Chester Band Concert

The invitation from Paul, a Parish friend, went something like this: the Chester Brass Band and South Shore Chorale are staging a fund-raising concert in the middle of June. Would you like to be the announcer for the event?
Of course, I was intrigued ... and flattered, because it was several years since I had done any announcing besides liturgical readings. We discussed the date and time, the locale (St. Stephen's Anglican Church), and accessibility.
I thought it would be an interesting experience, so I accepted.
It turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable event!

The rehearsal was held six days before the show, in the Band's Hall, which required my getting help to negotiate two outdoor steps. When I arrived, the Band members, squeezed into a small room, were all ready.
I then met the conductor, Cdr. (Ret.) George Morrison, B.Mus, CD, former Supervisor of Music for the Canadian Armed Forces.

Learning to Drive

The month of June for most families is the time of many transitions.
High school graduations, weddings and many other life-altering events take place in June.
For me, it was also the month I got my drivers license!
Many folks may have forgotten a lot of details about their lives, but they can usually remember when they got this prized document.
In June, 1962, I turned 16 while completing Grade 11.
My folks had scraped together enough money to buy a new car, my Mom had learned to drive, and I was given the chance to prepare my skills to get my license.

(Photo: 1962 Corvair; classiccars.com)
Not wanting to waste any time, I got a copy of the latest Driver's Manual from the Department of Highways in late Winter /early Spring, and, I must have practically memorized its contents.
Even today, FIFTY-ONE YEARS LATER,

"We Did It!"

The newspaper headline said it all Monday morning.
The Halifax Mooseheads, led by top prospect Nathan MacKinnon's hat trick, won the Memorial Cup on Sunday night, and earned their first national junior hockey championship.

MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin score 5 points each en route to a Mooseheads victory over the Portland Winterhawks. Top NHL prospect MacKinnon had a hat trick, including a title-clinching goal into an empty net, and Drouin had a five-assist performance as Halifax held off a late Portland rally, to defeat the Winterhawks 6-4 in the final.
Leading 5-2 with under six minutes to go, the Mooseheads

"Look Up, Look Waaayy Up"

-- If you watched CBC Television, Dear Reader, from 1958 to 1985 (and later), you know this phrase well.
The Friendly Giant was a daily 15-minute children's show, featuring Robert Homme (pronounced "hummy") as ‘Friendly,’ and Rod Coneybeare (the voice and manipulator of puppets Rusty the Rooster and Jerome the Giraffe).
(Photo: www.cs.umd.edu)
Each episode began with a soft-spoken narration, with the camera trucking left on a toy town, and then approaching ‘the boot;’ we had to “Look up, look waaayy up," to the head of the ‘giant.’
-- We are going to have fun, Dear Reader, by reciting portions of the regular script together!
For a treat, check out this opening & closing of a show from 1979.
Here we go: "We're on our way to the castle; I'll hurry over first and go in the back door,

48 Hours

The term, 'blog' (a contraction of, ‘web log’) was coined when people listed and discussed daily events in an essay format in the Internet. Of course, folks have been keeping logs for centuries; my Dad, a retired mariner, always kept a weather log (which was essential if you were tending the wheel of the steamship or sailboat).
A mariner ALWAYS has to know the weather, and my dad was an expert in reading instruments, especially the barometer.
I offer this introduction here, because I am going to discuss some of the various events during my 48 hours this past weekend.
The fun began at about 2 p.m. on Saturday, when I plan to post a new article on our parish website.
I could read the dreaded: ‘Forbidden: 403 error' message, meaning that I was denied access to the website.
When I contacted the site 'Super Administrator,' she explained that our site had been 'hacked' and

The Funnies - 3 - 'Good Grief'

One of the ‘Funnies’ that I was introduced to later on in life was called, ‘Peanuts.’
Much has been written about this comic strip (including many doctoral theses!), which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, and which also later became as set of vastly-popular prime time TV specials, which are still being shown today.
The major event of 1965 that began my admiration for the strip was opening my roommate's ‘Ottawa Citizen,’ and then to have both of us chuckle, giggle and even guffaw to the antics of the characters.
You may have guessed, Dear Reader, that the local newspapers did not carry the strip.
Here are some of the ‘Li'l Folks’ (BTW, the original name of the strip created and drawn by the venerable Charles M. Schultz):
-- Good Old Charlie Brown: the loveable perennial anti-hero, who dreamt of hitting that game-winning home run (but usually struck out); who could never get his pitch to home plate without a formidable, earthquake hit by the opposition batter;

Donations

Sometimes, life can bring pleasant surprises.
One evening last week, while we digested supper by watching TV, the doorbell rang, and my wife went to answer.
Two young girls, one in grade 2 and one in grade 1 at the local elementary school, were standing there (with Mom in the background), asking for a donation to 'Muscular Dystrophy.'
I recall that when folks used to collect for the Jerry Lewis Telethon, it was usually carried out by a group of tall firefighters (members of the International Firefighters Union), and you placed your donation in the 'Boot.'
To use the current jargon, Dear Reader,: For transparency -- I have a form of muscular dystrophy: Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, or C-M-T, and have difficulty walking and performing some fine-motor tasks.
However, the girls' query 'passed the test,' and as my wife was handing over our donation,