Posted on September 26, 2013 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

                                                           IT’S SHOW TIME

Tonight is our big fundraiser at the Schwartz Auditorium in support of the St. Vincent de Paul. The show gets under way at 7:00 p.m. and will last two hours unless the audience throws us out before then. Please try and get your tickets prior to the show at Brendan’s Fairway, Brosha’s Short Stoppe or The Tall and Small Café.

In addition to the story telling, we will be airing the premiere of Phil’s excellent video ” Antigonish on my Mind” prior to the start of the performance and at the intermission. Unlike TIFF and the Cannes Film Festival, there will be no red carpet appearances from famous people. I know many of you have already seen this video on Facebook but it is much more impressive on the big screens.

Ok.  Just so you know what you’re getting yourselves in for, here’s the format. I will do a short intro thanking sponsors and mentioning a few “housekeeping” items including the location of the washrooms which is an important piece of information for seniors like Phil and I. Phil will lead off with a story and I will follow with one of mine. I’m sure there will be mindless banter between the two of us throughout the evening. Just before the intermission, we will open up the floor to comments or questions.

There will be one 20 minute intermission. We will be providing free coffee, tea and water, courtesy of our corporate sponsors. At this time , members of the St.Vincent de Paul Society will be available should you wish to make a charitable donation. Tax receipts will be provided on the spot.

The second half of the program will follow a similar pattern to the first,  with a little surprise at the end of the evening.

By the way, if you have a strong back and a willingness to help those less fortunate, the St. Vincent de Paul Society is looking for a few able bodied people who might help out with furniture delivery, one of the services that they provide. You can contact Phil about that.

We are both excited and terrified as the clock winds down to show time. We are hoping for a good crowd. As I said to someone the other day, please bring your legion of friends or your friends from the Legion!

See you tonight.

Posted on September 24, 2013 under Storytelling with no comments yet

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …” The Christmas Song by Mel Torme

Our town is blessed with an abundance and variety of trees.  So it comes as no surprise that many streets are named after them, like in so many other towns and cities across the land.  We have Elm, Pine, Chestnut, Spruce Lane, Maple and Hawthorne, just to name a few.

Several years ago, the dreaded Dutch elm disease tore through the area and many of the majestic elms had to be levelled, several of them at the golf course.  I remember this well as there was one particular elm on the fourth hole that seemed to attract my drive like a magnet.  One day I was playing with my father-in-law and sure enough, my drive came to rest at the base of the tree approximately 190 yards from the hole.  I was stymied and there was no possible way of advancing the ball without cutting down the tree.

This hole was a par four.  Passing by, on an adjacent hole, was a friend who commented that getting a birdie on the hole would be challenging to say the least.  As he watched, I took a one stroke penalty for an unplayable lie, dropped the ball and lofted my third shot directly into the hole.  I don’t know who was more shocked.  Later that fall, the maintenance crew levelled the tree.  My father in law gathered up a huge slice of it and presented it to me at Christmas.  I had it made into a small end table and although cracked and worn, like its owner, it remains upright and a conversation piece.

The other day I bumped into a friend who lives on Chestnut Street. He has resided on that lovely, secluded side street for over forty years.  He was telling me that when he and his wife first moved to the street, there wasn’t a chestnut tree to be found, which struck them as odd.  So, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

They did some research and gathered up some chestnuts from a tree situated near the cathedral.  They nurtured and germinated them during the winter months and the following spring, planted seedlings in various locations on their property and the surrounding area.  Voila!  If you drive over to Chestnut Street today, you will find lots of chestnut trees.

The neighborhood kids got to experience the thrill of picking up the chestnuts with their prickly outer coating and turning them into exotic necklaces.

In the ensuing years, their children have taken some of the chestnuts and planted them in far flung locations like Georges River in Cape Breton and as far away as Ottawa and Vancouver.  These trees have taken root and now bear fruit.  Talk about expanding the family tree.

And speaking of family trees, I shook ours the other day and a few nuts fell out.  Unfortunately they weren’t chestnuts.

Posted on September 23, 2013 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

I spent a pleasant morning at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday shamelessly promoting our big fundraiser coming up this  Thursday, Sept.26th. at 7:00 p.m. at the Schwartz Auditorium. I certainly don’t want to create pandemonium by suggesting that we are going to have a sell out , causing you to make a mad dash for tickets. However, in terms of planning for coffee and tea at the intermission, it would be great if we had a good handle on numbers so please try and buy your tickets in advance. In addition to strong advance ticket sales, we have already received one anonymous donation of $1000 from someone who can’t make it to the show but who wanted to support the cause. Phil and I are both getting very excited about the event. Terrified would be another word to describe our feelings.

I was delivering ticket proceeds to the treasurer of St. Vincent de Paul last week. He lives on Chestnut Street. Well, one thing led to another and he told me this story about when he first arrived on the street. At that time, despite the name, there were no chestnut trees on Chestnut Street. So he and his wife took matters into their own hands. If you go there today you will see several chestnut trees adorning their property and those around them. I decided to write a story about this which is titled : A Family Tree. Coming soon.

In addition to my editorial team ( makes me sound important…don’t be fooled ) and the web designing wizardry of Crispin Cornect  ( new website coming soon ), I have added a consultant from Ontario to my growing list of advisors. We are collectively trying to nail down the final pieces to get my book ready for printing in late October. There’s a lot more to this than meets the eye. As it turns out, writing the stories is the easy part. We are going to try and market the book beyond the borders of Antigonish and to do this we need to use every weapon in the arsenal. We will do all of the traditional stuff by having a launch and selling hard copies but we want to be able to sell the book anywhere. To do this we need to use social media and all that that entails. If you are curious about the title, go to my website and check out the tab “My First Book.”

Have a great week and hope to see you at the big event on Thursday.