Annual Bazaar

Nobleton United Church will hold their annual bazaar Oct. 24 in the church basement from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The church is at 6076 King Rd. W. in Nobleton.

As always, there will be a large selection of home baking; delicious pies, tarts, muffins, cookies and cakes. At the gourmet table, you will find your favourite meat pies — beef and chicken; casseroles and homemade candy. The home preserves are popular; look for chili sauce, relishes, jams, sweet pickles and pickled beets.

Raffle tickets on a beautiful quilt, afghan, casserole cover and casserole will be sold at the bazaar, or look for our church ladies selling tickets at our local plazas. The draw will take place at 1 p.m. the day of the bazaar. Some large quilts and crib quilts will be on display at the bazaar and can be ordered or purchased.

Remember to stop by the tent for a yummy hamburger or hot dog, or go inside to the tea room. Look forward to a new menu.

Other items of interest will include treasures, books and fish pond.

Pasta Night

Mark your calendars and plan to attend the annual Pasta Night to be held at St. Patrick Catholic Church Hall in Schomberg Oct. 16 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children and kids five and younger get in free. For tickets, call the parish office at (905) 939-2256.

Horticulture

“Life is just a bowl of cranberries, So don’t be so serious. Cranberries aren’t too mysterious?”

And native to acidic bogs in the cooler regions of the Northern Hemisphere, where they have a long history being used as a source of food and for medicinal purposes since prehistoric times. There are four species of cranberries (several subspecies too) and they grow on small wiry stemmed evergreen shrubs only two to nine inches tall, or on trailing vines up to six feet long.

The tiny flower has turned back, usually dark pink petals that allow the style and stamens to protrude out completely exposed. The plants depend on native bees to pollinate them. The fruit or berry that is then produced is larger than any of the tiny leaves. Most berries start off white and gradually turn dark red as they ripen although in one species the ripe berries are a pale pink.

Common or Northern Cranberry (vaccinium — Latin for bilberry oxycoccos from Greek words oxy meaning bitter and kokkos meaning red also called oxycoccos palustris — Latin for marsh/bog loving), with its pale pink berries that have a refreshing though somewhat acidic taste is found across the cooler Northern Hemisphere.

Large Cranberry, American Cranberry, Bearberry (oxycoccos macrocarpon or viccinium macrocarpus — Latin for big fruit), with its larger fruit and leaves and slight apple taste, is native to eastern Canada and the eastern U.S.A. This is the variety with which we in our area are most familiar.

Small Cranberry (o. microcarpum or v. microcarpus Latin for small fruit) is native to northern Europe and northern Asia while Southern Mountain Cranberry (o. erythrocarpum or v. erythrocarpus-Latin for red fruited) is found in the Appalachian Mountains, where they extend into the southeastern U.S.A. as well as in eastern Asia.

“So keep repeating it’s the berries. One of the sweet things in life that for us are here grown . . .”

Cranberries are members of the heath-heather (ericaceae) family and closely related to blueberries bilberries and huckleberries.

In some regions of Canada, cranberries are called mossberries. In Britain, especially England, they are known as fenberries, as they grow in the fens (marshy areas).

The First Nations people often used dried cranberries when they prepared pemmican a nutritious high protein food made from dried meat. They also used them for a medicine to treat cuts and wounds. As well, it was a source of dye for them. First Nations in the Massachusetts area of the eastern U.S.A. introduced these berries they called sassamanach to the English Pilgrim settlers, who soon included them in their diet and of course they were used in their first Thanksgiving in the New World and in Thanksgivings to follow. The British settlers that followed the Pilgrims gave the plant the name crane berry because to them the flower resembled the head and neck of marsh bird we call a crane.

Growing cranberries commercially is big business here in Ontario and as these berries ripen from mid- September to mid-October the harvest is in full swing now. Most will be made into juice, jams and jellies (we call sauce) or dried to be used in scones and muffins or eaten as a healthy snack. (I mix them with raisins and almonds and I also use them when making dressing/stuffing for chicken or turkey). Cranberries are now being grown on a small scale in Chile and temperate Australia-New Zealand.

A good place nearby to see the interesting way cranberries are grown and harvested is the Cranberry Festival at Bala in the Muskoka region the weekend after Thanksgiving.

By the by, the popular shrub highbush cranberry is a viburnum not a member of the cranberry family

“You see that life is just a bowl of cranberries. So live, love and laugh at it all!” (Apologies to George Gershwin).

The World Vision ‘Well’ Project at St. Paul's Church

Come join us this Sunday (Oct. 18) at 10 a.m. for our special Thankoffering Gathering.

Michelle Morrison of World Vision will be our guest speaker this day. Michelle will tell us about the Well Project that her organization runs in Third World countries to enable locals access to safe, clean water. The congregation at St. Paul's is working towards the purchase of one of these wells. Child care (for children five years of age and younger) is provided during the gathering and our Kidz Konnection program (for kids in Grades 1 to 8) takes place at the same time.

Our LifeConnect Groups meet weekly to study scripture together, based on the previous Sunday’s message. If you'd like to join a LifeConnect Group, but can not make it to our gatherings Sunday mornings, you can listen to Jeff’s message through the week via the Internet at www.passionatelyhis. com

Contact the church office at (905) 859-0843 to get dates and times for LifeConnect Group meetings.

Our Prayer Group meets Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. The Community Youth Group will be heading to the cottage this weekend. Contact the church for details and permission forms.

For more information about any of our activities or events, please contact the church office or visit our Web site at www.stpaulsnobleton. ca

Nobleton seniors’ activities

The winners of the Tuesday afternoon euchre were Bill Groombridge, Colleen Coulter, Annie Hill and Paula Latanville. The winners of the evening bid euchre were Lou Curtis, Paula Latanville, Bernice Tasca and Bill Groombridge.

Oct. 20 is the next afternoon euchre and evening bid euchre.

We have a number of activities planned for the next two months. Keep watching this column for details. The committee in charge of organizing the senior activities remain the same for the upcoming year. We would like to thank all the seniors for your support.