LATEST NEWS - Summer 2009
SUMMER 2009
Before you know it the abhorrent weather will
cease and we'll be heading to the Beach. So how's the summer
season of 09 been so far. Last summer was certainly a mix promise
and disappointment. Bad weather was tempered with the promise of
beachfront re-development.
Well if the weather wasn't bad enough last
summer, it's been even worse this year. Constant cloud cover, rain
and below seasonal temps have made the first half of this summer
somewhat forgettable. A beautiful August and September is quite
possible. I'm not giving up just yet.
Our new entertainment venue, The Wasaga Dome
got off to a good start last year but for some strange reason the
Entrepreneurs that run the show down on the strip didn't book any
entertainment until just last weekend (The long weekend Civic
Holiday).
Girlicious opened the Dome this summer. An
all-girl reality show band. I wasn't able to attend but I'm
wondering; were the vocals live or did the girls lip-sync? It
would have been nice if a music group/band actually played the
Dome. One can only dream.
Deadmau5, the
celebrated Electronica artist did play jut last night (Aug.2). I
was surprised the Dance/Electronica Laptop player was selected for
the Dome's Entertainment line-up and truly hope that the place was
packed. With the right people running the show down there the
Venue could be a great centre-piece for the re-development of the
beachfront.
Wasaga Dome
Scheduled for
August 14 is BSE Pro Wrestling. $20. to get in, general admission.
Beach Brawl 2K9 starts at 8 pm till midnight. I thought Wrestling
was over now that UFC type barbarian blood and guts kill the other
guy family entertainment was the flavour of the month but what
would I know about the sweet science..
It'll be a
while before the Beachfront re-development is complete, years possibly. But
even I, a confirmed cynic, sees promise for the new beachfront in
Wasaga Beach. Now, with a
little co-operation from Mother Nature, the second half of the summer of 09 will be
just fantastic.
THE NEW MAIN STREET AND
WHAT'S FOR DINNER
As well as the re-development of the
Beachfront, Main Street (the street leading to the Beachfront if
you are entering Wasaga Beach from the east) is also in a state of
re-development. I'm saddened to say we now have a strip of
insipid, innocuous and banal chain restaurants.
Which brings us to a very important subject.
Food in Wasaga Beach. Let's be honest. The food in Wasaga Beach is
nothing to rave about. When the residents are praying for a Swiss
Chalet as an answer to their culinary prayers the bar isn't
exactly set very high.
An old favourite, The Dyconia Resort Hotel,
has new owners after being run by The Hutchinson family for around
50 years. The dining room at the Dyconia was always a comfortable
and reliable place to get a good meal. Unfortunately, the new
owners have decided not to open the Dining Room this year. This
could change in the future but for now, the kitchen is closed. The
rest of the Resort is still open and still features one of the
nicest properties in the Beach..
Still no Starbucks. I'm running out of
patience. All I want is a cappuccino that is the right temp (It's
a HOT coffee and milk drink. It's not freakin' complicated) and
has the right amount of milk and froth and for heaven's sake. And
use some good beans will you? Last year's coffee haven was The
Longbeach Cafe. Well, The Longbeach is now closed. In it's spot we
have "The Hot Veal Hut". They have another location on across from
the Riverbend Plaza and the Veal Sandwiches are very nice. I would
definitely give it a whirl.
And, in the east end of town we have a new
eatery and entertainment venue called Cheerleaders. I haven't had
a chance to have lunch or dinner there yet but early reports are
that the food is very good.
WASAGA
BEACH MUSICIAN
TACKLES SOLO CD RELEASE
It is safe to say that Wasaga Beach is not a
haven for world renown musicians with CD releases from Canada to
Japan and more than a dozen countries in between. However, it is
home to Toronto born bassist , Rick Lazaroff.
Rick Lazaroff made his
name as one third of Toronto's deluxe Hard Rock trio, "Santers".
With "Santers", Mr. Lazaroff toured throughout the world and
released many recordings to the delight of fans of this genre. Not
surprisingly though, Rick has recorded and performed in many
styles, including a CD with Turkish Jazz guitarist, Orhan Demir.
The common thread throughout his career has been a support role,
playing material penned by others.
Part 2 is here. Groovistico
Ballistico is here. Mr. Lazaroff's solo CD
is not in the Hard Rock or Jazz genre.
It is a move towards a serious and
experimental genre that could possibly be described as improvised
music with elements of Jazz, Rock, Industrial, World and Ambient.
The CD
is available on his
Webpage.
Recently Rick is rehearsing and recording with
a new Hard Rock band (Hard Road) signed to Cyclone Records. With Earl Johnson
(Moxy) on guitar, Russ Graham (Killer Dwarfs) providing the voice
and hard hitting' Morgan Evans (Lee Aarron) on the skins, the band
has completed a new CD of originals to be released late this
summer.
The band will be playing this year's big Rock
n Roll party at the GNE Fairgrounds. "Clearfest" is ready to
roll on August 8th. Headlining the show is Rik Emmett doing the
best of "Triumph". Just before Rik will be vocalist deluxe Jimi
Jameson who now sings for "Survivor". You know, the Eye of the
Tiger band. Hard Road, featuring Wasaga Beach bassist Rick
Lazaroff will take the stage just before Emmett and Jameson.
Tickets are around $30 at the door. This will be the biggest show
of the summer here in the beach and I recommend you all head up
for the show. For tickets visit
Ticketbreak.
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LIVE MUSIC RETURNS TO THE
BEACH
(An amendment to the past article, "Where did
all the bands go?")
There was a time when live music was King in
Wasaga Beach. From the west side with "The Beacon" to the main
Beach area with "The Dardanella" , you weren't a nightclub unless
you had a good band. Well the last few years with new ownership at
the Dard and a seemingly waning interest in live music in general
for the 20 something crowd there has been an absence of live bands
performing here in Wasaga Beach.
It's not as if some promoters and bar owners
haven't tried. The Wasaga Beach Bluesfest which took place a few
years back was a disaster. Even with world renown Blues Bands and
artists such as "Roomful of Blues " and "Taj Mahal" nobody seemed
to care. I went to the main beach area to check out "Roomful of
Blues" during Bluesfest. A bright sunny warm day, proper staging,
a top notch PA, and an excellent band. Well my self and about a
dozen other people were treated to a very greasy, groovin'
performance by one of the world's best Blues Bands on the scene
today. The beach was packed that day. The area inside the concert
area was empty. I was dumbfounded. Why wasn't it jammed?
John Hutchinson, the former owner of the
Dyconia who once had the downstairs bar at the Dyc rocking and
rolling with live bands finally gave up booking live bands a few
years before selling the resort. One summer he brought in Randy
Bachman and David Gogo, two Canadian guitar greats. There was
about 30 people for Bachman and 6 people for Gogo.
It seems the young crowd today are more
interested in canned music played by DJ Droopy Drawers. "Oh he's
good. I love the way he presses play on the CD player". Personally
I don't get it. I'll take a live band with real musicians any day.
Get to the point already! Well, a new eatery
and bar and purveyor of entertainment may have come to the rescue.
We have a new venue on the east side of town just across from
Wal-Mart that has jumped in feet first to the live entertainment
scene.
CHEERLEADERS to the rescue. Like
I said, just across from Wal-Mart at 707 River Road West, unit 5.
They have a Jam night on Wed. night hosted by the very capable
guitarist/vocalist Wayne Buttery and live bands on Saturday night.
Entertainment schedules are usually subject to change, so, for up
to date info about their live music schedule surf on over to their
Website for the whole enchilada.
They also have a great menu, 13 different
brews on tap, theme nights and more. A welcome addition to
entertainment starved Wasaga Beach. And, a new place with good
food is always a good thing here in the Beach.
CLEAN AIR
OR POLLUTED
TAKE A PICK
One of the hottest topics
in the last municipal election here in Wasaga Beach was the open
fire burning by-law. There has been a huge problem with air
pollution here in the Beach fuelled by the unchecked and out of
control bon-fires in hundreds of back-yards during the summer. Add
to that the 5 or 6 Trailer Park / Campgrounds which exist within
the boundaries of Town and you have a recipe for very unhealthy
air.
Many candidates professed
to be very concerned about the environment and promised that if
they were elected the health of the people and the environment
would be a top priority. First on their list was to revamp the
open fire burning by-law as to tighten up the rules concerning
what would be allowed and what times it would be allowed and where
it would be allowed.
Surprisingly, the by-law
was tightened up a bit but not enough to satisfy those who are
truly concerned about the environment. Some councilors had to be
dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century in regards to
a new way of thinking when it comes to protecting the health of
our residents and our environment. One Councilor,
(whose name I will refrain from listing) fought
almost every change to be implemented showing a total disregard to
clean air and the health of our children and senior citizens who
are most affected by air pollution.
The are however provisions
for a nuisance clause which will curtail bonfires that are
infringing on a person's right to breath clean air. There is also
a clause restricting the time that bonfires are allowed. ! a.m. is
the cutoff time for fires in the evening/morning.
Most important is that on
days that Environment Canada have issued a Air Quality Warning,
fires will be prohibited. This clause was a no brainer but not a
sure thing. Some of the Councilors curiously think that clean air
means a hit in the pocket books for local business'. Such archaic
thinking is the stumbling block to clean air and good health.
20 years from now people
will look back and laugh at the ignorance of the Town leaders that
allowed such pestiferous behaviour to exist.
Are the new by-laws regarding backyard burning
working? No. My neighbour is burning Styrofoam and cardboard as I
type. Styrofoam emits a thick, pernicious, carcinogenic
black smoke if you wanted to know. And, he is sitting just a
couple of feet away from this death pit. Doesn't really fit the
profile of a nice camp fire roasting marshmallows and hot dogs now
does it. Would you like you Hit Dog with Styrofoam Flavoured smoke
or without? If it's happening right next door; it's happening all
over the beach. Guaranteed.
UPDATE - Curiously, the clause in the
new by-law that prohibits burning when an air quality advisory is
issued is flawed. The Town chose that the air-quality advisories
published by Environment Canada would be the measuring stick for
restricting said fires. However it is the Provincial Government
that issues those advisories for this area. Therefore they have
the loophole of letting the fires burn even when the Provincial
Government has issued a warning that has severe impact on the
health of the residents and visitors to Wasaga Beach. Get it
right. Place restrictions so as to fix the problem once and for
all. As I've inferred before, the local municipal politicians are
not really concerned about the environment or pollution problems
that we face here in Wasaga Beach. Shame on you.
JUST A SHORT DRIVE AWAY
WE'RE NOT FAR AT ALL!
Wasaga Beach is conveniently located
1 1/2 hours from Toronto.
Tourists from all over the world travel to the shores of
Nottawasaga Bay, to stroll along 14 kilometres
of white sand beach, swim in clean warm waters and enjoy the
panoramic mountain views across the Ba
Wasaga Beach
has a good variety of accommodations and restaurant choices.
Throughout the summer there is a different event almost every
weekend, lots of choices for evening entertainment and an endless
variety of summer summer sporting activities.
With all said the star of the show is definitely
The Beach. The water is shallow enough to stroll out for what
seems forever. The waves on a windy day are a blast. And the
sunsets are magnifico! There is no better place to go in the
summer than Wasaga Beach. Over two million people every summer
will agree.
Thanks for visiting wasaga.net. Drop back often as
this site will evolve. Into what were not sure. For now it will
provide some handy info for those planning a visit to Wasaga
Beach.
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