Happy 2011 wishes to Clyde River
The writers of this blog have taken a break over Christmas but it’s time to send along Happy New Year greetings to the readers of the Clyde River site and to provide a bit of a community update.
News from events at the Riverview Community Centre
The Clyde River Annual Adult Christmas Party was well attended and by all reports, everyone who attended had a great time with lots of laughs. Next December, hopefully others will consider including this event in their schedule because it really is a nice way to start the “season” and connect with your neighbours.
The Children’s Party, however, was not well attended. Maybe there are not enough little children in Clyde River at this time for a children‘s party. It was discouraging to the organizers who had a great program prepared. Feedback on this initiative would be appreciated.
On Dec.11, the Presbyterian Churches held a well attended Senior’s Christmas Dinner and once again, under the leadership of Thelma Gillespie, a delicious turkey dinner was enjoyed by all who were there. Dinners were delivered to those seniors who were unable to turn out for the event.
Some families used the Community Centre in the past month to host extended family Christmas get-togethers and that works very well as families grow and houses can not accommodate large parties. The Community Centre is available to residents of Clyde River for such purposes. For more information, contact Betty Watts, President of the Clyde River Women’s Institute.
Thank you to all who purchased a 2011 calendar of Historic Homes and Buildings in Clyde River. This was a popular project and to date, there are only a dozen calendars left to sell.
On December 20th, at the last Monday night crokinole party before a Christmas break, old Santa made yet another appearance and the players enjoyed extra social time over lunch to make the evening special. Every Monday night, two ladies of Clyde River provide a lunch for crokinole players. It’s easy to pick up laughter during crokinole nights. The group really has a lot of fun !! New players are always welcome.
Between Christmas and New Year’s, Bluefield High School’s RAP (respect-accept-protect) team held a band practice at the Centre and it was rocking with guitars and drums as they perfect their music and prepare to offer a positive anti-bullying program for schools in the area. Emily Ross takes a leadership role in this program. Congratulations to the 16 members of this team for their work.
On January 8th, Clyde River’s LEAP program with Clyde River artist Julia Purcell will begin. 16 people have signed up for this program – half from Clyde River and the others from nearby districts. Look forward to seeing their finished work at an Open House on April 9,2011.
From about the community
Congratulations to Ruth Herlihy who celebrated her 96th birthday on Christmas Eve. She lives with her daughter in her own home in Clyde River. Ruth enjoys getting out with people and she attended church on January 2nd with her grand-daughter Rev. Jolyn Campbell.
Lloyd Murray, Clyde River’s other 95 yr old miracle,recently had surgery and so spent Christmas in hospital. Typical of Lloyd’s good nature, although he missed home he was appreciative of the good care.
In this community, there were many examples of “angels among us” over the Christmas Season as individuals and churches noticed and helped neighbours and friends as needed. This help was anything from providing food to car drives to a listening ear.Angels act anonymously so definitive examples are not named but special thanks to one Clyde River couple who spearheaded an overwhelming positive drive for a family experiencing especially difficult times. There are, no doubt, other individuals or families with other types of needs but in a caring community like Clyde River, all that is needed is to reach out asking for help and someone will respond if there is any way they can help.