Valdy and I

Last night was the kick off concert for the 53rd annual Port Sydney Winter Carnival.
Concert night at the Community Centre. This intimate venue sat about 100 people and pizza and beer were for sale.
The show started with a set by Tina Turley. She was follow by Linda Mclean. I had seen both performers before at the Empire Hotel benefit. They were pumped and put on a great show for the hometown crowd.
The headliner was Valdy. I had an opportunity to talk to him before the set….we had a chat about the Carcross Community School. I do recall hearing a story about Valdy being at the school in ’75. There is a photo of him playing on the front steps. We talked about the Yukon and he reminisced about Geroge Stokes and, of course, “dear Rosemary”. His voice is still great and he entertained the crowd with some wonderful stories.

Valdy, John Switzer, Linda Mclean and Tina Turley.

He now lives on Salt Spring island…as well as Rose. I asked him if he know Libby Barlow. He didn’t know she was also at the Community School but Libby is his wife’s chiropractor! He is on his way to the Yukon next week to play a fundraiser for the Yukon Quest dog sled race.

When Linda Maclean introduced her band, I recognize the name of the bass player…. John Switzer. I spoke with him at intermission. His dad and mine went to University together. I recall he started his career playing with Jane Sibery. (now known as Issa)

And it is a small world…you see Jane Sibery real name is Jane Stewart and she grew up in my neighbourhood.

Take a Seat

Two nights with week, we took our annual trip to Huntsville to see the Banff Mountain Film Festival tour.
Two night of wonderful films…adventure base docs. Skiing, climbing, kayaking and such.
The first night we saw a wonderful film entitled “Finding Farley”. This isn’t a story about the Dawson’s dog but story of one family tour of most of Canada by canoe to visit Farley Mowat.

My favorite, by far, was a biking movie. It was the story of a biker named Dominic Gill and his ride from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to the most southern tip of Argentina. … a little 29,000 km bikes ride. The difference here from most biking tours is that he rode a tandem bike…a 2 seater…and pick up volunteers along the way to help him ride. In fact, over the 18 months it took to complete this ride, he had over 260 “helpers” ride with him. (maybe I should have rode a tandem on the Dempster)

A fun flick…well worth catching. Check out the Banff Mountain Film site to see if the tour is coming close to you. Also check out the ride on Dominic’s website at http://www.takeaseat.org/ Lots of good information and photos too.
I stole this photo from the site….hope you don’t mind, Dom.

Ontario Winter Games Cross Country

When it comes to Cross Country Skiing….television wins. This sport use to be about long distance classic skiing. Pretty tough to follow with TV. The new and sexy skiing is skate sprints…800 meters races of skier directly skiing against other skiers. Fast, thrilling…roller derby on skis.

This past weekend was the Cross Country skiing events for the Ontario Winter Games. The Games do really take place until March but the first week in March is the National Championships in Whitehorse so the skiing was moved up to January.

I volunteered as a starter. There were over 100 participants from throughout the Province. Serious competition for sure. All skiers race individually against the clock to establish their place in the heats. Once done, skiers are grouped into a race of six. The faster to advance to the next round.

As a starter, I get to talk to all the kids…briefly anyway. One guy comes up to the line and I notice he is from Thunder Bay and his last name is Pendziwol. I ask him if he has an aunt in the Yukon and low and behold…he does. Small world, Donna!

Next weekend is the Muskoka Loppet. We sure could use some fresh snow!

lazy post....

I have a few ideas I need to put to blog...but am all tied up with stuff and seem to have little time to write these days....so, how about a photo of Grandma and the grandkids...