By Lynda Shadbolt
Published Oct. 17 2017
I just smiled all weekend at Hometown Hockey. What a welcome they got!
And what a welcome the Wiso family got this time last year. I am proud of how we welcome.
Twenty-eight years ago Judy Paul and Dave Paddock came to our house to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Jim and I had just bought our house and we had met Dave and Judy while working at Bark Lake. Judy and Dave have come every year since then.
Some time during their visits they started talking about retiring up here. We all anticipated it for years. And this June it happened. They bought a house in our neighbourhood and permanently joined our gang of merry friends. They are such great people and are receiving such a warm welcome. Our community is richer once again.
Judy loves a good conversation and is an environmentalist. She is interested in world issues loves to read plays the ukulele and is a master cook. And she is very generous.
One New Year’s a number of years ago we all gave each other superpower names. Dave’s stuck and we still call him “accuracy man.” He loves to bike and fix bikes run and run and run ski read and work around the house. He is one of the best if not the best chemistry tutor a student could ever have. He had a full business in Kitchener and still continues by Skype and in person. He is a very happy man.
In 2012 Dave and Judy and a group of us went to Prince Edward Island to do some work and vacation at Teresa Doyle’s artistic retreat centre called Rock Barra. We built a deck cleared trails and cleaned up a grown-in labyrinth. It was a working vacation and was a lot of fun.
While we were there we met October Browne a gifted musician and teacher who connected with Thom Lambert about Winter Folk Camp. October came to Winter Folk the following year and loved it. She taught at WFC for a few years and still teaches at the Haliburton School of Art and Design in the summer.
This summer October and her partner Connie fulfilled a dream of theirs and bought a cottage in Haliburton! They are thrilled and so are we. So now we have these four amazing people in our community.
On Friday Oct. 27 Judy and Dave are hosting their first house concert at their new home!
October and Teresa Doyle are coming to perform. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the Rails End Gallery. This is the 10th anniversary for October and Teresa to travel around Ontario and perform. Teresa and October are both seasoned road warriors having toured extensively in Canada the U.S. Europe and Japan. They share strong Irish roots from both sides of the pond: Teresa is a sixth generation Prince Edward Islander. October is London born Irish. They are both passionate about Celtic music. It is a perfect thing to do on a Friday evening in October.
Welcome to the community Dave Judy October and Connie! Thanks for choosing us!
