Emergency Preparedness Week - Some great tips

Emergencies can strike any time, and the best way to handle them is to be sure that you and your family are prepared. Emergency Preparedness Week 2014 takes place from May 4 – 10 and is a great opportunity to make sure you and your family are prepared.

Your family can be prepared for emergencies by:

·    Making a plan: The Emergency Management Ontario website provides an Emergency Preparedness Action Plan tool, which lets you create a customized emergency plan based on your family’s needs.

·    Building a kit: Everyone should have a survival kit that contains supplies to take care of you and your family for at least 72 hours (that’s three days!). The Town of Collingwood Emergency Preparedness webpage provides detailed suggestions of what you should include in your kit.

·    Staying informed: It’s important to be aware of developing situations that could turn into emergencies. There are a number of services available to help keep you informed. Listen to your local radio station, follow the Town of Collingwood on Twitter (@TownCollingwood) or visit the Emergency Management Ontario site to sign up for alerts.

The theme for Emergency Preparedness Week 2014 is ‘I am ready. We are ready.’ Once your family has followed the three steps above to prepare for emergencies, residents are encouraged to reach out to their neighbours, friends, and extended family members to make sure that they are also prepared, despite any physical challenges, language barriers or age.

“Ensuring that you and your family are prepared for emergencies is one of the best things you can do to stay safe,” said Town of Collingwood Fire Chief Trent Elyea. “We encourage all residents to make a plan, build a kit and stay informed.”

During this year’s Emergency Preparedness Week, the Town will promote a different element of Emergency Preparedness each day. At the end of the week, send in the list of the five elements, and you could win one of two Emergency Preparedness prize packs.

Information, links and resources for Emergency Preparedness are available on the Town of Collingwood’s website at www.collingwood.ca/emergency-preparedness

Spring Cleaning Tips from Fran

Fran from Clean-All Housecleaning Services can help you with your Spring-cleaning needs! We can also give you great tips on how to get started if you want to tackle the job yourself.

Here are a few things to remember when handling this annual task:

1. Develop a plan - think about where you want to start. The basement? The closets? The outside of your home?

2. Gather everything you will need to complete your task. Cleaners, rags, trash bags, etc.

3. Make a list of everything you want to clean - if you're starting in the basement, you will want to clean the windowsills, behind the washing machine & dryer (clean the dryer vent as well), check the filters of your furnace, wash laundry sink, clean drains. Basically, clean everything that you normally DON'T clean on a regular basis.

4. Vacuum all the nooks & crannies throughout your home.

5. Use a large microfiber cloth attached to a long handle to wipe down your walls.

6. Wipe down your ceiling fans, under and around your computer equipment, etc.

If you don't want to tackle this job yourself, give us a call at 705-796-5961 or email us.

Easter in Downtown Collingwood

Easter in Downtown Collingwood

Hopping into the downtown on Saturday April 19^th will be the Easter Bunny himself!  It is with great pleasure that Downtown announces Mr. E. Bunny has again made room in his busy schedule to Visit Downtown Collingwood, “It’s a tradition I wouldn’t miss!  I love the early hunt for eggs at the Station grounds and the unique way Downtown lets me hide all my eggs in the business windows. The children bring their Moms and Dads to help find and count them, so this makes the day truly a family adventure.”

Get an early start to the day at the Station….  Beginning at 10 a.m…. bring a bag and collect the eggs hidden by the Easter Bunny on the grounds.  The fun will continue until 11 a.m. and is for children 10 and under only, and they must bring an adult with them to join the fun.  This part of the day is hosted by the Journey Community Church and there will be lots of activities to keep the little ones busy while they wait for their turn to join the hunt. 

The fun doesn’t end then… starting at 11a.m., join us at the Children’s Activity Centre, in front of Collingwood’s Town Hall.  You can pick up your egg counting entry form, then head out and count the eggs that the Easter Bunny has hidden in all the business windows throughout downtown. Bring along your parents for help, as accuracy counts!  Return the form for your chance to win a great prize.

Take time as you’re counting…. you won’t want to miss the Easter Bunny as he will be hopping throughout the downtown with special treats for all.  At the Activity Centre at Town Hall, you will also be able to make a special Easter craft to take home with you. 

Come dressed for the weather and stay for this Spring filled day of activities. Don’t forget your camera so you can have your photo taken with the Easter Bunny.

While you’re visiting Downtown, drop into the shops as the new spring clothing, accessories and home decor fashions have arrived.  Check out and see what’s new; from Easter Bonnets to Easter dinner, the businesses and shops have everything you will need for this holiday and the rest of Spring.

Stay for a cup of tea or coffee or a great lunch at one of our outstanding restaurants.  Make Downtown Collingwood your destination for everything Easter!

For further information, call 445-5595 or visit www.collingwooddowntown.com.

Lobsterfest at the Olde Town Terrace - NEW LOCATION

Organizing after Ski Season to make sure you're ready for next year

Sad but true...the end of Ski Season is only weeks away and with that in mind I though I'd share with you my strategy for always being organized for next year's ski season.  On the last day of skiing I would force (yes force) our four kids to search through every boot bag, the boot room, every ski boot and every drawer, look under the beds and in every closet for every single ski sock (expensive ski socks that you don't want them wearing to school because they can't find a matching pair of other socks)...every piece of long underwear, gather all ski gloves, goggles, balaclavas and bandana's.  

Then, everything that could go in the wash...went in the wash.  A few shots of Febreeze into each pair of ski boots (especially the boys boots and race gloves...gross gross gross)...then a sheet of fabric softener into the boots before storing them all in boot bags to protect them from dust in the garage or boot room.

Next comes the fun part (ok...this is only really fun if you're an organizational freak but trust me...taking the time to do this is worth it)..I would take a giant zip lock bag and label it for each kid (you only need to do this one time because they last year over year)...and then start the folding and sorting.  I think the rest of the process is pretty self explanatory...you can take this opportunity to take unmatched ski socks put them in the craft basket to make hand puppets and sock monkeys at a later date...perhaps a rainy day activity on a wet Spring day.  You can also stick a fabric softener sheet into the bag for added scent if you want.  Eco friendly solutions are available if that appeals to you.

The giant zip locks would then go into the boot room to hibernate for the spring, summer and fall and then WOW on the first day of skiing the next year everyone starts out happy because there are no tears (this only really happens with little girls) because everyone can easily find all of their proper ski clothing.

This sure makes a great start to the first day of ski lessons when especially younger kids might be a bit nervous...and the older kids are very excited to connect with their ski buddies...really who wants to waste on that all important first day on the hill looking for sock? 

MMMMM Pancakes

Yeay...it's Pancake Tuesday time at The Sunset Grill in the Blue Mountain Village.  Next Tuesday, March 4th is Sunset Grill's annual fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society. Pancakes are $1 and an extra $1 with berries. 100% of the proceeds are donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. This is the 6th year that Sunset Grill has done this fundraiser and this is an important year as they hope to pass the $10,000 mark for funds raised to date. So please mark your Calendars for next Tuesday, March 4th from 7am to 3pm, and come out to support a great cause. 97.7 the Beach will be broadcasting live on location.

Tax Tips from Local Expert Julie Ford

If you're looking for some tax help you might want to read these tips from local expert Julie Ford