What Lucretia Rowe most remembers about Maisie Murphy is her incredible sense of style. It was 1942 when Lucretia was working in the law firm of Carl Stewart and a new receptionist joined the firm, fresh from school. Like a Dresden doll, Maisie Barkey was 90 pounds of style. “We were earning about $9 a…
It’s amazing what wonders lurk behind the doors of ordinary homes in ordinary subdivisions. Such is the case with Larry Shannon. Larry’s house is nestled in among a bevy of former cottages and newer homes all jumbled with each other near the water in the new town of Innisfil. In former years, Larry’s area of…
Thank you MacLaren Art Centre! Thank you Sean-William Dawson for thinking of an art show like none Barrie has ever seen. Last Saturday, we leashed up the pooch, donned ski pants, toques, grabbed a couple of plastic bags (for the pooch’s you-know-what) and entered Kempenfelt Bay at Johnson’s Beach. We walked across the Bay, chatting…
It’s only a week away until we go back to school! Just 18 days til our wedding! One more month til Spring Break, and a few days on the ski slopes! Mommy… when’s the Easter Bunny coming? Anticipation has a miraculous power to excite, incite and motivate us as human beings. And whether we’re adults…
A few of us were talking last week about our worst customer service experiences. The discussion included the frustrations of working for a large corporation where you’re encouraged to use a certain lingo, specific turns of phrase when dealing with customers. Especially angry customers. It gave me pause to look back on my none-too-brief career…
Last Friday night I joined 175 other people in a darkened room in Parkview Seniors Centre. We were not playing euchre. We were there to wait for our hero, and to surprise him with a lifetime of accolades for who he is and what he’s done. Jeff Walther could be called “Mr. Barrie.” For his…
Just the other day a friend commented on whatever happened to the environment. You know… back in the 80’s it was top of mind stuff for everyone. People were installing black plastic composting units in their backyards and starting to separate newspapers and tins and glass and plastic. Environmental concerns were the topic of conversation….
I don’t know about you, but when I enter a business I’m often aware of knowing just the present, just what I see before me. It’s kind of like that at the Blue & Gold automotive retail mecca being created by Ed and Gail Regan in Angus. Called Angus Autopro, this auto repair centre is…
When Ida Maynard was a young woman she vividly remembers listening to radio descriptions of the Tournament of Roses Parade. She was “tied” to the radio in 1927 for the first ever transcontinental radio broadcast of a sporting event–the Rose Bowl football game. She was caught up in the imagination of the descriptions of flowers,…
Aha! It seems that my Christmas tree stand column last week struck a few chords. People have been sharing their experiences with the horror of ‘the tree stand’ stories all over Barrie. This is comforting… it’s nice to know that you’re not alone. Here are some of the emailed responses I’ve received… Helen Kuhn writes:…