Land of my Fathers

Off to here tomorrow.

Actually, we will be landing at Gatwick.  That's here.

We will visit museums and see the sights and I am sure that at some point I will be standing on the Prime Meridian.  After a week of exploring different places around Southern England we will head here

to visit a cousin I've never met.  While in Wales we will be visiting my father's old haunts.  It promises to be and exciting and emotional trip.

More when I get back.

A night to remember...

Last night was a big night here in Canada.  Our Winter Olympics wrapped up with what may have been the lamest closing ceremonies in history - and yes, I understand the intended parody, but it was parody done poorly.

The highlight for Canada was the overtime win over the USA in Men's Hockey to give Canada 14 Gold medals at these Olympics, the most ever won by a country at a Winter Games.  It was cause for celebration and national pride.

I happened to be in downtown Toronto last night visiting a friend from Vancouver who was staying at the Royal York Hotel for a conference.  We watched the game at his hotel and with about two minutes left in the third period I turned to him and said, "Wow, wouldn't things be more interesting if the USA scored a goal to tie the game and push it to overtime?"  About a minute later that's exactly what happened/

After Canada won in overtime we headed into the streets of Toronto to get something to eat and ran right into an impromptu party on Front Street.  There were high-fives aplenty as we found an eatery to our liking.

It was an exhilarating time to be a Canadian and to be in Canada's largest city with throngs of patriotic (and drunk) fans, but the real highlight for me was reconnecting with a great old friend.

It truly was a night to remember.

Classic Lines

Last week was Heritage Week here in Ontario.  As proud members of of our local Heritage Committee, we celebrated by presenting certificates to those local businesses which have taken some extra effort (and expense) to maintain and restore their heritage properties.

One of the many businesses honoured this week was the Grand Theatre in Fergus.  The theatre received extensive renovations last year with more to come during the summer of 2010.  This theatre will continue to delight audiences for generations to come.

While we were presenting the award, I couldn't help seeing this imposing sight in the lobby:

I walked over and spoke with the woman in the ticket office.  The Grand Theatre went through a few decades as a movie house.  This item sat in the lobby during those years dispensing candy.  Yes, this is a candy machine.

If you click on the images, you should be able to see a lot of the details.

When the theatre reverted to use as a place for live entertainment, folks must have thought that a candy machine had no business being there and it was sold.  Well, according to the lovely woman at the ticket office,  the woman who purchased this machine recently moved into a retirement apartment.  As she was making preparations for the move, she asked the management of the Grand Theatre if they would like to have the machine back.  There was no hesitation - the answer was YES.

I am told the machine - and I don't like to call something so stylish and beautiful a machine, but that's what it is - will be restored and possibly refitted to once again sell candy.  Currently the mechanisms are all set to vend goodies for the low, low price of a handy beaver nickel.