The Creemore
Ech
Friday, May 8, 2015
Vol. 16 No. 19
thecreemoreecho.com
News and views in and around Creemore
Inside the Echo
Play ball
Tree huggers
Tree Society ready to dig in
Baseball season opens
PAGE 5
PAGE 8
Publications Mail Agreement # 40024973
New bridge will include steel trusses
Contributed photo
Actors Terry Barna, Jay Davis, Perrie Olthuis and Craig Pike toast Baco Noir with playwright Dan Needles (back row, centre) and director David Nairn (back right).
Needles puts fine point on wine
by Trina Berlo While trying his hand as a vintner, Dan Needles was inspired to write his latest play. Baco Noir is a comedy about growing grapes in the harsh climate of Persephone Township, not unlike growing grapes in the harsh climate of Nottawasaga Township. The play, premiering at Theatre Orangeville May 8, is about a young couple from the city who make a move north to the country with aspirations of starting a vineyard. Due to the climate, they opt for the Baco Noir grape but the wine is awful. They get some support from the next-door neighbour and agriculture guru who theorizes that the couple’s troubles are related to a long lingering spirit on the hill. “The story of Baco Noir is quite interesting because it is a new world grape with some old world connections, which resonates in Creemore,” said Needles. “The root is really a wild grape. The grape itself is a European vinifera and the name of the parent
grape of Baco Noir is Folle Blanche, which means mad white haired woman and so it’s suggested a ghost story.” The grape is very vigorous, erratic and somewhat difficult to control, which Needles says, “pretty much sums up the neighbourhood”. The couple buys the property and can’t understand why it has never been farmed. “Everybody else does,” said Needles. “It’s called Spirit Hill and it’s resisted agriculture of any kind for 200 years.” Terry Barna, Jay Davis, Perrie Olthuis and Craig Pike make up the four-person ensemble cast, under the direction of David Nairn. The play is a mix of city and country, so much so that Needles says event the actors don’t know what to make of playing to a north-of-the-city audience and have to acclimatize. “It’s not an urban play. We do have a different way of looking at things,” said Needles. “People know each other. They have known each other for decades or generations so there is
a lot of interconnections and yet it’s quite diverse because there are a lot of new people coming in and they are trying to fit in and make sense of the place themselves. So it’s a place with a lot of history and is going through tremendous change and this produces a lot of stories.” Needles, 64, is also the author of the Wingfield plays and others that are set in the fictional Persephone Township. Baco Noir, said Needles, is set just down the road. The Nottawa playwright is a recipient of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour and the Order of Canada. The play runs at Theatre Orangeville until May 24. Tickets cost $42 for evening shows and $35 for matinees. Student tickets cost $22. Purchase tickets online at www. theatreorangeville.ca or call 1-800424-1295. Baco Noir is also playing at Theatre Collingwood from May 26-30. Purchase tickets at theatrecollingwood. ca or call 1-866-382-2200.
By Trina Berlo The County of Simcoe is proceeding with the replacement of the Collingwood Street Bridge in Creemore. As part of the construction process, the county is hosting a public information session at the Creemore Arena from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13 at the Creemore Arena, to inform the public about upcoming construction activity and the design of the new bridge. County of Simcoe general manager of engineering, planning and environment Debbie Korolnek said people are invited to talk to staff and view renderings of the new bridge. The bridge is to be replaced by a two-lane concrete structure with a sidewalk on one side. It will be topped with the refurbished original steel trusses. “We recognize that heritage wise, it’s valuable to the people in that community. We respect that and we want to preserve that character so that’s why we are doing it that way,” said Korolnek. “Creemore is a beautiful community and I completely understand why people like the bridge. It’s a beautiful piece of infrastructure. Unfortunately it is really old and it’s really corroded and it’s just not serving its purpose anymore so we are going to do our best to make it look aesthetically pleasing and preserve the character and make it much safer and longer lasting than what’s there now.” The county is required to hold a public information session 60 days before construction begins, to explain the work and how it will affect traffic. The work can begin as of July 13. The in-water work must be done by the end of September, as not to disturb fish spawning. Korolnek said out-of-water work will continue into the fall. (See “County” on page 3)
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