Creativity of Local Youth on Display in Blyth

17 May
Blyth Festival Student Art Exhibit, May 2013

Blyth Festival Student Art Exhibit, May 2013

by Diva Nicole Olson

I recently had to opportunity to get a glimpse of the creativity of some our local youth by exploring the Student Show at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery. I have to admit, I was blown away by the talent that these young people possess. It was amazing to gain a little insight as to what inspires these people. The art that is on display is full of detail and I admired a lot of the techniques used. There were paintings, photography, works of mixed media and other genres of art as well. The artists are from various secondary schools within the Avon Maitland District and Huron Perth Catholic School Boards. Some of the pieces are for sale and this is a free event. Definitely worth checking out.

[Student Exhibit on display until May 23]

Blyth Festival Art Gallery
Bainton Gallery
Blyth Memorial Community Hall
423 Queen Street, Blyth, ON  N0M 1H0
519-523-9300 / 1-877-862-5984

info@blythfestival.com
www.blythfestival.com

Open:  9am – 5pm Monday to Saturday

The Blyth Festival Art Gallery co-ordinates three professional juried exhibitions, a community art show and a secondary school student exhibition each year in the Bainton Gallery which is located in the Blyth Memorial Community Hall beside the Blyth Festival box office. The Gallery is open to the public during Festival business hours and has been operating under the guidance of an extraordinary group of volunteers since 1976.

Blyth Festival Art Gallery, Student Art Exhibit 2013

Blyth Festival Art Gallery, Student Art Exhibit 2013

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Bridges and Beaches

15 May

By Diva Jenna Ujiye

bridge4

I’ve been wanting to get over to check out the Balls Bridge for a couple of months, but the weather wasn’t perfect until last weekend. This bridge is really amazing and it’s story is even better. They say that it is the “bridge that love built,” the original builder built it so his wife didn’t have to get her shoes wet walking through the river on her way to the market back in 1885. This bridge is also one of  the older bridges in Ontario and the design is very rare with less than a dozen left in existence. To find out more about the Balls Bridge visit http://ballsbridgeontario.com The pictures tell it all!

bridge1 bridge2I ended at the Goderich boardwalk, a 1.5km trek along the three beaches in Goderich. My friend Cindy says it’s the best, because there are ice cream shops at both ends. While I was walking I probably passed 100 people enjoying the sun and getting a bit of exercise. I actually watched a couple of kids swimming at The Cove beach, but it was still pretty cold. I can’t wait for the water to be warm enough for me.  This beach has the best waves and sand around! To find out more about these wonderful trails visit www.hikehuron.com

beach1 beach2

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A Tiger in Rural Ontario

15 May

By Diva Jenna Ujiye

A couple of weeks ago I decided to explore the hiking trails in Huron County. There are 29 public trails, so I made a plan to hike sections of three of them. I started off at the Sifto monument at the top of the hill across from the Huron Historic Gaol. This lookout area has a really great view of the Menesetung bridge, the Sifto Salt mine, the Maitland River and Lake Huron.

lookout2 Lookout at Sifto Monument

So you may be wondering why I mentioned a Tiger in the title of this blog, well Tiger is actually a person. William “Tiger” Dunlop was a physician, author, woodsman, soldier, politician and raconteur and  one of the founders of  Goderich. I hadn’t hiked the Dunlop trail in years so my next stop was the Tiger Dunlop Trail. This trail is 3.2 kilometers and is great for biking, walking, running, and cross country skiing in the winter. It ends at the Tiger Dunlop Tomb, where there are plaques explaining the history of the man.

maitland1Lookout from Tiger Dunlops Tomb

This trail meets up with the Goderich to Auburn Rail Trail and the Maitland Trail. Seeing as I wanted to finish the trails in a couple of days I decided to drive to a parking area along the 48 km Maitland Trail. I hiked about 6 kilometres along the Maitland River and took in some great views. I even caught a beaver working on his dam, watched two eagles dancing and witnessed a blue heron! I will say I was surprised at the damage that still existed from the 2011 tornado in the area. I know that nature (and the amazing trail volunteers) will take over soon though! If you are in to Hiking, make sure to check out all of our trails in the area at www.hikehuron.ca

maitland2

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It was a sweet kind of day

14 May

By Diva Jenna Ujiye

Cinnamon BunsQueens Bakery shirt

I have stopped in and picked up baked goods and food to go at the Queens Bakery in Blyth, but I hadn’t yet stayed in for a meal. I had a meeting with my friend Karen in Blyth, so we decided to go to the bakery for lunch. When we walked in the smells were great. There were 5 or so other tables of people dining and all of the food looked yummy. We chose a table and went to the front to check out the lunch specials, which all sounded good. Karen went with the chili and cheese biscuit with pesto and cheese on it and I ordered the chili and Reuben sandwich. Both of the meals were excellent and the price and service made this place top notch in my mind! Both of our meals came to only $18 and change and we were both full.

Queens Bakery Food Queens Bakery Food

There are also so many great treats, which are freshly baked daily. They had over 20 different types of drinks (coffee, teas, juices, pop etc.), date squares, cookies, oat bars, tarts, muffins, loafs, cheeses, sandwiches, salads, soups and more.

cookies lemon loaf

Oh and did I mention they had cakes and ice cream too! Prices ranged from $6 for a sandwich, $3 for quiche and $3 for soup; desserts ranged from $1 – $4 depending on what you decide on. They are also licensed so if you want a beer, wine, specialty coffee or spirit you can. Another offering they have is accommodation upstairs. This summer you can go to Blyth, check out a show at the festival, eat at the Bakery and then spend the night (Plus you can stop in to the Blyth Inn and check out the shops)! For more information visit: www.queensbakeryblyth.com/

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Run Around the Square

14 May

My Number

My Number

by Diva Trista Russell

This past Sunday I took part in the Run Around the Square in Goderich in support of the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund. After having beautiful weather last week, I was expecting race day to be much the same. It was cold. Really COLD. And rainy and windy too. Even some freezing rain and snow made an appearance too! While the weather was a challenge that morning, some of my coworkers and I still decided to brave the elements in the 5km race. We weren’t the only ones, as there were 418 runners participating in the 5km and 10 km race. Proceeds raised from the run are used to purchase and donate life-saving defibrillators.

Run Around the Square 2013

Run Around the Square 2013

The race started and finished on the historic Goderich square, and wound around some residential blocks nearby. Even though the weather wasn’t the best for a run, it was nice that the route included some scenic views of Lake Huron. What was even more impressive was the huge amount of support from the community. It was obvious that volunteers were an integral part of the event. Even the entire neighbourhood celebrated the event with people cheering along the route: some with signs, some in camping tents shaking maracas to pump up the runners, some standing in the rain at the end of their driveways, and even police officers who were directing traffic took a moment to compliment each runner as they went by. The community support definitely made for a more enjoyable run and inspired me to get to the finish line.

I managed to finish 206th, which may not be impressive, but was a personal best for me. Congrats to all the runners who braved the weather and supported a great cause!

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Neither cold nor rain hindered supporters of this Mother’s Day run.

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Eats in the Bend

9 May
Entrance to Dave's Clubhouse at Oakwood Inn

Entrance to Dave’s Clubhouse at Oakwood Inn

by Diva Trista Russell

In my last post, I talked about the Grand Bend Area Studio Tour. As part of the “Eats” part of the Studio Tour, Dave’s Clubhouse at Oakwood Inn featured a special food sampling menu this past weekend. The Clubhouse menu has been redesigned this year, so I was excited to try out some of their new menu items. The sample menu included Oakwood’s bruschetta, mini skillet mac & cheese, single fish taco, four Bam Bam shrimp, mini baked white cheddar dip, single pork pretzel slider, samples size margarita flat bread, and mini chips and salsa. Each sample was only $2 and a generous size to split for two people. I sampled some of each (you know you ordered enough when it takes 3 servers to bring it out!!) and it was all delicious! My favourite was the flat bread with mozzarella and tomato and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. If you visit the Clubhouse, make sure you sit out on the patio overlooking the golf course. The view was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

You can follow Oakwood on Facebook and Twitter for their features of the day.

Margarita flat bread – yummy!

Margarita flat bread – yummy!

Oakwood is also offering Mother’s Day brunch in the Terrace Room this Sunday.

Oakwood Inn
70671 Bluewater Highway (Hwy 21 North of main intersection)
Grand Bend, ON

Pork pretzel slider

Pork pretzel slider

white cheddar dip

white cheddar dip

Oakwood's bruschetta

Oakwood’s bruschetta

Oakwood's Sampling Menu

Oakwood’s Sampling Menu

View from the Clubhouse patio

View from the Clubhouse patio

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It’s Patio Season!

9 May

by Diva Jenna Ujiye

IMG_4205

I’m sure all of you are pretty excited that spring has finally came and the weather is nice enough to sit out on a patio. Last week I met with my friends Rick and Bruno at the Albion in Bayfield and had a great meal outside while enjoying the village main street!

AlbionThe Albion

The three of us sat on the far north end of the patio and watched as the whole restaurant filled up. It was wing night! The Albion serves typical pub fare and has a variety of unique menu specialties including the ABC Albion Sammy (cheese, bacon and apples on rye), The Dopey Burger (Open faced burger with gravy, mushrooms and onions), and the sweet potato enchilada.

Alnion Burger Alnion Burger

Albion InsideMenu items range from $10 – $20 with some appetizers under and some entrees a bit over, but all in all very reasonable! They als0 have a large variety of beer on tap! Thursday night is Wing night, Friday – All you can eat Fish and Chips and on Saturday, Prime Rib is the Special. I hear that during the winter they do a really cool trivia night. I had been wanting to check out the new paintings that were done over the winter and was impressed with how much they changed the atmosphere of the place!

Albion Inside

 

If you are looking for a nice weekend away, Bayfield is a great place to visit, especially during the summer. The Albion is also a hotel and they rent rooms for $115 – $155 and that includes a continental breakfast. For more information about the Albion hotel visit their website at www.thealbionhotel.com

The Albion Hotel

albion@tcc.on.ca

1 Main Street
Bayfield, Ontario
N0M 1G0
Canada
519-565-2641

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