A Celebration of Life for John Rogers of Mississauga

On our way from Waterloo to Mississauga

It was a gorgeous end of summer and the start of an autumn day!


We were in Waterloo this Sunday but ended our visit early as we wanted to attend the memorial service of John Rogers and honour his life.

Life is precious and fragile; it can end suddenly taking with it the ones we love with little forewarning.

A memorial service for John Rogers

As we were driving to John's memorial service, I thought of John Rogers and images of his friendly face kept coming back to me.

Unfortunately, I did not have the privilege of  knowing John on a more personal level. What I knew of him was through a few encounters at some family gatherings.

 A humble person, John never bragged about his numerous community involvements, valuable contributions made to the city he loved and the medals he was awarded for his community services.

A successful business man who opened and ran a business for many years in the city of Mississauga, John still  found time to volunteer in public service.

Credit Valley Golf and Country Club, Mississauga

The memorial service was held at the Credit Valley Golf and Country Club where John and his beloved wife, June, have been members for years.

The place was packed with guests who wanted to celebrate John's life

We got there shortly after 5:30pm and the place was packed with people who wanted to honour and celebrate his life, a tribute to John's down to earth personality, his open, and warm welcoming approach to everyone he met.

M., John's son paying tribute to his dad

I remembered well the first time I met John. It was at a co- ed wedding shower for his elder son, M, and his bride to be, J.

The shower was held at the backyard of our humble abode and the guests were mostly young people, friends and families of the bride.

John and June hardly knew anybody at the party save their son and his betrothed.  There were some obvious and subtle cultural differences that John experienced for the first time at this party.

However, John did not feel uncomfortable or awkward in this unfamiliar setting.  He did not just sit back and kept to himself talking only to people he knew like so many of us tend to do. He made an effort and talked to others he didn't know, genuinely enjoying the party.  He was a good sport and he took part in all the games and activities which we planned for the soon to be married couple and guests.

We had a really fun time together!  As I am writing this piece, I vividly recall the good laughs we had bringing a smile to my face.

As in the movie " The Big Fat Greek Wedding", John's son's wedding was a big fat Chinese wedding. John and June made an effort to get to know his new in-laws and other extended family members.

Though we are not immediate family members of John's daughter-in-law,  my husband and I and other family members were invited to John's house for a lovely luncheon.  My brother and his wife, John's new in-laws were invited to their cottage and other events long after the wedding. I often heard my brother talking about their pleasant visits with John and what a great time they had together.

There were many tributes and interesting stories shared at John Rogers' memorial service including Hazel, the former mayor of Mississauga.
I learned of John's wonderful contributions and services to his community and the tremendous support he gave to the young people through  tributes paid by fellow guests. I wished I knew him better.

A reception followed after guests paid tribute and celebrated John's life 

I read once somewhere that it is not important how long one has lived on this earth but by HOW one lived and how much one accomplished in his/ her life.

John has lived a good blessed life and he was dearly loved by his family and friends. His life has touched many and impacted numerous.






Farewell, John, till we meet in heaven one day. I will make sure I'll get to know you much better in the eternal life!

R.T.
Toronto

2016 International Buskerfest - a Gathering of Street Performers in Toronto

A beautiful sandy beach in Toronto, Ontario 

It was a beautiful, sunny day last Labour Day long weekend!

We went down to the beach in the Toronto beaches area.

Yes, we do have a beautiful beach in our big city where people can sunbath themselves to their hearts' content. People can relax under  their beach umbrellas or enjoy a game of beach volley ball!




We were down in the beach area looking for the Busker Festival - an annual event held in the streets of downtown Toronto.










But this year, the Buskerfest was moved to a park in the Beaches area.

The Beaches is a big area; we had a difficult time locating the exact location where the festival was held.

We were happy when we saw a group of performers on high stilts walking towards us, singing and drumming.

The Buskerfest was held to raise fund to support about 40,000 people with epilepsy  and their families.

Woodbine Park, located in Toronto's Beaches Area

This year, the festival was at Woodbine Park.









There was no formal admission charges as admission was by voluntary donations.

There were a lot to see - booths, performers of various kinds, artists demonstrating and finishing their artwork right in front of our eyes!










Recycling some old wooden crate pieces and putting them to creative uses,  an artist worked his magic and turned them to great pieces artwork.

This was an international  gathering of about one hundred buskers from different parts of the world.

Naturally, we had performers and buskers from the U.S., Elvis was among one of them!

Among all of the busker performers, my mom and I enjoyed this musical duo the best!















Both of these performers were quite a pair! One of them was from England, and the other one from a small middle eastern country.

Their act started with both of them walking around singing and playing their songs on their banjos. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.


Then they started doing some interesting acrobatic stunts. One of the performers got on top of his partner who, with his feet, twirling and turning him around in all different directions.

 The gentleman doing the climbing was all over his partner. He climbed on top of his belly, his torso, his back and his neck.

The amazing thing was it didn't matter what stunts these duo was doing, they kept playing music on their banjos as if nothing happened!

A colourful musical tricycle outfitted with drums made from recycled tins

Another thing I really liked at the Buskerfest was an eye catching colourful musical vehicle that attracted a lot of attention from visitors to the festival, especially the kids.






On a closer look, the shinny metal musical instruments hanging on this musical tricycle were in fact made out of old metal lids, pots and pans and old tin cans, big and small!

Kids loved this musical tricycle and there were many jumping onto it and tried their hands on these homemade drums.

My mom taking a break and enjoying a rest.

We had a great time at the International Buskerfest and I was glad that it was a sunny day so that my Mom was able to come and enjoy it too!

R.T.
Buskerfest
Woodbine Park
Toronto

Beautiful Vintage Cars on Display at the Copper Kettle Festival, Creemore, Ontario

Copper Kettle  Festival - Creemore, Ontario

Creemore is a quaint small town about thirty minutes drive from Collingwood.  But last weekend, it was bustling with people and activities.

A spectacular house garden in Creemore, Ontario

Sponsored by a local brewery company, the kettle Copper Festival takes place in this small town every year.

It happened on the same weekend we visited our friends and we were happy to take advantage of the opportunity and went to the festival.

Vintage tractors on display at the festival

There were a number of events happening in Creemore during this annual  festival weekend.

On our first stop, we were at the ground of the Canadian Legion Hall where numerous antique tractors were on display.

D. loves these tractors!

Our friends from the country were very excited at the sight of these old tractors which reminded them of their youthful and good old days on the farm.

A motor cycle made out of pieces of nuts and screws

I enjoyed looking at the beautiful and creative projects created out of used old scrapes of metal such as nuts and bolts.

There were two main locations where the Kettle Festival took place.

On the downtown main street, there was an antique car show.

Owners of vintage vehicles meticulously restored their cars, having spent lots of time, money and efforts restoring them to their original glory.

Walking down the main street, there were rows of magnificent shinning antique cars being displayed and admired by visitors to the festivals.

Proud owners of these vintage vehicles presided over their pride and joy at the Creemore;s vintage car show

Proud owners of these enviable vehicles brought with them lounge chairs sitting close by, taking in the fine weather and enjoying the ahhs and uhhs of passersby. 

A new band making its debut performance at the festival

There were music, entertainment, bands playing outside, displays and the most popular place for many was the free tasting of local beer as well as the imported beer.

Free beer tasting - most popular place at the Copper Kettle Festival

We went in for the free beer tasting, lingered in the brewery for a little while.












There was a free tour of the brewery facility but we were too busy enjoying ourselves and didn’t join the tour group.

Another area where a lot of booths displaying local crafts and selling various foods were at the Mad River Park but we didn’t have a chance to visit before it closed.

It was a great weekend for us!

R.T.
Creemore, Ontario

Alpacas - Adorable and Gentle Animals Which Spit at You When Threatened!

View of Collingwood from top of the hill

We went to visit our friends in Collingwood after we left our cabin.





A town of about 12,000 people, Collingwood is a four season vacation town where tourists come to ski in the winter, swim, hike and bike in the summer and fall.





Collingwood has many beautiful grand old houses.










It also has cosy little houses and cottages.

We stayed the night in this lovely town and met our friends for brunch at one of the restaurants serving pretty good breakfast and lunches.


We are rarely here for Saturday and this time we caught the tail end of a farmers' market behind Loblaws in downtown Collingwood.                

Farmers' Market - Collingwood, Ontario

Our attention was caught by a couple of very cute animals, the Alpacas, a mother and her seven day old baby!

A mother alpaca and her seven day old baby

Apacas are friendly, curious and gentle animals originally come from the Andes mountain of South America.



According to the ranchers who keep these animals, alpacas are adaptable animals and do not mind the cold, rain or snow that we have in Canada.

Alpacas have soft padded feet with two toes and they do not have claws or hooves to use as protection.

This seven day old baby alpaca was very alert and cute indeed!

To defend themselves , they spit at their aggressors. They spit when feeling threatened or nervous. However, they rarely spit at people.








We learned that sweaters made with alpacas' hair is seven times warmer than wool and that alpacas are hypo-allergenic. People with allergies are not bothered by sweaters/ clothing made with alpaca fiber.

Alpaca clothing is seven times warmer than wool

From now on, I will be looking for sweaters made with alpaca hair for family and friends who are allergic to wool sweaters!

R.T.
Farmers' Market
Collingwood, Ontario