Putting Parkingate to rest: While I had hoped to stay out of this particular brouhaha, with this week’s second letter to the editor regarding mayoral candidate Frank Adamson’s choice of parking spot, there are a couple of useful points to add, and then we’re going to be done with it. First, following last week’s initial letter criticizing Adamson for parking his car, adorned with a large campaign message, in front of his opponent Marv Junkin’s campaign headquarters, some Adamson supporters were under the impression that the car was not, in fact, parked there, but rather in front of Adamson’s own place of business, or across the street on Highway 20. As the photo below shows, the vehicle was indisputably in front of Junkin’s HQ.
Second, while it is true that earlier this summer Adamson moved his KwikFit business to the lovely new building that was recently completed near the intersection of Highway 20 and Pelham Street, and is just east of Junkin’s HQ, the fact is that Junkin has had his eye on the building next to Indulgence since the spring, hoping that its renovations would be far enough along by late summer for him to occupy. This follows the same pattern as in 2018, when Junkin’s HQ was located on the northeast corner of Highway 20 and Pelham Street, in what is now the Travel Cafe, when that building, too, was under renovation, and by the same owner. Thus, “who was there first” arguments are irrelevant. Which brings us to the final point: not only are there parking spots in back of Adamson’s own building, but there are a couple of dozen spots within an easy walk of this intersection. Sound judgment says that the last place Adamson should have parked was where he did, because it leaves a sour taste, the impression of petty jabs and poor sportsmanship. For his part, Adamson tells the Voice that he parked there only occasionally, and not for most of the week prior to, or on the day of, Junkin’s headquarters being opened. And with that, we bring the matter to a close, and look forward to getting on with the substance of both candidates’ campaigns, starting with Adamson’s vision in this week’s interview with him.
Surprising emotions: The miracle that is the internet allows us to listen to BBC Radio, mostly Radio 2, whose programming is aimed at the middle-aged. I was rinsing off our lunch dishes in the kitchen last Thursday when the station abruptly went silent halfway through a song, provoking an immediate sense of dread. That morning we’d seen the reports that the Queen was in failing health. This sudden silence could mean only one thing, and it did. As the brief announcement by Buckingham Palace was somberly read, I found myself choking up. What the hell? I’m no monarchist. The royal institution is fundamentally oppressive and a drain on public resources, its legacy of racist colonization and subjugation a permanent stain. Yet…there we were, my spouse and I both, teary-eyed. As the day went on I realized, as did so many others, that it wasn’t necessarily the Queen-as-figurehead whose passing we mourned, but this specific, kind-appearing grandmother and great-grandmother, who by virtue of rarely saying anything controversial was rarely a figure of controversy. A beautiful cipher. In my childhood, she resembled to a remarkable degree the mother of my friend next door, a likeness I noticed even at age ten. (A mother who later died suddenly and far too young.) Inevitably as she aged, the Queen became a sort of grandmother by proxy to her nation and the Commonwealth and to those of us whose own grandmothers had passed many years before, and whom we had also known our whole lives up to that moment. We lament all these losses, near and far.
Also in our hearts: The Voice lost a vital supporter and the world a wonderful woman last week, when shareholder Sandra Warden passed away at 79. Her obituary is on page 15 of the print edition. Sandra was the newspaper’s volunteer bookkeeper for many years, right up until the early months of Covid. This was but one of the many community involvements she had, including with Pelham Cares and the Fonthill Bandshell Committee. In fact, if it weren’t for Sandra’s generosity, the Voice would not still be in existence. Several years ago and about a year before I arrived at the paper, the Voice was in particular financial peril. A cash infusion from Sandra allowed the paper to continue publishing, an act of generosity for which she did not seek public credit, and which until now has remained known only to two other of our 50 shareholders and to our accounting firm. (Indeed, Sandra was keen to stay as much behind the scenes at the paper as possible, as the unscrupulous would occasionally attempt to leverage their knowledge that she was a shareholder to influence our reporting, contemptible efforts which ultimately, universally, failed.) I suspect that there are many individuals and organizations who similarly were the beneficiaries of Sandra’s kindness over the decades, which explains in no small part why she was named Pelham’s Citizen of the Year in 2011. We will miss her, and her wonderful laugh, greatly.
A welcome break from the bleak: Kinsman Len Doyle sends in this important bulletin—the service club is nearly wrapping up its 2nd Krispy Kreme Doughnut Campaign. Selling price $12, with $7 for each dozen sold going to Rose City Kids. Doyle says they’ve just gone past 620 dozen. Lordy. That’s 7440 doughnuts! If by chance you are seeing this edition early, on Tuesday, there is still time to get your order in through fonthillkinsmen.ca, but snap to it as the deadline is September 13. Pickup this year is at Vermeer's Garden Centre, September 21, 2 to 6 PM.
I’ve never had a Krispy Kreme: This changes in seven days. See you next week.
