Peter Has Band Advice, Festival News, and a Remarkable Young Film-Maker

Summer is finally here….almost. Summer in Canada means barbeques, backyards, balconies, beaches, bathing suits, baseball, beer and badminton. (Enough with the alliteration, already. Get on with it. Ed.)

Summer in Canada also means that the days are growing longer. Gone are the dreary months of only seeing that pale yellow orb in the sky on weekends and sick days. Life moves outdoors as much as possible as we frequent patios, campgrounds and parks, squeezing every possible second of fun that we can out of this fleeting season, for we know that the leaves that shade us in July will need to be raked up and disposed of properly in October. (Mother Nature always bats last.)

Pat Blythe – The Mariposa experience…..

…….and WE’RE BACK!!!!! Summer is half over. That’s the sad news. We still have the other 50% of summer to experience. That’s the great news. I’ve been spending more time on the road this year photographing shows and festivals and visiting family more frequently.

The House at Pete Corner….

Today’s column is about an unsung hero of my childhood. Charles and Helen Montreuil had moved their steadily growing brood to Orillia. I was an infant when the move was made, hence I had about as much say in the final decision as I remember having in every decision made in my two marriages. My feeling is that it was to allow Mum to live in the same town as her widowed mother and her only sibling, Aunt Pat. You will hear more about these great women in future columns, but for now, please note that Aunt Pat had a Pekingese named “Boony” (As he never gave me his autograph, spelling is approximate.)