Sunshine and Sidewalk Sales

The streets were alive for Brockville's annual sidewalk sale. Starting in the east end, near the boutique Isis on King Street and stretching all the way to the Brockville Arts Center on King Street West, vendors of all kinds participated.

With the sun shining down, it made for the perfect Saturday. We took to the festivities right after our eldest' soccer practice. The Farmers' Market was buzzing as usual, with local produce, baking, crafts and so much more. Up ahead was a bouncy castle and face painting for the kids. My children actually have an ailment, the side effect being that we can not pass by a bouncy castle without stopping for a lengthy time. As one nearby parent lovingly commented "This is a concussion just waiting to happen", I couldn't help but smile to myself. I do think they are pretty great and I feel everyone should have childhood memories of inflatable jumping castles.

Continuing down the street, I lost Nick to the mini-donut vendor. I took this opportunity to check out the sales and picked up a pair of shorts at Alan Browns for a remarkable price. What caught my attention next was the soulful acoustic sound of Dan Schaafsma who was playing the recent Top 40 hits in front of the Issac Brock pub. Dan is one of the members of a local band "Full Nelson" and both Nick and I thought he was fantastic!

It was such a great event, I hope everyone got out to support our local talent, shops and city!

View of downtown King Street that was completely packed from East to West.

The Aquala Day Spa hosted a fabulous BBQ with proceeds going towards a local charity.

"Captain Canada" visits Cardinal for a great cause!

In the small village of Cardinal, Ontario something wonderful is happening. A close friend, near and dear to my heart has started a fabulous childrens' literacy group. She has been working hard to get the local children and their families involved. Recently, our local MPP, Steve Clark,lent his time to this program. Please enjoy our "guest blogger" Marcy MacDonald, who runs the literacy program as she recalls the recent experience.......

The following Post is from Marcy MacDonald: ENJOY!

The literacy group affectionately titled ‘Globe Trotters’ is hosted at the Cardinal Public Library on Tuesdays from 10:00am - 11:00am. Each week, the group "travels" through a selected culture. On these adventures, with guest tour guides, the group samples a snack, music & dance, an art and craft to add to their passports. It all wraps up with a good story!

Recently the group toured our home Canada. The guest tour guide Steve Clarke was ‘ Captain Canada’ ! Sharing chocolate covered loonies and wearing a Canada flag cape, Captain Canada was a hit! Sampling some maple sugar cookies and hearing all kinds of interesting things about Canada was grand. Everyone made a door hanger for their rooms. Captain Canada made one for his office door. There were maps of Canada to be coloured and lots of discussion of all the places the group had trotted personally.

There was an game of ‘hot beaver’ ( aka "hot potato") to the song "God save the Queen" . As O’ Canada played, most of the littles made up their own groovy dance moves.

It was an excellent interactive tour of Canada. The parents involved in the group enjoyed the opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns to the local government representative about the future of the community of Cardinal. The fact that  Captain Canada decided to "globetrot" with the Cardinal gang rather than visit Prince left travelers with a sense of importance.