LATEST NEWS - Summer 2008
WINTER / SPRING 2008
Burn Baby Burn. Yeah, yeah, there was a fire.
What's the hub bub about anyways. Some of the sensationalist media
outlets painted a picture of mass destruction. I got calls from
friends asking if I was all right because Wasaga Beach had burned
to the ground. Well for starters the town's almost 20 km long.
Second of all; it's a Beach.
About a half dozen or so crappy wooden
structures, that were home to t-shirt and bikini sales outlets,
burned to ground. No big deal really. They were all slated for the
wrecking ball to make way for the overhaul and or development of
the entire Beach Drive.
I didn't realize how bad that sounded until I typed it.
Anyways, the Beach is OPEN. News of the Fire
and and a cool and rainy spring has made for a slow start for the
Accommodations providers and Restaurants but one fine weekend of
weather will turn that 'round lickity split.
SUMMER 2008
Summer is here. It
definitely is my favourite time of year. The hotter the better I
say. For me, 30 degrees
C and hotter is best.
So what's on tap for this summer. Let's see;
National Beach Volleyball Championships? Nope.
Live music. Yes!. Beachfest
is back with a full slate of bands this coming weekend. (June 20,
21, 22.) And we do have Jazz in the
Park returning. Corvette Weekend of course and, drum roll
please; Waste Electronics Recycling. What? That's right. Straight
from the Town's website from the Events Listing.
Effective Apr.1/08, County of Simcoe Landfill Site #10 will now be
accepting Electronics for recycling. I know Town Council has cut
back on funding for all things fun as far as Events go but it
seems as though we've really run out of ideas this time.
They didn't think twice about handing over a 1/4 million dollars
to the Saviours of the Beach, The Lovy Bros. though.
$250.000. towards a Splash Pad to be constructed on the site of
the Waterslide that use to be on the Beach. The same Bros. have
bought up most of beach Drive. and have promised a complete
make-over with a Major Hotel, Restaurants, a Conference Centre and
an Amphitheatre to start.
If it all comes to be, it'll be a fantastic
move forward for the Beach. If it stalls, sputters and falls apart
it will not look good on the Town that has had it's share of Image
problems in the past. The fire this past winter, clearing for the
most part, all of the old wooden structures lining the small
Pedestrian Mall that would have been demolished to make way for
the new development just adds to the image problem headache.
So now the Town is in the Splash Pad business
with a Developer that has not inspired confidence in the minds of
the public. That's the poop on the street at least. The same
developer now owns Wasaga Waterworld which will not open this
summer. Apparently it would cost $1 million to bring the Park up
to snuff. The new Water Park owners had a meeting with the Mayor
and the CAO of the town about the future of the Water Park. No
doubt they asked for concessions or more money. In return, they
would open the Waterpark providing the town with one very feeble
attraction. The Waterpark as it stands is a relic. Compared to
world class Waterpaks like Wet and Wild in Florida and Wild Wadiin
Dubai our now closed Water Park is a sad joke.
Well the Lovy Bros. have proposed a new
beginning for Wasaga Beach. It's long overdue. The World's longest
freshwater beach deserves it. $5. cappacino's are hard to swallow
but we need to move forward. We have an amazing opportunity to
develop Wasaga Beach into a world class vacation destination. If
it were Intrawest at the nucleus of this project I would say it
was time to count chickens. This is sadly not the case. We have a
rookie developer with no track record in Community Development at
the helm. On Council we have rookie politicians whose brainstorm
was to offer the Business Owners French lessons in order to better
serve our visitors.
Well, that's enough chit chat from me. I'm off to the Splash pad.
After all, my taxes paid for 1/4 Million Dollars of it. Not open?
What do you mean it's not open?
Oh well. Which way to the Beach?
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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. Councilor Connie Gray 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.
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 bass phenom, 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 has been performing with the
Darlene Watters Jazz Quartet. Strangely enough the Quartet is not
performing at the Jazz in the Park concert series here in Wasaga
Beach.
Why would a world renown player of his calibre
not be included in a Jazz concert Series, here in his adopted
hometown. Well, when concert promoters don't know the difference
between the Count and the Bird, they shouldn't be booking Jazz
concerts.
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 Bay.
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 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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