They’re all over Barrie, really. People who reach down inside of themselves and do something that helps somebody else. People who have an idea for a product or service that will make life better for someone else. People whose ingenuity expresses itself with kindness. People who leave the world in better shape than they found…
It’s so simple. A printed cardboard card with a moose on it and a place to attach 10 toonies. Designed for elementary school children, the card offers the opportunity for artwork, the the chance for recognition. It’s a grass-roots fundraiser for the new Barrie Public Library in Barrie’s south end. Long overdue, this additional community…
Several years ago I wrote a series of columns about my own personal theory of relativity. It involved perspective, really, as I shared stories of sitting at the World Junior Hockey Games with Olympic Aerialist Horst Bulau and feeling humbled by his extensive knowledge of hockey. I felt equally humbled by my 2 year old…
Vancouver is a sea of red and white. Whistler is the same; in fact, stores have sold out of the red mitts and scarves and there’s a hot market for anyone with extras. And certainly the Canadian ski world was on its ‘boots’ when Alexandre Bilodeau and his remarkable family story, made history with our…
Much has been written about women’s lives and opportunities prior to the Feminist Movement. As a lifelong feminist (well, almost lifelong… it began in grade 8 when only boys were allowed to raise the Canadian ensign at the front of our school), I was lucky (or smart) enough to marry a man who also describes…
“I’m not (gulp!) speaking in public.” It starts often in early school when we’re called on to give an answer and someone behind us titters. It gets reinforced later when we try again and a teacher says we can do better. And then we falter during a piano recital and it crescendos further. By the…
In 1998, 3 Winter Olympics ago, Kid One flew to Nagano, Japan to work as a camera assist for CBS Television. Like every media person from every country, he was suited up in specific colours. Because he was working for an American network, it was swanky black and orange Nike garb. Very warm, very nice….
This column is about pee and poo, basically. It’s about our newest wee people in the world and what happens to their pee and poo. If we gathered a group of young and older and old mothers in the room, the question of diaper and waste would be handled differently. My mother gathered up our…
Joe Fossey is one of those hidden treasures. We’ve been chatting over the phone about ‘getting together’ for a few years now, and finally met in person this month. Joe, now retired, is best known to me as the owner of the dispro that sits out on Duckworth St all summer. This meticulously restored antique…
Frequently I teach workshops to prepare people to open businesses. One exercise that I give is to have participants take a piece of paper, write their name in the very centre of it, and then fill the paper with every mistake they ever made. What they’re really doing is assessing their risk quotient. I believe…