Posts in the Barris Beat category:

Barris Beat

Dull economy without sharp trades

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Ed Casella, master hardware specialist in Stouffville, Ont.

Some time ago, I decided to repair a door handle inside our house. (This sort of thing happens when I suffer writer’s block and need a short-term distraction.) So, I went to local big box stores looking for the correct hardware.

The only replacements they offered were huge new assemblies wrapped in that impregnable plastic. And, even if I could cut open the package, there was no guarantee the new assembly would fit my door.

“Ed’s,” I suddenly remembered. “Ed’s Hardware in Stouffville. That’s where I’ll go.” I made an appointment to see Ed Casella, drove down to meet him at his farm, and it was all I could do to keep from buying every old piece of hardware in the place – antique doorknobs, padlocks, floor grates and everything else under the sun … from a bygone era. (more…)

Barris Beat

Debate: the ultimate litmus test

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
The looming 2024 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Philadelphia Inquirer.

After accepting the Republican party’s nomination as vice-presidential running-mate to Donald Trump, last week, James David Vance returned to his hometown of Middletown, Ohio. In his first public appearance, the junior senator called President Joe Biden’s dropping out of the race and endorsing Kamala Harris as the Democratic party’s next presidential nominee “a threat to democracy.

“I’m kind of pissed off …” he continued, that he wouldn’t get the chance to debate Ms. Harris leading up to the November election. (more…)

Barris Beat

Escape to the cottage? Yes and no.

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
A rustic cottage – thin walls, stove, up on stilts, fish flies on the screens.

They’ve been packing up for weeks. RVs all loaded. Trailers full of motorboats, Sea-doos, kayaks, flotation devices and other water paraphernalia. Oh, and they’ve got plenty of camping gear too, with food coolers and bug repellent crammed into every nook and cranny of their cars and trucks.

I asked one of my neighbours, heading out of town, how long he’d been getting ready for this summer’s great escape to the cottage.

“Since we got home from the cottage last year,” he said.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about all my friends dashing off to cottages each summer. (more…)

Barris Beat

Intoxicated by power

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

He spotted me wandering around a section of the store. He came over and I explained I had something in particular I wanted to buy. Before long, he’d led me to the right shelf, pointed out several brand options, their qualities, and the price range. I was a bit surprised by his knowledge and thanked him.

“Anytime,” he said. “Here to help.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Entre Amis. Between Friends.

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
Canadian and American flags flying near the Ambassador Bridge at the Canada-U.S. border crossing in Windsor, Ont. Cdn Press

It was July 1, back in 1966. I was a teenager working for tuition money at my uncle’s restaurant in Baltimore. I was wearing a T-shirt with the red Maple Leaf flag on it (it had become the symbol on our national flag the year before) and a customer at that Double-T Diner in Maryland asked me, “How come you’re wearing that red Maple Leaf on your shirt?”

“I’m Canadian. It’s Canada Day, our national holiday,” I said, “kind of like your July 4.”

He nodded as if he understood, but I quickly realized he didn’t. (more…)

Barris Beat

Can’t see the forest for the pleas

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Gerry Oldham hosts block picnic at King Street Parkette in June 2014.

Just over a week ago, my neighbour Gerry Oldham stopped by. She was on her way home from attending Uxbridge Township Council. She looked glum. When I asked her what was wrong, she got even more upset.

“Our park’s been declared surplus,” she said, her voice emotional. (more…)

Barris Beat

Parents who kill kids’ fun in sport

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Sunday afternoon football game the players enjoyed; some parents did not.

It was about halfway through the game. The plays for both teams seemed to be clicking constantly. The score was pretty close – a couple of touchdowns for each side. And among the busiest people on the football field seemed to be the volunteers moving the yardsticks as each side made their 10-yard advances to gain a new first down. Then, suddenly we heard a commotion along the sidelines.

“What game are you watching, ref?” I heard one of the volunteers shout.

“Get off the field!” came the retort from the referee crew chief. (more…)

Barris Beat

Those who followed also served

Written by Ted Barris on . 2 Comments
Bill Stewart, Paul Moffatt and Al Thomas, firefighters from Toronto, prepare to pay tribute to veterans at Menin Gate on May 23, 2024.

The three of them seemed buried in preparations – arranging the wreath, adjusting their berets, straightening their blazers and ties – and they didn’t notice me approaching with my cellphone camera. Then, suddenly as they stepped to the curb beneath the Menin Gate, a shaft of sunlight caught them.

“Look here guys,” I called out.

Almost in perfect symmetry, the three men – Bill Stewart, Al Thomas and Paul Moffatt – all snapped to attention the way they’ve done thousands of times before. And I clicked the photograph of the three retired firefighters in their parade uniforms, ready to join one of the most poignant Great War commemorations in Europe. (more…)

Barris Beat

Will memory of D-Day fade away?

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
D-Day veteran’s son, Don Henderson (r), presents RCAF base map to Jean-Pierre Banamou. June 2024.

Last week, inside a modest-looking but sizable Quonset building, known as the D-Day Academy, in Normandy, France, Don Henderson, a visitor from Calgary, made a small presentation. From his backpack, he pulled an official RCAF map of Normandy showing where his father, Leading Aircraftman Wilbert Henderson helped construct one of the first Tactical Air Force (TAF) bases in Normandy immediately after D-Day.

“My dad landed on D-Day-plus-11,” Don Henderson began. “He was the second driver in the air force vehicle. But when the first driver was shot, my dad carried on using this map to reach B4,” site of the TAF base.

Standing next to Don Henderson in the D-Day Academy museum, its director Jean-Pierre Benamou watched as the Canadian unfolded the fragile map revealing all the Juno Beach coastline that Canadians seized from the Germans beginning on June 6, 1944.

“I’ve kept this map all my life, but I want to donate it to your museum” said Henderson, and he handed the map to the clearly moved Benamou.

“Canadian veterans and their families are always bringing important artifacts back to Normandy, so that we don’t forget,” Benamou said. “D-Day is not dead for us. We relive it every day we welcome visitors here.” (more…)

Barris Beat

The two-per-cent insult

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Canadian soldiers marched through the streets of Dieppe, after the hit-and-run Allied raid on August 19, 1942.

About the time most people in North America were sitting down to dinner that summer day in 1942, a young Canadian whom many of us knew here in Uxbridge, Stephen Bell, was exhausted, bloodied by combat on Dieppe beach and throwing his hands in the air.

“Aufgeben! Aufgeben!” the Germans pointing their weapons at him were shouting.

Bell didn’t speak enough German to know they were shouting “Surrender!” but realized he was still wearing a revolver on his belt. He undid the belt, dropped it to the ground, and again put his hands in the air.

 The hit-and-run raid on the French seaport of Dieppe that morning, August 19, 1942, had ended with Bell becoming a prisoner of war; he would spend the rest of the war in various German POW camps. He was one of 1,946 men the German defenders captured that day, more than the whole Canadian Army would lose in Western Europe in almost an entire year of action between D-Day on June 6, 1944, and VE Day on May 8, 1945.

Altogether 3,467 of the nearly 5,000 Canadians who embarked form England that day became casualties. More than 900 of those were killed in the bloodiest nine hours in Canadian military history. (more…)