MCHS Sixties grads Daniel McPhail, Scott Munro, Bob Carswell and Jaan Pill met in Toronto in June 2017
Left to right, Scott Munro, Daniel McPhail, and Bob Carswell meeting for lunch in south Etobicoke early in June 2017. Jaan Pill photo
At a post entitled We have a question regarding archives, files, photos, etc. regarding MCHS grad Peter Parsons, MCHS Sixties Grad Daniel McPhail has commented (May 25, 2017):
My family purchased and moved into the house on Lavigne St in the spring of 1967. Upon moving in we noticed written on the wall of the partially finished basement were the words “farewell old house”.
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I was really pleased that following the comment, Daniel got in touch with me, with the result that he was able to join Scott Munro, Bob Carswell and me for lunch at the Halibut House at 2814 Lake Shore Blvd West in New Toronto (South Etobicoke) early in June 2017 (if I recall the date correctly).
Daniel McPhail,June 2017. Jaan Pill photo
One of the things that Daniel talked about, when we met in June, was that students from Ahuntsic (which is where Daniel lived before he moved to Lavigne St. in Cartierville) used to take the No. 80 bus up Park Ave. to and from Montreal High. I hadn’t known about that bus route, and I was pleased to learn about it.
I also learned from Daniel that Patricia Parsons was the sister of Peter Parsons. That was something I did not know! If anybody has a news update about Patricia Parsons, please let me know.
As I recall from our conversation in June 2017, Daniel lived for a while in Meadowvale in Mississauga after moving from Montreal, and later moved to Milton, Ontario.
View looking west along Lake Shore Blvd. West around Fourth St. in New Toronto (South Etobicoke). Jaan Pill photo
Daniel mentioned he is keen to get in touch, these many years later, with classmates from Malcolm Campbell High School. Please contact me – through this website or at jpill@preservedstories.com – if you’d like it get in touch with Daniel.
We will be getting together for lunch, likely in November 2017
We are working on planning of another lunch, again in South Etobicoke.
I’ll be in touch with people I’ve been in touch with earlier, including Heinz Thurner (Karl), who was in touch with me not long ago. Heinz lives in Burlington, Ontario, not far to the west of Toronto.
Halibut House is at 2814 Lake Shore Blvd West in Etobicoke. Jaan Pill photo
As well, Bob Carswell, Scott Munro, and Janet Hogg are on the email list, that I’ve put together, to help us with planning for our lunchtime get togethers. Janet has not yet joined us for lunch, as her work schedule at times gets in the way, but we look forward to meeting her in future.
Stratford, Ontario
The get togethers are usually about once a month or so. Over the summer, we have not met. Among other things, I’ve been preoccupied with an Ontario Municipal Board hearing. As a result of the outcome of the hearing, and because the timing is right for other reasons, we are moving away from Long Branch in South Etobicoke, where we have lived for the past 20 years. We are heading to Stratford, Ontario.
If you are an MCHS grad, or know any grads, who live in the Stratford area, please let me know. It would be great to have some lunch get togethers in Stratford, as well as in Toronto, and in towns between Stratford and Toronto. All it takes is a little organizing, and that’s always fun to do.
With regard to organizing, I want to mention that today I made a point of marking down a work schedule, for this post. I wrote a note to myself, indicating that from 7:00 pm until 8:30 pm, my task was to write this post. It’s 9:00 pm, as I write this. I’m very pleased that I followed my schedule. Having completed the post, I have the satisfaction of having made a plan, and of having followed through on it.
Jaan you are going to enjoy Stratford it’s a beautiful town had a number of clients in Stratford and enjoyed the drive from London
Lynn wonderful to read your message. We are much enjoying the process of research and networking related to our move to Stratford.
My own introduction to Stratford took place some years ago, when I attended a weekend workshop in Stratford concerned with heritage preservation. The workshop was in connection with ongoing work at the University of Waterloo, related to heritage preservation across Ontario.
On that weekend I got to know Stratford – and its history – quite well. We’ve been to visit Stratford several times more recently and have always enjoyed the experience!
My interests, especially given the increase of extreme weather events across the Earth, includes the natural history of the area – that is, the history of the watersheds, the history of flooding events in the last several decades, the history of amelioration efforts (e.g. upgrading of systems relevant to water runoff), and the location of flood plains. I like to keep such details in mind. If anybody, who is reading this comment, has information to add to what I have learned to date, I am always keen to learn more!
Jaan,
I owe you a couple of emails now that I see that I missed them. The crazy period in my life most recently started with a wedding in London, when the Carswells actually got to sit down with our Saraguay neighbour, Lynne Hennebury now know as Lynn Legge to most of us, for a great luncheon.
It was the first time my two kids were together with me at the same time in the past 15 years as my daughter is married and raising a family of two daughters with her husband in Victoria BC while my son has settled in London, UK after completing an MBA which he began in 2007 at the prestigious London School of Business in entrepreneurial marketing.
From what I understand he has done extremely well for himself and now at age 40 having paid off extensive student loans he incurred 8 to 10 years ago has started a new phase in his life and business plans and is doing very well. I tried to get Lynn to let me pay for them but she would not allow it. I was not aware that it was her treat and only wish we had more time to enjoy her company. Lynn, thanks for a great lunch.
My’s daughter quick trip to London, Ontario and her return to Victoria, another destination for my son as well before heading back to London UK is only a beginning for her. She, her husband and kids now head off to western Australia for a wedding of a close friend of these from his younger days and they then plan to spend two weeks on the beach in Bali.
It is a good thing that he manages a very successful Flight Center operation in Victoria of which he has some ownership as no doubt it will play well in their travel plans as complimentary rooms are the norm while inspecting a site as a potential destination for his customers.
I hope he is able to take advantage of that. Due to my health, disabilities and age it always takes me a lot of time to recover from an outing like the wedding in London, Ontario. However it was compounded this time by an invitation from an old friend to his trailer complex in the Muskoka area of Ontario the following weekend.
There, the power went out and we froze for two days without heat. I later learned that he had failed to check his own breaker and could have quickly turned the power back on but instead of staying until Monday, we returned Saturday afternoon.
Still trying to recover from two busy weekends, it was followed by a Thanksgiving weekend dinner in Whitby, Ontario with my nephew, brother and his wife where I learned after a heated argument that there is an actual 16 point hand and not just two 8-point hands according to Hoyle’s Rules.
Having played the game for years, one a large tournament in it and to find out fifty years later that I was wrong, well, it took a toll too. I guess I have to eat some more Humble Pie and accept defeat on this one.
So, now that I am back at home, I made a great Lasagna that did not work because I put too much sauce in it but itr freezes well.
Then I produced the most fantastic beef stew in a 50-year old Rival crock pot (of which I have two,) that I have ever tasted after letting it slow cook for 8 hours with veggies and a kilo of beef pieces. I then thicken the loads of liquid and fat with a cornstarch roux at 3 a.m. and set it back to high to finish the process having sweetened the flavour with poppyseed dressing and a bit of sugar to go with the potatoes, carrots and can of peaches and cream corn that all added to the final extraordinary product.
It is now 11 a.m. and I had a late night dish and breakfast with it already and suspect I will eat it again for lunch as it seems to hold its heat for a long time. The meat is so tender I can cut it with a fork. WOW!
So there you have it…now that I am getting back on my feet again, so to speak, I have started a new book of inspiration and overnight, which is my creative period, I have already produced the first 3,500 words.
Once this book is complete I will go back and reorganize half a dozen other books I have written which I have not yet published to go along with the dozen that are already out there but need someone’s hand to edit and proofread in the meantime.
It took me more than fifty years to figure out that I suffered from learning disabilities and failing four times in high school never stopped me from completing four university degrees however, I am sure it has all taken a toll on my body. Nevertheless, I am still going strong at 73 (in another month) and I expect to last a few years longer.
So, Jaan, I can now join you for coffee or lunch eventually and I want to hear about all this change in your lives….Stratford, eh? When? My calendar is now open and I found your recent emails that I did not know came in.
I absolutely hate this Microsoft email system in Windows 10 and now I am having trouble even getting photos from my phone to my computer. That is my next problem to deal with once I sort out the source of Electromagnetic Radiation that is attracted to the metal in the hip joint replacement units in my body that are producing excessive heat in my lower joints and sending radio chatter through my body’s electrical system into my brain waking me every few hours whether I want to wake up or not.
Compounded by a single kidney for the past 57 years now operating at about 25%, something that killed my grandmother at age 56 and her sister at about age 33 plus a genetic weight problem that plagued my great grandfather McKinley and his grandson John McKinley at the same age I am now also going deaf, another of the family inheritances that especially affected my great aunt and her daughter in their 50s. Life is a journey so Jaan, let’s get together for a coffee before you move or I go totally deaf.
Good to read the update, Bob!
For sure, we’ll find time for coffee. We will figure out soon, when we will meet next.
As always, you have covered a lot of ground, in your comment, which I read with interest.
Given your interest in history, you might be interested in my update, at a recent post, about the Cooper Site in Stratford.
The recent post refers to a link, which I came across today (while sitting in the passenger seat on a drive back to Toronto following a visit to Kitchener), entitled:
Cooper Block Master Plan: Community Engagement
An introduction to the above-noted link reads (please note that I’ve corrected a commonly made spelling error, changing “complimentary” to “complementary”):
The master plan process will establish a framework for the (re)development of the Cooper Block for municipal purposes, including economic development purposes, anchored by the University of Waterloo satellite campus (as it exists now and as it will build out over time) and other complementary/associated uses that the City wishes to see developed on the block in order to meet its objectives.
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The above-noted link refers to the following document, which offers a quick and cogent overview:
City of Stratford Cooper Block Master Plan: “What We Heard” Consultation Summary and Key Considerations for the Master Plan, September 11, 2017