In the words of the great Shania Twain, let’s go girls! It’s time to grab your crown and head to downtown Millbrook for the annual Ladies’ Night on Thursday (August 3). King Street is already well on its way to being transformed into a celebration of women for the fun-filled event hosted by the Millbrook Business Improvement Area (BIA).

First held in 2004, Ladies’ Night is one of the Millbrook BIA’s longest-running and most anticipated events of the year. After two years of pandemic restrictions stopping all festivities and last year’s extravaganza being held on a Sunday afternoon, the event is back where it belongs — on a Thursday evening — and, according to Millbrook BIA’s treasurer and the event’s organizer Sherri Soucie, it’s “better than ever.”

“It’s always been geared towards letting the ladies have a night out by leaving the kids at home, leaving the husbands, and getting out to socialize and unwind,” Soucie explains. “It gives women a chance to socialize with other women from town who they wouldn’t have a chance to meet otherwise because of their daily lives.”

From 4 to 9 p.m., King Street in downtown Millbrook will be closed to make space for the stage, chairs, and vendor tables at the event. Though Ladies’ Night will commence at 4 p.m. with live music and events, Cavan Monaghan Township Mayor Matthew Graham will make opening remarks onstage at 6 p.m., where he will introduce the new board members of the Millbrook BIA.

Continuing until 9 p.m., the event also includes a fashion show, line dancing, and karaoke, while vendors, personal services, and food and beverage establishments will be accessible throughout the entire evening.

“We want Millbrook BIA members to know that we are there to support them,” Soucie says. “Our goal is not only help the members by hosting these events, but to encourage people to support our local businesses too.”

To further encourage women to attend, Ladies’ Night will also include a chance to win two “Diva baskets”, one for a pampered day with personal services and the other filled with goodies donated by local retailers and vendors, with every purchase getting you a ballot for the basket of your choice.

You can find the Diva baskets and ballots at the Millbrook BIA table located by the stage. At their table, the Millbrook BIA will also be giving out 50 reusable shopping bags with coupons and promos from local vendors and stores.

There will also be draws for Millbrook BIA bucks (that can be redeemed at downtown shops) as well as other items hourly. Home Hardware will also be handing out promo items. Donations will be collected and distributed to local non-profit groups in the community.

To get you in the right spirit, a committee of women have already started decorating the downtown strip, adding flowers to lampposts and installing stunning new planters on the bridges. Luminous Expressions will be adding their personal touches to the event to give it some sparkle.

So, ladies, leave the partners and kids at home, and follow these fun steps to fully unwind at Ladies’ Night in downtown Millbrook.

Get pampered

Ladies’ Night wouldn’t be the same without some “me time” spent getting pampered.

Get either a 10-minute ($20) or 15-minute ($30) massage from RMT Erin O’Ray or 15 minutes of reiki ($10) from Patti of Body & Soul Wellness. Marianna from Vivacious Beauty will also be downtown, offering brow tint and facial waxing ($10), hydra facial ($20), and henna brows ($40) for interested women.

For something a bit different, a 15-minute reading from medium Deb Stantion is available for $30, and a 15-minute reading from psychic Flo Burton is available at the same cost.

Each service is offered on a first-come first-served basis out of bridal shop Menzie’s House (30 King St. E.). Guest are encouraged to book their appointments early, and the enjoy Ladies’ Night events while waiting for their appointments.

You can also drop by Blank Canvas Hair & Art Studio (12 King St. E.) if you would like to have a professional photo by local photographer Peter Marcelli. Donations are welcome.

Let loose on stage

Start warming up your singing voice, because this year’s Ladies’ Night includes karaoke!

Doug MacKenzie will warm up the crowd from 4 to 6 p.m. with original tunes and classic folk, rock, country, and pop songs from the 60s until now.

Then he’ll pass the microphone to emcee and DJ Mike Pantalleresco from ProSound Productions for some karaoke fun.

“We encourage everyone to go up, be funny, and just show yourself,” says Soucie.

Eat and drink to your heart’s content

Endless food options will be available for those in attendance at Ladies’ Night, ranging from comfort foods on the outdoor partio at the Millbrook Legion (9 King St. E.) to hefty charcuterie boards from Millbrook Mercantile (28 King St. E.). The Lions Club will also have a food truck at the event.

Just around the corner from King Street, Moody’s Bar & Grill (3 Tupper St.) and Millbrook Pizza (13 Tupper St.) will also be open to welcome the swarm of Ladies’ Night visitors. Licensed establishments will be serving up beer, wine, and mixed drinks.

For after-dinner snacks, Pastry Peddler (17 King St. E.) and Millbrook Valley Chocolates (32 King St. E.) are both sweet-tooth satisfiers, and a must for any girls’ night out.

Shop ’til you drop

From homeware to fashion to antiques and gifts, there is no shortage of places to shop on King Street.

Alongside the local brick-and-mortar shopping opportunities presented in the downtown core, like Exit 38 (38 King St. E.), The Village Apothecary (36 King St. E.), and The Joneses Store (15 King St. E.), there will be more than 30 vendors setting up tables downtown to provide even more opportunity to find exactly what you’re looking for — and the things you don’t need as well.

Vendors include Pillow Talk, Lex Wall Décor, Cove Antiques & Art, Millbrook Winery, Lasting Impressions, Crazy Water Girls, Thirty One, and plenty more. Note that many vendors are cash only (there is a TD bank machine in Millbrook Foodland at 6 Centre St.).

“We’re really trying to encourage shopping local,” Soucie explains. “We want people together again and enjoying our local retailers.”

Strut your stuff

Perhaps one of the most memorable moments of the annual Ladies’ Night is the fashion show, where models of every age, shape, and size strut their stuff on stage.

The models will get dressed up by local clothing store Exit 38, with make-up done by Blank Canvas Hair & Art Studio (12 King St. E.).

At 7 p.m., following the fashion show, the street will be turned into a party zone as line dancing begins, hosted by Community Cares and featuring the Millbrook Country Gals Line Dancers, who will be encouraging anyone who wants to participate to learn a couple of steps and join in.

For more information on the Millbrook BIA and Ladies’ Night, visit millbrookbia.com and check for event updates at facebook.com/MillbrookBIA/.

This branded editorial was created in partnership with the Millbrook BIA. If your organization or business is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.

Shay-Lynn Hutchings and Sarah Comer have been best friends since they were in high school. Over the years since, they’ve been college roommates, classmates, travel companions, and co-workers. Now the two women are business partners.

Eight months ago, the duo opened Haliburton’s Wellness Hub, a “one-stop shop” for all things wellness. Acting essentially as a landlord, the Wellness Hub is made up of a collection of independent businesses operating out of available studio and office space. Each business is centred around physical, mental, or spiritual health, including practitioners and fitness professionals.

Both born and raised in Haliburton, Hutchings and Comer’s friendship grew from a shared interest in fitness and well-being. While Hutchings made a career as a Registered Massage Therapist (RMT), first working in clinics before establishing her own practice, Comer became a Progressive Pilates and Movement Educator, and also found her own business.

Together, the women say they make a good team, with their opposing strengths balancing each other out. While Hutchings is labelled the “backbone” of the Wellness Hub, Comer is the “energy.”

The best friends’ commitment to their own well-being is one of the major factors that ultimately led to the opening of their business. Hutchings explains that though she knew she wanted to stay in Haliburton her whole life, she would really miss the ease of finding fitness in bigger cities.

“I always loved the convenience of when I was in the city to be able to go to yoga, go to spin, go do all these workout classes,” she says. “But living here, I felt like it was very hard to find something like that.”

So the women decided to create their vision, and it wasn’t hard to find other small businesses to support their venture.

“There is a pretty awesome community that’s been built here and we’re all like-minded,” adds Comer. “It’s just a very positive environment and community.”

It’s not the first time the women have begun entrepreneurial projects. After working several years in various clinics, Hutchings began practising as an RMT on her own last year, operating out of the building that would soon become the Wellness Hub. Similarly, Comer is the co-founder of Reform, a progressive Pilates method inspired by music and movement.

While pursuing their own professional practices, the women also came together in 2019 to create Project SHE, an online networking platform and mentorship opportunity for female professionals.

“It was just something that we wanted in our lives and in our communities,” explains Comer. “We’ve always been passionate about feminism and females becoming entrepreneurs.”

Hutchings jokes that, though they may not have realized at the time, when they were interviewing female entrepreneurs for Project SHE, they were actually beginning the research that would eventually help them build the Wellness Hub.

Hutchings and Comer expect that Project SHE will now be able to expand even more by allowing workshops like self-defence classes, personal finance, body positivity, and even book clubs happening out of the Wellness Hub.

“That community idea, we always wanted to bring it into like a tangible space,” explains Comer, adding that Project SHE really led to the development of Wellness Hub.

“I always recognize a lot of things young women, including ourselves when we were younger, could have really used in our lives,” adds Hutchings. “Being able to bring in young girls and women into a positive wellness atmosphere — the sooner they can kind of get into that and exercise with a positive mindset, it’s just going to feed into their future. And we think that’s really important.”

Bringing that focus on females to the Wellness Hub, the owners say roughly 90 per cent of the businesses currently operating out of their building are female-led, adding how inspiring it is to see so many women pursuing their own business ventures, even as side hustles.

“It’s so cool to see women come in and work out with their kids for specific classes,” says Hutchings. “That’s usually a deterrent where women feel like the first thing they’re going to give up is their own health or what they need because they have to be home with the kids. You see these women coming in who are moms, business owners, wives — all of these things — and they’re just showing up for themselves. So it’s really inspiring to see that.”

In addition to Hutchings and Comer’s independent ventures, one of the other original businesses to operate out of the Wellness Hub is Sweat Social Health & Fitness, a fitness facility offering personal training, group fitness classes, and personalized programming.

Since then, Hutchings and Comer have enlisted several other wellness businesses to join in the Wellness Hub, including physiotherapist Jillian Mayhew, Blissful Being, Wild Haven Well Being Co., Root to Sun Nutrition, Fern Flower Yoga & Dance, and BGTeach.

The women have also added a pop-up from The Wolf Moon Shop, a Minden-based shop that sells eco-conscious skincare, wellness, housewares, and cleaning products from BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, and women-owned small businesses.

Commenting on how many of the businesses are new, Hutchings and Comer are eager to watch them flourish and support them in their growth.

“We’ve always talked about how we’re OK with being an incubator for new businesses,” says Comer. “We’re totally OK with the idea of big businesses expanding and needing to find bigger spaces or finding their own facility.”

“We’ve always believed in collaboration over competition,” adds Hutchings, “Why not work together as opposed to against?”

This is a mindset the entrepreneurs are actively showcasing at the Wellness Hub, with each business supporting each other, throwing ideas off one another and working together to meet client needs.

“Knowing that their success — health and wellness — is key, regardless if they’re doing my program or doing someone else’s,” says Comer.

Hutchings agrees, adding that sometimes people require different forms of fitness or wellness in their lives.

“I would rather people come in here and feel like they’re included wherever they go and not kind of shunned for moving around or changing,” she explains. “There are times for me, I just need yoga in my life. And then there’s times I need heavy weights. So, it’s just like not feeling that shame to go where you need to go.”

The women are always eager to offer or include more businesses and services out of the Wellness Hub. Though they’re still in the early days of growing their business, one plan for the future is to open a juice bar right in the building so guests also have access to healthy food options.

“I want it to be very convenient to come in and do a Pilates class with Sarah and order a smoothie, so that when they go back to work, they can take a protein smoothie or just a smoothie to go,” says Hutchings.

The Wellness Hub is located at 135 Industrial Park Road in Haliburton. Visit wellnesshubhali.com to learn more about the businesses operating out of the Wellness Hub. Follow Wellness Hub on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on workshops and events.

This Friday (July 28) marks the final deadline to enter the Princess Margaret Cottage Lottery, and Angela Jones of Lakeshore Designs in Selwyn doesn’t want you to miss out.

For more than 25 years, the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation in Toronto has been organizing the world’s largest 50/50 draws, giving away millions of dollars in cash and dream homes to lucky winners, with all proceeds going to cancer research. This summer, the grand prizes include three dream cottages — two in the Kawarthas and one in Muskoka — each decorated by Lakeshore Designs.

Since 2004, the Kawarthas-based company has been designing and decorating homes, businesses, and cottages in the Kawarthas, Muskoka, and Prince Edward County. For the past 12 years, the company has been the official decorator for the cottage prizes in the spring and fall home lottery and the summer cottage lottery, with owner and principal designer Angela Jones’ eye for luxury at the helm of the creativity.

Linwood Custom Homes, led by vice president Craig McFarlene, manages the building of the vacation homes. In the early years of the lottery, the cottages were left unfurnished, until Lakeshore Designs was added to the team to do the decorating.

“We started adding our Lakeshore flair to it,” Jones says. “Then it just became a great team between Linwood, the lottery, and our company.”

The Princess Margaret is one of the top five cancer research centres in the world, and purchasing a ticket in the lottery supports world-leading research that changes the lives of cancer patients and family members across Canada through the hospital’s mission to ‘Conquer Cancer in Our Lifetime’.

VIDEO: Buckhorn Lake cottage grand prize featuring Angela Jones

“It’s for a great cause,” explains Jones. “Everything that we do when we’re working together, it’s to change lives — whether it’s the fundraising that they’re doing for the lottery and what that could do at the research centre, and also for the winners who are winning a prize that’s going to change their lives.”

In the past 12 years Lakeshore Designs has been participating in the Princess Margaret lotteries, Jones has noticed an increase in the “level of décor and level of style that people are expecting” through the cottage and home prizes.

“Each time we do them better and better,” she says. “It’s not just a little cottage anymore. It’s becoming full lake houses and luxury cottages. Now it’s to the nines. It’s really done up and I find that it’s evolved over the years, and it becomes more and more full, more lush, (with) more luxury, and it is definitely a dream cottage to win.”

But, rest assured, no matter how luxurious and modern these new vacation homes look, they’re still grounded in that cozy, welcoming atmosphere you want from a cottage.

“I specialize in feng shui as well,” notes Jones, referring to the ancient Chinese tradition that has been adopted for interior design. “When I set up a home, I think ‘How is the energy in the home?’.

“You want it to give the feeling that you could just picture yourself right in there. So the more you make it look comfortable and welcoming, the more it obviously portrays to everybody, and they could just put themselves in that home or cottage. We think about how we would live in it.”

Appealing to everybody, Jones explains, is especially necessary when furnishing the dream homes. Normally in her business, she consults with a home’s owners to create a space that matches their specific needs.

“When you’re decorating for a family, we go in and do a consultation with them because we really pull from what their needs are,” she explains. “We try to do it very functional, but then we also talk to the client. What is it that they want to achieve out of the space? Then we work around that to add the design factor and add the functionality to it.”

But, when it comes to the Princess Margaret cottages, she doesn’t know who will be owning the home or how they will want to use the space.

“We put a little bit of our touch into it to make it very general for the public,” Jones explains. “We don’t want to be too trendy and we don’t want to be not-so-trendy, because you want it to appeal to the whole market so people can actually visualize themselves being there.”

Jones adds that much of her decorating depends on where the cottage is located. Fortunately, two of the three grand prize cottages this summer are based in the Kawarthas, a region she knows all too well since she lives here herself.

One of the grand prizes, valued at $2.8 million, is an open concept, modern lakefront cottage on Buckhorn Lake.

VIDEO: White Lake cottage grand prize featuring Angela Jones

“We did a fresh look with whites and blacks and then just made it very comfortable with a big harvest table,” Jones says. “It has a big veranda overlooking Buckhorn Lake, and so there we just thought, ‘OK, how is this lifestyle going to be?'”

With such nice waterfront views, she imagined afternoons spent curled up with a book in the library or evenings spent barbecuing with guests on the deck, or gathered around the spacious games room.

The other cottage in the Kawarthas, priced at $2.4 million, is located on White Lake south of Stoney Lake and has a screened-in porch offering views of the lake, with soft, warm tones throughout the luxury building.

“It’s cozy and it’s got a nice feel to it,” Jones says. “We do it with a view of the lake so that when you wake up, you can see the lake. And then we (decorate) it based on how you would entertain there.”

Though Jones also does interior design for cottages in Prince Edward County and Muskoka, she recognizes that there’s something unique to the Kawarthas region.

“I find the Kawarthas just takes on a whole other level of calmness, beauty, and space,” she explains, adding that she often sees clients surprised by how much the region offers. “There are a lot of hidden gems in the Kawarthas. People just have to take that time to find (them).”

As the deadline for the Princess Margaret lottery approaches, Jones says she feels fortunate she and her team get to use their skills for such an important cause.

“We do it all together. It’s what we love to do and, at the end of the day, it’s going for a great cause. It’s a huge team that pulls the whole project off together and it’s something that we all take pride in.”

Lakeshore Designs is located at 2968 Lakefield Road in Selwyn, with a décor store at 1929 Lakehurst Road in Buckhorn. For more information, visit www.lakeshorehd.ca.

For more information about the Princess Margaret Cottage Lottery and this summer’s grand prizes, and to buy tickets before the deadline, visit princessmargaretlotto.com.