Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies were held at WFCU Centre Thursday night. The floor was reserved for athletes coming from all over Ontario, while the stands were filled with many hundreds of fans and well-wishers.
Reciting together Dr. Hayden’s oath that has been part of the Special Olympics since its second year, in 1970.
The train was an hour late. Windsor weather was muggy, cloudy, and rained on and off. But that didn’t get their spirits down. Athletes, coaches, and other volunteers such as the group shown below disembarked looking pumped and excited about the coming three days.
For further info, visit Special Olympics Windsor website.
See you tonight at WFCU Centre!
Music… food… art… oh… and balloons. Lots of balloons. The Art Walkerville festival enters its 7th year, now as a two-day event. It runs Friday and Saturday, July 17-18.
Visitors to the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market this morning were fortunate to be able to purchase the first corn of the season, courtesy of Adamson Farms from Leamington.
Stan Meloche’s “Tailgate Diner” was another new addition to the market for Week 2
Dawn was pleased to discover Faerhaven Soap from Harrow and picked up a couple bars of their all-natural soap. Here another customer browses their products and free samples.
Just a few snapshots of what you missed… if you didn’t go.
As promoted by Bike Windsor, the 2nd University of Windsor Bicycle Research Co-Op Ride #2 took place tonight, starting on University Ave. West near Cameron, then headed through downtown, the Erie St. BIA, Walkerville, and back west again. As Dawn and myself had already put 9km on before the ride started, we ducked out after the Walkerville portion and returned to our home, making for a nice round trip tonight of 17.5 km.
Darren assisting another rider…
The Erie St. BIA stretch. Bicycle-friendly territory here.
Nice group of young riders. Respectful of traffic signals and courteous toward other traffic. A nice even pace was kept with no need to worry about “keeping up”. It’s a ride anyone can join. You don’t have to be associated with the U of W. Both Dawn and myself enjoyed this very much.
On the corner of Parent and Tecumseh Rd. E, this very old former car dealership is the latest to fall prey to the busy building eaters of Windsor. For those who remember, it was for the longest time a thriving GM dealership under Bill Howitt. After that it went through a succession of occupants including Hyundai and Overseas Motors. I am not sure if anyone else remembers anything about the history of this location? I am told the very rear section dates back to at least the ’30s when it was a Bell Canada building. More in-depth history at International Metropolis.
Facebook and Twitter were buzzing with news of citizen led picketing to take place in front of the CUPE office on Parent. The protest was due to start at 2PM so yours truly arrived early hoping to get some photos. The picketing comprised one solitary but pumped protester holding signs alleging CUPE inaction during the fall of the Big Three and another taking them to task for their role in the cancelation of the Dragon Boat races in Windsor.
By three o’clock, the lone protester crossed to the east side of the road and was soon greeting by CUPE officials, including Jim Wood and Jean Fox. They found his breast cancer sign imflammatory and asked for him to give it to them, which he complied with. After a short but civilised and respectful discussion of the issues, CUPE went back inside leaving the lone protester to his devices.
Just as I was about to leave, this young man was joined by two young women clad in garbage bags, bringing this microblogger led protest to a grand total of three. My hat is off to those who put down their iPhones and showed up, as well to CUPE for their excellent communication skills in dealing with this situation. How the rest of the day will pan out is anyone’s guess…
This 1952 Plymouth Cranbrook is special to its owner, my old friend Jeff, whom I grew up with on Pelissier street in the ’70s. The reason it is so special is that it rolled off the line at the Windsor Assembly Plant some fifty-seven years ago, built by the hands of UAW Local 195. With some TLC it is once again a daily driver. This is not a professional restoration destined for a life behind a rope in a snooty museum. It’s simply a well made car hailing from a forgotten era. Only one part (in the 6v electrical system) has been replaced with a modern solid state equivelant. Some other parts were harvested from a 2nd “parts” Cranbrook. The rest is original, including the 95hp flathead straight 6 and smooth-shifting “three on the tree” manual transmission. No on-board computer here to tether you to a dealer mechanic, nor any $500 motors for rolling windows up/down. But this is still the best way to take a summer drive out to Amherstburg and back, hands down.
Thanks the efforts of dedicated volunteers the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market became a reality today. Patrons were trickling in well before the official 8 am open time. By 10 am the property was packed while the ribbon cutting ceromony took place – as seen in today’s photo.
Vendors were selling everything from home baked breads and cookies, garden vegetables, pancake mixes and flour, gourmet nuts, to arts and crafts items like jewellery, paintings, and sculptures. Even literature was available in the form of a used book table and Walkerville publishing. I brought a $20 bill and still came home with $5 change after stocking up on local produce I normally have to drive through the county to find.
Conspicuous in their absence were the mayor and councilors, with the notable exception of Alan Halberstadt who arrived on his bicycle, toured the market, and spoke at the ribbon cutting ceremony (and Percy Hatfield who was spotted briefly earlier).
Congrats to Gail, Tristan, and everyone else who made this work.
Unless the CRTC blinks on the issue of carriage fees, and soon, A-Channel will likely go black at the end of August, ending an era of outstanding local news coverage. It always impressed me how you see A-Channel almost everywhere, even at events like this one at the Windsor Flying Club last summer that drew little attention from the other media outlets.
