Monday Morning Musings

Posted on July 27, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

Join me for some tunes and stories

 

 

Here I go, shamelessly promoting an upcoming gig at the Visitor Information Centre. As mentioned in a previous post, I hadn’t been to the VIC for years ( decades? ) until recently , after sharing a table with them at Saltscapes. It is one of the best kept secrets in Antigonish. The centre is staffed by knowledgeable and pleasant people who are wonderful ambassadors for our community. I am going to put on a show on Monday, August 3^rd. at 2:00 p.m. to help shed a light on the VIC. Grab a chair and join me and some of my friends for some music and a bit of story telling. I am lining up the musicians and am hoping to have a few of my musical children as guests… and a few other surprises. There will be refreshments.

And speaking of events, the Antigonish Art Fair moved indoors last Friday with the prospects of inclement weather ( snow?! ). The event was held at the Market Square ( the rebranding of the Mall ) and a large crowd enjoyed an evening of art, music and food. There was a stellar lineup of performers on stage including the irrepressible Sunshine Sue who is one of the best children’s entertainers you will ever meet. Here’s a name to watch out for: Clifton Pettipas. He was the last performer of the night and it was unfortunate that most of the crowd had disbursed. He is an amazing young talent who has a great voice and can handle a guitar with the best of them. We’ll definitely bring him back for an encore performance.

Upcoming stories….

“Michael’s Mitts” is the story of Michael MacDonald of Red Islands, just up the road from Johnstown in Cape Breton. The central theme of the story is his rather large hands and what he had used them for. One of my favorite passages in the story is about his time in Toronto, training in the same gym as the legendary heavyweight, George Chuvalo. When I asked him if he ever entered the ring with Chuvalo , he replied,” No. And that’s why I’m still alive today.” Michael has a keen sense of humor and we shared many laughs during a two hour lunch. You will meet “Johnny Rye” and “Neily John the Widow “ when the story is published. Stay tuned.

Coming up this week is the amazing story of Pat Evans, a “glass half full” kind of gal. She lives in George’s River, Cape Breton along with her dog, Abbey. Pat requires 24/7 care after she became a quadriplegic thirteen years ago when she hit a moose on her way to work. This is a great story and should be required reading for everyone. ( Not because I am the author but because of the content! ). Pat has agreed to come to Antigonish this fall to do a talk at the library. “Positively Pat” will appear in a few days at Week45.

What if you opened up a storage bin and found a human being inside? ( alive! ). This is one of the many interesting tidbits to be found in my story about The Opportunity Shop. “When Opportunity Knocks” is the story of an amazing small business that has been around these parts for over 60 years. Besides providing good usable clothing and household items, the Op Shop uses its profits for the betterment of the community. It is an interesting story and will appear in next week’s Casket and on my website.

“Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.”

Have a great week.

P.S. Did any of you catch the special on CNN about the 1970’s? They did a whole segment on television programming. If you are under 60 , the Saturday evening lineup of shows on CBS back in the mid 70’s won’t mean much but for us old farts, these were some of the best shows ever:

8:00 – All in the Family

8:30 – Mash

9:00 – Mary Tyler Moore

9:30 – Newhart

10:00 – Carol Burnett

If you can get a podcast of this , it will bring back a flood of memories.