Morning. The first holiday markets open this weekend, Remembrance services start Sunday, and on Saturday night the Attack play their 20th Hockey Fights Cancer game.
This week's Buzz is brought to you by Stay Grey Bruce. November is the quiet month up here. The crowds are gone, the beaches are empty, and a cottage weekend is mostly hot tub, wood stove and a long walk with nobody else on the shore. There are cottages with hot tubs from Sauble to Tobermory, and you message the owners directly, with no booking fees on top.
Inside: a Varney buffet where the birthday person eats free, a farm store hiding in a shed off Highway 9, and Mary Berg signing cookbooks in Port Elgin.
Let's get into it.
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Top 3 this week
Here are our 3 favourite events happening this week
Hockey Fights Cancer: Attack vs Rangers — Saturday, November 7 | 7 PM | Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre, Owen Sound
The Owen Sound Attack host the Kitchener Rangers for their 20th Hockey Fights Cancer game. Between whistles there's Chuck-a-Puck, a silent auction, a jersey auction and limited-edition hoodies for sale, all with the Canadian Cancer Society. Grab your tickets before Saturday.
Mary Berg Book Signing — Saturday, November 7 | 12-2 PM | The Cook's Cupboard, Port Elgin
The MasterChef Canada winner is in Port Elgin to talk about her new cookbook, Mary's Comfort Classics, and sign your copy. It's free. Pre-order the book from The Cook's Cupboard and it'll be waiting when you get there.
Come From Away — Thursday, November 5 to Saturday, November 21 | 7:30 PM, plus 2 PM matinees Nov 14 & 21 | The Roxy Theatre, Owen Sound
Owen Sound Little Theatre is staging the musical about Gander, Newfoundland, the little town that took in thousands of stranded travellers when 38 planes landed there on 9/11. One act, no intermission. Tickets run $28.50 to $41.
Partner Spotlight
Get your float in Mildmay's Christmas parade
Mildmay's Hanging of the Green is Friday, November 27, and the Chamber is taking float entries now.
You don't need a tractor trailer. A walking group counts. So does a single decorated truck, a wagon full of hockey kids, or horses. The parade sets off at 7:40 and rolls up main street to the Freshmart, the same night the whole town turns its Christmas lights on for the first time.
Got something to sell instead? The Bavarian Market runs from 5:30 until the parade starts, in the Harley's Pub & Perk parking lot.
Full Weekly Calendar
Community Calendar
Our Community Calendar covers Grey & Bruce Counties. It's a large area, so if we missed an event we are sorry, we will do better next time!
693 events this week. Christmas shopping season is starting early, with holiday bazaars in Kincardine, Hanover and Markdale, and Neustadt's Sip 'n' Shop on Saturday. It's also Remembrance week, with services from Tara to Tobermory.
It all lives on the map. Open it, find your town, tap a pin, see what's close. Same events, way less scrolling.
3 more worth getting off the couch for:
Dancing With The Stars Kincardine — Kincardine, Sat, 7 PM show. Five local celebrities each team up with a pro dancer for Big Brothers Big Sisters. $125 with dinner, or buy a livestream ticket and watch from the couch.
Neustadt Craft Show — Neustadt, Sat, 9 AM-3 PM. $2 at the door, cash only. Then walk downtown for the Sip 'n' Shop at spots like Neustadt Springs Brewery and Dusty Road Candle Co.
Christmas House Tour and Market — Point Clark, Thu-Sun. A house that made Country Home magazine, decorated room by room, with a Christmas market downstairs. $5 timed tickets, and the money goes to Days for Girls.
Foodie Flash
Pebbles Family Buffet - Varney
There's a buffet on Highway 6 in Varney where the birthday person eats free.
The Gerber family runs it. When they unexpectedly ended up with a restaurant space on a main highway, they gave it a go and started serving their homestyle Mennonite cooking, all you care to eat. Word caught on fast.
Start with the broasted chicken. It's the headliner, piled next to mashed potatoes made with real butter. Then go back up, as many times as you want. That's the whole point.
On the way out, hit the bakery case for a half dozen butter tarts to take home.
The birthday deal: bring ID with your birthday on it and someone buying a buffet of equal or greater value, and yours is on the house.
So, whose birthday is next? Forward this to them.
Community Bulletin
Quick hits from around Grey-Bruce
Cici has energy to burn
Meet Cici, a 3-year-old Black Lab-Hound cross at the Grey Bruce Animal Shelter. She's about the size of a big lab, sweet, fun and full of energy. She's good with dogs and people, but she hasn't met a cat yet. She's booked to be vaccinated and spayed before she goes home. Call 519-372-1911 to book a visit.
Where are the fish this winter?
Stocked shows every fish the MNRF has put into an Ontario lake since 1905. Open it and you'll see a list of lakes that got big stockings in 2021 to 2023, so those fish should be catchable size this season. Near Owen Sound, that's walleye in Chesley Lake and Gould Lake. Set a free alert and it emails you when your lake shows up in new stocking data.
Port Elgin is winning
More of you keep saying you'd use a GB Buzz Card, one punch card for local shops that you tap with your phone at the till. It's still a back-burner idea, and we're gauging interest before we knock on any shop doors. Port Elgin is out front, and Hanover is second. Want your town on the board? Count me in HERE.
Want your thing in next week's Bulletin? Reply to this email.
Hidden Gem of the week
Starseed Acres - Walkerton
Just outside Walkerton on Highway 9, there's a farm lane with a wooden shed at the end of it. Go in the door on the right.
That's the store at Starseed Acres, a small regenerative organic farm run by Kevin and Lauren. Their own lettuce, spinach and kale were still on the shelves last week. Around them sit goods from 20-plus other farms and makers: sourdough, Round Hill Farms bagels, Grassroots Woodfired Pizza dough, maple butter, bone broth hot chocolate.
People keep talking about the same two things. The produce is the real deal, and there's way more packed into that shed than you'd ever guess from the road.
Getting a head start on stocking stuffers? The tallow balm and beeswax candles are right there. One planning note: it's cash or e-transfer only, so leave the tap card in the truck.
Know a hidden spot that you want to share? Reply to this email and let us know!
Poll of the week
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If one of today's events sparks a little adventure, hit reply and tell us how it went, we love hearing your stories.
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Catch you next Tuesday with a fresh batch of local events, hidden gems, and small-town surprises.
Stay curious,
— Cody & The GB Buzz Team
P.S. Quick reminder of how the Buzz works: nobody pays to be a Foodie Flash or a Hidden Gem, ever. Those spots are earned, not sold. The clearly marked sponsor spots are what pay for the rest, and a couple open up every month. Winter is booking now. Want your business in front of 8,000+ neighbours across Grey-Bruce? Hit reply and I'll send you what's available.