Barris Beat

Value of people in the know

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Bill Doig had a solution to most problems.

Everybody says it at one time or another. They grapple with a personal issue, a mechanical problem, an unsolved mystery and then they toss and turn instead of sleep all night long. Well, I said it to a writer friend I called on Tuesday morning.

“I didn’t sleep a wink last night,” I said to Phil Alves.

“What’s the problem?” he asked considerately.

“I’ve lost a big file.”

And he moaned a knowing moan, because he’s done it. You’ve done it. We’ve all done it. But in my case, I’d really done it. (more…)

Barris Beat

Visits are my vaccine

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
“Lest We Forget” banner for Alex Barris on Uxbridge lamp post.

She seemed kind of nervous. It was Remembrance Day week. She stood at the base of a lamp post on our main street. A “Lest We Forget” banner above her acknowledged the Second World War service of her great-grandfather. There was a camera pointed at her and the editor of this newspaper making notes and taking photos. Then, she got the go-ahead to tell the story.

“My name is Layne and above me is a picture of my great-grandfather, Alex Barris,” she said into the camera. She was more relaxed now because it was a story she and I have shared a number of times.

“He was born in 1922. In 1942, he was called up by the U.S. Army. They made him a medic. And in the Battle of the Bulge he saved four members of his medical team. He received the Bronze Star.” (more…)

Barris Beat

What’s missing this year

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
My COVID Christmas tree – spur of the moment 2020.

I picked up the phone this week and called a friend. We hadn’t spoken since early in the pandemic. We’ve focused so much on the walls or masks between us and the rest of the world, that we’ve forgotten to reach out to close friends. So, I apologized for being so long out of touch. She asked how our family’s doing. I asked about hers. There was a pause.

“You know the toughest part of all this is?” she said. “No spontaneity. You can’t do anything spur of the moment.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Where feathers lie

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment

They stood there, almost as if frozen. The look on their faces was the best appearance of innocence they could muster. Most kids are pretty good at trying to look innocent. And though the evidence of a massive pillow fight between the two sisters was everywhere, when we suddenly caught them at it, well, you probably know what we got.

“OK, who’s responsible?” we asked.

“Nope,” said one, and she quickly turned to her sister.

“Not me,” said the other.

I experienced a similar feeling of disbelief, on the weekend, when I read a quotation in the Toronto Star from MPP Steve Clark. The minister of municipal affairs was responding to criticism from David Crombie, the outgoing chair of the province’s Greenbelt Council. Crombie announced on Sunday he was resigning because of the Conservative government’s intends to limit the ability of conservation authorities to assess environmental impact of developments.

“(I’ve) been steadfast in my commitment to protect the Greenbelt for future generations,” said Clark in the Star story. (more…)

Barris Beat

Without a word from our sponsor

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
J. Frank Willis, interviews miner involved in rescue of men underground. April 1936.

He didn’t look much like a pioneer. But J. Frank Willis sure was. Dressed in tall boots, a long coat and scarf, wearing a fedora – typical of the 1930s – he was a reporter. Hearing news of a coal-mine rescue underway in a remote corner of Nova Scotia, he made his way to a place called Moose River.

There, he found the only available land telephone line and got permission to broadcast from the mouth of the mine. Miners were trapped 50 metres underground and their would-be rescuers had been digging for days to reach them. Willis held his primitive microphone in front of one of the rescuers.

“Here, ladies and gentlemen, is the captain of the rescue team from Stellerton, Nova Scotia,” Willis said.

“Hello Stellerton,” the captain said. “We’re getting’ along fine. We’ll have those men up in a couple of hours.” (more…)

Barris Beat

The crisis is real on campus

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Dr. Craig Stephenson, president of Centennial College since August 2019.

The president contacted me this week. No, not that president. He’s an administrator of a large Toronto-area college. He addressed me by my first name, which caught my attention. Then, he offered some reflections on the pandemic, its impact on teaching, on learning and most assuredly on budgets. I sensed it was a pitch letter. But he wasn’t pitching me about hisbudget. He spoke about students’ budgets, or lack of them.

“It’s the beginning of a new order,” Craig Stephenson, president of Centennial College, said in a note, “full of uncertainty for our students…” (more…)

Barris Beat

A tradition of helping the hungry

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Joe English (centre) and his Lancaster crew volunteered for the Dutch Food Drops in April 1945.

He didn’t have to do it. Still in an RCAF uniform and duty-bound to King and Country in April 1945, nevertheless Joe English stepped up. He and his entire Lancaster crew had completed the requisite 30 operations, a full tour, over occupied Europe. They all had done their bit in the war, but Joe and his entire crew volunteered for one more flight.

Operation Manna delivered 10,000 tons of food to starving Dutch civilians.

“The Germans say they’ll permit bombers to fly in low over the big Dutch cities – Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, the Hague,” their RAF commanders told them. “People are starving there. They need us to drop tons of food.”

“As far as I was concerned,” Joe said, “it was about improving people’s lives.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Grim era of demonization

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
Among flags flying at the Caen Museum in France (during a tour of Canadians I led) was national German (black, red and gold) flag, during 2004 D-Day anniversary. observances.

We arrived in Normandy that spring in time for the anniversary observances of the liberation of France. Street posts, balconies and memorial parks were festooned in patriotic bunting, streamers and the national flags of France, Britain, America and Canada. And Germany!

“Why is the German flag with red, gold and black included?” I asked our tour guide on the trip.

“New theme this year,” she said. “Remembrance and reconciliation.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Truly virtual Remembrance Day

Written by Ted Barris on . 2 Comments
This year’s Remembrance Day presentation recorded at St. Thomas’ Princes Avenue Playhouse.

Normally, I’d be feeling a bit nervous. But not this time. Last Tuesday morning, I just walked up a short set of stairs and onto a theatre stage, in St. Thomas, Ont. Unlike many times before, however, there was no audience, just the empty Princess Avenue Playhouse. Then, from the darkness in front of me, I heard the only other person in the theatre call to me.

“Camera’s rolling, Ted,” he said. “You can start anytime.”

And I began my annual Remembrance Day presentation for the Township of Southwold, this year with no audience, just a video camera. (more…)

Barris Beat

Much to praise America for

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

It’s just a small, rectangular piece of onion-skin paper. It was handed to us at the entrance to the exhibit, at the site of a national monument, actually. They also gave us a soft-lead pencil with the paper. It was up to us to find the information we wanted. And we did. Partway along a wall – several hundred yards long and four-feet high – containing the inscribed names of thousands and thousands of immigrants, we found the names we were looking for.

“Magdalene Kontozis Kontozoglu,” read one name, and below it, “Theodosios Kontozolglu.” (more…)