The Knight family of Meaford has a long business history in this small Ontario town. Back in 1880, George T. Knight first established a carriage shop in Meaford, and later expanded it into a sawmill and furniture manufacturing concern. His sons carried on the business and branched out, and today three successful businesses continue to operate under the Knight name: Knight’s Home Building Centre, Stanley Knight Ltd., and Knights of Meaford, Inc.

But soon the name Knights of Meaford will be known to hockey fans across the province. It’s the moniker of Meaford’s brand new Greater Metro Jr. A Hockey League (GMHL) franchise.

The GMHL was founded in 2006 by retired pro hockey player Bob Russell to provide exciting hockey within a developmental league for players aged 16 to 21. Seven teams played in that first season, and by last year, 15 teams competed, with the Bradford Rattlers taking the Russell Cup in February.

The team, coached by Meaford native Nathan Parrish, will play their first home game on October 17, as part of a 42-game season. The draft begins next Sunday, but the Knights already have their first player lined up: 17-year-old Georgian Bay Secondary School student Jordan Rear.

Season’s tickets are on sale now till June 20 at special prices of $125, $80 for students and seniors. Call 705-345-8509 or email meafordjrahockey@live.ca

Meaford’s 55+ Friendship Club will be publishing a book about the club’s beginnings, and creating a new logo to help them with their promotion and fundraising, thanks to a $4,700 grant from the federal New Horizons for Seniors program.

The 55+ Friendship Club is a popular Meaford social group, which devotes volunteer time to the community and raises funds for the Alzheimer’s Association, tags for cancer research, and cares for various town gardens by planting and watering.

The club, which began in 1995, is open to men and women, retired or not, who are 55 years old and older, and boasts a mix of newcomers to the Meaford area as well as those who have lived here all their lives.

Meetings provide a chance to talk to others with similar interests; hear speakers on topics of current or special interest; play games; enjoy craft days with member displays; participate in “show and tell days”; and gather for parties celebrating Hallowe’en, St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Christmas.

The final meeting of the year, before the summer break, usually involves a special outing, such as a picnic, a luncheon trip, or a pot-luck dinner.

If you’re interested in getting involved with the club, head to the Meaford-St. Vincent Community Centre on a Tuesday at 2 p.m., or call Leo Girard, at 519.538.3035 to learn more.

For its modest size, the Meaford Museum boasts a remarkable collection, and next week, you can learn how it acquires and manages these remnants and reminders of historical Meaford. The Meaford Library hosts a talk by Museum Curator Pam Woolner next Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Pam will discuss how the museum sources and acquires artifacts for the museum; how staff researches and catalogues the artifacts, and the challenges such a small museum faces in taking care of a growing and changing collection.

Space is limited, so call or email to register soon. (It’s free.) 519.538.1060 (ext 1123) or email lori@meafordlibrary.on.ca.

If this talk interests you, you may also be interested in volunteering at the Museum. It’s a great way to get involved in the community, and the historical insight you gain through spending time there will give you a real sense of this beautiful small town – not to mention arming you with a bunch of cocktail party conversation starters.

Just don’t worry about the ghost of the museum.

On a winter evening in 1897, a 38-year-old Hamilton, Ontario woman named Adelaide Hoodless gathered her skirts and rose to take the lectern at the Farmer’s Institute Ladies Night meeting in nearby Stoney Creek. An emissary of the Ministry of Education, she spoke on “Domestic Science” and the importance of proper hygiene at a time when many rural families lived not exceedingly differently from their pioneer forebears. She was passionate about the topic. Eight years earlier, her 14-month old son, John, died from what folks called “summer complaint” – probably from drinking unpasteurized milk in the days when refrigeration during the summer months was difficult. In the years since, she had worked to establish domestic science education and taught classes in it – in an effort to provide better education for new mothers.

Adelaide Hunter Hoodless

That February night in Stoney Creek, Adelaide suggested that rural women should form a group devoted to broadening knowledge of domestic science and agriculture – as well as to provide an outlet for socializing. A week later, she returned to discover 101 women in attendance. A week after that, Adelaide presided over the first formal meeting of the Women’s Institute as honourary president.

Today, Women’s Institutes have spread around the world, and are particularly prominent in Britain, where they emerged in 1915 to revitalize rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War.

What does this tale have to do with our lovely town of Meaford, Ontario? Well, Meaford had its own WI, begun in 1902 and since disbanded, but the local St. Vincent WI has thrived since 1918. Your blogger recalls reading minutes of WI meetings in the Meaford Express 20 years ago, and thinking it a quaint, rural tradition – which was later reinforced by the portrayal of the stodgy WI members in the 2003 film Calendar Girls.

It turns out there’s more to the Women’s Institute than that.

In addition to action and advocacy on a variety of social issues over the decades, WIs provide a unique link to our past.

This week, at a local meeting of Heritage Meaford, Meri-Diane Carroll introduced the group to the Tweedsmuir Community History Books (or Tweedsmuirs). These painstakingly recorded histories of local communities are kept in many communities, and usually include the history of the

• Local Women’s Institute Branch
• Earliest settlers in an area
• Agricultural practices and individual farms
• Industries that formed the basis of the local economy
• Social institutions and public buildings, such as churches, schools and community centers
• Local personalities, such as war veterans
• And more!

Meaford and St. Vincent are fortunate to have this record, kept by the local WI in hand-written volumes over many years.

To learn more about the St. Vincent WI, contact Shirley Moore at 519.538.1671.

Had a chat with a friend the other day, and was surprised to learn she has just begun her “continuing class” (that is, the next level after beginner) of Taost Tai Chi, right here in Meaford. The two-hour sessions, which involve numerous excercises, just got more complicated and intense, she says.

Based on the traditional schools of this internal Chinese martial art, Taoist Tai Chi is a set of gentle, slow moving exercises aimed at improving your health and fitness, no matter what your age. Classes continue pretty much weekly throughout the year.

If you’re interested, now’s the time to check it out. On Monday, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., the group is holding an open house at Meaford Arena. Meet the instructor and learn more about this complex and rewarding practice. Visit the website. Or contact Judy Birch at 519-538-0288.

If you’ve ever dreamed stepping in front of the footlights, or if you’re already a seasoned thespian, get down to the auditions for the lastest production of Meaford Community Theatre. “The Whole Town’s Talking”. The 1923 play by husband and wife team John Emerson and Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) reveals the hilarious consequences when a man contrives a more interesting past to woo a girl. His invented history of an affair with a famous movie star does the trick – until the movie star (and her jealous boyfriend) come to town.

Director Gordon Rowatt is looking for a cast of five males and seven females ranging in age from young adults to seniors, as well as bit-parts for several teenage girls.

If you’re interested in taking to the stage at Meaford Hall for the production during the last week of April, head down to the auditions on on Saturday, January 12 from 3 – 5pm and Tuesday, January 15 from 7 – 9pm.

Producer Greg Brown is also looking for other crew, including publicity, costumes, sets, prop and stage crew. Head to the auditions or Greg at 519-538-0517.

Back in 2007, Stephen Lewis, Canada’s former UN ambassador and the former UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, spoke at Meaford’s United Church about the plight of grandmothers in many sub-Saharan African countries.

With AIDS rampant in many countries, these women have stepped in to care for their orphaned grandchildren – sometimes caring for as many as 10 to 15 in one household. One estimate suggests that 40 to 60 percent of orphans live in grandmother-headed households. After burying their own adult children, and often with little support, they do their best to care for and raise the children. “They display astonishing reserves of love, courage and emotional resilence, even while grieving the loss of their own adult children,” says the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s website.

The Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign had stepped in to provide support for these women, raising funds to invest at the community level – food, educational supplies, medical care, counselling, programs to help them become self-sufficent and more.

Hearing the stories, a small group of women in the audience that day decided to start their own local fundraising chapter, and Meaford Grannies was soon an active fundraising group.

Meaford Grannies holds a number of fundraisers every year, including a garage sale, plant sales, and a slient auction, and they welcome new members to help run the events.

If you’re looking for a worthy cause to get involved with during your retirement, this might be it. Becoming a Meaford Granny is easy – just let them know. (In fact, you don’t have to be a granny – or even a woman – to be part of the effort.)

Your help to raise local funds will have a huge impact on African grandmothers in these difficult circumstances.

For more information, call Sandy Farrell at 519-538-4259.

Retirement opens up a host of opportunities to expand your activities – and a lot of retirees plunge quickly into volunteering for local groups, causes and charities. If that sounds like you, you’ve come to the right place. Your opportunities to volunteer during your Meaford retirement are many and varied.

Last week, we took part in Meaford’s Volunteer Fair, held at Meaford Hall as part of the Focus on Seniors event going on there over the next few months. Twenty groups took part, showcasing what they do and how you could help.

These included Heritage Meaford, the Meaford Grannies, Alzheimer Society of Grey Bruce, the Beaver Valley Bruce Trail Club, Habitat for Humanity Grey Bruce, the Rotary Club of Meaford, and Ted Brown the producer of Women and War (on tonight at Meaford Hall) and a director of local community theatre – which is always on the lookout for volunteer actors, production people, directors and costume makers.

That’s just the tip of the volunteer iceberg in Meaford. Prominent boards and groups include Friends of the Meaford Library, the Meaford Museum board, Adopt-a-garden/Communities in Bloom, the Beautiful Joe Heritage Society, the Bighead River Heritage Association, and service groups beyond the Rotary, including the Lions, the Kinsmen/Kinettes and the Optimist Club.

More here.

Then there’s the opportunity to coach or otherwise help out local athletics, including hockey, soccer, softball and more.

One of Meaford’s community groups is experiencing great support at the moment with Kraft’s Food For Families. Golden Town Outreach, the Meaford food bank, is currently first in donations in Ontario on the site, which will donate additional funds to the winner. Every time you visit and select Golden Town Outreach, the group receives a donation of 50 cents.

If you still need volunteer ideas, check out these top 10 volunteer activities for retirees.

Meaford’s Scarecrow Parade is just the beginning of a busy weekend in Meaford. The weekend traditionally anchored by the Apple Harvest Craft Show – a show of carefully selected artisans and craftspeople from near and far offering everything from toys to tinware to needlework to folk art to stained glass and much more – has grown busier every year, as events and exhibits appear to tempt tourists and locals alike.

This year, the Meaford Museum is open with free admission all weekend – and on Saturday, you can can. That is, you can learn to can. Well, let’s see how the museum puts it. “Learn the steps to effective and safe canning with Isobel McInnis as she does on-site demonstrations at 1 pm, 2 pm and 3pm. Printed material will be available and you are invited to ask Isobel any questions you may have. Each demonstration will take approximately 30 minutes.”

Meanwhile, the Heatlamp at the Harbour Music Festival kicks off at 11 a.m. on Saturday with a vendors market opening, followed by a music show for the kids, a Tex-Mex food bar featuring chili, pulled pork, nachos and a selection of hot sauces, and a series of three performances offering gutsy blues, folk, and more through the afternoon.

That’s a taste of this weekend’s events. To learn more, just head to Meaford.

They began to arrive early in September, scarecrow scouts appearing one by one to stand silent on lawns through town. By the middle of the month, they’d taken over. Everywhere you looked, straw-filled sentries – this year’s army seems to have escaped from frightening, fantastic, and farcical fairy tales – greeted you with sewn-on smiles, pasted-on pouts, or glued-on glares.

For the 16th time in as many years, Meaford’s Scarecrow Invasion was complete. Well, not quite. To celebrate its domination of Meaford, an army of scarecrows will amble down the main street of town this evening.

To see the burlap battalions in fine fettle and join in the fun, head down to Sykes Street later today. Starting at 5 p.m., enjoy the pre-parade Tartan Fling, with performances by the Celtic Dance Company of Owen Sound. At 6, prepare yourself for the parade itself, as it descends on downtown. Then, follow the tattered troops to Meaford Harbour for the Scotiabank Family Fun Festival. It’s free, and there’s a little something for everyone, including an apple pie contest, vintage vehicles on display, goats and other animals seemingly wandered in from local farms, and a performance by the Grey County Highlanders Pipes and Drums Band. Meaford’s Farmers’ Market will also be open for business.

To prepare you for what’s to come, enjoy the following videos of Meaford’s Scarecrow Parade.