Our favourite picks for spring

Must horse around

Bring your horse for a day of pure fun at Equi-Fest 2011. There are no competitions at this day-long, multi-disciplinary celebration of all things equine.

You and your horse can participate in clinics on pole or barrel racing, reining, riding sidesaddle and much more. There will be an equine marketplace and on-site services, including equine massage, Bowen and chiropractic therapies, as well as a vet and a farrier. At lunchtime, there will be Western, drill team and musical riding demonstrations.

Equi-Fest is an all-local event hosted by the WHOA, the Women Horse Owners’ Association, an 80-member network of horse enthusiasts in the hills (men are welcome too).

The event takes place on Sunday, June 5 from 8:30 am to
5 pm at the Orangeville Fair-grounds, on 5 Sideroad Mono, off Hockley Road. Admission is $60 for horse and rider; $40 for stall rental; $5 for spectators.

No trailer? Not even a horse? See the website for information about renting a ride for the day: womenhorseownersassoc.com

Must jive

Orangeville will be jumping and jiving once again this year when the Blues and Jazz Festival takes over the downtown cafés, restaurants, parks and streets from June 2 to 5.

The annual festivities get underway Thursday evening with a gala dinner and concert at the Best Western Hotel ($35), and from then it’s an all-out, weekend-long musical extravaganza that includes dozens of mostly free performances, jam sessions and workshops by local, national and international performers on Broadway and adjoining streets, and at Alexandra Park behind the town hall.

The musical events are accompanied by a host of other activities, including a classic car parade, art exhibitions, the Saturday morning farmers’ market, and the downtown merchants’ sidewalk sale.

Last year the Festival attracted more than 6,ooo visitors and organizer Larry Kurtz, whose band Trouble & Strife will be among the performers, expects that number will be easily matched this year.

For the full schedule of performers and venues, visit objf.org.

Must restore

Orangeville’s Mill Creek once flowed strongly enough to power several mills, and it provided a habitat for brook trout and other aquatic life. But over the years, the town’s historic waterway has become in some places little more than a muddy ditch. Now a program called the Orangeville Coldwater Conservation Challenge, or C3, has been formed to involve residents in plans for the restoration of the Creek.

C3’s first event will be a public meeting on Thursday, April 7 at 7 pm, at the Seniors Centre, 26 Bythia Street. The second will be a “walk and talk” tour of the creek. It will take place on Saturday, April 16, starting from the Orangeville Banner parking lot on Mill Street at 1 pm.

C3 is sponsored by the Greg Clark chapter of Trout Unlimited Canada, the Izaak Walton Fly Fishing Club, the Town of Orangeville, and Credit Valley Conservation. If you want to participate by completing a survey or otherwise lend your support to the cause, contact [email protected].

Must quack!

Aaaaaaaaaand – they’re off!

On Saturday, May 28, 2,000 yellow rubber duckies will hurtle three-eighths of a mile along the Grand River – and the owners of the first two ducks to cross the finish line will pocket $1,000 each.

The race is the highlight of the 16th annual Grand Valley Lions Duck Race. The day starts with a free breakfast at the community centre (cash donations appreciated) and the horticultural society’s plant sale. The ducks are dropped into the river by crane at 2 pm. Pre- and post-race festivities in Grand Valley’s Hereward Park include live music, hamburgers and hot dogs, and kids’ entertainment.

You can own a duck for $5. Buy yours on the day of the event or in advance from a Lions Club member. Cash prizes totalling $4,150 will be awarded to 14 finishers. Proceeds from the day go to community projects.

Must rhyme

I was building a big banking scam
On my super computer named Sam
Until I annulled it by
Trying to multiply
Numbers too big for its RAM.

— “Multiply” by Patrick Watson

Roll over Edward Lear, renowned Canadian broadcaster and Mono resident Patrick Watson has turned his fertile mind to limericks.

With classical references and allusions to historical figures and contemporary mores, Watson, 81, gives the anapestic (ta-ta-TUM) and amphibrachic (ta-Tum-ta) metrical feet an energetic, and clean, workout.

You can find a copy of Watson’s 200-page book, Limericks, in local bookstores in April (published by McArthur & Co.).

Must attend

Over the past two years, Headwaters Concert Choir has performed in prestigious concert halls in Salzburg and Prague, as well as at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the celebrations for the 65th anniversary of the liberation of France by the Allies. Next year, the choir will perform at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

You have a chance to see and hear this internationally celebrated choir when it joins voices with the Brampton Festival Singers this spring for a concert called Magnificent Mozart at Rose Theatre in downtown Brampton.

The combined 100-voice choir will perform Mozart’s Trinity Mass with a full orchestra. Robert Hennig is the director of both choirs, but they have performed together only twice before.

The one-night-only concert is at 7:30 pm on Sunday, May 29. Tickets for the concert are $25, through the Rose Theatre box office, online at rosetheatre.ca or 905-874-2800.

____________________

Do you have a favourite Must do spring/summer event In The Hills?