The Squamidian
Report – May 29 / 10
Issue # 418
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
We had a rather pleasant yet unexpected dinner last Sunday. Warren
often joins us on Sundays for dinner and then some jamming. This time
however, he brought the meat. Yup, he had been out fishing and had
caught some rather nice trout, one of which he claims was the
‘granddaddy’ of all the trout in the small lake he had fished. He had
them all cleaned and ready for the BBQ when he got here and all we had
to do was sit back and enjoy. Which we did. Then we played some music
in honor of said trout and that was our evening.
You know how I’ve been complaining about how cold it has been out this
way, well as cold and dreary as it has been I would not trade it for
that hot humid stuff the people back east have had to put up with. I’ll
take overcast and +12 anytime over a smoggy humid +30. In fact that is
why we moved here, to get away from that sticky hot stuff. So when you
hear me bellyaching about our cold spring it’s more for something to
write about than an actual complaint.
But while I’m on the subject let me give an example of how abnormal our
spring is on the coast this year. Normally by this time of year the
local strawberries are being harvested and are in the stores and
markets. This year however, they are still mostly in the blossom stage
and the only berries showing are little green hard things must wait for
that very illusive sun to warm and ripen them. And until a few days ago
they were still having driving problems over some of the mountain
passes due to never ending snowfalls clogging the highways. However, at
some point this will all clear out or move on to the east and we will
be able to stop wearing our snuggies every time we go out for a
motorcycle ride.
And speaking of motorcycle rides, I met an interesting guy last
weekend. He is the road captain for the Ottawa chapter of the Canadian
Motorcycle Cruisers but he is currently working in Arizona and was up
in Vancouver on business. He had posted on the CMC website that he was
interested in renting a bike and going for a day-ride if anyone wanted
to hook up and join him. Not one single member of the Vancouver chapter
replied to his post so I contacted him and told him I’d be happy to go
riding. Right up until Saturday morning the weather did not look good
(big surprise there) but at the last minute it cleared out a bit (even
bigger surprise). We met in Horseshoe Bay where we had breakfast
together and then rode on up to Squamish with the intention of going on
up to
Whistler. By then however the clouds had reassembled into a dull
overcast and we could feel a bit of spitting in the air so he headed
back to the city and I headed home.
Had the weather been a bit less stingy with the few hours of non-rain
we might have had a pretty nice day of riding. As it was we both made a
new friend with biking as our common interest. Probably never see the
guy again but that’s life.
doug
****
THE ONTARION
REPORT
Hello everyone!
Doug and I agree that the most interesting and inspiring columns we
write are ones that recall times when we were kids or at least ones
that take us all back to an earlier time in our lives. With this in
mind, I read an interesting column in the RECORD paper the other night
that brought back a flood of childhood memories. The writer of the
column included a picture of the old food booth or “French Fry” shack
that stood at the north end of the foot bridge that crosses from the
mainland of Victoria Park in downtown Kitchener to the island in the
park lake. I remember this booth very well and the picture of it really
took me back to the hot summer days we spent in the park just watching
the ducks and playing on the old cannon on the island while our parents
listened to the weekend concert taking place in the band shell on the
island. The cannon was a lot of fun to play on but most of all the
French fries that I can still smell and taste when I think back in time
are foremost in my memory. They came in a paper cup the shape of a snow
cone cup and the grease soaked through the paper onto your hand before
you had them half eaten. They were incredible tasting and you had a
choice of either regular or malt vinegar to top them off. Loads of salt
were sprinkled on the fries to give them a bight and of course to make
you thirst for the drinks they also sold at the booth.
Nowadays when you order fries from our modern restaurants they expect
you to pick them out of the container with your fingers to eat them. At
least back when we were kids in the 50’s and 60’s they had some class
and supplied us with a wooden two-pronged fork to stick the fries with.
I guess there are still some establishments that have the forks
available but not many. Back in those days I can remember the steel
barrels in the park that were put out as depositories for empty food
containers. I can remember them filled to the brim with a little bit of
overflow surrounding them on the ground but for the most part, there
was very little litter. Most people were courteous enough not to litter
and also to teach their children to show respect for their surroundings
and put garbage where it belonged, in the garbage cans!
Victoria Park was one of the fun places we had in Kitchener to visit
with our parents. When we got older as teenagers we discovered the
Boathouse that rented canoes by the hour. We spent many a summer
afternoon in the park canoeing around the island for a couple of
dollars per hour. I remember canoeing one afternoon with some high
school buddies and the four of us would race around the island. We’d
start at the “loud speaker” pole in the middle of the lake and go
around the island and back to the pole. The first canoe back of course
was the winner and had to buy the fries at the old booth on shore. On
this particular afternoon we got a little rambunctious and took to
splashing each other with the paddles. Of course the water even back
then was terribly dirty and polluted with the excrement of all the
ducks and geese that lived in the park, so it was quite an unpleasant
experience to be on the receiving end of a hearty splash. I remember
the boathouse attendant warning us that they didn’t allow any horseplay
in the boats and that we’d be banned from returning if he caught us
breaking the rules.
On this particular afternoon we were pretty much even with the two guys
in the other canoe when it came to who splashed whom the most. My
friend Danny Buss was in the bow of our canoe as we rounded the
backside of the island. He knew we were out of sight from the “Canoe
Warden” and asked me to paddle quietly up to the stern of our buddies’
canoe. They had a green one and we had a red one and of course the red
ones were always the best! LOL! I did what he asked and we sneaked up
behind them like a shoeless Ninja. As we got nose to tail with their
canoe, he reached out and grabbed the point of their stern with one
hand and the rear edge of the craft with the other and gave it a hard
twist immediately dumping them overboard into the mucky water and gooey
sludge that was the bottom of the lake bed! LOL! Hahahahahaha……… We
laughed like crazy as we paddled like Olympic “Gold medal” kayakers to
get out of range of their retaliatory splashing and mud slinging. We
managed to get away without any damage and headed back to the boathouse
to turn our canoe in before they got back.
When they arrived at the dock the attendant asked them what happened
and to avoid the $2.00 fine and the suspension of canoeing privileges
they simply told him that they had just lost their balance and fell
overboard. He accepted their explanation. Of course we were laughing
our behinds off from outside the boathouse as we waited for them to
exit the street side of the building. They were quite ticked off at us
of course but in the end we all had a great laugh over the days
activities. To show we were still friends, Danny and I paid for the
French fries and pop for the other guys at the old booth just down the
way from the boathouse. The old Fry booth was torn down in the mid 70’s
and they never replaced it. Now, the boathouse is still there and it’s
called of course “The Boathouse” but it’s a restaurant and music venue
where they have live entertainment a couple of times a week. They no
longer rent canoes and the park lake is still there but it’s in worse
shape pollution wise than ever! The city council has agreed to spend
$13 million of our hard earned tax dollars to drain and dredge the lake
to freshen it up. I guess they wanted to do it in another 5 years or so
but the citizens that live around the lake put up a stink to match that
of the lake water and managed to talk council into doing the clean up
over the next two years I believe it is. Looks like our taxes will be
taking a hit to increase once more with the lake project moved up on
the schedule! I can’t say I blame the local residents when I know first
hand how stinky and polluted that lake truly is. It’s still a beautiful
park and should be kept in clean condition for all to enjoy so I hope
the city gets off it duff and has the work done promptly. They’ve
already committed the funds so it’s just a matter of getting at it now!
I hope they bring back the canoe rentals once the new lake is completed!
I’ve attached the picture of the old “French Fry” shack so Doug can
post it for all to see. Even if you never or very seldom visited that
park I’m sure you can at least appreciate the nostalgia of this photo
and maybe it’ll bring back some memories of your early years!
I have one more tidbit about this park island that I’d like to include
before I close this weeks Ontarion. I sent the article about the old
Fry Shack to Doug to see if he had ever eaten at it or even frequented
the park in his youth and he sent me back a story that I’d like to
include for your reading pleasure. Hope you get a chuckle out of it
too! Here it is!
“Never went there. Didn't even know it existed. My first exposure to
Victoria Park was when I was 'going out' with the future wife and got
dragged to the park to walk around and do dumb park stuff. Then in the
early '90s I did the excavation work for the re-lighting of that
Island. I've driven trucks and equipment over that bridge. Kind of a
funny story to that job. The design engineers came up with a layout for
new light posts. We had to remove all the old ones and then put in the
new ones and run the underground wiring. The design called for a LOT of
light posts. When the job was done and the island all cleaned up the
city had a little ceremony one evening as the dignitaries threw the
switch to light up the island. Well, there were so many light posts and
lights that it looked like a birthday cake for a centurion. Not our
fault or the fault of the electrical company but the fault of the
designer. Anyway, we had to go back and remove every second light post,
at taxpayer expense of course.”
It was a lot of wasted work and money but good for a laugh at the time.
The Doug.
That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again
next time in The Ontarion Report!
Here’s mud in yer eye! LOL!
Bye for now….. Greg.
PS: Something To Think About>
“When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile!”
****
Have a good one..
the doug
http://www.thedougsite.net
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons
writing them and should be respected as such.
