The Squamidian Report – Aug. 8 / 09
Issue #376
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well, this instance of the bi-annual reunion is now past history. Because of the location and distance to said location we hadn’t pushed all that hard to have people attend. However, there was still a pretty good turnout. I won’t bother to mention everyone who was here simply because if you were here, you already know who was here and if you weren’t, you can always ask someone who was. The main this was, a good time was had by all.
The weather was the biggest challenge with record-breaking heat day after day. However, the people who were here can all say that they experienced those history making record-breaking temperatures. Forest fire smoke also created some problems but it all added to the adventure.
We took Lorne and Vivyan & Ev and Ed to Whistler for breakfast one morning and supplied a motorcycle escort up and back. On the way back we drove up the Callaghan to see the Olympic facilities. We rode the chair lift up to the top of the ski jumps for the tour of the jumping runs and related equipment and structures. They have now stood right on the top of where the ski jumpers will be launching from next February. The views out over the valley and up into the surrounding mountains was what every tourist dreams of even if it was a tad on the hazy side from the smoke from various forest fires.
There was BBQ’s and visiting and homegrown music up at Warren’s and there was BBQ’s and visiting and homegrown music here at our place. A lot of food was eaten and a lot of beverages were drunk. That’s apparently what people do at these kinds of things. We all stayed up a lot later than we would normally do, and we all slept in a lot later than we would normally do. There had been some desire to do some touring up to and north of Pemberton but those areas were closed because of the fire situation so we had to stay fairly close to home or head south along the Sound. But that worked out just fine. We found plenty of things to do and see.
The end came all too quickly. When our guests first got here there seemed to be an endless amount of time and opportunity ahead. Then way too suddenly we were down to a few days left and they clicked by at an alarming speed. Before anyone knew it, it was time to load the luggage back into the vehicles and head to the airport. It is always very hard to watch friends and family (on rare occasions they can be both at the same time) pass through airport security and disappear out of sight for their flight back to their homes and their day-to-day lives. Their flight marks the last stage of the reunion for them. Our drive back up to Squamish marks the last stage of the reunion for us.
The reunion was better than anyone could have asked for. We all met or re-met people we have either never met before or have not seen in years or even decades. Some we will see again in a short time, some in a few months or so and some never. That’s the bitter-sweat reality of reunion type gatherings. Time goes on and life goes on and we all settle back into our daily lives.
At this point in time there are no plans for the next reunion, which would be in the summer of 2011 if it occurs. It is a lot of work to host such an event. With luck some one or group will offer their location as the next destination. We’ve got lots of time to see what opportunities pop up.
Oh, by the way, in case you are wondering why I haven’t posted any pictures, it is because I was so busy during the whole shindig that I didn’t get around to taking any!
And oh, by the way again… my blueberry crop is officially over with and done for the season. It was not a bountiful crop this year due to the lack of rain and abundance of heat but they were good and all those little ankle biter kids that munched on them during the reunion sure weren’t complaining.
doug
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Hello everyone!
So, the Brubacher Reunion is over for this year and
Doug tells me it was a howling success! Congratulations to all of you who were
able to make it to the event in BC. From what we heard in our weather reports,
it was a real HOT affair! Lots of temperature records were set in BC not to
mention a record number of forest fires burning up the mountainsides as well.
On the news tonight they said that many of the fires are close to being what
they call “under control” but are still dangerous and could once again increase
in size if they run into some bad luck weather wise. Let’s hope that the worst
of the fire season is passing now and the big ones will be out real soon. I’m
sure glad that I was a city fire fighter and not a bush whacker in BC! It’s an
altogether different type of fire to fight and so unpredictable that every one
of them behaves differently. I’ll take a good ol’ city fire any day compared to
one in the bush!
*
The folks that landed here in Kitchener after
attending the reunion did so to some very nice weather this week. It’s just too
bad that Mother Nature isn’t going to continue to supply the nice stuff over
the weekend. We’re supposed to have rain Saturday and Sunday so I guess a ride
on the motorcycles or in the MGB (with the top down) is out of the question for
the next couple of days at least. I haven’t been on the bike for almost three
weeks. I tell a lie! I did get to wash it and wax it the other day and rode to
the newest Tim Horton’s in Kitchener for a quick decaf. That was about 10
minutes from my house. It’s located at the corner of Homer Watson and Block
Line Rd and seemed like the usual nice little place to have a coffee and a
chat. I went there with my cousin who has a Harley like Doug’s. We were looking
forward to a nice gab session and a coffee in new surroundings but it turned
out to be a screaming match over the banging and clanging of the metal chairs
on the clay tile floor as one of the employees dragged and slammed the chairs
and tables around to facilitate her sweeping the floor. Whoever designed the
furnishings in the Tim Horton’s stores is brain dead for sure! The least they
could have done was have rubber feet on the legs of the steel chairs so they
wouldn’t be as noisy on the clay tile flooring. One would think that the
employee doing the cleaning would have some consideration for those of us
paying their wages and trying to enjoy a “quiet” coffee in their establishment.
But….. NOOOooooo, she seemed to delight in making more and more noise as she
went about her sweeping. Even after we reacted with a polite look of concern
and slight irritation the first few times she clanged one chair into another
next to our table. It seemed to me that she was listening to our conversation
and made a point of banging the hell out of a chair just as one of us was about
to say something significant to the other. Her timing was impeccable to say the
least. I think when I get finished with this week’s Ontarion I’ll see if I
can’t find an e-mail address for Timmy’s head office and drop them a note about
their noisy chairs. It just might help if they get a few complaints from paying
customers about this inconsiderate and annoying situation. On the other hand,
why would they give a darn anyway, the noise serves to drive out the customers
that have already paid and makes room for the next sucker that enters the
store! Guess you can’t win!
That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking
to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg.
PS: Something To Think About>
Would you be willing to pay a 5cent deposit on your
Tim Horton’s paper cups to help stop people from tossing them on the street? OR
Would that not help at all? Hmmmmm…????
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Have a good one..
the doug
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