This Week's Possibilities Newsletter is Here

Cathy Wins Essex Fall Photo Contest!

Earlier this month, the Town of Essex held the #EssexFallPhoto contest, which was sponsored by Essex town councilors and local businesses. To enter, participants visited the Essex Town Hall, took photos in front of the decorated gazebo, and posted them on social media with the hashtag #EssexFallPhoto.

Cathy joined in on the fall fun, along with lots of people from all over Essex, for her chance to win!

Cathy was the lucky winner of a gift certificate from Olde School Deli donated by Justin Gagnon.

Thanks to the Town of Essex parks staff for creating a beautiful fall backdrop and way to go Cathy!

Virtual Ruthven Apple Raises Over $16,000

As you know, due to safety concerns with COVID-19, we shifted the 2020 Ruthven Apple Festival from its traditional live event scheduled at Colasanti’s for September 26-27 to a virtual format with a host of events presented online.

The first ever live online apple peeling contest kicked off the 2020 event. The vendors market, pie and art auctions were the most popular sites visited. Videos of musical performances, cooking classes and virtual classic car show were shared on Facebook.

The results of our first ever virtual fundraiser far exceeded expectations as over 2,300 people were reached online, with 1,874 link clicks and 1,100 virtual event responses. The outpouring of community support was amazing as 100 Apple Fest baskets sold out one week before the event!

With the support of 25 local sponsors, combined with online sales of nearly 100 apple pies and auction items we raised a total of $16,500!

Finally, a special thanks to Apple Fest steering committee members, volunteers, staff and community partners for their support in making our first virtual fundraiser a huge success.

What's Happening This Weekend?

Virtual Halloween Party

You are invited to a hair-raising Halloween Party! R.L. Stine, author of the much-loved Goosebumps series, Scholastic and the Novel Neighbour are teaming up to bring you a socially-distant way to celebrate.

Get ready for a party that's jam-packed with fun activities:

A reading of a never-before-heard scary story by R.L. Stine
Q&A - Ask R.L. Stine a question!
Goosebumps trivia game
Spine-tingling facts about the series

Registration is optional, but recommended.

Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 7:00 PM –Sun, Nov 1, 2020, 8:00 PM

Click Here to Register

Community Supporter Spotlight

RONA Leamington

According to a statement that appears on their company website, RONA believes that their community involvement program allows them to help build stronger communities, adding a whole new dimension to something they hold dear: making a difference in somebody’s day, every day.

Community Living Essex County has had a front row seat to witness and benefit from RONA-Leamington and their community involvement. For several years now, RONA Leamington has selected Community Living Essex County as their charity of choice for their corporate “Heroes Giving” program.

The Heroes Giving program is operated in conjunction with LOWES Canada, and for every $2.00 raised at RONA, LOWES Canada contributes $1.00. Over $10,000 has been raised to date from this program. As well, RONA staff have organized several weekend community barbeques in support of Community Living Essex County.

RONA Leamington continues to lend their support to community events and fundraisers such as the recent “Put Your Money Where Your Mask Is” campaign, Ruthven Apple Festival and the “Lighting It Up” for National Disability Employment Awareness month. RONA has also been a long time advocate of hiring people with disabilities.

Just like brick and mortar come together to form a solid wall, RONA truly believes that community involvement is the key to building strong communities. Thank you RONA Leamington for your continued support!

Check Out These Halloween Decorations!

With Halloween just around the corner, we wanted to share some photos of the front porch Halloween decorations at homes where supports are provided by Community Living Essex County! Some are spooky, while some are silly! Even though Halloween might be a bit different this year, we can still get into the spirit by carving (or painting!) pumpkins and decorating our front porches!

A Reminder for This Weekend

It's Time to Fall Back - Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of setting the clocks forward one hour from standard time during the summer months, and back again in the fall, in order to make better use of natural daylight.

Daylight Saving Time History in Canada

Canada first observed Daylight Saving Time in 1908
Canada has observed DST for 108 years between 1908 and 2020 (DST in at least one location)

On July 1, 1908, the residents of Port Arthur, Ontario, today's Thunder Bay, turned their clocks forward by 1 hour to start the world's first DST period. Other locations in Canada soon followed suit. On April 23, 1914, Regina in Saskatchewan implemented DST. The cities of Winnipeg and Brandon in Manitoba did so on April 24, 1916.

DST in Canada Today

It is up to the legislation in each municipality in Canada to decide on the use of DST. As a result, there are some locations that don't follow the DST schedule of their provinces and territories. For example, while British Columbia uses DST, some locations in the province do not. These include Chetwynd, Creston, Dawson Creek, Fort Nelson, and Fort St. John. In Saskatchewan, it is the opposite. Most of the province does not observe DST, except for some locations, including Creighton and Denare Beach. From March 8, 2020, Yukon made DST permanent.

Since 2007, all provinces, territories, and locations in Canada using DST follow the same start and end dates as the United States.

Sunday, November 1, 2020, 2:00:00 am clocks are turned backward 1 hour to Sunday, November 1, 2020, 1:00:00 am local standard time instead.

Sunrise and sunset will be about 1 hour earlier on Nov 1, 2020 than the day before. There will be more light in the morning.

Tips to Adjust

Do get as much light as possible when you wake up. You may not feel like throwing open those curtains as soon as you open your eyes but this is the most effective way to jumpstart the change. Your body sets its rhythm in large part by light.

Do exercise in the morning. This gets you up and moving, as well as exposing you to light and raising your body temperature – all great ways to wake your body up.

Do go to bed at your typical time Saturday night before the clocks change. As we are a typically sleep-deprived society, we should take advantage of the extra hour of sleep.

Don’t over-caffeinate. Enjoy your morning cup, or whatever your usual coffee habit may be. But don’t alter your caffeine routine.

Ruthven Apple Festival

An Ode to Mom

For over 15 years, local musician Derrick Hearns and a group of his dedicated musical bandmates have performed at the annual Ruthven Apple Festival in support of Community Living Essex County.

As a proud member of the Essex County Musicians Hall of Fame, Hearns has performed for years at many local events and has secured a loyal following of fans. One of his biggest fans, which should come as no surprise, was his mother Rose who never missed any of his Apple Festival performances.

Unfortunately, for the first time in years, the combination of Rose’s serious health concerns and the cancellation of the Ruthven Apple Festival due to COVID would prevent Rose from attending her son's scheduled performance in late September at Colasanti's.

As the festival moved to a virtual format, Derrick was pleased to be able to perform, albeit virtually for his mom. Derrick knew that his mother’s health wasn’t going to improve anytime soon as she battled congestive heart issues. It was sad to watch as his biggest fan, with limitations to visits due to COVID-19 moved from her retirement residence to hospital and finally to Hospice. Despite a heavy heart, Derrick was determined to bring mom a large dose of joy in her final days. That joy came in the way of an advance screening of his pre-recorded Apple Festival performance for September 26-27, which he dedicated to her.

Although she couldn’t talk, she opened her eyes, listened and smiled. Rose Margaret Hearns died on September 27^th at the age of 84.

Consider registering for the virtual Jingle Bell Run, Walk and Wheel! The weather is getting cooler and it's easy to stay nice and warm indoors. Use this as a motivator to keep active and in shape during the lead up to the holidays AND support a great cause! All proceeds to Community Living Essex County.