Marie Dressler Inducted into Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame

You’ve probably heard of Martin Short and Jim Carrey and if you live in Cobourg, you’ve probably heard of Cobourg born Marie Dressler.  The Marie Dressler Foundation operates a museum in Cobourg which honours Marie as one of three Oscar winning Canadian actresses from the thirties: that’s the Canadian Women in Film Museum in Dressler House.  In 2021, the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame was started to “collect the stories and the memories of the funniest nation on the planet to preserve and promote our sense of humour.”  Since then, a number of Canadian comedians have been inducted and at an event in Hamilton on February 23, 2024, Marie Dressler was included.  The ceremony was attended by Rick Miller, Chair… Read complete articleMarie Dressler Inducted into Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame

Council Agrees to Fire Fighters Museum Lease

As reported on Cobourg blog (see Resources), the Town is working with the Fire Fighters Museum Board to lease the Memorial Arena as their new location.  In a repeat report at the Council meeting on 28 February, the lease was again discussed with a report by Director Geerts and a verbal presentation from the Fire Fighters’ board (speaker not identified).  One key point as made by Director Geerts, is that the lease looks like a good use of the Arena and “we don’t have a better idea for the Arena”.  If the Arena is not leased, the Town would still have the cost of operating an empty building.  One new issue debated was the board’s request for free rent for the… Read complete articleCouncil Agrees to Fire Fighters Museum Lease

Community Grants Requests Get Trimmed

One of the things that happens in Cobourg’s budget is a line item devoted to “Community Grants” – staff recommended $20K plus another $10K for “Contingency Grants During Year” but council ended up approving grants for $33,025 (or was it $37,025?).  The approval came at the end of a long second day reviewing the budget.  The meeting was scheduled to end at 4:00 pm and Mayor Cleveland and Councillor Mutton excused themselves around that time so the meeting continued with a quorum of five.  Before he left, Mayor Cleveland said that he did not approve of any grants at all – although perhaps in-kind grants would be OK – so he did not think he would be needed during the… Read complete articleCommunity Grants Requests Get Trimmed

RCMP Musical Ride coming to Cobourg again

Subject to Council approval (which was provided unanimously), the Musical Ride by the RCMP will be coming to Cobourg on Saturday 22 June, 2024. They were a great success when they last visited Cobourg on the 9th of June 2012 (see photos below).  There will be bleachers set up in Donegan park and the cost is estimated at $20,000 with ticket sales also at $20,000. This is based on an estimated 2000 people attending with a ticket price of $10. The 32 horses would be stabled in the Roseneath fairgrounds – it has not been announced where the riders would be housed – presumably in a hotel in Cobourg.  At the Committee of the Whole meeting on 27 November, Director… Read complete articleRCMP Musical Ride coming to Cobourg again

Restoration of Mural

In 2001, a mural commemorating the Cobourg to Rochester Ferry was painted by John Mitchell on the side of a building on First street – but in time it faded and was almost lost. However, Cobourg’s Historical Society and the DBIA (Downtown Business Improvement Area) came to the rescue and commissioned restoration. Last Saturday (9 September), around 50 people attended an unveiling of the fully restored mural led by Carla Jones, President of the Cobourg Historical Society. If you didn’t know, First Street is the name given to the lane on the West side of the Dutch Oven (sorry, now called “Lalies and the Dutch”). The building was originally the Allen Hardware building but now houses 8 separate Condos –… Read complete articleRestoration of Mural

Pickleball Club asking Town to Fund Dedicated Courts

Pickleball is getting to be very popular worldwide and now in Cobourg. The Cobourg Pickleball club had 67 members in 2021 and now has 227 members.  Currently they share 19 facilities (courts): 6 indoors at the CCC, 10 at Sinclair Park and 3 at Peter Delanty Park.  But shared courts are not optimum and the club wants dedicated courts – and they’ve chosen Sinclair Park.  They believe they can do the conversion (to dedicated) for $250,000 for 10 courts but Town staff report that the cost will be more like $733K for 6 courts and $1,070K for 12 courts.  Although it does not have to be done all at once, that’s a big difference.  Further, staff do not seem convinced… Read complete articlePickleball Club asking Town to Fund Dedicated Courts

Firefighters Museum Update

A memo to Council from Brian Geerts, Director of Community Services, at the Committee of the Whole Council meeting on June 5 will provide an update on what’s happening to the Memorial Arena. In April 2021, an Ad Hoc committee was set up to explore options for what should be done with the Memorial Arena which had been closed in 2019. The first choice was to lease it to the Firefighters Museum which had previously been located in Port Hope. The museum opened in 1984 and closed in 2018 and has been on hold pending finding a new location. Meanwhile, their Facebook page is quite active and they recently announced that “we are now looking seriously at this unused arena… Read complete articleFirefighters Museum Update

Cobourg Entertainment Scene Update

One of the ways Cobourg’s Community Centre can recover costs is to hold major concerts. With 2500 seats, they can stage big names – like upcoming Country and Western star Chris Janson who will come to Cobourg June 15. Last year, one of Canada’s big name bands – Blue Rodeo – was also here. Tickets for the Chris Janson event are around $100 and will go on sale shortly. Getting the word out in Cobourg requires an effort – there are web sites, newsletters, posters in shop windows and social media. Various attempts have been made to consolidate entertainment calendars but people generally won’t look online for something if they don’t already know it’s there. I try to help but… Read complete articleCobourg Entertainment Scene Update

Last Year for Community Grants?

Although Council approved grants to 17 community groups, it may be the last year that this is done.  When Council approved the grants, an additional sentence was added: “And further that Council direct staff to review the Community Grant Policy including options to cease the program, streamline the application process for more efficient decision making or offer special rental and parking rates for non-profit organizations;  And further that a report be brought back to Council by June 2023.”  Mayor Cleveland and Councillor Barber were against any grants and Councillor Brian Darling was against cash grants. Brian was also reluctant to approve in-kind grants to waive fees for Victoria Hall since Victoria Hall is already subsidized.  Councillors also suggested that more… Read complete articleLast Year for Community Grants?

Christmas is coming to Cobourg

The radio stations are already playing Christmas music and stores are starting to push Christmas merchandise.  To most people, Christmas is no longer a religious event but is instead, at best, a time for family get togethers and gift giving and at worst a commercial event.  One of the ways people now celebrate Christmas is by going to a concert or a public Christmas event or two – and Cobourg does a good job of these.  I know of ten concerts and two special Cobourg events:  The Santa Parade and the lighting up ceremony for the thousands of lights in Victoria Park and the Waterfront.  But unless you are on top of what’s happening, you might not know about them… Read complete articleChristmas is coming to Cobourg