Issue #943
Including:

From Russ
The Ontarion

Hi All,

Well, this week I have almost nothing to talk about. It’s been stressful on way too many levels that I don’t really want to go into. So, I will talk about almost nothing except for a tree in Horseshoe Bay that has 7 heron nests in it. These are the Pacific Great Blue Herons.

The tree is a big fir over near the ferry terminal, with lots of dense branches for the big fish eating birds to build their nest on. It’s like a condo for herons. Earlier in the spring each nest had at least 4 hatchlings. That number has gone down a bit as the seagulls made off with a few chicks before they got big enough that the gulls could not carry them away. Then some eagles took a few more. The herons are not ‘fighting’ birds and could only stand by and watch. They could put up a loud racket in protest but were helpless to stop the predators.

All the remaining chicks are big enough now to not be bothered by the gulls and the eagles seem to have moved on. What does happen now is that when the adults return from fishing with their gullets full of fish, the gulls congregate around the nesting tree in hopes that a fish or two will be dropped. All the while, the gulls are squawking and the herons are squawking and the noise level is quite remarkable. One last word would be to suggest standing under the nesting tree would not be a very good idea. Massive amounts of droppings from fish eating birds is something less than desirable.

And that’s all I have to talk about this week.

doug

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From Russ

GIANT HOGWEED (Continued)

The Weather Network had another short bit on the Giant Hogweed earlier this week, you may have seen it – I didn’t. I tuned in at the end where they were showing a great photo of the plant and warning people to stay clear and report the sighting to Conservation Halton. I went on that website and found it to be very helpful in recognizing the plant at various stages of it’s growth.

I want to thank Beth, Gary, and Doug for their valuable input/personal experience with this dangerous weed. There is quite a lot of interest in the giant weed, and everything I’ve read about it stresses caution in trying to destroy the plant even when you find it on your own property. Ontario’s Invading Species Awareness Program is another valuable source of information which I referenced during my research.

HEALTH CONCERNS

The clear, watery sap contains toxins that can cause severe dermatitis. You can get painful burns if you get sap on your skin and then the skin is exposed to sunlight. Symptoms occur within 48 hours and consist of painful blisters. (Just ask Doug). When the blisters finally heal, purplish scars may form that last for many years. Just don’t get the sap in your eyes, If you value your eyesight.

PREVENTION

Do not touch, trade, or grow hogweed in your garden. Only buy native or non-invasive garden plants. When you transport soil, sand, or gravel make sure it is free of giant hogweed – both plant parts and seeds.

PS. That’s the warning we’re given, but unless your are familiar with the plant and it’s seeds – how can you abide?

REMOVAL

Hire a professional exterminator to remove it from your own property. PERIOD! If you see it growing in parks or other city property, you may call the municipality (as Beth did), and they will come and remove it.

By law it must be destroyed. Weed Control Act RSO 1990. “Giant Hogweed must be killed immediately upon knowledge of it’s growth; if not done so by the property owner the Township will bring the property into compliance at the expense of the owner.”

There is an Invading Species Hotline you may call @ 1-800-563-7711 or visit EDDMapS Ontario to report a sighting. You will be asked to send photos for identification. DO NOT COLLECT PARTS of the PLANT for ID.

SIMILAR SPECIES

There are a number of plants that look very similar to g/h such as cow parsnips, Purplestem Angelica, Woodland Angelica, valerian, lovage, and queen annes-lace (also known as wild carrot)

Note: of all the above mentioned, I’m familiar with only the latter.

PS. We are fortunate/unfortunate to have g/h growing at the mouth of Pine River just a few blocks north of me. It’s been reported and destroyed many times and yet the stubborn giant faithfully comes up around the same area each year!

PPS. Last week we asked the question: “Who is Betty Grable?”. We said, “Ask Clark Gable”. You young ones won’t know Betty or Clark, but Betty was a “pin-up girl” for soldiers overseas during WW2– nicest legs in Hollywood. She could sing and dance as well as act. She dated Clark Gable, who had the “biggest ears” in Hollywood, and he’s “Gone With the Wind”, but married Harry James, a band leader at the time, who “blew a mean trumpet”. We were all jealous of Harry ‘cause Betty Grable was “our heart-throb” too!

PPPS. And if you ask me what’s this got to do with the Giant Hogwood, I’ll answer, “Absolutely nothing”.

Uncle Russ is losing it.
I enjoy a good laugh!)

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

It’s been one heck of a week for us here in Forest Heights! With the weather being terribly hot it was a dickens of a week for have the work done on the house that was planned. The Roofing guys showed up at 7am on Monday and took delivery of all the supplies needed to do the roof replacement. They unloaded their tools and ladders etc and then about a half hour later the truck showed up with the load of about 5 skids of shingles and other supplies. The two guys on the truck started to unload the bundles of shingles onto the peak of the roof so the job could begin and suddenly the conveyer on the truck jammed and would not allow them to send the shingle bundles up to the roof. They fooled around for about an hour trying to fix the conveyer and even called a mechanic from their company to come and help fix the machine. He worked for another hour and thought he had it fixed but it failed again almost immediately. So, they had to drive back to their supplier and switch trucks and move the load from one truck to the other and drive back here again! Once this was done, the work could begin! I of course was watching the action from the driveway from start to finish each day. After spending the morning weeding the gardens out back and also weeding the area between our house and the neighbour’s I was already totally pooped out so standing all day and taking pictures of what the roofers were doing and of course picking up roofing nails and other garbage that dropped from the roof also took what little energy I had left!

There was also a large steel garbage box dropped onto half our driveway to catch the old shingles etc that the roofers tossed off the roof as they went along. Of course they missed the dump box with half the old shingles etc that they tossed off the roof so I was kept busy bending over to pick up the scraps and putting them into the bin! At my age and physical condition this was quite a taxing chore. I did this for the following two days as well and at the end of the third day, I was so sore that I could hardly move let alone walk or climb a set of stairs to go up to bed at the end of the day. Even a day later, I’m still stiff as a poker and having trouble moving around. Hopefully I’ll loosen up by tomorrow (Friday) and feel a lot better! During the strain and work of watching and picking up their missed material I of course had to do many other house duties! I’m at the point where I’m realizing that I’m getting too old for this shit and have to take things easier in the future! LOL! Pardon my language please! It took the roofers until Wednesday to finish the job and then I helped them fold up their tarps and clean up around the house so they could pack their stuff and leave a clean property behind after I had paid them and things were finished! I must say, they did a wonderful job on the new roof and were quite diligent about keeping the area around the house clean as they worked! I’d recommend them to anybody needing a new roof on their house! The name of the company is Albert’s Above All roofing if anyone of you needs a new roof, please don’t hesitate to call me for the reference!

During the three days, I got to talking to Albert quite a bit and as it turned out, he mentioned his boyhood best friend by name and wouldn’t you know, his best friend’s older brother by two years was my best friend when I lived on Floyd St! There were three brothers that lived on the corner of Floyd St and Guelph St. Their name was Seifried, my best friend was Bruce Seifried and Albert’s best friend was his younger brother Brian. There was also a third brother by the name of Ron Seifried! What a small world this is when you think of it! Bruce has passed away but Brian and Ron are still in the KW area somewhere! Maybe I’ll take some time and look them up now that I’m thinking of them again! It’s always interesting to look up old acquaintances!

Albert and I had a good old gab about the adventures we experienced in our teen years in the North Ward of Kitchener! Albert actually lived in an apartment above the Station Hotel with his family on the corner of Victoria and Weber St. by the Kitchener Train Station. His father was the manager of that hotel’s main floor pub called The Casimia Room! I had a few beers in that room as a teenager in my time! It was quite a dive of a hotel but the beer was cold and the place was handy to my home on Floyd St! Albert also mentioned that his uncle owned and ran The United Cigar Store that was located on King St right where the Kitchener City Hall patio is located today! Oddly enough, I spent a good portion of my childhood in that Cigar Store! My Grandpa Hoy (my mother’s father) Used to take me along with him on the King St Trolley. He and my Grandma Hoy lived on Spruce St in Waterloo and the trolley turn around used to be only a block away from there at the corner of University and King Sts! We’d hop the trolley at the turn around and ride it to the United Cigar Store on King and then we’d enter the Cigar Store where I’d sit on a stool and watch the fellows play pool while my Grandpa would place bets on the Horse Races at Woodbine with Albert’s uncle who was not only the owner of the Cigar Store but was also the local bookie! It was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon! While I was spending time there with Grandpa Hoy, I’d go up stairs beside the entrance to the Cigar Store to the Strand Bowling Alley! Where, I managed to get one of my first jobs as a “Pin Boy” for a couple of hours each Saturday while Grandpa made a little money betting on the ponies I’d make a couple of dollars setting up pins for the bowlers up in The Strand. Then when it was about 4pm, I’d head back down stairs to meet Grandpa and we’d hop the trolley back to Waterloo where we’d meet up with my mum and dad for a supper at Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Spruce St! Such great memories this life created! I’m just happy that I can still remember many of these happenings to be able to repeat and relay them to others, weather they want to listen to them or not doesn’t really matter it’s just fun for me to be able to relate to my past this way!

Once again, it’s fun to run into someone like Albert that has similar memories and friends from my childhood area that we have that in common and it stirs up good conversations and good old memories! Speaking of The Station Hotel, I’m sure Uncle Russ will remember and have some thoughts of that place from his days and years as a Kitchener Policeman! Any thoughts on this Uncle Russ?

That’s about all for this week folks!

Thanks for tuning in and I hope you all enjoyed my walk down Memory Lane as much as I did bringing it to you in my Ontarion!

I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now … Greg

PS: Something To Think About>

If any of you have memories of your youth in Kitchener, don’t be shy, put them into words and send them to Doug so we can all enjoy your memories along with you!

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