Willie failed to see his shadow
CHURCHILL NEWS
by Linda Gerow

Wiarton Willie, Canada's most famous weather prognosticating rodent, failed to see his shadow when roused from his slumber Saturday morning in the small southern Ontario community.

Folklore has it that if a groundhog sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, he'll flee to his burrow, heralding six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't, it means an early spring, according to reports from Allison Jones of the Canadian Press on Feb. 2. I, for one, get a kick out of this whole hoopla of a soothsaying rodent but in all truth, we're likely to get six more weeks of winter regardless of the groundhog's decision. I'd like to think that spring is just around the corner but I remain on the fence. Either way, as my grandmother used to say, "It'll come when it gets here." Right on!

Library news: Churchill branch manager, Debra Mann. Phone number is 456- 2671. The branch is closed on Sundays, Mondays and Fridays. The current session of programs runs from Jan. 15 to Feb. 26. Check with the branch for space availability.

F3 (Food, friends, fun) - Hang-out with us as we make tasty snacks, play games and do other activities in this after school club. Tuesdays from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Family Storytime - A storytime for children of all ages accompanied by their caregivers. This storytime includes games, rhymes, fingerplays and stories is designed for the whole family to enjoy. Thursdays from 2 to 2:45 p.m.

First Nations Public Library Week runs from Feb. 11 to 16 this year. Ontario celebrates First Nations Public Library Week in February each year during the week in which Valentine's Day occurs. The winter timing of the week observes the First Nations' traditional snow-on-theground time for storytelling.

Celebrate Family Day with the Frosty Challenge by building a snowman together! Teams of two to five people will have one hour to build a snowman. The team with the best snowman will win four passes for tubing at Snow Valley. This a free event, registration required. Saturday February 23 at 1 p.m. See the library for rules and regulations.

Silver Birch: A reading program for children in grades 3 to 6. This program includes 10 fiction and 10 non-fiction titles. It also includes 10 express titles that are aimed at grades 3 to 4. Children are invited to read at least five titles from each category and vote on their favourite title. Call your branch for details.

Movies: All tickets are $2, refreshments are $1.Churchill branch: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium on Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. Bee Movie on March 1 at 1 p.m.

Coming Soon - Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Water Horse.

Churchill United Church news: Visit the website at www.churchillgilfordunitedc hurches.org. Check it out.

Churchill Community Play Group meets Tuesday mornings at 9:30 a.m. at the Churchill United Church on Highway 11. Toys, crafts, songs, books and snacks are available along with coffee and friendship. Please call Kim for information at 456- 1859.

The Parish of Churchill and Cookstown Junior Youth Group (COOL) has its next meeting on Feb. 7 at St. Peter's, beginning at 6:30 p.m. This is for youth aged nine to 12 years. Call Pam at 735-3484 for information. The youth group now has a new name, Christians Obey our Lord (COOL).

Senior youth group: The teen youth group will meet alternate Sundays at St. John's Anglican Church in Cookstown from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Please contact Pam for any information and upcoming dates at 735- 3484.

Euchre: Euchre at St. Peter's Anglican church takes place on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. Everyone is welcome to drop by any Wednesday and join in.

Get well wishes go to our good friend, Marg Hindle, who is in the hospital. Also, we send our best wishes to Eve Gardner, another special lady. We miss you both.

Smile: I went to the cinema the other day and in the front row was an old man and with him was his dog. It was a sad funny kind of film, you know the type. In the sad part, the dog cried his eyes out and in the funny part the dog laughed its head off. This happened all the way through the film. After the film had ended, I decided to go and speak to the man.

"That's the most amazing thing I've seen," I said. "That dog really seemed to enjoy the film."

The man turned to me and said, "Yeah, it is. He hated the book."

If you have any news/items for this column, please contact me at 436- 9769 or e-mail lagerow@rogers.com.