Onsite - Thursday June 3, 2010 (7:30-8:30am)
E.R. Fisher
199 Richmond Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1Z 6W4

Dom Herrick, Sonia and Peter Fisher invite all OXA members to Breakfast on the Balcony. Enjoy a lovely breakfast compliments of Manny Melios, Hemmingway's Catering. While catching up with other members, pick up that great piece of sportswear or a lightweight blazer for summer - OXA members receive 15% off all day long on E.R. Fisher regular priced merchandise. Please RSVP to Jennifer Baker, OXA Coordinator at info@oxa.org.

Thursday May 27, 2010
Craft Talk Speaker: Tom Flood of Hulse Playfair & McGarry Inc. with guest speaker Patrick McGarry

Hulse Brothers, Hulse & Playfair, Hulse Playfair & McGarry, McGarry Family Chapels - decades of dedicated service to the community and to the Nation - is the evolution of a Canadian institution which has always involved employee ownership along with local family control. Today, the McGarry Family, led by Brian McGarry, is the 100% owner of Hulse, Playfair & McGarry. Under the leadership of Brian, the firm has grown into one of the most recognized funeral and cremation service providers in Canada's Capital Region, serving families from all walks of life. Their greatest strength and most valuable asset is a team of 54 dedicated and licensed funeral directors and support staff. Many of their staff are actively involved in local communities, professional associations and even local government. Hulse Playfair & McGarry are here to offer their services to alleviate the stress of their client families at a very difficult time of life.

A funeral consists of a series of events such as visitation and/or service, and final disposition of human remains. The traditional value of a funeral is to celebrate a life, and to provide an opportunity for family members and friends to share memories and to support each other during a difficult time. Hulse Playfair & McGarry offer flexible service options to meet your needs and budget. Whether you decide to have a public visitation, private gathering, earth burial or cremation, they can design a service package that will satisfy your personal needs.

At last week's luncheon Tom Flood introduced his colleague Patrick McGarry who shared the benefits of pre-arranging your funeral in order to beat the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). Currently the only tax that is applicable to funerals is the 5% GST. Starting July 1, 2010, funerals will be subject to the 13% HST. Patrick told members that the way to avoid paying the additional 8% tax is to make your pre-arrangements now. Individuals who have entered into a contract for funeral services prior to July 1 will be grandfathered and will only have to pay the GST. He explained that the services do not have to be paid in advance, just that the contract must be signed with an intent to pay by midnight on June 30, 2010. This allows people to take care of their pre-arrangements, beat the HST and pay for their arrangements in smaller increments over a longer period of time. Due to the number of people wanting to take advantage of this tax break, Hulse Playfair and McGarry are currently very busy and have had to add extra staff in order to accomodate all their clients.

Patrick also shared with members how the pre-planning process allows an individual to take the burden of having to make arrangements during a difficult emotional time away from an executor and loved ones. The pre-planning process is an easy, one hour, complimentary porcess that can be done either at the Hulse Playfair & McGarry offices or at your home. You do not need to know all the answers in order to begin the process. In fact, most times, the process will provide you with information to discuss with your loved ones.

If you want to know more about Hulse Playfair & McGarry or the pre-planning process then visit their website. If you would like to find out more about pre-planning to avoid the HST please contact Tom Flood at (613) 233-1143 or contact one of their 4 full service locations: Central Chapel (Located in Centretown Ottawa), West Chapel (Located in Ottawa West), St. Laurent Chapel (Located in Ottawa East) and McGarry Memorial Chapel & Cremation Services (Located north of Ottawa).

Luncheon at the Rideau Tennis Club

Thursday, June 10, 2010
Craft Talk Speaker: Michael O'Brien of The Ottawa Citizen
Menu: Chef's Homemade Soup, Baked Maple Infused Trout with a sweet pepper sauce and Apple Pie

Thursday, June 17, 2010
Annual General Meeting
Menu: BBQ

Thursday June 24, 2010 with Thank Yous
Craft Talk Speaker: Stephen Simcox of Power Displays & Exhibits Inc. Menu: Chef's Homemade Soup, Chicken Wellington and Black Forest Cake

Interested in doing a craft talk? Contact Jennifer to arrange a date

July 2010 - Herzing College
Thursday, July 15, 2010 (lunch)

We regretfully say good-bye to the following members:

• M. McGrath Canada (Collection Agency) - Should you wish to contact Brian McQuaid he has asked that you please do so by email only.
• Brigil Construction (Residential Construction)

It's membership renewal time. Have you submitted your payment option form to the Executive Coordinator so that they can send you your invoice? If not, print a form (WORD or PDF) to complete then email it to Jennifer at info@oxa.org or fax it to 613 745-8753.

REMINDER : Nominations - Board Directors
Deadline for submission of nomination forms is June 3, 2010 - 5:00 pm. Click here for details.

If you have member news that you would like to share, please send an email to Jennifer Baker at info@oxa.org.

Members are encouraged to bring along guests, potential members or clients to our weekly luncheons at the Rideau Tennis Club. There is no cost to the member for any potential member attending an OXA luncheon for the first time. Please notify Jennifer Baker, Executive Coordinator at info@oxa.org.