About the Town

About The Town

*Population...2,500 - Been that way for 50 years

*History...Morrisburg was one of the villages that was moved when the ST. Lawrence River was widened to allow shipping channels. The village was moved in 1954. Most of the older homes were moved on large trailers and relocated on new basements. But, the old village itself was destroyed(although some buildings/remnants can be seen while scuba diving). This is why the towns along the river appear to be old, but have no downtowns. They are often referred to as "The Lost Villages" 

*Upper Canada Village is located here and attracts many tourists during the summer months. 

*Upper Canada Playhouse is one of the best local theatres around.

*Morrisburg gave birth to the McIntosh Apple(for more history, see the displays in the hallway)

*Banks...There is a Scotia Bank and a BMO in the mall. Hours: 10-4, not open Saturday. There are bank machines there as well as here at the Inn. 

*Please note that the $ Store has moved to the front of the mall(near the Grocery Store).

*Shopping... The Giant Tiger and Canadian Tire are located on the same road we are on, about a kilometer west. Home Hardware is just west of us on the same side of the road. 

The rest is located in the mall between the Grocery Store at one end and the Beer store at the other. Hours are very small town: ie. only the CT, GT and supermarket will be open Thursday night. Friday night, MOST stay open till 8:00 or 9:00. On Sunday, only the supermarket is open BEFORE 11. 

*Eating Out: There is a Subway, MacDonalds and a Tim Hortons in town. Nicks Sports Bar in the mall is ok for wings and pizza and the New Centennial across the mall from that has a good, but 'diner-style' menu.  For Pizza, we order from Pizza Castle which is located near the clock tower.  The golf course will be open this year. There you can have lunch and meet the rest of my family.

*My husband and his brothers run the local paper, it's called "The Morrisburg Leader". So no trashing the local news! Besides, you might find yourself on the front page next week, so 

SMILE!!!

*Weather Forecast; Thurs. High 17 mostly sunny. Friday, high 21 windy with possible shower. Sat. high 14, some sun possible shower. Sun. high 13, clouds and sun. 

* Advice from a Veteran to a Newbie. (thanks C)

The temperature in the meeting/work room can vary greatly.  Wearing a very light shirt and then another shirt or sweater that can be taken on and off works well. (This varies because of ovens running and where you are situated to an outside door and of course weather/if the doors are open etc.) We try to keep everyone comfortable of course and you MUST tell us if you are not. 

There are refrigerators in the rooms now, so we can bring drinks and snacks.  Wine is always good.  :-)  Breakfast and dinner are included, but bringing something to have for lunch can save going out.  Although, getting some fresh air is good too.

There is wireless internet access in the rooms so we can blog.

EARPLUGS are very important in case your roommate snores.

Hand cream is useful as I found my hands got very dry.

An Ottlite (and extension cord) can be useful.

Toss in a bathing suit in case you wish you partake of the whirlpool and sauna.  There is a small fitness room.

(I can't remember if motors are allowed, but I figured they are probably allowed at night, for the crazies who stay up all night.) We restrict the motors during the day as the noise is disturbing to some people and worse in a large group. I had a motor once that would make your skin crawl inside out. 

This from Sandy

Hi All,

I was at Michael's yesterday and they had their Grummer flakes on clearance for $2.99. I bought a couple of packages and if anyone would like me to pick one up for them I will, just drop me an e-mail. One back will give you 10 years supply of flakes so they're great to share.

Also, Shades of Clay is now carrying several sizes of Memory Glass and her prices are very competitive at $6.99 for 24 pieces (take another 10% off for class) and $3.00 cheaper than what Michaels has. I am providing two glass pieces for everyone in their kits but the one inch square slides might be very useful for other projects as you won't have to cut your other pieces to size. There will be some spare slides as well.

You can see Memory Glass slides at http://www.shadesofclay.com/products/Embellishments/Other%20Embellishments/Memory%20Frames.htm

Again, they're not necessary for class, but I suspect that for those that like mosaicky types of things you might find ideas to use the glass with and with not having to pay for shipping for Morrisburg it might be worth the money.

As far as clay - the clay becomes a backdrop to whatever you're doing. You'll definitely want translucent for one of the techniques but other than that it's whatever colours you like to work with and the techniques don't require a whole lot. I think many of us are bringing "everything but the kitchen sink" for clay so it's likely that someone will have a colour that you want and might be willing to share.

Less than two weeks to go!

Sandy

See You Soon

Hi everyone!

We are almost there, two weeks to go: our yearly clay fest is about to begin.

We got a suggestion to hold a bead swap; these have been successful in the last years and I (vio) forgot to add it to the activities (thank you Barbara Two Shoes).

If you are missing any information please refer to the Morrisburg blog : http://mpcg09.blogspot.com
Or if you have any questions just ask us:
Margi: margilaurin@sympatico.ca
Vio: fxvio@sympatico.ca

Last checklist

Basic clayers kit
Materials for each class
Driving instructions and phone numbers
Books and magazines (optional)
Table de Junque a great opportunity to recycle (optional)
Shop, Hawk and Gawk, we want to see what you make (optional)
Canes and beads for swaps (optional)
Smile (not optional)

How to get to Morrisburg

From the 401 take exit 750 at Morrisburg. Follow signs to town about 1km
from highway overpass. (You will be turning RIGHT into town if you are
coming from Toronto, and LEFT into town coming from Montreal). Turn left at
the lights and drive another 1 km approx. On the left side of the road, you
will see the MacIntosh Inn. It is well marked and you will already have seen
the signs directing you to it. Drive safely!

The Hotel number is: 613-543-3788
Vio and I will be around and the contact person to speak to at the Inn is
Patsy.

When You Arrive

Someone at the front desk will direct you to the conference room and give you your keys and room number. You may want to drop your “stuff” off so you don’t have to lug it upstairs or downstairs.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT WE ALL WANT TO RELAX AND HAVE FUN!!

You will receive a folder upon arrival with class descriptions and schedule as well as some useful information about the town.

This is YOUR event. You have paid for all of the classes, it is your choice whether to attend them or not. If you feel you have too much on your plate, or that a class may not be beneficial to you, you may opt out and go for a long lunch or a nap or a Jacuzzi. (You need to book Jacuzzi times with the front desk.)

Or you may want to continue working on something that has piqued your interest. And even though you may choose to work on something else, you will benefit just from listening. The instructors will be willing to answer questions and help you any time you need it, not only during their class time.

This is our seventh MPCG gathering and we feel every one has been very successful. If you have any questions, concerns or comments, come directly to Margi or Vio. We will do our very best to help you.

Hello everyone,

The Morrisburg Polymer Clay Gathering (I think is the 7th one) is going to happen in exactly three weeks! Hopefully when spring has sprung. This message is a reminder of other things to bring along with you to make everybody’s life more pleasant.

LIBRARY: once again we ask for your cooperation for the reading table; we all like to read stuff and if you have any magazines or books of interest, please bring them along. They don’t necessarily need to be clay stuff: anything to inspire will do the trick. Please mark the books/magazines you bring so that they can be returned to you.

TABLE DE JUNQUE: how about making a special effort for the table. In this time of recycling, take a good look at all your clay related tools/supplies. There is a lot of stuff that you don’t use and won’t use. Why don’t you give them to someone who will? We can’t think of a better way of sharing. We all have stuff lying there begging to be used…by someone else!! Think about it. There are always little treasures to be found on that table.

SHOP HAWK AND GAWK: if you have anything to show and tell we would be happy to see it (does not have to be for sale). Just bring anything you are proud of or maybe things you want input on. And if you have stuff to sell, we will set up a table like in the years past.
Mark each item with your name and price.
You are responsible for the sale (i.e. receipt, taking cash,
packaging etc).
We will have an area assigned, but if you have special display requirements, please bring them.

CANES: Do you have canes that are never-ending? Why don’t you bring them along to exchange? that way, you will have a greater variety of canes to work with. The more canes, the merrier. I might even make one this year for this purpose. This has worked well in the last two years and we want to do it again this year.

BEADS: We had this great suggestion of a bead swap. If you want to add to your bead collection bring your beads to exchange. It should be fun: we did this before and it was a success.

This year, we want you to plan for a Sunday morning class because the schedule goes till 12:00. You will only need a small amount of clay plus a few tools; this will be a fun class.
If you have any ideas you want to share, please go right ahead. The information we gave you is all on the Morrisburg blog. (see below)
Once again, we are anticipating a super weekend of learning, laughter and lots of claying. Don’t forget to bring your smile and energy because we plan to have some fun.

You will be receiving driving directions and phone numbers etc. closer to the date.

Margi and Vio
http://mpcg09.blogspot.com


PS:
I (vio) a little bit of info to add to my bookmaking class. In my class description I said I use a 1/16-drill bit. I made a book recently with my daughter and the 1/8 drill bit is also fine.
Book measurement: it does not really matter. If you made your covers as specified in my instructions ( 3 ¼ x 4 ¼ , fine, don’t make the correction. If you did not make your covers yet, you can also use the following dimensions: 3 ½ x 5 ½ . I will have examples of both dimensions: the latter measurements are the Moleskines ones. I will add this information to my post on the Morrisburg blog