570News Blog: Glenn Pelletier

Tim Horton had absolutely no idea that lending his name to a donut shop in Hamilton in 1964 would amount to anything, let alone a multi-million dollar empire that would go on to dominate the market in a virtual monopoly.

He was a modestly paid defenceman with the Toronto Maple Leafs who came from borderline poverty in Cochrane, Ontario, born at the beginning of the Great Depression, who fought hard on and off the ice to try to better himself. Hard to imagine now, but an NHL contract in Horton’s day was not a ticket to riches. Far from it. Horton actually worked various summer jobs during his career to make ends meet!

With a new wife, and a growing family, Horton sought any and all business opportunities to try to provide a cushion for his brood, but all to no avail, until he hooked up with a guy named Ron Joyce, an energetic and enterprising man with a dream of riches who was not afraid of 18-hour workdays to fulfill that dream. Joyce aligned himself with Horton, who had just hoisted the Stanley Cup for the third straight season in 1964, and an empire slowly began. Only Tim never lived to see it. Never lived to see Tim Horton’s profit jump 30% in the third quarter this year. Never lived to see the company announce a $200-million stock buyback over the coming year. Never lived to see the company bearing his name dominate the Canadian market and during the third quarter this year alone, open 40 new restaurants in the United States.

Ten years after opening the first Tim Horton’s in Hamilton, Horton died in a car crash coming home to Buffalo after playing for the Sabres at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Horton grew up poor in the dirty thirties in one of the most inhospitable places in Ontario, his married life was rocky, and he never found the peace and contentment he had been looking for, but that he figured a successful business could have aided. If anyone deserves to reap in the reward of the success of Tim Horton’s it is Horton himself.

The next time you grab a coffee at Timmie’s, raise a cup to number 7.

For many years, when I worked for this radio station from roughly 9 to 5, my routine was thus: up at 7, make breakfast for my wife and daughter (and six years later - daughters), wake them up at 7:30, luxuriate over a family meal, gradually wake up and tow the oldest one to school in my bike trailer. From there, it was off to work on my bike, day in, day out. In winter, a half-hour power walk to work became my daily routine.

However, for the past two years, since I have been hosting the 570 Morning News with Lisa, my routine has been drastically different. Up at 3 in the morning. (absolutely insane). Shove some fruit and yogurt and bagel into a bag. And, pray to God that my wife doesn’t need the car so I can simply shove my tired and sorry butt into it, turn the key and make a beeline for Tim Horton’s before driving off to work for an enthusiastic “Good Morning, Guys!”, upon arrival at the godforsaken time of 3:40 a.m. (”guys” being editor Paul Mcphee and audio editor Erin Cook.)

The thrill of the bike ride wanes noticeably at that hour of the day. One simply wants to get oneself to work as soon as possible with minimal effort. One is generally still half asleep at that time of the morning and wishes only to be back in bed. Thus the appeal of the automobile.

The effect of two years of mostly driving instead of riding or walking, coupled with not playing hockey any longer (I had to quit my beer league) because most of the games were held too late at night to accomodate my early out-of-bed time, has not been good. 12 pounds later, I realized I was feeling lazy about relying so much on the car. I missed the feeling of being on a bike, the pain in my legs indicating that I was doing my body some good, the feeling of exuberance and noticeable energy lift upon arriving at work, and the mental lift I got from expending some energy.

Well now I’m back in the saddle again and it feels great. I am reconnecting with my sleek and speedy Nishiki 10-speed road bike, and after about a week, it was like we had never parted.

I have never given any form of advice in my previous blogs, but I shall in this one: If you have a regular physical routine or form of excercise, don’t give it up unless you absolutely must. You were meant to be together.

Most of us have been there. Perhaps not as much as former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Rob Ramage was “there”, but most of us have been in a situation where we have had a few drinks and thought we were okay to drive. Most of us though, either at the insistence of friends and family, or because we heeded our inner voice telling us not to get behind the wheel, have called a cab, or got a ride home with someone who hadn’t been drinking.

Ramage had everything going for him. Successful in business after a successful NHL career during which he won two Stanley Cups and was named captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he is now a convicted criminal whose negligence nearly four years ago resulted in the death of his friend - former NHLer Keith Magnusson. He was also convicted of impaired and dangerous driving and having an excess blood-alcohol level at the time he drove his rental car head-on into an oncoming sport utility vehicle, killing his passenger Magnusson.

Now, in addition to likely losing his permanent U.S. residency status (he and his family have been living in St. Louis for years) legal experts say he faces a two-to-five-year jail term when sentenced in January.

One for the road? No thank you.

How inspiring it was to see so many young people in the audience at the candidates’ debate in St. Agatha the other night. The riding of Kitchener-Conestoga contains one of the oldest age demographics in the province, but there was an obvious, if not overwhelming, youth prescence in the crowd. They asked good questions of the candidates and showed a passion for the well-being of their community, province and country.

I must also say how well the young candidates acquitted themselves. They spoke with clarity and resolve with perhaps a bit of youthful naivete. Is youthful idealism and optimism such a bad thing, though?

Perhaps we’ll never return to a time similar to the youth movement of the 1960’s, when young activists and politically astute students thought they could change the world for the better, but there are still some young people out there who believe they can accomplish great things and that the world can be made a better place.