Posts with the Picton tag

Barris Beat

The space of the century

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
The way Uxbridge residents gathered to celebrate the unveiling of Col Sam Sharpe sculpture (May 2018)

We all assembled in downtown Uxbridge that evening. There were politicians of all stripes, bands, a parade of veterans, Indigenous representatives, vehicles, lots of kids running around in the streets and rows of seating spilling out from the curb. The police had to cordon off our main intersection of Toronto and Brock streets. There must have been 500 or 600 people seated, standing, passing by or gathering to witness the unveiling of the L/Col Sam Sharpe memorial sculpture in May 2018. As I organized my MC notes, a friend from out of town poked me in the shoulder.

“Wow, what an event!” he said.

I smiled and nodded, but then he added a comment and a question that cut me to the quick.

“You’ve got a hell of a town here, Ted. But how come we’re sprawled all over the street? Don’t you have a downtown square for this?”

The answer was: “No, we don’t.” (more…)

Barris Beat

As plain as the culvert under your street

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
It’s a hole in the ground for a culvert, but could be much more.

A few days ago, my daughter – who’s recently joined me on my morning walks – posed a provocative question:

“How come we haven’t got a bridge in Uxbridge?” she asked.

I didn’t have an answer. But it occurred to both of us that we have an opportunity to change that. Since construction crews have ripped open most of the main thoroughfare through the downtown to make way for the renovation of the underground flow of the Uxbridge Brook, here might be an ideal chance.

Why not, we thought, somewhere along that now gaping throughway for storm and other water passageways, make an effort to include some sort of bridgeworks that might reflect our name? (more…)