Transitions-Oakville, Burlington and Mississauga Real Estate Blog

Lacrosse in Oakville - A Game Older Than Canada.

Lacrosse is one of the oldest team sports still being played in the world today.

It originated with the native tribes of the north american continent and was one of the main attractions at pow-wows when tribes from all over would gather to partake in food, fellowship and festivities.

Strong, agile native men and boys learned to be skilled lacrosse players from the time they were little tykes.

It is believed that lacrosse originated in the 12th century amongst the Iroquois and Huron tribes.
1000s of men would play lacrosse on fields miles long and a game could go on for days.

It was known as the 'creator's game' and had a deep spiritual component in which warriors prepared themselves for war and each player was very proud to be representing their clan.

Lacrosse was also played to heal the sick and to resolve conflicts.


Oakville Lacrosse Registration begins on Saturday, February 6th from 1pm - 5pm at the Oakville Arena, 133 Rebecca Street, Oakville.

The Early Bird Registration Rate is:

Peanuts  -  $100

Tyke and Older - $200


Regular Registration takes place on February 24th from 6:30pm - 9pm and will cost:

Peanuts - $120

Tyke and Older - $220

Please bring a Birth Certificate for all New Registrations.

For more information on Lacrosse in Oakville, visit the website www.oakvillelacrosse.com.

 

 

©2010JoSmith

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com

Oakville Children's Acting and Theatre Class Starting February 4th.

Every family has one. Some families have many. Little aspiring actors and actresses who keep everyone entertained with their constant shows and costume brigades. 
One minute they're Batman out saving the world, the next minute they're a secret agent working on a very important spy case.

If your family is blessed with a young actor or two, be sure to register them for Bad Dog Theatre Oakville's new theatre and acting class for 8-10 year olds.

The class welcomes beginners as well as those with some theatre/acting experience.
Focusing on teamwork, spontaneity and storytelling, it is sure to keep those little active imaginations occupied long after class is finished. Who knows? You might have another Hugh Laurie in your midst!

The class is being held at 340 Rebecca Street, Oakville (Central Baptist Church) on Thursdays from 4-6pm.

It will run for 10 sessions (February 4 - April 15). Use your little one's energy creatively during this March break!
February 4th – April 15th (10 sessions)

They'll be a 'Class Showcase' on April 15th
Registration cost is $220.50 (includes GST)

For more information, visit the Bad Dog Theatre website or email oakville@baddogtheatre.com.

Don't pass up this opportunity to send your little actor/actress on his/her road to stardom. Register for the Oakville Children's Acting and Theatre Class with the Bad Dog Theatre Company today!

©2010JoSmith

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com

Heath Allen, Oakville Symphony Orchestra's very talented Principal Horn, will be featured in an concert devoted to the music of the great romantic composers.

Heath will be performing Dvorak's Symphony #8 and also Richard Stauss's Horn Concerto #1.

If you are an admirer of the great romantic composers, you won't want to miss this inspirational event. Tickets can be purchased at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. Call 905-815-2021.

Visit the Oakville Symphony's website for more information or call the Symphony office at 905-338-1462.

The concert is being held at The Oakville Centre For The Performing Arts located at 130 Navy Street in Oakville. 

To view a map showing the location, click here -> The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts

It's not too late to reserve your seat for the Oakville Symphony Orchestra's 'Great Romantics' concert being held this Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 8pm and this Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 2pm.

©2010JoSmith

 

 

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com

Oakville Area Writers and Bloggers Invited to Take a Course!

Always dreamed of becoming a writer or are you a writer already for a business blog or local periodical and just want to brush up on your skills?

Brian Henry will be teaching a writing course called 'Welcome to Creative Writing' for 9 weeks beginning on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010.
The course is being held at St. Cuthbert's Anglican Church, 1541 Oakhill Drive, Oakville from 12:45 to 2:45 every Tuesday afternoon until March 30th.

Brian will guide students through various kinds of writing including short stories, memoir, children's, personal and 'just for fun'.

This is a great way to learn new writing techniques. To reserve a spot email Brian Henry at brianhenry@sympatico.ca.

I'm signed up for this writing course and looking forward to it very much.
Whenever my schedule allows, you'll find me at St. Cuthbert's Anglican Church on Tuesday afternoons. I feel my business blogging and real estate newsletter, not to mention the marketing I do for my clients, will benefit greatly from the skills I will learn from Brian.

Brian teaches numerous other creative writing courses also. To find out more contact him via the email above or visit his blog.

If you're a writer or blogger in the Oakville area, be sure to contact Brian and reserve your spot today!

©2010JoSmith

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com

Burlington's Waterfront - Spencer Smith Park

In the middle of winter, I find myself dreaming of the Lake Ontario waterfront. Lake Ontario has been a constant in my life from the time I was 7 years old and we moved from the tip of James Bay in Quebec down to Batawa in southern Ontario.

A special occasion in my family was when my Dad would announce 'Let's go to the beach!'. My two brothers and I would jump for joy and run to find our sand toys and bathing suits.
Mom would pack dinner into a cooler and my Dad would go out to the back garden shed to get the hibachi and charcoal briquettes so we could barbecue our dinner on the beach. Then off we would go.

On other occasions we would go smelt fishing with two or three other families. When the smelt were running in the spring, my Dad and his friends would use big square nets to catch thousands of them.

They'd bring the nets on shore where the Moms and kids were warming themselves around a giant bonfire, and we would scoop all of the smelt into buckets or whatever other containers we had brought.

 

                                                                        North Beach on Lake Ontario in Prince Edward County -
                                                                        where we used to go to the beach on weekends and smelt
                                                                        fishing in the spring.

Back at home my Dad would pay my brothers and a penny for each smelt we cleaned. It was a quick and easy way to make a few dollars and  we enjoyed the opportunity to make some extra money over and above our allowances.

Anyhow, just sitting here this evening thinking of the Lake Ontario shoreline here in Oakville and Burlington and started to go through some of my pictures from last summer. These are taken at the Burlington Waterfront in Spencer Smith Park.


Looking out over Lake Ontario at Spencer Smith Park on Burlington's Waterfront.


View of the Burlington Pier - Under Construction


Spencer Smith Park on Burlington's Waterfront

If you're in Burlington, be sure to stop by and take a stroll (or go skating in the winter) down on the waterfront at Spencer Smith Park.

©2010JoSmith

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com

Thousands of years ago, Asia and North America were connected via a land bridge in the Bering Strait region, the area that now separates the United States from the Soviet Union.

It was here that snowshoes first found their way onto the North American continent and made occupation and settlement a possibility.

Archaeologists have found snowshoe like devices in Central Asia dating back to about 4000 BC.
The ancestors of Native American people originally came from this region of Asia and when the great northern migrations began, they brought their tools with them enabling their descendents to colonize and explore what is now Canada and the northern United States.

Without snowshoes, Native Americans could not have travelled over the snowy winter land for hunting, trapping, defending their territories and homes, socializing and settling in new areas.

Aboriginal people perfected snowshoe designs and had different configurations for each type of snow or weather condition.
The French colonists learned quickly from Native Americans and began to use snowshoes in the 1600s. This enabled them to be very successful in trapping, hunting and living in the northern regions of North America.

The Algonquin tribes of the Ottawa region modelled snowshoes after 'bearpaws' and extended the designs from there.

In 1758, there was a battle fought near Lake George called 'The Battle on Snowshoes' and it was at that point that the English Colonies, which would eventually become the United States, began to realize how important snowshoes were as winter gear in military manouvers.

To this day, the best and least expensive snowshoes are made by Native Americans.

The snowshoe will always be remembered as one of the most important tools used by our forefathers in the settling of Ontario and other northern regions of Canada and the United States.

 

©2010JoSmith

 

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com

Lowville Winter Games - Beat the Winter Blues!

It's time to sharpen up your skates and wax the family toboggan. The village of Lowville, north of Britannia Road on Guelph Line in Burlington, is holding their annual winter games on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 from 12 noon to 4pm.

This fun-filled day will take place at Lowville Park. Come early for the Pancake Eating Contest which is being sponsored by Golden Griddle.

They'll be horse drawn wagon rides, log sawing, entertainment, tobogganing, skating, crafts and games for the whole family.

The Lowville United Church will have goodies for sale to stave off those winter munchy attacks after an afternoon spent skating or tobogganing.

What better way for families to have fun together? The Lowville Winter Game events are free!

Leave your car at the Halton District School Board parking lot (first driveway west of Guelph Line on Upper Middle Road) and take the FREE shuttle bus starting at noon.
That way you'll be sure to not have to worry over where you're going to park when you arrive at Lowville Park.

For more information about the Lowville Winter Games call 905-335-7600 ext 7201.

©2009JoSmith

 

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com

Ontario's New HST Will Cost Greater Toronto Area Homebuyer's and Sellers Millions.

Ontario consumers are on the brink of another provincial tax grab, the HST, and it seems that no matter how much lobbiers, business people and the public protest, it will go through anyways.

Effective July 1st, 2010, consumers can expect to pay an additional 8 % tax on all services which previously were only charged the 5% GST.

This measure of Premier Dalton McGuinty's has the potential to do away with 21,200 construction jobs in Ontario and many of the jobs that support the construction industry.

A recent report commissioned by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) states that of the additonal $800 million the new HST tax will cost Ontario buyers of new homes, Toronto area homebuyers will pay approximately $575 million of it due to the higher overall new home prices in the Toronto area.

New homes which cost less than $400,000 will be exempt from the new HST and those homes costing less than $500,000 will have partial rebates.
In the Toronto area, which covers many nearby cities such as Mississauga and Oakville, 36% of new homes cost over $400,000.

After July 1st, a home buyer will be paying an additional $40,000 on a $500,000 new home.
For this reason many buyers are rushing to purchase before the July 1st deadline.

In addition to the negative effect the HST will have on homebuyers, home sellers will be paying thousands more when they sell their homes since all of the services that are involved when a home is sold such as real estate commission, legal costs, etc will have an additional 8% tax over and above the previous 5% comprised of the GST only.

Consumers will be paying the additional 8% tax on gas, utilities, and many more items which previously were only taxed the 5% GST.

Just when the economy is beginning to make a comeback after a rough couple of years, the Ontario government hits us with the HST.

I suppose it's not enough that Ontarions are already one of the highest taxed peoples on the planet; Dalton McGuinty feels the need to squeeze just a little bit more from an overtaxed and hurting populace.

©2009JoSmith

 

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com

Tuesday we attended the Toronto Boat Show at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. The show was very well organized and had something for everyone.

For cottagers, one whole section was devoted to cottage living. 
We had a long talk with a fellow who works for a log home company and learned a great deal about the modern way of building a log home while we stood inside of one of their model shells.
Once more I began to dream of a beautiful, open-concept, log house overlooking one of Ontario's clean, northern lakes.

For those who come to the show hungry, there are an abundance of food venues to suit every taste.

One place we always have to stop by is the Carmichael's sausage booth.

While standing waiting for Louis to make his yearly 'wild turkey sausage' purchases, I gazed down and saw a small sign that read 'kangaroo sausage'.

Yes, you can even buy kangaroo sausage at the Toronto Boat Show.

We enjoyed touring the yachts and sailboats, however I was very disappointed that my beloved 'Tartan' Sailboat wasn't on display this year.
The dealer said they had sold them all and didn't have any to bring to the show. Now this was THE number one thing I was looking forward to seeing at the Toronto Boat Show, so needless to say I was very disappointed. Oh well, maybe next year.

After stopping for a delicious late lunch of perch and fries, we wandered over to the giant indoor lake (an arena sized pool) to see what was happening. Not too much, just a few people trying out kayaks and paddle boats.
On Saturday and Sunday the amazing waterskiing dog will be putting on a show.

Armed with bags full of boat cleaning products, sausages, brochures, business cards and promotional DVDs, we decided it was time to head home.

It was a very enjoyable afternoon spent escaping winter for awhile at the Toronto International Boat Show and I'm looking forward to attending again next year.

 

©2009JoSmith

 

 

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com

Dreaming of Summer? Take in the Toronto International Boat Show!

This is the time of the year I start dreaming about summer and imagining those sultry, sunny days when soft breezes cool the evening air and it stays light out until about 9pm.

When thinking about summer, I can't help but think of the many days spent on the boat either sailing over to Toronto Island or just heading out for an afternoon on the gentle waves of Lake Ontario.


Invariably, just when boat-dreaming starts to reach a fever level, along comes the Toronto International Boat Show!




                                                                                        'Ronin' - Where we spend many summer days, and sometimes nights.

The Toronto International Boat Show started today at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place  in Toronto.

We try to go every year and take in as many of the displays as we can. I especially like touring all of the sailboats and always slip  my boots off and take a tour inside of each one.

My favourite is the Tartan. These boats are just BEAUTIFUL!
In fact, I never thought I could fall absolutely in love with a boat, but I have totally succombed to the lines and interior people-friendliness of these magnificent sailboats.

If there's one thing on my list of WANTS it's a Tartan Sailboat.
I often dream of sailing around the globe in one.

This Tuesday when we go to the boat show, I'll take plenty of pictures to show you in an upcoming blog. I think you'll agree with me that the Tartan is one beautiful boat.

If you have a chance this week, make the trip to Toronto and take in the Toronto International Boat Show. It will help chase the winter blues away and have you dreaming of summer and lazy boating days.

For more info on the Toronto International Boat Show visit this link www.TorontoBoatShow.com

©2009JoSmith

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Brekland Realty Group, Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.oakville-burlingtonhomes.com