I Have An Idea...

Last month our government decided to bid farewell to our old friend the penny.  I'm not sure how seriously anyone has taken this yet but I think I have a remedy.  The problem according to our finance minister was that the one cent coin costs more to produce than its face value .  OK then, whenever the U.S. and Canadian dollar are nearly at par (or better), let's just go to the United States and buy all the pennies we need? Problem solved.

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What a View From Our Dinghy

From a boat you were engulfed in the show

At 10 pm last night, following a concert in the park, (we could hear a bit of "Lighthouse" from where we were in the marina) we were favoured by a spectacular fireworks display under a calm moonlit sky. We only had to go a few hundred yards to the mouth of the "Winter Harbour" in order to experience the thunderous display with one of the most intense finales I have ever seen. The reflections off the water amplified the sights and sounds. Reverberations came from several directions to enhance the experience. Thanks to Enbridge for making this happen.

The moon played second fiddle to the grandiose finale.

Here's the newspaper blurb:

Sarnia prepped for a spectacular Canada Day

Sarnia will celebrate the country’s diverse cultural heritage with its annual Canada Day festivities.
This year marks the anniversaries of two defining moments in Canadian history. It’s the 200th year since the beginning of the War of 1812, and the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign atop the British Commonwealth.
‘Canada celebrates’ is the theme for Sunday’s party in Canatara and Centennial Parks in honour of these historical events.
The singing of God Save the Queen will follow O Canada at the opening ceremonies - beginning around 1:30 p.m. at the Canatara Park bandshell - as a tribute to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The ceremonies will also feature a brief reenactment to commemorate the War of 1812.
As usual, booths will be set up across Canatara Park selling food from Poland, Hungary, China, Greece, and other countries comprising the multicultural fabric of Canada.
“That’s sort of our purpose, especially at Canatara Park, to highlight all the different groups that make up Sarnia,” said Cobi Barneveld of the city’s parks and recreation department.
The day’s festivities begin at 11:30 a.m. with the always-popular Canada Day parade. At least 43 entries will make the parade one of the largest in the past decade, Barneveld said.
The parade begins at the corner of Lakeshore and Colborne Roads, and moves into the park, where the festivities continue.
A reptile show, a martial arts demonstration and family circus are among the attractions at Canatara.
Later in the afternoon, festivities move to Centennial Park, where a 4:30 p.m. Wild West Show gets the action started.
Concerts by the Shelly Rustin Band at 5:30 p.m., Chemical Valley at 6:45 p.m., and Juno Award-winning veteran rockers Lighthouse at 8 p.m. will follow.
The ‘musical fireworks’ begin at 10 p.m., with local radio stations broadcasting music synchronized with the fireworks display. The music will also be broadcast on speakers throughout the park.
“The biggest thing for everybody is the parade and the fireworks, those are the questions we get every time,” Barneveld said.
An estimated 50,000 people annually make their way to the waterfront to take part in the celebration. The price tag for the event is about $125,000, which is recuperated through souvenir booths, 50/50 ticket sales, and other fundraising means, Barneveld said. Enbridge has stepped in to pay for part of the pricey fireworks display.
Lakeshore Road will be closed between Indian Road and Cathcart Boulevard from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to accommodate the parade.

dan.punch@sunmedia.ca

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Oh Canada Eh?... Let me outta this picture!

What was I thinking?  Too close to the cops for my liking. Have a great Canada Day, get drunk "responsibly", and if you're smart you'll keep your distance from anyone with a gun.
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Colouring Mitchell's Drug Store in Crossville Tennessee

Here's my latest Photoshop colouration rendering of an original 1936/37 b/w photograph of migrant "loafers" taken on Main Street in Crossville Tennessee by the U.S. government.  I blew it up to 36 x 24 as another one of my posters to hang in Ann's Coca Cola Memorabilia room in their lovely home in Crossville TN.. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the old originals are not protected by copyright since they belong to the U.S. Gov. My new colourized version IS copyrighted and all rights are reserved. That means I could sell them if I wanted to. Maybe I can get Gary to merchandize them in Crossville. He goes to lots of auctions.

Here's the 8" x 12" black and white original titled "Men Loafing, Crossville Tennessee". You can see that I added some Coca Cola stuff to make it suitable for Ann's Coke room. I even handed out a few bottles of ice cold Coke for these thirsty looking dirty thirties "loafer" men.

And yes, there's still a Mitchell's Drug on Main Street nearly 75 years later. I "Googled" the drug store and here it is today.  They even put out benches for today's loafers and Coca Cola signs in the window, just like my colourized mock-up. Wow, what a coincidence!
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A Weekend at the Condo Continues

 Sunday we decided to take the dinghy over to the other marina (Sarnia Bay Marina) and park it there for a few hours since there was a large (400 cars) Sarnia Street Machines antique car show happening at Centennial Park.

I have a real fascination with the "Rat Rods". Maybe because the restorative skill level appears to be a little lower. Something I can relate to.

"Old Horney" from Blenheim got lots of attention from young and old alike. In fact it seems, much to the chagrin of the vintage car owners (who undoubtedly spent much more on their restorations), the expensive cars garnered less interest than the novel Rat Rods.

After wandering through the show to the halfway point at the southern end, I usually like to stop at Mel's for fries before continuing on back.

We visited with my friend Glenn who had a stunning, British racing green, MGA sports car. Believe it or not I shoe-horned my way into this little car. Not good for my claustrophobia. Getting out was another problem.

 The rain held off, calling the weatherman's bluff, so we spent the rest of the afternoon putting around in the dinghy and visiting with a half a dozen or so different friends on their boats. Few boaters are going too far these days with the price of fuel. Then again it is only June so the real traveling time is just around the corner.
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A Weekend at the Condo

On Saturday we drove over to USA to check the mailbox and go for a drive down the river. Unfortunately my driver-side window decided to pack it in the day before. It emphatically gave notice that it would no longer be available for duty as it came off it's track and noisily crashed down inside the door, never to be seen again.  The good part was, the weather was absolutely beautiful so; window or not, we stuck with the plan and  headed down river.

We did the usual sight-seeing route past Marysville, St. Clair, Marine City, Algonac and wound up past Fair Haven at the Selfridge Airbase. Lot's to see as almost every town was abuzz with some sort of festival or show. We concluded our run southwest at the Costco store near the Lakeside Mall.

I forgot about the window (or lack thereof) until Wendy reminded me that it will be difficult to leave the car with the window gaping open.  Oh well the place was a zoo. The parking lot was full to capacity and we soon agreed this destination would have to wait for another time, preferably during the week when it's less crowded.

We crossed back into Canada on the ferry boat from Marine City Michigan to Sombra Ontario and passed through customs with a very rare "nothing to declare". Oh well I bought gas cheaper than at home and we did enjoy the ride.
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Orville Gives New Meaning to "Kittyhawk"

Losing a much-loved family pet (Orville) does strange things to some people. And things certainly get strange when you’re a grieving Dutch artist with a penchant for taxidermy.

CLICK HERE to go to the original story and take a look at Orville's first flight.
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Hotter in June

French to English translation:

        33C=91F

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A Pleasant Visit

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Alex enjoys his dessert.

Although my brother-in-law Bob didn't consider it a pleasure trip (he had a Dr appointment here in London Tuesday) it was certainly good to get together Monday since we haven't visited in a few years. Bob and Alex arrived here in London after the long 5 1/2 hour drive from Brockville this afternoon. Wendy and I had just driven back from the condo so our cupboards were a little bare so I suggested we meet at Kelsey's. The dinner turned out even better than I anticipated because our nephew Alex suggested the Keg Restaurant instead. Good suggestion! I  haven't been there for years but I found the prime rib was just as good as I remember.

Bob and Alex even had dessert!

All-in-all a lovely meal and; as always, good conversation comes easy to Bob. Two hours flew by and it didn't seem like enough time. Wendy and I are so glad we had the opportunity for a nice chat.
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Are The Boys Having Trouble With The Sign?

We drove by here today and I thought I better snap a picture for my blog:

Click to enlarge. I wonder if its CSA Approved?

If you have the time to spare, don't drive on the big highways. You'll miss a lot!
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Titanic-era Vessel S.S. Keewatin will dock in Port McNicoll on June 23.

Original crew member at the helm with 10,000 expected at the June 23rd community welcoming ceremony in Port McNicoll


I have fond memories of this boat and it started me going on the nostalgia train. See below

Back in the early 60's when I was about 12 years old, our family took a Fall cruise on the wonderful ship S.S. Keewatin

The "DOME CAR" Of My Nostalgia Train 1960

My Dad was a salesman and had some business out in Fort William/Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) so as usual, he drove out by car. Later my sister and my mother and I went there aboard the CPR train. (It was not common to fly and air travel was very expensive back then.) It was a very modern train with a new diesel-electric engine (steam was getting nearly phased out by the 60's) and featured "Dome Cars" were one could sit and watch a panoramic view of the passing scenery. Of course I explored the train completely on my own, checking out the connections between the cars and peeping into places where I shouldn't have been. I was fascinated with trains and got my first electric train set that Christmas.

When we got to Fort William we stayed at the Holiday Inn and the train tracks passed within a few feet of our window. I remember rushing out with my sister Pat to place pennies on the tracks in front of the approaching steam locomotives as they thundered by. The mammoth steam engines would flatten the coins instantly, increasing their diameter to that of a 50 cent piece. The diesel trains were too light and so the pennies were only mildly flattened. Young children nowadays would never be allowed to play unsupervised near the train tracks, but back then things were different. Somehow we lived through it!

The next day, October 31, we boarded the S.S. Keewatin and watched from the upper deck as the cars were driven on below. I can still feel the intense excitement of our first hours aboard, which to me as a little person, seemed like an immense ship. That afternoon I remember sitting in the bar lounge while my father had a beer and talked with the barman. (I remember later my Dad complaining that the drinks were way too expensive at 55¢ for a beer.) The dark stained and highly polished, ornately carved wood work was so impressive that I can still visualize it to this day.

The ship must have been fairly full because it seemed to take a very long time to load in all the cars. We heard there was a large group of travel agents on this cruise with a gala Halloween costume party and dance scheduled for the evening in the the huge ballroom in the center of the ship. The cabins; ours on the starboard side amidships, were elevated above the ballroom and you could go to an inside railing and look down to see the revelers below.

I didn't know it at the time but the name Keewatin means “blizzard of the north” in Cree. Maybe the name foreshadowed the chilly weather that October evening which was building from rainy with a stiff breeze, to a gale, whipping up the lake into huge waves. My sister and I were relegated to our cabin which was quite small and had an upper and lower bunk and small sink. The toilets and showers were down the corridor, divided as to Men and Women.

While our parents enjoyed the party, Pat and I entertained ourselves by opening the big oak door with a round porthole that leads outside to the promenade deck. We watched as the bow of the mighty ship plowed into the oncoming waves. The water then roared towards us along the walkway and we would slam the door as a few thousand gallons of water rushed past and we looked out the porthole in the door. We did this many times without event until we noticed a crew member coming and we terminated the game. We of course could have been swept away and nobody would have ever known where we went. Do you know where your children are?

The next day, about 18 hours and 260 miles since our departure, we docked at Sault Ste Marie, which was where we disembarked to drive back to our home in North Bay. The entire trip was so memorable and exciting for me at that age. I often fondly think of it.

Several years ago, Wendy and I visited the S.S. Keewatin at its berth in Douglas near Sawgatuck Michigan. It had been made into a museum by the owner who had mortgaged his home to buy the ship from the salvage company that disposed of it in 1966. We toured the Keewatin and spoke at length with the owners about my cruise aboard her as a child.

Now the old girl returns to her home in Port McNicoll. I think I might drive up to view this historical vision from the past as she comes home to her berth for the last time.
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My friend David sent this news clip about the S.S. Keewatin. And that got me going on the rest of the story.
 

TORONTO, June 4, 2012 /CNW/ - An illustrious and rare example of Canadian maritime history is finally coming home.

The S.S. Keewatin — the crown jewel in the Canadian Pacific Railway's once-mighty Great Lakes Steamship fleet — is being repatriated by Skyline International Development Inc. (www.skylineinvestments.com/) and will arrive at its original home in Port McNicoll, ON, June 23, 2012 as part of a community celebration.

In 2011, Skyline's Chairman and President Gil Blutrich announced an agreement with Peterson following four years of negotiation to purchase and repatriate Keewatin to its original home in Port McNicoll, where the R.J. and Diane Peterson Great Lakes and S.S. Keewatin Foundation will operate and maintain the vessel as a maritime museum. The Keewatin will be moored in a new waterfront park in Port McNicoll — steps from the original location where it was originally tied. The park will feature a replica of the town's original train station and surrounding English Royal gardens. Once there, restoration work will be completed to return the ship to her original early 20^th century grandeur.

"This vessel is one of a kind," said Eric Conroy, author of the book A Steak In the Drawer, which details his experiences working on the Keewatin as a 17-year-old. Conroy, a long-time Keewatin volunteer who worked with Blutrich to negotiate her repatriation, will chair the R.J. and Diane Peterson Great Lakes and S.S. Keewatin Foundation.

Constructed five years before the ill-fated voyage of RMS Titanic, the Keewatin is the last surviving vessel in the Great Lakes Steamship fleet and features many of the same design and construction features of her cousin Titanic, including a quadruple expansion steam engine and "Scottish" boilers, as well as a grand staircase, Edwardian dining saloon, hand painted Italian glass and oak trim throughout. Strict regulations were imposed on wooden cabin steamships on the Great Lakes after the 1949 S.S. Noronic fire disaster killed 118 passengers and one crew member, making the financial viability of the overnight cruiser difficult. New modes of transportation also made the vessel largely obsolete.

Launched July 6, 1907, the Keewatin was retired in 1966 after almost 60 seasons ferrying passengers from Port McNicoll on Georgian Bay, to Port Arthur (Thunder Bay) on Lake Superior.

Built by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Scotland as Hull No. 453, the 350-foot long Keewatin carried 288 passengers with a crew of 86, and cruised at a top speed of 14 knots. Along with her sister ship S.S. Assiniboia, Keewatin was the first Great Lakes ship to boast radar.

For further information: David Eisenstadt / Beth Merrick / Gea Koleva
The Communications Group Inc.
416-696-9900 x. 36 / 40 / 26
deisenstadt@tcgpr.com / bmerrick@tcgpr.com / gkoleva@tcgpr.com
Touring the SS Keewatin museum today…

Have you ever wanted to see the Titanic?
Although possible at a price these days the wreck would never be like seeing the real working ship unless you went to Michigan where a stunning example of an Edwardian passenger liner floats to this day and can be visited and explored. With an identical engine, grand staircase, luxurious dining saloon, well preserved staterooms and public galleries you can experience Titanic only two hours away from Chicago. There is even a Marconi Room, identical to the one on Titanic.
In 1967 RJ Peterson from Douglas Michigan bought the SS KEEWATIN – an old Edwardian decommissioned passenger ship from the Canadian Pacific Railway Steamship Company and towed it to Lake Kalamazoo.  Peterson owned a large marina in the very small lake. As luck would have it, The Corps of Engineers had dredged to 18 feet that summer and it was enough to get the 350-foot, 300-passenger ship into the harbor where it has served as a floating museum for 44 years.
The SS KEEWATIN was built in Govan Scotland in 1907. She took her sea trials in the River Clyde along side the RMS Lusitania, (sunk by a German sub which resulted in the United States joining WWI).
The SS Keewatin sailed to North America and went to work sailing between the tops of the Great Lakes on Superior to a small port just north of Toronto in Canada. From the 1800′s and into the 1950′s many ships plied the inland seas moving freight and people between west and east.
As highways improved, railways proliferated and airplanes filled the skies these behemoths of commerce slowly retired, were scrapped or in some cases sank. By the 1960′s they were essentially gone with an era of elegance and simplicity. Except the KEEWATIN, hidden as a tourist attraction in a small town, on a small lake and fed by a small river.
But now at 104 years old her big story is being told. In 1963 and 1964 a 17-year-old high school student was fortunate enough to get a summer job on the SS Keewatin. The experience changed his life and now as a retired and successful adult he has found that his stage for youthful adventure is alive and well and living in Douglas. Eric Conroy is the youngest surviving crew member from the SS Keewatin and he has written a book about what happened to him in two of his most educational summers.
It is called “A STEAK IN THE DRAWER” and it is great read about the early days of travel and a young man’s experiences’ coming of age. There are lots of pictures and a detailed description of the parts of the ship, the passengers and other crew he had contact with. All proceeds will go toward the SS KEEWATIN Restoration Fund, which this year is focused on rebuilding the Life Boats. For information call (416) 318-7186 or write…SS KEEWATIN MUSEUM PO Box 638 Douglas Michigan 49406 USA.
HISTORY
The SS Keewatin once sailed between Port Arthur / Fort William and Port McNicoll in Ontario, Canada. She carried passengers between these ports for the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Great Lakes Steamship Service. The Keewatin also carried packaged freight goods for the railway at these ports.

Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Scotland as Hull No. 453, the Keewatin was launched 6 July 1907 and entered service in the following year. She ran continuously for almost 60 seasons, being retired in 1966.
Like many passenger ships of that era on the Great Lakes, the Keewatin and sister ship SS Assiniboia operated under stringent regulations imposed for wooden cabin steamships following the SS Noronic disaster in 1949. Doomed by their wooden cabins and superstructure, these overnight cruisers lasted through the decline of the passenger trade on the lakes in the post-war years. As passengers opted for more reliable and faster modes of travel, the Keewatin and her sister ship were withdrawn from the passenger trade in 1965, continuing in freight only service for another year.
The S.S. Keewatin was a luxurious ship for its time. The ship boasted running water and electric lights. The ship had 105 staterooms on two decks. Seven deluxe suites had private baths. The dining room had gold leaf around the ceiling, as did most of the public areas. In the Mens Lounge there are hand-carved oak paneling, the ballroom served many purposes other then being a dance area.
The Keewatin was originally designed to complete the link in the Canadian Pacific Railway’s continental route. She served this purpose by linking the Railroad’s Port McNicoll on Georgian Bay and Fort William on Lake Superior. The ship took 2 1/2 days to make the trip each way, including half a day traversing the Soo Line Railway.

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Old movie about the Keewatin and her sistership Assiniboia








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I rode on the SS Keewatin in October 1960. That's nearly 52 years ago... Wow!

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Clearest, Smoothest, Warmest... What A Day!

 For early June the weather was exceptionally warm (80F) and there was no wind so we decided to take the dinghy out on the lake in the morning, before the rush of powerboats that usually agitate the water on busy Sundays. We passed under the Bluewater Bridge (roughest spot all day) with a number of sail boats that were motoring out for what appeared to be a regatta. Since there was nearly no wind all morning, I wondered about the futility of staging a race today.

In all my 15 years or so on this part of Lake Huron, I can't ever remember seeing the water this crystal clear. The calmness of the lake and the prevailing off-shore breeze this past week has allowed the water to settle down to a level of clarity that was truly amazing. The sailors had high hopes but little action.

The wreck of the Gladstone was clearly visible as was the entire bottom texture of the lake.

We could easily see the Purdy's Fishery nets in 20 feet of water. The pictures don't do justice to the magnificent Caribbean-like colour of the placid waters. Our little 3 meter "yacht" performed flawlessly as we lazily motored the 16 kilometer run from the condo to Murphy Beach and back. What a day!

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