Pine Hill ChronicleServing the Community of Pine Hill Estates

Editor: Glady s Frappi er

November 2009 to January 2010

Reports From Your Board of Directors

President’s Message .... by Ron Tughan, PresidentWinter is upon us once again. It is great, as I write, to see our snow clearing contractors cleaning our driveways and porches. So far everything is going very well.

There have been many changes in home ownership within Pine Hill over the past year. Since my last report, we have welcomed Maryse Derouin and her teenagers Alkexie and Justin to 28 Partridge (formerly Gondocz), Suzanne Payette and Luc Viallancourt to 68 Goldfinch (formerly Parker), Gerry and Fran Dagenais to 69 Bunting (formerly Besserer) and Fred and Barb Kuehn to 32 Bunting (formerly Radley).

I have enjoyed meeting all these new folks and look forward to getting to know them better as time passes. Many of our people are now “down south” enjoying the warmer weather and Marcia and I hope to join them for a little while pretty soon.

In Pine Hill, we are already looking into plans for the coming year. Hopefully, we will have some new activities and times to get together for mutual enjoyment within the community. The Board is working to make sure that everything is in order for the fiscal year end and for our Annual General Meeting (AGM). Again this year, the AGM will be held at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in nearby Fallowfield. The date is Thursday, May 20.

An official notice of this important meeting will be delivered to all households about one month prior. Then, an information package with financial reports, etc. will be distributed about mid-May..

This past year has been relatively quiet from the Board's point of view and the work of managing the affairs of the Pine Hill community has been running along without any major concerns. However, some terms of office will be terminating as of the AGM, so new people will be needed to accept Board positions. We hope that you will give this matter some thought.

We look forward to 2010 with anticipation of good times ahead and trust that all our residents and their extended families will have a happy and fulfilling New Year. **********************************************************

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Activities Report

…. by Gladys Frappier, Activities Director

I am pleased to report on a few special community events that have taken place since the last issue of this paper.

Pot Luck Dinner & GamesAs we have known for some years now, there are some great cooks in the Pine Hill community. So it came as no surprise that they contributed some very tasty salads, main dishes and desserts to our November 21 Pot Luck Dinner. Great job everyone! Following dinner some people stayed

to play games.

The lucky winners of the evening's 50/50 Draws were Sharon Cutbill and George Lowry. Both, I believe, are first-time winners. Congratulations!

Christmas decorationsThose of you who were at our Community Centre during the month of December will have noticed that it was all decorated up for the Christmas season. Reaction to these decorations has been very complimentary. So, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of the following people: Ron Frappier, who decorated the Christmas tree and, along with June Tyrrell and Bette Jones, strung up the wall decorations; Deanna Stobo, who made the lovely wreaths for the tables and over the fireplace. I also thank Don Davis and Ron Tughan for setting up the outside Christmas lights.

Christmas Wine & CheeseThis traditional Christmas time gathering of Pine Hill neighbours, held on the afternoon of Sunday, December 13, was enjoyed by some sixty people. Once again, the event was organized by Jean Smith, who did a fabulous job of making sure that everything went according to plan. The scrumptious hors d'oeuvres and delicious punch were provided by a number of volunteers. My thanks to all of you.

New Year's Eve PartyOn Thursday, December 31, the Pine Hill Community celebrated the arrival of the year 2010 with a great New Year's Eve Party. Forty-some Pine Hillers came decked out in their party attire for this festive occasion.

The evening began with a delicious buffet dinner provided and served by Elke Beeb and her efficient catering staff. From all reports, everyone was very pleased with the selection of food - the various salads, selection of vegetable and rice dishes, the chicken dish, roast beef and tasty desserts.

Also this year, we were very pleased to have Len Joachim back as our D.J. Having entertained us at several previous New Year's Eve parties, he

provided a variety of dinner and dancing music perfectly suited to our group.

The evening also included a number of draws for some very nice door prizes, which were donated by Reg Stobo. We also had quite a few other spot dance/door prizes that were purchased for the occasion.

Many thanks to Reg for his generosity and congratulations to all the lucky winners.

Information Session Re: Forever Young Physiotherapy & Fitness ProgramOn the afternoon of Thursday, January 14, some 35 Pine Hill people gathered at our Community Centre to learn about the Forever Young Physiotherapy and Fitness Program.

Stephen Cordani, Senior Program Coordinator of the Family Physiotherapy Centre, provided a detailed explanation of the program, its benefits and the qualifications of all their instructors.

This is an ongoing study funded by the Ministry of Health that is intended to improve the health and fitness levels of the senior population. The program, therefore, is free of charge for anyone 65 years of age or older but has certain requirements.

In order to participate, one must provide a signed doctor's referral and undergo an initial fitness assessment and periodic re-assessments to measure progress. As well, there should be a commitment to the twice-per-week classes. Classes for any Pine Hill participants will be on Tuesday and Thursday - either at 11:00am or in the afternoon. These will be held at Forever Young's Kanata site, which is situated at the back of the Forest Hill Retirement Residence on Campeau Drive.

If you were unable to attend the information session and think you might be interested in participating in this program (or would like more information), you should contact/register with Stephen Cordani at 613-521-9800 - ext. 232 or email him at scordani@familyphysio.com.

Upcoming Special Events: Mark these dates!

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On Thursday, March 11, at 12 noon, you are invited to come to our Pizza Lunch and Games. This event is being organized by June Tyrrell, who has volunteered to do so in my absence. I thank her for that. A flyer with full details will be distributed and a sign up sheet will be posted.

Organizers of our always popular Police/Fire Spaghetti Dinner tell me that they will be all set to go on Saturday, April 24. A flyer with all the details will be distributed with our April 2010 Activities Calendar.**********************************************************

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Issues Relating to the Pine Hill Estates Community Centre ....... by Don Davis,

Property ManagerToilets

The downstairs toilet in the Community Centre was plugged recently by someone trying to flush paper towels. It is difficult to imagine why anyone would do such a thing.

Fortunately, this time, the situation was corrected by the purchase, and use of a toilet snake plus two hours of "not very pleasant labour". If the toilet had overflowed or a plumber had to be called, the job and expense would have been much greater.

A waste basket for used paper towels and any other non-flushable items is provided in both the downstairs and upstairs washroom.

Security

During a routine inspection of the Community Centre on 29 December 2009, a door leading to the deck was found to be fully opened. The temperature in the main room was only 15 degrees and the furnace was running continuously as the outside temperature was minus 20 degrees. The remainder of the building was very warm. Luckily, no pipes were frozen; nor was anything amiss in the building.

A Reminder

This is your Community Centre. Please treat it as you would your own home. Since everyone has access to the building, we each have an equal responsibility to ensure its proper care and security.

It seems reasonable that whoever is the last one to leave the building at a community function, or is hosting an individual use event, should be responsible for ensuring its security on leaving.

Thank you for your cooperation. If anyone wishes any further information, please contact Don Davis, Community Centre Director (613-592-5509).**********************************************************

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Selling Your House? .... by Roger MacPherson,

Board SecretaryIf you decide to put your home on the market, your Pine Hill Board of Directors asks that you please notify Association Secretary, Roger MacPherson, 26 Bunting Lane, 613-254-9794.

He will provide you with information from the Pine Hill Community Association which your agent should make available to prospective buyers.**********************************************************

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Pine Hill Directory.... Editor

Up to now, a new Pine Hill directory has been issued annually - in the fall.

However, since there have been more changes of ownership recently, your Board has decided to issue a complete new listing twice a year. The next new directory will be distributed in April or May 2010 .

So, if there are any revisions that should be made to your own information, please notify Roger McPherson (see above) so that he can update his file before that time.

Meanwhile, if you want to keep your current

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copy up-to-date, you should do the following:

Add all information for the following new owners:

• Dagenais - Gerry & Fran - 69 Bunting - 435-4663 - frandag@rogers.com

• Derouin - Maryse - 28 Partridge - 2P6 - 599-7203

• Payette/Vaillancourt - Suzanne/Luc - 68 Goldfinch - 2P5 - 599-9077 - suzannepayette@gmail.com

• Kuehn - Fred & Barb - 32 Bunting - 2P7 - 271-7073 - fred.kuehn@gmail.com

At the same time, you can delete all information for former owners Besserer, Gondocz, Parker and Radley.*********************************************************

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Highland Green Snow Service - Who to contact

..... EditorIn case of any issues or questions regarding Highland Green's snow clearing service, you should contact the following Pine Hill people:

In February:Glenn Fobert (613-599-5257)

In March:Murray Fielding (613-592-7744)

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Music & Theatre … by Jim Fermoyle

Some time ago the Julian Armour and The Chamber Music Festival started a big "push" for

a Concert Hall in Ottawa. The hall would be used not only by the Chamber Music people but also other festivals, jazz, the Choral Society, Opera Lyra, to name a few.

Not only is it too expensive to use the National Arts Centre, it is almost impossible to fit into their calendar. A concert hall is definitely needed and vital to this city.

It's amazing that the capital of Canada does not have a major concert hall catering to a smaller audience. At the time of the big "push" to establish one, the Board was asking the people of Ottawa to become "friends" of the Concert Hall and become members.

Phyllis and I became "friends", as we feel strongly about a hall and to offer support for this campaign.

Things have been quiet concerning the hall, no press on any progress. Recently we were invited to a meeting at City Hall to get updated on what is happening. Julian Armour and his group are keen and making advances slowly. The biggest problem is the site. The perfect place is a parking lot at 150 Elgin St., across from the Arts Centre. The city sold the property to Morguard. Morguard agreed to build the concert hall as part of their building but cannot start construction until they have a tenant. So things are at a standstill.

The perfect solution would be for the city to buy the property back but, if they would consider it, it would be expensive. The Board has looked at other sites - Lansdowne Live, the proposed new library, etc. - but 150 Elgin is ideal. I agree with their decision.

So many groups want this hall - both music and theatre, also for recording. Most groups have to go out of town to do this. Choral groups have to go to churches and this is most difficult as they have to work around religious services. Some churches are not allowing this to happen in the future. So, as you can see, there are many hurdles to cross.

I know there are people in Pine Hill who are interested in the arts - both music and theatre.

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Therefore, I have left some brochures at our community centre.

If you are interested in joining, this will ad support and help the Board defray some of the costs of getting this up and running.

We were amazed at the amount of time and travel that Julian spends on this project. If anyone can get this built he sure will do it, as evident with what he did with the Chamber Music Festival which is now the largest in North America.

So, there you have it, an update on just what is going on and how close things are to happening.

A meeting is planned for February. Call me if you are interested and I will return your call with the date.

Yours in Music,

And now, Concert Hall,

Jim Fermoyle **********************************************************

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Around The Neighbourhood************************************************************

Upper Bunting Lane … by Marcia Tughan

Pam and Al Germundson were pleasantly surprised when Al's niece, Pauline, her husband, Steve, and their two little ones - Allysia (age 4) and John (age 2)- came for a quick visit. The four-year-old watched Pam for a while and then asked: “Why do you walk like that?” Pam looked her in the eye and said “backache” and the little one came right back at her and said “Yep, that would do it all right”. You can guess how the rest of the visit went. They are so sweet when they are young.

Al Germundson had a close encounter with a herd of ten deer while walking their dog, Kiwi, one morning just before Christmas. Al had just lectured Kiwi about not chasing squirrels into the bush, when he looked up to see the deer watching him with interest from near the edge of the path. They walked by the deer without looking at them and then turned to see them, one by one, crossing the path on their way back to the Greenbelt.

Marion and Earle Trouten visited their son Dave and family in Sussex, New Brunswick over the Canadian Thanksgiving. Dave is a professor at Bethany Bible College. They also visited their

granddaughter Katie, from Stittsville, who is a freshman student at Bethany.

Over the American Thanksgiving, the Troutens visited their youngest son, Jack, and his family in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Jack works in High Tech. Jack’s two children were home from university for the holiday, so they got to see them as well. While in Charlotte, Marion and Earle went on to Columbia, South Carolina to visit Earle’s brother Don and his wife. She is in a nursing home and in very poor health. With the exception of Jack’s family in North Carolina, the rest of the family, from near and far, came by train and car traveling “home” for Christmas with Marion and Earle in Pine Hill.

Helene and Keith LeBarron had a very busy but enjoyable fall. In September, they had Helene’s annual nursing reunion which, this year, was held at Dickson Hotel in Calabogie. This group has been meeting for the past fifty-seven years. Originally there were twelve members but now they are down to nine. The meetings involve eating, visiting and tournaments - including darts, bridge and bocce ball.

In October, Helene and her bridge partner returned to the Muskoka area for a tournament - playing many, many games. They finished in third place, gaining them fifteen per cent off their hotel bill. In November, Keith and his golfing

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buddies went to Myrtle Beach, where they enjoyed themselves even though the courses were quite wet from the heavy rains of the previous week.

James Donald Roger Seguin, son of Roger and Lore Seguin will be spending six months in Sierra Leone, Africa, as Regimental Sergeant Major of the International Mentoring and Training Team (IMATT). IMATT was created in 2005 following the civil war in Sierra Leone. The mission is lead by the United Kingdom and mandated by the U.N. The purpose of the mission is to mentor and train the armed forces of Sierra Leone to become professional and democratically accountable.

James will be responsible for discipline and deportment of members of IMATT as well as training and mentoring members of the Sierra Leonian armed forces in the duties and responsibilities of senior non-commissioned members. James joined the Canadian Forces as a reservist in 1981. He served with the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa until April 2009, culminating his career as Regimental Sergeant Major from 2005 to 2009. He is married to Patricia and has two children - Zachary and Faith.

Ruth Hayward is presently recovering from a hip fracture at the Queensway-Carleton Rehab. Ruth has been at the Crystal View Lodge in Nepean and hopes to return there after her recovery.

Ron and Marcia Tughan had a short visit to Toronto to visit Marcia’s son, Mark, between Christmas and New Years. Luckily, the weather was fine for traveling and Toronto had no snow on the ground during the visit. While in Toronto, they visited the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and had a very cold and windy walk on the beaches below Queen Street.

We have welcomed our new “Upper Bunting” neighbours, Gerry and Fran Dagenais at 69 Bunting and Fred and Barb Kuehn at 32 Bunting. We look forward to many good times with them in the future.

Marty and Blanche Joiner won a draw at the Hazeldean mall for a free five-day stay at a local retirement home. They felt very welcome there, even though the management knew that they weren’t ready for a retirement home yet.

The staff and residents made them feel welcome and at home in their new environment. If they wanted to take part, there were lots of activities. Blanche joined in and participated in the crafts and bingo. They had a nice one bedroom apartment, which they enjoyed. They met many nice people and will go back to visit. Overall, they felt that it would be a great place to call home when the time comes.

Pat and Maureen Maloney had a great trip to Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake at the end of November - with Ottawa Valley Tours. Maureen reports that the three shows they went to see were excellent, and the provided meals were extremely good. Mother Nature co-operated with beautiful weather and the Niagara Falls Festival of Lights was really worth seeing.

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Upper Partridge

…. by Charlotte Heal

It seems that the winter doldrums have set in. Rosemary Hamilton kept track and reports that it snowed (yes, lightly) for ninety-six hours! But 2010 is here and I have some news for you from Upper Partridge.

Shirley and Harvey Brown's son, Steve, came from Waterloo to spend some time with them over the holidays.

Beth and Don Davis entertained friends from Toronto, with whom they have been getting together for fifty years!

Jackie Moss will celebrate her 60th birthday on January 19, 2010. She says "I appreciate each year I get." At Christmas, she cooked two turkeys and had a big family party. Her guests tidied up - did the dishes etc. - before they

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departed. Very nice! Happy Birthday, Jackie.

Anita and Bob Lee had company from Cayuga, Ontario (near St. Catherines) over the holidays. They had come to visit Anita and Bob and also to see the Women's pre-Olympic Hockey Game between Canada and the United States. Canada won 3-2 after overtime and a shoot out. These were very interesting guests. They are into bird counting, as well as sports, and are very outgoing people.

On December 20, Rosemary Hamilton drove to "The Soo" to visit her mom and two brothers. They had a lovely Christmas. The drive home was delayed by weather and was not pleasant for parts of it. She and Petey (her dog) were happy to get home safe and sound.

Ria Hamilton and Bill Thomson spent New Years in New York City. On New Year's Eve they were among the celebrants watching the ball drop at midnight. They also enjoyed some great shopping.

Elizabeth and Ken Wallis are settling into their new home at 51 Partridge. Recently, they were adopted by a lovely little dog called Diesel. He is a miniature dachshund, very personable and doesn't seem to mind the cold one bit.

I, Charlotte Heal, had a great December. I went to Las Vegas where my daughter, Paddy, and her husband, Doug Barker (from Calgary) ran the marathon! Doug finished in fourth place - just 30 seconds from the podium - but he was pleased. Paddy also completed the marathon but I am not to publish her time. But, good for her, she did it!

While there, we went to Lake Mead, Hoover Dam , Cirque du Soleil and, like Ria, we shopped.

I spent Christmas with my son Don, Heather and family in Barrie, Ontario. It was too icy to ski (rained on the 25th) but I had a lovely visit. Happy New Year to all my friends here.

Now, I thank Deanne Stobo for providing the following item.

Reg and Deanna Stobo joined Captain Sandy's Canadian Battlefields Tour and Riverboat Cruise from October 17 to November 3. The tour covered the First and Second World War battlefields and cemeteries - France, Normandie, Belgium. We witnessed the destruction and sadness of this terrible time in history. Very emotional!

Then it was on to Paris for sightseeing (ooh-la-la) for three nights. We spent one week on the Swiss Pearl Riverboat cruising the Rhone River - with many stops at medieval cities and lots of wine tasting opportunities. Lyon, Arles and Avignon were the highlights of beautiful Provènce. We ended our trip with several days in Barcelona, Spain, where we enjoyed the scenery and excellent seafood cuisine.

November 26th took us to Atlanta, Georgia to visit our son, Matthew, and family for American Thanksgiving. We were fortunate to experience a Christmas fantasy in Ashland, North Carolina at the Biltmore Castle with our grandchildren on this visit.

We hosted our Canadian Christmas with our other three sons and families at 45 Partridge Drive. It was very busy but fun, with our nine healthy grandchildren. Happy New Year, Deanna

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Around the Circle

... by Jean Broadfoot Happy New Year to everyone!

The lights "Around The Circle" this year were beautiful and really put us in the Christmas mood. Welcome to our new neighbours, Suzanne Payette and Luc Vaillancourt at 68 Goldfinch. They had just moved in but put their lights up. Suzanne and Luc, your name tags await you at the Community Centre. We hope

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that you will be joining us at some of our social events and regular activities.

Robyn Anstey and Bob Blain spent Christmas in Owen Sound with Robyn's sister and her family. They enjoyed all their nieces and nephews.

Merita and Ambrose Etmanskie enjoyed having their daughter Jill home for two weeks at Christmas.

Joyce and Murray Fielding had two Christmas dinners this year. One was with their daughter on December 20; the other, on Christmas Day, was with their son and his wife. Both were delicious.

Allison Weber spent a very nice Christmas with her daughter Dawn and Bob.

Gladys and Ron Frappier joined their daughter Lori and her family in Toronto for a few days over Christmas. On Christmas Eve all six of them went to their nephew's house for some Indian cuisine. Christmas Day was great, but the drive home on Boxing Day was a bit worrisome because of the freezing rain here. Luckily, both the 401 and 416 were fine.

Ruth Ballantyne had Christmas with all her family at her daughter Mary's home. Since that time her other daughter, Barb, has been in the hospital. I hope you are feeling better soon, Barb.

Margaret and Cathy Davies had Christmas at Ian's with all the family.

Hazel and Al Robertson had a quiet Christmas. Their excitement happened later. A deer had been lying on its back for several hours and seemed to be in distress. Hazel called the conservation officer, who called back in about half an hour and then came to check it out, along with the police. Sadly, the deer had to be put to sleep as it was ill or wounded. The conservation officer took it away.

Marg Wallen spent Christmas in Peterborough with her daughter and her family. She gave us a tin of shortbread cookies, which were delicious. Also, Marg, thank you so much for the beautiful

flowers. It is so good to see you out in your car and able to go for the mail. Keep up the good work.

Maureen and Gilles Sabourin had twelve family members for Christmas dinner. They had not been together for many years. Their new grandson is doing great.

Jo and George Lowry had their son Andrew from Calgary visiting them. The whole family went to Econiche House in Cantley, Quebec again this Christmas and had a wonderful time.

We, Jean and Dean Broadfoot, started off the festive season with Dean getting a sore leg. Our son, Donald, and his wife, Sandy, came home for Christmas. Also, our daughter Bonnie's brother-in-law, Richard Zuran, was with Bonnie and Glenn. For Christmas Eve, I ordered a LIMO to take all of us to New Dubrovnick for dinner and then on a tour to see all the festive lights.

On Christmas Day, we invited five more friends to join us. We had a wonderful dinner - cooked by Bonnie, Sandy and Donald. Dean had a couple of days in hospital but got to spend a few days with Donald before they left on New Year's Day. It was a different Christmas but good all the same.

A belated "Happy Birthday" to Joyce Fielding, Gladys Frappier and Allison Weber - all celebrated in November.

Everyone stay well Jean

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Lower Partridge …. by Phyllis McElrone

Winter is here again, each year it seems to me to come sooner. I'm told that is a sign of old age. "Whatever". A few of our snowbird friends have e-mailed me and said I wasn't missing too much. Hopefully, for all concerned, the weather will improve soon.

From all the neighbours who attended our New Year's Eve celebration, "thanks" to the Activities

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Committee. Once again it was a lovely evening.

I, Phyllis, was lucky and won a great door prize. My thanks to Reg Stobo.

We would like to welcome our new neighbours - Maryse Derouin, and her teenagers- at 28 Partridge Drive. We hope you enjoy living in Pine Hill.

Congratulations go out to Betty Vincent. I looked out this morning (Friday. January 15th)

and saw a "Green Bin" at her curb. Good for you, Betty, as I and many others are "undecided".

As always, I am not "in the know" about all the goings on in "Lower Partridge". So, if you have any bits of news that you care to share, please feel free to call me (613-599-7762) or put it in my mail box at 20 Partridge. I would appreciate having it for my next report, which will be in April.

p.s. - Sorry if I omitted any other green bin users on Lower Partridge Drive, as the view from my

kitchen window is limited. Adios! Phyllis

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