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Posts Tagged ‘Ontario’

Learning in Bethany

Posted in Day to Day Life, tagged , , , on November 12, 2012| 2 Comments »

Learning in Bethany- A Quick View of Neighbourhood Elementary Schools

Planning on moving your family into Bethany Village?  Here’s some information about Grandview Public School and Rolling Hills Public School.

Grandview Public School

Grandview Public School

Grandview Public School in Bethany, Ontario

Grandview is a JK-Grade 4 school with 290 students.   The two elementary school have been organized Jk-4 and grades 5-8 for the last 15 years, when the new school was built.

This year the school has 5 blended Jk/SK classes with students attending school on alternate days.  Grandview Public School also favours the newly implemented ‘Balanced School Day’.   Rather than breaking up the day with the traditional recess/ lunch breaks, a balanced school day operates by breaking up the blocks of learning times by nutrition breaks.  There is no change to the number of teaching minutes per day, nor do the students miss out on recess minutes.   Some of the benefits to this new system are

  • Fewer behaviour problems
  • Greater ability to concentrate
  • Improved student learning

Grandview has the usual extra-curricular activities, but two struck me as interesting for a public school – weaving and playing the ukele!

The school fosters a close relationship between home and school, believing that parental involvement can only lead to a greater success for all.

Rolling Hills Public School

Rolling Hills Public School

Rolling Hills Public School

Rolling Hills Public School consists of grades 5-8 and has 230 students in attendance.   They also favour the ‘Balanced School Day’.

The school seems to be extremely community services orientated with the MAD – Making a Difference – Crew being at the centre of school activities.   The new principal at Rolling Hills, Sheila Shauf tells me she is very impressed by the participation of students, staff and parents in the community service events.   Another fundraising activity the students are involved in is Hoops for Hope and the parents at the school host a Festival Dinner with help from local businesses. The students strive for a high level of academic excellence along with their extra-curricular activities.  They recently gathered over 1800 pounds of food for a food drive!

I checked out the school websites and was very impressed with the individual teacher’s websites.  They included information on homework assignments, what’s ahead and special days and events.  During this time that so many teachers are taking a ‘pause’ from extra-curricular activities, to find so many at one school putting their own time and effort into something which would be so refreshing for students and parents.

Check out the schools at Grandview and  Rolling Hills 

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Who’s Building in Bethany?

Posted in Businesses in Bethany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Evergreen Home and Cottage, for one.

Cedar Glen

I’ve always liked research. When I was in school, I always liked getting projects or essays – assignment that would take me into the library, digging through books and papers to find that elusive quote or statistic that would tie everything together. I look at this blog as an on-going research assignment. I’ve been discovering lots of information about Bethany and there is tons more out there, about the businesses and people that make the village of Bethany into a community. I hope to be a resource for those doing their own research if they are looking to make a move into the area.

For this post, I thought I would look into one of the builders who are offering the new homes in Bethany Village.
Evergreen Home and Cottage is a custom home and cottage builder/renovator. Owned and operated by Randy and Cathy Burke. They decided to open their own construction business in 2000 after

The Maples

returning to Canada from volunteering in West Africa and now have a staff of between 12 and 20, depending on the time of the year.

Oak Ridge

There are two things I found very impressive about Evergreen – other than the really nice houses they build. (I’ve included pictures!) The first thing is how they offer cost-effective design solutions for people with physical disabilities, so that they can work and live more independently. Evergreen Accessibility began in response to the aging population in Canada with the realization that many will need modifications to their homes in order to remain comfortable and safe. They have worked with architectural firms specializing in accessible construction as well as client-requested work. Randy was a committee member with the Canadian Home Builders Association on their Accessibility Roundtable and in 2008, Evergreen won the City of Kawartha Lakes Accessibility Award for Excellence in Design. The services they provide are intended to provide solutions for people who require improved access in a workplace, home, or cottage setting. Since Jeff works quite a bit with clients with mobility challenges, I thought having a builder in Bethany who is able to focus on helping their clients achieve greater accessibility in their homes and cottages is a great fit.

The other fact about Evergreen is that their sister company, Evergreen Power, has been designing and installing renewable energy systems since 2006 – solar photovoltaic systems. Their N.E.W (Natural Energy Worldwide)

Randy and Cathy Burke

project was launched in recognition of Randy and Cathy’s concern for the underprivileged in our world today and their sincere desire to give back where it is needed most.
Cathy told me about how in their time overseas, they encountered great poverty and difficult conditions which inspired their charitable attitude and their hope to help improve the lives of others less fortunate. Along with offering PV systems to cottage customers who are located far from existing power lines, Evergreen was also awarded a contract to design and install 10 kW grid-tied PV systems on 14 schools across the province. They also donated Solar PV Microfit and Solar thermal systems in the Community Care facility in Lindsay.

And not only that, but Evergreen Power COO Tim Burke will be fulfilling the company’s desire to give back when he travels to Haiti to install a PV system in a new school in the earthquake affected zone. The photovoltaic system was designed to power lights, computers and other basic amenities for the remote village of Embouchure, allowing the students to study at night, which will be particularly important for the girls, since they help provide food for their families during the day for their families.

Not only do Evergreen build beautiful, comfortable homes, but they care about the planet as well. Randy Burke is co-chair of the 2012 United Way campaign in Kawartha Lakes. The company’s focus on

Hilltop View

energy conservation and green building technology is a core value of Evergreen Home and Cottage.

Exceptional client experience – on budget, on time – is the motto for Evergreen.

Check out the Bethany Village website for more pictures and floor plans of their homes.

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The Rolling Hills of Bethany Ontario

Posted in Day to Day Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Driving into Bethany

For  a while now, my husband Jeff has been coming home after spending the day in the Village of Bethany, full of stories and observations about the area.  He is a real estate broker and together with his father, they have been developing an estate community in Bethany.

This got me thinking.  I’m big into blogging these days.  I’ve started my own blog to try and promote my novel (Baby! Baby? Baby!? – nothing at all about real estate or Bethany) and I’m quite enjoying it.  So when Jeff and I talked about getting the word out about Bethany, I thought a blog might be the thing.

Bethany, Ontario is a tiny, picturesque village along Highway #7A, nestled among the rolling hills of Manvers Township, now the City of Kawartha Lakes.  Like other small towns and villages, Bethany grew up around the railway system in the mid 1800s.  The Post Office gives as taste of the village’s history.  Built in 1870s, it is the oldest free standing post office in Ontario.  In and around Bethany there are restaurants, B & B’s, artist studios, a ski resort, an equestrian centre, riding camps and a guitar boutique.  It’s also a community that supports local athletics and celebrates holidays and special events together at Bethany Park.

Devil’s Elbow Ski Resort

The View

Autumn is my favourite time of the year to visit because of the spectacular fall colours.  From the end of September to the last big winds of the fall, a gorgeous array of scarlet and orange, golden yellow and vivid red foliage are laid across the hills surrounding Bethany.  We have so many pictures of the area as Jeff tries again and again to capture the beauty of the season on film.  I think he does a pretty good job, but there is nothing comparable to driving along 7A and Ski Hill Road to see the colours of fall.

One of the best places to appreciate the loveliness of the surrounding area is high on the hills of Bethany Village.  This is what takes Jeff out of the bustle of Toronto into the peacefulness of Bethany.  His father first began to develop the area into a community in the 1980s.

Rustlewood Avenue in Bethany Village

The building lots of Bethany Village are incredible – many are forested, set among a mature hardwood forest with all the amenities you would expect in qn upscale estate community.  There are three different builders associated so there are a wide variety of house styles available.  Jeff has been working in Bethany since before we were married and we did have the option of relocating in the village at one time, but because of my career and Jeff’s burgeoning real estate practice, we stayed in the city.  I grew up in several small villages (Roseneath, Garden Hill) and had an idea of what living in Bethany would be like but city born-and-bred Jeff…let’s just say there might have been a little too much culture shock for him at first!  Every time I visit Bethany, I can’t help but think how differently our lives would have turned out if we had chosen small town life.  The quiet and serenity of listening to birds rather than buses, of watching my children run amok among the trees, and of seeing the stars spread out over the night sky makes me miss small town living and the more natural environment I grew up with.

I’m a small town girl at heart and I can’t wait to share my small town stories about Bethany with you.

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