Evelyn Buck

So Sad

2015-02-20T12:34:00.003-05:00

Yeaterday was a sad day. The picture of a beautiful smiling little three year old was posted early on facebook. He was missing. On the most dangerously cold day in decades. he was out there in. a T shirt and diaper.

People travelled for miles to join the search. His little frozen body was found after nine hours in the cold. He had walked half a kilometer.

We are told he was staying overnight with siblings at his grandmother's apartment

At four o'clock in the morning he got out of bed put on his winter boots and left the building.

Every mother whose toddler has climbed into bed beside her, in the dark , to snuggle in the safety and warmth of her arms knows where Elijah was going yesterday morning when he left his grandma's house.

Lines Drawn...Swords crossed

2014-04-06T10:59:00.000-05:00

Our Mayor and the CAO, Newmarket's Mayor, Regional Councillor and CAO and who knows who
at the Region and the Town's Economic Development Advisory Committee have all had their discussion and determined how best to separate the two municipalities from double digit millions
of dollars to entice the Province to locate a satellite York University Campus at the border of our two towns.

The money hasn't actually been spent. The intention is to commit to spend if the price is right.

Their decision had been made before it was presented to Council.

It's a sample of regional mindset that permeates our local Council.

There is no place for Councillors to have input let alone the community.

Unless Council takes hold of its own authority on Tuesday night , the decision gto proceed will go
forward.

Several studies conducted by various universities are presented in camera
to convince Council to make the decision.

Waterloo. Toronto, Vancouver Island University have all assembled studies to indicate how many millions are contributed to the local economy with the establishment of a university.

Options for funding options will also be presented to Council behind closed doors.

They range from community fund-raising .use of reserve funds,sale of town assets, borrowing ,
some level of tax assessments or any combination of the above.

Council will receive all of this information in secret.

The community is to know nothing of the where's and wherefores of the multi-million dollar roll -of -the -dice until after the decision has been made.

No reference is made in the latest report to Provincially-owned- land being a location for a satellite campus for York University.

Oh My Goodness ,that would be all too simple.

The Mayor asked me once what I meant by " the regional mindset"

I responded the Region is a level of government where without accountability.

The administration runs the show.

Neither debate nor challenge is ever recorded.

I have found the same in Aurora this term. Only the big boys get to play.

But the term is almost over.

Council's decision on this issue and how it was made is a good start for the campaign.

Do we have a Council ?

Or do we have a bunch of stooges for the back room boys?

The lines are drawn....the swords are crossed.

A Secret not for telling

2013-09-14T11:01:00.001-05:00

The Honourable Doug Holyday had a go at the Minister of Transportation in the Provincial Assembly yesterday.

He went up one side of the Minister and down the other.

The issue; the length of the planned new subway. The Province intends to cut it short.

As former Deputy- Mayor of Toronto, Mr. Holyday is of course very familiar with what has gone before.

I'm not so sure about Glen Murray, the Provincial Minister of Transportation.

It's not that long since he was Mayor of the City of Winnipeg in the Province of Manitoba.

According to the media, Mr Murray resigned that position and came to Ontario
in time for the last Provincial election.

He promptly won a Toronto nomination and a city riding. He may even have taken George Smitherman's former riding.

M.Smitherman resigned his cabinet post and position of Deputy Minister to Dalton McGuinty to be a candidate for the office of Mayor of Toronto

Te question that comes automatically to mind is why Ontario Liberals had to reach out to the Mayor of Winnipeg to be their candidate in a Toronto Riding.

Was there no qualified Liberal living in the Riding.?

Then being elected, was there no better qualified Liberal on the government bench better qualified to be Minister of Transportation , in charge when the hot issue of the Toronto subway to Scarborough had to be decided.

The Honorable Tim Hudak is quoted this week that the Government wants an election because they have no plans to provide jobs.

Mr. Hudak appears to have forgotten , we have still not received the final tally for the cancellation of the two gas-fired generation plants. Expected o be in excess of a billion dollars.

An election call would save the Liberals from having to disclose those figures.

Yet they are surely sitting in a folder on the Premier's desk even as we speak.

The Premier is out there this morning campaigning at a Polish Festival in the city.

The lady is not telling them the secret either.

What We Know Can't Hurt Us

2013-01-19T20:46:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Supreme Court Can Quash a Municipal Bylaw.":

Won't work. You cannot legislate against stupidity or cupidity.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Supreme Court Can Quash a Municipal Bylaw.":

The operative word here is " can ". The Supremes can just decline such a case as it has not national interest. They need to give no response at all. This is strictly small potatoes, a local issue. The OMB might work. And the crucial word there is ' might '.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Supreme Court Can Quash a Municipal Bylaw.":
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Supreme Court Can Quash a Municipal Bylaw.": OMG !
Give us some time to catch up !
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If nothing else, it's an interesting topic of conversation.
I am told anyone an make an application to quash a bylaw.
By-laws are municipal. If there's an opportunity to make application ,there must surely be an opportunity to be heard.
I may have misunderstood which level of Supreme.
There's no cost to make an application if one is willing to go it alone.
Given the history, I think I can make an argument.
The report recommending a schedule of workshops over twelve months for public input into a decision that does not involve a legal commitment of financial support beyond this Council''s mandate, would be a good start.
Obviously, homework needs to be done and questions answered.
When Reeve Jim Murray filed his appeal with the O.M.B against the railway museum in 1967,Council opted not to argue. .
Would this Council proceed on a course that didn't provide opportunity for public input ?
Did they listen only to the clamour for public funds to satisfy cultural aspirations of a few?
Would they direct a solicitor, at public cost, to defend their decision?
Or would they allow a court to rule on whether or not Council acted in good faith and the Bylaw be allowed to stand?
Council's decision is yet to be made but we know what's intended.
I believe the administration exercised influence beyond their authority for this decision to come down as it has.
Even if the option to file an application to quash the bylaw is not ours to access, I think the subject needs to be explored and precise and factual information needs to be obtained.
Information is key.

I Was There, Mr/Ms. Mole in the Hole.

2012-11-21T15:03:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "It's Not The Deal":

"With a view to replacing them with a new and dramatic centre..."
No, I think that was your personal view. Your 'pie in the sky' proposal didn't seem to gain any traction around the council table.

I'm glad that the Town's centenary project building won't be demolished. We're losing too much of our built heritage, as it is. The town council shouldn't contribute to that deficit.
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I was there. I wrote the resolution. I spoke in its support. I heard what others had to say.
I don't think.
I know
Two thirds of the old library building is not the Town's centennial project.It's a building abandoned in favour of a beautiful new modern facility with pride of place on Yonge Street.
It should have been demolished at the time the new one was occupied.
That it wasn't has long since been acknowledged a mistake.
Get your head up into the light and try to keep your facts straight.
Even if you're not willing to give your name.

Contradictions Abound

2012-10-24T16:00:00.001-05:00

A copy of the draft agreement was on the agenda of last week's general committee. It was recommended the draft be finalised for Council's consideration
Last night's meeting contained a couple of interesting contradictions.
For years the Association of Municipalities has been quietly urging the Province to repair the broken arbitration system for Police,Fire and Emergency Services.It's quiet because nobody wants to be seen to be critical of the compensation packets for the local heroes.
From a management perspective, months ,drifting into years, of staff time and professional resources are spent in endless "negotiations" that always end up in lop-sided contracts.
While police and firefighting services swallow up ever more of municipal budgets, social programs like housing and social service are decimated.
Ontario is not the Province it once was.
Last night the Mayor surrendered the gavel once more,to move a resolution to urge the Provincial government to fix a broken system. .
The Mayor does that a lot. Being head of Council seems not to be sufficiently satisfying. He needs to be the mover of motions as well.
But this was truly ironic.
Municipalities, with good reason,complain about home owners having to shoulder financial responsibilities of the Province for social problems and health services.
Yetthe same night we sent off an urgent resolution about the unbearable burden for police and fire protection, we re-affirmed a new and needless burden created by the last Council to pay for arts and culture. Through taxation with a budget similarly structured to the Library Board.
There are home owners in Aurora who do not believe library services should be financed from taxes. They feel people should pay for their own books.There is a valid argument.
Every year, two or four Councillors looks for ways to cut the library budget.It's a favourite target.
Yet there is no recognition of the contradiction of introducing a new budget to provide access to arts and culture while objecting to the cost of library services. .
No acknowledgement that people have a right to have a say.
Then there was that hokey scheme to spend millions of dollars on something called a Heritage Park.
Who ever heard of such a thing? Everywhere I go I check out the heritage facilities. have yet to visit a Heritage Park Unless one counts Disneyland in Orlando.
By the way, we won't be hearing of it again in Aurora.
On last night's agenda, a report dealing with the matter was received. Who knows how much staff time was spent on that.
It means no further time will be spent. .
We do some things right.

WHAT WAS SAID

2012-09-25T10:25:00.001-05:00

By Heidi Riedner

Sep 24, 2012 - 3:40 PM

Georgina's closed meeting breaches Municipal Act

But procedure, outcome of lawsuit meetings legal

TOWN OF GEORGINA.

Investigators determined the town breached the Municipal Act at a Nov. 21 committee of the whole meeting with “a substantive decision in closed session”; one that was “couched in a direction to staff”, according to a report being presented to council Monday night.
In addition, it states that councils, when in committee of the whole, should be wary of providing direction that is more properly within the purview of council to provide in open or in closed session.

Mais Non ,Mon Ami

2012-09-23T14:03:00.002-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Rid...":
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"A policy is not cast in stone." ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!

You say: "the policy was adopted to have sidewalks on both sides of streets during the last term."

What "streets" does this policy apply to?

Why does Kennedy Street West not have sidewalks on both sides? It is a residential street. This street is used by hundreds every day who walk, who walk their dogs or their baby carriages, who jog, who ride their bicycles. It is a major walking route for kids going to and coming back from school. It would be far more appropriate to apply the "policy" to this street than to Industrial Parkway.

You say that "Council has been reluctant to exercise personal judgement. It seems easier just to do as they are told."

Told what and by whom?

Are members of Council lacking in grey matter? They sought public office so that they COULD and WOULD exercise personal judgement. Did they all, instead, seek to serve the public by not having to think, to simply act as RUBBER STAMPS for staff?
This is potentially a gross outrage!
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No it's not. Kennedy Street West allows me to illustrate.
Policy applies to decision-making.Not road building.
Before the Region, the western end of Kennedy Street was not urban. It was in King Township.
There were few homes. It was a dead-end. It was a truly rural right of way. No pavement, sewers, water lines or street lighting.Certainly no sidewalks.I'm not even sure it had culverts for drainage.
It was one of the first in the town proposed for reconstruction in the seventies.
Residents fought furiously not to have the character of their street changed.
I agreed with them but not for their reasons. I didn't see why I should help pay for amenities I didn't have.
I believed if they were to get all those expensive improvements, they should pay for them with a local improvement tax.
I saw no virtue in foisting expensive amenities on people who didn't want them.
Of course there was a rational argument. I just didn't choose it as mine.
Dick Illingworth was Mayor at the time. I heard someone had his photograph on a dart board that neighbours enjoyed piercing with darts.
It was a bitter battle. The residents got what they wanted.
It happens a lot.
Policies be damned.
In those days, the town didn't have an administration to speak of. We had a consultant engineer on retainer.
Decisions on road design rested on engineering principles, the judgment of the elected and a public keenly aware of how taxes were being spent.
If I remember correctly, the province shared costs of road-building at the time and provincial standards had to be met.
But even some of those were twisted and turned to avoid running afoul of residents on a particular street.
People do have an influence on how Councillors vote. .
Nowadays, it's safer just to accept professional advice.Lots of people think that's how it should be.
Councillors are continually reminded how little they know. How dependent they are on experts.
Our society is chock- a- block with experts. Graduates with degrees that may or may not stand for something.
Public servants made redundant from successive amalgamations.
They write books and articles, get nominated for awards from associations they created and offer workshops to teach the unwary newbie politician for fees paid for by municipalities.
There's always more money where that comes from.
Off the newly elected go with due diligence and back they come full of wisdom and knowledge and "innovative' ideas.
Fifty years ago, York County's solicitor,Doug Lucas was on retainer. One of the few in Canada, who specialized in municipal law.
There wasn't a living to be made in municipal law so few municipalities had the resources.
Not like today.
When, Oh My God, expertise spills over in abundance like Niagara Falls.
It's common sense that's in short supply.

Journey of Discovery

2012-07-31T09:26:00.001-05:00

I am pleased to copy the message below. I think this program would be a great opportunity for families to take a trip to the lake to the south of us and the one to the north.

It wouldn't just be a visit to someplace different It would be a trip to another time and another place when families didn't have vehicles and a trip like that might be an annual event.

Toronto has many places to see and experience. Not least of them Harborfront and The Island, Kew Beach and Music Festivals galore. St Lawrence Market is a sight to behold.

Barrie has a great waterfront and many attractions.

But the train ride alone is an adventure. Stopping as it does at various destinations would allow visits to places one might never visit except by a day on the train.

It could be a summer of discovery.

August 5th , when the trips are free,would be the best day to discover what there is to discover.

Dear Councillor Buck,

As you are likely aware, this summer GO Transit has been offering GO Train service along the Barrie line on a pilot basis. This is an effort to move GO further in the direction of serving a larger, non-commuter market, and offers new travel options to communities along the line that will support regional tourism and recreational travel.

Until September 3, GO will offer six return train trips every Saturday, Sunday and holiday Mondays along the Barrie line. All six return trips make all stops between Union Station and East Gwillimbury, and two of the six also serve Bradford, Barrie South and Allandale Waterfront stations. The remaining four trips include GO Bus connections between East Gwillimbury and points north to Barrie.

To promote this summer weekend service pilot, we will be offering free GO Train rides on the Barrie line on August 5. We would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide in spreading the word to your constituents about the free day of service using whatever channels you feel are appropriate. A news release has been issued and can be found at: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1013993/free-go-train-rides-on-the-barrie-line-on-august-5. Further information for the public can be also found online at http://www.gotransit.com, specifically http://www.gotransit.com/public/en/updates/schedulechanges.aspx.

Metrolinx's Stakeholder Relations office is available as a first contact point for elected officials should you have any questions about Metrolinx (including GO Transit, PRESTO, the Air Rail Link, and its other projects and programs). Please don't hesitate to contact me about this or other matters in the future.

Cyril Buck ..Febuary 29th 1924- July 20th 2012

2012-07-22T12:33:00.000-05:00

.Cyril was born in Paddington ,London,U.K. on February 29th 1924 and died a long way from his birthplace, in Newmarket, Ontario, on Friday at 3. o'clock in the afternoon.
He lived eighty-eight years ,was married to Evelyn sixty-two years , had seven children, two daughters, five sons, seventeen grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and two more on the way at the time he took his leave.
Art, Music and Theatre were the passions of his life. He trod the boards in amateur theatre in London,England before leaving for Canada and soon after arrival discovered new opportunity with Theatre Aurora.
Twenty years of his retirement were happily and completely engaged filling every conceivable role needed to make the magic come alive/.
Sons, daughters, and grandchildren were recruited to fill roles, places in the chorus or silently change sets before there were curtains for the stage.
He introduced English Variety Theatre.
Christmas found him at Newmarket Town Hall Theatre, with the Queensville Players, staging Pantomine, with a bunch of Limeys like himself who could never let go their joy and love of slapstick comedy.
If he wasn't on stage playing an Ugly Sister, he was in the orchestra pit providing clicks, clacks, thumps and rattity- tatts on drums, his secondary means of augmenting a living over the years.
Dozens of full house audiences and hundreds of Canadian children,
including his grandchildren, might never have had the opportunity to enjoy the entertainment the unique brand of British farce offers.
He worked with Terry Hallett, a talented Aurora Producer and Director, in Dinner Theatre in Toronto during the eighties.

The tide recedes but leaves behind
Bright seashells in the sand
The sun goes down but gentle warmth
Still lingers on the land
The music stops and yet
It echoes on in sweet refrain,
For every joy that passes
Something beautiful remains.

The :Last Of The Mohicans

2012-07-15T12:32:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "New Information":
Back to basics. This all began when Evelyn asked about construction in her neighbourhood. The mayor said the new system would provide the answer if she asked the top guy. I assume she asked the question. Was it answered and, if not, what does the Mayor have to say about it ? If the system answered the question, we are wasting time here. Cut all the tech stuff. Back to basics. Was the construction explained?
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I posed the possibility the new system might provide details of
the work order which would allow me to explain the nature of the problem and the number of workers engaged, man hours employed, separate pieces of equipment, cost per hour exactly to the penny how much the job cost to my observant neighbor.
The Mayor agreed the system would provide the information.
Indicating he had the same understanding of implementation as myself.
We were both mistaken it seems. .The software is not yet implemented.
I did not receive details of cost of the work order on my neighbour's property.
The situation led to inquiries in two new directions.
One, to determine from my neighbor, what experience led to the call to the works department.
Last Fall a subsidence was noticed in the vicinity of the water shut-off valve on the front lawn.
It was checked by the works dept and went on a list of things to do
In Spring, after several more calls, the works department came to attend to the problem in accordance with its place on the list
A strip of lawn about a meter wide and two long was carefully cut and rolled back.
An excavation followed. A water pipe was inadvertently ruptured and had to be repaired. The excavation was filled,sod replaced . and a fresh crew brought in to water the grass.
Information I received from the Director revealed the project involved several crews with different expertise.It did not reveal the source of the initial problem of lawn subsidence.
Lay person that I am, it has always been my understanding if the ground subsides, whether it is in a road or a lawn in the vicinity of water infrastructure, the likely cause is a water break.
The unanswered question is whether a water break caused the lawn to subside in the Fall, which meant a continuing water loss in that location over a period of months?
Or, less likely, was the pipe broken at the time of the excavation immediately repaired and no water lost to speak of or record in
maintenance of assets and how the matter was handled.
My second question was the status of the software program to record asset inventory and track maintenance.
At this point I had still not caught on to the name, Maximo.
My first query was by e-mail to the manager of the IT department. I received a response from the Director of FInance with admonition not to ask questions of staff under the level of Director. Attached was the e-mail from the IT Manager, accompanied by my query and assurance to the Chief Financial Officer the manager had provided no information.
The Director of Finance informed me of the associated Director in charge of the program. He added it is not yet implemented. It is complex and is to be done in two phases.
The Director in charge noted a delay in the schedule caused by a production problem in Asia.
I received a table. I posted it a couple of days ago, outlining
the program, total cost and the timetable. Total anticipated cost is $788,611. Software package approved for purchase in November 2011. $38,000 was overlooked and added on in February.2012.
I received information from a source that the Region had purchased the same software.in 2004, eight years ago. and after add ons and adpatations and staff changes were still not receiving the benefits
expected.
From two regional staff I received two perspectives. One
stated the prorgam was finally beginning to show some benefits.
Another, the manager dealing with the program was more positive but acknowledged there had to be adaptations in nodules and staff and licences required to use the system had gone from $56,000. to $100,000 a year because more employees were using the program.
That means, additional staff, additonal adaptation costing more money, and additional cost of annual licencing , operating costs are, at least, a quarter of a million dollars more than anticipated.
After eight years, adaptations are unlikely to be reflected in the capital cost of the program. More likely to be hidden in annual cost of operation.
I suspect, since the Mayor's expectation of timetable was no different to my own, news about time taken at the region to get this program under way may not be a welcome surprise.
Nor indeed should it have been a surprise at all. The Region's experience should certainly have been reflected in the advice received by Council. It was not.
If the program ever becomes useful at the local level, there will have been an election in town before it can be proven.
That's the political reality. .

A Moving Target

2012-07-14T10:14:00.004-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "So I asked And GOt The Answer":

7:27 PM You say that Morris is going to be back in court on Tuesday. I don't understand why. Didn't the Judge throw her case out as being without foundations or something like that? Surely Aurora is not still paying her bills - have we ever been told categorically that the town is off the hook? Nasty feeling about all that stuff. An apology would not cut it this far along.

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Ms,Morris is being sued for defendants' costs of that particular court action precipitated by herself at town expense while she held the Office of Mayor.
The town is not currently paying those bills.
It remains to be seen if the town is off the hook.
The town agreed to pay bills incurred until the new Council had the opportunity to cancel the legal agreement with the lawyer retained by Ms Morris.
At the moment ,the defendants are attempting to recover legal expense of having to defend themselves against spurious charges.
I didn't hear what happened on Tuesday.
The complainant has proven to be a moving target.

It Will Get Better

2011-12-08T21:13:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Accountability...The Theme Of This Post.":

Have you ever considered your knowledge and experience to be a disadvantage because quite clearly you are seriously challenged to get your fellow members on side, Last term there was no hope at all with all the personal attacks, animosity and jealousy that your knowledge garnered, This term the air around your circles is smelling of sweet congeniality and willingness to do what’s right for the tax payers yet still you are faced with resistance to cut the fat, the frills, the 0 value added initiatives and get back to basic government over a mere 50 + thousand minions
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It is not a new experience. Fighting for common sense to prevail has,surprisingly, never been easy.

The best years were when I was Mayor.

Obviously knowledge and experience would have to be seen as an asset. It's another one of those things that never change.

The anomaly we have had in two recent elections was a huge turnover in council membership.

The norm is for most incumbents to be re-elected. One or two newbies have the benefit of obscurity while learnig the process.They have an opportunity to acquire skills without drawing attention to the lack thereof.

They still have to exercise judgment and vote. Experienced Councillors would still have differences in the past. But background to issues would rarely be challenged.

Municipal staff generally represent continuity. Institutional history resides with long experience. We do not currently have that advantage. Upheaval and disruption have been the operative terms.

Current Councillors spend an inordinate amount of time in discussion with staff. I can't fault them. They dont have experience and they are trying to acquire it fast

Time is of the essence. So for now, influence of the administration is out of whack.

Council's role is authority and control. How is that exercised if constantly seeking advice from the people under council's authority.A council collectively light on knowledge and experience is a definite disadvantage.

Normally even that might not be too severe a problem.

In the last term we lost experienced staff. We lost continuity. We lost our institutional history.

At the same time we picked up a reputation for a being a bad place of employment.

Ontario has four hundred and forty-four municipalities.It's a family of sorts. Bad news travels fast.

We are in the process of rebuilding a reputation. Rebuilding is harder than building.

I do at times despair of ever returning to our traditional political character. Aurora has always been feisty But perish the thought of not even trying.

We do have a council that means to do a good job.

I am nothing if not persistent.

And I have you.

You must tell your Mayor and Councillors, regularly, what you expect. Call them. E-mail them. Greet them in the street and in the supermarket.

Wherever you see them, engage them. Remind them why they were elected.

Off To A Budget Meeting

2011-11-28T07:44:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Lively Exchange":

It looks as though the bulk of Aurora taxpayers don't have a word of protest. Was nothing learned over the past few years ? Guess not. Ignorance can be bliss.

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I don't agree that the bulk of Aurora taxpayers don't have a word of protest That's why they gave me the job again despite all that was done to destroy my reputation.

Certainly a great deal was learned over the past few years from the blogs which would not have been known otherwise.

But there is truth in the last sentence.

When people don't believe they have any control over events,they make a conscious choice not to pay attention. That would be the fifty per cent who regularly do not participate in municipal elections.

I find myself irritated by the amount of time and space given to events in foreign lands over which I have no control, at the expense of events happening right here in our own neck of the woods.

We had a fantastic turn-out to the Santa Claus parade on Saturday evening.Thousands of people lined the route. I can hardly believe the number of small children we have in our community once again.

I'm off to a day long budget session ,starting at nine o'clock,finishing at four.Hopefully. Seven hours of hammering and chiselling at figures is a tedious task.Not so tedious, if a difference is being made.

Catch you later

Recipe Number One

2011-11-20T12:49:00.003-05:00

Cooking skills must be kept honed. I don't cook much nowadays. Meals for one and the odd time two, don't call for much activity in the kitchen But my inclinations haven't changed and I'm always happy to cook a favourite for the special people in my life.

I think the one everyone enjoys most is meatballs with barbecue sauce.

They are uncomplicated but work intensive. Simple but not inexpensive.

The recipe calls for:

Two pounds of lean ground beef.

" " " ground pork

" ' " ground veal

1.5 cups of finely chopped onion

3 cups of fine dry breadcrumbs.

4 teaspoons salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

6 eggs

3 cups of milk

1 tbspn Worcester sauce.

The breadcrumbs shouldn't be too dry. Not store-boughten. You gotta make them yourself. From bread no more than one day old.

Onions must be really finely chopped otherwise the shape won't come to-gether.

But not chopped to a pulp. Don't use the magic bullet.

Add the ingredients to a bowl in the order written above. Blend seasoning into breadcrumbs first.

Thoroughly whip eggs and milk to a light froth. These meat balls are like small souffles.

They can be made in two phases. First the mixture, placed overnight in the frig and cooked in the morning.

They are better kept warm from cooking ,than cooled and re-heated.

The bowl is more like a basin. The meat goes in first, the onions. the breadcrumbs,the seasoning. eggs and milk are added last. If your wrists are not strong enough to mix with a fork until thoroughly blended, use your hands. They will be cold but the ingredients must be fully blended.

Stretch plastic film over the surface of the mixture and tuck it in at the sides to keep air out. But don't press it down. The beaten milk and the eggs are what makes the mixture light, texture fluffy and the flavour even..

Place two large plates side by side and keep them sprinkled with flour and salt. Heat oil to cover the bottom of a large electric fry pan. Or use two pans on the stove.

Heat the crock pot.

Spread double thickness of paper towel on the counter nearby.

I use a teaspoon and the hollow created by closing my thumb for shaping the meatballs. Drop a number on to the flour, roll , then shale in cupped fingers to remove excess flour. Don't put too many in the pan at the same time. You need room to move the little morsels about to cook and crisp evenly.

A single meat ball doesn't take long to cook. But it will take a couple of hours for the whole recipe.

As you move along. more should be waiting to be dropped into the pan, moved about, lifted out with a slotted spoon, dropped on to paper towel to drain and transferred to the crock pot. It should be on low heat.

The pan needs to be scraped often to remove crispy crumbs of flour and juice from the bottom and leave a clear surface for a fresh batch

The meat balls will stay hot and juicy in the crock pot for as long as they last. Which after the crowd arrives, is not long.

Critical is keeping an eye on grandsons to make sure they keep others in mind.

It would never do to have to say "I had meatballs but you got here too late."

To be sure,there's little fear of that happening. It's an ample supply, though seldom are there any left. My grandson Patrick Buck,the artist,comes from Ottawa for my meatballs and of course to visit his family.

The sauce is regular barbecue. Onions chopped and cooked to golden translucency in a pot. Ketchup and water,vinegar and lemon juice. Worcester sauce and mustard, brown sugar,salt and pepper and chopped celery and chopped green pepper all flavoured to taste with the vegetable pieces small and translucent.

The sauce can be made the night before. Brought to a fast boil, turned down immediately and left to simmer gently like jam, to a sticky consistency,sufficient to cling to a delicate juicy morsel of meat on a stick dipped halfway, the pan preferably kept hot.

Savoury cooking over a period of hours means smells waft from the house.

Those who know what's cooking are welcomed by the aroma the moment they step from the car.

It's a labour of love.

A Golden Jubilee

2011-10-18T08:49:00.000-05:00

ST Joseph's School on Glass Drive, Aurora,started with four classrooms and last Saturday.celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, an elementary, French Immersion School with Library,a gymnasium, a band and several awards to its credit. a roll-call of principals,hundreds of class pictures and fifty years of striving.

Five hundred people attended and for several hours on a cold and blustery day, the place was hopping with happy, excited celebrants.

A video retrospect of significant aspects of the last fifty years of history was presented. We've come a long way, baby.

Being part of a community means lives touch. Joys and sorrows are shared. Tragedy endures and leaves its mark.

Fifty years produce a substantial roll-call of absent friends.

Which I cannot bear to speak about and no good could come of it anyway.

Another Buck Gathering

2011-08-28T11:27:00.002-05:00

At my house last Sunday. Five grandchildren were missing for various reasons but numbers continue to grow.

Four generations were present. The intent was for a garden/pool party and it happened but interspersed with several downpours.

The Tacoma twins were here. At two and a bit, they are the youngest . They were born here and this was their second summer in Canada.It was their third family gathering. Thoroughly at home in the crowd.

Cheyenne and Abigail . nine and five,are great -grandcildren from Bradford. They also know where they belong.

The two youngest grandchildren are twelve or thereabouts.

When my first grandchild was born, my youngest child was fourteen

I was twenty-one years old when my first child was born.

That means the family has always been young.

I didn't plan seven children. I didn't plan not to. I never thought of a child as anything but a welcome addition .The financial aspect was never a factor .

My children are good parents, constant partners. Their children are lively,respectful and not estranged.

They respond to the call when the date and place is circulated. They enjoy each other's company.

The whole adds up to a substantial body of experience in one person's life. Mine.

When someone half or a third my age presumes to suggest.I might be out of touch with modern times
I have a very negative reaction.

None of my own would ever suggest it.

Sick Since Sunday

2011-08-17T11:33:00.000-05:00

Nine little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and cracked his head
Mamma called the doctor
The doctor said;
No more monkeys jumping on the bed.

Actually... the doctor said. Intravenous.
Mama said no, sick people at emergency
Foul smellimg yellow pills might do
The size of small bananas
Swelling down. Infection reduced.
No more monkeys jumping on the bed
Eight more days of pills instead
.
In the meantime, no Blog post.
Better not...Mama said.
Might say something bad or badder than bad
Things might look better in the morning..

Sorry.

The Twins Are Here

2011-08-10T10:07:00.001-05:00

For a few days.The place is jiving. I do not remember two year olds being as fast and fascinating as these two are.

I did not have twins. I thought I could imagine what it's like to have twins. But you can't really imagine what it's really like to have twins.

Having two children close in age is not the same. The older one, no matter how little older, always knows they are older and more is expected of them.

Twins do not have that element of difference. There's only one mother Each knows their rights.

In a short working career before she became a mother, Vanessa was a teacher in Korea for some months. The children were pre-school . Since she did not speak Korean, the objective was to introduce them to English. Obviously that was a challenge.

Since the twins are first children, there was no experience with mothering a single child.Twins are the norm.For them, twins are the norm. For someone watching, twins are amazing.

They are not identical. They are not alike. Not in looks, personality,size, agility, sound or anything one can imagine. But they are twins. They have been to-gether every moment of their existence.Nothing they do or that happens to them, happens separately.They have shared every experience.

They are happy, healthy, boisterous, inquisitive, quick and expressive.Twice as much in each as a single child. It seems being two has that effect.

They are a joy to watch. Which is a good thing. Because nothing much else can get done.

I don't have time to edit either

A Fire In The Hearth

2010-12-26T11:53:00.001-05:00

So, on Christmas Eve I turned out the light, put my feet up, watched the fire burning and listened to the endless rendition of Christmas songs. The wood burned fast, flames licked high up the chimney and every now and then a two pointed poker appeared and re-arranged half burned logs or a hand put another in place.

Flames licked high and burning wood wood sparked loudly.It was very realistic except the pale bricks at the back of the hearth bore no trace of smoke.

I almost imagined my cheeks were hot. Except,I could not of course smell burning wood. Sparks have a way of shooting out from a fire and need to be snatched up fast and bounced in one's hand until thrown back.

It wasn't real of course. My television created the illusion.

It reminded me of a lifelong yearning. A fire had been the heart of every home in my life.

If weather became warm enough to do without ,the empty grate seemed dead and lifeless.The house is not the same without a fire or a mother.

Coal was the fuel. The hearth quite small. Furniture would be arranged around the fire.

Before television, lights would be put out as we listened to the radio and conjured scenes from the words in our minds that television could never produce.

Before radio, older children told ghost stories and sang camp songs and we played guessing games like "My Grannie had a sweetie shop and in it she sold" Sweetie shops in Scotland were places of wonder. I think sweets were craved to make up for lack of sunshine.

I taught my children and grandchildren Grannie's sweetie shop game for long car rides and the dark and spooky shapes of the forest around the camp fire.

Coal burns longer than wood. Flames are smaller with more colours. Coal produces gas and a ripping sound as it escapes.

Embers form and hold shapes and pictures, revealed only to the individual seen from a particular angle. Like clouds.

The fire was used for cooking.The baby's bath would be set up in front of the fire, with blankets hung around to keep out the draft.

A coal mining breadwinner would stand in front of the fire to thaw out the clothes
frozen solid on the three mile walk home from the pit. A tin bath on the floor filled with kettles from the fire, waited to scrub his skin clean of the penetrating coal dust.

A muffler tied around the neck and cord around the trousers under the knee were attempts to keep coal dust out of every pore in their bodies. It didn't.

Brass and copper were arranged around the mantlepiece to augment the light from a gas mantle or an oil lamp and generate the feeling of warmth. Most of the heat went up the chimney.

The fire range would be polished every morning with black lead and the brass and copper kept to an equally high shine.

Houses were cold and damp.The wind off the sea whistled and howled and rain would be driven against the windows. The familiar intermittent sound of the fog horn was part of the element when a dense white mist rolled in and obscured everything.

A heavy curtain would hang inside the door to keep the cold out. When it had to be opened a long sausage pad at the bottom had to be shifted back and forth with the door

When we wrote notes to Santa in the days before Christmas, we threw them upwards. The heat would carry them all the way up the chimney.

It only made sense that Santa would get them.

My House

2010-12-20T12:35:00.002-05:00

Is filled this morning with the aroma of crunchy morsels of a bllend of beef,veal and pork seasoned with onions, Worcester sauce, nutmeg,freshly ground pepper,sea salt and blended with soft breadcrumbs, moistened with eggs and milk.

With one pan,the frying continued for hours. The sauce was made the night before. The flavours of savoury,like a soup or stew,meld better from simmering,cooling overnight and simmering again. Ingredients were onions softened in oil and butter,ketchup,lemon juice, vinegar,yellow mustard,Worcester sauce,salt,pepper, brown sugar,chopped celery and green peppers.

I didn't count them but they filled the crock pot and still filled another dish.

Meatballs made with 6 eggs and 3 cups of milk milk are tiny souffles. They're not the same if allowed to cool and be reheated. They must be kept warm until served and a crock-pot is perfect for that happen.

Everything was transported to Heather's house where the Christmas gathering was held. We do it the week-end before. Then everyone is free to decide where to be on Christmas Day.

Great grandchildren twins, Reid and Claire were here from Tacoma, Washington.Their grandfather, my eldest son Stephen was absent for the first time in his life. He had stomach flu which hit him that morning.

Great grand-daughters Cheyanne and Abigail , were with us to contribute to the excitement.

My youngest son Andrew ,seventy miles apart from Stephen , was also laid low with the same complaint so was also absent.

His daughter Hayley was the guest of the parents of her best friend, who hosted an expedition to the Elgin Theatre for Beauty and the Beast. But Megan and Rhonda were there.

Grand-daughter Lizzie didn't make it . Lizzie lives in Oshawa. She has two degrees, a dog, a cat and an apartment. She works as a sales clerk in a health food store and does not own a vehicle.

Oshawa is not far away. But too far to scoop Lizzie, carry her here and transport her home again later. Parents, Martin and Marnie did that regularly when she was a student in Peterborough. They live in Barrie.

So Lizzie was missing and missed. We were together recently for Melissa's memorial service. Grand-daughter Stephanie proferred to collect Lizzie for the get-together. Stephanie lives in Sudbury. She had to get back there for work to-day and could not cram any more into her schedule.

It was a merry throng nevertheless. Heather's house is not large.Except for the little ones, there are no short people in my family. There are more males than females. Men love the kitchen.

Heather cooked turkey the day before.It was sliced and resting in an enormous warming pan purchased for the purpose.

The oven with a big red bow tied to the handle, was filled with vegetable dishes brought to the feast from various kitchens.Rhonda brought a dish of golden buttery scalloped potatoes.

Turkey broth,a new addition and very popular, and turkey gravy were simmering on the stove. A dish of milk with onions and cloves rested by the oven vent absorbing flavours and awaiting the addition of breadcrumbs, butter and cream at almost the last moment before serving.It's an English medieval sauce for turkey which combines well with cranberry.

Heather's freshly baked buns wrapped in napkins filled two enormous baskets.

Our hostess moved congenially between the giants who shifted slightly here and there to allow her to check that all was well. Robyn brought out the gigantic salad bowl on its own stand and tossed the Caesar salad.

Storm brought two rounds of brie wrapped in pastry to pop into the oven for the cheese to melt hot and creamy and be served with red pepper jelly.

Frank and Lorna brought crackers, an enormous variety of cheese and a new buttery crunch confection, freshly baked from a simple but incredibly delicious recipe.

It's been years since I allowed myself to be persuaded against the possibility of setting a nicely appointed table with matching china, fine flatware, crystal and plates warmed before serving

We eat from throw-away plates, plastic cutlery. Wine is served in glasses.

If there's a place at a table,fine,otherwise everyone seems to enjoy the feast and the company notwithstanding.

A Sad Christmas Story

2010-12-18T15:57:00.003-05:00

I remember Ian Agnew at Christmas. Every time I pass his house on Murray Drive I am reminded of unbearable sadness.

Ian and Rena had to wait a long time before they were blessed with a child. One Saturday night, at family skate a the community centre, I saw them skating around and around leisurely and happily. Each holding the hand of the little six year old girl between them. She was dressed like the beloved little doll she obviously was. Her rosy-cheeked little face encircled in white fluffy fur.

At around ten years old, weeks before Christmas, she became ill with a virulent form of measles. They took her down to Sick Kids. Within days she was gone. They came home with empty arms to a dark house, an unlit Christmas tree with presents gathered underneath for a child who would never come home again.

I saw them now and again out walking swinging hands together, engrossed in each other,oblivious to the world.

At the Community Centre one night in the back row,I was watching my son Andrew's hockey game. Ian was there hanging over the railing. He saw me and came over.

For more than an hour he talked to me about the trip he took to Scotland with his wee lassie, the summer before. She was introduced to all her Scottish relatives. He rented a car and together they went to all the places he always wanted to see but never had.

He was so grateful for that time they had, just the two of them.

I heard later he and Rena adopted an older child. I don't know how that worked out.

Ian retired and I saw him going up and down Murray Drive between his house and the house of a couple of elderly neighbour ladies. He cut the grass in the summer and shovelled the driveway in the winter.

Rena died of cancer. Ian eventually took another wife. Then he died too.

Now every time I drive past the house I think of them, especially at Christmas.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a story in the Star with a headline about lifestyle and twins.

A professional couple waited until they were established in their careers before
starting a family. When their first child was a suitable age, they decided it was time for a second.

They learned to their dismay, the second pregnancy was twins.They took the action available to them and had one of the twins destroyed.

I started reading the story because I have twin great-grandchildren and know something of what it's like having twins and remembering our surprise and delight when we learned they were on the way.It was the headline that attracted me

As the Star feature unfolded I realized it was a horror story.

My position on abortion has been ambivalent over the years. I would never do it myself. I would not advise anyone to take that path. But I would not judge anyone for making that decision.

I've changed my mind. The professionals who decided there was no place in their lives for their own child and had it destroyed are not natural humans.

The Star writer learned from the medical professionals who provide the service, the decision to destroy a fetus because a child does not fit into the planned designer lifestyle of its parents is not unusual and is in fact common practice.

Christmas is about celebrating the Birth of a Child.It's about gathering our children around us and doing whatever it takes to show appreciation for the blessings we enjoy.

So this year, gather them closer. Make sure they know they are loved and cherished. Because unnatural forces are around us would have them believe otherwise.

I Have To Go

2010-12-03T09:47:00.004-05:00

We are attending a memorial service In Missuassaga. A girl of twenty- seven years has died.

Only a little while ago, we attended her wedding on a beautiful summer day in Ottawa. The setting was a golf course. The reception was outside. The colour theme was soft rose petal pink.

It was the first wedding of the third generation. We are a substantial crowd to-gether.

My grandson Adam started the dancing. He is a dancing fiend when the music starts.

Pretty soon other grandsons were drawn into the competition. Then the uncles' feet started to shuffle and shift.

Melissa and Myles took their vows. They promised to love and to cherish. The wedding was beautiful,no less for its joy and happiness.

Now she's gone. She was off work for a couple of days feeling ill. Other than googling symptoms online,she did not seek medical advice. She was twenty-seven for God's Sake. She was alone when she collapsed. She died before the ambulance reached the hospital.

What is there to say? Young people die every day. Some in accidents. Some in senseless violent crime. As if life has no meaning or value.

But life does have meaning.

Joy and happiness and new life give it meaning.

The finality of death and an empty chair give it measurement.

There is no comfort when it's snatched away before it has earnestly begun.

The grief must simply be endured.

The Missing Post

2010-07-14T08:58:00.004-05:00

I was pre-occupied by the upcoming Council meeting yesterday. Decisions from the Integrity Commissioner on two complaints filed against me for more-or-less telling you things about Council you had a right to know.

But that wasn't all. Other stuff happened.

A taxi representative spoke at the public forum. I had difficulty understanding what he was saying but he appeared to have a complaint. When I heard "Especially you, Madam Evelyn Buck" I sat up and listened ..

The gist of it was ,I think, that he felt he was being harassed by town staff.

I didn't get the connection to myself. So I asked. Didn't get an answer. But in response to a question by the presiding member, it transpired the Mayor has been paying a lot of attention to his troubles. Even stops by his place of business at two in the morning, to make sure everything is alright.

My guess is the Mayor connected me to the cab driver's troubles.

A second item was a report on a new lease for the Aurora Soccer Club.

I concerned myself at different times about the club. For twenty years they have occupied a property worth between one and two million dollars. It"s a highly visible, prime industrial site of five acres close to Yonge Street.

No rent or taxes are paid to the town. They came by it years ago in a Mayoralty race. Two candidates for the office fought for the credit of providing the club with a property for their exclusive use One described it as a "useless piece of property"

They have a neat little club house. The town lent them money to build it. They repaid the debt and improved the land. They acquired a license to serve booze.They have an excellent facility which provides thousands of people with many hours of physical recreation .

But they also provided parking for a school bus operation. That was against the rules.

I drew staff attention to the fact, as I have a responsibility to do. . But it took a couple of years for those buses to be shifted. .

During the World Soccer Tournament in South Africa, a great ugly board sign appeared on the town right- of -way outside to the property, inviting the public to enjoy the club's amenities.

Town businesses have to apply for a permit for such a sign. Display time is limited.

The Town's hospitality industry, pays taxes to the town and provides employment to its residents. They are governed by sign bylaws.

I referred the matter to town staff. I was advised the solicitor would review the "current" lease. . Next thing, last night, was presentation of a new lease along with a statement by the Soccer Club referring to the school buses and signs.

They claimed the buses were allowed to park as a community service. Signs always had town permission.

A dozen soccer club members attended last night's meeting. They arranged themselves in a solid phalanx in a back row of seats opposite myself. All that was missing were striped jerseys, bare knees, boots with cleats and arms folded in a determined fashion.

Aha... I thought so the boyos are here to show me what's what. My question about the sign had clearly been spread about. My persistent inquiries question about buses had obviously been passed on as well.

The Mayor's election victory party had been held at the club house.

It wasn't hard to connect the dots. I guessed the Mayor had been informed by staff , the club had been informed by the Mayor and the members presented themselves in force at the Council meeting.

But not quite. I finished the play. I stated the property value the club has enjoyed. I referred to businesses paying taxes . providing employment and struggling to make a living. They should not have to compete against a restaurant, a large screen television a liquor licence against a club that pays no taxes, rent or mortgage.

That's not fair. The club should govern themselves accordingly.

Some of them may hate me for saying it. Some may not. But one thing for sure, they heard it from me at a public meeting.

I missed the last meeting in June.

Apparently the Leslie Street residents who were horrified by the view of a the bottom of a baseball field light pole, who claimed friendship with the Mayor were there.

They too were encouraged to voice some unfriendly stuff about myself

It has as been a continuing pattern. Last term it started with Sue Walmer always with a following, to defend the Mayor against imaginary evil. .

This term Ms Walmer still appears and Sher St. Kitts and sundry others rally at the mayor's bidding.

Last night it was the cab driver and potentially the soccer club.

No doubt as the election gets closer, new enemies will appear that I don't even know I had.

.

Market Rating

2010-05-15T19:29:00.004-05:00

The market was fantastic, the rain held and everyone was having a great time.

Once you've had Snowden Farm's meat pies its hard to go back to anything else.

We find 35-40 minutes at 375 is perfect.

Which kind did you get?

We stock up on the Steak and Guiness, and of course the Beef and Chardonay as John named it after our daughter Charlotte.

The pasta sauce and meatballs are also excellent, but a must is his sausage rolls, the combination of the pastry and the beef is excellent.

We've tried both flank steak in our slow cooker and it makes the most excellent pulled beef, of course he also sells his own too which is what we're having for dinner.

*******************************************

I had steak and onion......Mmmmm ........ mm .......mm.

The strawberries didn't even need sugar. Though I'm sure the juice would have been the perfect elixir.

Oh My God, there goes my diet again.