Archive August 2015 - February 2016

Deux-Montagnes Softball Registration - Saturdays March 5th and 12th
Click here for all the details

Lions Club Gives Library a $2000 Grant
Press release: Deux-Montagnes, February 17, 2016 – On February 3rd, the Library of Deux-Montagnes has received a grant of $ 2 000 offered by the Lions Club to enrich its collection of large print books and audio books.

Since 1980, the Lions Club contributes to these collections in French and English mainly for people with visual handicap. Through this annual financial aid, the Library members have a good variety of books of all kinds. These collections are available to the subscribers during the opening hours of the Library or through interlibrary loan. For more information, contact the Library of Deux-Montagnes at 450 473-2702.

Valentine's Supper and Dance at the Heritage - Details here

Score For The Cure Raises $4000 for Cancer Research
The Annual SFTC ball hockey tournament was held on February 6th, 2016 at the Klimas Sports Complex in Two Mountains Quebec. $4,000 was raised for Cancer research at the MUHC. The team for Beurling Academy won their division and went on to beat Division A champs Olympia/Soccer to claim the overall bragging rights. The tournament was featured on CTV News. There is also a video that I made that you can access by clicking on the picture below. I also have a few pictures of some of the teams posted here. The video link is now working and accessible here on by clicking the picture.
It was an ideal day, and the morning light snowfall made the ice surface very slippery. You might notice a few people in the video that seem to have a hard dealing with their balance.

Score For The Cure Ball Hockey Tournament - Saturday February 6th
The annual ball hockey tournament at the Klimas Sports Complex will take place from 8:30am to 5:00pm this Saturday (Feb 6). 8 teams in two divisions will be competing playing at least 4 games of 26 minutes (2 x 13 minute periods) each. There will be food and beverages for a donation. There will also be a raffle for great prizes including a pair of tickets to a Canadiens game as first prize. Last prize is a pair of tickets to the entire miserable season ;(
All the proceeds, including the 8 entry fees for the teams will go to cancer research at the MUHC. It all happens on Regent street in the Klimas backyard rink which may be a great shape or not depending on the weird weather we are having. The address is 254 Regent but you can't miss it as you will see all the cars. Click here for the schedule. Pictures and video will be posted here after the tournament.

Last Call at Gaetane's Party Bar

The little bar that could at the corner of 8th avenue and Oka Road will shut down operation on Sunday January 31st. The owner, Louise, has decided to move on as she will be working at the reincarnated Cave Greque on St- Louis street (St-Eustache) after she takes a well deserved rest.
We paid our last respects on Saturday evening (which was actually Sunday morning) as we thought the last song would be sung at last call. If you are reading this on Sunday evening, the bar will be open for one last time. Mike the KJ (seen in the picture) appropriately sang the last song 'Closing Time' by Semisonic. The dance music continued for a while after the 'legal' closing time of 3am as the worst that could happen would be to have to close down.
I did manage to snap a few pictures of the last moments and I can share some of them at this link.

Shirley Elizabeth Snell (Freeman) (Nee Reed) - October 11, 1928 – January 25, 2016

Obituary to Appear in Saturday January 30, Gazette - We have just lost the love of our lives, matriarch of our family, mother figure to many. Our Mom had an infectious sense of humour and was passionate about her family, the great outdoors, music, sports, baking and her four legged friends. “These were a few of her favourite things”. Great memories of all the times we shared together will never be forgotten. Lovingly remembered by her children, Terry (Larry), Brian (Vera), Nancy (Don) and Don Jr. (Linda), stepsons Blake (Anna) and Ronnie, 10 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren and extended family members and friends. Predeceased by her husband James Freeman, former spouse Donald Snell and sister, Cicely. Visitation will take place on Friday, February 5th from 2-5pm and 7-9pm at Salon Funéraire Guay, 146 rue Saint-Louis, St-Eustache, QC. Funeral will be held on Saturday, February 6th at 2pm, All Saints Church, 248 – 18th ave, Deux Montagnes, QC. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society would be greatly appreciated.

Click here for the online obituary.

Let’s Go Out and Play at the Winter Carnival in Deux-Montagnes!
Press release: Deux-Montagnes, January 19th, 2016 – The Lions Club annually organizes the traditional Deux-Montagnes Carnival: a much anticipated event for young and old alike. What better time to move around, and gather together with neighbours or family to enjoy winter activities.

Young and old will not want to miss this event that will take place on January 30th from 11 am to 4 pm at the Olympia Park. All activities are free and there will be sleigh rides, a broomball tournament, skating, slides and smiles. The Lions will serve free hot beverages, tasty soup, hot dogs and its famous Chilli that will keep you warm during these winter activities. Maple taffy on snow will also be available for all to enjoy. Appreciate a beautiful day outdoors in Deux-Montagnes and in good company!

Again this year, there will be a spaghetti supper fundraiser held from 5pm at Veterans' Hall, 141 Grand-Moulin in Deux-Montagnes. Tickets will be available at the door for only $12. The funds raised during this event will be donated to “Place William", an intellectually challenged activity center for autistic young adult. We invite you to end these carnival day activities with us at the Veterans Hall!

Click here for the schedule of the entire day.

Road to 60
Not sure how many of my readers have explored some of the links on top of this page, but there is one in particular that has been there for 10 years now. The one that is labelled the Road from 50 used to be called the Road to 50. It appear in January of 2006, as I was contemplating the arrival of my 50th birthday that was 5 months away. I started writing it as something to do on the train commute to work. Born in 1956, many of my school mates were also on the same road. It was a little scary but there were a lot of distractions and work was one of them. That one is no longer a distraction for me, but the road from 50 has had a few bumps and construction zones. Now that 60 is around the corner I have added chapter 6 to the saga. It's not that interesting, but it's there for you people that are on the same road. The strange thing about this road is that although its naturally getting slower, the scenery is moving at a faster pace. The link goes directly to chapter 6 but you can go back 10 years to chapter 1 if you really have nothing else to do.  

Windows 10, Do I Stay Or Do I Go? 100 million users can't be wrong, can they?
Since July of 2015, many people have asked me whether they should upgrade their Microsoft operating system to Windows 10. I personally was a little reluctant about upgrading as upgrades (even updates) are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Worse still, you never know what could stop working that was working in a previous version. The jump to Windows 10 is free if you bought a 'legal' copy of Microsoft 7 or 8. Originally, to have this free upgrade, you had to do it within the year of the Win 10 launch which was July 29, 2015. I am not sure if that time limit still applies but you will eventually have to make the decision whether or not to embrace Windows 10 or just get an iPad.
Firstly, let me say that I was very happy with 8.1 and because 2 of my PC's have touch screens and things worked very well. Before I retired, now 6 years ago, I worked for 30 years with computers, mostly on large corporate systems. In 1996, I started working on a huge system called SAP (The ones that sponsors Ernie Els and Martin Kaymer on the PGA tour). The software, much like on a PC, was developed in releases. There were major releases where the first number changes, like 7.0 to 8.0 and minor releases like from 3.1 to 3.2. Some software will have four levels of release separated by periods. On top of that, when something doesn't work properly, there are patches for individual parts of software. I was in charge of the technical part of SAP, so I would schedule when we would upgrade or simply update our systems. One thing I learned very quickly, is to not be the first ones in the world to upgrade to a new version. Being an early adopter at heart, I found out that it was much better for other people to get burnt with systems that didn't work, so my early adoption days in this field were very short. We also had several layers of systems to test these new changes before going into the 'production' systems.
All this to say, I have a fairly disciplined approach to upgrades even with my personal computers. I have 3 PC's; one where I do most of my 'important' work that houses my video and web editing software. We have a second one that is touch screen in the kitchen where we read the epaper, check our emails and play the odd game. The third one is the small convertible laptop that I travel with and use to play music or videos. Basically, the one in the kitchen is our 'test' computer which means that if it died, we could get by using one of the other two. Back in September, I decided that it was time to test drive Windows 10 to see what the fuss was about. Obviously, I chose the kitchen PC to be my 'victim' for the reason stated above. Now that I am an 'experienced' Windows 10 user, I think I can help answer the question in the title. Do I stay or do I go? To find out, I have to start a new page since it's not that easy a decision. Click here for that page which I will keep updated as I get feedback from some readers. There is an article here from PC Advisor that will give you some advice. It's a good article but I have a few more things to add.

Lucky February?
I just received an email about how this February will be a month that won't happen again in your lifetime. It says that there will be 4 of each weekday (which in itself is wrong as there will be 5 Mondays because of leap year). It says it won't happen again in 823 years. Similar emails are sent all the time for different months when there are 31 days which makes 5 Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. It tells you that if you forward this email (called Moneybags) to 5 people money will come your way within 4 days but only of you send it with a certain amount of minutes. On top of that, it mentions that it has something to do with Chinese Feng Shui which really doesn't make sense since it should be based on the Chinese calendar.
Anyway, I hope people reading don't believe in money coming their way based on forwarding emails. Most of us know that the only way to get money from the internet is by replying to anonymous emails sent from Nigeria where you have been chosen to inherit a portion of 10 million dollar bank account of an assassinated prince if you help them smuggle it into the country. By the way, February 2016 will not happen again in your lifetime, so make the most of it and because you have read this, any money coming your way in the next few weeks was my doing. To read the Lucky February email and a lot of the other scam letters I receive, you can click here but you have to do it in the next 7 minutes.

St Jude Elementary Open House
On Wednesday January 27th, St. Jude Elementary School will be hosting their Open House from 6pm to 8pm. Registration for the 2016-17 school year starts on February 1st.

St Jude's program includes the use of laptops and tablets in the classroom in what they call BYOD, Bring Your Own Devices. Part of their success is the emphasis on the use of technology and also extra French teaching time.

For details and appointments, you can call 450 621 7805 or visit their website at www.stjude.schoolqc.ca or click here for the open house poster.
 

Father Lowe Memorial Hockey Night/Spaghetti Supper
On Saturday January 23, 2016, the Toronto Maple Leafs are hosting the Montreal Canadiens at the Air Canada Center in Toronto. The Leafs, the late Father Lowe's team,  are close to celebrating the 50th anniversary of their last Stanley Cup while the Habs are struggling to keep their place at the top of their division. Both teams need a little support right now.

Supper will be served at 6:30 and game time on the big screen is 7:00pm. The price is only $15 for adults and $6 for children under 13. You can bring your own beer, wine or any beverage you desire. There will be door prizes, raffles and a half and half draw.

You are encouraged to wear you team colours, especially if they include red. The deadline for ticket is Sunday, January 17th. You can contact Lorna Halderman at 450 473-3404 for more info. Click here for all the details.

Special Invitation to Care Givers - Stress Of Caring
Ms. Josephine Piazza will be speaking on the “Stress of Caring” on Wednesday, January 27, from 9:00am to 12:00pm at Salle Annette Savoie, 200 rue Henri-Dunant. Come join us and learn about stress, how it affects us, as well as learn some techniques that will help you combat your stress. There will be kiosks with representatives from various organizations from the area that will be available to inform us on the services they provide as well as answer any questions you may have.

Click here for all the info on how to register before January 21st.
 

A Newer Record For A Late Golf Game
Today, Christmas Eve, was the warmest day on record for a December 24th in Montreal. The previous record of 8.3°C was beaten by almost 8 more degrees. It was also the latest that any golf course has opened north of Montreal. On Monday, I called two golf courses to reserve a tee-off time in case the long term forecast would actually be right for a change. Golf le Versant in Terrebonne told me there was no room as they were fully booked, not even for 2 golfers. I then called le Quatre Domaines in Mirabel to see if they had an opening. They also told me they were fully booked however they said that I could put my name on a waiting list. I asked how far down we would be on the list and they said we were first, so that if anyone cancelled we would get a tee-off time. Less than 30 minutes later I received a call that they would remove the tarps on the green of course #2 for one day and allow people to play. We got the first tee-off time at 9:30. According to the owner that we met as we got out of our car, course #2 sold out in an hour and there was a huge waiting list once again. He was very happy to see us ($$$) and was amazed that his course was even open for business. 300 hundred golfers at about $50 plus cart fees. $15,000 is a pretty good take considering the date. The starter (on #2 at least) didn't really have the Christmas spirit as I think he wanted to be home for the holidays.
This makes the golf season, from start to finish, around 235 days for the first time since 2012 when there was an early start. By the way, I got an email earlier this week from Golf le Versant that they were opening on Christmas Day. I don't think any of us have enough brownie points to pull that one off.
Anyway, we had a great time and Mike O actually had a very good game shooting 2 over par. I will post the scores after Christmas but meanwhile I put together a little video that captures the essence of the day including the 80k/h wind gusts near the end of our round. Click here 'fore' the video.

Debbie (Griggs) Lepore - 1951 - 2015
This obituary is from earlier in the year but was only posted locally. St. Thomas is south of London, Ontario.
Lepore-Deborah "Debbie" of St. Thomas, passed away peacefully, on Thursday, September 17th, 2015, at the St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital, at the age of 64. Long time companion of Howard Brown and dearly loved mother of Barbara Thody and Jennifer and her husband Selomon Menghsha, all of London and their father Raymond Lepore of Montreal. Dear sister Helen Ennis (Jeff), Darlene Gardner and the late Larry Griggs. Cherished grandmother of Brittney, Joshua, Emily, Isaiah and Maxwell. Special friend of Dave, Giselle, Carol and Ruby. Debbie was born in Quebec on May 10th, 1951, the daughter of the late Irma and Bill Griggs . She worked for Coil Plus.
The family will receive friends at Williams Funeral Home, 45 Elgin St., St. Thomas on Saturday from 9:00-10:00 a.m. The funeral service will be held at the funeral home on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Interment of ashes to take place on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at Evergreen Cemetery, West Lorne. Remembrances may be made to the Vanier Children Services or Ovarian Cancer Research. Condolences may be sent to ahughson@execulink.com. The family wishes to thank everyone who supported Deb in her last days. A special thank you to Giselle and Carol for your love and support to Deb and all of us. Click here for her online obituary.

Tired Of Losing Your Hockey Pucks?
As you may know, I play hockey with the LTHC on Mondays and Fridays. I sometimes play as a spare (reserviste) on Tuesdays and Thursdays where one of the guys that plays, Michel Lalonde, has developed a new product for transporting pucks and water bottles. It's an innovative design that looks somewhat like a poker chip holder. Michel recently auditioned for the French version of Dragon's Den and will find out soon. Meanwhile, the product, called the Transpuckter, was featured on the RDS sports network. It's already available in some stores and online but a major launch is scheduled for the fall of 2016. The LTHC might be able to obtain a couple of them to try them. Click here to see the website which features a 30 second advertisement recorded at the Olympia arena in Two Mountains. If you think you would like one or more for your team(s), contact me.

A New Record for A Late Golf Game

Thanks to El Niño, we got to play the latest game in the golf season that we have ever played. We managed to get out on this day, the 10th of December with the temperature a balmy 10°C (50°F). My previous latest game was December 5th in 2011. The only golf course left open on the north shore is Le Versant in Terrebonne and they are completely booked until Sunday when they are finally packing it in according to the lady in the pro-shop. Ron Kesseler and I booked today's tee-off on Tuesday when we could only get a time for 2 people. Coincidently, we ended up playing with the same two players that we had been paired with 2 weeks before. Since there was barely a breeze today, it felt warmer than some games I played early in the mornings of September. The course was a little wet but swinging a golf club sure beats swinging a snow shovel.

As you can see by the picture on the right, it doesn't look much like December conditions. According to my golf tracker software, it was the 50th game that I have played with Ron since I have kept track of my score in 1998. If you are interested, I have also been documenting the length of my golf seasons since 1998. The chart is available here. As usual, my latest scorecards are available from the link at the top right. It wasn't a great score today but no one was complaining. We also had a visit from a sly fox that was looking for a late season meal. That picture is here. 

Norma (Nan) Barnabei De Bonis

Translated from the Guay Funeral Home website
September 18, 1931 - December 4, 2015

Mrs. Norma Barnabei De Bonis (Nan) passed away in Laval West on December 4th, 2015 at the age of 84.

She is survived by her son Ricky (Christine), the late Tony (Roxanne), Robbie (Josée), Nicky and Randy (Pam), his twelve grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, her Annie stepsisters and Leila, her nieces and nephews, and many friends and relatives.

The family will receive condolences at:  Guay funeral complex - 146, rue St-Louis, St-Eustache on Saturday, December 12th from 11:00am to 6:00pm. A liturgy of the Word will be celebrated at 5:00pm.
 

Click Here for Santa Claus Parade Pictures - Click on the Play Button Below for the Video.
 

Sunday December 6, 2015 - The 46th annual Santa Claus parade was held on a beautiful day that reached 5°C. For the third time in recent history, there was no snow on the ground and the grass was still green on the route. It seemed like the warm weather brought out more people than usual. The pictures and video tell the story. For the 46th year, the 'original' Santa was still in fine form as he wished everyone a Merry Christmas and tallied his naughty and nice list. You can view the pictures and video by clicking the blue link in the title and the play button on the picture on the right.

Click here for the Parade website.

Mary Aspin Beaudoin

We are saddened to announce the passing of our mother, Mary Aspin Beaudoin, inspirational woman of 96 years on November 12th. Wife to the late Alfred Beaudoin. Mom to Freddy (Celeste), Marlene (Glenn, predeceased), Brian (Lois), and Joanne (Nicky). Nanos to 11 grandchildren: Randy, Shari, Jerry, Derek, Lea Anne, Shannon, Erin, Andrew, Carly, Nicholas, and Michael. Great-grandmother to 12 great grandchildren with 1 more on the way: Jenna, Alanna, Karissa, Justin, Riley, Aidan, Grace, Liam, Jake, Isabelle, Nicholas, and Rylee.

Friends are invited to visit the family for a celebration of Mary’s life at the:
Mount Royal Funeral Complex
1297 Chemin de la Foret, Outremont, QC. H2V 2P9
Service will be held on Saturday, December 5th, 2015 at 12.30 p.m.
Reception to follow at the same premises 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation would be appreciated.

Wendy and David's Las Vegas Adventure
 

In October, Wendy O'Brien and David Larose wanted to do something special for their 10th anniversary. They, and their friends Eric and Debby, decided that it would be a nice to go to Las Vegas. For Wendy, it would be an opportunity to meet up with LTM high school friend, Gordie Brown. Gordie has been the main attraction at the Golden Nugget Casino and Hotel for a few years now. Not only did they get to see him perform, but they were treated like royalty after the show and got to meet others on the Who's who of Las Vegas.

David wrote up a little wrap-up of their adventures with some pictures. Somehow this time, what happened in Vegas made it out of Vegas. Click here for the entire story.

Christmas Magic in Mirabel at Gerbes D'Angelica

Want to meet Santa Claus and the Ice Fairy? It's only a short drive up the 148 north to Mirabel to see a display that includes over 70,000 lights and many large decorations. Santa and Mrs. Claus are there to welcome you as well as the Ice Fairy and many not so little elves (I mean taller than your 'regular' elves). The display is open on the weekend every Saturday from 10am to 9pm. The admission is free and it will be open until December 20th. Sundays it closes at 5 unless there are a lot people around then they leave the lights on until 6pm. The gift/bake shop is open and you will probably be tempted by homemade jams and baked goods. Santa says the donuts are calorie free, only if you eat the hole part. There are activities for the kids and if you get cold, there is a fire you can use to warm up.

It's easy to get there by taking the 148 and turning left (west) on Saint Vincent just after the Bois de Belle-Riviere. It's 6 kilometres from the corner. I took a few pictures that can be seen here. A nice layer of snow would have probably made the pictures a little brighter. Maybe by next weekend we will see some of the white stuff come down but no one seems to be in a rush to see it.

I had never been to les Gerbes D'Angelica. In the summer, there are multiple gardens to visit on 94 acres of land that officially opened in 2010. You can read its history on their webpage.

You can visit their Website here or their Facebook page here.

Coq Au Vin - New Restaurant in Town
On Monday, November 23, a new restaurant opened its doors in the location of the long standing Golden BBQ on the corner of 20th Avenue and Oka Road. The restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner seemed to have a great first day judging by the vehicles parked outside almost the entire day. I only got a chance to try the lunch menu on Tuesday and was impressed enough to return for breakfast on Wednesday morning. Breakfast is served until 2pm so even if you are there for lunch, you can enjoy a hearty breakfast. There is something on the menu for every taste and the prices are very reasonable. There is also a lunch special that includes 3 table d'hote choices. One nice feature of the breakfast menu is that it comes with coffee that can be upgraded to a cappuccino for a mere $1.49, a nice touch. The decor is bright and clean with booths that are high enough to provide privacy from the neighbouring clients. There are also tables that can be configured to accommodate larger groups.
It will soon obtain its liquor licence and there is talk that home delivery may come some day. It's definitely worth the visit and in just three days, they are getting many repeat customers, a good sign for the fledging business. The staff is friendly. The food is great. No need to travel far away to get a good meal. Let's support our local businesses. Their Facebook page that can be accessed here.  

SPAM On The Rise
If you are like me, your SPAM or Junk mail folder seems to be very busy these days. In a way that is a good thing as your email provider seems to be identifying the suspicious mails and automatically putting them in a folder that you don't really have to look at. Unfortunately, not all email providers do as good a job in filtering these out. I use Yahoo mail and I would say that 95% of bad emails go in the junk folder. The other 5% go directly to my mailbox and I have to manually flag them as spam which help Yahoo add to their filters.

You can often tell that an email is junk by who is sending it. Lately however it's a different story. You might be getting emails from people you know. At least they 'look' like they are from people you know. These email almost always include a link to somewhere but if you look at them closely, you will see the sender is someone you might know but the address (after the @) is not usually a legitimate .com, like yahoo, outlook or gmail. This is called email spoofing and your can read more about it here. In the last week, I have received 10 emails that look like they are from people I know, some of you are reading this right now. You might also notice that there are many recipients that are on the header that you might recognize. The sender will probably not be aware that he or she is sending the spam because they are not coming from their own email server. If you are one of those senders (Kevin, Gary or Bernie and many more), here is what probably happened: At one point in the life of your email account being live, someone or something hacked into your address book and exported all of your contacts. From that point on, your name and all the contact information was distributed to the many people around the world who are trying to hack into personal computers of everyone. They are either trying to infect your system with a virus, installing a Trojan that will try to capture your password info to access your accounts or infect your browser so that you can no longer control your home page. How can you stop sending this spam to all your friends? Basically you can't but if you are lucky it could stop by itself or at least slow down when the hackers find other  email accounts to use.

What if you receive one of these emails and it doesn't get redirected to your spam folder? As a recipient there are 3 things you should NEVER do. Firstly, never click on any link that is in the email. Secondly, don't click on any picture in the email if they show up. Lastly, NEVER do a reply to that email. If you reply, the reply email will go to a spoofed address and will confirm to the 'bad guys' that you are actively using your email address and your address could end up getting more junk than before. Bottom line, check your spam folder once a week because there might be things in there that are legitimate. If you see some emails that look they are from people you know, they are probably there for a reason and are probably spam. There's not much those people can do to stop this from happening.

Long Term Weather Forecasts
We've all been there. You check the weather on a Tuesday night for the next day and the forecast calls for a beautiful day and you wake up Wednesday morning to torrential rain. You check the forecast again and everything has changed. There are also those gainfully employed people that on Monday morning that check the 7 day forecast to see how the weekend will be. Of course, if they can't get the next day right, how can they predict 7 days ahead?
My new favourite weather website is accuweather.com. It seems to predict the next 12 hours of weather fairly well. Beyond that, everything is a crap shoot. Last week, I checked the long term forecast to see if a game of golf was in the making. What I was surprised at, is that as I was scrolling through future dates, an arrow kept appearing to go more into the future. Accuweather actually has a 45 day forecast. Yes as of today, you can see what the weather will be on December 30th. I think it is completely ridiculous but I took some screen prints of the 45 days forecast to see how it against real life. The next couple of days are probably close to being correct but according to the forecast, it will be 6 degrees and cloudy on December 6th the day of the Santa Claus Parade. Anyway, you can judge for yourself how accurate a 45 day forecast can be. You can click here to view it during the next 45 days as I will leave it in its current state. In mid December, I will compare what actually happened in the weather with the forecast to see how it was. Stay tuned.

Eight Volunteers Recognized by the City and a Surprise at the Council Meeting
On Thursday November 12th, before the city council meeting, Mayor Denis Martin presented 8 volunteers from the city with medals to recognise their actions. They also got to sign the city's golden book and their names have been inscribed in the volunteers' gazebo in front of the municipal offices. The people honoured were: Serge Comptois (Dépannage St-Agapit), Vivianne Monahan Dorion (Maison de Citoyens), Gertrude Dore (4Korners, Women's Time-out and more), Johanne Hébert (Judo Club), Betty Hensen (Lions Book Fair), Melanie Hutchison (Holy Family, Legion, Softball), Christian Pineault (Dépannage St-Agapit) and Patty Weddle Klimas (Soccer/Softball).

Another important announcement was made at the end of the council meeting. Manon Robitaille who was elected as a member of the Denis Joannette Team has decided to join the Deux-Montagnes Autrement (Denis Martin's team). Mayor Martin explained that in the first two years of his four year mandate Ms. Robitaille has always been an integral part of the council. 'Crossing the floor' in municipal politics is not like at the provincial or federal level but the move will just make the team a little tighter. Mayor Martin emphasized that his council's goal is to serve the interests of the citizens in the best possible way. A little earlier in the meeting, Mr. Martin presented the city's financial situation. It was a very positive outlook and he stated that the tax hike this year would be less than 1.5% even after taking higher evaluations into consideration. The financial statements will appear in the local newspaper and should be available ion the city's website as early as tomorrow. The link is above where it says Two Mo Site. Congratulations to the volunteers and to Manon Robitaille. To see the official press release on Manon's move to the Denis Martin team, please click here.

Santa Claus Parade - New Route - New Logo - New FB page - New Mascot

The 46th Annual Two Mountains Santa Claus parade has a new twist this year. Actually the 'twist', is gone and the route is now straight down Oka Road from 20th avenue to City Hall. The old route was a turn up 15th avenue to Henri Durant in order to avoid the train underpass. Let's hope that Santa's reindeer are flying low enough to make it to city hall. The new mascots are Elsa and Olaf from Disney's Frozen. The action gets underway at 1pm on Sunday December 6th at the corner of 20th and Oka Road and should be getting to city hall a little earlier than in the past.

The parade committee has also added a Facebook presence to go along with their website paradedm.ca. To access their Facebook page, click here.  

 

Legion Br. 185 Serves up a Italian Festival
On Saturday November 21, the Legion will hosts an Italian dinner. The cost is $20 and includes a beer or a glass of wine. For all the details, please click here.

Legion Branch 185 Remembers

Heritage Social Club 1st Annual Fall Artisans Festival - Sunday November 22nd - 10am to 4pm
The festival will feature beautifully handmade crafts made by local and talented Artisans. They are calling on all local artisans to set up at tables. Click here for information on how to acquire a table. Click here for the info on the sale.

SOMD Marks 50th Anniversary
The S.O.M.D. touch football 'league' would have finished its 51st season this Saturday, November 7th, however most players hung up their cleats 5 years ago with one final Grey Cup game on October 30th, 2010. The Saturday morning football league started in 1965 when a handful of young men got together on a St-Laurent field to play touch football and talk about the game over a few brews. The action quickly moved to Two-Mountains in order to shorten the drive home.
All former players of the league are invited to throw the ball on November 7th at Noon (new time) at the 15th avenue field. It is doubtful that a game will break out, however it is very likely that some beverages will be consumed. Over the 50 years, more than 100 players have showed their skill on the gridiron. The final game of each year was called the Grey Cup and was played on many fields including many times at Molson Stadium before the Alouettes made it there home. Although the league has been inactive for 5 years, the link on the left remains with some highlights from previous years.
UPDATE - A short game actually broke out with the final score 7-0. Under blue skies, the temperature was a little cold because of a brisk western wind. Some players weathered the cold and stayed around the field until dark, while others searched for warmth in Pub Deux-Montagnes. The 'kids' already at the pub were celebrating their final game of the year in a league that started only a couple of decades ago. Click here for pictures of the day (and evening) and pictures from a few years past.

From Left back to Right Front
Ron Fitzmorris - Jim Klimas - Gary Macmillan - Paddy Dore - Christopher Curtis - Paul Goyetche
Robert Wall - Don White - Mark Larose - Joe Fitzmorris - Robert Raymond
Bernie Goyetche - Gary Campbell - Mike Curtis - Charles Denault - Murray Mattson - Fred Wall
Earl MacDonald - Stan Rose - Barney Rooney - Tom Griffin - Ken Callahan - Leonard

 Halloween at City Hall

The councillors of City of Two Mountains are inviting you to come and see them at City Hall from 5pm to 8pm on Saturday October 31st. There will be candies for the ghouls. See the event on Facebook here. You can also drop in to the outdoor Halloween display at Maison Des Jeunes on 13th avenue if the kids haven't been scared enough seeing their city council.

PARAVIE Fitness Studio - Open House
PARAVIE Fitness Studio is excited to open the doors of its new facility to the public for a day-long Open House this Halloween, Saturday, October 31st, from 9 am to 4 pm. There’s sure to be a festive atmosphere, with many themed activities, surprises, and giveaways.
If anyone is interested, they may come an try out for free 30-minute session with us:
The 30-minute Bootcamp sessions (for anyone, open to all):
9:30-Bootcamp-Abdominals,
11:00-Tabata Bootcamp,
1:30-Bootcamp-Lower Body,
2:30-HIIT-Upper Body
They simply have to email us (info@paravie.ca) or text at (514) 512-5600, which one(s) they wish to join…free of charge.
PARAVIE’s new address is 1400, chemin d’Oka, Deux-Montagnes. Everyone is welcome. Click here for the Paravie website.

Heritage Social Club Potluck Halloween Karaoke
The HSC is hosting a Karaoke Halloween Potluck evening on Friday October 30 starting at 6:30 pm. Bring something to eat and dress up as your favourite singer or anything else. There will be prizes for the best 3 costumes as well as the best singer. Click here for the details.

Tina Duncan and Rollie Fiset Tie the Knot
On Saturday October 24th, Tina and Rollie were united in matrimony. They celebrated the day with 130 family members and friends at Veterans' Hall. The outdoor ceremony was, as the minister said, the last one that will be held outside this year. It was a little chilly but everyone endured the cold before settling back into the warmth of the Legion lounge and later the hall. The live music by the Fabulous Flashbacks had everyone dancing for most of the evening.
The hall was very well decorated. After the dinner, both Tina and Rollie rang the Legion bells which usually means that you are buying a round of drinks for everyone in the building. In this case however it signalled the opening of the bar until the wee hours of the morning. Everyone had a terrific time.
To see some pictures of the day, please click here.

Click here to visit the Fabulous Flashbacks website. Here is a note the newlyweds received from the band.

LTMHS's Abby Griffin Receives Paul Goyetche Bursary
The Lake of Two Mountains High School Class of 2015 graduation ceremonies we held on Friday October 16th, 2015. Many awards and bursaries were handed out to the graduates. Among the awards, was my namesake $500 bursary for Visual Arts and Multi-Media. Abby Griffin was the recipient for her outstanding achievement in the arts and continuing her education in that field. She is currently enrolled in the Dawson Theatre program. Abby is the third LTM graduate to have received this award.

The history behind this award comes from an evening held in my honour in May of 2013. The organizers thought that instead of giving me a personal gift, that they would set up a scholarship for my high school in my name and it would be appropriate that it should involve Visual Arts and Multi-Media. On that night, they collected $730 of which $500 was awarded to Brittney Sherwood of the class of 2013. Over the last 2 years, many people have contributed to allow this award to continue. As of now, there is enough for one more year but there are plans to raise more money to keep it going indefinitely. Thanks to all who have helped in the past. Contributions are most welcome and every little bit helps. To find out how to donate, please click on the LTM emblem on the top right of this page.

Once again, congratulations to Abby and the other 28 graduates of the Class of 2015, the smallest graduating class in the history of LTMHS

PARAVIE Fitness Studio - Open House
PARAVIE Fitness Studio is excited to open the doors of its new facility to the public for a day-long Open House this Halloween, Saturday, October 31st, from 9 am to 4 pm. There’s sure to be a festive atmosphere, with many themed activities, surprises, and giveaways. PARAVIE’s new address is 1400, chemin d’Oka, Deux-Montagnes. Everyone is welcome.

PARAVIE Fitness Studio has been a mainstay of the business community on chemin d’Oka since 2010. Over the past 5 years, Paravie founder and fitness expert Glenda Esguerra has been offering her unique, personal fitness system to area residents. Over that time there have been many success stories, and with this new location, PARAVIE will be able to offer its clients an even greater customer experience.

For more information, please contact PARAVIE at : Tel. : 514 512-5600 or send an email to info@paravie.ca . To visit their website, please click here.

Sheri Currie - November 8, 1977 - October 2, 2015
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the sudden passing of Sheri Currie, loving daughter of Lorraine Each and Alfred Currie (Barbara). She will be sadly missed and forever remain in the hearts of all those whose lives have been bettered by knowing her. She leaves behind her devoted best friend Jason, her brother Keith (Nadine), niece Amelia, nephew Wyatt, as well as all her aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends. The family will receive condolences at Complexe Funéraire Guay 146 Saint-Louis in Saint-Eustache.
on Saturday, October 10, 2015 from 1 to 3 p.m. The funeral service will be held on the same day at 2:45 p.m. thence to Hillcrest Cemetery, Deux- Montagnes. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Crohn's and Colitis Canada. For her online obituary, please click here. Published in the Montreal Gazette on October 7, 2015.

32nd Annual Happy Gang Golf Tournament - Click here for Pictures
A note from Ron Kesseler, tournament organizer - This is the 32nd year for the Happy Gang tournament, at Glendale, Sunday, September 27th, 8:45am The price is $55.00 Golf/Cart, plus $25.00 in a pot for prize money. This year, the big difference is…for the first, second and third place teams, there will be a nominal prize of $120, $90 and $60 respectively, then all teams names get put into a draw (including winners) and balance of the prize money will be luck of the draw! Prizes from $240 to $90 meaning more than half of the teams will win something. Hopefully this will encourage more to come out with hopes of making a few bucks no matter how well your team does. I want this to remain a tournament that all enjoy and look forward to every year.
Plus, we always can use more players. We are looking for teams of 3 players and if you are not able to drum up a team, you can be used as a spare which means you can be called to cover cancellations, no shows or could be put on a team! To contact me, please send an email to ronk@2mopaul.com .

Louise Lussier 1949 - 2015

Translated from Guay Funeral homes website: At the Drapeau-Deschambault Centre, on September 19, 2015 at the young age of 66, Louise Lussier passed away.

She leaves to mourn, her children, grandchildren as well her many family members and friends.

The family will receive condolences at the Guay Funeral Complex, 418 Cure Labelle in Rosemere on Sunday September 27 from 3pm to 5pm. A memorial service will be at at 4:30pm.

Click here for a link to her online obituary and guestbook.

 

Wednesday Night Dart League Looking For Players
The W.N.D.L., a dart league that celebrated its 30 anniversary last year, is looking for a few regular and spare players for their dart league. The schedule starts on Wednesday September 30th and ends the first week of April. The cost per week is $6 and much of that money goes back to the players at year end. The format is 3 man teams, so you are often shooting compared to 4 or 5 on a team which means you are watching most of the time. The action gets started at 7:30 and the 7 games of 501 usually finish around 9 depending on the finishing of each game. The location is the Legion.

If you are interested please send an email to the darts@2mopaul.com and someone will get back to you.

St Jude's Movie In The Yard
On Friday September 25 at 7:30, St Jude Elementary is showing the movie Asterix - Le Domaine des Dieux (in French). Doors open at 6 and refreshments will be served. The cost is $5. In case of rain, the movie will be shown in the gym. Click here for all the info.

Women's Time Out Craft Fair
On Saturday October 31, 2015 the Women's Time out will be holding its annual Craft Fair from 10am to 3pm. It will be at the Veteran's Hall at 141 Grand Moulin. For information, please call Brenda Capogreco 450-623-6567

Lions Club 12th Annual Book Fair
On October 17th and 18th, the Lions are holding their annual book fair. With over 30,000 books in both English and French, the choice is yours. All proceeds go to local charities. This year, once again, there will be a pre-sale on Friday the 16th for only people needing wheelchairs, canes and walkers between 2pm and 5pm. Parents with babies in strollers are also welcome. Click here for all info including prices and contact information.

Defi Deux-Montagnes Raises Money for 2 Local Causes
The annual 10K, 5K and 1K races around Two-Mountains had over 500 participants on July 12th. Their registration fee as well as local sponsors and volunteers helped in the fact that all expenses were covered and a surplus will go to 2 local entities that can use financial support. On Thursday September 10th, before the City Council meeting at city hall, S.O.S. Jeunesse received a cheque for $3500 and the program for Two-Mountains Young Elite Sports was enriched by $3100. See pictures below.

  

Holy Family Parish Lobster/BBQ Steak Supper
Holy Family Parish is holding its annual Lobster / BBQ Steak Supper on Saturday, September 26 at 6:30 pm.  The dinner consists of 2 lobsters, salads, rice, buns, dessert, coffee/tea, OR steak, sausage, baked potatoes, carrots, salad, buns, dessert, coffee/tea.

There will be Door Prizes and Raffle prizes.  Bring your own wine, beer, glasses and lobster utensils.  Get your groups together now and reserve your tables.  The cost is $25 for the steak and $35 for the lobsters.  Tickets are available from the Event Chairperson Lorna Halderman at 450-483-3404. or call Donna Gautreau at 450-491-3829 to help you arrange to get tickets.  No tickets will be sold at the door.  Hope to see you there.  Donna

Constance Margaret Okrasa
On Saturday August 22, 2015 Connie Okrasa (née Rice ) 88, passed away peacefully at St. Eustache Hospital Quebec, her two sons Ricky and John at her side. Connie was predeceased by her husband of 51 years Stefan in 2003. She is survived by her brothers in Wales, Peter and Liam, and grandsons Mark, Dane, and Matt.

Connie was born in Swansea Wales, and served in the British Army during WWII. She later served at Harvey Nichols in London as sales lady to the fashionably dressed. Always appreciated for her discerning eye in custom tailored dresses and coats, she continued her career at Ogilvy's in Montreal . Connie was a war bride who married dashing Polish pilot Stefan Okrasa with the Royal Air Force. They emigrated to Canada with their young son Ricky in 1957 , and had second son John in 1962. They lived the rest of their lives happily in Deux Montagnes Quebec. A memorial service for Connie's family and friends will be held at Holy Family Catholic Church in Deux Montagnes Quebec on Saturday September 19 , 2015 at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers donations to the Canadian Cancer Society are appreciated.

 

Lisa Wants To Dance - Don't You?
You don't have to go downtown. Lisa Coleman is organizing a dance at the Heritage Social Club on Saturday September 19th. Admission is $10 and it starts at 8pm. Tickets will be available at the door. Click here for the poster.

A New Restaurant In Two-Mountains

A new business has opened on the corner of Oka and 15th called Café Totumos. Other than a wide assortment of coffees and pastries, it specializes in crepes. I had a Curried Chicken crepe which was really good and there is something for every taste including people with a sweet tooth. I was also really impressed with the decor. The terrace is nice and there's lots of room inside. Give it a try, you will be pleasantly surprised. Click here for their Facebook page and click here for a sneak peek at the place. Better still, go take a look for yourself. If you don't know what totumos are, they are hanging in some of the pictures.