SUMMER 2006 NEWSLETTER
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Full and Associate Members are invited to the 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, August 8th at 6522 West Parkway Drive, starting at 10:00 a.m.
The AGM is an ideal opportunity for members to keep up-to-date with information about our community and about CICA’s activities over the past year. Make sure to jot the time and date in your calendar!
There will not be an election as there are no openings on our Executive this year.
Don’t forget to bring a chair.
Parking is limited at Areas 3 and 4 so walk if you can.
CANADA DAY WALK
This year’s Canada Day walk was once again a red-and-white hit. Despite the punishing heat at least 100 people showed up on foot in decorated golf carts and tricked-out cars and trucks. And the tradition of ending the walk with ice cream continued, as the crowd of walkers and bystanders gathered at Driftwood Treasures.
This year’s walk attracted media attention – a reporter from The Independent newspaper based in Petrolia was on hand to write a story and snap a bunch of photos (including CICA’s own Maureen Harvey).
Thanks to everyone in the community for showing true Canadian spirit — especially Mark Lindsay for hosting at Driftwood Treasures, and the Ipperwash Beach Club for providing the much-needed ice cream.
BEACH ART COMPETITION
Our annual Beach Art Competition made a spectacular return on Saturday, July 25th. With the weather once again co-operating many budding sand artists took part, from toddlers to teens to parents and grandparents.
The top finishers in each category (Under 14 and Adult) received gift card prizes for either Arbor Acres or the Ipperwash Beach Club. And all the kids who took part received bubble wands.
We’ll likely modify next year’s contest and add a Family category, since most of the entries this year were really group efforts – collaboration and co-operation rule!
WINNERS
Area 1
| Youth | Adult |
| Liam & Christine Stahl | Quinn Jamieson & Ins Janssen |
| Giant Crab | Shale & Shells Turtle |
Area 4
| Youth | Adult |
| Team Cousin Crew | Cara Perrault |
| Cousin Castle | Spiral Mountain |
TRASH 2 TREASURES & DUMPSTER DAY
What an awesome day Saturday, June 6th was. The sun came out and so did the community. Dozens of items were on offer in the Trash 2 Treasures area, and the driveway was busy throughout as cars, trucks and vans poured in with items destined for our dumpsters.
We tried something new this year – we offered a café for attendees where they could shelter from the sun while enjoying peameal bacon on a bun. It was a massive hit and was a major reason this was a truly community event.
The success wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity and help of so many volunteers. There’s a long list of thank-yous in order: Kevin and Yolanda Levy for the Ipperwash Road venue, John Kidd for collecting the yard sale items, Williamson Farms for the peameal bacon, and the team of people who staffed the yard sale area, the café, and who put countless carloads of throwaways into the dumpsters.
GRAB & GAB
One of CICA’s most enduring events is the weekly Grab & Gab, where volunteers gather to pick up trash along the beach. This year’s version started on Wednesday, May 13th and will run until Wednesday, Oct. 7th.
So far this year, 17 volunteers have taken part, totalling 76 hours of work picking up countless pieces of trash from the sand and dunes.
PLANTERS ARE BACK
The end of May marked the return of the decorative and commemorative planters to their usual locations:
– Army Camp Road/East Parkway Drive
– East Parkway Drive/Ipperwash Road
– West Parkway Drive/Ipperwash Road
– West Parkway Drive/West Ipperwash Road
– Arbor Acres
Thanks to our volunteers for planting and locating them.
We are once again offering the memorial plaques, which are fixed to the planters as an elegant and poignant way to remember loved ones.
There are 11 different images to choose from and up to three lines of text. The plaques are 2” by 8”. For those interested, order forms can be found here or available online at Memorial Plaque – Order Form – CICA (centreipperwashcommunity.ca).
CPR TRAINING
As part of CICA’s renewed commitment to enhancing the safety of Ipperwash Beach, we held a training session for anyone who wanted to learn CPR techniques.
On May 26th, 17 eager students gathered at the Ipperwash Beach Club, where an instructor from McMaster Children’s Hospital taught the finer points of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, as well as how to use the defibrillator now installed at the IBC.
This was a pilot project and it went so well we plan to repeat it, likely next spring. Thanks to Fred Newton for supporting this worthwhile initiative.
MPP TOUR
Steve Pinsonneault, MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex (which includes Lambton Shores) toured Ipperwash at CICA’s invitation to give him a close-up view of some of the issues our community is facing, and to discuss possible solutions.
The June 29th visit spanned the area between Army Camp Road and West Ipperwash Road, and included the beach, boat launches, and the parking areas overseen by Infrastructure Ontario. We discussed several items concerning beach safety and agreed on a list for Steve to take back to Queen’s Park.
The items include improving signage in the public access areas to the beach, making the beach more accessible for disabled visitors, and adding washroom capacity.
This visit was part of a larger effort spearheaded by CICA to highlight issues and persuade the province to more actively manage their zones of responsibility.
ATVs & GOLF CARTS
With the summer beach season in full swing, ATVs and golf carts have once again become a familiar sight on Ipperwash’s trails and roads.
While they promise fun and convenient local transportation, they often run afoul of the rules of the road and can pose safety concerns. CICA has been in touch with the municipality about more enforcement, but most rules are the responsibility of the OPP, which has pledged to be more vigilant, especially concerning ATVs.
The municipality is exploring a modification to the rules governing golf carts. Earlier this summer it ran a survey asking users about their concerns around golf carts on local roads, as well as the pros and cons of driving them. The survey netted more than 800 responses, which will help Lambton Shores determine if it will take part in a provincial pilot project “which would permit golf carts to operate on certain municipal roads under specific conditions and restrictions.”
See the survey results here
IMPORTANT DATES
Saturday August 8: Annual General Meeting
Sunday, September 6: Last Sunset of Summer
Thursday, September 10: Lambton Shores Volunteer Recognition Dinner
Saturday, September 12: SCRCA Beach Cleanup
Wednesday, September 30: Orange Shirt Day/Truth and Reconciliation
Wednesday, December 2: CICA Christmas Dinner