Life in the near north is more pastoral, more idylic, more peaceful. What with local parades, community festivals probably with games like horseshoes and bocce. Well, maybe not bocce as that may be a conflict of cultures. No ulcers here!
Read Rotzy’s snapshot of a summer festival in small town, Ontario.
And “locals” should not miss THE BIGGEST YARD SALE IN THE WORLD !
And BTW, congrats to Rotzy on being recognized as the driving force behind all the events…for many years too!
We Got Lucky….
….here at “F/N”HQ a week ago Tuesday! The wind came up….a BIG wind, seemingly out of nowhere….acting not unlike a mini-tornado going clockwise. Yours truly stood on the deck, half frozen in a state of amazement, thinking it might be a good idea to join Miz. Jo in the living room. The next five seconds was like super slow-motion as I heard a groan of sorts, a loud CRACK, then an even louder THUDD as I watched the top third of a 20” dia/75ft poplar come crashing down on top of our bird bath and perennial garden! A mere 20 or 25 feet behind Norm The Nissan Truck! Still somewhat ‘frozen’, I said (to myself) “Hey Toad, maybe you wanna move Norm in case the rest of the tree decides to come down too!” So, I did…parking Norm over beside Jo Ann’s Equinox on the other side of our driveway. Then, as I was contemplating if perhaps a change of underwear was in order, it was gone! ‘It’ being the wind. Like I said, ”we got lucky”. Now, I gotta get it cleaned up….so if any of the readership has a chainsaw and wants some free/gratis firewood, drop by and help yourself.
Nakina is 95!!
It’s Sun 9:00 AM as I’m writing this, two days down and one to go for our 95th Anniversaire. Mrs. Jo and Rotzy have seen a LOT of familiar faces on Fri and Sat….some old, some not-so-old, and some new (at least ‘new’ to us), who obviously would be kids and grandkids of the aforementioned. At Friday’s Meet And Greet at the Rec Complex I heard it suggested by some visitors who, like Jo Ann and I, would surely qualify as ‘old’, they said ”we/they need name tags….big ones with large letters”. Maybe the 100th Committee can/will make a note of that? As to the 95th Committee…..all of them….an absolutely GREAT job! and a tip of the “F/N” hat goes out to you all!! It takes a goodly number of volunteers to pull this off. Such as feeding the masses breakfasts, lunches and dinners….a huge undertaking….and in 2018 there were/are zero restaurants to ‘fall back on’. By the bye, a big ‘thank you’ to the Committee for the very thoughtful ‘parting gift’ for yours truly, who is now ‘The Former Nakina Parade Master’, at the Sat Opening Ceremonies. I was pretty much tongue-tied, and that doesn’t happen very often. We haven’t had any feedback on last night’s dance yet. However, the ‘pre-sold/advance’ tickets sounded VERY promising, as people were coming from all over Greenstone and beyond. Miz. Jo and Rotzy are looking forward to the #116 Legion Jam Session this aft, which will surely feature/include descendants of the McKillip, Ball and Downey clans….meaning plenty of jigs and reels!! As well as the army of volunteers, most of whom ALWAYS are involved in community stuff, you will always find a few chronic complainers. ALWAYS! Kinda like a bad fart that won’t go away, if you know what I mean. Luckily there are not near as many of them as there are volunteers. The whiners sit on their hands (literally and figuratively) at the rear or in the middle of the gathering, they seldom smile and appear to have stomach gas. And they mumble things like ”The parade was far too short”….”The Entertainment Night wasn’t entertaining”….”The Music was too loud/not loud enough”….”The food was too expensive”….and cetera, and cetera. ‘Nuff said….at the end of the day, or as the case may be, at the end of the night, we somehow made our way through it WITHOUT them. ALWAYS! Happy 95th Nakina!!!
Bass Derby
Between the 95th, the Parade, visiting, company stopping by “F/N”HQ, continuing to get organized for our Rotzys’ Moving Sale Sat Aug 11th and Sun Aug 12 (*see below), etc. we haven’t made it out to Cordingley Lake as of yet to see who’s leading in the standings. So….SO….we’ll do just that, before heading up to Branch #116 after lunch. I expect the Fish and Game Club will have posted results on Facebook *tm soon as they’re finalized. Stay tuned.
I Would Be Remiss….
….if I didn’t do a shout-out to a few folks who made favourable comments to me about the “From Nakina” column during the Parade, including Jeff from CBC T Bay, who is also a member of The Pipes and Drums, and a former OPP Constable (who now calls Cobourg Ont home) who lived/worked in Nakina back circa 1980? Thanks!
The Rotzys‘ Moving/Yard Sale
(*see above) This will be/is a blatant/unabashed ‘advertisement’ for this weekend’s event here at “F/NHQ” which I’m calling Nakina’s Biggest Yard Sale Ever….Sat Aug 11th and Sun Aug 12th….10:00-2:00….rain or shine! It said in this space last week ”we are selling EVERYTHING but our souls”….no kidding! but hey, if the price is right, well who knows??!! XMAS stuff!!, dishes, antiques, curios/non-curios/curious stuff too, cutlery, fancy/not fancy stuff/things of all descriptions, tools galore. Lots of freebies/giveaways!! Did I mention Xmas stuff? Yes, I see I did. Get some CASH….lotsa CASH…and to get ready to spend it! Free Trip To Hawaii for some ‘lucky shopper’!!! OK, OK, OK….I lied about that….but come on out and have some funn…and spend some money. *See you on the weekend….I’m gonna pray for sunny skies….and He and I are on a definite roll after last Saturday’s sun shone down on my Parade!
*Thought Of The Day…All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. (Charles Schulz)
“From Nakina”…until next tyme.
