Category Archives: FROM THE PUBLISHER

FROM THE PUBLISHER

FROM THE PUBLISHER MARCH/APRIL 2020

(To view our March/April 2020 issue of ClubWEST online, click here.)

Busy is good.
This proved to be a very busy edition of ClubWest Magazine and that is not a complaint in the slightest.
Can one be too busy? It is much better than the alternative.
Someone who also knows a lot about busy is our cover boy, Anthony Joosse.
Full time worker with special needs adults and youth, award-winning bodybuilder, husband and Dad to three busy children: he’s busy.
Anyone who has been involved in any athletics pursuits knows it takes a ton of time and effort. To keep at the highest levels, multiply that level of focus X10…at least.
Most people can think about themselves on just about any Monday morning, when everyone, unless they really love their job, would think, “Ugh! I really don’t want to get out of bed.”
If you were considering dragging yourself off to the gym to put in a couple of hours of workout pain, the internal resistance to mail one in must also be ever-present.
To compete, and especially to win, competitors just don’t have that option. In bodybuilding, anything short of max effort shows on the stage.
Reps, weight, diet all come together when a winning formula is created and Anthony has achieved that, still with goals ahead and a willingness to get there.
Good on him and his family for helping him get there.
Now, it does not take the same level of physical exertion, but Brent Bochek is working his way up the ranks of the fishing world’s ladder, too.
He is a great ambassador for this area when making appearances at boat, travel and fishing shows all over the countryside.
Chef Jan-Willem Stulp of Grand Oak Culinary in Vineland, and ClubWest’s long-time Chef In Residence, has similarly elevated our area and our readers through his various exploits.
Entrepreneurs out there in reader land will know running one’s own business presents a near-constant state of challenges. To push through those, run a successful and growing enterprise, and present unique and localized recipes for our readers is no mean feat.
As an entrepreneur myself, I guess that is why I have so much respect for people I come into contact with who make it evident they are getting things done.
The old adage, if you need something done, give it to a busy person, comes to mind. Old adages stick around because they ring true time and time again. That one sure does.
So with this theme of “busy” I offer you, good reader, our March/April edition of ClubWest along with a challenge to make yourself more busy in your community. You will be glad you did.
Mike Williscraft,
Publisher, ClubWest Magazine

 

FROM THE PUBLISHER

FROM THE PUBLISHER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

(To view our November/December 2019 issue of ClubWEST online, click here.)

Aside from a southern fishing expedition and a look at some awesome dishes one can prepare in their own home, this edition of ClubWest exhibits two resources Niagara West residents are blessed to have in abundance: great youth and nature.
We’ve written many times about the Lincoln Leapers over the years. They continue to develop great athletes and good people. Even a group which has done many impressive things over the years can still pull a surprising rabbit out of the hat.
The group’s exploits in China, case in point.
What an experience!
Forget the competition, I am constantly amazed at some of the opportunities today’s youth have and this venture is certainly one of them. For a kid like me – from a town of 3,000 and never on a plane until he was 25, it’s amazing to me kids get to hop on a plane and head off to the other side of the globe to compete on a world scale.
Not only that, but they deliver.
Year in, year out this group is a great representative for Lincoln and our entire area, as they draw members from the surrounding areas as well.
The other aspect of the area highlighted in this edition’s pages is the Niagara Escarpment. Clearly obvious to all on a day to day basis, the escarpment is taken for granted by many.
In this day and age of all things environmental, the last thing that should be glazed over is the escarpment.
Our featured group of intrepid hikers not forgotten about it, but decided to take it head on as a terrific challenge. While being able to say you hiked from one end of the escarpment to the other is a significant claim to fame, so too is being able to experience the entire geography of the area.
Rock formations, waterfalls, forest…it’s all there, which comprises another part of the reason the escarpment is amazing. In much of the world, while geography varies, there are few places that can cover all the bases. Southern Ontario, and the escarpment in particular, highlights just about every geographic feature including the Blue Mountains which can make for some hair-raising hiking.
To enjoy the escarpment, one does not have to take on a major task such as hiking it end to end.
Popping up to Beamer’s Conservation Area and taking a 20 walk through the forest to the lookout points is nice break in any day. There is also a nice little access point on Mountainview Road in Beamsville, just north of Locust Lane.
For the more hearty, one can trudge directly up hill to Beamer’s from an access in downtown Grimsby off of Gibson Street. Give it a try!

Publisher, ClubWest Magazine,
Mike Williscraft

 

FROM THE PUBLISHER

FROM THE PUBLISHER NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

ClubWest

(To view our November/December 2019 issue of ClubWEST online, click here.)

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
– Benjamin Franklin

 

When we started this magazine more than five years ago, we knew it would not be a stretch to come up with full-length feature ideas – just the opposite, in fact.

There are so many people doing great things – young and old alike – as well as a wealth of interesting and unique historical perspectives as well happenings, an entire magazine could be filled just with those ditties.

This edition’s feature on Hand’s Fishery is one of those stories. It came about just by fluke when I overheard Grimsby Mayor Jeff Jordan talking about the days when fisheries along the south shore of Lake Ontario were going concerns.

While it made sense, I had not heard anyone speak with any level of knowledge about the fisheries, so I was intrigued. Once the surface was scratched, which means a phone call to Bill Lipsitt, it took me about 30 seconds to realize this was a neat story which needed to be told.

Many will know Bill from his years of operating Lakecourt Marine with his late wife Marilyn (nee Hand). We all met one Saturday morning down at Lakecourt along with Marilyn’s sisters Donna and Gwen, as well as sister-in-law Bev Hand. Stories?

The original state of the land, being a marshy bog until one industrious soul got it dredged to make more of a channel, the abilities of the fishermen to navigate the lake even at night LONG before GPS, etc etc.

With all the concerns about the environment and plastic straws, focusing on our freshwater lakes and bringing back the fish population would be a good place to shift our energy.

As well, in this edition, you can read all about our local members of the Knot A Breast dragon boat crew who will be heading off to the worlds.

Talk about a change of focus?

For these athletes to work their way through surviving breast cancer to take on the challenge of putting themselves through the gruelling regime of racing competitively is very impressive. Surviving breast cancer is a great accomplishment all on its own, so adding any kind of world class accomplishment to their portfolio is certainly a very nice feather to be tucked into their respective caps.

The edition is a microcosm of all things good here in Niagara West – true heroes in these brave women, a family which put its fingerprints all over Grimsby’s history, people enjoying themselves with fishing, and great local food ideas. Enjoy!

Publisher, ClubWest Magazine
Mike Williscraft