Shrove Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Did you know? 

Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day or Mardi Gras, is the final day before the Christian fasting season of Lent begins (Ash Wednesday), celebrated with feasting and revelry to use up rich foods like eggs, butter, and sugar before 40 days of abstinence leading up to Easter. The name "Shrove" comes from "shrive", meaning to confess sins, as it was historically a day for Christians to confess and seek absolution before the penitential Lenten period. People eat pancakes (Pancake Day) or party (Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday) to use up these ingredients and say goodbye to indulgences.

Well you won't have to confess your sins, but there may be a bit of revelry and last minute indulgence at the Centre's upcoming Pancake Day. See you there. (And don't forget to RSVP to darlingwhitelakecentre@gmail.com.)

Christmas Craft Fair

On Saturday, November 15, the Darling White Lake Centre was the venue for a locally organized and hosted craft fair. The following is a copy of the report that was published in the Lanark Era following the event.

As always, kudos to the organizers for another successful event at the Centre.

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What started as a small idea—a cozy community craft show tucked beside White Lake—quickly grew into something much bigger than we expected. Throughout the day, neighbours wandered in with smiles, local makers proudly shared their creations, and the room buzzed with that special kind of holiday-season kindness you can’t quite put into words.

But the real magic happened quietly, one can of food and one small donation at a time.

By the end of the show, our little community had gathered 218 lbs of food and $205 in donations for the Arnprior Food Bank. This morning, everything was delivered—boxes stacked high, bags full to the brim, and hearts just as full.

It was a beautiful reminder that when people come together, even in a small hall by the lake, they can create something truly meaningful.

Live 'n Learn - Epoxy Resin Presentation

We’ve all seen art pieces that augment natural wood with epoxy resins and have marvelled at their beauty. Well, on Thursday, 25 attendees at the Centre got to see just how pieces like these examples (crafted by Brian Cairns) are created.

As part of the Centre's ongoing education initiative, the Live ’n Learn team arranged a presentation offering an introduction to epoxy resins, their increasing use in woodworking, usage tips, and techniques. Beginning with, as usual, a delicious lunch (thanks to all the cooks, busboys, and dishwashers).

We are lucky to have at least four craftspeople around the lake who work with that medium. And today they generously shared their knowledge and experience, as well as some beautiful examples of their art, with an appreciative audience.

Brian Cairns led off with a detailed overview of the various epoxy resins, their history, and many of the tools and techniques he employs when working with the products.

Brian's talk was followed by Larry Paquette, Garry Cardiff, and Dave Blackburn who each spoke of how they use/have used the medium and also showcased some of their own work. (There was also a slide show presenting photos of many more projects than were on display.)

Larry's cutting boards

Garry's maple root table and bench

One of Dave's pieces, still on the lathe

After the presentations there were many questions from the audience about specific pieces that were on display, and, judging from the feedback, there may soon be more than four practitioners in the area.

Noreen O’Keefe was the lucky winner of the door prize, a gorgeous cutting board, also crafted and donated by Brian Cairns.

Thanks to the Live ’n Learn team who, once again, offered community residents an interesting learning experience. And thanks to the presenters for their contributions.

Keep an eye on your Friends of the Centre email blasts for announcements concerning future presentations.

Another successful Strawberry Social

Did you know that strawberries are the only fruit that has the seeds on the outside? Also, a serving of strawberries contains the daily recommended dose of vitamin C?  

Now that the educational part of this post has been accomplished...

Last Saturday was the DWLC's annual Strawberry Social, 2025 edition. A total of 62 of your friends and neighbours came out to enjoy a fantastic feed of strawberries slathered in maple syrup and whipped cream followed by an exhibition of line dancing put on by a local group. Donations were also collected for a very deserving local charity, the Connect Well Seniors.

This signature event was organized by our very own Jaqueline Cairns (who even arranged for the weather man to offer up a beautiful summer day) and a fantastic group of volunteers. A huge shout-out and thank you to all who helped out and to those who came out in support of this most anticipated annual event.

Kitchen staff 

Claire's dance troupe.

Strawberry Social - Mark your calendars

It's that time of the year again. White Lake's (over)population of does are now dropping their offspring, deer and horse flies are coming out of hibernation (or whatever it is the little buggers do all winter), and strawberries are coming into season.  

All of which means - IT'S STRAWBERRY SOCIAL TIME.

"The sense we are most afraid to lose"

Yesterday, the Darling White Lake Centre was pleased to host the latest in our ongoing Live 'n Learn sessions, Dr. Zoe Bonell discussing the importance of eye care. A graduate of Carleton University and Cardiff University in Wales, Dr. Bonell is an optometrist practicing in Ottawa.

After a great buffet lunch put together by the Live 'n Learn volunteers and sponsored by the Highlands North Network,  Dr. Bonell took centre stage. 

Over the course of 90 minutes or so, Dr. Bonell discussed many, many aspects of eye care, beginning with the structure of the eye itself. She described common issues and treatments, including many age-related vision concerns such as glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration, stressing the importance of regular eye exams in detecting and correcting these issues. The presentation ended with a series of recommendations/reminders on how to protect our eyes during daily activities, such as safety glasses for DIYers, eye protection during sporting activities, UV protection in sun and snow, etc. As Dr. Bonell pointed out, vision is the sense we are most afraid to lose, yet we sometimes neglect to take the necessary steps to protect it.

It was a very informative session and the Centre thanks Dr. Bonell for taking the time out of her busy schedule to come and share her knowledge and expertise with us. And, of course, we extend our thanks to the many wonderful volunteers at the Centre who continue to make these special events available to our community.

Start light, star bright

Too bad, not tonight.

Saturday evening Steve Plummer, an amateur astrophotographer, joined us at the Centre to share his hobby. We had hoped for clear skies to allow for some actual stargazing but Mother Nature had other plans and blessed us with a snow storm instead. However all was not lost as the organizers had arranged a great chilli dinner, followed by Steve's presentation (indoors, of course). 

Over the next couple of hours Steve talked about his progression from being a simple telescope user to now being able to take spectacular images of deep space objects that are millions of light years away. He described the technology he used (complicated) and shared with us numerous photos he had taken of the sun, moon, planets, various nebulae, and distant galaxies. And he answered dozens of questions on everything from the technology he used to what can be seen with binoculars, the naked eye, or even a basic cell phone camera. (If you want a simple free app that maps the night sky in real time, check out Skyview Lite, available on Apple and Android app stores.)

I expect all who attended came away with a great appreciation of Steve's skill in creating the images he shared, but probably more so with a deeper respect of the vastness of the cosmos and the unimaginable number of deep sky objects that exist both within and beyond our own Milky Way galaxy. Perhaps some will even dust off that old telescope (moi) while others may look at the night-time sky with a greater appreciation of it's beauty and boundlessness. 

Thank you Steve. And thank you Jacqueline for arranging this Live 'n Learn session. 

And thank you to all the DWLC volunteers who prepared the meal and some fabulous desserts, acted as busboys, and did kitchen and cleanup duty.