Little did Tracey know that 18 years in the future, their son James Whitehill would set the record even lower – age 11 – in a parent-child team-up at the 2024 Muskoka Novel Marathon from July 11 to 14.

Founded in 2002, the Marathon has continued unbroken ever since, even through the pandemic which saw four Marathons (2020-2023) conducted entirely online using Zoom. The Marathon is a combination three-day intensive writing retreat, contest and fundraiser for YMCA literacy education in Muskoka. It has raised more than $240,000 in its history, and more than one writer has gone on to publish one or more works started as Marathon projects, one (Amy Stuart) penning an international bestseller.

This year, 22 writers participated in person at the Port Sydney Community Hall in Port Sydney and another nine on Zoom. They have raised $12,508 so far. The final total along with Best Novel winners will be announced on Sept. 21.

James – or Jamie, to his Marathon friends – was happy to be there. “It was great,” he says. “The community sense is great. It feels really at home and everyone’s so kind. It’s really nice to get a chance to write whatever I want, to talk to people, get feedback.” He wrote 20 pages and entered the contest, vying against some adult professional writers. If he wins, his manuscript will be shown to a publisher as part of the prize.

At the Marathon, Tracey and Jamie sat side by side to write and, he says, “We were writing interconnected stories. We’re planning to write a book together.” Parent and child have similar taste in literature, he explains. “We like to read together, so why not write together?”

Says proud parent Tracey, “With James being here, it feels so real, because of when I was 13. It’s full circle. I see myself in him, but he’s his own person too. It’s cool, the ways he’s the same as me and it’s cool how we’re different. He’s come out his shell a lot, just in the past three days.”

What would Tracey have thought if they had known in 2006 what would transpire in 2024?

“I definitely never thought I’d be seeing the next generation at the Muskoka Novel Marathon. It would have never occurred to me that this cool event would become part of a legacy!”

Both have definite plans to come back next year.

The post Youngest-Ever Muskoka Novel Marathon Writer: The Second Generation appeared first on Muskoka411.

According to the findings, only 33 per cent of parents with children under the age of 18 have term life insurance, a product designed to meet the needs of the vast majority of parents with dependents, compared to the 70 per cent of Canadians parents with life insurance as a benefit through their employer. Of those parents with life insurance as a work benefit, 44 per cent rely on it solely, which is typically insufficient to protect their family. The reality that many parents have costly life insurance products, rather than the more affordable term life insurance, helps to explain why half of parents (50%) who don’t have life insurance say they haven’t bought it because it is too expensive.

“Most parents should have life insurance to protect the financial future of their family, but we need to educate more parents about the best way to protect their family. Too often we see the same mistakes happening over and over again due to poor financial advice,” says Andrew Ostro, Co-founder and CEO, PolicyMe. “Parents have a lot of expenses, and most don’t have a lot of extra money at the end of the day. There’s simply no reason parents should have to spend more than what is necessary to protect their loved ones.”

Four common mistakes parents make when it comes to life insurance

1. Mortgage Life Insurance: A quarter of Canadian parents (25%) with children under the age of 18 have mortgage life insurance. This product is protection for creditors, not parents. It pays off the remaining balance of a mortgage if the mortgage holder passes away. Mortgage life insurance is more expensive than term life insurance, and creditors receive the payout, not the family. Additionally, if mortgage providers are switched, the mortgage life insurance doesn’t automatically move with you.
2. Permanent Life Insurance (including “universal” or “whole life”): 22 per cent of parents with children under the age of 18 have purchased the expensive, complicated, and often unnecessary permanent life insurance product. Permanent life insurance is typically a whopping 5-15x the cost of term life insurance, and if you don’t expect to have dependents (i.e. young kids or aging parents) or debt (i.e. a mortgage) well into the future, why pay insurance premiums for the rest of your life? Permanent life insurance is a product that should really only be considered by high-net-worth individuals and possibly by older Canadians (55+).
3. Life Insurance for Children: 23 per cent of parents purchased their children their own life insurance policy, which is yet another unnecessary product. Often, parents buy these policies as a way to put money aside for their children. However, there are much better ways to save for a child’s financial future or to prepare for unexpected funeral costs. Instead of parents locking into a permanent plan with high monthly premiums — that they’re unlikely to ever make a claim against — it makes better financial sense to put that money into a savings account for a child’s future.
4. Group Life Insurance: 70 per cent of parents with children under the age of 18 have group life insurance, or life insurance as a work benefit through their employer. Life insurance is a great employee benefit to have, however, it is often not sufficient on its own and should be viewed as complementary to a more robust term life insurance policy. Because group life insurance typically covers one to two times an individual’s annual salary, it doesn’t offer enough income protection for most families to cover ongoing expenses once future earnings are suddenly taken away.

SOURCE PolicyMe

The post Survey Reveals Parents’ Biggest Life Insurance Mistakes appeared first on Muskoka411.

Take A Kid To The Course, powered by the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada, allows for a FREE round of golf for youth under 16 when accompanied by a paying adult. In addition to free golf, many courses will offer additional programs such as junior clinics, free range balls, free junior club rentals and parent/child tournaments.

Simply follow these easy steps to book your tee time today:

1. View the Participating Courses page to view the listing of courses in your area.
2. Be sure to check any ‘Additional Programs’ they are offering or to check if there are any restrictions on their offer.
3. Call the course to book your tee time. Be sure to let them know you are participating in the Take A Kid To The Course program!
4. Enjoy your family time and remember to HAVE FUN!

*Please note that 1 junior under 16 plays free with 1 paid adult.

See the list below for participating locations in and around Muskoka. For a full list of participating courses, click here.

South Muskoka Curling & Golf Club
10 Golf Course Road
Bracebridge, ON P1L 1M6 Canada

Muskoka Highlands Golf Links
1036 South Monck Dr.
Bracebridge, ON P1L 1W8 Canada

The Rock Golf Club
1040 Juddhaven Road
Minett, ON P0B 1G0 Canada

Oak Bay Golf Club
67 Links Trail
Port Severn, ON L0K1S0 Canada

Seguin Valley Golf Club
144 Badger Road, R.R. #2,
Parry Sound, ON P2A 2W8 Canada

Parry Sound Golf & Country Club
50 George Hunt Memorial Drive, RR#3
Parry Sound, ON P2A 2W9 Canada

The Ridge at Manitou Golf Club
160 The Inn Road
McKellar, ON P2A 0B4 Canada

Eagle Lake Golf Course
2035 Eagle Lake Road
South River, ON P0A 1X0 Canada

Hawk Ridge Golf & Country Club
1151 Hurlwood Lane
Severn, ON L3V 0Y6 Canada

Bonaire Golf Club
1699 Woodrow Rd
Coldwater, ON L0K 1E0 Canada

Lakeside Golf Club Inc.
11524 Hwy 118
West Guilford, ON K0M 2S0 Canada

Haliburton Highlands Golf Club
3180 Kashagawigamog Lake Rd.
Haliburton, ON K0M 1S0 Canada

Kids golf free at hundreds of courses across Canada until July 11th!

Don’t forget to post your photos at the course and tag #kidsgolffree for a chance to win One of five Electric Battery Brushless Leaf Blowers courtesy of @ToroCompany! pic.twitter.com/wXMtzfy1y9

— Take a Kid To The Course (@KidsGolfFree) July 6, 2021

Click here to read about how a local golf pro inspired generosity from coast to coast during the pandemic.

The post Take A Kid To The Course Program Offers Free Golf For Youth Under 16 Until July 11 appeared first on Muskoka411.

“Fishing is a time-honoured tradition and terrific way for families to spend time together,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry. “I hope everyone in Ontario is able to head down to a lake or river and take part in Free Fishing Week, this year.”

Families that take part in these activities are reminded to respect the regulations under Step 2 of the Roadmap to Reopen.

If you and your family are fishing during licence-free fishing periods or at other times, it’s important to help keep recreational fisheries healthy for future generations by:

• Following conservation licence catch limits
• Obeying size limits and sanctuaries
• Following all other fishing regulations and rules.

Quick Facts on Licence-Free Fishing

• Outside of licence-free fishing periods, anyone 18 and older, but under the age of 65 must have an Outdoors Card and a fishing licence.
• All veterans and active Canadian Armed Forces members residing in Ontario can enjoy free recreational fishing in the province, whenever and wherever fishing is allowed.
• Ontario’s recreational fishing industry generates $1.75 billion annually.

Visit the Government of Ontario website for more information on What You Need to Know about Licence-Free Family Fishing and Finding a new fishing spot using Fish ON-Line as well as a Guide to eating Ontario fish.

The post Kick Summer Off With Licence-Free Fishing From July 3 To 11 appeared first on Muskoka411.

While a lot of focus is rightly being placed on the safety of students, less discussed are the very real implications on the rest of the family “bubble” (core group of people who maintain physical distance from others and can safely be close to each other during the pandemic). Grandparents, who often serve as the linch pin of the family’s day to day operations, will be facing tough decisions on how to remain safely connected to their grandchildren as a potential second wave of COVID-19 hits this fall.

“Many of our Members tell us they feel like we’re back in the early days of the pandemic, when so much anxiety was caused by the unknown,” says Bill VanGorder, CARP’s Interim Chief Policy Officer. “Social isolation is wreaking havoc on seniors across the country. We’re seeing increased rates of depression, cognitive decline and injury in vulnerable elders who have been cut off from their families due to physical distancing measures. Staying connected to grandchildren is key in keeping older people active, engaged and mentally healthy.”

Given that grandparents often care for children while their parents go to work, maintaining physical distance will be next to impossible for many families. This poses a serious safety concern, as school-aged children are up to 4 times more likely to spread the virus to others—a risk older people need to avoid at all costs.

With concerns mounting that schools will be a hotbed for outbreaks, many parents are opting to keep their kids at home or arrange to work from home themselves in order to protect their older loved ones from exposure to COVID-19. On top of this, approximately 400,000 homes in Canada are intergenerational, meaning grandparents are intimately ingrained in the household alongside their younger family members.

“Parents are being reminded how integral grandparents are to keeping their lives running smoothly,” notes VanGorder. “Many parents are going so far as to split up their family bubble into 2. One parent will bubble with the grandparents and the other with the kids. Urgency breeds creativity, and they want to make sure their family elders are as safe as possible going into the school year.”

Luckily for grandparents looking to stay connected to their grandkids, even when maintaining physical distance, there are many options. While nothing can replace a real life hug, we’ve put together a list of ways to be a great “physically-distanced grandparent”, submitted by our members:

1. Learn to use Facetime or Skype on your phone or computer so you can watch a show or movie on one while video chatting on the other simultaneously.
2. Set up specific times to visit online so your grandchildren have those to look forward to—kids like and need structure in these “covid-irregular” times.
3. Do simple fitness activities like chair yoga, stretches, walking on the spot etc. together, electronically.
4. Schedule shows, movies and other programs you will watch together and chat about, e.g. start watching a TV show or movie at the same time and chat on another device while watching, or after, so it’s a shared experience. If you only have phone access, watch the movie or TV ahead of time and then discuss.
5. Help your grandchildren write fun letters and take photos to send to other relatives.
6. Read a book to them over the phone or online.
7. Ask them to make collections (such as similar toys, or old photos or other household handy items) as a sort of a Treasure Hunt.
8. Download books for a virtual age-appropriate book club discussion.
9. Listen to music with them and have them explain their music preferences to you.
10. If they are older, ask them to do errands like shopping for you (if they are nearby). Make them feel wanted and useful.
11. Show an interest and help with their school work.
12. Ask about and discuss their world of sports, e.g. what they are missing and how they think their favourite sports will rebound when the pandemic is under control.
13. Send your grandchildren a parcel every other week. You could include a craft to be done together with a parent, some ‘homework ‘ fun pages, homemade cookies, etc. Never send them the same day; keep them wondering when it will arrive and don’t tell when or what is in it.
14. Share recipes by texting pictures back and forth of what you have created. Make it a fun contest on baking/cooking a variety of different things.
15. Write down a favourite made-up story and share it as you would a book. Works for both kids and grandparents who have been in the habit of making up stories.
16. Watch the online kitchen parties that are full of singing and dancing together and showing support for front-line workers and support staff. Watch them together by telephone or online.

Do you have another suggestion that has worked for you? Help CARP build out the list! Email your ideas to advocacy@CARP.ca.

The post Staying Connected During COVID: Tips For Grandparents As Kids Go Back To School appeared first on Muskoka411.