Lions gala is fast approaching

The Nobleton Lions Club annual Draw and Fund- Raising Gala is almost here!

The event is being held this Saturday (June 13). The draw has changed from the elimination type format. This means that unless you've already won some cash, you're still in the draw and eligible for the big prizes right to the very end. There is still almost $9,000 in cash prizes left to be won. The ticket price has dropped to $40, and tickets are now for a single person, not a couple, so singles pay less, and a couple buying two tickets will have two chances at the cash prizes. Tickets are now available from local businesses, and from Lions members, often at the Nobleton Plaza. If you have a usual source for your tickets, please don't hesitate to get in touch, as time is running out.

The gala has another new element this year - a musical showcase has been added. The show will consist of a tribute to the King - Elvis, performed by an awardwinning veteran of the Collingwood Elvis Festival.

Where else can you have an exciting night out, not have to travel too far from home, while enjoying a hot barbecue roast beef dinner and show with music, cash bar, and perhaps even pick up a bargain at the silent auction - all for $40 per person? The auction will include new and different items this year, as well as some of the most popular items from years past.

The gala event is the major fund-raiser for the club, and proceeds from the event go to sponsor numerous organizations in and around town. Your support is greatly appreciated by the Lions, and those who they support, in keeping with their motto, "We Serve."

For information on tickets, or on the event, please call Glen Gauslin at (905) 859-4456, or Manny Pereira at (905) 859-1331.

Horticulture

"A rose grows wild in the country. A tree grows tall as the sky. The wind blows wild in the country. And part of that wild, wild country am I . . ."

Now wild and part of our local countryside, are several alien and invasive plants that have escaped the garden and liking what they've found beyond it grow unchecked choking out native plants as they spread. One of these escapees is bugleweed (ajuga), native to much of Europe and Asia with two of its 40 species found in Tasmania (Australia). It gets its common name from the way the leaves around the flowerhead look, while its botanical name comes from Greek through Latin and means. "a" (without) and "jugum" (yoke), possibly because this member of the mint (lamiaceae) family is the only one whose flowers lack an upper lip.

The bugleweed or bugle carpet most often found in our area is ajuga reptans (Latin for creeping), that is sold in garden centres as a no-care ground cover. This fast-spreading plant thrives in shade or sun, forming dense mats that will choke out almost anything it overgrows. Standing about four inches high, it is covered in pretty bright blue (rarely pink or white) flowers in late spring to early summer. Its green or burgundy bronze leaves stay all year. Some gardeners grow it around the base of large trees where nothing else will grow, but it will spread into the lawn if not contained. Although it spreads by underground stolons or runners, it is shallow rooted and can be kept in place by metal, vinyl or concrete barriers sunk into the ground about one foot. But left unchecked, it will spread wild like a deer (which won't eat it) or a dove, and move almost as fast. I've battled bugleweed planted in my Tottenham area garden by a previous owner who allowed it to run wild. I've managed to eliminate it except for two small contained patches which should be dug up. But my it does have those attractive bronze leaves and short spikes of lovely blue flowers.

Snow-in-summer, or mouse ear chickweed (cerastium-Latin from the Greek word "keras" meaning horn and referring to the shape of its tiny seed pods) is another native of Europe and western Asia and is often seen in old rockeries or abandoned ones in our area, where it is the lone survivor. This tough, low-growing plant that quickly forms mats of gray leaves will soon be covered in small five petaled white flowers. It thrives in average garden conditions, but grows equally well in hot, dry locations in sandy or clay soils. Its long, threadlike roots go deep into the ground in search of nutrients and moisture. Once established it is extremely difficult to eradicate.

The two most common garden varieties found for sale are c.tomentosum (Latin for small matted hairs a reference to its tiny woolly leaves) and c.biebersteinii, a variety with longer woolly leaves and of sparser flowering habit native to southern Russia and named for German explorer Baron Friedrich von Bieberstein.

Eurasian cerastiums are distantly related to the native North American mouse ear chickweed (a real weed pest). All are members of the pink family. I've almost got rid of my cerastium tomentosum, planted by the same previous owner however the one remaining patch, now contained, is just ready to bloom, so I'll wait until its finished as I did last year.

Periwinkle is sometimes called myrtle (vinca or vincapervinca) Latin for bind or bind through the bind as this plant has been used from ancient times to make wreaths. Myrtle comes from the Greek for crown or wreath of victory. Minor, Latin for little (referring to its leaves) is often used as part of its botanical name. This plant differs from vinca major (large leaves) an annual sold here as Madagascar periwinkle. By the by, vinca gives us our words vine and wine. This creeping vine with its small, glossy, dark-green leaves and lovely, five-petaled, sky-blue flowers and native to the Mediterranean area, has also leaped the garden wall and gone wild in the country. It spreads by runners that lie on the ground and grow in sections, each two to three inches long. Where an old section meets a new one, thread-like fibrous roots develop, penetrating the ground to anchor it.

Some years ago, my neighbour at our cottage in the southern Georgian Bay area bought a clump of it at a reputable city nursery to plant on the stony slope in front of his cottage to help keep it from eroding away. It did the job, soon forming a solid ground hugging evergreen cover that shed both rain and snow but a bit of it escaped into the nearby brush and from there it spread into the bush. Just a couple of years later it had formed a solid mat underlying the trees for several square feet and was admired for its mass of blue flowers. Now after more than 20 years, it covers several hundred square feet and it continues to spread, killing the native plants as it goes. This spring, I noticed a small patch growing along a lesser used trail in the conservation bush near my home. I should pull it out but right now its covered in such beautiful sky blue flowers.

Besides being tough and beguiling, these three oldworld perennials have as yet no natural enemies in the new world to keep them in check, and so they continue to grow and spread "wild and free in these new lands that they love" (apologies to Elvis Presley and song writers Luigi Creatore, Hugo Peretti and George Weiss).

St. Patrick/St. Mary Catholic Churches

The Corpus Christi Eucharistic Procession will be June 13 at 5 p.m. Children should be dressed in their First Communion attire or in their national costumes, and girls can carry a basket filled with flower petals which will be thrown before the Blessed Sacrament in procession. Parents/guardians, please bring the little ones for this beautiful event so in their hearts they can carry memories into the journey of life. Everyone is cordially invited.

Nobleton seniors' activities

The winners of the June 2 euchre were Herb Workman, Murray Hilliard, Anne Hill, Doris Hill and Keith Bagley. The evening bid euchre winners were Murray Hilliard, Ivan Hilliard, Bernice Tasca, Shirley Jessob and Dorothy Courts. The next evening euchre is June 9. Afternoon euchre and evening bid euchre will be June 16. June 23 is evening euchre and June 30 will be the Strawberry Pot Luck supper, followed by euchre.

Nobleton Tennis Club

June events include men's and ladies' social play Wednseday evenings at 7:30, all levels.

Ladies' lessons run Monday evenings at 7 p.m., or arrangements can be made with the coach for a more preferable time. Beginners to advanced players.

Junior lessons are available at your convenience. For insurance purposes, all players require a membership.

For more information, call Tania Leslie at (905) 939-0635 or e-mail to Nobletontennisclub@routcom.co m

St. Paul's 'Crash' seminar

Would you like to learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus and a member of his church?

Then come to Jeff's "Crash" Church Membership Seminar this Sunday (June 14) at 11:30 a.m. Enjoy a light lunch and get learning. There is no charge for this event.

To register, contact Jeff at jeff@stpaulsnobleton.ca

Our prayer group meets this evening (Wednesday) at 7:30 p.m.

Do you go to the cottage summer weekends? Do you have a friend who works Sunday? Our new Thursday celebration is a worship gathering intended for those who can't come Sunday in the summer. Come out tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. for a time of singing and Bible teaching.

Camp WannaknowGod is the name of our Bible Fun Camp this year and it will run from July 6 to 10 (from 9 a.m. to noon). Contact the church office at (905) 859- 0843 to pre-register.

Join us Sunday at 10 a.m. and hear Jeff bust the myth All you need is luck. Child care (for children five years of age and younger) is provided during the gathering and the Children's Christian Education Program takes place at the same time.

For more information about any of our activities or events, please contact the church office at (905) 859- 0843 or visit our web site at www.stpaulsnobleton.ca