I was talking to a friend of mine in the antiques business. A lifelong antiques-enthusiast myself, I find wandering among the booths at any one of our local antiques meccas just a wonderful activity. He was moaning about the young generation and their fixation with wood-grain particle board, and glass & steel. I think one…
This next paragraph is for people who’ve moved to Barrie after the 1980’s. Sunnidale Park! Played there? Walked there among the trees of the arboretum? Whipped down the hill on a toboggan? Had your wedding pictures taken there? Had your wedding reception there? Have you trod through the woods on the far side, marvelling at…
Many of us remember the movie, “Saving Private Ryan.” Well, Jean-Maurice Pigeon is playing out his own version and it’s called Looking For Pilot Porritt. Actually, he knows where Pilot Porritt is. It’s his relatives he’s looking for. Flying Officer William Howard Porritt was 25 years old. He was also a member of the Royal…
The boy is 12. His dad just picked him up from school. It’s ‘his’ night. The boy throws his backpack in the rear seat and jumps in beside his dad. And it begins… the harangue about ‘mom’ and how she’s ruining his life by demanding so much child support. More harangue about who she’s dating….
It was about this time, six years ago, that I visited Wendy Hicks in her beautifully appointed apartment at Tollendale Village. Things were in a turmoil as Wendy was selecting the few items she was taking with her to her new, smaller life in Victoria, B.C. She was moving to Sunrise, an assisted living home…
Moving to Barrie as a newcomer can be daunting. But Mike Beard has grabbed life in Barrie by the coat-tails and the community is benefitting. Mike has brought his generous nature and his divine graphic design and branding skills here to open his own business. He’s joined a couple of networking groups; he’s signed up…
“Donna, just remember, if you choose to go to Ryerson, that’s your decision. But no matter how far you go, or how well you do, you’ll never be as good as the university graduate!” With those words, my grade 13 guidance counsellor sent me on my way. It didn’t matter that I’d written letters to…
Robert Warren is what you might call a serial entrepreneur. An Air Canada pilot by profession, he’s never content to log air miles (differently than most of us do). He’s lived in several Canadian cities before coming to Barrie a few years ago, and has one of those minds that always sees opportunity. In Halifax…
Hey Janet! Who did your plumbing for that new addition you built? Brad Wright? Wrights Plumbing? Great! I’ll call him. Hey James! Who built your website? What was the process like? Did they deliver on time? No? Okay then, I’ll do more research. When it comes to making buying decisions, whether it’s business to business…
It was two paragraphs in a newspaper: “teenager injured during snowboard maneuver at Blue Mountain.” Two paragraphs. But the life of then North Collegiate teenager Kyle Anderson (and the lives of his parents and sisters) was changed forever. February 3, Kyle and his best friend, Charlie Harrison, Rollie Hunter and Tyler Ward drove to Blue…