Harry Stemp July 23, 2009
Harry Stemp was born in Uxbridge in 1934. He started his career with the Uxbridge Times-Journal as an apprentice typesetter at age 14. He soon began writing sports for the Times-Journal and eventually owned 10 community newspapers in central Ontario including the Times-Journal. He started writing his award-winning Stemp’s Stew in 1965. The column came to an end shortly after he sold his newspaper chain in 1989, but was rejuvenated in 2006 when Harry became a regular contributor to The Cosmos.
Previous
A pleaseant Sunday
?Love it when our community receives positive publicity, and we have doing pretty well lately.
I'm sure you have seen the CTV self-promotions that feature our York-Durham Steam Train. They have been running on prime time news for a couple of weeks. Great seeing people you know doing the things they love, and entertaining visitors with a scenic trip between Uxbridge and Stouffville.
Then I picked up a copy of the July issue of Toronto Life and was surprised to see a heading “How Uxbridge Became A Real Estate Hot Spot”. The article mentioned some of the businesses and activities that, put together, make up our wonderful community, but the article centered on two happenings.
Actor Hayden Christensen and his fiancée Rachel Bilson and their huge construction site just north of Uxbridge have caused a lot of interest.
The paparazzi have been seen following them around town visiting stores and restaurants. I understand the couple plan to go back to the earth and will have a field of lavender and a barn full of pigs. Not sure if those two go together.
Then on to the Brookdale area and the massive 10,00 square foot home (six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, theatre and a 14-car garage) built by Toronto businessman Robert Lee caught the eye of the reporter.
Add to this the NHL players we have living here, including former NHL star Gary Roberts, and you can understand why a magazine like Toronto Life took a sudden interest in Uxbridge.
Mix the above in with your wonderful friends and neighbours, and you can understand why when you mention 'I live in Uxbridge', people say, 'wow, lucky you'!
--------------------------------
Sounds like my kind of Parrot! Former employee Tony Ricciuto let me know about Biscuit, a talking African Grey Parrot that escaped from a Niagara Falls home. Biscuit is a talking wonder, and would fit right into my home lifestyle; he asks for a cold beer when he is thirsty and chants 'Go Leaf Go' whenever there's a hockey game on television.
Biscuit also knows how to sing 'Frosty The Snowman', can count numbers from 1 to 10 and when someone turns on the vacuum cleaner it reminds everyone in the house 'don't make a mess, don't make a mess'.
So why wouldn't anyone enjoy having Biscuit for company? Maybe with a little work I could train Biscuit to not only ask for a cold one but to bring me one.
Unfortunately it won't happen. As I write this another message informed me sadly that Biscuit has been found - dead! A shame!
The 2nd Annual Uxbridge Legion Ribfest was a tremendous success. Just ask the over 12,000 people who attended as well as the ribbers and vendors. They were singing the praises of the organizers as it closed down Sunday evening.
Takes a tremendous amount of effort to pull off an event like this, and Legion President Jack Ballinger and V-P Dave Kasza deserve a big pat on the back for a job well done. Add to this the 100 Legion volunteers and you can see that this event couldn't happen without them.
Now Elgin Park moves on and hosts the Highlands of Durham Games this weekend, and a new crew of volunteers will take over and make it happen.
It had to happen, but sad to learn that World War I veteran and the world's oldest man at 113, Henry Allingham, died earlier this week. Henry will be missed as, in his declining years, he saw as his mission to remind future generations about the sacrifices of the millions slaughtered in the trenches, killed in the air, or lost at sea.
The freedoms we enjoy today we owe to people like Henry, who suffered through one of the worst wars in history on behalf of our country.
And you have to love the spirit of these old vets. Henry jokingly attributed his remarkable longevity to 'cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women'.
Rest in peace, Henry. You surely deserve it.
