Guest speaker at Nobleton United this Sunday
Notes By Angie Maccarone (905) 859-5174 Seniors' euchre

The April 3 euchre winners were Vivian Hannah, Paula Latanville, Annie Hill, Murray Kaake, Herb Workman and Hazel Harris. The next euchre will be April 17 at 1:30 p.m. at the Drop- In Centre.

Nobleton United Church

The Nobleton United Church Women are holding their annual spring luncheon May 2, at 12:30 p.m. at Nobleton United Church. The guest speaker is Nobleton resident Bev Berger. She is the national spokesperson for Dog Guides Canada, and has travelled widely across Canada, speaking to various communities.

We are pleased to have Bev speak in her hometown. Tickets are $12 each.

Please call Helen at (905) 859-0744, Mary at (905) 859-0448 or the church office at (905) 859-3976.

Nobleton United warmly welcomes all to attend this Sunday's service at 11:15 a.m. with Chaplaincy Resident Tessa Russell- Hopkinson, as our regular minister Tim Dayfoot is away on study leave. Tessa is Nancy and Alan Hopkinson's daughter-inlaw. Tessa and John Hopkinson will be adding their beautiful voices to the choir. Tessa is currently a chaplaincy resident at Toronto General Hospital, as well as Toronto Western and Princess Margaret.

Nobleton United Church will be hosting another Roast Beef Dinner fund-raiser April 28 at 6:30 pm. at the Nobleton Community Hall. Tickets are required in advance, $17 per person, and $8 for children 12 and under. Contact Mary Anne at (905) 859-0709 or Nancy at (905) 859-0761 for tickets. Last year, we sold out quickly. Don't miss out on all those delicious homemade pies. Get your tickets soon.

St. Mary Knights of

Columbus

The ninth annual fundraising dinner-dance, sponsored by the St. Mary Knights of Columbus, will be April 21.

It will at the Imperial Ballroom on Highway 27 in Nobleton, and will open with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7.

Tickets are available by calling Chris Andrews at (905) 859-1448.

Proceeds from the event are to go toward the St. Mary Church building fund.

St. Paul's Presbyterian

Church Join us this evening (April 11) for our mid-week prayer and communion service. This 20-minute service is ideal for those in our community who cannot make a regular Sunday morning service. Our Men's Life study resumes this Thursday (April 12) at 9:30 a.m. Our Youth Group event scheduled for this Friday evening has been cancelled. The Saturday morning men's study continues at 8:30 a.m. The Children's Clothing Circle will be open this coming Monday (April 16) from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. All spring and summer items are now available. Come lend a helping hand to the women who will be quilting Tuesday morning

April 17) starting at 9:30 a.m. Join us this Sunday at 9:45 a.m. as we welcome Alan and Natalie Self from Campus for Christ to the pulpit. Nursery care (for children up to five years) is provided during the service and Sunday school for all ages follows at 11 a.m. For more information about any of our events, please contact the church office at

905) 859-0843.

Horticulture

Submitted

by John Arnott

"April's garden holds the secrets of spring and the seeds of summer." (Egomet)

I've begun the spring clean up of my garden.

I don't do a fall one and neither does nature, as fallen leaves and stalks help insulate the ground in cold snowless weather, while standing stalks and branches act as snow catchers, allowing a covering of snow to build on

this Sunday

the garden, giving it much more needed protection (those unraked leaves also provide winter protection for ladybugs,the gardener's friends).

Now I begin to cut down dead stalks and lightly rake them off the garden. I'm very careful that I don't damage the emerging sprouts of plants and I hold off loosening the soil until I think all my perennials that survived winter have sprouted.

Some plants, such as day lilies (hemerocallis), yarrow (achillea) and cone flowers (Echinacea), are easy to spot as they stay green at ground level throughout the winter while hostas, gaura and columbine (aquilegia) don't show above ground until late April to early May. Sedums, hollyhocks (alcea) and pyrethrums (tanacetum) show bright green growth in very early spring, but lupines, peonies (paeonia) and some varieties of phlox and beard tongue (penstemon) have early growth that is dark red or reddish bronze and is difficult to see in the April garden. The new shoots of plants like coral bells (heuchera) and avens (geum) are pushing up under the rosette of last season's leaves, some of which will be dead, so care is needed when raking or cleaning around them.

Before digging up a shrub that seems to be dead, scratch a little bark off two or three solid branches near the plant's base. If some green or greenish white shows, then there's a good chance it's still alive.

Remember that butterfly bush (buddleia) in this area usually dies right back to ground level and new growth doesn't appear until well into May.