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December
2013
Vol.
25, Issue 4
November was a busy month for the
Brookfield Men's Club - several clubmen played a pivotal role in the
very fitting Remembrance Day service, organizing and/or leading most
aspects of the event that was very well attended. The BMCers were
hosted by the Brookfield Fire and Emergency Services for their
November meeting - the firefighters put on a very informative program
related to safety with regard to Christmas trees, and also for
kitchen fires. They provided a spectacular lunch with chickenburgers,
cake and a variety of beverages. Come along to the Christmas meeting
on Monday, December 16 at 7:30 PM at the fire station. Attendees are
asked to bring along a gift with a value of $10 or less, to be
exchanged. We will also finalize plans for the annual Community
Decorating Contest which the BMC sponsors; clubmen and volunteers
will travel all the lanes in the Brookfield, Brentwood, Shortt's
Lake, and Pleasant Valley areas on December 23rd - so have your
lights on then! Many homes were already decked out in late November,
adding to the village's beauty during the House Tour. Meteorology
remains an inexact science - in the late spring we were warned this
would be a season laden with hurricanes due to rising ocean
temperatures. But only one or two smallish ones materialized all
season, and one of those was at the end of November, bringing lots of
rain, and near - hurricane force winds. This was followed by a 50 mm
rainfall a week later, which flooded most everything - the snow
lovers were wishing it was white!
The community spirit which
Brookfield is known for far and wide was again on display. The Garden
Club came up with the terrific idea of selling Christmas wreaths,
along with a bracket and sign plate, and made it available at a very
reasonable cost to businesses, families, etc. More than 30 of these
now adorn utility poles in the village, and they add greatly to the
street scapes. Unit 3 of the UCW organized the 18th annual Christmas
Home Tours that had about 250 attendees! The community thanks those
who opened their homes - Deborah Matheson, the Campbell's (former Viv
Roop house) and the Brandt Street apartments, as well as the
individual apartments of Zoe Barbour, Shirley Harrison, and Linda
Freeman. Music was provided at the apartments by Shirley Graham, The
Good Time Fiddlers, Megan and Bruce Isenor. The Train Station and
Knox United Church were also decorated, and the Forest Glen
Greenhouses presented an incredible display of 100,000 poinsettias,
and a spectacular variety of Christmas trees and other decorations.
Thanks also to a number of businesses and organizations that provided
trees and many, many stockings filled with gifts for the Christmas
Index program. The Colchester Cyclones Bantam girls hockey team (and
their mothers!) were a big help, serving the food and beverages at
the Church hall. Well done to all, it really makes one proud to be a
Brookfielder!
The other piece of front page news was the
elevation of Birch Hill native Zach Sill (parents Grant and Tammy) to
the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. At this writing
Zach has played four games, and has had many of his friends and those
who avidly follow his career scrambling to find what network was
televising the games. Subsequently large gatherings would arrive at
houses that received the telecasts! It was a real thrill to see Zach
on the same ice surface with illustrious teammates like Sidney
Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, and the rest of the Penguins and their
opponents - he has worked tirelessly since he was a young lad to
realize his dream, and we could not be more delighted for him. Zach
was a standout athlete in various sports through his South Colchester
Academy days, notably softball and soccer, and he becomes the first
Brookfield Junior B Elk alumnus to crack the NHL.
With only a
couple of weeks left in the year, Ryan Ellis appears to have wrapped
up another driving championship at the Truro Raceway - Ryan really
gets the best out of the standardbreds. Donna Matheson received a
presentation from the UCW for going 42 years without missing one
meeting - she jokingly explained that she would not miss a chance to
get out of the house to get away from Gab for an evening!
Congratulation to Rod McKenney and his wife, Wanda Brown, - the
dashing doctors climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya. This is a very
daunting task; the summit is in excess of 19,000 feet and is not for
the faint of heart. Terry Canning won the 2013 Canadian
Interoperability Technology Interest Group's (CITIG) National Award
of Excellence. This award is given out annually to those who promote
inter-operable communication among public safety service providers
across the country. Terry's considerable work with national efforts
such as broadband for public safety etc. was recognized. He received
the award at CITIG's national conference in Vancouver - well done
Terry! The Lafarge Brookfield plant was the recipient of the Mobius
Award of Environmental Excellence in the large Business of the Year
category. They were recognized for diverting waste from landfills,
largely through the development of Max Chem, which uses a by-product
of steel manufacturing, that saved using 2500 tonnes of coal for
fuel, and preventing the emission of 18,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide,
a notorious "greenhouse effect" gas. They also diverted
8000 tons of used shingles from landfills by incinerating them in the
kiln as an energy substitute.
The community was saddened with
the passing of Katey (Fisher) Chisholm the daughter of the late David
and Mary Bruce Fisher, and mother to Chloe and wife to Paul. Her
passing came at the far too young age of 37 and saddened her legion
of friends. Yet another reason why we must continue to support
endeavours like the Terry Fox Run to help combat cancer. Victor
Dickie's brother Ken passed away in Truro. Former resident Mick
Boutilier passed away, as did Bill Legere, Sr. in Hilden - he had
coached South Colchester Minor Hockey teams. There were a couple of
deaths linked to the Brookfield Elks softball teams of yore - Madonna
Lively passed away in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland - she was the wife of
former gold medal Elk slugger, Dave (Bo Deadly) Lively. In Masstown,
the father of former Elks pitcher (circa mid 70's) David Fisher
passed away. Gladys Morash (husband Bill) of Shortt's Lake also
passed away. We extend condolences to those who lost loved
ones.
Once Zach Sill got the call to the NHL, several of his
local pals loaded up cars and made the trip to Montreal for the
Penguins - Canadiens game hoping Zach would be in the line up that
night - alas it was not meant to be. Some of the travellers were
happy to see the bleu-blanc-rouge defeat the Penguins - wearing wide
smiles were Patrick Stewart, Jack Roop, James Rutherford. Other
travellers who have not drunk the Habs Kool-Aid, were Troy
Sutherland, Lee Nelson, Chris Armsworthy, Mark Kennedy, and Jamie
Works. Billy VanTassell, Joan and William Hatton vacationed in
Mexico. Unfortunately South Colchester Academy multi-sport star Trent
Lynds (Clay,Shawn) broke his leg in a Midget hockey games, and Cruise
Missiles goaltender Cory Lester of Shortt's Lake fractured both his
tibia and fibula after a fall on the ice at the Colchester Legion
Stadium parking lot after one of his games. Betty Dickie broke her
foot - not playing hockey! We hope they are on their way to recovery
not too far into 2014.
New babies are always a terrific
addition, but seem even more so at Christmas time. A son was born to
Chad and Kally (Best) Schrader in Annapolis Valley, the first
grandchild for Keith and Kathy Best of Brentwood - a real thrill for
all involved. A bit more seasoned at the grandmother thing is Betty
Roop; but she was no less excited with the birth of Jeal Olmstead to
Steve and Pam of Bedford. Jeal is named after her grandfather Randy's
late sister, Jeal Roop. A baby girl, Gwen, will make for a sparkling
Christmas at the home of Kevin and Heather Peterson. Grandparents
Dave and Janice Peterson and George and Diane Creelman are over the
moon! Brooklyn Rutherford,(mother Misty, grandfather Allison
Rutherford), an outstanding athlete at SCA (softball and soccer) won
a silver medal in her age (14-15) class in a Karate competition in
Montreal. SCA announced their Athletes of the Month - in September
the seniors were soccer players Alberto Serracin and Alicia
MacMillan, while the Juniors were Luke MacMillan and Jesse Laverty,
as well as Trent Lynds for Cross Country. October honourees were
soccer players - senior male was Andrew Burgess, female Haley
Duykers, Junior male Colton Cleveland and Junior female Morgan Walsh.
The SCA senior boys volleyball team under coach Rene Despres hosted
the tier three provincial championships in early December - they
finished with a 2-2 record in 5th place. The young team had only one
senior (Dillon Ellis); others playing were Jared Schenkels, Ryan
Duykers, Jacob McNutt, Jacob Bowers, Luke Teasdale, Alexander Rhoddy,
Morgan Johnson, and Jonathan Kaye. The girls team travelled to Pointe
de l' Eglise for their provincials; where good fortune was not on
their side. Coaches Chantry Stone and Sharon Field's team included
seniors Hillie van der Schaar, Paige Hernden, Adriana Volans, Adree
Lynds, and Brittany Stevens, and underclassmen Aylssa Densmore,
Rachel Sears, Alexis Rains, Erica Robertson, Shanea Fields, Abby
Delvin, Rebecca Rankine, and Morgan Toole.
Nice to see Frank
Locke and his wife Hazel back residing in the village. Peter and
Katie Kennedy were home from Minnesota to visit parents Larry and
Lynne and Peter's siblings Mark and Jill. Andrew and Laura Heffernan
were home from USA to visit his parents Dave and Jane; Sherry Ovsenny
came to Betty Roop's from Toronto. Speaking of Mark Kennedy, we
congratulate him (and others) for stepping up to the plate and
filling vital roles in the community. At the Annual General Meeting
of the Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex, Mark was elected as the
Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2013-14. Jack Roop accepted
the role of Treasurer and Kendra Areseneau is also an Executive
member- at- large. Kathy Weatherbee is the president of the South
Colchester Minor Hockey Association - others heavily involved in
SCMHA are Kelly Spencer, Angela Reid, Amanda Cornelius, Jeff
Sullivan, and Jennifer Fisher. Diane Fraser of Middle Stewiacke is
the President of the Brookfield Curling Club. Just like at the Men's
Club, there is a resurgence of young people volunteering their time
to improve their/our community; it is great to see!
The Eagle
is very grateful to Don Rutherford of Riverview, NB for passing along
financial support to the Ole Bird; also contributing to the nest were
Freda Cochrane, now living in Advocate, Cumberland County, and the
sprightly Scot, Mary Fisher! Your kindness is much appreciated! The
Ponds Nursing Home had an amazing Christmas Open House; there was a
large crowd with Santa Claus, and many former Brookfielders in
attendance, including Kenny (Rock) Messervey, "Big" Dan
MacDonald, Aaron and Adam MacDonald. There was lots of food and music
by Katherin Roper, whose mother was a Brentwood Brenton. Ponds'
resident Grace Campbell marked her 97th birthday!
All
Around the Circle Seniors Group will have their Christmas dinner on
Tuesday, December 10 at 12 noon at the Sportsplex. You must reserve
your seats/meal ahead of time the cost is only $8, and there will be
a gift exchange so please bring along an appropriate item. The
following evening, Wednesday December 11, at 7 PM the All Around the
Circle group will host their final card party of 2013 featuring
cribbage or 45's - come along, admission is only $2 and there will be
a 50/50 draw as well. Some will be
conflicted on the 11th as the Brookfield
Elementary
school will present their
Christmas Concert -
there are afternoon and evening performances, which typically play to
packed houses - get there early! The
South Colchester Academy Christmas Cabaret Concert goes Thursday
December 12 at 7 PM at the SCA auditorium. Tea, coffee, and desserts
will be served. Admission is $3 for students and Seniors, $5 for
adults. This is a major fundraiser for the SCA Music Department.
On Sunday December 22, the Food for the
Spirit
Concert will be held at Knox United Church. Come along and bring a
freewill donation of food or money for the Colchester Food Bank;
guaranteed you will be highly entertained, judging from past
concerts.
Why not come and join us at the BMC on
Monday December
17 at 7:30 PM
- it's always fun, but even more so at our Christmas
Party. From the BMC, the
Eagle
wishes all its readers, near and far, a very Merry Christmas,
wonderful holiday season and a happy 2014! Still
looking
for a typist to help insure the Eagle gets published - call
673-2769 if interested!
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