The Creemore
ECHO
Friday, March 5, 2021 Vol. 21 No. 10
www.creemore.com
News and views in and around Creemore
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Brush away winter with community art show by Trina Berlo The community is invited to get their creative juices flowing and whip something together for “Brush Away Winter,” a community art show that will be displayed in the windows of Creemore businesses during the month of April. The idea links back to the Creemorecentric show that used to happen in Creemore, said Liz Eakins, who was involved back when it was an initiative of the artist co-op at the Mad and Noisy Gallery. She said there is a desire to keep that type of community collaboration going but with the pandemic it is hard to imagine how to pull it off, so in the meantime the art will be hosted in the windows of businesses in the downtown core. “This way, we walk down the street and see the artwork created by our family, friends and neighbours,” said Eakins. The idea is that everyone, no matter the level of artistic bent, are encouraged to create a piece of art on a 10-by-10 inch surface. It can be any medium, on any theme. The project is sponsored by Purple
Liz Eakins at work on a square for an upcoming community art show. Hills Arts and Heritage Society. “We said, let’s just give away some canvases and invite anybody and
everybody, it doesn’t matter your age or skillset, it doesn’t have to be paint, it could be drawing or any of the
skills you may have learned through the art challenge in the last couple of months,” said Eakins. Participants are also welcome to create their own 10-by-10 canvas, piece of wood, cardboard or any other surface for the base of their art. “It can be anything your heart desires. Just express yourself and share it with the community,” said Eakins. There are 100 canvases available, with one per household available free and others for a suggested donation of $10. The initiative is completely volunteer driven and donations and memberships to PHAHS are welcome to help cover the costs of community arts and heritage projects. To participate, register online at phahs.ca or in person at The Creemore Echo, at 3 Caroline St. W., where canvases can be picked up. Return them to The Echo from March 25-27, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Make sure to include a name and contact info. Participants are encouraged to take a photo of their artwork before submitted it to post on social media. Tag @purplehillsarts, and use the hashtag #purplehillsarts.
MOH hears opposition to regional lockdown by Trina Berlo The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is bracing for protests and noncompliance given the backlash from going into lockdown on March 1. Medical officer of Health Dr. Charles Gardner said the community has been very communicative about their concerns and opposition to the classification under the province’s framework, which limits businesses and recreation opportunities. Although the decision to put Simcoe Muskoka in lockdown was ultimately made at the provincial level, Gardner said last week that he would be advising the province to do so.
Gardner said his main focus is on the variants of concern (VOC), and the potential to cause a third wave as the variant strain is now dominant in Simcoe-Grey, specifically Barrie and the southern part of Simcoe County. There has been much talk of treating the less impacted areas of the Simcoe Muskoka region as separate entities, but the province has been unwilling to break up regions. Gardner said he is of two minds of the proposal, because it would reduce some protections for the areas to the north, which have seen low cases of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. Since using the “emergency brake”
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Monday to slow transmission, the steep increase in cases that Gardner was worried about hasn’t materialized. He described “a mixed complex picture” of a reduction of total case counts juxtaposed with an increase in the number of outbreaks, sporadic and geographic spread. “The main rationale for declaring this district to be in the grey/lockdown status is because of our very large number of variants of concern in our district,” said Gardner. “Two-thirds of our cases are a VOC which is very high compared to what we’ve seen in other health units,” said Gardner, adding that others are in the
range of 20 per cent or less. “So we are definitely trending upward.” Simcoe Muskoka has the largest number of UK variant cases in the province, with large increases of cases and outbreaks of the B.1.1.7 (the UK) variant in workplaces, long term care facilities, a child care centre and an apartment building. He said the reproductive rate is still at its highest since the first wave, and knowing what the variant can do, having seen a third wave in the UK, there is still cause for concern. Gardner said it was “emotional” to read more than 200 e-mails from (See “Top” on page 2)