570News Blog: Lisa Drew

A BIG thank you to all.. for helping us here  at  570 News collect over 10 thousand toys this year for Santa’s Anonymous.. just think of the smiles tomorrow morning!  Thank you!

I hope you are enjoying some time off with your family.
We’re just back after a trip up and down the 401 to see the in-laws in Belleville. 
We are now loaded up with take home goodies from my sister-in-law, and now I’m ready to put me feet up for just a bit and breathe!

Tonight after reading ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas
from the same book my grandfather would use to read to us..and then getting the kids into bed ( good luck !), my
sister and I will follow our years old tradition of making everyone sit thru White Christmas yet again.. and then launch into “Sisters.. Sisters…”
Tomorrow my mom and grandma join us for dinner,
(my husband does the turkey!)  and an overnight stay.

Safe travelling and a very happy 2008,
thanks for being part of our year here at 570 News.

lisa

When I was younger…okay, MUCH younger, I used to dream about being forgotten and then left overnight
in a candy store or toy shop.  Seriously.
I also wanted a pet monkey but that’s another story.

Yesterday came pretty close to the toy shop dream.
Glenn and I were like kids in the candy store.. at the Canadian Tire at the Sunrise Centre in Kitchener.
Store owner Paul Pollock generously handed us a gift card and told us to go crazy in the toy aisles.
WE did.
I went for the 50-dollar Holiday Barbie.. drum sets and guitars.. Glenn grabbed huge remote control cars.. and Transformers.
I think we filled close to ten carts..and I mean they were overloaded.
When we got to the checkout, we were already over the 25-hundred dollar limit on the gift card.  The store manager told us to keep going..So we grabbed snowboards and sleds.. and loaded up more toys. Our grand total: just two dollars shy of four thousand dollars!
Four thousand dollars worth of toys loaded up in less that 20 minutes, all for the Santa’s Anonymous campaign.

Thank you Mr Pollock, and the Canadian Tire gang.
These toys will go a long way Christmas morning.

lisa
 

We have a few new additions to our newsroom these days.
One of them is the charming Steve Hart.
He’s that “Aussie guy” on the radio and he comes to
Kitchener after years on the radio in Australia.  He found love and moved to Kitchener.
Our gain.

He’s been a great sport - in fact I think we’ve exhausted every Australian stereotype and  every truly bad, overused line from Crocodile Dundee.  I’ve moved onto Murial’s Wedding now.  ( great movie.. lots of ABBA music)

This is Steve’s first Canadian winter.
He’s already dealt with the snow and icy roads here.
I keep telling him he still has to make his first snow angel.

And then there is Christmas.
A blurb in the Globe caught my eye today.
It says most Aussies don the bathing suit and head to the beach for a picnic on December 25th.
Steve says they always do a BBQ for Christmas.
Now he’s in Canada.
He had his first turkey at Thanksgiving..number two is just 12 days away.

It’s a beaut Christmas mate. 

lisa

Has your workplace had its annual holiday bash yet?
Ours goes in another week and it is always a very good time, usually lasting into the wee hours with cab rides home for all.
It’s a great excuse to buy some new heels and offers a chance to finally catch up with some people you just don’t get a chance to really connect with during a busy news day.

So, are you a party pooper?
A new survey by the Spherion Corp. staffing firm finds the older the worker gets, the less interested they are in partying with people at the office.
72-percent of workers over the age of 50 say it is just not that important to them if the boss decides to have a  seasonal get-together.

But go we will… 23-percent of workers say they feel obligated to attended the company festivus party.
An even smaller group of workers admit to being just a little embarrassed about their behaviour at said bash.
( check back  a week Monday…HA!)

Enjoy the bash… and think about your drive home before the party even starts.

lisa

This morning 570’s Andrew Mclean was out talking to shoppers….shoppers who are really getting on top of things this time of year.
He was set up outside a Walmart in Kitchener..reporting from a location now open around the clock for the holiday season.
And many of those shoppers he caught up with this morning were buying toys.

Usually at this time of year parents are rushing to stores at all hours to find “that” toy….
The one hot toy that every kid wants and not many parents can find.
Making the hard-to-come-by list this season is the
Nintendo Wii.
So far… there haven’t been any reports of parents or gamers duking it out locally for this prized gift. 
This past Saturday at the Kitchener TOYS R US, the parking lot was jammed before sunrise with shoppers.
They were all hoping to get their hands on just 40 of the Wii’s available that morn.
The store was organized though - shoppers were lined up and given numbers.  Very adult-like I hear.
None of that Talking Elmo or Cabbage Patch Doll ugliness of Christmases past.

Availability aside, toy safety is still a big issue,  months after millions of toys were recalled by big name toy companies.
Today we had another story in the morning news run about lead.
U-S researchers recently tested over a thousand
children’s products and found 35-percent contain lead — many with levels far above the federal recall standard used for lead paint.

What’s a parent to do?  Grab the toy as fast as you can.. and hope for the best.
I’ll see you in line.

lisa