Peter Coade Retires

Folks in the Maritimes, who want to get a comprehensive weather forecast, probably tune in to reports on CBC by Peter Coade.
Or, if you happened to live decades ago in Truro, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L., or even Toronto, chances are you heard him on local radio.
Peter is retiring today, celebrating 54 years of continuous service as a meteorologist.

In 2013, he was awarded the Guinness World Record for the longest career as a weather broadcaster, which of course has continued until today.
His first appearance on CBC television was back in the late 1950s, when one day he job shadowed the legendary Maritimes weatherman, Rube Hornstein. He has been 'hooked on weather' ever since.

Fabulous at 70

If you're from Cape Breton, you have probably taken part in a large 'family reunion,' or a 'class reunion.'
The one I experienced in St. Peter's, a couple of weeks ago was an 'age reunion!'
Let me explain.
During the Christmas holidays, I received a phone call from Ann, a close friend, alerting me that they were planning a party for those of us from River Bourgeois who are celebrating our 70th birthday this year.
She asked: ‘Do you want to attend?’
My reply was quite short: ‘I would be delighted; thank you very much for asking.’

So there we were, on September 3, at Louie's Cozy Corner, a dozen members of our ‘Fabulous at 70’ group, greeting and hugging one another after all these years!
Our respective spouses had also been invited, probably to relate some untold or long-neglected stories of our younger days.

'Africa Called Her Name'

Late last year, Elaine Fougere published what might be called the ultimate travel book, "Africa Calls My Name: Remembering, Not Wondering." (available on Kobo)
Warning: This is not your regular ‘travel book,' but rather her first-person account of moving her family to live in Zambia for a year.
Transparency: Elaine is my cousin-in-law; her husband Roy is my first cousin.

Early in the book, she confesses that she had always wanted to travel and live in Africa, and was getting restless.
By mid-1995, the family had just lived through a grueling five-year bout of chemo therapy against Roy's cancer, and were ready to do something new — and different.
Roy, a mining engineer, signed a contract with copper mine in central Zambia to help improve the skills of local miners.
Their two children, daughter Leah, and son Nicholas, both approaching their teens, were both eager to make the move.
Using a straight-ahead, highly readable style (remeniscent of the lady herself!), Elaine describes their adventures of settling and living in Zambia for a year.

Bonne fête de l’Acadie!

Attention, tous les Acadiens / Acadiennes de partout dans le monde -- de l’Acadie, du Canada, de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, et nos cousins / cousines de la Louisianne, du Texas: célébrons ensemble notre Fête nationale.

On va faire, partout, un grand 'Tantamarre,' pour proclamer:
'Asteure q'on est là, c'est pour y rester!'
Célébrons la fête de l'Assomption de la Vièrge Marie, 'Stella Maris,' notre Patronne.
Félicitations, et bonne fête Acadienne!

Radio and Me ... 37

A few months ago, Halifax Radio Station CHNS marked its 90th birthday.
The inaugural transmission went on the air in May, 1926, produced by founder / manager Major William Borrett.

For the first 20 years, it was the only Halifax radio station.
It gave the news of the progress of the solo trans-Atlantic flight of Charles Lindburgh in 1927, and provided the world-wide riveting reports by J. Frank Willis of the Moose River Mine Disaster in 1936.
On a lighter note, in the 1940s, it hosted a daily music program by a young baritone from the South Shore, Hank Snow.

Radio and Me ... 36

Many schools today have extensive audio and video systems, to go with computers and other specialized facilities.
In the mid 1970s, a group from staff and administration met to launch a close-circuit Radio System in our residential school, the Halifax School for the Blind.

I was not part of the launch group, as I was working that year on my master's degree at Boston College.
They got funds to build a studio on the main floor, complete with sound-proofing materials and donated equipment from the CBC. Telephone wire to carry the radio signal was strung from the studio location to a dozen speakers throughout the student living areas.
Even by the technical standards of the day, the studio equipment was not state-of-the-art,

A Remarkable Sailor - 2

During my Dad's wartime service in the Royal Canadian Navy, he took part in a variety of assignments.
He was now in his early 40s, and because he was always the oldest member of the crew, he was usually known as: ‘Pops.'

He began serving on minesweepers, doing convoy duty from Halifax (known by military men as: ’Slackers,’ where all the desk officers were stationed) to the British Isles.
Minesweepers were the ‘poor’ members of the fleet: the older ones had been conscripted from private sources, and the newer had been 'thrown together’ in a hurry at a number of shipyards, near and far.
As you can imagine, life was especially tough for the crews;