The Squamidian Report – Dec. 17 / 16
Issue #760
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I don't often think back on when we were kids, I usually prefer not to.
However, this cold snowy blast of winter has reminded me of an activity
my brothers and I used to do. It was our 'big night out'. We would have
ranged from perhaps 8 to 12 years old, give or take and on the most
blustery, miserably cold Saturday nights (meaning evenings) the three
of us would bundle up as best we could and head out into the storm. Our
destination was of all places, the Highway Market way over on what is
now Weber St where that Zehrs plaza has now been for decades. Way, way
back in those days we lived out in the middle of nowhere. The homestead
hasn't moved, its still in the same place. These days its surrounded by
subdivisions and the area is so changed that it may as well be on a
different planet. Anyway, somehow we'd have a few pennies in our
pockets that we'd save for to spend at the Highway Market's snack bar.
Our item of choice was chocolate sundaes. Yes, I know, middle of
winter, bitterly cold and three dumb kids would come tromping in to buy
ice-cream. Seemed perfectly normal to us.
So, we'd bundle up and head over into the field behind what was then
our grandparents place and is now that Baptist church. At the back end
of the field we'd find the fence line and follow it through the swamp
and along the bush, bucking snowdrifts and blowing snow in complete
darkness. The fence would lead us out to the corner of Thaler Ave and
Fergus Ave. From there the walking was easy, compared to stomping a
trail through the fields. Even if the road was impassable for the cars
of that era they were easier going than walking through waist deep snow
and drifts. Once we got to the Highway Market we'd shake ourselves off
and trundle in, heading for the snack bar. Often we'd get some
interesting looks from the 'big city' shoppers doing their Saturday
night grocery shopping and once or twice the store security stopped us
for questioning. They soon realized we didn't have any ill intentions
and that we were just some silly country kids coming in out of the
storm. After indulging in our prized treat we'd head back out, down the
road and into the field where we'd pick up our trail and the fence.
Unless our tracks had become blown back in the walking would have been
somewhat easier on the return lap because we had already broken the
trail. Eventually we'd find ourselves back home again. I have no idea
how long these outings took but it was what we did. No one seemed to
have a problem with it.
Can you imagine today's parents letting their kids wander out like
that? Regardless of time of year or weather, it just wouldn't happen.
And thats too bad. Today's kids miss out on what could be some pretty
cool adventures. Most of those old adventures seem to have been
relatively survivable and face it, way back them parents seemed to have
lots of kids, 'extras' so to speak. Those kinds of adventures build
character and resolve. We certainly couldn't just 'give up' because we
were tired or discouraged or thought we might be somewhat lost. We
learned to just keep on trudging along. And I still like chocolate
sundaes.
We were young then. Now most of us are getting alarmingly old. While
getting old sure beats the alternative I'm not a fan of how 'things'
seem to fall apart and how we can't do the same kind of things we used
to do. Case in point, my joints give me more and more grief as time
goes on. My shoulders are shot and I've just wrenched my left shoulder
again. I'd kept the driveway nice and clear during our foot and a half
of snowfall over the weekend using the blower. Easy to do, no problems
there at all. Much to my disgust and frustration, Squamish doesn't do
anything about people parking on the streets. That makes it impossible
for the snowplow to clear the streets, leaving big messes all over the
place. The jerk that boards or rents or something in the house across
the street from us constantly parks in front of our property even
though 'his' driveway sits empty. A ridiculous number of people around
here park on the streets and leave their driveways empty as a way of
avoiding having to clear said driveways. Anyway, this jerk had parked
with the nose of his car jutting out into the line of our driveway
making backing out difficult and properly clearing the entrance
impossible. That car had sat there for several days and was quite
buried. When he finally moved his car to go somewhere he shoved the
snow that was in-front of and under his car right across our entrance.
I was steaming to say the least. That snow had become wet due to the
salt from the street plow and was now heavy and starting to re-freeze.
We had been out doing some running around and when we got home I
grabbed a shovel and cleaned up his mess. While doing so my shoulder
did some weird thing and I knew it was time to stop. Then that night
while sleeping my arm must have been in a funny position and I must
have rolled over because all of a sudden I was wide awake and it hurt,
big time. I had felt the bone move inside the already shredded rotator
cuff. Been there, done that, and its not very fun.
When I got up Tuesday morning I realized my arm was just kind of
dangling uselessly. It hurt too much when trying to use it to try to
use it. That was a problem because I would be playing up at the gondola
on Wednesday afternoon. First thing I did was see if I could in fact
hold my guitar, and if so, could get the necessary movement out of my
fingers. I found that if I braced my elbow against my ribs I could play
but bar chords were a bit of a problem. However, as things inside my
shoulder settled down I regained a bit of movement and by Tuesday
evening I could at least practice a bit so that meant I wouldn't have
to cancel. If you remember, last Wednesday was cancelled due to those
blasting north winds that made running the gondola lift unsafe. Up we
went about noon on Wednesday. 'The Wife' helped me lift the speakers
onto their stands. There was no way I could have done it myself. Not
that I'd have had to, lots of 'regulars' and employees up there offered
to lend a hand. Got all set up and the playing went just fine. My
shoulder was getting a bit sore by the end, as was my back from having
to adjust my posture but as usual it was a good time, at least for me.
I assume for other as well because I seem to get lots of compliments.
I'm not up there to do a concert, I'm just playing my original music as
well as whatever else I feel like playing as background music. I do
find however that people will grab a coffee or something to munch on
and come sit close by. I don't seem to be driving anyone away. And as
I've said before, it is good for me to push myself. And personally
rewarding.
OK, enough about me. This is the December 17 issue and that means next
week's falls on the 24th. Thats Christmas if you haven't been paying
attention. I know we are all busy this time of year but if any of you
can spare a moment to email in some little story or greeting, please do
so. Greg and I seem to somehow come up with something week after week.
It would be nice to hear from some of you, especially given the time of
year.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Well, we finally got slammed with a decent
snow fall but nothing when compared with the dump that Doug and Sue got
around the same time earlier this week! Judging by the pictures Sue
posted on facebook they got a real hefty load indeed! I hope they won’t
be experiencing that much snow for the rest of their winter. I’m sure
they aren’t used to that kind of continuous snowfall out there. Doug is
usually touting the fact that their winters are so nice and mild but he
has said there are times when they do get a good heavy snowfall and
then it goes away shortly afterwards. Maybe with the global climate
change they will be having a normal Canadian winter like the rest of
our fine country! Good thing Doug has invested in one of those nice
strong TORO snow blowers, this year he may just need to actually put it
to work! LOL! I’m sure he’ll keep us posted as to how much snow they
get this winter and of course how well his TORO takes care of it! Good
luck Doug and don’t forget to have good snow tires on your vehicles.
Every year around this time we are bombarded
with made for television movies that tug at the heartstrings and this
year is no exception. We’ve been watching slushy tear jerking movies
for a few weeks now and there seems to be no end to them this year. The
other day I picked up the iPad and tuned to the RECORD news on line. I
began to read a story from the States with a headline that read “Can
You Help Me Santa?” It was an article about a fellow from Tennessee who
has a natural “Santa length” white beard and he’s been playing Santa
for the past 9 years in his area. He got a call a few weeks ago from a
nurse that knew of his annual Santa gig and she asked if he’d be
willing to do a visit early this year for a little 5 year old boy who
was dying of cancer and was expected to pass away any hour! He went to
the hospital dressed like Santa and agreed to see the little boy. The
little boy had asked to see Santa one more time before he died. As I
read this story I couldn’t help but have the tears flow like Niagara
and I defy anyone to read it from start to end and keep a dry eye! I’ll
paste the story to this week’s Ontarion once I finish this article and
please take a few minutes to read it for yourself. I’m sure you’ll
agree that it’s one of the most heartwarming but sad stories you’ll
ever read!
I’ve related the article to both Carole and
Adam and in attempting to tell them about it, I literally could not
bring myself to complete my telling due to the sadness of the story. It
just simply choked me up too much to go on! After telling Adam of the
opening few lines of the article I stopped and said he’d simply have to
read it for himself rather than depend on me to complete the story
without becoming a mess right there in front of him. He told me that
the was sure he had heard about the story on the news so he already
knew what I was trying to tell him. That’s when I decided to make it
the main subject of this week’s Ontarion. Unfortunately, when I looked
up the article once more to copy it for tonight’s column I found that
the skeptics are at it once again! Some non-believer decided to dig
into the facts of the story because they figured maybe it’s not a true
story. They have decided that because the Santa refused to divulge the
location of the hospital or the name of the family involved that for
some unknown selfish reason he had made the whole story up! Now, the
Santa had indeed stated his real name and a few verifiable facts about
himself that proved to be true when checked by the skeptics! I can’t
for the life of me imagine anyone big hearted enough to have been
playing Santa and thereby bringing joy the hearts of children for the
past nine years that would invent a story such as this for his own
benefit! There is no earthly reason that I can imagine that someone
would do such a mean spirited thing! Therefore, I want to go on record
stating that I believe wholeheartedly that this story is true and that
the gentleman playing Santa in the story is an absolute hero in my
book! I sincerely hope he continues to be Santa for as many years as he
possibly can. He stated that being accused of fabricating the story is
something that he can take much more easily than ever having a little
boy pass away in his arms again! This is a story of love and compassion
and the world needs more people like this gentleman and God Bless Him
for his compassion and integrity!
Please read the following story for yourself and I sincerely hope you will agree with my comments on this amazing news article!
*
U.S. Santa’s story about dying child went viral — but it may not be true
The Knoxville News Sentinel, the original newspaper to report the
story, says it ‘cannot establish’ the accuracy of Eric Schmitt-Matzen’s
account.
Tennessee Santa
Eric Schmitt-Matzen,FACEBOOK
Eric Schmitt-Matzen, a Tennessee Santa Claus, says a terminally ill
5-year-old boy died in his arms after he gave the boy a present at a
hospital last month. Schmitt-Matzen sticks by his story.
Hamilton Spectator
By Sarah Larime
It was the feel-good story of the Christmas season about a feel-bad
situation. It was so feel-good, in fact, that it may have been too good
to check.
The Knoxville News Sentinel said Wednesday it could not verify a
columnist's account of a Tennessee man who plays Santa Claus and his
encounter with a child as he died in his arms.
[ 'Santa, can you help me?' Terminally ill 5-year-old dies in Santa's arms ]
The sentimental story, published earlier this week, quickly went viral,
turning a global spotlight on the man, Eric Schmitt-Matzen, who has
played Santa Claus for nine years.
In interviews with The Washington Post, Schmitt-Matzen stuck by his
story of cradling an unnamed boy as he died last month, telling the
child that he was Santa's "No. 1 elf." He repeatedly declined to
provide corroborating details of his story, in the interest, he said,
of protecting medical personnel and the privacy of the child's family.
In a story posted Wednesday afternoon by News Sentinel editor Jack
McElroy, the paper said it "has done additional investigation in an
attempt to independently verify Schmitt-Matzen's account. This has
proven unsuccessful. Although facts about his background have checked
out, his story of bringing a gift to a dying child remains unverified.
The News Sentinel cannot establish that Schmitt-Matzen's account is
inaccurate, but more importantly, ongoing reporting cannot establish
that it is accurate."
"Therefore," he wrote, "because the story does not meet the newspaper's
standards of verification, we are no longer standing by the veracity of
Schmitt-Matzen's account."
The Post also could not corroborate any details of the story, but its
reporting also did not disprove what Schmitt-Matzen had told the
newspaper in its original story, written by columnist Sam Venable.
Venable, a veteran writer who wrote the story based on an interview
with Schmitt-Matzen, did not return multiple requests for comment.
The newspaper's first story was republished by USA Today and picked up
by multiple news outlets on Tuesday, including CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and
The Post, none of which raised doubts about it. Schmitt-Matzen said he
also received inquiries from news outlets around the world.
Venable learned of Schmitt-Matzen's story through "friends of friends,"
Schmitt-Matzen said in an interview with The Post. He said repeatedly
that he would not disclose details of the incident, including the
hospital at which he said it occurred and the name of the nurse who
summoned him.
He remained emotional about the encounter that he said took place last
month, saying in the Post interview that he most vividly remembers the
child's "pleading eyes ... You know, the little guys, they have a hard
time fathoming death. But they know Christmas. They know it's a lot of
fun. He was more upset about missing Christmas than he was about dying
... The whole concept of dying just doesn't sink in, you know. And
maybe that's a good thing. All I could do was make him smile, (make
him) happy, as best as I could. All he knew was that he was hurting."
Hospitals near Schmitt-Matzen's home and workplace in Jacksboro, in
suburban Knoxville, said they had no record of the events described in
the News Sentinel's column and accompanying videos.
"We know for certain that it did not happen at our hospital," said
Erica Estep, public-relations manager at East Tennessee Children's
Hospital. She said the hospital checked its mortality data for the
entirety of 2016 and had no records of a 5-year-old child dying under
any circumstances.
Jerry Askew, a spokesperson for Tennova Healthcare, a network of local
hospitals, replied to an inquiry by saying: "If you're calling about
the Santa story, I'm sorry, but it didn't happen at our hospitals.
We've received calls from all over the world, but Santa didn't happen
here."
Schmitt-Matzen, a mechanical engineer who heads his own manufacturing company, was unfazed by skepticism about his tale.
"If some people want to call me a liar ... I can handle that better
than I can handle a child in my arms dying," he said. "It's sticks and
stones."
Washington Post
*
That’s all I have for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to GOD!
*
The Original Story:
Devastated Santa recalls boy dying in his arms while making final wish
With his bushy white beard, rosy cheeks and twinkling eyes, Eric
Schmitt-Matzen is known for putting smiles on children's faces as Santa
Claus.
The Tennessee man has brought plenty of joy to kids over the years
while working hundreds of events, but it was a heartbreaking encounter
with a little boy earlier this month that has remained on his mind.
The story, which he recounted to the Knoxville News Sentinel and NBC affiliate WBIR, has since gotten national attention.
"I cried all the way home,” Schmitt-Matzen told the News Sentinel. "I
was crying so hard, I had a tough time seeing good enough to drive."
Weeks ago, Schmitt-Matzen, 60, got a call from a friend who is a nurse
at a local hospital saying a terminally ill 5-year-old boy wanted to
meet Santa Claus, the newspaper reported.
After being told the boy didn't have much time left, Schmitt-Matzen rushed right over without putting on his full outfit.
After meeting the unnamed boy's family, he went into the intensive care unit alone to meet with him.
"'What's this, I hear you're going to be missing Christmas this year?'"
Schmitt-Matzen recalled in an emotional sitdown with WBIR.
"They tell me I'm dying,'' the boy replied.
"Really, well you're not going to miss Christmas! The elves already have your present. We knew you wanted this for a long time."
Schmitt-Matzen then gave the boy a toy from the TV show PAW Patrol.
"I brought it up to him and he could barely unwrap it, so I helped,''
he said. "He saw the PAW Patrol and that put a grin on his face, and he
kind of laid back on the pillow."
Schmitt-Matzen then did his best to comfort the boy. He broke down in tears as he recalled the moment.
"I said, 'Can you do me a favor?' Sure. When you get up to those pearly gates, just tell them you're Santa's number one elf."
"I am?"
"You sure are. I'm sure they'll let you right in."
"They will?"
"They'll just take you up and give you a big hug."
"He just kind of looked up at me and he says, 'Santa can you help me?''' Schmitt-Matzen said. "And that's when he passed."
Schmitt-Matzen then felt the boy go limp.
"I looked back to the window, and that's when the mother started
yelling and screaming,'' he said. "They came running in, I handed them
their son and I took off running, literally. (I was a) basket case for
three days after that."
Schmitt-Matzen, who is a mechanical engineer when he's not playing
Santa, thought about giving up his role as St. Nick after the boy's
death.
But he decided to continue because of the joy it brings to so many
children. According to the News Sentinel, he worked an event shortly
after the boy's death.
"When I saw all those children laughing, it brought me back into the
fold,'' he said. "It made me realize the role I have to play."
****
Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.
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