April 6 and May 5 are Captain's Meetings for Relay For Life

Fanshawe College campus on Finkle Street is the venue
Fundraising, recruiting and learning about the Canadian Cancer Society's goals for 2016 are part of   the itinerary

Relay For Life in Woodstock is June 10, but along the way there is a great volume of information participators can acquire by attending the two Captain’s Meetings.

It is suggested that your team captain attends, but all registrants for the Canadian Cancer Society fundraiser at CASS high school are may attend as discussion will take place about fundraising ideas, social media and where the important dollars raised are directed.

The Captain’s Meetings are Wednesday, April 6 and Thursday, May 5 – both at 7 p.m. and both at Fanshawe College on Finkle Street.

“There’s always a lot of new information about Relay – great information to share with your team,” says Sandy Smith, who is co-chair along with Deb Moss this year.

“Our committee will present fundraising ideas, but we also would like to see the teams attending the meeting to share some of their ideas also,” Smith added.

Liz Wismer-VanMeer from the community office of the CCS at 65 Springbank Ave North, says there are several ways Relay participants can promote their team fundraising efforts.

“Let us know about your events such as lawn sales and bake sales,” says Wismer-VanMeer, who added that the CCS office has plastic signs that can be borrowed for benefit garage sales and teams are encouraged to stop by the office for Relay posters or brochures as well. 

One of the agenda items is to assist teams create their own page on www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock, which in-turn encourages people to pledge a particular team online.

All registrants who are on Facebook are invited to join the ‘Group’ “Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life In Woodstock”. Lots of background info is also available through Facebook, along with the website blog: www.woodstockrelay.blogspot.com.

If you’re on Facebook, invite your ‘Friends’ to also join the ‘Group’.

If you’re on Twitter be sure to follow both @ccsoxfordcounty and @rflwoodstock, and when you submit items to social media consider adding one of the following hashtags: #WhyIRelay, #AcceptTheBaton or #ReadySetRelay.

RFL commitee members: Mark Schadenberg, Sandy Smith & Deb Moss

(Photo: Woodstock Sentinel-Review)

BUSY AGENDA

Between registering and supplying dinner for all registrants and volunteers, the Relay committee is also busy organizing an opening ceremony and the survivors’ lap, the logistics of ordering and setting up tents, booking live music, creating a list of theme laps, and creating the always-fun kids’ area.

Leading up to Relay, teams are encouraged to book a time for Bank Night (Tuesday, June 7), reserve a camp site area on the inside of the track, purchase luminaries, and invite friends, neighbours, co-workers and other pals to join their Relay team.

By the way, the committee always needs more volunteers in various capacities. Contact the CCS office today at 519 537-5592  

  

LINKS:

www.relayforlife.ca/cancer

www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock

www.relayforlifeontario.ca

www.cancer.ca

https://www.facebook.com/RelayForLifeCanada

Canadian Cancer Society

17^th Annual               Relay For Life

College Avenue Secondary School – Woodstock

Friday, June 10, 7 p.m. – 1 a.m.

www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock

www.relayforlifeontario.ca

www.woodstockrelay.blogspot.com

Facebook ‘Group’: Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life in Woodstock

Facebook ‘Event’: Relay For Life in Woodstock

Twitter Hashtags: #WhyIRelay #AcceptTheBaton or #ReadySetRelay

CCS Oxford Community Office: 65 Springbank Ave North

(519) 537-5592

Email: lwismer-vanmeer@ontario.cancer.ca

Tillsonburg Relay is Friday, June 3 at Annandale school

Ingersoll Relay is Friday, June 24 at IDCI

Sports Wall Of Fame in Woodstock seeks additional nominations

Sports wall at community complex to soon include inter-active screen of pictures and bio material

Nominations are due by July 1 for induction ceremony planned for October

By Mark Schadenberg

I have invested time and energy into the Woodstock Sports Wall of Fame since its inception in 1996 – 20 years ago -- when Stub Harper was inducted at the community complex (WDCC) grand opening.

I was sports editor of the Woodstock Sentinel-Review then and was invited to sit on the recreation advisory committee (WRAC) ad-hoc committee for the wall of fame because of my local knowledge on sports history.

However, keep in mind that John Payne of Rogers TV and I also did a documentary on the building of the WDCC. I’m not sure where that footage is today, but we interviewed David Creery, who was the assistant city engineer back then and is now CAO, along with members of Ball Brothers construction, the complex’s building committee and many user groups.

My vested interest continues today as chair of the volunteer WRAC.

Woodstock's baseball great -- Tip O'Neill

Be sure to hold on to the April edition of What’s On Woodstock magazine (Inserted in this week’s Oxford Shopping News) as appearing is a story in the publication about the improvements underway / planned for the sports wall, including an inter-active screen which will permit the addition of significant biographical material and photos of the inductees, and an ability to quickly reference such material either by sport or alphabetically. My blog entry from back in December is noted below.

I must say, the most important facet of this re-introduction of the sports wall, is a formal invitation to the general public to flood City Hall with nominations of individuals and teams NOT already on the sports wall. In other words, we don’t require formal nominations for Brian Paton, Catherine Bond-Mills or the late Bill Gillespie who already are recognized, but rather the dozens of people from over the years who created the vibrant Woodstock sports scene in some way and deserve to be honoured – athletes and builders of sport, and at this point historical accomplishments that may have been missed in the sports wall initial 20 years of existence.

There is a ‘form’ to be filled out and you can nominate someone as a surprise to them but the committee must know that there is a photo (Or two or three or four) available for that team or person. Contact me for more details, but the form is attached here.

All nominations will stay on file for three years.

In July, the WRAC will go over all the new and saved nominations to decide who will be enshrined this coming October.

Also, if you’re someone who has been inducted or related to someone or a team, here’s also your opportunity to allow the City Of Woodstock to borrow your scrapbooks and newspaper clippings to add additional bio material to each honouree. Please check the boxes and photo albums you may have as with today’s technology it’s easy to scan a document and return it quickly to its owner.

As a member of WRAC I have spend dozens of hours at the microfilm at the library researching facts and figures on nominees as I have also been master of ceremonies at the induction ceremonies. Therefore, it’s interesting to note that someone did win an Ontario championship, but what were the circumstances at the time and what are some interesting sidebar stories.

Scratch your forehead if you have read this and create a nomination for someone who belongs on the sports wall of fame and deserves to be part of this new exciting inter-active screen of sports information and history planned for the WDCC (Southwood Arenas) foyer.

The seven (7) categories are: male athlete, female athlete, teams, builder of sport, historic (Before 1970), lifetime achievement (You can nominate in this category somebody who has already been honoured) and special recognition. 

WOW
The What’s On Woodstock magazine for April is a keeper for other reasons as the content includes promotional ads and stories for summer camps for kids, along with a terrific update on trails around the city including details on volunteers sought for a planned tree planting day (Saturday, April 30, 8 a.m. – noon at the Tecumseh Street entrance to Burgess Park).

WOW also features info on:

K2K Productions staging of Cinderella and Wizard Of Oz. My daughter – by the way – has been busy with rehearsals for Cinderella.

Bulk Item pickup days.

Profile on Goff Hall at the WDCC and how you can rent the facility for your event.

Southside Aquatic Centre employees busy at a life-saving skills competition.

Overview of current and future exhibits at the Woodstock Museum.

Public library update, which includes promotion for the next Big Big Book Sale on May 14, plus tons of information on kids’ programs and reading clubs. Did you know the library has classes for Minecraft for children as young as 6?

Woodstock Art Gallery programs include seminars, such as Joe Lima on April 13, and classes for the want-to-be painter in your household.

This weekend (April 2) is the Woodstock Skating Club carnival with local national novice ice dance champs Grayson Lochhead and Olivia Han featured.

Message from city council is penned by Connie Lauder and covers topics such as taxation and property assessment (Lauder is a retired tax collector for City Hall), plus an update on SouthGate Centre.  

And, of course, a look at Woodstock’s past through the COW Tales feature, which this month highlights the corner of Dundas and Burtch where KFC is located. What was in that exact geographical spot 80 years ago?

  

LINKS:

http://markroyallepage.blogspot.ca/2015/12/woodstock-sports-wall-to-be-re.html

http://markroyallepage.blogspot.ca/2015/12/brantford-sports-hall-of-recognition-is.html

www.cityofwoodstock.ca

www.southgatectr.com

www.mywpl.ca

www.woodstockartgallery.ca

www.woodstockgymclub.com

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.royallepagetriland.com

The 18-34 age bracket knows the importance of home ownership

Angus Reid poll commissioned by CIBC says 82% of Millennials want to buy a house someday

Good credit score and accumulating savings are certainly noted as very important

Posted by Mark Schadenberg

As a Realtor, I know the importance of home ownership in all demographics.

Home ownership is an integral part of life, just like parenthood and career success.

The younger adults of today continue to aspire to own their own house – own real estate. Having a reasonable mortgage is part of adulthood and it doesn’t matter if you are living in a detached home, condo apartment, a hobby farm on five acres, or a townhouse, as it’s all about ownership, building equity and watching your investment grow.

The CIBC bank recently conducted a survey among many socio-economic groups and asked questions to various age brackets, including millennials (18-34), and 82% in this young demographic commented that they would want to be home owners some day even though many are currently either renting or still living with their parents.

"In fact, our poll suggests that millennials place as much importance on being a home owner as Canadians in other age groups," the CIBC’s Barry Gollom said.

"Home ownership is an important milestone to many, and that hasn't changed even though it has become increasingly difficult to get into the market."

Gollom is the lending institution’s vice president of mortgages and he was commenting on the survey tabulated by pollster Angus Reid.

Read the link below from Canadian Press, but truly no matter what market you like in – affordable Woodstock or almost unattainable markets such as Toronto or Vancouver, home ownership is certainly one of the pillars of life.

 Barry Gollom

LINKS:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/millennials-home-ownership-canada-1.3507247

https://www.cibc.com/ca/mortgages/buying-your-first-home.html

https://research.tdwaterhouse.ca/research/public/Markets/NewsArticle/100-085c3333-1

http://notable.ca/mortgage-this-we-sat-down-with-hgtvs-scott-mcgillivray-cibc-to-talk-home-buying/

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.royallepagetriland.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

Provincial laws hamper expansion of hamlets, but that's a good thing

Community of St Clements unable to grow
Several Oxford villages are also in a 'no-growth' pattern

By Mark Schadenberg

Some communities could blame the Koebel brothers (Stan and Frank) and the Walkerton Water Inquiry, while others will point out that it just makes good sense.

Without municipal services such as a water supply (metered or not), sewers, a waste-water system, and citizens willing and ready to pay for all three, many residential areas will not be permitted to grow in Ontario.

In the Kitchener and Waterloo area, villages such as Baden and New Hamburg are growing quickly like ‘bedroom’ suburbs, while a small hamlet like St Clements can not expand due to a lack of services, plus also the province’s obvious desire to preserve farmland in 2005 legislation known as the Places To Grow Act. We must also recall the presence of the Provincial Policy Statement on expansion of communities which preaches about ‘intensification’ of municipal centres or building up instead of building out.

In Oxford we have the same scenario as Innerkip, Embro, Thamesford and Mt. Elgin have permission to expand their horizons somewhat with new subdivisions, while Sweaburg, Salford, Curries and Burgessville are defined boundaries not likely to be modified any time soon.   

Read the story published in the Waterloo Region Record about the St Clements situation.

I have always believed that within reason farm land with excellent yields as agricultural property should continue in this highest-and-best use, but once an ‘official plan’ for a county changes its zoning and assimilates the property inside the community than the rules do change. The expansion of boundaries should only be advanced when necessary, in my opinion. Best example on the border of Woodstock in the past five years is the developer who thought he could create residential lots in East-Zorra Tavistock township on the north side of County Road 17 (Tollgate Road) – essentially across from the Woodstock Meadows golf course. It was always my quiet hope that no one had actually made a down payment on a chunk of dirt there as they would be deemed a victim of fraud as Woodstock still has more than 200 residential lots on the north shore of Pittock and I wouldn’t guess that Woodstock will not expand its boundaries in that specific area any time before 2025. If and only if there is an expansion, - in my honest and educated opinion – it would be (could be) for a school for the neighbourhoods (Sally Creek, Alder Grange, Havelock Corners, Pittock Park Road etc) on the south side of Tollgate along with commercial uses such as a grocery store for those folks.

Back to St Clements, in the Record story it’s noted by village mayor Joe Nowak that there is a frustration as many older residents re-locate out of St Clements to move closer to amenities in Waterloo as they age. Also, St Clements has difficulty attracting young families.

Ontario Law

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

From the Waterloo Region Record:

According to Statistics Canada, nearly a third of the community's population packed up and left between 2006 and 2011.

The population dropped from about 1,792 to 1,261.

During the same period, the number of residents in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo census metropolitan area and Ontario's population increased about six per cent each. . . .

While the village has a church, school (St. Clement Catholic Elementary School), regional library, ball diamonds, an arena and other amenities, it is missing one key service: a grocery store.

The Foodland grocery store closed in 2014, taking the LCBO with it.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Ken Seiling

Regional chair Ken Seiling (similar to our Oxford warden position currently held by David Mayberry, mayor of South-West Oxford township) had a good quote in the story, saying:

"The expense of dealing with some of these villages and hamlets and allowing them to expand without proper services and sewer systems is both expensive and problematic," regional chair Ken Seiling says. "That's one of the major reasons why growth is constrained."

Returning to Oxford, it’s easy to see that the cost of living in the GTA has made homes more valuable in Guelph and the tri-cities of K-W and Cambridge. In turn, residents of that area are now considering their options and Woodstock is often their destination. The large new subdivision in Innerkip would be more attractive if that community had more amenities such as a grocery store.

LINKS:
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/6387810-lack-of-growth-is-putting-the-squeeze-on-st-clements-north-of-waterloo/

https://www.placestogrow.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=9

www.oxfordcounty.ca

http://www.oxfordcounty.ca/portals/15/Documents/News%20Room/2696_0_Jul_09_2014_Agenda_version01.pdf

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/stan-koebel-gets-1-year-in-jail-frank-9-months-house-arrest-1.485905

 Woodstock - Havelock Corners subdivision

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Full-Time Realtor -- Woodstock & all of Oxford County

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

Do the Maple Leafs want to escape NHL basement?

Last place club will obtain rights to Auston Matthews in June draft
Will Winnipeg and/or Edmonton collapse to 30th place?

By Mark Schadenberg

I truly attempt to avoid writing articles about professional sports here, except to point out some idiosyncrasies in such areas as playoff structures and draft lotteries.

The Toronto Maple Leafs as of today are 30th in the NHL standings, so if the National Hockey League draft lottery was conducted today, the Leafs would have exactly a 20.0% chance of nabbing Auston Matthews first overall.

In my opinion, from closely watch both the OHL, CHL and world juniors, this year features a draft deep of high-end talent to about No. 10 overall. However, and it’s not an earth-shaking however, Matthews is by far the best available talent – likely better than a Tyler or Taylor, but not as good as a McDavid.

The problem with the Leafs is that in the past eight games they have lost in regulation just twice, and they’ve earned four wins in their past five outings.

It was nice to see William Nylander notch three points last night in a 5-2 victory over Calgary, but as of Tuesday morning the Toronto squad is just one point behind Winnipeg and two behind Edmonton. Also, Columbus and Vancouver are only three points higher in the table of cellar-dwelling scraps. Yes, all seven Canadian teams will likely miss the playoffs, but that’s a prose to ponder another day.

Are the Leafs trying to vacate last place? A story in today’s Toronto Star (See link by columnist Dave Feschuk below) indicates just that.

“Fans are entitled to their own opinion, whether they want us to play hard and lose by one and draft higher — that’s fine,” said Morgan Rielly, the third-year defenceman. “But as players . . . we don’t want to be in last place.”

Keep in mind, the MLSE shinny squad has missed the post-season tourney 10 of the last 11 seasons.

That folks is not mediocrity – it’s pathetic.

Instead of gradually growing through the draft in the past 10 seasons, the Leafs have actually slid farther down the rungs on the ladder.

You have to be a fan of the Leafs to still follow their every move on the ice and on the transaction wire. You have to be optimistic for the future with Nylander, Mitch Marner, Connor Brown, Kasperi Kapanen, Nikita Soshnikov, Brendan Leipsic and Travis Dermott. At the age of 23 I do not consider Zach Hyman among the youth troops as he’s too old, but still a valuable member of the Leafs ranks for the long term.

With many injuries to deal with currently (James VanRiemsdyk, uncle Leo Komorov, Tyler Bozak and others), the Leafs roster should be collapsing, but the winning attitude of the AHL’s Toronto Marlies is now in the Leafs dress room, which is both good and bad – terrific and troubling.

The American Hockey League playoffs begin at the same time as the NHL post-season, which means someone like William Nylander will not be able to play for Sweden at the world championships in May as he will be attempting a long cup run – marathon run to the Calder Cup.

Auston Matthews

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

From The Toronto Sun:

Forward Colin Greening on the players' approach despite the losing season: 

"You put the rankings aside, you put the stats aside, and every single player in here plays for pride. They want to win. You don't get to this point without taking pride in what you do for a living. This is what we've done. Every one has done this since we were five years old, so it's that innate ability to go out and play every single night."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Leafs fans and we in Leafs Nation should have confidence in Brendan Shanahan, Lou Lamoriello, Mike Babcock, Mark Hunter, Kyle Dubas, Dave Morrison and Scott Pellerin. The future is exciting, but it would be much more exciting if Auston Matthews was in the mix of ingredients.

Auston Matthews missed last year’s draft by just three days as his birthday is Sept. 17. (Last year, there was lots of hoopla about Jack Eichel at No 2 overall to Buffalo but he too was a ‘late birthday’) With the Zurich Lions this season Matthews had 46 points in 36 games and his Swiss pro team lost in the first round of their playoffs, so even with factoring in the world juniors, Matthews certainly played fewer than 70 games. Matthews is originally from Scottsdale, Arizona and played two years in the U.S national development team program.

Other obvious names for a possible Top 10 in the 2016 draft are:

Jesse Puljujarvi (Finland)

Patrik Laine (Finland)

Mathew Tkachuk, London (U.S.)

Olli Joulevi, London (Finland)

Jakub Chychrun, Sarnia (U.S. / Canadian)

Alexander Nylander, Mississauaga (Sweden)

Mike McLeod, Mississauga (Canadian)

Julien Gauthier, ValD’or (Canadian)

Pierre-Luc Dubois, Cape Breton (Canadian)

 Knights GM Basil McRae with Mathew Tkachuk

LINKS:

www.mapleleafs.nhl.com

http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2016/03/21/oh-no-not-another-late-season-leafs-surge-feschuk.html

http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2016/03/21/maple-leafs-pushing-to-escape-basement-to-finish-nhl-season.html

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/03/21/maple-leafs-leaving-basement-for-rent

http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectbrowse.htm?cat=1&sort=midtermRank&year=2016

Full-Time Realtor; Part-Time Hockey Fan

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.royallepagetriland.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination