Buy your Girl Guide cookies in Nobleton Plaza this week
Nobleton Notes

By Angie Maccarone

(905) 859-5174 Nobleton District Girl

Guides

Spring has arrived and thoughts of warmth, flowers and Girl Guide cookies are everywhere.

Our cookies are in. For cookie-lovers who have not placed their orders yet, there is still time. Please call Karen Wright at (905) 859- 4800. We are happy to report that the cookies are now produced in a nut-free bakery. Our members will be out selling cookies at the Nobleton Plaza tomorrow (Thursday), Friday and Saturday. We hope that you will stop to purchase some cookies and support our organization.

Also in the spring, our Nobleton Guiders start thinking about their plans for the coming year. This includes the recruitment of new leaders. We need fun, energetic and caring women of all ages to help keep our program alive and well in Nobleton. Please think about the following information when considering volunteering your time to Girl Guides of Canada: For every 100 girls who join Girl Guides, four will earn their Canada Cords; 12 will have their first contact with a church; five will earn their Religion in Life Badge; only rarely will one be brought before juvenile court; one will enter the clergy; 18 will develop hobbies used during adult life; eight will enter a vocation that was learned through a badge or program; 17 will become future Girl Guide leaders; one will use her Girl Guiding skills to save a life; and one will use her Girl Guiding skill to save her own life.

Contact Donna Marchand at (905) 859-8088 for more details about becoming a leader.

St. Paul's Prebyterian

Church

Join us this evening

Wednesday) for our midweek service at 7 p.m. This 20-minute service is ideal for those in our community who can not make a regular Sunday morning worship service.

This service also includes Communion by Intinction.

This Saturday (March 31) the Food Bank and Children's Clothing Circle will be open from 9 until 11 a.m.

A new men's study group has begun Saturday mornings at 8:30 a.m. All men from the community are invited to come check out the new study topic.

Join us April 1 at 9:45 a.m. for our Palm Sunday service (can you believe almost a whole year has passed since last Easter?). The service will begin with the Sunday school children leading the procession waving palms. Nursery care is provided during the service (for children five and under) and Sunday school for all ages follows the service at 11 a.m.

Our new Happy Hikers group will meet in the afternoon of April 1. Anyone interested in joining them is asked to meet at the church parking lot at 2 p.m.

Mark your calendars for our Good Friday service at 10 a.m. April 6 and our Easter pancake breakfast starting at 8:15 a.m. followed by our Easter Sunday Resurrection service at 9:45 a.m. April 8.

We also have many other study groups taking place during the week. For more information on any of our activities or events, contact the church office at (905) 859-0843.

St. Mary Catholic Church

steering committee

The dates for the new church meetings of the steering committee with the parishioners are April 22 and May 27. Both are after the 9:45 a.m. Mass in the St. Mary School gym. Everyone welcome to attend. For more information, contact Elio Bellon at (905) 859-4037.

Horticulture

Submitted by John Arnott

"We can complain that rose bushes have thorns or we can rejoice that thorn bushes have roses." (Abraham Lincoln)

Don't be in too big a hurry to uncover roses, as we may get some severe frosts yet.

This is the time to prune trees, fruit trees in particular, and apply dormant spray. Always check to find out if the flowering trees or shrubs have blooms on the new growth or old, because if the wrong branches are pruned out there will be little or no bloom.

Remember those garden tools you put away in the shed last fall that you promised yourself you'd clean and sharpen? Well now is the time to do it! Gardening expert Mark Cullen says his three favourite tools are a sharp spade, a hard rake for smoothing soil and a steel leaf rake. Now add to these a sturdy trowel and good pair of pruning shears and you will have basic set of garden tools.

Well now, what did you learn about lachenalias? I first saw them in the marketplace section at Canada Blooms and thought they were hyacinths. However they are a South African bulb, being sold under the name African beauties (other common names are soldier boys and Cape cowslips). They grow wild in the hot dry nutrient poor rocky soil in the Cape of Good Hope region. These hyacinthlike plants that grow about one foot high come in several colours, including mauve and two or three shades of yellow. Their blooming period is March to May, making them more suitable for pot culture in our area. Lachenalias (named for the Swiss horticulturist Werner de la Chenal) are easy to grow and quite adaptable.

Seniors' euchre

March 20 senior's euchre winners were Vivian Hannah, Laura Seager, Mary Bullock, Walter Hill, Lou Curtis and Annie Hill. April 3 will be the membership meeting, with euchre to follow.

St. Mary Church fundraiser

dinner dance

The ninth annual fundraiser dinner and dance, hosted by St. Mary Catholic Church, will be April 21, starting at 6 p.m. at Imperial Ballroom Hall at 13255 Highway 27. The cost is $75 per person, and the door prize will be trip to Las Vegas. Tickets are available from the Knights of Columbus and from the Parish office as well.

Palm Sunday Drama at

the Nobleton United

Come celebrate Palm Sunday, April 1 at 11:15 a.m. at Nobleton United Church on King Road, with drama, scripture and hymns illustrating five stories: Mary anointing Jesus' feet with expensive perfume; Jesus' walk towards Jerusalem meeting Zacchaeus; the Jewish leaders persuading Judas to betray Jesus; the walk on a donkey (not live) to the Passover festival; and finally the Last Supper. Everyone will be expected to participate, waving palm branches, laying them in Jesus' path, doing actions for a song. Everyone will be invited to partake of communion at the front of the church. All are welcome.