The second annual storytelling festival is comprised of a number of events in a variety of genres where artists can tell a story. These events happen all through the month of October and are open to the general public.

6 Word Photo Essay Exhibition

Participants entered into this photography exhibition in both adult and youth categories. You can view it from October 4^th until November 1^st at the BMFA Centre. On October 15^th from 1 until 3 pm, there will be a reception and awards.

Meet with Cecily Ross

Acclaimed author Cecily Ross, writer of the novel The Lost Diaries of Susanna Moodie will be speaking with guests at the BMFA Centre on October 4^th at 7pm. There is free admission for this event.

Moderated Panel

On October 20^th starting at 6:30, you can check out the moderated panel discussion on topics of design and art. Jim Campbell will lead the discussion, which will happen at the Simcoe Street Theatre. Tickets are $15 and there will be a cash bar.

Meet with Brett Preston

Brett Preston, organic farmer and author of The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution will be hosting a 3-course dinner at Azzurra Trattoria. All are welcome and you can buy tickets, which are $55 for this fabulous event happening on October 23rd. The dinner will be held Pranzo style, which means shared at a family-like table with those who have a common objective. In this case that’s learning and eating great food!

Children’s Illustration Workshop

We can’t forget the children during this important month of celebrating art! Author and illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi will be hosting the Children’s Found Art Workshop at the BMFA Centre. On October 29^th, children will learn how to tell stories through illustration of everyday objects. Pre-registration is required and tickets are $15 for kids aged 7-12 years old.

Teen Acting Workshop

Older kids can join in the fun too. On November 2^nd, the Collingwood Improv Artists are hosting a teen workshop that will teach teens how to tell their story through camera and film. This event happens from 7 until 9pm.

Evening of Fun

The Collingwood Improv Artists are putting on a fun evening that includes comedy, music, sketch and improv. This event happens at the BMFA Centre on November 4^th.

The Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts has been around since 1975, serving the arts community of South Georgian Bay. Located next to the Gayety Theatre in downtown Collingwood, their mission is to inspire excellence in visual arts in the community. A non-profit organization, they put on monthly exhibitions of art from local and regional artists and artisans, along with other educational and entertaining events. Their physical location (the BMFA Centre) is comprised of two galleries for exhibitions and performances.

One of the best things about the Collingwood area is the beautiful abundance of water and wildlife we have. The second best thing is the number of great, family-friendly events we have. The See the Salmon Run event celebrates our environmental diversity and is the perfect opportunity to get educated about the Blue Mountain Watershed. This event happens on September 23^rd from 11am until 4pm at 609830 12^th Sideroad in the Town of Blue Mountains. It is just west of the intersection of 6^th Street and Grey Road 19 (also known as Osler Bluff Road). There is onsite parking for hundreds of attendees.

Every year, salmon make their way up Silver Creek on their annual spawning ground. It is a beautiful and incredible sight to see and definitely something that should not be missed. Silver Creek is an important part of the watershed and is one of our regions few cold water streams, which makes it very unique and it recently got the designation of being provincially significant. This was based on the water purity, temperature and the fact that it is a spot for migrating fish. It is also an important spot for migrating birds and is the only remaining coastal wetland in south Georgian Bay.

The event is being put on by the Blue Mountain Watershed Trust Silver Creek Stewardship Initiative, which launched in 2016 to raise awareness about the creek and protect our area’s wetlands.

The day starts off with a 20-minute self-guided hike through the woods at Silver Creek. You can watch the salmon as they swim upstream. Along the way, you’ll hear from conservation experts from Ontario Streams, who will educate you on fish spawning and migration. Kids will love the fish passports, which will be stamped at each stop!

Afterwards, you can enjoy a true gourmet lunch put on by Men with Knives and there will be local beer available from the Collingwood Brewery. The kids lunch is absolutely free, which is even more incentive to come on out.

After lunch, the kids will enjoy the inflatable salmon, turtle and gut hut as well as games, crafts and zorbs for climbing and bouncing.

Tickets will be $10 and lunch for adults will also cost $10. Pints of beer will be $5.

We are a philanthropic community in Collingwood, and many of our residents and businesses are always trying to find a way to give back.

If you want to get a tattoo for only $50, with a nautical theme, come to Collingwood on May 27^th, when three prominent tattoo shops in the area will give you one in support of raising money for restoration of Collingwood’s lighthouse.

The Nottawasaga Lighthouse Preservation Society is a charity dedicated to restoring and protecting the Nottawasaga Island Lighthouse, a Collingwood historical icon. The lighthouse was built in 1858, used to help warn those entering the Collingwood harbour of the area’s nautical dangers. It is attributed to the saving of hundreds of lives over its storied history in Collingwood. The tower is now in various stages of deterioration, and while it is no longer a visual aid for boaters, it still stands as part of a great history.

Take part in saving this landmark, by going to one of the three tattoo shops participating and order yourself a nautical-themed tattoo. Fifty percent of the proceeds from your tattoo will go directly to the Nottawasaga Lighthouse Preservation Society.

Where do I go?

Idols and Anchors is a marine-themed tattoo parlour at 201 Hurontario Street, in downtown Collingwood. With two amazing artists, they can do custom tattoos in a clean and sanitary workspace.

The Collingwood Tattoo Company is also located downtown, at 546 First Street. Standing since 2011, resident owner and artist Omri Amar travels often in order to bring back ideas for his shop. There are two other tattoo artists here and they often entertain guest artists through the year.

Steel N’ Ink is a chain tattoo shop, with four locations around Ontario. Their Collingwood location has six artists on staff and is located at 330 First Street. They also offer piercings.

All tattoos for this special event are walk-in only and no reservations will be made for that day. You may want to get in line early that day to ensure you get a spot. The event starts at 11am and goes until 7pm. The tattoos will be from a select set on offer. This great event may only happen once, so if you are in the market for a tattoo from some of our great local talent and want to help out a great cause and preserve Collingwood’s history, mark this on your calendar!

If you’re looking for a reason to dine out in the Blue Mountain Village (as if you need a reason), Springlicious is the event for you! Featuring specials on food, retail and spa services, Springlicious in Blue Mountain has already begun and goes until May 19^th in the Village.

With $25 menus at 15 restaurants, plus other $25 deals, Spring is definitely the best time to visit Blue Mountain.

Enjoy steak and lobster? How about some mashed potatoes, crispy onions and chocolate cake too? You can get all of this for only $25 from Sunday to Thursday at C&A Steak Company. If steak and seafood isn’t your game, they’ve also got grilled Atlantic salmon with maple butter on the menu.

Two can eat for only $25, with two pizzas or pasta dishes for $25 at Firehall Pizza Co. Go on a Sunday night and experience live music along with your fantastic meal. Bring the kids for $6 kid’s meals.

Fancy some Irish grub? MJ Byrnes Irish Pub in Blue Mountain has a three-piece meal for you for only $25, which includes a homemade soup or salad, Collingwood beer battered fish and chips and a house-made apple crumble and ice cream.

If you like to have a variety on your menu, Oliver & Bonacini Cafe Grill has a fairly large menu for this event, including some of their favourites like:

·         Polenta fries

·         Mezze Rigatoni

·         Mushroom Bruschetta

·         Spinach and ricotta ravioli

·         Risotto Milanese

·         Pasta di pesce

Go in for lunch for only $15 for your appetizer and main dish or for dinner for $25 for both features.

The Pottery has been around for many years and for good reason. This casual dining spot has a starter and an entree for only $25 during Springlicious and you can choose between some amazing options. Beet variations is a start that includes a variety of beets, mixed greens, fried goat’s cheese, toasted pumpkin seeds and a maple walnut dressing. Or go for the spring succotash, with mushrooms and roasted garlic, crispy yam, a fried ratatouille stuffed tomato and grilled asparagus. It all sounds so spring-like.

Head to the iwa spa before or after your meal for a $25 yoga or ganban session from Sunday to Thursday. In case you aren’t familiar with Ganban, it is definitely a unique spa experience featuring a rock sauna with stone beds that are heated. This treatment helps to soothe sore muscles and eliminate toxins from the body.

Do some shopping afterwards and enjoy specials like $25 Suncloud sunglasses at Columbia, a $25 basic logo tee at Lifted, $25 North Face tee at The North Face, boutique summer dresses for $25 at Madison Clothing or buy one, get one half price on Handmade Reiners’s Original ottomans. There are a number of other specials throughout the Village too.

While summer seems like eons away, it truly is sooner than you think. Once the kids finish March Break, spring flies by and summer begins. Have you booked your kids into a Collingwood summer camp yet? Here are some great options!

Elephant Thoughts

Dubbed the “coolest science day camp in the universe”, kids aged 5 to 11 get to experience very fun hands-on science activities. Located at the Collingwood Youth Centre, there are also two weeks that will be located at Kimbercote, where kids will learn about environmental science.

Cost: $45 daily or $190 weekly plus a 10% discount for teachers and a 20% discount for siblings

YMCA

The YMCA offers a number of day and overnight camps for kids aged 6 to 12. From camp explorers to art camp to soccer and even a naturalist camp, the YMCA will ensure your kids are never bored. Camps are located at the Collingwood YMCA, but there are also programs for kids to take part in with transportation to the camp site available. This includes Springwater Provincial Park, overnight camp at Camp Kitchikewana and leadership camps at Geneva Park.

Cost: Varies depending on program chosen from $136 weekly

Environment Network

The Explorations Green summer day camp is for campers aged 4 to 13. Discovering the relationship between people and their environment, this camp is challenging, collaborative and fun! Nature is the name of the game and there are weekly themes to support this. Located at Enviro Park, campers will need to bring their bikes and helmets and expect to spend their entire day outdoors.

Cost: $190 a week unless you register and pay before April 14^th and get the early bird rate of $175 weekly

Active Life Conditioning

Sports camp was never so fun! Active Life Conditioning offers one week of summer camp, from July 10^th to 14^th and this camp sells out every year. For kids born from 2002 to 2010, they group kids according to age so they can be challenged and challenge peers their age.

Cost: $350 for the week

Cranberry Golf Resort

With a number of camps for all ages, Cranberry Golf Resort has weekly camps run out of their camp barn, with access to a playground, swimming pools, tennis courts, beach volleyball, basketball, golf, and archery. Every day kids can swim, but you get to choose which camp best suits your child’s interests, including:

·         Art and music

·         Drama and dance

·         Sports and athletics

·         Science and discovery

·         Golf

·         Cooking

Cost: Unknown, but discounts may apply

Free Spirit Tours

For kids aged 5 to 16, this outdoor kids camp provides a very unique experience for kids at the Bygone Days Heritage Village. From trail blazers to extremists, there is something for every kid at this camp.

Cost: $385 per child (age 7-16) and $285 per child (age 5-6)

Blue Mountain

With a number of camps for every level of adventurer, Blue Mountain offers weekly camps with fun, active outdoor activities. The Plunge summer camp offers fun in the waterpark, along with activities like hiking, tennis, swimming lessons, golf and much more. The Beachside camp offers a number of great activities like games, biking, kayak and even the amazing race. Tennis camp is for those kids over age 11 that want to improve their game.

Costs: Varies

These are just some of the amazing camps offered to kids in the Collingwood area. With so much choice, parents will have a tough time choosing the right one.

We have been blasted by snow since the beginning of February. Of course, we can’t expect not to be, while living in Collingwood. Some people love it, as it means they can participate in all of the great winter recreation activities available in the Collingwood area. Others despise the snow and all of the shovelling has probably caused some to have aching backs. The good thing is that there are a number of health care providers in Collingwood that specialize in treating your pain.

Lifemark Sport Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre in Collingwood provides services including physiotherapy, massage, kinesiology and sports/athletic care. They use techniques like Active Release (ART), intramuscular stimulation (IMS) and manual therapy.

If you are looking for something unique, but that works for chronic pain reduction and management, as well as injuries, Low Intensity Laser Therapy is said to reduce your healing time. Offered at the Marsden Wellness Clinic, this innovative treatment provides therapy through light. This clinic also offers massage and osteopathy, along with athletic therapy.

Dr. Beth’s Chiropractic Clint & Bioflex Laser Therapy offers chiropractic care for people of all ages. Prescribing all sorts of state of the art technologies, they’ll work to get you feeling 100% in no time. After 20 years in business in Collingwood, her name is trusted in the community. This clinic uses:

·         NASA certified nerve scan technology

·         Arthrostim adjusting instrument

·         BioFlex Laser Therapy

Bowen therapy, also known as Bowtech is a therapy where subtle inputs to the body allow the body to heal itself. For relief of a number of injuries and acute and chronic health issues done in a holistic way, Isabella Lehmann is a certified Bowen practitioner who can help to heal you.

Sometimes back pain can need varying treatments, and finding a clinic that can give you all of the treatments in one spot is definitely a blessing. At the Collaborative Health Group in Collingwood, you can get chiropractic care, massage therapy and acupuncture for all of your ailments. A free 15-minute consultation is the best way to find out how to treat your issues.

For more vigorous health issues like post-operative conditions, repetitive strain injuries (like the ones you may get from shovelling, but also from using a computer mouse), as well as sports injuries and chronic conditions, a visit to Peak to Shore Physiotherapy in Collingwood might be the ticket. Not only will they use manual, hands-on therapy, they’ll prescribe exercise programs that will help to heal you and keep you healed.

These are just a few of the great clinics in Collingwood that can help heal your winter woes caused by too much skiing (if there is such a thing), too much shovelling, or just the general malaise your body feels when staying inside.

Being a new mom is tough. Most mornings you want to get out of the house just to keep yourself awake. As a new mom in Collingwood, you may be looking for activities to keep you and your little one busy and meet other new moms for connection.

Kidding Around

This almost brand new indoor playground is great for moms of toddlers and preschoolers. A 5,000 square foot space of play equipment for kids under 10, with a dedicated toddler area, your kids will have fun here while you get to relax and chat with the other parents. There is an in-house café and free wi-fi too!

Active Life Conditioning

Not only will you meet other moms, spend time with your baby, you’ll also get into shape. Having a new baby can be tough on the body and you’ll feel great about yourself attending some of the awesome mom and baby classes at Active Life Conditioning. Classes offered include mom and baby core @ the barre and mom and baby conditioning.

Crossfit Mozomo

If you want to take your workout a step further, but wonder how you’ll do it with baby, Crossfit Mozomo encourages moms (and dads) to bring their kids along during their workout. While they don’t have a childminding area, they want to encourage new moms to get back to the gym so she makes time for me.

Collingwood Ontario Early Years Centre

Many new moms find the early years centres to be lifelines in their new mommyhood. With a fun, drop-in facility open daily (except Sunday), you won’t even feel the new to get out of your yoga pants to spend the day here with your young children. You’ll want to drop in to their centre to get more info on parent education workshops, playgroups, literacy, breastfeeding support and so much more. You can even borrow equipment free to use at home or birthday parties. There are also a number of outreach centres in our  neighbouring towns, so don’t feel left out if you don’t want to travel into Collingwood for some free fun. Some of the scheduled activities at the centre include:

·         Music and movement

·         Pow Wow drumming with Lisa Newman

·         Pre-natal class

·         Baby & me

·         The Breastfeeding Place

·         Triple P  parenting course

Salsa Babies

This chain is located around the world, but there are classes available in Collingwood. There is very little information on the site, so simply send them a message to find out about dancing with your little one.