Awesome Foundation What happens when a group of trustees pool together $1,000 every month and give it away? Something Awesome! The Awesome Foundation is a worldwide network of people devoted to forwarding the interest of awesome in the universe and Sarnia has become the latest chapter. The Foundation distributes a $1,000 micro-grant to awesome projects and their creators. The money is pooled together by a group of awesome trustees. We provide these grants with no strings attached and claim no ownership over the projects we support. We just want to see them happen. For more information about the Awesome Foundation and details on the upcoming launch party, please visit www.awesomesarnia.org.
MoreApril 9, 2013 - loyal customer's photo of his favourite room in his home. Says his collection is thanks to us.
MoreFrank & The Lake Effects are regulars at Paddy Flaherty's and we have had the honour of hosting them here at Cheeky Monkey. Be sure to see them next time they tour this way from their home base in the Soo. The CD this is from "This Time" is available here - of course.
MoreAs reported in Sarnia Observer December 11, 2012 Chris Hadfield, on his third trip to outer space, says he'll have plenty of time to get a winning shot of Sarnia. The Sarnia-born astronaut is heading to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Dec. 19, one of three astronauts in the Expedition 34/35 crew. The first Canadian to walk in space and the only Canadian aboard the Russian Space Station Mir, Hadfield will be the first Canadian commander at the International Space Station for part of his five-month stay in zero-gravity. He will oversee more than 100 experiments — from gauging balance and blood pressure regulation in space, to studying dark matter. “It's surreal,” said Hadfield, 53, during a conference call from quarantine in Kazakhstan Tuesday. He recalls pretending to fly spaceships with his brother while growing up on a farm in southern Ontario. “When we were supposed to be sleeping we would ...
MoreSarnia’s Mike Stevens says he came home from last weekend’s Canadian Folk Music Awards feeling honoured and humbled. The celebrated harmonica player received Folk Music Canada’s first-ever Innovator of the Year Award for founding ArtsCan Circle - an organization that sends musicians and artists to work with young people in isolated First Nations communities. “It was kind of awesome,” Stevens said about receiving the honour during the Canadian Folk Music Awards gala in Saint John, NB. He was able to travel there with his wife Jane and they attended a screening of A Walk in My Dreams, a documentary about Stevens, along with its director, Jonathan Torrens, the afternoon before the gala. At the awards ceremony that evening, Stevens performed several times on stage. “It felt a little me, me, me,” Stevens said. “I guess that’s what they wanted, but it was pretty exciting.” He performed with a group from Quebec, as well as New ...
MoreNo wonder Cat Cabajar owner of The Painted Cat caught the attention of Lions Den. She is a classy, kind-hearted and smart business women. Read on to see what she is up to these days in her own words... Special Promotion from The Painted Cat! Anyone who makes a donation to The Habitat for Humanity on Cat Cabajar's page will be entered into a draw to WIN a $50 Gift Certificate good towards any TPC Service (Makeup, facepainting, bodypainting, henna tattoos, tattoo testers, parties, etc.). Deadline is Nov. 7th for all donations to be made by credit card or PayPal and donations over $20 will get a tax receipt. Thanks for all your support :) Here is the link where you can make your donation: CLICK HERE
MoreWednesday October 3, 2012 Roland and I had the pleasure of being two of the many downtown merchants and First Friday participants invited to a "sneak peek" at the new Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery. I should state for the record, the opinions given here are mine and mine alone. From talking to customers in the store and reading on-line blogs, I realize not everyone is excited by the new gallery. My view on that is that we (citizens of Sarnia) own some amazing pieces of art that deserve to be seen by everyone. For those not familiar with how we got this art collection, let me give you the thumbnail version of the Gallery's history. During WWI, yes World War I, a group of women raised money to help the war effort. When the war was over, they had money left and formed the Sarnia Women's Conservation Art Association (SWCAA). ...
MoreThe phase "a good time was had by all" has never been so appropriate as when talking about the Local Talent Showcase we sponsored at the Imperial Theatre Friday September 28th. The last minute Master of Ceremonies for the evening was David Burrows of THE SHOW and karaoke fame. He manged to catch Roland & I off guard by asking us to come up on the stage. Having NEVER been in front of a microphone before in my life, I nervously let everyone know they were in for a great night. David was much more comfortable on stage and did a fabulous job of introducing the acts. The night of music started with a too short set of acoustic songs from Jim Chevalier. Between the songs we heard the stories that inspired the lyrics. Jim's songs come straight from the heart and are very personal, yet everyone can relate to them. His ...
MoreWorld Art Games - the Olympics of artists! Who knew such a thing existed. We sure didn't until recently when Valerie MacGregor-Rempel stopped into the store looking for a non-traditional version of 'Oh Canada' anthem. She needed it to bring with her to Turkey for the international conference leading up to WAG. Valerie has been chosen to head the National Committee representing Canada for this exciting world event. Sadly, we did not have a suitable version in stock BUT we had her listen on line to our favourite version of Oh Canada by the band Daylight for Deadeyes (who have played in-store and are regulars at Paddy Flaherty's). Valerie loved it and felt it was PERFECT. It does not appear on any of their CD's (which we do have in stock), so I fired off an email to Chris Gormley of the band, who replied almost immediately that he was happy ...
MoreDaylight For Deadeyes were in Sarnia on Saturday July 28 to officially release their newest CD 'Summer' by playing at Cheeky Monkey in the afternoon followed by a show at Paddy Flaharty's in the evening. They are normally a 3 piece band consisting of Matt on guitar, Chris on drums and Andy on bass. Sadly, Andy was not able to make it to Sarnia in time to play at Cheeky Monkey, so the 2 Gormley brothers played as a guitar duo. Despite being one member less, they sounded amazing. They sang several songs from the new CD as well as some of their fan favourites off previous releases. One of our grandson's is visiting and was thrilled to have the song 'The Sun' dedicated to him as was I when they dedicated another song to me called 'Give You My Heart'. All of their CD's are available to purchase at Cheeky Monkey. To hear some tracks ...
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