UpFront

Kawartha Lakes Singers choir seeks new members

The Kawartha Lakes Singers performs a broad range of music.

The Kawartha Lakes Singers (KLS) choir is seeking new members and would love to hear from interested singers as it plans for its upcoming season. Since 2000, the mixed 30-voice chorus has performed concerts in a wide variety of genres including classical, folk, Celtic, jazz, African-American spirituals, musical theatre and more.

KLS performs three main concerts per season at Cambridge Street United Church in Lindsay. The church will also serve as its new rehearsal location. Plans are underway to perform with the Celtic group Clan Hannigan in February 2022, and with the Northumberland Orchestra and Choir in April.

The group is led by choral director Arlene Gray and accompanist Gael Morrison. Members learn challenging repertoire, so sight-reading skills are a must. Rehearsals are Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. Generally the season runs from September through May. The choir plans to resume rehearsals in midOctober with COVID protocols in place.

For more information visit klsingers.ca. If you are interested in learning more about singing in this choir contact Arlene Gray at 705-799-1742 or singtoomemee@gmail.com.

Penetanguishene boaters love two-day voyage to Lindsay

It’s probably their fifteenth time doing a boating journey from Penetanguishene to Lindsay but it never gets old for Gary and Mae Ronald. The Georgian Bay-area boaters often bring the Evening Miss up to visit their son and his family here, making the 190-km water trip worth it.

It’s a two-day voyage for the Ronalds but the trip can be “as long as you like it to be,” depending on how many stops are made, says Gary.

A former tool and die maker, Gary says he and Mae, a retired registered nurse, love to catch as many of their grandchildren’s baseball tournaments as possible, part of the reason for this latest trip.

“Boating is a great way to meet people,” he says. Mae says she has grown “to love the open water,” even though she grew up on a farm.

Gary says it might be a relaxing time, but “It’s not cheap anymore,” with fuel at $1.75 a litre.

They both recall fondly a trip from Penetanguishene to Ottawa that took five weeks, timed so they could spend Canada Day in Ottawa one year.

Gary and Mae Ronald often visit family in Lindsay using the Trent Severn Waterway. Photo: Roderick Benns.

As for Lindsay landmarks they like to visit, they love Rivera Park where they docked but were disappointed to learn the The Grand Experience had closed. Instead, they expressed interest in trying a different downtown restaurant, such as The Olympia or Pie Eyed Monk.

Business UPFRONT

RN opens The Beauty Lab Medical Cosmetics

Crystal Connell, The Beauty Lab.

A 20-year nursing veteran, Crystal Connell, has expanded into private practice and opened her own medical cosmetic business, The Beauty Lab Medical Cosmetics.

Located at 3 Kent St. W. in Lindsay, in the same building as Thairapy Beauty Bar, Connell’s business offers a variety of medical cosmetic procedures such as Botox and fillers, as well as health and wellness treatments, like IV vitamin drips and lipotropic B complex injections.

“I am also an advanced skin-care specialist and treat a plethora of skin disorders,” says Connell, who has lived in the area for 21 years.

Connell’s plan for the upcoming year is to expand her services and mentor other certified cosmetic nurses who will eventually be invited to work at The Beauty Lab.

“Personal care services were hit hard during the lockdowns. As a female entrepreneur in the aesthetic industry, it was a huge blow to the momentum of my new business,” she says. “I had to quickly learn how to transition my brick-andmortar business to an e-commerce platform.”

She partially credits Diane Steven of Kawartha Lakes Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre for helping her navigate the lockdowns.

Visit her company online at thebeautylabmedicalcosmetics.com

Local man’s business book translated into Spanish

After reaching number one best-seller status in Canada, Australia and the U.K. and number two in the U.S., a local man’s business book has now been translated into Spanish. Dennis Geelen, author of The Zero In Formula, says it was the English ebook that made best-seller status on Amazon.

When a few members of a business organization in Colombia read the book, they approached Geelen, who is also a business consultant, and offered to translate it into Spanish. The Spanish version has been released on Amazon in both ebook and paperback. “It has been a humbling experience to see the global reception that the book has received,” says Geelen.

Local tech company closes Port Perry office in favour of Lindsay Business Hub

Richard Gauder. Photo: Sienna Frost.

Co-owners of CMS Web Solutions, Richard and Sandi Gauder, moved to Lindsay four years ago, drawn by the small-town feel and more favourable real estate prices. However, they maintained a Port Perry office to keep one foot in the Durham market. That all changed with COVID. Thanks to infrastructure they put in place after SARS, the web accessibility specialists effortlessly shifted to a work-from-home model. After reading about the new Lindsay Business Hub in the Advocate, they realized their company would be better suited to a shared office model and decided not to reopen their Port Perry office. The Lindsay Business Hub provides them with a business mailing address, daily rental of a professional boardroom or office as needed, and more.

“Everyone loves working from home now,” says Richard. “This is a great flexible solution for a small business like ours.”

For more information on the Lindsay Business Hub visit lindsaybusinesshub.com For more information on CMS visit cmswebsolutions.com