Sussex, New Brunswick - The Mural Capital of Atlantic Canada

Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada

One of the most enjoyable things to do in Canada is a driving trip during the summer months.

We have made numerous driving trips throughout North America. One of the most memorable trips we did was the one to the east coast of Canada!


A little while back, we took a trip out east.  Driving from Toronto, we visited Quebec City where we stayed in a pretty nice hostel and stayed for a couple of night visiting the fall and watched a show.

We departed Quebec City last Friday and reached Sussex, New Brunswick on Saturday.  My brother has been working and living here for  six years.  We had dinner with him and on Sunday he gave us an insider’s tour of the potash mine and processing plant where he works as an electrical inspector. 

 Sussex tries to distinguish itself from the myriad little non-descript towns that dotted the landscape by being the ‘Wall Mural” capital of Canada. Numerous full size murals covered many of the entire sidesof buildings in downtown Sussex. Wayne likes the small town living and seems to have made a few friends there as well.

Sussex is a small town in  New Brunswick with a population of around four thousand people.

Though not a big town, it is known as the Mural Capital of Atlantic Canada.

The Royal Visit

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There are more than two dozens of huge murals painted on the walls of houses and buildings  all over town with the majority of them in downtown Sussex.

The Picnic Mural in Downtown Sussex, New Burnswick

These murals depict the history and the development of the town of Sussex and the region.









 There were a lot to see. When driving past Sussex, do allow some time to visit this impressive outdoor gallery of larger than life murals.

Larger than life murals - Notice the person standing on the bottom right hand corner of the mural

We enjoyed walking around and looking at all the beautiful artwork!

The murals often cover the entire walls of the buildings where they were painted

The best part about this - there was no admission charge at all to this display! So anyone can enjoy these artworks as many times and as long as they wish.

Early pioneer settlers

Taking the time to appreciate the details  of the artwork, we learned that each  scene of the mural tells a story of its own.

Hockey – a rural religion 

These murals depict the different life aspects of the region

The Merchants of Sussex

Visiting my brother at Sussex, New Brunswick at his office trailer

 

R.T.

Blog posted Sept 2015

Visit in July of 2011

    

A Breakfast Feast Brings Our Big Fat Family Together in Summer!

Enjoying the pool during the scorching hot Labour Day weekend

Though it was the Labour Day long weekend, the last official weekend of summer, Toronto and its surrounding area were experiencing a heat wave.

 It was a scorching hot day at 33 degrees C., with the humidity, it was a whooping 37 degree C!

My sis planned the pancake brunch with style and precision!

Thinking about our family get together and  all the Finnish pancakes we were going to have the next day, I was too excited to sleep!

The syrup & sauce basket

 I love our family get together especially when my sister, Rosie, is hosting it at her home.

A breakfast pancake feast

She has a spacious lovely house and she plans everything with style and precision.

A pancake face decorated the centrepiece

This time was even better as she was hosting this party with lots of help from some great cooks of the family's younger generation.

Finnish pancakes cooked by Jordon and Melody

Our family has deep roots in Thunder Bay, a small city in northern Ontario. One of the family's favorite eateries is Hoito Restaurant, a Finnish Restaurant serving authentic Finnish dishes.

J. got the secret pancake recipe!

Our family's all time favorite has always been the Finnish pancakes. Every time when we, at different times of the year, return to visit our hometown, we always pay a visit there and order this dish.  We love the food but none of us thought of asking for the recipe.

Mel cooking up a storm in the kitchen

Recently, J. and his family visited the restaurant and with his natural charm , he managed to obtain the secret recipe for their famous pancakes.

Together with Melody, Jordon took up the challenge, cooked up a storm and served pancakes to his hungry relatives on the Labour Day weekend!

Dave -manning the BBQ

Upon learning this good fortune, my sister sprang into action and invited J. to cook the much loved pancakes for her.

Grandma and the great grand kids

She was generous enough to invite all the family members to partake in this breakfast feast!

Basic ingredients of the Finnish pancake

I love the Finnish pancakes therefore, I watched closely at Jordon and Melody and tried to learn how to make my favourite pancakes.

The basic ingredients are flour, milk and egg.

Mixing the ingredients in a blender

To save time,Jordon mixed  these ingredients in a blender.
Why didn't I think of that? I always mix the pancake in a big bowl and keep beating the mixture until my hands are tired.
This is a smart and better way!

Fresh fruit toppings for the pancakes

R. organized the pancake brunch and asked each of us to bring some specific fruit/ food items.

Chopped apples and hot dogs

Her instructions were so specific that I was wondering of the reason.

But when we got there, everything was crystal clear of what her brunch plan was. 

We could build our pancakes as suggested in the pictures

To inspire us to be creative and try different type of pancakes, our host printed out pictures of the pancakes topped or stuffed with a variety of toppings.

For meat lovers - pancakes,  sausages and bacon

Depending on our preferences, we could cover our delicious hot pancakes freshly off the frying pans with in season fruits such as chopped apples, slices peaches, bananas, avocados, raspberries etc.

The pancakes go really well with crisp sliced bacon--delicious!

For those meat lovers, there were smoked salmon, salivating sausages, or crisp bacon slices.

Our yummmy dessert creator at work!

There were choices that catered and pleased all tastes. It was not just a pancake breakfast, but a feast fit for the king!

Healthy roll oats & fruit desserts

 We enjoyed a lot of fresh and delicious food!

We always enjoy our family time together

The best part of this great pancake feast was bringing our family together during the Labour Day weekend.

Opportunity to catch up with family members!

It was great catching up with family members whom we have not seen for a little while.

There were family members who drove all the way from Ottawa to attend this pancake get together!

Celebrating my brother's milestone birthday and retirement!

Ah! We also celebrated my brother, Paul's 65th birthday and his retirement at this family event!

It was a lovely lovely afternoon spending time with family members!

Toronto is a big city and even though most of us live within the Greater Toronto Area, it's not easy to see each other often.

Putting together an event like this for a big fat family takes planing, organization and lots of work from many people.

Hats off to the main organizers

The brunch was a fun event!

We were fortune that both Rosie's and Jordon's family took the lead on this one allowing us to have a great time and enjoy some great food together!

A big thank you to both of these families!

Love to see that becoming a family tradition every Labour Day!

R.T.
Richmond Hill
Ontario

Day Camp Evaulation - Teens Are Harder on Themselves

High school students volunteered at the VBS camp

I could never be able to run the Vacation Bible Camp every year throwout the tremendous help from our volunteers.

Volunteer leaders assume vital roles in the camp

Every year, the volunteers assume vital roles in the planning and running of our camp.

Volunteer leaders prepared & taught craft activities to the children

We divide the different jobs and utilize the strengths of our volunteers.

Volunteer leaders worked with & supervised campers

Some lead singing; some lead really fun games; some taught crafts activities while some taught interesting lessons to the children.

Volunteers came up with very creative activities for kids!

It is because of these volunteers that we could have a variety of activities and games for our campers.

At the daily debriefing meeting

In order to improve our camp, this year I asked the volunteer leaders to hold a debrief meeting at the end of each day so that they could review and discuss what happened at camp that day.

Evaluation of their worked happened every day!

I suggested the leaders of the groups to take term chairing the meeting.








They would give each other feedback on how they did and what to improve.

Discussions & Planning also took place during lunch hour

I found out that when teens are given responsibilities; they could be harder on themselves than we are.

A volunteer teaching a science lesson on the Solar System

For example: the volunteer leaders took turn teaching a fun science lesson to the children each day.

A science lesson on Flight

During the debriefing sessions, one of the  leaders reminded the other volunteers about communicating with children.

She gave an example - when teaching or talking to the children they needed to have eye contact, prepare short notes, rather than reading them out to the children who they felt have short attention span.

Leaders each took turn chairing the debriefing meeting

What really surprised me was half way through the camp, the leaders evaluate the junior counsellors on how they had done so far, giving them  honest feedback!

Hats off to our volunteers!

Wow! hats off to the great attitude of these teen volunteers! Throughout the whole week, they demonstrated a positive attitude, enthusiasm, creativity in the running of the camp.

 Some demonstrated maturity beyond their level - the desire to help each other to reach a higher standard, self and professional improvement.

Volunteers made a tremendous contribution to the VBS

It was an honour for me to have worked with such a fantastic group of volunteers!


Thank you to all your help and tremendous contribution to the camp! You are an awesome bunch!

R.T.
Director - TECA
Toronto Education &
Communications Associates
Conducting training and running
VBS Camp, Waterloo
2015