Done & Dusted!

 Well that was a blast, wasn’t it?  From all accounts, the 2025 Annual was a success - woohoo!  

The organizers of the 2025 OHCG Annual Conference, “Peace, Love & Rug’n Roll” would like to thank everyone who attended!  We hope you enjoyed the day.  We certainly enjoyed everyone’s enthusiasm, and excitement.  The colourful outfits were fantastic!  Here’s a video prepared by Heather Émond (Karen Kaiser’s daughter)….some great photos:

(Click the link on the menu bar above for Judged Items & Results to see all of the stuff submitted for display at the Art Gallery of Northumberland!  Turn your sound on, and get ready to groove…..)

We’d also like to thank the OHCG Executive, particularly Jayne Nevins, Annual Advisor, and Karen Kaiser, Vice President, for their unwavering assistance, advice and support.  

Jane Stewart of Peterborough deserves recognition for all of the beautiful calligraphy name tags - truly keepsakes!  

Wendie Scott Davis spearheaded and organized the OHCG’s first hook-along, featuring this year’s theme, along with Ti Seymour.  

All those flower power pins were wonderful, and hooked by Quinte Isle, Waterside Ruggers, Campbellford, Ajax and Northumberland branches - thank you!  

Olinda Casimiro, Executive Director of the Art Gallery of Northumberland and her team are to be commended for accommodating our exhibit of tradition rug hooking - something not normally seen in an art gallery.  

Valerie Carew presented some interesting items of her work….there was a great crowd of folks coming up to examine her work after her talk - so creative and innovative!

And the Featured Artist Panel - wow….such great work!  Moderated by Karen Kaiser and featuring Wendie Scott Davis, Wanda Elliot and Laurie McRae.

Thank you to the judges for their work assessing all those gorgeous rugs in the Art Gallery of Northumberland.  If you’ve got the time (20 minutes!), why not head to the link at the top of the page marked:  Judged Items & Results, to see the full shebang of all the entries.  Photography by Gwen Brice, video compiled by the Northumberland Rug Hookers.

Dianne Algera at the opening of the gallery exhibit, April 26.

Thank you’s also go to all of our vendors who brought in all that lovely hooking material, both yarn and fabric and patterns and notions and more!

Did you enjoy the hippie van parked out front?  We were loaned the use of the van by Dianne McCormick of Cobourg, and our Dianne (Algera) negotiated with the Town of Cobourg for permission to park it on the sidewalk! 

Did you also see the vintage rug display in the Old Bailey Court Room?  Lots of interesting items to see, and we held a rug registry, and got some stuff registered.  Thanks to Audrey Hanson, Judy Cross and Jan Hook for their work here.

Judy Cross, sewing on a registry label

We’d also like to thank the folks within our own group who put in hours of work to help us out in the limited time available to put this show on!  Special shout outs go to Deb Patton, caterer extraordinaire, and Joan Verkuyl, Tanya Stutt and Bev Lewskiw who created the fabulous hooked signs and table decor.  Gwen Brice took photos of all of the judged entries, the rug registry and photo’s throughout the day!  Many of our members did multiple jobs: helping with the vendors, organizing the food trays, making coffee & tea….and all the myriad of little things required to make the day a success! Spouses got in on the activity, too, delivering food to Victoria Hall. 

Thanks are also due to Christine Van Hees and Sandra Pettit for their work on the Silent Auction and Vendors.  Thank you also goes to the donors for the Silent Auction, and the bidders!

And a huge thank you and a hug to Dianne Algera for guiding us to the finish line - without her there would have been no 2025 Annual!

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….and now we’re looking forward to next year’s Annual in Oakville!

Are you READY???

 

The Northumberland Rug Hookers (with assistance from local branches) have been working flat out to bring you a wonderful Annual Conference.  We’re excited to welcome you to our small town!

May 10 is almost here….so there are a few points that attendees should be aware of.  Please read on!

• Have you got your parking sorted?  For those driving, you’ll need to read up on ways to pay for parking.  Here’s a link to info on the parking pass. 

• On May 10, head to our recommended parking lot on Covert Street.  If you’ve purchased a parking pass, simply park your car and walk thru the covered lane way to King Street.  Victoria Hall is located across the road.  If you prefer, the parking pass is valid at other municipal lots in the downtown core.  See the map below.

• If you get there early and have time to kill….the Cobourg Farmer’s Market will be on from 8-1 pm, just behind Victoria Hall.   It was established in 1839, and while it’s early in the season for local produce, there may be a few interesting booths on offer.  Alternatively, there are eleventy kajillion independent coffee shops in the downtown core where you can partake of a brew and a quick munch.  (See way down at the bottom of this post for a list with opening hours.)

• Registration starts at 9 am, at the desk on your left as you enter the building.  Pick up your registration materials/goodie bag and head upstairs to the Concert Hall.  But first, stop by the vendors on the ground floor and also check out the Rug Registry and Vintage Rugs on display in the Old Bailey Court Room.

• On the 2nd floor you’ll find the beautifully restored Concert Hall where all of the speakers and presentations will take place.  Seating is “cabaret style” with tables for 6.  Adjacent to that space will be more vendors, and the silent auction goodies.  **Hint:  bring cash for the Silent Auction, and some of the vendors.  If you need more cash, there are 4 banks very near to Victoria Hall (noted as B on the map above).

• Chris Poole will be there doing his sharpening magic - he will be located outside, at the rear (south side) of the building.

• All registered attendees will receive a package that includes the program for the day.  Some highlights to be aware of:  AGM is at 10 am, Valerie Carew (Keynote Speaker) is at 11, and the Featured Artist Panel is at 1:30.

• The Art Gallery of Northumberland is located on the 3rd floor and it will be open at noon for your viewing pleasure.  (If you can’t make it to the Annual, you can visit it any day leading up to May 10.)

• Judged Rug winners will be announced as part of the AGM in the morning.  Theme winners and Silent Auction winners will be announced shortly after the Featured Artist Panel.

Bust of Queen Victoria located in the lobby of Victoria Hall.

• Bring along vintage rugs for registration and/or display in the Old Bailey Court Room.  Also, bring along those items you hooked as part of our Hook Along event earlier this year.

• We’ll be serving tea/coffee and yummy pastries in the morning, followed by a light lunch mid day.

• You’ll be able to pick up your displayed items from 4:30 - either the Art Gallery on the 3rd floor or the Old Bailey Court Room on the ground floor.

The Town of Cobourg’s Coat of Arms, on the lobby floor of Victoria Hall.

COFFEE SHOPS IN DOWNTOWN COBOURG (there may be more - they keep popping up - but this is what i could find as of May 1):

Open at 7 am:  Human Bean (80 King St W), Millstone Bread (55 Albert St beside the Farmer’s Market)

Open at 8 am:  Vdoma Cafe (255 Division St), Prep Food Company (7 King St W)

Open at 8:30 am:  Pink Cafe (205 3rd St), Fabled Bean (73 King St W), Black Cat (4 King St W), Rosarya Bakery (125 King St W)

There are 4 Timmie’s & 1 Starbucks in various locations outside of the downtown core.