INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 17)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … Off Again!

After attending the inaugural Queen’s Cup at Spruce Meadows and being that close to the Queen, the next week/days seemed anti-climatic! However, we still had work to do and Red Deer and Edmonton were calling. Red Deer is approximately halfway between Calgary and Edmonton. From Red Deer we traveled to Jasper National Park. As I have mentioned previously, part of the reason for our trip was to promote Michael Dumas and Buckhorn Publishing, but the other part was to visit Canada’s National Parks and to talk to their volunteers. It is always interested us to see these people in action and to see the different ways they raised money for their organizations. In Jasper we visited the Kerry Wood Nature Centre and talked to the volunteers there. As we drove to the Town of Jasper we saw a number of wonderful sights. Of course, there were the mountains, but there was also “Blue Ice” glaciers to gaze at and animals to “watch” out for. A Big Horned sheep ran right in front of our van, while a Moose in a field looked lazily up at us while we passed it by! Jasper is a mountain park town, but its streets tend to be more open and the downtown less commercial then Banff. When we parked our van, Elk wondering all over the streets and in people yards! Jasper was fun to explore and we reluctantly left it to journey to Edmonton. We had a lot more people to see!

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 16)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … The Queen

Once again, we were back in Calgary. It was now time for work! Before leaving on our western trip, we had arranged to have a booth at the inaugural "Queen's Cup" being held at the world class equestrian centre, Spruce Meadows. We were excited to be there because Ian Miller and his fabulous horse, Big Ben were competing! We had also been told that Queen Elizabeth II would be in attendance! We had shipped a number of framed limited edition prints to Spruce Meadows in advance of our arriving. Judi and I went to the Centre to check on the condition of the shipped prints. After we open up the boxes, we discovered that two of the prints had been damaged in transit. We loaded the two into our van and went off to find a framing gallery to have them repaired. Fortunately, a great gallery, Avenida, was nearby and they agreed to repair the frames quickly and at a reasonable price! That accomplished, we headed out for a great meal and then back to Dick and Melody for a good night’s rest. We were about to face a very exciting day! We arrived early at Spruce Meadows and opened our booth. Part way through the each of us was able to sneak away for a short time to watch some of the jumping. I even got to see Ian Miller and Big Ben perform! Amazing! The highlight of the day, however, was when Queen Elizabeth, in her landau, stopped within a few feet of our booth! Everyone from all of the neighboring booths crowded forward to get a closer look! The whole scene was very surreal! I can't remember how well we did in sales. I think we broke even.  But it didn't really matter, we had been part of history!

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 15)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … Vancouver

In Vancouver we had a full schedule of meetings arranged. Our first was with the Vancouver Aquarium. The Vancouver Aquarium is spectacular above ground, but underneath it is something very special! After completing our meeting, we were treated to tour the Aquarium “below”! This area is the “heart” of the Aquarium and what allows it to be the fabulous facility it is! It is hard to imagine how the staff manages to keep everything working so well! To Judi and me it seemed to be a labyrinth of pipes and corridors, of dials and wheels; to the workers, it was “home”. That night we camped at Fort Langley and then returned to Vancouver. This time to visit the Stanley Park Zoo and then the Vancouver Museum. Both facilities were wonderful to visit and the staff at each made sure that we had a complete tour. It was now time to leave Vancouver and head back to Calgary. The “Queen” was waiting for us! We traveled back through the Rockies at the southern end of the province, passing through Kelowna on the way. This is a wonderful part of British Columbia and one that Judi and I would like to explore more thoroughly in the future. Traveling along the Rocky Mountain highways is always an adventure! The beautiful scenic mountains, the magnificent valleys and, the wildlife are all spectacular! You never know what you are going to see! This trip there were mule deers, pronghorns, birds of all types and mountain goats. We stopped at Revelstoke to talk to a store buyer and then stayed in Field to camp for the night. Eventually we reached Calgary and back to our friends Dick and Melody. As before, we were greeted with much enthusiasm! It was now time to enjoy Calgary and to earn our keep!

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 14)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … The Pacific Rim

Once we had thoroughly explored Chemainus, we continued up island to Namino where we took the highway that would take us across the island to the Pacific Ocean. The trip across the island is very interesting. The only main town you pass is Port Alberni. It seems to appear all of a sudden, in the middle of nowhere! Along the way we passed through old growth forests with their famous giant trees. The road actually passes through one of these mammoth trees in Cathedral Grove! The middle of the island is lush and green. As we neared the western side of the island, the terrain became more mountainous. When we passed through many of the hills were barren of trees. A forest fire had ravaged the forest. Someone told me that although it looked awful, it would fairly quickly reforest itself. Nature is a wonderful thing, birth and re-birth! Coming down from the hills and overlooking the Pacific Ocean is awe inspiring! Judi and I marveled at the sight. The west side of Vancouver Island is very isolated and has only two major towns, Torfino and Ucluelet. In the middle of both towns is Long Beach, part of the Pacific Rim National Park. This is a wonderful natural park with white sandy beaches reaching into the sea. Off the shore are a group of small islands that are the home of many sea animals! Sea Lions were clearly visible from the shore! I must tell you, it was very hard to leave this magnificent place! But leave it we reluctantly did, and followed the same route we had come in. Back in Namino, we boarded the ferry, ready for our trip to Horseshoe Bay and then Vancouver.

Happy New Year 2011...

Past Memory, Still Hard to Believe!

 It's hard to believe that 2011 was here! I was waiting for a call from Kingston Hospital telling me that I was scheduled for heart surgery! During the week right after New Year's 2010, I received a call saying that my surgery would be on the following week. On Sunday, the hospital called to say that my surgery was being postponed. Even though I had been warned that this might happen, it was still unnerving. In the week that followed, the hospital called again, telling me that the operation was going to take place on January 18th. The date remained set and I had triple by-pass surgery on that date. Four days later, I was released from the hospital and sent home to recover! Amazing! And, that's how I feel today! The first few months were tough, but with the love and help from Judi, I was able to slowly recover. Today, one year later, I feel great, better than I have felt in years! The journey has been one of reflection and self discovery. As some "philosopher" said, "if had known I was going to live so long, I would have taken better care of myself", or words to the effect. I now realize that my past lifestyle contributed to my illness. As I result, I have tried to change my habits, eating and exercise, completely. It hasn't been easy. Change, even at the best of times, is a challenge. With the help of Judi, I have changed by eating habits. The holidays have been stressful, but the New Year will bring new resolve! Exercise, however, has been on going. I try to workout at our local "Y" at least 5 days a week and usually 6 days. This has at least kept my weight constant during the holidays! I find the exercise therapeutic. It will be something that I will certainly continue and expand during 2011 and beyond. With this new lease on life, I find that I am looking forward to see what each day brings