Posted on October 26, 2014 under News & Updates with no comments yet

SHOWTIME

PLEASE COME TO THE REV. H.J. MACDONALD SCHOOL IN HEATHERTON THIS EVENING , SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26TH. FOR SOME STORY TELLING,

GREAT MUSIC AND A SILENT AUCTION IN SUPPORT OF THE HEATHERTON DEVELOPMENT, CULTURE AND WELLNESS ASSOCIATION.

AUCTION STARTS AT 6:00 AND THE SHOW BEGINS AT 7:00

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Posted on October 25, 2014 under Storytelling with 2 comments

Witch pumpkin do you like best?

 

 

It’s lurking around the corner, like a ghost or goblin. It’s not like it’s going to leap out of the trees and ambush us.  The Halloween promotional machine geared up in September just shortly after the “Back to School” campaign ended.  Funny thing how retailers give us plenty of warning, as if we’re likely to forget.

We all have vivid memories of dressing up, grabbing a few pillow cases and heading out to gather up a year’s supply of sugar, much of which would be consumed within 48 hours. It wasn’t uncommon to experience the first brush of winter on October 31^st.  Smashed pumpkins and spent firecrackers could be found littering the streets the morning after.

Of course, these days the joyless curmudgeons of political correctness have taken the pleasure out of most celebrations. We can no longer call something what it is.  Instead of Halloween they would have us call it “Black and Orange Day”.

Adult Halloween parties were all the rage for the longest time, but now I would rather watch Mash reruns than to go to a masquerade. Time has a way of taking the adventure out of us.  However, I can point to one memorable Halloween night with absolute clarity.

Just about 40 years ago, six freshly minted St. F. X. education graduates ended up teaching in the Peace River area of Alberta, five of us in the same school. Think about this for a moment and ponder these words: culture clash.  If five X grads showed up in Dominion or Louisburg, it would hardly be startling news.   We would fit into the fabric of the community within a day or two, once we were able to answer the question; “What’s your father’s name?”

The community of Fairview, Alberta is populated by the most hard working, kind-hearted and pleasant folks on earth. Many of them are of German and Ukrainian heritage.  Let’s just say that in the early 70’s they hadn’t had a lot of exposure to the bagpipes, fiddles or the notion of a ceilidh.  The children who attended the P-12 school weren’t accustomed to their teachers playing their guitars and singing Bob Dylan tunes in the hallway during lunch hour.

You get the picture.

The kids adapted quickly but the adults, especially our fellow teachers, were constantly in head scratching mode, wondering what we would do next.

And so, along came Halloween and with it, the annual staff masquerade party at the school. The “Wise Men from The East”, as we became to be known, went into deep planning mode the week before the party.  I am almost certain that some rum was consumed … just to give us inspiration.  We brainstormed and decided that we would stay true to our roots.  We would go to the masquerade as a six-pack of beer; Schooner, to be precise.

We assembled the materials, including a packing box that once housed a freezer and cans of blue and white paint. (Go X Go!). We cut six holes in the top of the box.  We painstakingly recreated a perfect replica of the Schooner logo.  We purchased six pairs of brown tights, six brown turtle neck sweaters and secured six dusty blue surgical caps from the local hospital.

We hadn’t thought much about the logistics of getting the six-pack to the school. After consuming a few local beers to clear our minds, we took our positions inside the box with our blue capped heads poking out the top and headed off on foot, through town.  The box was too wide for the sidewalk so we ended up walking right down the middle of Main Street.  The locals were confused and somewhat puzzled.

We arrived at the school and gained entry through the gymnasium doors singing “Farewell to Nova Scotia” in glorious harmony.

And so I present my case; Halloween forever!

Posted on October 23, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Take a hike, Mac!

 

 

I was really desperate for a picture to go with today’s post so I went right to the bottom of the barrel and found this one. It was taken on the Cape George hiking trails awhile ago. Expect some different pictures shortly as Betty and I sojourn south, by car, for a vacation.

Yesterday’s events in Ottawa are very sobering for all of us. We all know that the world changed radically after 9-11 and terrorism has now found our shores. We all pause to reflect on lives lost and the loss of innocence.

Someone asked me the other day if I ever considered writing something more serious, with a bit more heft, as it were. I could,  and I have,  but choose not to. There are enough bad things to write about. Hopefully, the appeal to my stories is that I look on the brighter side of things, or at least find the humour in everyday life.

We all know ( unfortunately ) , that Nova Scotia’s greatest export is people. We have been sending our best and brightest abroad for a very long time. While we think the mass exodus to the oil patch is unprecedented, it is just another part of a cycle. I haven’t done an exhaustive study on this but I think the export of teachers would rival that of pipefitters and welders. I was mulling this over the other day after writing the story about my first paid day of substitute teaching. ( you liked that one, BTW ).

I decided to expand upon that theme and have just finished a new story about Maritime teachers plying their trade in other parts of the country. Let’s just say that teachers from the Maritimes are a spirited lot and have occasionally found themselves in some unusual circumstances. In “ Trouble in Paradise,” there are two teacher “incidents” that have come under the microscope. This story will appear in The Casket next Wednesday and also on my website.

My Halloween story is scheduled to be published this coming Saturday. It is called, “ The Case For Halloween.” As mentioned in an earlier post, the “joyless curmudgeons of political correctness” have tried to remove as much fun as humanly possible by calling this “orange and black day.” And don’t even get me started on Christmas. If I go sideways one of these days and start calling it something weird, please feel free to march me down to the lagoon at the end of Main Street and toss me in.

Three “never heard before stories” will be launched at the fundraiser in Heatherton on Sunday. Ticket sales are very good. Hope you can make it. I still have a few to sell so give me a shout .

Have a great weekend.