Mark Your Calendars for Civic Holiday BBQ
Submitted by Brad Inglis
Thank you so much if you were able to order a chicken dinner from our barbecue last week. We sold out thanks to all of the local support, just over 400 chicken halves and we have lived to tell the tale.
Just a heads up – we will be hosting our traditional Civic Holiday weekend barbecue on Saturday July 31st. It will be takeout again, from the church and I say heads up because you will have hardly licked your fingers clean and Vi Adams will be on the phone taking your orders for the next one. We appreciate everyone’s efforts buying dinners, delivering meals, donating meals, making desserts and all the behind the scenes work to make it successful.
…and now we wait. We will take things one step at a time as the Province rolls out our re-opening protocol in what I believe is a pretty sensible way of getting us opened up for good. Many of you will have seen this but I offer it up as a pretty comprehensive link to understanding how and when things will open up in Ontario https://www.ontario.ca/page/reopening-ontario. Between each step there is 21 days to evaluate how things are going, see if case numbers rise. This means we won’t be back in church as quickly as we hoped, but the precautions will be well worth it in the end.
The Thrift Shop is considered a non-essential retail outlet, so it will have a soft opening as well, but we will keep you posted for when you can start dropping off your gently used items, including clothing. We are still looking for additional volunteers to help on the sales days – three hours a week is all it takes and you are guaranteed to have fun. Just contact Steve Lindsay for more information (519) 851-3411 or tobermorydreamin@gmail.com.
As much as we know folks love our little “Walmart of the north” (the Thrift Shop), we also appreciate how important it is to shop and eat local. Our businesses work hard to bring in unique items that aren’t just touristy, but make for great gifts and fashions. And guess what? As the shops open and while living locally, we get first dibs on the fresh stock as it arrives and before it starts to get busy! Hit up the local eateries before the line ups, fill up on ice cream and chocolate, get the latest fashions before they are picked over, start your Christmas shopping now! And don’t forget to look down the road to Lion’s Head at the Dandy Lion all of the unique shopping opportunities there, that make for a great day trip.
Our local economy is nonexistent without the businesses on the peninsula who employ our folks and welcome the tourists who come to visit this sacred place we call home. It takes all of us working together, sometimes grinning and bearing it, remembering the rules we learned in the sandbox as children – we have to share. Most of the year we get this place to ourselves. Out of the thousands of visitors who come, there is only the odd one that pees in the parking lot at the harbour.
The season is here so that we can afford the luxury of living here – let’s make the most of it!
Brad Inglis is the minister at Tobermory United Church. He can be reached at binglis2@me.com
www.tobermoryunited.ca
519-596-2821 (Home)
519-824-0268 (Cell)
