cktimes.ca Archives for Notes from a Garage


Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

Why even my good friend Bob Leach is on the internet!

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

I must say that I've had another excellent week here at cktimes. I've been out and about in the community and have been meeting more of you with each passing week. The level of support I've received from the community has been outstanding – more community groups have been contacting me each week and together we'll build a truly great community newspaper – and we'll do it on the net. And this is still a very strange thing for me – this internet thing. I mean, how does all that darned stuff get there? I mean, I know how the cktimes gets there and I know how this or that gets there, but there is so much stuff on the net that it boggles the mind that someone actually has to put it up there. And I continue to be surprised by the number of local people who are actually on the net and enjoy reading newspapers and carrying out all sorts of tasks that would have been impossible without this piece of modern technology. A good friend of mine in Wallaceburg, Bob Leach, retired fellow, recently entered the computer world. His son was taking him on a brief journey around the net and stopped briefly at classmates.com. Bob went back to check out his graduating year and there were people registered he'd not seen or heard of in many, many years. He was, according to his son, flabbergasted at finding this out. Well, I hope Bob is reading along with cktimes, and some of my other Wallaceburg friends as well. Remember, if you enjoy cktimes, please tell your friends, neighbours and even the people you don't like very much – we all have to work together to build readership.

I must say that it looks like we're expecting a really big crowd for tonight's performance at the Glass Onion Folk Club. Harry Manx, future blues legend, is bringing his act to town and it should be a great show. Check the Glass Onion link later in the week.

Was up to Sauble Beach this past weekend for an annual weekend with the boys. Myself and three old high school friends head for Sauble each year to reminisce about the old days and quaff a few – and even play a round of golf. I had a great time with the boys, except for the golf where we endured major rain and 100 km/h winds. It got me thinking, though, that the old friends are somehow the best friends. My buddies and I have been having this get together for the past 10 years and I seldom see them at any other time of the year. Yet, after about 30 seconds, it's like we've never been apart. And it continually surprises me the things we have in common. One of my friends and I were talking about plays we'd seen at Stratford Festival and it was surprising that we shared favourite plays, even though they weren't the most popular shows that had been presented. We just have similar tastes, even though we've been apart for 30 years. If you have friends who are dear to you, don't forget to try to stay in touch with them. It's something you'll be glad you did.

If you drive up the Bear Line through Dover Township, you'll see a few huge piles of sugar beets sitting out in the middle of a field or two. I had a great meeting with Brian Fox, past chair of the Ontario Sugar Beet Growers' Association, and learned a bit more about this crop which has been re-introduced into Chatham-Kent over the last few years. Sugar beets were a huge industry in this neck of the woods at one point in the past, but died out in the mid-1960's, when processing plants in both Chatham and Wallaceburg closed. This year, there will be 10,000 acres of beets grown in Ontario and the entire crop is sold for American dollars over in Michigan. Talk about a favourable export trading item. Great work to all the folks who have worked so hard to bring the beet back to the forefront in C-K.

So, I've decided that while running my last business, I didn't charge my customers quite enough for my services. So, I've decided to send them out a new bill asking for an additional $120 from them. They can spread it out over six months and I'm not asking for the money until January so they can have a merry Christmas. What are the chances I'd get away with this? Not many.

Sorry about ignoring Health Minister Tony Clemente who was in C-K on Monday this week. I figured every other media in the known world would be there, so I wouldn't be missed. If it's any consolation to Mr. Clemente, I plan to ignore Brian Tobin later in the week as well.

Anyway, out of space for another week. Hope things are going well for you. Remember..."Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may."



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.