It will be Christmas July 25th at the volunteer-run Miller’s Oven restaurant in Manotick

By Louise Rachlis

For the fourth year, there will be a “Christmas in July” celebration at The Miller’s Oven restaurant in Manotick.

This year Christmas in July will be held Wednesday July 25.

The non-profit  restaurant is operated by the Miller’s Oven Seniors Committee. Staffed by volunteers since 1983, the restaurant was created for seniors, by seniors, and in December will celebrate their 35th anniversary. “We are a family-friendly destination for all ages,” said volunteer manager Anne Mask. “We have a lot of families coming to the Oven, especially on weekends.”

For Christmas in July, there’s a full turkey dinner, stuffing, cranberries, “the works,” said Mask, “including cranberry-apple cream cheese pie, our Mile High Lemon Pie - always a big seller - and likely a pumpkin pie as well.”

The heritage building will sport Christmas decorations and a Christmas tree.

The Christmas meal will be served during their usual lunch hours, 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. or until they run out of turkey.

Another special treat is their occasional high teas for which they sell 46 tickets each time. The next high tea will June 14th, and you can purchase tickets at the Miller’s Oven.

The volunteer board under chair Colin Crosbie meets once a month, and three times a year the senior volunteers enjoy a social get-together. “It keeps everybody informed.”

Each day there is a volunteer manager and a varied number of volunteer servers. “We can always use more volunteers,” Mask said, “because they come and go. We don’t care if they can give us three or four hours; people are volunteering their time and we take them when they can come in. We can always use student volunteers as well. Students must be 12, and high school students can obtain their volunteer hours at the Oven. We do hire students to work in our kitchen on the weekends.”

Anne Mask herself formerly taught in the accounting department at Algonquin College, and her only cooking experience was cooking for family, but she’s still a longtime regular volunteer at the Miller’s Oven. “My dad was one of the originals volunteering at Miller’s Oven,” she said, “also my mother, my aunt, my uncle and one of my daughters volunteered. My family grew up in Miller’s Oven.”

Last year, to give back to the community, the Miller’s Oven made a monetary donation to the Manotick Food Bank, and also to Lazarus House community outreach which supports the rural poor, offering food, clothing and household goods to those in need.

“We partnered with ROSSS (Rural Ottawa South Support Services) this past April to provide Meals on Wheels,” said Mask. “It was a bit of an adjustment for our cook; we wouldn’t exist without our fabulous cook, Kerry Crosby (no relation to Colin and spelled differently). She makes everything. We can always use volunteer cooks during the week to cook with Kerry.”

The Miller’s Oven is located at 1137 Mill Street in Manotick, and now has a patio on the side. It’s wheelchair accessible with a ramp. 

They are open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. While they stop meal service at 2:30 p.m, desserts and beverages are available the last half hour. They take reservations by calling 613-692-4304, which is especially appreciated for larger groups. You can find them on Facebook.

Retired teacher transitioned into busy new passion spreading music and laughter

 By Louise Rachlis

In the past 15 years, “inspiration architect” Paddy Stewart has  focused much of his unique blend of laughter, music and group participation on seniors with dementia.

“Family, Fun, Fitness, and Music: these are the 4 pillars of my life,” he says. “This is what I do. I do these things because I love them and they give me purpose to boot! Music, laughter, and movement are the basis of my work.”

Several seniors’ homes have him in monthly to share fun and music with those on their Special Care floor. “I love working with these intimate groups of six to 15 people,” he says. “I know most of their names and go around to say hello and shake hands before we begin. This close personal greeting helps to engage folks.”  

He also designs sessions for other specific groups and audiences “to lift hearts, raise spirits, and foster cohesion,” said the 73-year-old who runs over 100 sessions professionally each year. He devises  “appropriate songs, fun, and actions for a wide range of people, continuing to acquire and develop new strategies for people to lighten up and interact.” 

Stewart loves to do Team Building sessions and sets up different actions and music for each specific group, from 10 to 100 in size, and all ages from day care to seniors; more formal team building sessions with people in health care, education and government, often at Volunteer Recognition events.

He’s always looking at new ways to involve his special care seniors. “I use bells, shakers, and Boom Whackers. I’ve made rhythm sticks and most of the folks can copy certain rhythms. I’ve devised plastic washboards that make lots of noise. I get staff, volunteers or visitors to help blow bubbles while we sing ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles!’ We bat balloons around. I have an indoor parachute that provides a novel experience. I develop a theme around each month for the songs we sing. We also sing all the old songs and they love the banjelele! (part ukulele, part banjo).”

At two of his seniors’ homes, children from nearby day cares join in and he entertains the whole crew. “I set up ways for the children to interact with the seniors and it is a wonderful joyful experience for all. At these sessions, I work with the general population and some folks with dementia are brought in to take part.”

He’s also working on developing a session for both people with early onset Dementia and their partner/care giver. “This would combine the kinds of songs and entertainment that I use together with some of the Team Building activities. This is a wonderful way to engage folks socially with fun and music. Since there will probably be some dancing, this looks like a party!”

Stewart never stops. Coming up in June and beyond he has an end of term celebration for a City of Ottawa Acquired Brain Injury Group; a Team Building session with SHAD Valley grade 11 students; a bunch of regular clients, plus his monthly seniors home sessions and sessions to provide music for the residents and staff of Rotary Homes.

When he retired from teaching in 2000, he began his new “career” as a self-styled Inspiration Architect.

He and his wife Linda have been married for 49 years and  enjoy various sports, their fitness routine enriched at the Crossfit gym their son Andy opened two years ago.

Stewart loves to play music and sing with his guitar, and Linda is a pianist. In May, the two played music for Roger Nielson House at their twice a year Star Ceremony for children who have passed away.

Back in the 1980s, he began playing music at CHEO and the former Rideau Veterans Home.  “When I walked in with my guitar and a bag of fun toys, the nurses would gather together chairs for a few four- and five-year-olds and sometimes a parent or two in the hallway and away we’d go! ‘Skinnamarink’ and ‘If You’re Happy’ were always favourites… It was a marvelous experience. Then I’d go almost next door to the Rideau Veterans Home. There would be a few lads in the common room and I’d play some of the War songs I learned from my parents like ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’ and ‘Lili Marlene.’”

You can find out more about Paddy Stewart’s activities at www.paddystewart.com .

You’re never too old to love drag racing

By Louise Rachlis

While some seniors are taking driver refresher courses, others are tearing up the race track, looking after drag race vehicles, or watching them speed by.

“I work on cars and make them go down a straight track as fast as possible,” said Garry Matolsci, 69, who is retired after working for 34 years at Xerox. 

“I started drag racing in high school in Alberta. I used to go Friday nights down Main Street and rip it up.”

Then he moved to Ottawa in 1975, and “family came along, and I had more to think about than drag racing.”

Drag racing automobiles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line on a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance.

Matolsci started up drag racing again in 2011 at Capital City Speedway in Stittsville. “I got to know a lot of people there by helping them out,” he said. “The drag racers are about age 45 to 70. I myself don’t race any more, but this keeps my foot in it. I just enjoy listening to the cars as they go down the track. I love the smell of the burning rubber.”

His car maintenance skills were “totally self-taught on the farm, looking after the cars, he said. “At Capital City, I help my buddy out, showing him the old school way is better than modern.”

The drag racing gang often get together afterward to socialize, and from May 1 to September, many head to the Luskville Speedway run by Arnie Malcolm. 

“I’ve owned Luskville Dragway for 40 years,” said Malcolm,  64, who figures he knows most of the drag racers in Eastern Canada.

“Next year Luskville will celebrate its 50th anniversary,” he said, “even though race tracks are closing right and left. There are too many other things to do and so much more going on than there was back then. We’re fortunate because we still have a core of racers and a large following.”

Drag racing is “not like boxing or stock car racing, because you don’t need as much stamina to continue,” said Malcolm, 64. “You can drive a very fast drag car when you’re older because it’s a different format.”

Luskville Dragway puts on races throughout eastern Canada and attracts 5,000 spectators to each of them. “It’s like Christmas in July. All these communities have airports that haven’t been used for awhile and and that’s where drag racing started.”

And when you’re finished drag racing, you don’t have to give up your love of cars. “Ex-drag racers become car show people and sit at car shows in Kanata for instance, and talk about cars,” he said. “Some of these car shows attract up to 600 cars. Some retired people play golf, some go fishing, and some people drag race. Drag racing is a sport and we have a class of Junior Dragsters starting at age seven.”

As well, once a year there’s a nostalgia race for old cars, he said. This year it will be held at the Luskville Dragway September 8th. For information, view www.luskvilledragway.com .

‘Positive attitude’ runs in the family as author Anne Raina works on biography of her ‘exceptional’ mother

By Louise Rachlis

They say that once a book is published, the real work begins.

And Ottawa author Anne Raina is no slouch at getting that work done.

“I have a lot of speaking engagements with the book Clara’s Rib and also my children’s books,” said Raina, 74.

Her next speaking gig is June 11th at the Russell Public Library where she will doing a program on two of her children’s books.

Raina worked in the public and non-profit field, ending her career as a senior executive with a national disability organization when she herself was struck with multiple autoimmune disorders.

After the success of  Clara’s Rib: The True Story of a Young Girl Growing up in a Tuberculosis Hospital, Raina published four children’s books with illustrator Julia Taylor. 

And all that in spite of dealing with the complications of autoimmune disorders and chronic pain. “It’s always really bad,” she said. “I’m in severe chronic pain 24/7 and I’ve added to the mix severe vertigo and dizziness and vestibular migraine headaches…I can do pain, but the vertigo was a real issue to me, and I’m glad I’ve been able to deal with what I have.”

Raina likes to do her creative writing very early in the morning. “That’s my time, 5 or 6 in the morning.”

Raina, who is the youngest of the 10 children, herself has two children, Kelly Anne and Mark, and a stepson, Stefan. 

Her father and seven of her brothers and sisters spent many years in the hospital in Ottawa for the treatment of tuberculosis in the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s before the days of drug therapy for TB. “My father died of tuberculosis when I was eight years old,” she said. “My eldest brother died of the disease at age 18 and my youngest brother at age four. My sister, Clara, entered the hospital with TB in 1939 when she was 12 and she was discharged in 1952 when she had turned 26.”

Through her efforts in the Ottawa area, Raina is pleased to have sold 3,500 copies of her book Clara’s Rib.

And now she is working on a biography of her late mother Elizabeth Hepp Raina who passed away in 1979 at the age of 79. “Of course everyone feels this about their mother, but my mom has a real history. She was born in Austro-Hungary in 1900 and went to Castor, Alberta with her family at the age of four.”

Her mother was exceptional for “this remarkable memory of life in the old country,” she said. “She imbued the family with this positive attitude. She was happy, jolly, and could always turn sorrow into joy.” 

Her mother could tell all kinds of story of what life was like. “When they came to Castor Alberta, the west was just opening up, and their house was made of sod. She had really really good recall of travelling across the west in a covered wagon, and she had to quit school in grade 3 to look after her mother who was ill. She became self educated and married when she was 19. She was a very very hard worker with an amazing facility for being joyful.”

While her mother miscarried her first two children, she then ended up with 10. The family moved to Quebec in 1932, and her father, who spoke six languages, and the Catholic priest were the only educated people in the community. “They ran into this real horror of a family priest and my eldest sister published a book about it called ‘We have written.’, a true story of triumph over tragedy.”

Anne would like to have her mother’s biography finished by a year from now. “It will be a book of inspiration, plus covering leaving the old country and the opening up of the west. My mother taught us from when we were really young, there is something beautiful in every day if you just look for it.”

Anne and her husband Grant Cameron returned last fall to what is now Romania to see if her mother’s house was still standing in the town of Iosifalau. “When the town was built in 1882 it was named Josefsdorf (German). When my mother and her family lived there (1900-1905), it was Yosfvllva (Hungarian).” 

“It was quite emotional to actually see the house where she was born,” she said. “I was the only one of her children or siblings’ children to have gone looking for this. What is remarkable about it is that on the little road they were on, most of the other houses were gone but theirs was still standing. A lot of the homes in that town have fallen down.”

When Raina first thought of going to Romania to search out family history, she sent an email to the library in Timisoara, a large city about 23 miles from little town where her mother was born.  “About a month later I received an email from a young woman who worked in the same library. My email had been forwarded to her because her last name was the same as my mother's maiden name - Hepp. Julia Hepp was born about 40 miles from my mother. Her grandmother and my mother’s parents came from the same tiny little village and so we are quite likely related. Hepp is not a common name. She offered to act as our translator if we went and was thrilled to spend three days with us searching out my family history.”

 Her self-published children’s books continue to do well. “My rationale for not seeking out publishers for them yet is that I felt at my age I could be dead before I heard if a publisher is interested!”

In November 2015, she published The Kangaroo With The Wooden Shoe and Things That Go SPLAT! “I actually wrote The Kangaroo With the Wooden Shoe for my own children 47 years ago,” she said. “They were always after me to publish them. They are actually the little characters in the books.”

The response to those two books was so great that in November 2016 she published The Kangaroo With The Wooden Shoe - Book Two and Things That Go Where They Shouldn’t,” she said. She’s delighted that the children’s books have been endorsed by teachers and have been appealing to children, teachers, parents and grandparents.

For more information about Anne’s books and speaking schedule, view www.anneraina.ca .