Eagle newsletter2019

May 2019
Volume 30, Issue 9

Ladies Night and Easter have come and gone, and Brookfielders have basked in temperatures nearing 20, so it appears safe to say spring has arrived at long last! The whir of lawnmowers and rototillers never sounded so good, after a lengthy winter, and recalcitrant first half of spring. The Brookfield Men s Club (BMC) hosted slightly over 100 guests at their annual April extravaganza (although many expected/notables were absent - did you forget?!). Head chef Peter Matheson and crew whipped up a piping hot, roast beef dinner with all the trimmings, followed by a delicious apple crisp la mode. Once their palates were sated, the honoured guests had their humerus bones tickled by the BMC's deep-dive investigation (too deep?!) into the legalization of marijuana; the blossoms of the hemp plant seemed to have a "heady" effect on the group?!! John Matheson awarded numerous, lucrative Door Prizes in his inimitable fashion; and the Red Tide Choral Group, backed by real musicians Robert Putnam and Kyle Henderson, had the girls singing along with several Hank Williams hits, as well as the ganja- inspired 'Don't Worry, Be Happy'. BMC President Jim Feener presented Terry Henderson with a certificate and gift, as he retired his archaic Smith-Corona typewriter after 42 years as Club Secretary. The evening concluded with the presentation, by Bob Lawrence, of the BMC Eagle Award, arguably the community's highest citation. The 2019 winner is Austin Ross, recognized for his tireless volunteer efforts for numerous causes, including but not limited to, Coming Home to Brookfield committee, All Around the Circle Senior's Club, BMC Creelman Park, cemetery, BBQ, and other sub-committees, the Good Time Fiddlers, and Knox United Church. MLA Larry Harrison subbed in for Councillor Geoff Stewart, and presented both Henderson and Ross with certificates of recognition from the Municipality. All in all, a fun-filled, and meaningful night - be sure to save 20/4/20 (easy-to-remember - twenty four twenty!) for next year s gala!

Many locals were discombobulated with the local Tim Horton s closed for a week for renovations; apart from missing their java jolt, some were left lacking info on newsworthy topics so the Eagle will try to fill in! As there were some other notices that seemingly escaped the greater community's attention from the April edition, we will move them from the back page. The BMC will sponsor and coordinate the 9^th Fish-a-Rama at the Wetlands Trail ponds the morning of Saturday May 25. There are awesome prizes for the youthful anglers; adults will pay a small fee, and must have a valid fishing license. Hope to see a big turn-out; PLEASE no early lines in the water! The Women That Hunt have a Hunter Education course and Non-Restricted Firearms course coming up June 1^st and 2^nd. Register through safetyservicesns.ca Location: Brookfield Elementary. Speaking of the Wetlands Trail, the pathways have been inundated with birders and shutterbugs, as a very rare (to these parts) glossy ibis most often seen far south of here has taken up (temporary?) residence here. Cameras with telephoto lenses as long as badminton racquets abound! Reserve Saturday, June 8 for the Doc McCoy "Murder at the Resort" Dinner Theatre presentation featuring local talent. A fun night of intrigue and delicious dining; Knox Hall doors open at 6:30. Call Kaye Retson [@] 673-2356 to reserve/procure tickets ($30), limited advance sale only. South Colchester Academy will wind up the academic year with the Graduation ceremony on June 26; other events include Athletic Award Night (6/6), Junior (7/6) and Senior (14/6) Proms, and Student Recognition Night (24/6). The Brookfield Athletic Association (BAA) will host their 30th Annual Elks Golf Scramble the morning of Saturday July 6 - golfers of all levels are welcomed! Please call the BGC (673-3352) to register by July 3. Speaking of the BAA, come July, be on the lookout for their 83rd Annual Sports Draw tickets, featuring a beefed-up, much-expanded prize list, in both the draw and hunt portions. Nominations for The Randy Roop Memorial Award should be sent before June 22 to mdhenderson[@]eastlink.ca. The 24th annual Coming Home to Brookfield celebrations will run from July 20-28, theme this year is Brookfield Roots". Watch for a brochure in early July detailing all the activities. The Whing Ding goes July 26-27. Dominion/Canada Day celebrations will be held at Ed Creelman Park/Train Station on Monday July 1, starting at 12 noon - don't miss it! The Brookfield Railway Station and Heritage Society will be hiring a summer student for eight weeks starting July 1st. Students are invited to apply by sending a resume to lisamhenderson[@]hotmail.com. The group responsible for the care and maintenance of the lovely Lower Pleasant Valley Cemetery will be holding a fund-raising Yard Sale at 348 Queen St. on June 22 (8AM- 4 PM) and June 23 (10 AM - 4 PM). All public support, as contributors or as buyers, is welcomed - if you have items you can donate please drop off no later than June 15 at the Queen St. address, to Robert Matheson (Elm St.) or to Orland Kennedy (Hwy 289) in Pleasant Valley. A correction to April edition - an error at source had us list the wrong team as B Division playoff winners in the Ladies Hockey League - the Ice Hogs featuring Sarah Rutherford, Marissa Roode, Bev and Alison Read prevailed 1-0 in the title game.

A big thank you to the far-too-few who showed up for the Community Clean-Up Day. Brookfield Community Assembly Chair Rod Nielsen led a half dozen BMC members, some of the 569 Col. G. N. Henderson Air Cadets, and a few other residents into the ditches on a morning cooled by a Scotch mist. The Adopt -a -Highway program sees the BMC care for Carter and Whidden Roads, the BCA does Hwy 289, and the Cadets do Trunk 2 north from "the corner". Special thanks to teachers and students at SCA who did a good job in front of both school properties, and the McMullin-Kierstead combo, who cleaned Whidden and lower end of Kennedy Road. Hopefully next year's beautification efforts will garner much more community support; if person-power is minimal, the unhappy alternative will be some areas left undone. Perhaps it is realistic/reasonable to expect each resident to be responsible for their own frontage? Here's hoping there is a special place in purgatory for the thoughtless dolts who see no problem with large volume garbage dumping on our byways!

    Congratulations to the Brookfield Fire and Emergency Services (BFES), who were recipient of Colchester County's Community Service Award - well done! At the BFES Annual Banquet recently, Brent Fisher was awarded Officer of the Year; Brian Kenrick, Firefighter of the Year; Bryson Kolstee, Junior Firefighter of the Year; and Jimmie White, Most Improved Firefighter. One of our dedicated firefighters, Amanda Myers known to many as an always-smiling employee at the Brookfield Day Care at the Sportsplex gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Jade. Proud papa is Sheldon Muise; they live in Pleasant Valley. Pam Sutherland, an amazing artist with her creations on a scroll saw, had her piece (in collaboration with Rob MacCormack), entitled Come Together, chosen as winner of this year's annual Truro Art Acquisition Show. The piece will hang in Town Hall. Lafarge paid tribute to David Stevenson, who has now worked 40 years at the cement plant well deserved acknowledgment for Spud !    Unit 7 of Knox United Church Women recently celebrated their 50^th Anniversary. Present UCW members of the Brookfield Pastoral Charge, and former members of Unit 7, including Jean Cameron and daughter Heather from, P.E.I. enjoyed an afternoon tea. Many memories and friendships were shared.Cruise Missile James Ricky Rutherford fled his adopted Brookfield home to marry Erin Crowell of East Mountain.
    The Women That Hunt hosted another wildly popular and successful Youth Expo at the Sportsplex; despite absolutely horrible weather, there were over 2000 attendees participating and taking in the amazing displays. Families and Special Guests attended from as far as Alberta and PEI. The 2020 date is taking a jump into May; hopefully it will yield better weather! The Colchester Cyclones won the Atom provincial Girls hockey title - big scorer was Brooklyn Bagnell-Lauther - her Mum, Charlene is a former resident of Upper Brookfield Road. Myla Searle (Mike, Jenna) and Kathleen Henderson (Stephen, Tracey) also are wearing gold! Their team was named the Ron Alfie Conrad Hockey Nova Scotia Female Team of the Year; the late Conrad is remembered as a playing-coach for the strong Elks teams circa 1960. Shortts Lake resident Ron Meech was named Business Person of the Year by the local Chamber of Commerce; Meech Holdings is a leader in the area in real estate re-development. Jill Alcoe-Holland, was inducted into the Nova Scotia Curling Hall of Fame; she and former Elk standout husband Doug live in Coldbrook. All that practice in the driveway on Elm Street has paid off; Landan Ryan (Merna) made the NS Bantam Lacrosse team, and will attend Nationals in British Columbia. Isaac Matheson (Nick, Lori) made the Nova Scotia U-15 Basketball team and will play at Nationals in Fredericton in August. Midlife Crisis (Ryan Weatherbee, Rob Hatfield, Leah MacDonald, Chantry Stone, Sinclair and Leona Verboom) won the Brookfield Mixed Volleyball title in a tightly contested five set match over Last Second. Talia Vydykhan, (Pam,Oleg) granddaughter of Gord and Myrna Matheson, was on the Halifax Tigers team that won the NS U-18 volleyball title, and will attend Nationals in Toronto. Talia's older sister Katya, whose playing career was shortened by injury, will officiate at the U16 Nationals in Regina; where Coach Caila Henderson will lead her provincial winning Bedford Blizzard team. SCA Junior High VB star Mia Maloney was part of the U15 winning team. Gully and Myrna will take in both Nationals, then travel down the prairie to Salina, Kansas, where his sister Wilma Avila now resides with her son Chris and his wife Mary. Katya has won a hefty scholarship to Dalhousie for their Women in Information Technology program. Mount Allison University was the post-secondary institution of choice for Anna Hamilton (Mark, Joanne) and Kennedy Wry (Dana) - the latter was awarded the $48,000 Hill scholarship, while Anna copped the prestigious Sharpe Scholarship. Marika Schenkels (Frank, Luanne of Shortts Lake), yet another former SCA student, has spent her final two years in the IB program at Pearson College in Victoria, BC...she will head to the storied University of St. Andrews in Scotland with the McEuen Scholarship in her backpack, to begin an Honours B.Sc program. The South Colchester Minor Hockey Association (SCMHA) presented the 2018-19 Jonathan Kierstead Memorial Award to: Lucas Gilby and Riley Stewart, Novice Development; Paige Harrison, Novice Intermediate; James Easton, Atom White; Brayden Green, Atom Black; David Perrin, Atom A; James Newman, PeeWee; Cameron Euloth, Bantam; and William NcNea, Midget. Earlier in the year, members of the Hubtown Arm Assassins gave the BMC-ers an enlightening demonstration on arm-wrestling. Several of the club s members enjoyed success at the Nova Scotia championship in Sydney. In the Junior division medalists included Kylie, Autumn and Hunter Elliott. Adults medaling included Glen Moore Jr. (1st in Right Hand Men s Pro 176) and Mareshah Elliott (3^rd in both Left and Right Hand Lightweight).
    569 Col G.N. Henderson Squadron celebrated their 66th Annual Ceremonial Review this past weekend with LCol Bernie Thorne CO of 415 Squadron in Greenwood as the Reviewing Officer. There were 16 cadets on parade and many of them received awards. To highlight a few, WO1 Alex Zhou received the Lord Strathcona Medal as well at the Col G.N. Henderson Award as most outstanding member. Sgt Alyssa Rice received the Spirit of 569 Award recognizing her positive attitude and her moral-building. Sgt Michael Zhou received the Most Improved Cadet Award and Sgt Nikolis Hamilton received the FSgt Jason MacDougall Staff Choice Award. We would like to also recognize WO1 Zhou, WO2 Makayla Tanner, Sgt Nikolis Hamilton and FSgt Denver Nicol on their achievement of graduating from the cadet program this year. Activities still to come are Gliding Familiarization Flights in May and a Field Training Exercise in June. With this closing of the busy training year, cadets are off to summer training, looking forward to seeing everyone for a new training year on Tuesday September 10th. The BMC has sponsored the Squadron continuously since 1953!!

    Helen Densmore s brother Fred Weir died, as did Roger Bezanson, father to Shelina and Trista Hamilton of Middle Stewiacke and Layton Burris of Hilden, formerly of Pleasant Valley. Nancy Taylor, mother to former Densmore Drive resident Robin, and grandmother to Jr Elks hockey star, Josh Taylor, died in Truro Heights. Bev Read's brother, Barry MacDonald, died in PEI, and Al Hollis, Rick's dad, passed away in Onslow. Sympathies also are extended to Clubman Bob Lawrence on the passing of his brother, Bill, in his home community of Upper Falmouth.
    Phyllis Sutherland was delighted to see several family members home to mark her 95th birthday - grandson Tim Woolaver and his kids Tyler and Kaleb came from the Cayman Islands; Tim's mum, Bev (and hubby Earle) were down from Petrolia, Ontario, and Phyllis' other daughter Myrna, and her daughter Tracey Thomas came from Metro. Pam Lanthier came from soggy Ottawa to visit her mother, Helene Henderson. Ivy (Graham) Haasen came from Northern Ontario to visit her Mum, Edna, and take part in the legendary Easter Egg Hunt, in its' 20th iteration, hosted by John, Lynn, and Debbie Matheson - this year saw 102 attendees. Thanks to Robert "Ibbett" Henderson who sent some bird seed to the Eagle from Winnipeg.
    Amy (Fleming) MacKenzie, daughter of Christine and the late Blair, has been hospitalized with serious kidney problems. Amy and their young family live in Birch Hill; any help that can be provided with transportation, etc., is appreciated.
    Julie Mackenzie, Sherri Crowell, Patty Densmore and Jacquie Toole sunned in Cancun. Paul and Karla Rodd, and Kristin Stewart went to the Dominican Republic, and Joan Hatton went to the pastel paradise that is Bermuda. Joel and Kim Dawe were in Cuba, as were Al and Lorraine Carter; Dawn Carter-Henderson travelled to Alberta. Kelly Spencer attended a conference in Tampa; Jodi and Jewel Woolfitt went to Disney World. Jonathan and Jodi Woolfitt journeyed to Nebraska to take in the Oracle of Omaha s annual speech to his devoted flock they also took in a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Dave Whidden spent some grandparenting time in Newfoundland. Twenty-two Grade 12 students from SCA travelled to London, Paris and Normandy, this being the 75^th Anniversary of the Allied invasion, Operation Overload (D-Day). They toured many historical sites, and witnessed history in the making, seeing the conflagration of the Notre Dame cathedral.

The softball season has begun SCA has four teams playing out of the Home of the Elks, the U-19 Colchester Royals and Brookfield Intermediate Elks will play games there every Thursday night after Victoria Day. The Senior girls team held off Coach Rachel DeVries hard-charging Tigers of Hants East to win the Wolves Invitational final score 9-8! The Stanley Cup playoffs are down to the final four dare we hope for a Blues Hurricanes final?! Would be a wonderful flipping-off of Dinosaur Don Cherry!

The welcome mat is out; please stop in to the May 20 meeting of the BMC - the last one till September - we would love to see you! The program will be The Odd Olympics , with teams competing in BMC-modified sports like basketball, curling, hockey, etc. 7:30 PM at the Fire Station.

The Eagle