570News - Gary Doyle

Q…Mr. Smitherman…boxers or briefs..

A. depends!

This is too easy. Thanks George, for the visual. Now get the soother out and see if that makes the daycare problems disappear.

didn’t think so.

Forgive my pre-occupation. Bluevale Collegiate in Waterloo has been home to both my sons, and today my youngest takes part in another concert. This time, he knows it’s the right thing to do, but isn’t looking forward to it. The Bluevale Chamber Choir will sing at the funeral of a 19-year old classmate who took his own life last weekend. I wrote early this week on the tragedy of teen suicide and received a number of e-mails, not all of them sympathetic. I will debate that later, because today it’s too much. The friends of this boy are devestated, so whatever level of your personal moral outrage, focus on the confusion this created. And say a prayer for his family, who will never escape the questions.

Memo…To Carl Zehr, Geoff Lorentz et al.

Keep the tix for you and your wife, and give the other ones back. Personally, I don’t care, but Kitchener is now the butt of too many jokes. If Sudbury Council can see this, why can’t you?

Cleary, this is the saddest event I can imagine. It was brought home again on the weekend when we were visiting with friends and their daughter was notified of the suicide of a close friend. The song may say “Suicide Is Painless, it brings on many changes”, but the fact is it is horrific. Not only does it end a life that is just beginning, if forever alters the family dynamic. Parents and siblings never recover. Close friends spend hours playing the “what if” game and there is rarely an answer. I remember attending the funeral of a friend a few years ago who took his own life and the pastor opening his comments with “God may not have called him home, but he was there to welcome him.” It’s the only comfort there is, when words are woefully inadequate.

Mickey Renauds’ funeral is today. Peter DeBoer and Ted Scharf are in attendance representing the Kitchener Rangers. The video tribute that Ranger fans will see tonight before the game was played in Peterborough last night. It is very moving. You could hear a pin drop in that rink. I expect the same tonight.

Memo To Self….hug kids when you get home

I actually like winter, but with this much snow it makes it hard to enjoy. Getting to outdoor activities is the tricky part. So, I now participate in my own Winter Games.

1. The Margaret Ave. Pothole Slalom. The idea is to see how many you can miss, without
leaving your lane, or hitting a snowshoveller at the bottom of his/her driveway.

2. The Slushy Shot Put. The purpose of this event is to find places to throw the wet, slushy
heavy snow the plow piles up for you at the end of the driveway.

3. Sandy Patterns. (I don’t use salt on my sidewalks or driveway) But I do like to spell out
messages in the sand I distribute daily up and down the property line. Please excuse my
slepping issues.

4. The Driveway Reward Plan. (not for minors) I learned this from a friend. Place 3 bottles of
beer in the snowbank along your driveway (top, middle and bottom) Start by having a
cool one, and then reward yourself when you get halfway done and finish off the job with a
toast to David Suzuki and Al Gore.

yer welcum

It’s hard to believe that a 19-year old elite athlete could just die. But, that’s exactly what happened to Mickey Renaud yesterday. The captain of the Windsor Spitfires was at his family home when he collapsed and never opened his eyes again. How? Why? Big questions that so far, have no answers. How we should know later today. We’ll be asking why for a long time. When I got the call at home yesterday I was stunned. My mind immediately when back to the 1977-78 hockey season was I was part of the broadcast team of the Weyburn Red Wings in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. A 19-year old winger named Marcel Labelle fell in front of the opposition net and was dead before he hit the ice. It was a week before we learned that he suffered a brain aneurism. Every time a young person dies I think of Marcel. I was just one year older than he was at the time of his death. The answer to the why question will just have to wait. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Mickey Renaud, gone much too soon.

My wife and I spent Valentines Night at St. Jacob’s Playhouse Theatre watching the season opening production of the The Mouse Trap. I saw this play in 1980 while in England, but mostly I was in awe of the ancient theatre the Strand. Therefore it was good to see the play again. Cudos to the staff and performers, but I’m getting used to first class entertainment at Drayton Entertainment facilities. If you want to know who-done-it, go-see-it!

Wouldn’t it be better to treat our loved ones special every day?

News Flash….Dolly Parton cancels tour because of back problem. Who knew that was going to happen? That’s what I thought.