Happy Canada Day Everyone. This is one of my favourite days in the year as I am so proudly Canadian! Today is a great day to look about you and see what a wonderful place we live in and give thanks for it. Canada is such a great example of what nations could be. We are a people who have come together. We are from all over the world. We are a great celebration of diversity and I believe we always strive to be even more diverse.
Today is a bit of a mixed bag for a Newfoundlander. Today in Newfoundland and Labrador is Memorial Day. July 1st, 2006 marks the 90th Anniversary of Beaumont Hamel. It was bloody battle in WWI. Over 700 Newfoundlanders were killed or wounded – a 90% casualty
rate. Today, in some quarters of Newfoundland, there will be remembrance day feelings at war memorials. It is strange really as by evening there will be fireworks and celebration for our 57 years in confederation. I was pleased to see the festivities at the National war memorial today in Ottawa in remembrance of that sad occasion 90 years ago. I will be pleased to see the festivities televised on Parliament Hill in celebration of Canada’s 139th birthday later tonight. Today brings a little of both.
This year this weekend is important because Catherinanne is home for it. She is away so much this summer – we want to make the most of the time we have. We began our long weekend on Thursday evening really with Dinner at the Casino Buffet with Catherinanne’s Parents. Thanks so much for a great treat. We enjoyed a great dinner and Catherinanne and he parents had a great time at the slots afterwards. I enjoyed a nap in their hotel room! Thanks Mom and Dad Foltz for a good night. On Friday morning I really got into doing Canadian stuff. I put on my EMS Chaplin uniform – complete with Canadian flag emblems on the epaulettes and name tag (I had an EMS duty to perform) and went to the Market Square and taped Jumpstart Trivia. Revy Kevy hits the road! What could be more Canadian than working with our friends at the CBC. It was fun taping on location. You can hear the program on Mondays at 8:15 AM on 1550 AM Radio or on line by following the links to 1550’s web page (See my lists). We continued our Canada Day celebrations at the Hertels in Amherstburg. We were there for dinner and it was a great feast of surf and turf and the host could not have been better. Thank you Sandra, Kate and Ashley for a good night. We will certainly miss you when you move.
Today we have been trying to do all of the stuff that we need done before Catherinanne leaves again on Monday. This time she will be gone for three weeks. In any event, mostly today we have been spending time together. We bought some beautiful sunflowers to plant along the fence between us and the Montessori School. They should look great when they grow. I’ll post pictures when they get real tall! We also accomplished a very patriotic task today. We bought a side mounting flag pole and raised a Canadian Flag in our back yard. It was a great moment complete with O Canada – both the symphony version as well as the crowd singing the anthem at the Rexall Place in Edmonton during the Stanley Cup Finals. It was a very moving flag ceremony attended by myself and Catherinanne and anyone in the neighbourhood who could hear the stereo.
We continue to sled on today, hoping to accomplish what we can in the short time we have before Monday. We may take a break from work around the house and Garden to try dinner at The Thai Place a new Restaurant here in Tecumseh. And what is more Canadian really than have food from half way across the planet?
Have a great weekend everyone and say a prayer of thanksgiving for the nation.
It's Just Kevin's Corner 
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