Way to go Minesing!  The decorating and light displays I’ve seen are fantastic.  I think it’s great to see so many people lighting up their homes and getting into the Christmas spirit.  It sure makes it nice for those passing through or for those out for a walk in the evenings.  Thanks for meeting my challenge of making our village more festive.

 The snow has been holding off so far, but I’m not sure how long it will be before the world around us is white.  A quick note to everyone now that the frost is here and black ice is common, slow down and make sure you drive according to the weather.  Even those big 4-wheeled drive vehicles can spin out sometimes too.  It’s interesting to see them whiz by you only to see them off in the ditch further along the way.  They aren’t invincible so be careful and buckle up! 

I don’t have all of the details, but I did hear that the Minesing Central Girls Basketball team is heading to Regionals in the next little while.  We wish them luck and hope to hear the outcome of their games.  Thanks so much to the coaches who have devoted so much of their own time to help get the girls this far.  Go Mustangs!

A huge thank you goes out to all of the families that attended our first annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony.  We were overwhelmed with the response and are thrilled with the number of people who attended.  We are already planning bigger and better ideas for next year.  A special thank you goes out to our guests, the Minesing United Church Youth Choir and "Swampy Claus". And, finally, thank you to Huronia Landscaping for donating and planting the tree and to our Ward 3 councillor, Rick Webster for donating the lights.

Mini-Fest buttons are now available for the low cost of $2.00 each.  This is the 40th annual Mini-Fest and we have some new plans to involve the families in our community.  There are a few surprises to look forward to, as well.  Keep watching our website www.minesing.ca for more information.

The Grade 8 Class at Minesing would like to send a big thank you to all those who donated their bottles towards fundraising for their Grade 8 Class Trip to Ottawa.  I know firsthand that the trip is a fantastic time for the kids and every little bit helps ease the cost of the trip for parents. 

Until next time...good luck in the malls and in the parking lots, this is the time of year that people get a little testy.  Drive safe and please don’t drink and drive.

I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather that we had over the long weekend.  Wow we couldn't have asked for better weather.  I'm sure by the time you read this, you will all be sworn off of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie until Christmas. 

As I write this, I personally haven't had Thanksgiving dinner yet as my family is coming tomorrow (Monday) to enjoy my culinary skills.  I have to do this every now and then so they know that I can actually cook.   I may have bought a turkey that is a little too big, but hey there will be leftovers for everyone to take home and it's better than not having enough. 

Minesing Minor Ball 2011 Season Review

Well it's been another successful season in Minesing Minor Ball.  This year we had over 220 kids playing ball in our community! Another increase over last year!

This year we had the most local teams we have had in quite some time with 4 T-Ball teams and 4 Local Tyke teams.  It was great to see how much fun the kids had and how much their skills improved over the season!

In the GBMSL, this season was probably Minesing's most successful season ever!!  Out of the 6 age divisions in GBMSL, Minesing teams were Regular Season Champions in 4 of them!!  Every single team playing in the GBMSL captured at least one medal in tournaments or the playoffs!!

Here are the results of each of the divisions:

Tyke

The Tyke team had an amazing season!  They won the Regular Season, Tournament and Championship Game to capture the Triple Crown Award!! This is Minesing's first Triple Crown in Tyke and only our second one ever!!

Mini-Squirt

Mini-Squirt #1 won the Regular Season Championship, Bronze in the Mid-Season Tournament and Silver in the Playoff Tournament!!
Mini-Squirt #2 won Gold in the Playoff Tournament and won the overall League Championship Title!!
Mini-Squirt #3 won Bronze in the Mid-Season Tournament and Silver in the Playoff Tournament!!

Squirt

Squirt #1 won the Regular Season Championship, Silver in the Mid-Season Tournament and Gold in the Playoffs!!
Squirt #2 won Bronze in the Playoffs!!

Peewee 

Peewee won Silver in the Mid-Season Tournament and were Playoff Consolation Finalists!! 

Bantam 

Bantam #1 won Bronze in the Playoffs!!
Bantam #2 won Silver in the Mid-Season Tournament and won the Playoff Consolation Championship!!

Midget 

Midget won the Regular Season Championship, Bronze in the Mid-Season Tournament and Bronze in the Playoffs!!

The usage of our website, http://baseball.minesing.ca, continues to increase.  If you haven't visited yet take the time to check it out and send any feedback/suggestions to webmaster@minesing.ca.

This season was our first at the new Tree Nursery ball diamonds and other than a few minor hiccups it was great to use these new facilities!

Feedback is always welcome at any time!  Just e-mail your feedback to minesingminorball@gmail.com!

A special thanks to all of the coaches who volunteered their time to coach our teams!!  Our success is a direct result of these fantastic individuals volunteering their time to work with your children to grow and improve!

We would also like to acknowledge the support of all of our sponsors this year:

- Graves Towing
- Barrie Jiu Jitsu
- Les Bertram & Sons
- Walton Financial Services
- Bang Albino
- Centum Mortgage Exchange
- Walking Mobility Clinics
- Sturgess Insurance
- Collier St. Dental
- Breakaway Sports
- Minesing Small Business Association
- G. Priest Construction

Without their generous support it would not be possible for us to provide an affordable opportunity to play ball in Minesing!!

Thanks for another great season and see you next year!!

The Soul Café

Are you bored of church as usual?  Have you drifted away from church because of the demands of life?  Are you longing for an eclectic and questioning community?  Are you looking for something that feeds your spirit?  Come and check out The Soul Café. 

We begin with an appetizer course of breaking bread and catching up at 5:30pm before we move onto the main course spirituality menu.  This fresh approach to spirituality is relaxed, interactive, organic, and open to questions.  There will be music and readings from inside (and outside) the Christian tradition, dialogue, loud meditation, and moments of silent awe. 

We leave for our separate homes at 6:30pm just in time to enjoy dinner and weekly preparation with family.  Come and check it out.  Just like all great cafés this is a place that welcomes stragglers and strangers with warm drinks and warm hearts. 

The Soul Café is physically located in the community room at Minesing United Church.

Summer has quickly drawn to a close but not before our community of Minesing famously celebrated Labour Day weekend with the Annual Mixed Slo-Pitch Tournament. The weather co-operated and I think I may have even wished for some clouds at one point due to the extreme heat. Shade was hard to come by at many of the ball diamonds, but everyone was in it together.

First and foremost, I would like to mention a very special little girl, Olivia Imrie, who held a lemonade stand on Saturday the 3rd of September at the end of her driveway. This cute little entrepreneur donated all of her earnings to the Minesing Recreation Board. Olivia, it was a very kind of you to donate your hard earned money and I know it will be put towards helping the community be a great place to live.

To start the weekend off after the Friday night ball games, the band “The Hired Help” played at the pavilion and they were fantastic! Many of people were up “cutting a rug” (aka dancing) until they band could play no more. Even after a fantastic encore, the dancers weren’t ready to take leave of the dance floor.

Between Friday and Saturday the teams played out their guaranteed three games and it came down to four final games.

Winners of those divisions were as follows:

Division A - Winners - Benchwarmers Finalist - Honey Badgers
Division B - Winners - Giancicco's Finalist - Ump Yours
Division C - Winners - Currie Heavy Towing Finalist - Master Batters
Division D - Winners - Git 'R Done Finalist – Swampdonks

I would personally like to say thank you to the Minesing Recreation Board for devoting so much time and effort to making the ball tournament weekend such a great time. I know from experience that the tournament is a huge undertaking that sometimes goes unnoticed. From organizing the teams to play, to the entertainment, getting a liquor licence, booking umpires and outhouses….So much volunteer time from our Board is contributed, and keeping the tournament running is very much appreciated. The volunteers to stepped in to either set up, take down, bartend, lime diamonds, and whatever else you did, a big thank you goes to you as well. It’s times like these that we realize that our community is such a great “team” when we are needed and everyone pulls together to help out. Well done!

Something that I learned this long weekend is that you can pretty much batter and deep fry ANYTHING and it’s going to taste good. The normal fish fry and chicken wings were fabulous, but then dessert came and that’s when it got really good...Mars Bars, Cookies, Snickers, Twix bars. It was all wonderful and the cook, he shook out all the calories when he took them from the fryer....I’m good with that theory!

To those people who are celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, births or engagements, please send in your messages so they can be included in this portion. I’m always glad to have something to add to our section. My email is lorachalli@sympatico.ca.

Until next time, be safe and remember, only 101 more days until Christmas!