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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2018 11THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 201810 Around Town Around Town Do you participate in Lent, and if so, what will you be giving up this year? Christine Wenger "Yes. Ah, well I haven't quite decided yet... probably some form of baked good because that will be hard for me." Steve Buck "Yes, I will be participating in Lent. I've given up alcohol in other years. It's a candidate for sure, my wife would like that. But it's Superbowl Sunday, so it's not going to happen today." Emmy Banks "Yes. I'm going to give up chocolate. It's pretty hard for me because I love chocolate." Bruce McPhail "No, but I do think of it. But no, I don't do it anymore." with Vivien Fleisher WORD IN THE VILLAGE ROCKWOODTh e Miller By: Vivien Fleisher Bear sightings around Rockwood have spawned lots of chatter, but for a few residents, it sparked the imagination, leading Waylen Woods to adopt the persona of the bear as a mascot on behalf of the town through end- less memes on Facebook. This in turn inspired Frank Marsh to name his week- end gaming sessions with neighbors in his basement "The Order of the Bear". When Marsh started let- ting locals know about his gaming nights, it took off. "We had fifty people join the group after I posted it, and I thought I can't do this in my base- ment anymore." That was last spring. He and Ryan Goodfellow came up with the idea to create a gam- ing space like the cafes in bigger towns, and after the skate park opened last August, Goodfellow had a chat with GET Mayor Chris White about the fact that--while it was great the town offered so much for physical activity--it would be nice for those who lean more toward the cerebral world of gam- ing to have somewhere in town to play. White, with council's approval, gener- ously agreed to let them use the recently-vacated nursery space in the base- ment of the Rockmosa Community centre. Last Saturday was open- ing night for "The Order of the Bear" gaming. With a colorful fantasy mural created by a Guelph artist lighting up the space, and several games on offer, like Star Wars X-Wing, Magic the Gathering, and Kids Munchkin, the space is organized via a month- ly calendar and games are run by all ages. They even offer food, but keep it open for those with food restrictions. According to Goodfellow, "Everything you see here has been put together by volunteers and donations. It's been a bit of a trek. We got the lease in September, and it's been a slow build. But it doesn't matter how long it takes, as long as we get to a point where it's open for people." Adding that a lot of those who came out Saturday night were in Frank's basement six months ago. "They're all community members. But you see kids that don't necessarily engage in cer- tain ways at school with each other, who then see each other here. So, it's building stronger relation- ships in a town of 5,000 people." Next steps are to expand into the adjacent room, bring in more games like chess, connect online with gamers around the world, live stream and even cre- ate "terrain" with a 3D printer at some point. It's not for profit, run by vol- unteers, and open to the community. The goal was to create a place where people can come and hang out; instead of sending them out of the commun- ity, "we can keep them here." Rockwood's 'Order of the Bear' moves into deluxe den "The Order of the Bear" founders and gamers. Dean and Griffen Purdham (left), Angela Healey, Frank Marsh, Ryan Goodfellow, Roger Carroll, Adam Creamer, Andrew Stewart, and Kai Carroll. GROUNDHOG DINNER: Auctioneer Kevin Gibson gets the bidding going at the 'Groundhog Day Dinner and Auction' in Eden Mills last weekend, to raise funds for the community hall retrofit. Over 36 items worth up to $1,500 were donated. - Vivien Fleisher photo SPICY SAMOSAS: Krishna Indian Cooking School instructor Chitra Saravanan (right) displays the spices used to make spicy samosas with participant Barbarba Lukachko at Guelph-Eramosa's latest Older Adult workshop at Rockmosa. - Vivien Fleisher photo