Alliston's Good Shepherd Food Bank's 2011 Thanksgiving Food Drive has begun! A Brown paper donation bag has been inserted into the Thursday edition of the Alliston Herald, delivered to residents of Alliston, Lisle, Everett and Borden. Drop off locations are Sobey's and Zehr's in Alliston and Foodland in Cookstown.  The Everett firehall will also be accepting donations.  Call 705.435.3255 for more information. Let's donate non-perishable food to our local Food Drive to help local families in need. 10/02/2011

I blogged earlier this week about Tim Horton's Smile Cookie Campaign.  Yesterday I had two appointments. I educated a Brampton couple to the benefits of living in New Tecumseth and introduced them to a few properties that they might consider. I had about an hour between the end of this appointment and another appointment in Everett (a walk-through/trade quote for the purpose of a furnace conversion on a property that we had recently firmed up). I decided to stop at the Timmies in the west end of Alliston to buy myself a sandwich and some milk.  While there, realizing it was the last day of the SMILE Campaign, I asked the cashier at the drive through if I could add ten smile cookies to my order, to be given at random to people who followed me.  She added these cookies to my order and I p... 09/26/2011

Mike's Family Restaurant and Sports Lounge was the very first local restaurant that our family dined in when we moved to New Tecumseth in 2002.  Helen and I relish the opportunity to go off the beaten track and sample the local haunts.  I have long forgotten who told me about this restaurant, but have never forgotten the food and the atmosphere. Mike and Bernice Toukas are both the heart and soul of this charming restaurant.  They are definitely "good people" and add to your dining experience.  The many dishes we have sampled off the large menu have all been fresh and tasty and large enough to have leftovers regardless of how hungry you are. I have never watched a football or hockey game there, but it seems to be a great place to watch one if you were so inclined. Located at 52 Welling... 09/22/2011

Details, a unique accents and gifts store is located at the northwest corner of Mill St and Victoria St in Alliston, ON. What I like and what Helen loves is the themed rooms in this large store.  Two storeys house ~ 5,000 square feet of store, many areas decorated as rooms in a home. A bedroom, bathroom, family room, or kitchen will be decorated in season illustrating how a host of accents and gifts might be used. If you are looking for a unique accent for a room in your home, or for that special home gift for any occasion, look no further. 09/21/2011

Alliston Farmer's Market When:   Every Saturday 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Where:  Mill Market Square Mill St & Victoria Street, Alliston View Larger Map Fresh Local Ontario Fruits and Vegetables Fresh Baked Goods Smoked Rainbow Trout, Salmon, and White Fish R&P Farms BBQ featuring Hot Dogs, Sausages and Back Bacon on a Bun Buy local, supporting our community and help Save Our Planet! If you are feeling like Italian fare for Lunch, drop in to MMEA Restaurant & Catering Alliston Farmer's Market 09/08/2011

If you live in Alliston, ON, and are looking for daycare, may I recommend Wellington Street Daycare. My wife, Helen, and I have been sending our son there since he was three. He has been involved in the toddler program with the "lollipop" group and the preschool program, with the "alien" group. Over the years, he has participated in their before and after school programs and this summer in their summer camp. We have found their staff to be courteous, professional, and that they provide the children with great programs helping them grow intellectually, physically and socially. Under the Upper Canada Child Care Group, they now have two locations in Alliston: Wellington Street Day Care and St Paul's Child Care 27 Wellington St. E., Alliston 100 James A McCague Ave, Alliston For more inform... 09/03/2011

My wife, Helen, told me about this one. There is a sign up in the Alliston Wal-Mart and also in the Bradford Wal-Mart advertising a FREE Re-usable Shopping bag for anyone who brings in Thirty (30) of their own plastic bags. I am not sure how far and wide this program is extending, but I will soon check in other local Wal-Marts and spread the news. Using Re-usable shopping bags is an easy way to help Save Our Planet.  It is much better than using plastic bags, even if you re-cycle.  There is four or five re-usable bags in each of our cars (when we first started buying and using re-usable bags, we would often forget to take them back out to our cars and not have them handy when we needed them). If this is a program initiated by Wal-Mart to raise awareness of the general public, I applaud ... 09/02/2011

Thinking of de-cluttering? A garage sale does not appeal to you? Do not take re-usable items to the dump... FREECYCLE!!! Alliston has it's own group. Join for free and help Save Our Planet by giving and receiving unwanted items to and from local residents for free!! Want to find out more about this growing town in South Simcoe? Visit Alliston, ON Thinking of Selling your Home in Alliston? Here are some handy tips to consider first, then call me, Chris Smith @ 1.866.936.3500 to find out why RE/MAX sells more homes than anyone else in the World and how my method of working collaboratively with you might help net you MORE $$$. 09/01/2011

My wife, Helen, Alec and I went to Wal-Mart about 11:30 a.m. for some school supplies and assorted goods.  We decided to pick up a fresh baguette to go with some Pate that Helen had bought earlier in the week and have a nice brunch with some poached eggs. It is a beautiful "Blue Sky" warm summer day, and I have gotten over being stood up this morning. We were walking out to our car when I saw a older lady walking to her car in front of us with two full bags in each of her hands.  One bag broke and cans and other articles fell to the ground and started rolling away. I, immediately, went to her aid.  She was a little flustered and thanked me for my help.  I asked my son, Alec, to get a few items that had slid under a parked car.  We put her items and her bags in our shopping cart (our car... 08/27/2011

Paying it forward is so easy... I got a call yesterday from a person who had just sold her home and needed to find a home in Tottenham or Beeton.  One of the homes she wanted to see was tenanted and we required 24 hours notice to make the appointment.  She asked me what other homes were available in the $250K to $350K price range that might offer her the best combination of value and privacy with a pool being a real plus. I introduced her to some Tottenham properties this morning and had finished early, about 12:30 p.m.  I had a few hours to kill before we could see the Beeton properties.  She wanted to visit a friend and asked if I could meet her there at 3:00 p.m. and gave me her friends address and phone number. I remembered about the Dine and Donate at MMEA and called a friend and a... 08/18/2011

There is going to be a good variety of great entertainment at the Gibson Centre in Alliston this fall. The Alliston Arts and Culture Centre has announced it's fall line up. September 21st, 8:00 p.m. - Lost Fingers (Quebec Accoustic Trio) October 26th, 8:00 p.m. - Ashley MacIsaac (Cape Breton Musician) October 29th, 8:00 p.m. - Jill Barber (Jazz Singer) November 10th, 8:00 p.m. - Il Voce (Classical Crossover Group) November 17th, 8:00 p.m. - Pavlo (Guitarist) November 26th, 8:00 p.m. - Liona Boyd (Classical Guitarist) December 9th, 7:00 p.m. - John McDermott festive concert December 18th, 2:00 p.m. - The Good Lovelies (Harmonic Trio) Great savings can be had by purchasing tickets for the entire series at $250. Drop by the The Gibson Centre @ 63 Tupper St W., Alliston or call 705.435.2828... 08/14/2011

MMEA Donate and Dine MMEA Restaurant and Catering and BNI are sponsoring a fundraising lunch: Thursday August 18th from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the parking lot of MMEA Restaurant and Catering at 19 Church Street North (across from the Beer Store) just north of Victoria St. in alliston Lunch will be your choick of Veal Parmigiana or Chicken Parmigiana on a Bun with a side of potatoes and a pop for a minimum donation of $7.00. The entire $7.00 donation will be contributed to the Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation. Enjoy a great lunch and support our local Hospital! 08/13/2011

The Gibson Centre, Alliston, located at: 63 Tupper Street West, Alliston, ON L9R 1E4 ph: 705.435.2828 View Larger Map was built in 1889 by the Mercer Manufacturing Company to manufacture farm machinery and was built to the south of the town of Alliston. It was constructed using local virgin timber and local brick in the second empire style, similar to Canada's Parliament buildings. Bought by the Gibson's, a local family and owners of Gibson Transport, in the 1960's, Leonard and Bing Gibson donated this building and one acre of land to the community for $1 on July 1st, 2001. It is currently run as the non-profit Gibson Cultural Centre Corporation 08/12/2011

As a general rule, we Canadian are never happy with our weather... When it is cold, we want warmth. When it is raining, we want sunshine. When it is warm, we want cool. If it has been sunny, we feel we need rain... In keeping, after the hot spell we have had of late, you would think I would have welcomed this cool, almost fall-like crisp morning.  The temperature outside was 12 degrees C, or 50 F earlier this morning. It feels a little warmer out in the sun, but I would still like it a tad warmer... Warmer weather just seems the ideal time to Pay it forward today at the local DQ.  It's all good, I can enjoy a chocolate cherry blizzard in any weather ;-) It is just after 11:00 am, and I just came back from my local DQ, where I bought my medium chocolate cherry blizzard (my indulgence for... 08/11/2011

Canadian Tire Gas Bar in Alliston, located at 95 Young St. (Southwest Corner of 8th Avenue and Young St in the west end of Alliston) is having their Customer Appreciation Day today from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  Pump price for regular fuel was $1.14.9/litre (plus other discounts for cash or with CTC Gas Advantage or CTC Options Mastercards). Vehicles are allowed to fill up, but customers have been asked not to fill up gas tanks or other containers. In order to celebrate, they have reduced the pump price of all their grades of fuel by five cents per litre.  If you have a Canadian Tire Options or Gas Advantage Mastercard you can double dip and achieve even greater savings. Even though there was a steady rainfall while I was there earlier today, I was greeted by a number of friendly staff a... 08/09/2011

Good News!  Honda Canada Manufacturing is driving South Simcoe Real Estate Recovery by ramping up production and hiring new workers.After the five-month parts related slowdown in production caused by the Tsunami in Japan, Honda Canada Manufacturing Alliston is ready to start hiring.  An announcement has been made last month indicating production levels will return to full capacity in all North American plants in the fall. Plant spokesperson, Lori Van Valkenburg, said the Alliston plant's flexible manufacturing allows it to build four models, the Civic, the CR-V, the Acura MDX and the ZDX.  Are you interested in a position with Honda Canada Manufacturing in Alliston?  Submit your resume to Honda of Canada Mfg. P.O. Box 5000, Alliston, ON L9R 1A2 or by e-mail to careers@hcm.honda.comCreat... 08/07/2011

Sunday August 7th Schedule All Day at the Fairgrounds Food Booths Flea Market Kiddie Commando Simcoe Mobile Education Unit 9:30 a.m.: Baby Show Registration (Information Booth) 10:00 a.m.: Baby Show (Fairgrounds Pavillion) Non-denominational Church Service (New Tecumseth Recreation Complex) Darts Tournament Registration (R.C. Legion) Siscar Stock Car Racing Simulator (Farigrounds until 4 p.m.) 11:00 a.m.: Bingo (Pavillion at Fairgrounds until 5:00 p.m.) Darts Tournament Starts (R.C. Legion) 12:00 p.m.: Beer Garden Opens (Fairgrounds until 5:00 p.m.) Songwriters Showcase - featuring Nicole Scott Band (Beer Garden, Fairgrounds) 1:00 p.m.: "Newfie: Horseshoes (R.C. Legion) Dog Agility Show (Fairgrounds) 2:00 p.m.: Scottish Highland Dancers (Fairgrounds) 3:00 p.m.: Dog Agility Show (Fairgro... 08/06/2011

Alliston Potato Festival 2011 The potatoes are being harvested: Saturday August 6th, 2011 ScheduleAll Day at the Fairgrounds: Flea Market Midway Food Booths Kiddie Commando Child Find Program Pony Rides Simcoe Mobile Education Unit All Day on Victoria Street $15 Haircuts @ Hair Gallery Classic Car Show (Victoria and Ontario Sts) Food Vendors Craft Vendors Sidewalk Sales Youth Road Art Competition (Millpond Centre) Mechanical Bull Inflatable Rides Karate Demonstrations Rock Climbing Wall Street Performers Model Train Demonstration Face Painting Balloon Artists Clowns Honda Vintage Cars (Church St) Afternoon at the Alliston R.C. Legion Live Entertainment 7:00 - 11:00 a.m.: Pancake Breakfast (St John's Church Victoria St) 10:00 a.m.: Show and Shine Motorcycle Registration (R.C. Legion) Boo... 08/05/2011

Alliston Potato Festival 2011 The preparations are underway: Friday August 5th, 2011 Schedule 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.:  Dinner and Meat Roll (Alliston Royal Canadian Legion - Dufferin Street South) 6:00 p.m.:   Midway (Fairgrounds)                Flea Market (Fairgrounds) 6:30 p.m.:   Poker Registration (Alliston Memorial Arena) 7:00 p.m.:   Sidewalk Sale (Victoria Street)                Parade                Poker Touranment (until 1 am @ Alliston Memorial Arena) 8:00 p.m.:   Concert (Alliston Royal Canadian Legion - Dufferin Street South) 8:30 p.m.:   Golden Helmets (Victoria Street)                Nicole Scott Band (Victoria and Church Streets)                Brant Matthews "The Fire Guy" (Victoria Street) 9:00 p.m.:   Blistercats (Beer Garden @ Fairgrounds) *** Pipe and Drum performance @ ... 08/05/2011

I had heard of this fairly new Alliston eatery for a while. The people in my office raved about the Bagels, Sandwiches and Butter Tarts. I told my wife and mother-in-law about the R&P Farms store across the road from my office and have had their bagels, still warm out of the oven for breakfast on a Sunday morning. I finally wandered over one day a little while ago when I only had a few minutes to have something to eat. Frank and Ro, the proprietors, suggested I try their BBQ'd Smoked Back Bacon on a Bun (that they make on Thursdays and Fridays). They pile their own smoked Back Bacon high and then top it off with a couple of slices of side bacon, serve it on a bun of your choice with your choice of fresh toppings and condiments. Simply said, WOW!! Since then I have been back a number of ... 08/02/2011