputy Chief Mark Berney allowed us use of Scugog Station #1 to host the tree trimming and gift giving portion of the event. I am pleased that we have been able to bring back this Association tradition for the kids. The Port Perry Firefighters’ Association looks forward to another year of giving back to various community groups, contributions that we have been proud to make since 1978. Cam Arnold, Vice President and Mike Waller, President, Port Perry Firefighters’ Association