email: [email protected]
Organizer Barb Rabideau loves her annual show at Iroquois . . .
Bluegrass crowd jams Iroquois Point . . .
She organizers, and promotes, welcomes and directs, and once in a while sits front and centre (above)
from where she belts out a tune or two along with the Bluegrass gang at Iroquois 4-day Galop Canal
Bluegrass Festival In the Park. Barb Rabideau's introduction of the original Blue Grass Festival in
South Dundas and subsequent years long presentation drew their largest crowd on record,
the Iroquois Point jammed to capacity with near 200 large camping units and a
long list of entertainers, enthusiastically cheered this past weekend.
The Iroquois Lions prepared a huge order of barbecued chicken
dinners, then served hundreds more to the community.
Century plus trees are showing their age . . .
Recent high winds have taken a toll on the aging and massive maples through the
South Dundas community. One of those belonging to neighbour Peter McGregor,
one that split and dropped half the giant on his front lawn. Peter had no
choice but to call in friends and professionals for a clean up . . .
Hot Dogs for the CHEO Foundation . . .
The village of Iroquois, in South Dundas, would be hard-pressed to come up with a more
treasured asset than their own Candace Latulippe. To some she is the Mayor of Iroquois!
To all she is well know as the most popular community promoter in the Three United Counties.
And with the Annual Galop Canal Bluegrass Festival in town over the past weekend Ms Latulippe added
her annual Cheo Hot Dog Day at the village mall. Baked goods, Hot Dogs and Strawberry Short Cake
were the menu flavours of the day and drew a steady crowd of like supporters.
Candace, right in the above photo, greets a supporting family
at the donated baked goods table . . .
A replica of the early 1800's war ship Niagara that took part in the war of 1812 motored past South Dundas
Tuesday, June 23rd in the a.m. The ship is a training vessel today piloted by a crew of 23 instructors
and student and calls home the Erie Maritime Museum, Pennsylvania, USA.
New colors on the St. Lawrence Seaway . . .
The Golden Palm, on her first trip up the St. Lawrence Seaway
brings a new and eye-catching color scheme. She's a
double-hulled vessel that is capable of carrying
oil and/or chemicals,; 150m length and
22.8m breadth. She was built at
Fujian Southeast Shipbuilding Co., Ltd, China,
her keel laid on December 20th, 2024
and launched on 24th of June 2025 . . .
Good morning South Dundas . . .
We don't often see this color in our tour of gardens. These blooms are just some of the thousands of
Iris varieties that have been on view over the past few months on our community . . .
Arena entrance reno moves along . . .
Employees of Premium Construction were busy this week preparing the Morrisburg Arena site
for continued renovation. South Dundas' current staff (David Jansen) and municipal leaders
have moved the once near stagnant project to a reality after securing generous funding thru
the Province of Ontario. The sorely needed entrance renovation tendered by Premium
Construction topped the million-dollar mark, as did all eight of the bids tendered.
Mr. Jansen, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities in South Dundas, previously
suggested the project will take 18-weeks, with completion in August 2026.
Danny & Delilah 24-days, June 4th - 28th . . .
Monday, June 8th - What better way for Morrisburg’s Upper Canada Playhouse to kick off its popular summer season than a new comedy by the country’s most popular playwright-Norm Foster.
"He’s deserved that title for good reason," remarks Artistic Director Donnie Bowes. "Actors, directors and audiences have flocked to Foster’s shows more often than any playwright. And for good reason. His plays speak their language, reflect their joys, stories and challenges and introduce them to new characters that remind them of people they know. That remind them of themselves."
The season opener, Danny & Delilah, is another of Foster’s funny and insightful slices of life, this time about how friendships can be found in the unlikeliest of places.
Daniel Becker, a retired widower and grumpy Maple Leafs fan, is quite comfortable in his man-cave watching the hockey game with his pal Mike in the home he shares with his school-teacher daughter Sherry. His docile life is thrown a curve when Sherry invites Delilah, a Pakistani student, to stay at their home for a couple of weeks til the school year is over while her father returns to Pakistan to assist with a family crisis. Having little in common at first, Danny and Delilah gradually start to connect as they get to know each other.
Added to this new-found relationship is next door neighbour Muriel Greene who has cast a romantic eye on Danny. Their spirited interactions are a source of hilarious comic relief as Muriel makes every effort to win over Danny’s attentions.
Danny & Deliah is directed and designed by Jesse Collins who has delivered such hit productions as last season’s A Woman’s Love List and the curling comedy Hurry Hard, as well as previous productions of The Affections of May, The Ladies Foursome and Doris and Ivy in the Home to name a few. Collins has also enjoyed a highly successful career in both the professional theatre and television scenes. Nominated for an Emmy Award for his direction of the TV series Zoboomafoo, Collins also starred as the lead in five seasons of CTV’s series Katts and Dog and appeared in such classic movies as Iron Eagle II and The Santa Claus.
Danny is played by Garfield Andrews, a veteran actor who has become a fixture at The Playhouse and a favourite with its audiences. He has been seen in such shows as The Odd Couple, Chapter Two, One Slight Hitch and in last season’s Maggie’s Getting Married.
Returning to The Playhouse is popular actress Viviana Zarrillo who has starred in such productions as The Sweet Delilah Swim Club, Same Time Next Year, Moving In and Halfway There to name a few. She first appeared on the Playhouse stage in the musical I Do, I Do in 1990 when the theatre first moved into its present location in the former Odonto toothbrush factory. She has recently performed in Casey and Diana at YES/Sudbury Theatre Centre and has played leading roles in theatres across the country including the National Arts Centre and Shaw Festival. She has also had extensive TV and Film credits in addition to her stage work.
Appearing as Danny’s daughter Sherry is Jane Spence who has had a busy career appearing at such theatres as Theatre Orangeville, the Mirvish Theatre, Stratford Festival, Theatre New Brunswick and Vancouver Playhouse to name a few. She returns to The Playhouse after performing in The Ladies Foursome and Halfway There.
The Playhouse is also happy to welcome Kritika Khanna as Delilah in her first professional performance after recently graduating from the National Theatre School in Montreal. This marks her debut in what will be an exciting career for the actress.
Up next in the Playhouse’s summer season and playing Thursday, July 2nd - Sunday, 26th is The Beaver Club, an hilarious comedy taking theatres by storm across the country. Following that Tuesday, July 30th - August 23rd is the knock down riotous farce Whose Wives Are They Anyway? with the theatre’s largest cast in years. The summer season actually wraps up into the fall with Norm Foster’s classic comedy The Long Weekend running Thursday, September 10th to Sunday, October 4th. The season concludes with Leisa Way’s new concert Get Down Tonight, Tuesday, October, 20th - Sunday, October 25th, a return visit by theatre for young audiences company Dufflebag Theatre with Peter Pan, Friday, November 6th and Saturday, November 7th and The Playhouse’s family holiday production of Everything I Love About Christmas with public and school performances Thursday, December 3rd to Sunday, December 20th.
Info and tickets available at the theatre’s Box Office:
613-543-3713, 877-550-3650
Alyza Mullin captures Irv Francis Award . . .
Seaway High Athletic Awards celebrated . . .
Iroquois Public hosts huge track meet . . .
Thursday, June 11th - Elementary students came to Iroquois on Thursday, from various locales throughout the Upper Canada District School Board, running and jumping and tumbling and rolling through a variety of challenges in their annual track meet. We did not get the results but we did manage to capture some photos. Enjoy!!!!
Early morning with great light in a garden of color . . .
Great weather translates into great photos,
especially with the variety of South Dundas backdrops available
almost everywhere one glances in our community. This shot, captured at
Mariatown Park early this week, was only lacking a few viewers taking up the chairs,
although it was quite early and quite crisp on this morning . . .
Witnessing the big toys at our parks . . .
One of the greatest experiences in visiting our parks is watching the young people,
stopping what they are doing and staring as the ships quietly pass on the St. Lawrence River.
They remain mesmerized, by the thought someone brought along some of the big toys . . .
Marketing our community . . .
An overcast day on the river . . .
When the sun sneaks into the mist on a very cold St. Lawrence River morning,
Boxing Day2025 at Morrisburg
Relax (meaning): See above . . .
It is indeed a spectacular stroke of good fortune that our community can so shout out such
natural appeal. Last evening at 6:59pm the Captain Henry Jackman moved into the spotlight
that was the setting sun, around the point at Mariatown. I had just set our dinner plates
on the table when she passed our frontage, excused myself, grabbed the camera
and raced to the waterfront a bit west of our place. We've seen this set-up
every fall since we moved to our current home. These sunsets and these
ships will recreate this scene time and again before the St. Lawrence
Seaway closes for the season. And you're welcome to visit anytime!
Bring your camera, take in our updated restaurant scene, and
chase the big gals climbing the waterway to inland ports . . .
There are few locations in Eastern Ontario that can provide exposure to the natural beauty
and diversity as well as does the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary . . .
The Algotitan running into an afternoon Fall storm east of the Iroquois Lock, South Dundas . . .
The last of the fall colors captured while on a road trip thru
Williamstown and the Long Sault Parkway . . . . . .
Every once in a while we find captures that we've set aside for editing 'later'!
According to the camera data we set this one aside years ago. The camera used in the shoot is gone!
The data provides model info, dates, gps locations and more, like July 25th, 2019 at 7:21:10 a.m.
And we were using a Canon camera with a Canon 24-105mm lens.
Our parks along the river are something so special . . .
The Trillium Class CSL Baie Comeau slips past our front yard, highlighting the last
of the fall colors and dragging the cold temperatures of the Great Lakes
into the eastern ends of the St. Lawrence Seaway . . .
The sun had just dipped below a building cloud bank on the western horizon
when the Algoma Innovator slipped quietly by Mariatown's Duncan Park,
making her way to the Iroquois lock and then on to Cleveland, Ohio.
