United Way Fundraiser This Sunday

There's still room left for Sunday night's United Way fundraising dinner at The Woodlawn. The evening starts out with hors d'oeuvres fabulous cocktails, then sit down to a gourmet dinner and the Flat Rock Pinot Noir & Closson Chase Chardonnay will be flowing. All for $75.00 per person. Call us at 905 372-2235 or 1 800 573-5003 to book your table.

The 2009 Harvest at the Norman Hardie Winery

Norman Hardie Harvest 2009
Jennifer, Sophia and myself had a terrific day helping Norman Hardie with his harvest on Sunday. We arrived at the winery at 10:00 am and were put to work right away. We started the day tying back vine netting and then we mo...ved on to picking Pinot Noir grapes. The grapes were in perfect condition bursting with juice and showing lots of sugar and a really deep colour. The picking was very easy with no berry-rot or bird bites on the bunches. There were so few quality issues that Norm decided not to use a sorting table and just take the whole bunches right to the crusher/de-stemmer. I can't wait to try the wine which will show up in his County Pint Noir 2009 and Cuvee L Pinot Noir 2009.

more images at http://sdellacasa.zenfolio.com/p711795404

New United Way Fundraising Dinner announced

We are proud to be working once again with Lynda and Helen and with Bill Patchett, this year's campaign chair. Our dinner will be one of a series of area United Way fund raising dinners. If you can not make it to our dinner there will be other dinner at The Northside, The Spice of Life and The Oasis. We hope you can make it.

Sunday October 25th, 2009

An evening in support of the United Way of Northumberland
The event included hors d’oeuvres, pre dinner cocktail, three-course dinner and wine

Pre dinner
Hand made hors d’oeuvres and cocktails

Featuring
The Bellini, The Martini, The Negroni, The Cosmopolitan


Dinner Menu

Mushroom Bombe
Leek and duxelles mushroom bombe with chevre and pine nut stuffing

Breast of Chicken
Breast of chicken with wrapped with maple smoked bacon and apple-pan
juice gravy. Served with herbed gnocchi and vegetables

Selections from Fifth Town Artisanal Cheese Company
Nettles Gone Wild, soft ripened goat’s milk cheese
Cape Vessey, A chewy pungent goat’s milk cheese
Wishing tree, A hard, sheep’s milk cheese

Dinner Wines

Closson Chase 2006 Chardonnay, Beamsville Bench Niagara VQA

Flat Rock Cellars 2008 Pinot Noir, Twenty Mile Bench Niagara VQA


Cost 75.00 p/p
Tax extra


Reservations any time from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm
To reserve your table please call The Woodlawn Inn
Tel 905 372-2235

The Closson Chase winery is capturing the attention of the wine press. See The Globe & Mail's wine critic Beppi Crasoriol's assesment here http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/after-years-of-hype-prince-edward-county-comes-of-age/article1292978/

The Toronto Sun writes about the us

Yesterday while enjoying a day off I opened the Sunday paper and a piece about the Woodlawn was in it. I have copied it here.

An easy charm

Cobourg stately but relaxed

By KENNETH BAGNELL, SUN MEDIA

Last Updated: 9th August 2009, 4:25am

In most ways, Cobourg resident Lena Field Fisher was an ordinary person -- a good citizen and town councillor, who had a liking for big hats. But in the early 1970s, Fisher proved a great truth when she launched a campaign to save one of Ontario's historic buildings from demolition and succeeded.

The building is Victoria Hall on King St., and if and when you stand in front of it as I did recently, give thought to Lena Field Fisher. She could have said what a renowned ethicist once said: "I'm grateful for the idea that used me." In Cobourg and elsewhere people should be grateful for the idea that used Fisher: That the beauty of yesterday ought not be sacrificed for a parking lot today.

While there, I stayed at a Cobourg inn with an elegant history, The Woodlawn, where beds are deep and restful. The dinners -- Italian with a touch of new Europe -- are made even better by one of southern Ontario's finest wine lists, compiled by sommelier Stephen Della Casa, part of the family that owns Woodlawn.

When I set out the next day to see the town, it was refreshed by breezes off Lake Ontario. Cobourg has a poignant past. In the mid-1800s, serious thinkers thought the town, about two hours drive east of Toronto, could become the capital of Ontario, maybe even Canada.

It didn't happen. But by the 1870s, it was very rich, partly from wealthy Americans -- including some civil war generals from the south -- who came north to cooler summers and built residences beyond mere opulence. The very rich made it glamorous and after entering a yacht in the America's Cup race of 1876, Cobourg became known as Newport of the North.

"It was the golden age of architecture," John Jolie, a retired history teacher said as we strolled King, the town's main street. "It was excess though. They'd party at one mansion, move on to the next, then the next. One place had a pool with a raft for a band to play. One night the band fell in. The violinist was playing a Stradivarius so that was the end of it."

Many mansions have not survived but Jolie and other members of Cobourg's historical society battle to save all they can. It's worth it. Notable residences include an 1899 log home owned by the founders of Famous Players, a fine Georgian house once home of a Chief Justice of Canada, and Dressler House, named for Marie Dressler, a Cobourg woman who became a Broadway sensation in the 1900s, and whose memorabilia it contains.

For me, the most significant is original 1832 Victoria College, a forerunner of U of T's Victoria, one of Canada's first degree-granting universities with educational pioneer Egerton Ryerson as president.

Victoria Hall is a jewel. It's more than visual, it's calming. To pause beneath it is to be refreshed.

"It's not just beautiful," Tom Hall said, "it's remarkably usable."

Hall oversees its fine Concert Hall, where week after week plays are staged, conferences convened, wedding receptions held. Weddings take place in a first floor courtroom, a fine replica of London's legendary Old Bailey. Many people from Toronto have their wedding and reception at Victoria Hall.

"After all," Hall said, "there's no worry about driving after some wine, it's just a brief walk to your inn or B&B."

It may be brief but it's very deep into our history.

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IF YOU GO TO COBOURG

MORE INFORMATION

For details on visiting Cobourg, see cobourgtourism.ca. For information on Woodlawn Inn packages, see woodlawninn.com. In addition to Woodlawn's restaurant, the town has several good dining establishments including The Buttermilk Cafe, The Oasis Bar & Grill, and the Spice o Life.

A new Northumberland farmgate guide

This morning I attended the launch of Northumberland County's new farm guide book. Local farmers, restaurateurs, and representatives from local government met at Cobourg's Northside restaurant. This year the guide also features area restaurants that use Northumberland products on their menus. It was great to reconnect with some of our favorite local farmers, producers and I also meet with some new faces in agriculture as well. If you would like to get your hands on a copy of the guide please get in touch with Northumberland County Economic Development & Tourism, 555 Courthouse Road, Cobourg, ON K9A 5J6, Tel: (905) 372-0144

Come support Team Woodlawn!

We are proud to be associated with the Cobourg Junior Soccer league.
This is our first year sponsoring.

Local Literacy Group The READ Center Gets Provincial Support!

Many will recall the READ Center fundraisers that The Woodlawn Inn put on from 1990 to 2000. Back then, the READ center was not known, had no funding and was run by a Nancy Blackler Jenkins and her dedicated group of volunteers. I like to think that The Woodlawn Inn had a small role to play in highlighting the work of the READ center in Northumberland County. For ten years, my wife Jennifer Gillard coordinated the summer sell-out dinner and we had guest authors like Timothy Findley, Rohinton Mistry and Jane Urqhart. The READ center did ultimately get to be a United Way of Northumberland funds recipient and just recently the READ center has recieved provincial funding. Congratulations Nancy!!

LOCAL LITERACY SERVICES GET A BOOST

McGuinty Government Helping More Ontarians Become Literate

Ontario is moving forward with improvements to literacy programs in Northumberland-Quinte West.

The province is investing in the Northumberland READ Centre ($70,600), the Quinte Adult Day School Inc. ($121,327) and Sir Sandford Fleming College of Applied Arts and Technology ($389,760), to strengthen literacy training provided by Employment Ontario, Lou Rinaldi, M.P.P. for Northumberland-Quinte West announced today.

Ontario is investing $3 million across the province in research projects to improve service to adult learners and create a new province-wide curriculum for adult literacy training.

QUOTES

“The work of organizations such as the three listed above are critical to ensuring that the people of Northumberland-Quinte West can participate in high-skilled training, required by the new economy.” - Lou Rinaldi, M.P.P. for Northumberland-Quinte West.

“We’re taking action now to help people strengthen their skills while laid off and looking for work so they’ll be better able to find jobs in the new economy.” - John Milloy, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, and Minister of Research and Innovation.

QUICK FACTS

• 3.4 million Ontario adults have literacy skills at less than a high school level.
• By 2020, about 70 per cent of new jobs are expected to require postsecondary education and training.

LEARN MORE

For information about the Ontario 2009 budget.

For information about Ontario’s services to strengthen literacy. .

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Contact:

Lou Rinaldi, M.P.P., Northumberland-Quinte West

1-800-263-3980