Posts with the Uxbridge arena tag

Barris Beat

Quiet heroism of muscle memory

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Burned out building on Brock Street East, Uxbridge.

Monday night’s candidates’ forum was drawing to a close. The next to last questioner in the Q&A portion of the forum at the Uxbridge arena had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone, but her dad helped her get there. It was probably long past her bedtime, but Bella McKenzie-Pugsley collected her thoughts and spoke clearly but with concern.

“Why are there so many fires?” she asked the candidates seated across the south wall of the hall. “Our firefighters are great people. They are our heroes.”

The fire that frightened nine-year-old Bella, broke out last Wednesday night (Sept. 21) and in a matter of hours gutted 11/13 Brock Street East. (more…)

Barris Beat

What’s the problem here?

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Last Monday’s Candidate Forum in Uxbridge featured those vying for Mayor’s, Regional Councillor’s and Regional Chair’s positions. Photo John Cavers.

They’d just turned off the lights and cameras. The Rogers on-air microphones had gone silent. I’d finished my wrap-up of the second candidates’ forum over at the Uxbridge arena on Monday night. But we still had people standing in line at the floor mike eager to pose a few last questions. Then, with the broadcast done, a woman stepped to the mike and began to describe an eye-sore – a grain elevator – in her part of town. I wanted her to bring her concern to a question for the candidates, so I butted in.

“And the problem?” I said, expecting her to pose a question to one of the mayoral or councillor candidates.

“You’re the problem,” she said. (more…)

Barris Beat

Cruise-In 2013

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
This 1961 Metropolitan Nash was the featured classic car at Thursday’s Cruise-In Car Show in Uxbridge.

If your travels have taken you by the Uxbridge arena Thursday evenings, over the summer, you might have been drawn into the parking lot by the colour, the commotion or just the sheer number of cars. That is, of course, if you could find a spot to park. All summer long the extra daylight, the warm evenings and word-of-mouth, have brought classic-car buffs to the arena by the hundred to show off their prized possessions.

In fact, last Thursday night, I asked one of the organizers of the Cruise-In car show, Rob Holtby, how many exhibiters had driven in.

“Oh, there’re 250 cars here tonight,” he said. “Yes, it’s getting so popular, we’re even outgrowing this space.”

(more…)