Undefeated Waterloo-Oxford basketball team heads toward final game

Alisha Glendinning and the junior girls basketball team are undefeated so far this season.

Waterloo-Oxford’s Junior Girls basketball team has enjoyed a dominating season this fall, winning all 11 of their regular season games, plus two tournament championships.

The Crusaders defeated Huron Heights 69-25 on Thursday and Grand River Collegiate 43-8 on Tuesday to continue their impressive run.

On Nov. 1, the Crusaders travel to face Waterloo Collegiate Institute, who is the only other undefeated team in the league.

Alisha Glendinning scores against Grand River Collegiate Institute on Oct. 25.

New Hamburg’s Gingerbread House contest calls for “Tropical Christmas” creations

One of the elaborate gingerbread entries from last year's contest.

New Hamburg’s annual holiday gingerbread contest returns with a new theme this year: “Tropical Christmas.”

Organizers are encouraging entrants to begin brainstorming ideas and creating their tasty masterpieces before the deadline of Nov. 30.

Gingerbread artists have five different categories to enter: children, adults (14 and over), family, VIP (for businesses and public offices), and elite (for professional bakers).

Entries should be brought to the New Apostolic Church, across from Forest Glen school, between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 30. The houses will be judged promptly after the submission period ends.

The gingerbread creations will be available at the church for public viewing the next day, Dec. 1, starting at 5:30. An awards ceremony will start at 7:30 p.m.

Winning houses will receive cash prizes donated by local sponsors. The VIP prize is $100, while first place in the Elite category gets $300. Family, Children and Adult entries can earn $200, $100, or $50 for winning first, second, or third.

All entrants should take home their gingerbread after the competition ends.

Anyone with more questions can contact Helen at 662-4089 or Kathryn at 519-662-2960.

Hope you brought a change of underwear to W-O’s Haunted Hall!

    

Wednesday, Oct. 26, and today, Thursday Oct. 27, Waterloo Oxford DSS held its annual haunted hall during lunch hour.

Students pay 50 cents at the entrance and then get to walk through the assortment of terrifying twists and turns, coming across a scary clown or maybe getting chased down by ‘Jason Voorhees’ (from horror movie Friday the 13th).

Local firefighting history depicted on a quilt

Brampton firefighter Paul Zettel will be getting an unexpected gift from his grandmother before Christmas.

As a tribute to his chosen profession and a keepsake of local firefighting history, Nithview Community resident Miriam Zettel commissioned Wellesley quilt artist Cathy Koch with the task of making a quilt using fabric blocks imprinted with photographs of the Wellesley and Baden fire departments. A personal letter to her grandson fills one quilt block, congratulating Paul for following in his grandfather’s footsteps.

Firefighting is in the family’s blood.

Zettel’s late husband Otto (Skip) Zettel was Wellesley’s fire captain for several years. He’s in a couple of the photos along with former Wellesley fire chief Ron Futher, Miriam’s son in law Dan Diebolt, and nephew Doug Ferguson, of the Baden department. Unfortunately the photo of Paul in uniform was neglected in the quilt, but Miriam decided to add it to a pillow she’ll include with the gift.

She hopes it comes in handy for the 29-year-old firefighter. Paul lives on a sailboat throughout the year.

“I thought it should be interesting,” Miriam said of the finished quilt, which is hanging in the dining hall level at Nithview in New Hamburg. “I’m sure he’ll like it because he’s all fireman.”

 

Food For Fines gets people into local libraries this week

Cans of beans and soup, bags and boxes of pasta, and every manner of non-perishable food items are pouring into local branches of the Region of Waterloo Library this week as their Food for Fines campaign continues. One non-perishable food item is worth up to $2 in library fines through Saturday, so it’s a good way for everyone to get that balance down to zero while helping to support local food banks.

Here librarians Jeanette Vincent and Leeanne Clarke stand with donations so far at the New Hamburg branch. Food for Fines is happening at all local branches, including Baden, Wellesley and New Dundee.

The campaign is part of Ontario Public Library Week.

Say cheese! Nithview hosts portrait day to promote Family Council

Heidi Faul of Images Photography in New Hamburg prepares to take a portrait of Mary & Earl Litwiller both residents of long term care at Nithview Home. This was the first of a series that included four generations of the Litwiller’s family.

On Oct. 15 and 16, residents of Nithview and their families were invited to participate in a Family Council awareness event under the “snappy” title “SAY CHEESE.”

Free portraits were taken by local photographer Heidi Faul in an effort to raise awareness in the community about Nithview’s Family Council.

At least 100 folks, both residents and family members, participated eagerly and now await the photo results the week of Oct. 28.

Weekends seem to be the busiest time for family visits at Nithview. The Nithview Family Council was able to pass out approximately 50 brochures about the Family Council Group.

The Family Council meets the third Monday of April, May, June, September, October and November, so snowy winter evenings or summer vacations do not get in the way of one’s participation.

Family Council is a great way for family members of residents to become better acquainted with each other. It provides a forum where everyone can learn from each other as well as guest speakers on how to help loved ones and their families to better adjust to life in long-term care.

The Family Council has sponsored community awareness events at Nithview on health issues such as Alzheimers, Parkinson’s Disease, Heart and Stroke and Osteoporosis. The council will continue to sponsor several of these events each year. These events are open to the public.

The Nithview Family Council has recently provided a fish aquarium for first floor, and also maintains a bird feeder program on the patio. The council has also been dropping in on long weekend Monday’s to make ice cream treats for residents in long-term care and their care-giving staff.

To learn more about the Nithview Family Council contact Linda Kress at 519-634-8517 or linda (at) cwisp.ca.

Fill up your bowl: Steinmann’s soup fundraiser supports Haiti

Hungry donors can eat soup and help a good cause this Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Steinmann Mennonite Church.

For $25, visitors can eat a bowl of hearty soup donated by local restaurants and organizations. After the meal, each visitor can keep their hand-crafted bowl, made by an Ontario potter.

The event, called “Empty Bowls for Haiti” has seatings at either 5 p.m. or 7 p.m. Tickets are still available by calling 519-696-2484.

This is the fifth year that Steinmann’s has hosted the fundraiser, which usually raises around $9,000 to support Mennonite Central Committee humanitarian projects in Haiti, a country still recovering from a devastating earthquake in early 2010.

The event is sponsored by the Mennonite Savings and Credit Union, in co-operation with Rosemary Arthurs at the New Dundee Pottery Store.

New Hamburg kids fight cancer with hot dog stand

Alex, Melanie, and Alyssa ready to sell some food for a good cause.

Three New Hamburg children have decided to take a stand against cancer. Specifically, a hot dog stand.

Melanie Austin, 5, along with her elementary school-aged neighbours Alex and Alyssa Elkeer, decided to fight the disease by hosting a community barbecue Oct. 3.

The young philanthropists delivered invitations to their neighbours on Laschinger Blvd. and prepared hot dogs, chips, candy, and drinks.

Despite a rainy day, the kids’ food sale raised $279 to be split between Sick Kids Hospital and the Canadian Cancer Society.

Melanie gets some help selling hot dogs from her neighour, Victor Jackson.

Melanie has been looking for ways to raise money to fight cancer all summer, said Kim Austin, her mom. The family has participated in the New Hamburg Ride and Stride fundraiser, and Melanie was also inspired by the recent Terry Fox Run.

The 5-year-old next wants to grow her hair for a wig to donate to cancer patients.

Alyssa and friends braved some dreary weather to raise money for cancer.

New outdoor classroom lets Waterloo-Oxford students study outside

Teacher Greg Kaster and Landscape Ontario representative Don Prosser at the Oct. 6 opening ceremony for W-O's new outdoor learning area.

Photos by Brianna Brookshaw and Peter Gale

Waterloo-Oxford students have a new place to learn, thanks to a new outdoor classroom space worth over $30,000.

The outdoor classroom was completed Oct. 5 and includes benches for students and a projector space for teachers to show lessons. Teachers can bring their classes outside to this new learning environment.

Principal Ed Doadt and Landscape Ontario representative Don Prosser at the Oct. 6 opening ceremony for W-O's new outdoor learning area.

Outdoor learning spaces are growing more popular at schools as teachers look to bring nature to their students.

“A classroom doesn’t have to be four walls and desks. Learning can be taking place anywhere and this is just another place to do that,” said Tracey Kelly, a Waterloo Region District School Board learning services consultant who attended the project’s opening ceremony last week.

The local chapter of Landscape Ontario donated supplies and labour for the project. Over 15 different landscaping companies pitched in to install paving stones and plant flowers. Students built a wooden framework roof that will be covered in climbing vines within two years.

Landscape Ontario donates a community project like this each year, said Don Prosser, the landscape designer who worked on the classoom. W-O’s ideas were chosen from 12 applicants because the school’s strong horticulture learning program meant the space would be well maintained.

“You can learn in the landscape and you can learn from the landscape,” Prosser said.

The Baden high school now has one of the only outdoor classrooms in Waterloo Region, Kelly said. More schools may want one, but can’t afford to build without donations.

At W-O, sometimes moving outside was just the most practical thing to do, said teacher Greg Kaster. Temperature in the school’s portable classrooms gets too high on hot days, and moving to the outdoor learning space will provide some relief.

The area includes a new stone-paved path and flower beds, and transforms a corner of the school property that used to be an eyesore, he added. Kaster said he is “110 per cent happy with it. It’s far exceeded anything I’d imagined we’d have.”

Seven-year-old New Hamburg figure skater gets chance to skate with stars

Local figure skater Aiden Dotzert, 7, was invited to attend the first-ever All Male Skating Seminar hosted by Skate Canada Western Ontario Section this fall.

The workshops were designed to encourage boys and promote their role in the sport.

Over several training sessions, Dotzert had the opportunity to skate with four-time Canadian and World Champion Kurt Browning, U.S. National Champion Scott Davis and current National Pairs Champions Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch (pictured with Dotzert).

But Dotzert wasn’t in awe of his elite instructors, said his mom, Cheryl. And he now feels better about his minority status in the New Hamburg figure skating club.

Baden man’s acclaimed ballet performed by top Russian dancers

Baden native Peter Quanz will become the first Canadian choreographer in the history of the Bolshoi Theatre to host an entire program of his work starting Oct. 11.

Moscow’s historic theatre will feature three works by the ballet prodigy whose work has been showcased around the world.

“It’s a tremendous honour to have my work shown at the Bolshoi,” said Quanz in a press release. “I have grown enormously as an artist through my collaboration with the amazing dancers of the Buryatian National Ballet and the entire experience has been deeply rewarding.”

A graduate of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Quanz is a rising star on the international scene. The New York

Times praised his “sophisticated use” of the classical ballet vocabulary, while The Financial Times described his work as “masterly.”

He was the first Canadian to create a choreography for Saint Petersburg’s Kirov Ballet, and has collaborated with such prestigious companies as the American Ballet Theatre, London’s Royal Ballet, and the National Ballet of Cuba.

In November, he will stage yet another new work, Luminous, set to the music of Marian Mozetich, which will be performed by the Hong Kong Ballet before entering the repertoire of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Award-winning chili and barbecue gives swim club a boost

The Wilmot Aquatic Aces swim club held a tasty fundraiser at the Wilmot Recreation Complex on Oct. 1 with award-winning barbecue chef Mike Callaghan.

The three-time Canadian Chili Champion helped serve over 350 people enjoyed lunch of chili, pulled pork on a bun or nachos.

Local Sun Life Financial advisor Theresa Dietrich sponsored the event to kick off the fund raising for the Aces’ new timing equipment.

Volunteers help serve David Dietrich and Amanda Morin-Dempsey.

Julia Callaghan from the Black Pig barbecue team enlists Aces Swimmers to help with preparing the chili

Father and son show off their lunch of nachoes and chili on Oct. 1.

Mike Callaghan, the Black Pig barbecue team's leader is ready to feed some hungry people

Expressway Ford gives to help New Dundee improve park

The New Dundee Parks Improvement Committee received a cheque for $2,400 on Sept. 30 from Expressway Motors.

The money is from the New Dundee ball park’s grand opening in June. At that ceremony, the New Hamburg dealership made a donation when attendees test-drove one of its vehicles.

Since the start of Ford’s Drive One 4 UR School and Community programs in 2010, more than 25,000 test-drives at more than 160 events have generated over $460,000 in donations for high schools and organizations in Canada.

Pictured above is Don Poth and Jim Stirling from the New Dundee Parks Improvement Fundraising Committee accepting a cheque from Dwight Brenneman of Expressway Ford.