Posts with the CNE tag

Barris Beat

The balloon menace

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Anita Anand, minister of national defence, addresses 204th Toronto Garrison Officers’ Ball on Feb. 11, 2023.

The evening was all about military pomp and circumstance. Hundreds of Canadian Armed Services personnel had gathered last Saturday night at the Beanfield Centre on the CNE grounds for Toronto’s premier social event in the military community. I actually landed a ticket and was seated at a table of Navy regulars and reservists. The 204th edition of the Garrison Officers’ Ball was well underway, when the Minister of National Defence arrived in time to address guests at the ball.

“I have important news to share with you,” Anita Anand said. “Today at 3:41 p.m. aircraft assigned to NORAD successfully took down (a) high-altitude airborne object. The object, flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet, had unlawfully entered Canadian air space and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Refreshing human memory

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
WWII veteran of the Italian liberation, Ed Stafford shows off special medallion received at the CNC Warriors’ Day Parade this year. He also wears a VAC name plate. Photo: Jackie Stafford.

They all stood in a circle. All the men wore dark-blue Legion blazers or military dress uniforms. Most were greying or bald. I knew I was in trouble if I was going to find my specific contact – one of the featured guests at last Saturday’s CNE Warriors’ Day Parade – because I didn’t know what he looked like. I just knew he was a veteran. As I greeted the group of men, they all turned to face me. And I immediately knew I was saved. They all wore name tags.

“Mr. Stafford,” I said, glancing down at his name plate. “Ed Stafford, Veteran,” the tag said. (more…)

Barris Beat

Three-generation learning curve

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Hallways - empty all summer - began to fill this week with students back to school.
Hallways - empty all summer - began to fill this week with students back to school.

They were a long way from our consciousness in the dying days of spring. Nobody in our family had even thought of them back then. There was too much summer holiday ahead, too many barbeques, too many long weekends, for us to ever worry about them. But about two weeks ago – I think it was the Friday the CNE opened, the same day the advertisements began ganging up on us on TV and radio – suddenly, they were back in our faces: the three most important words of September.

“Back to school.”

(more…)