Al and Peggy's Corner: December 2011

New Year's Day 2012 In Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Mayor Susan Fennell and members of council are inviting residents of the City of Brampton, Ontario, Canada to come to her New Year's Day Levee at the beautiful Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Lane at the corner of Queen & Main St.

The doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and the performances will begin at noon until 3:00 p.m.  Music will provided by the Brampton Concert Band, Pipes and Drums of the Lorne Scots "Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment" .  Refreshments will follow the ceremony. 

The tradition of the levee has evolved over the years but it is intended to show the Government's role of public service and to extend it best wishes for the New Year. 

New Year's Day 2012 In Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Brampton, Ontario, Canada's New Years Eve 2011 Bash

Still wondering what to do this New Years Eve? If you are close to Brampton, Ontario, Canada come on down to Gage Park at the corner of Main St. and Wellington St. where the fun kicks off at 7:00 p.m. 

The theme this year is 'Let It Glow' and glowing is what our beautiful downtown will be. There will be a street carnival with wandering buskers, the fireguy, stilt walkers, an ice sculptures park that will be glowing, skating at Gage Park itself, a meet & greet with Puss in Boots, Jellybeenz craft station, multiple fire pits to warm up and toast marshmallows and even gaming stations for play station, game cube and X-box. 

Live local bands will liven up the crowd starting at 8:00 p.m. on the main stage until the fireworks display at 9:00 p.m. at the City Hall. Thornley will then take over the music performing hits from Big Wreck, followed by Bedouin Soundclash who will dance us out of 2011.

Be ready to ring in the New Year with more fireworks at the Rose Theatre!!  This is sure to be a fun night for the whole family.

Happy New Year everybody, let's make it a year that sparkles with happiness!  

Brampton, Ontario, Canada's New Years Eve 2011 Bash

WOW! Wasn't Expecting That! Wordless Wednesday

We have been enjoying beautiful weather through the month of December, sunshine and no snow! We dodged the bullet few times, luckily the temperatures were high enough and we only endured drizzling rain.

Not so last night. We got it. Not a dumping of the white stuff but enough to send the kids into thrills of using their brand new sleighs!  Not quite enough though, maybe next time.

If there is a next time. We sent old man winter a message that if he couldn't deliver the white stuff in time for a white Christmas, he can keep it til next year!

WOW! Wasn't Expecting That! Wordless Wednesday

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We wish everyone the merriest of Christmas', the biggest of celebrations, the best of family times, the most tastiest of meals and the most relaxing nap after it all! 

Enjoy the Christmas weekend holidays, stay safe and please don't drink and drive!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

That Christmas Feeling CAN Last All Year Long, Try This!

As we head into the Christmas weekend, we have noticed blogs and comments even on Facebook about how wonderful the Christmas feeling is, how nice people are to each other this time of year and why can't it last ALL year.

Well, it can! Just follow Charley Johnson a Utah man, founder of the Pay It Forward Bracelets and President of the Pay It Forward Foundation.

Charley's is a heartwarming story and if we follow his suggestions, we can keep the Christmas feeling all year! There isn't a better gift you can give yourself!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

That Christmas Feeling CAN Last All Year Long, Try This!

 Please help out any way you can. This fund is too important to ignore. Do what you can, its as easy as a click of the mouse!

Be an Elf, help Santa

Al and Peggy

PS - Chris Smith was the one to bring this to our attention, so we disabled the comments here so you can leave comments for Chris.

December Seasons of Celebration & Sharing - Teaching The Young

Helping the less fortunate has always been one of our passions. When we had our own office in a shopping mall, every year we ran a toy drive and the goal was to fill an office with toys and barrels with food.

This year, the goal was to teach the grand kids about helping others. With that in mind, along with their Dad, we headed to the toy store and asked them to pick out some toys, ones that they would like to have, so they could donate them.

At first it was a challenge, they did not understand the concept at all and wondered if we could just buy doubles so they could have them too! We told them "no", this was all about the those that are in need of our help. (Being sharp grandparents though, this was also our way of finding out what they really wanted). We then escorted them to the toy collection boxes and had them drop the toys off, while telling them they had helped make a child's Christmas morning special.   

Next up, was the grocery store to choose food for those in need, again with the same explanation to the boys. Sugared cereals and cookies, may not have been our choice, but this was their effort so we went along with their selections.

Wow, what a whirlwind attempt if you can imagine taking two young boys into a toy store, asking them to pick out toys on the most wanted list and telling them they weren't for them! Then to test their patience in a grocery store!

We did our best and hope the message registered when we asked them to imagine Christmas morning with nothing, not even a special meal. Maybe that's why they choose the cookies!

December Seasons of Celebration & Sharing - Teaching The Young

Here's A Challenge For You Active Rainers - December Seasons Of Celebration & Sharing - Pay It Forward

The official Pay It Forward Group is challenging everyone to take part in the 12 Gifts of Christmas from now until December 24, 2011. 

It's a simple challenge, do something nice for the next 12 days and make a journal about it then send it in to Charlie Johnson (founder of Pay It Forward group) and he will create a site to post them on to encourage others around the world. He gave us some ideas but wants us to get creative as well.

Let's face it, do we really need anymore material things? Well, maybe one! The feeling you get when you help others.

 Here's their suggestions to get you started:

--Buy food for a homeless person (or someone in need).  This does not have to be expensive. $5 should cover lunch.

-- Write a kind, hand-written letter to someone that changed your life for the better. And no, I'm not talking about an email or a text...I'm talking about snail mail people.;) (This can be to a childhood friend, a teacher from the past, or even an old baby-sitter that impacted your life for the better.)

-- Pay for the person's order in line behind you in either the coffee drive-thru, fast food, a tollbooth, train ticket, etc. (There are a LOT of options here...)

-- Put grocery carts away in a random parking lot for other shoppers or find carts that others have left behind. It will help the employees out by bringing them indoors where they belong.

--Write a letter of thanks to the armed forces. (Yes, even if you don't support the war. Remember that these people are risking their lives daily in order to ensure our safety and Freedom).

 Here is the address:

A Million Thanks

17853 Santiago Blvd. #107-355
Villa Park, CA 92861

--Buy or bake something for a neighbor. You may know them well, you may have never even introduced yourself. So here's your chance;)

-- Buy a $5 or $10 gift card for a grocery store, gas station, coffee place, etc. Leave the gift card on a random park bench or windshield of someone's car.

--Do something kind for the elderly. This can be anything from helping them to their car with heavy groceries, holding the door open for them, volunteering at a retirement home, or even raking their leaves.

-- Tape quarters to a vending machine. So simple, yet so convenient! I honestly cannot count how many times I have wanted a snack or a soda, but could not dig up that last quarter to satisfy my craving.

-- Leave a generous tip for a server, barista, or bartender along with a nice note. This will most likely make their night. Having been in all three of these positions, I know how easy it is to get discouraged when guests are difficult and do not tip. This could turn their entire day around!

-- Purchase a gift card at a local grocery store (of any amount). Turn around in line, and hand it to the first person you see. Then walk away. No explanation is needed. I'msure their expression will say it all.

-- YOUR turn to choose a random act of kindness. I thought it would be fun to see the different ideas everybody comes up with for this last day before Christmas. Be creative. The sky is the limit. =)

Join us on this Pay It Forward journey, show the world Active Rain cares and don't forget to submit your blog by email to CHAINLINKS08@GMAIL.COM !

What a way to say Merry Christmas! We think it will be fun to hear about all the good deeds that are done!

Here's A Challenge For You Active Rainers - December Seasons Of Celebration & Sharing - Pay It Forward

December's Season of Celebrations & Sharing, Brampton Ontario Canada's Toy's For Tots & Food Drive

Please help put a smile on a child's face this Christmas morning by dropping off a new unwrapped toy at Brampton's City Hall, one of the community centres, libraries or fire stations throughout the city, until December 16th. You can also help feed them with a delicious meal by dropping off non-perishable food items. Time is running out so please help.

The Salvation Army of Brampton will collect and distribute all food donations through the Brampton Food Sharing Network. Toys will be picked up by Peel Regional Police and distributed.

The Spirit of Christmas is giving, please see what you can do because every bit helps!

December's Season of Celebrations & Sharing, Brampton Ontario Canada's Toy's For Tots & Food Drive

Pay It Forward By Clicking - December Season of Celebration & Sharing

In and around the greater Toronto, Ontario, Canada area, and that includes our Brampton area, there are giant colourfully decorated snowmen.  All anyone has to do is find them, snap a picture and upload it to me@tosnowman.com. 

That's it, that's all and $2.00 will be donated to the Starlight Children's Foundation Canada who are dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic, life-threatening illnesses and life-altering injuries, up to $50,000 or until December 20, 2011. So there is still time to grab your camera and start clicking.

We scouted our Brampton, Ontario, Canada area and found two! The pleasure was all ours just admiring these charming fellows.

To help in anyway we could, we not only uploaded them to me@tosnowman.com, we posted the challenge on our Facebook pages, have told anyone about who would listen and of course posted about it here.  

Check out all the unique snowmen and their designs at www.facebook.com/visittoronto

Pay It Forward By Clicking - December Season of Celebration & Sharing