At Home in Hespeler

Heady days here in Hespeler as our circa 1950’s liquor store is replaced by a new,12,000 square foot behomoth, that has room for a vintages section and, get this, more than 4 feet of cold display for the beer. Our old store was serviceable but the former drive-through store, that was one of those “fill out the form and somebody will get your Canadian Club for you,” set-ups until sometime in the 70’s, had outlived it’s usefulness. It never really could handle the Hespeler appetite, and now we have the 6th biggest LCBO outlet in Ontario. Heady days indeed.

Not to be outdone, the ROC (rest of Cambridge) threw their Santa Claus parade on the south side of the 401, and had a parade driver arrested for impaired driving– I am reliably informed it was, in fact, Santa’s driver. He will plead fog I am guessing.

Maybe they can’t handle their drink in the ROC, but here in Hespeler Daddy Dalton has deemed us all growed up and sent us flying into the 1990’s. We are, as you can imagine, chuffed.

Blogging will be light the rest of the evening, as I have some  Wychwood Brewery Bah Humbug Christmas Ale to get through.

Cambridge Bah Humbug Christmas Ale, Cambridge, Dalton McGuinty, Hespeler, LCBO, Parade, Santa Claus, Wychwood Brewery

Now that sounds better than the Cambridge Penguins. I was on the NHL to Cambridge kick before the idea became mainstream during the Nashville to Southern Ontario fiasco. But when you overhear something at the gym from “two guys who heard it from a friend, who knows a guy,” you know you have a scoop.

Sadly, however, it appears Jim Balsillie, if he can pry the Coyotes out of Phoenix, will move them to Hamilton. Southern Ontario is a great market, and if you read the two links given, you’ll know

I believe Cambridge can work: It’s an hour or less from the growth spots – downtown Toronto to London; it’s right along the 401, and RIM owns a parcel of land right at the 401 and Townline; It is outside both Buffalo and Toronto’s 50 mile boundary (just); and the Cambridge Coyotes has a nice alliterative ring to it.

Hamilton on the other hand… lets just say, find me one Hamilton Tiger Cat fan outside of the City of Hamilton. Sorry Hamilton, but Southern Ontario won’t cheer for your team. It will be a Hamilton team, drawing from Burlington to St. Catherines.

As to whether Balsillie will get the Coyotes out of Phoenix, the NHL has been dramatically weakened by the current economic climate. Three teams appear to be in serious trouble, many more hurting. Gary Bettman, for all his bluster, works for the owners. He has already cost them in Nashville. It may be true that the other owners don’t like Balsillie’s style, but sooner rather than later, they’re going to decide they like the colour of his money. It appears, as well, Balsillie has played this one very deftly, possibly opening the NHL to a lawsuit should they decide they don’t want him in the club. The bottom line is, if the bankruptcy judge accepts Balsillie’s offer, the NHL would have trouble turning him down.

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Update: via Christian Conservative, sign the petition to make it seven NHL teams in Canada.

Cambridge 401, Balsillie, Bettman, Buffalo, Cambridge, Coyotes, Gary, Hamilton, Highway 401, Jim, London, Nashville Predators, Penguins, Phoenix, RIM, Tiger Cats, Toronto, Twonline Road

This is what happens when you want the government, when you want other people, to do everything. You don’t get it.

Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, and Deputy Premier, George Smitherman told the city of Cambridge this week that priorities must be made, and they need to chose between a hospital or a theatre:

When asked about funding for Cambridge Memorial Hospital and the new arts centre in Cambridge for Drayton Theatre, George Smitherman told The Record, quote, “you’ve got to have priorities and sometimes one has to give way to the other.”

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig, in a fit of sensibility, told Smitherman, expand the hospital. He’s dead right.

It’s time the arts community stepped up and sang for their supper. This is one community, and I can’t imagine the cantankerous caterwauling if a minister in Stephen Harper’s government had said the same thing, that has the capability to raise funds. The city is committed to $6M – arts community, find the other six.

Back in Brampton in the 80’s, I had some friends who played on an album that local musicians put together to raise funds for the Peel Memorial Hospital expansion. It is much easier, and cheaper to do now. There are festivals, plays, concerts all over town all year. Some benefit shows, some passing the bucket at the larger festivals – how about Shakespeare in the Park this summer and you can ask for donations. More than any other, the arts community have the capability to raise money: Cambridge arts, it’s time to step up.

Cambridge