Monday, 15 June 2015

Tillsonburg Turtlefest is about family activities and turtles

Another great event in Oxford County -- June 19-21
Environment / ecosystem connection to creating awareness for turtles' habitat too
By Mark Schadenberg
An early rock band called The Turtles, had a big hit with Happy Together – in Tillsonburg turtles are matched together with family fun for three days at an annual festival.
'Come Out Of Your Shell' is their slogan.
The fifth annual Tillsonburg Turtlefest is June 19-21 this year in the community at the south end of Oxford County.
SATURDAY
Saturday is obviously the busy day for families – turtle art, music, family fun, cupcakes shaped like turtles, turtle story-telling time, and of course real turtles.
The Saturday fun starts with a Lions Club pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. at the community centre. As a Lions Club member (in Woodstock) and someone who enjoys maple syrup, I must give a plug to the breakfast.
Turtlefest additional highlights include many children's activities at Annandale House National Historic Site museum on Tillson Avenue. Storytime will include author Jan Everett's 'Never Give Up', which is based on the true story of a boy assisting turtles to cross a busy road near Long Point, so the tale is also about the environment and encroachment on the turtle's habitat.


Sculptor Nick Blandin will also be working on a large sand-castle-like art work of the Turtlefest logo at the museum.
The Memorial Park and fairgrounds of Tillsonburg will also be hosting many events, including a touring reptile show, Dotsy The Clown, a magician, climbing wall, hot air balloon rides, and a display of Mighty Machines (Heavy equipment display for children to see close up). Admission is $5, but look at Facebook: Tillsonburg Turtlefest for more details or their website. 

Musical entertainment includes BorNaked, which is a Tillsonburg-area classic rock cover band, reviving the music of ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, BTO, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and others. I wonder if they do any Turtles (See: Happy Together)? BorNaked will own the stage at 7 p.m. Looking for more details on this 5-member band, just type 'BorNaked' into Facebook. By the way, and to clarify, I too was born naked and enjoy classic rock, but I won't be performing.
At 10 p.m., there will be a family movie under the stars at Memorial Park.
Lake Lisgar is another must-see Turtlefest destination as boat races will be held from 10 a.m. - Noon.
The Tillsonburg memorial arena at the community centre will have its doors open from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. for roller skating. If you don't own roller skates, they can be rented for $3.

FRIDAY
The weekend kicks off with a variation of soccer (pun intended) as the Downtown Block Party (Broadway will be closed downtown) includes a Human Foosball tournament starting at 6 p.m. There is a $10 fee to participate in this wacky game where people create the foosball table, but proceeds will go to Helping Hand Food Bank, so it's also a great fundraiser.
A classic car show, a fire-eating busker, many downtown merchant promotions, juggling and many more attractions will be on Broadway.
Drew Leith and the Foundation will be on stage around 8:30 on Friday and their jam will be the jam in the sandwich which includes Larry Berrio at 9:30 and Chadley Chase at 7:30.
Berrio is a country rocker based in Sudbury. Get It Right The First Time is his current single and Tillsonburg country radio station 107.3 FM is presenting the show. Berrio has been the opening act for Brooks & Dunn, Terri Clark, Tim McGraw and others. Drew Leith, meanwhile, is billed as a Canadian country-folk band.
It can be said, not all Turtlefest events are free, so check the website.

WEEKEND
Turtlefest also includes a baking contest (cupcakes shaped like turtles), souvenir t-shirt sales, an acrobatic dog show, dance troupe performances by local schools, a pre-teen dance, and Tillsonburg Glendale high school students performing as Zack And The Moonshine Bandits.
There is an environmental angle to recognizing the importance of turtles in our ecosystem, but overall Tillsonburg Turtlefest is really just an excuse to have a great time at a 3-day community festival.
Be sure to check out the website to see more details on the various venues and times, because as they always say at events like this 'times and features are subject to change'.
So, 'Come Out Of Your Shell' and visit Tillsonburg – June 19-21

LINKS:
http://www.easy101.com/community-events/events.html
www.drewleith.com


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