Posts with the Uxbridge Oilies tag

Barris Beat

A pattern for life

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On July 8, about a hundred cars full of people gave Sue Carmichael a drive-by 60th birthday party.

Our community still mourns the passing of Sue Carmichael two weeks ago. Her family members will remember all she gave them, her church and the rest of us, at a service this weekend. By coincidence, exactly 10 years ago, I wrote a column about Sue and her passion for giving, quilting and living. I offer my thoughts from that column in tribute:

Even in this liberated community, there are some areas still considered off-limits to certain people. I mean, children aren’t often seen in pubs. Most women don’t hang out in repair garages. And men don’t generally frequent beauty salons. The same could be said of men in sewing shops and the like. In fact, recently, when I decided to pay a courtesy visit to the Quilters Cupboard in town, I got a predicable response when I entered.

“Hey ladies,” the proprietor announced from inside the store, “a man has just entered the shop.” Most got a chuckle out of the remark. I did too. (more…)

Barris Beat

All in the details

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Uxbridge Oilies hockey club got some unexpected news at end of the old-timers tourney.
Uxbridge Oilies hockey club got some unexpected news at end of the old-timers tourney.

We were just peeling off our hockey gear. We were considering a little refreshment after what we thought was a Pyrrhic victory; in others words, we had won our final game of the oldtimers’ tournament, but figured we were out of the running to win the championship in our division. Then, suddenly, in came the tournament organizers – members of the Uxbridge Islanders hockey club – and they were carrying what looked like a box of prizes.

“You guys won!” they told us. “The other team got too many penalties in their last game and you won on points.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Wartime life at sea

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Canadian sailor Jim Hunt served in the Norwegian Merchant Navy in WWII
Canadian sailor Jim Hunt served in the Norwegian Merchant Navy in WWII

Regulations clearly stipulated against it. An exposed light in the middle of the darkness, especially on the open sea when the country was at war made the vessel emitting the light extremely vulnerable. German U-boats could spot it in a second, and attack in the next. And the risk was made extremely clear to merchant navy man Jim Hunt during one North Atlantic crossing when his tanker convoy was under an escort by U.S. navy ships.

“Someone had left a porthole open with a light on at dusk on board our tanker,” Hunt said, remembering his time in the Second World War as a teenaged sailor at sea aboard a Norwegian merchant navy ship. “So, an American destroyer came alongside our ship and signaled for us to turn the light out … or they would sink us.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Credit where it is due

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Ken Lardner, a veteran I encountered by accident. His service in the Royal Canadian Regiment during the Korean War has largely gone unnoticed…until this weekend.

It seemed just another typical Saturday morning at the coffee shop. Kids pointing at the donuts they wanted. Adults craving that first cup. A local by-election candidate had even set up shop at a corner table to bolster his door-to-door canvassers with coffee, donuts and a pep talk. But near the door, I spotted an older man wearing a blue baseball cap with a Royal Canadian Navy logo and the name “HMCS Toronto” emblazoned on it.

“Navy veteran are you?” I asked.

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Barris Beat

A rearranged life

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The rearrangement of my life at home began last spring when we knocked down the old garage. The next phase began last week when my sister-in-law arrived from Saskatchewan.
The rearrangement of my life at home began last spring when we knocked down the old garage. The next phase began last week when my sister-in-law arrived from Saskatchewan.

My wife’s sister has been visiting from Saskatchewan the past two weeks. Unlike that cliché that a husband loathes spending time with his in-laws, I have always enjoyed time spent with Pat, as I did with the sisters’ parents. There is generally one time during Pat’s visits, however, when I sense I’d better butt out. That’s when I hear either my wife Jayne or Pat say:

“OK, let’s do some rearranging around the house.”

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Barris Beat

Psychology of time

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WATCHFACEA few weeks ago, at Centennial College where I teach, we realized things were reaching a breaking point. Students faced a never-ending stream of deadlines. Faculty appeared completely stressed out. And everybody seemed at wit’s end. So, we invited in a campus counsellor to conduct a stress workshop. Eventually, she just asked straight out, “What seems to be the problem?”

“I can’t seem to get things done,” one student said. “There’s never enough time.”

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