Appreciation Dinner

The date is April 27,2009 and the time is 6:00 PM. The wife and I are invited to attend an appreciation dinner sponsored by the local Salvation Army Church and held at the Legion. This dinner is to show the thanks that the Salvation Army wants to show for all of the volunteer helpers who spent time and effort over the winter doing fund raising for the Army so they would have resources to buy food and other supplies for the needy families in our area.
The meal consisted of delicious roast beef. potatoes, and another vegetable to go with this. As well it was finished off with a nice big cake.




After the meal, Captain Tim Jenkins awarded certificates of appreciation to all of the people attending. Certificates and mugs with "Salvation Army" printed on them were given to all of the people but awards were given out to others who participated in the competition which applied to those who took a kettle for a whole day and looked after making sure that they had someone of

their group to attend to that kettle without having to call the Captain to provide an attendee.
This is a very great burden lifted off of the shoulders of our Captain so he can go to other duties instead. When all of the awards were announced, the winner of the No Bell Award was named. The winning group was the Anglican Church of Kirkland Lake. This award was given to the group, who brought in the most money in one day and I was impressed at the numbers that Captain Tim read from the top competitors. From this information, it seems obvious that there should be some happy people at Christmas instead of sad, sorrowful faces and empty stomachs. God is no doubt very pleased with the efforts of all of these volunteers.
The evening was a very enjoyable one, with the good meal, the certificates and mugs plus the No Bell Award but there was one sad part at the end. Captains Tim and Laura Jenkins announced that they are being transferred from Kirkland Lake corps to Labrador City, Labrador starting the end of June 2009. We will miss you people very much and we hope and pray for a good transition to your new charge. God Bless you and your
family.
Wilf Blakey

STOP PLEASE

This issue is dedicated to one of our people that most folks don't even think about and literally take for granted. I am featuring our school crossing guards. These people look like some of our ordinary people who seem to have nothing better to do but that is not the real truth behind the story. These men and women have jobs to do, jobs that are important to us and our families. These jobs are to look after the safety of our young children as they go back and forth to school and cross the streets, which at times can be quite loaded with traffic. To me this is extremely important as it is an unfair competition and match set up as you consider the opponents involved. One opponent is a child, age 4 to possibly 20 years weighing maybe 40 lbs to about 170 lbs and the other opponent is a vehicle starting at about 2000 lbs moving down the street at a possible 30 miles per hour. As you can see the smaller person or child hasn't a slight chance of surviving an impact with one of these monsters even though it might be only 2000 lbs so society has decided to give these youngsters a fighting chance by hiring crossing guards to look after our young people when they are in the enemie's territory ( alias school crossing zones).
As well as crossing school children, crossing guards cross adults, not necessarily older retired ones who can hardly get around. The guards look after the safety of these people who decide to go on foot instead of motoring around all of the time.
The guard I interviewed is named Sue Lavictoire. We have known her for a long period of time and know her to be a very dedicated guard with a sincere attitude toward protecting her charge. She has a very kind heart and a loving disposition towards her people. I wouldn't doubt it if some of the kids call her Mom. I know that most of her little people respect and care for her as she fights wind,rain, hot,cold and stormy weather doing her duties.
Besides doing the crossing guard job, Sue can be
found helping at Central Public School serving hot
dogs on Fridays so the proceeds from this can
go to help pay for trips and outings for the
students.


Heads up to our crossing guards and when you approach a school crossing zone with a guard on duty, do our people a favour and wait while the guard holds her/his sign up telling you to stop while our next generation proceeds across the street on their way to and from school.
See you next time.
Wilf Blakey

TIMISKAMING FURNITURE

As I mentioned in my story on the Home Show, one of the first people I met was a friend of mine, John Gagnon of Timiskaming Furniture. He invited me to come over to his store for a visit after the show was over. I told him that today was not a good day but I did make it on the following Monday and here is an account of my visit to Timiskaming Furniture of Kirkland Lake.







Here we are at the front of the furniture store on a nice sunny warm afternoon in May. John has a nice large sign above his store so people won't miss his place. He also has a large window in the front setup with a beautiful display of sofas. The next thing to do is to enter the store and see what we shall see.







Here we are inside the store at Timiskaming
Furniture onGovernment Rd W in Kirkland
Lake, John has a nice arrangement of
comfortable sofas all set up ready for a party.
The only things missing are the people, music and the refreshments.









As we look down towards the office, we see a nice
selection of chesterfields, coffee tables,side tables
and lamps. There are many different fabrics, colors and patterns to choose from.









Upstairs we go to see what is on the second floor. Oh, just what we need. That old bed we have been sleeping on for many years has been getting rather hard and lumpy, time for a new one. These look comfortable and look like a good size to fit our room.








Hmmm, I see more behind me here. These are
very fancy, just like the ones we see in some of the old time movies from years ago, especially those seen in the mansions in the Old South of "Gone with the Wind". Now I have to make up my mind as to which one I would really want. Oh, well, I have to remember that our bedroom is not really big enough for a poster bed so I had better be satisfied for one of the first group, after all they do give a good comfortable night's sleep!





Last but not least, John has a nice selection of dining room sets with table, chairs and china cabinets. Here is a nice brightly coloured set of wooden chairs, etc. I think they look excellent in almost any dining room setup. I even saw a set of table and chairs that must have been made for a very tall family as the table height seemed to be almost 8 to 10 inches higher than what I believe to be the normal height.






As we come down the stairs again we see more chesterfields, tables and lamps on display. We did stop to chat with John and his men for a few minutes but decided that time was going fast and we had better finish our tour and not be late for our supper at home.We are heading towards the back door to see what is hiding at the back.










Now I see! The white goods are sitting in a huddle, waiting for people to come and ask to take them home. There are washer, dryers, stoves, refrigerators and even a microwave oven. I believe that it has been worthwhile to come and explore around John's store and I do thank you for the invitation to come and visit. Why don't you come into Timiskaming Furniture and try out an appliance or piece of furniture for your home. I'm sure you won't be sorry!
Wilf Blakey

CJKL Merchant Mania Home Show

It's that time of the year again when people look forward to hearing of the upcoming Home Show at the Complex. The time seems to sneek up on us when we least expect it but regardless it is an enjoyable event. The sale starts about 4 PM Friday until 10 PM that evening and again on Saturday from 10 AM until 6 PM that afternoon. The admission is free and the displays are many.
This event is actually a large sale sponsored by the radio station and having many merchants displaying their wares.

The International Plowing Match is represented with a booth telling all about the event coming to our area in September. This is a gigantic happening for our area and I must say that I am looking forward to it as I have never been to one before.



There are booths showing sporting machines such as ATV, boats, and many other items in the same line. I saw at least three businesses advertising their machines- Georges Garage from Matheson, Northern Freedom from Chaput Hughes, and Team Rosko from Chaput Hughes also.







On my first tour of the place I saw a friend with his furniture display and some electronics showing a well known movie as well as a washer dryer set This friend is Mr John Gagnon from Timiskaming Furniture.









Just around the corner from John is a booth advertising the local Rod & Custom Club along with a nice older Plymouth Road Runner car set up for racing. This car is owned by Mr Derrick Pierce from Kirkland Lake.

Further up the centre aisle there is another booth with items from The Jewel Box store on Government Rd West in Kirkland Lake, these people specialize in jewelry, wallets, and many other things of adornment for the ladies and gentlemen.

Last but not least, I stopped by the booth run by Kevin Breault. His business is called Last Chance Liquidation on Government Rd West He sells end of line items. He sells hardware items that are odds and ends at reduced prices . He also sells windows and doors, fireworks for the first of July. I can see where there can be many kids as well as grown up kids enjoying the fantastic display made by the enormous varieties of fireworks that he sells from his store.

These are by no means all of the displays at the Home Show but just a smattering of the many displays and booths present. I will in the future try to cover more businesses and clubs but for this year, I will say good bye and a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of the mothers in the area.

Wilf Blakey

Northern Thunder Dragway

That time is coming again. The Team Northern Thunder racing society is getting ready to open the gates for fans to come in and enjoy the local dragraces at the Kirkland Lake Airport on Father's day weekend, June 19 to 21.
Advance tickets are available for $25 or $30 at the gate, which will let you in for the whole weekend or $20 per day. Children 6 to 12 are admitted for $10 and childred under 5 are free.
There are feature attractions at the Airport as well as food vendors.
Many participants and fans stay at the airport with their campers, which can be obtained for $20 for the whole weekend.
Come and see the cars as they go roaring off of the starting line, popping wheelies and smoking tires. Now you can get the chance to participate in these activities without the fear of the folks giving you a scolding for doing such dumb things. Hope to see you there!
Wilf Blakey