A WORD ABOUT EMERGENCY PLANNING IN GRAVENHURST - IN MUSKOKA
THE TRAGEDY UNFOLDING IN QUEBEC, FOLLOWING THE EXPLOSION OF A RUNAWAY TRAIN, WHICH DERAILED ON SATURDAY, WITH CAR LOADS OF CRUDE OIL ON BOARD, AND THE RESULTING MASSIVE EXPLOSION AND FIRE, AND THE FIVE KNOWN DECEASED, AND FORTY OTHER MISSING PERSONS, SHOULD BE A CLEAR, SHARP, POIGNANT REMINDER TO THIS TOWN, AND ALL THE OTHERS WITH RAILWAY TRACKS RUNNING THROUGH THE CENTRE OF THE COMMUNITY…..THAT BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN WHEN LEAST EXPECTED. IT'S THE "LEAST EXPECTED," REALITY THAT DRAWS US ALL INTO THAT CACOON OF COMPLACENCY, AND WE ALL NEED TO BE REMINDED, ON A REGULAR BASIS, THAT WE ARE JUST AS VULNERABLE TO RAIL DISASTER. AS FOR RUN-AWAY TRAINS WITHOUT A CREW……WE REALLY HOPE THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE, BUT I DON'T THINK THE TOWNSFOLK IN QUEBEC THOUGHT IT POSSIBLE EITHER. I HAVE TO TRUST, THAT OUR TOWN COUNCIL, AND ALL THE COUNCILS OF MUSKOKA, ARE UP TO SPEED ON THE POTENTIAL OF PARALLEL EVENTS HAPPENING AT OUR MOST VULNERABLE TIME. WE ALL NEED TO BE READY TO LEND A HAND WHEN EMERGENCY STRIKES. AS AN OLD NEWS MAN, I HAVE SEEN SOME THINGS UP CLOSE, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSE, AND TAKEN MANY MORE LIVES, UNDER THE RIGHT CONDITIONS. THEY SAY "CLOSE ONLY COUNTS IN HORSESHOES," BUT IT JUST ISN'T SO. PLANES FALL FROM THE SKY NOW AND AGAIN, AND WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF AIR TRAFFIC OVER US ALL THE TIME, AND A BUSY REGIONAL AIRPORT THIS TIME OF YEAR. ARE WE READY FOR A PLANE DISASTER? THERE WAS A TIME, WHEN THE PUBLIC WAS DRAWN INTO EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TO DEAL WITH THIS KIND OF INCIDENT. BACK IN THE LATE 1960'S, OR EARLY 70'S, A MOCK DISASTER WAS SET UP AT THE MUSKOKA AIRPORT, TO SIMULATE A CRASHED AIRCRAFT, MADE OF, AT THIS TIME, A DOZEN OR SO CARS DESTINED FOR THE WRECKERS. THERE WAS A LARGE CROWD IN ATTENDANCE, TO WATCH EMERGENCY CREWS, FIRST RESPONDERS, DEAL WITH THE MOCK TRAGEDY COMPOUNDED BY FIRE, COMPLETE WITH VICTIMS TRAPPED AND STREWN ABOUT THE WRECKAGE. THIS TIME, THE PUBLIC WAS ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND, AND MY PARENTS TOOK ME. THE PUBLIC PLAYS A HUGE ROLE IN MANY OF THESE EMERGENCY SITUATIONS, USUALLY BEING FIRST ON THE SCENE BEFORE RESCUE SERVICES ARRIVE. SO WE ALSO NEED TO KNOW HOW TO RESPOND, IN SUCH A COMMUNITY WIDE DISASTER. TOWN HALL SHOULD BE STUDYING HOW THIS DEADLY SITUATION DEVELOPED IN THIS SMALL TOWN IN QUEBEC, TO DRAW SOME PARALLELS, FOR COMPARISION, ESPECIALLY HOW CLOSE THE TRACKS IN THIS TOWN…….. RUN BY MAJOR BUSINESS AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS……THAT IF WE HAD SUFFERED THE SAME KIND OF DERAILMENT, WE WOULD NOW BE SEARCHING THE BURNED-OUT BUILDINGS, TO FIND OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. WE REALLY NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO THESE PRECEDENTS NOW……TO SAVE LIVES IF AND WHEN OUR NUMBER COMES UP!
THE SIMPLE PLEASURES - BUT NOT TAKEN FOR GRANTED
ELVIS ON THE BARGE OUT ON GULL LAKE - WHAT A START UP TO THE SUMMER OF 2013
AND YES, IT IS WORTH A FEW EXTRA WORDS, TO NOTE, THAT A MAJOR RAIL LINE RUNS RIGHT BY GULL LAKE PARK, AND TONIGHT, THERE MAY HAVE BEEN UPWARDS OF 800 PEOPLE, WITH A LAKE IN FRONT OF THEM, IF THERE HAD BEEN A SIMILAR TRAIN MISHAP. THE TRAIN HORN ACTUALLY INTERRUPTED THE ELVIS PERFORMANCE, AS IT DOES EVERY BARGE CONCERT. I HEARD IT DIFFERENTLY TONIGHT, BECAUSE I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS TERRIBLE TRAGEDY IN QUEBEC…..AND HOW VULNERABLE WE WOULD ALL BE, IF THE SAME EXPLOSION OCCURRED WITH A PARK FULL OF CONCERT-GOERS. WELL, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT! MANAGER FRED SCHULZ THINKS ABOUT IT CONSTANTLY, AND IS ALWAYS LOOKING AT ALL THE POTENTIALS AND POSSIBILITIES, INCLUDING HAVING A BAD STORM POP UP, WITH A PARK FULL OF SPECTATORS. SO I KNOW HE'S THINKING ABOUT THE "WHAT IFS" MORE ACTIVELY NOW…….WHEN HE HEARS THE TRAIN A-COMING!
AS FOR THE NIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT
ELVIS, PERFORMED BY WELL KNOWN, AND AWARD-WINNING IMPERSONATOR, ANTHONY VON, IS A TOUGH COOKIE. AND APPARENTLY HE LIKES THE HEAT. OR AT LEAST THE HEAT DOESN'T SLOW HIM DOWN WHILE PERFORMING. IT WAS HOT OUT THERE ON THE BARGE. IT WAS HOT ON THE SHORELINE. HELL, IT'S HOT HERE NOW, AT THIS KEYBOARD, AND MY EYEBALLS ARE SWEATING. GOSH, I'M FIVE POUNDS LIGHTER THAN WHEN I STARTED THIS BLOG. POINT IS, ANTHONY VON IS A DAMN FINE ENTERTAINER, WHO HAD TO BE HOTTER THAN SATAN'S CHEST HAIR OUT THERE, BUT HE NEVER LET THE SWELTERING TEMPERATURE GET IN THE WAY OF GIVING THE AUDIENCE EXACTLY WHAT THEY CAME FOR…….ONE GREAT NIGHT OF LAKESIDE FUN. HE'S A REPEAT CROWD FAVORITE, AND THE BUCKETS WERE OVERFLOWING WITH DONATIONS. AND THAT'S GOOD. IT KEEPS THE SUMMER TRADITION ALIVE, BECAUSE FOR FRED SCHULZ, EXPENSES FOR QUALITY BANDS KEEPS GOING UP EACH YEAR.
I MADE COPIOUS NOTES DURING THE SHOW, THAT I CAN' T READ NOW, BECAUSE OF THE INK SMEARS MY SWEAT HAS CAUSED. OH WELL, LET'S WING-IT. BEFORE I RUINED IT WITH BODILY EXCESSES, IT WAS ENTITLED "THESE SIMPLE PLEASURES - OF GULL LAKE CONCERTS." I CAN READ THIS MUCH ANYWAY. THE REST LOOKS LIKE A JACKSON POLLOCK ABSTRACT.
GULL LAKE PARK'S WATERFRONT, ON SUNDAY NIGHT, WAS A FIRST CLASS SPECTACLE ALL RIGHT. JUST AS WE EXPECTED IT WOULD BE! THE KIND OF ENDEARING AND ENDURING SPECTACLE, LIKE A SOON TO BE DOG EARRED PHOTOGRAPH, YELLOWING AROUND THE EDGES, THAT BRINGS A TEAR TO THE EYE, A CHUCKLE TO THE HEART, AND A SMILE NONE THE LESS, EVERY TIME IT MYSTERIOUSLY APPEARS AFTER FALLING OUT OF A BOOK OR PHOTO ALBUM, DOWN ONTO THE COFFEE TABLE, OR COUNTER, INSPIRING EVERYONE IN THE GENERAL VICINITY TO GRAB FOR IT, AND REMARK SPONTANEOUSLY - "WHAT A GOOD TIME THAT WAS!" THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE MEMORABLE MOMENTS, THAT WHEN WE LOOK BACK UPON, IN THOSE PHOTOGRAPHS NOW PUBLISHED ONLINE TO THE WORLD, WE'LL STILL GET THAT OVERWHELMING SENSATION OF NOSTALGIA………ABOUT THAT SIMPLE MUSKOKA PLEASURE KNOWN AS MUSIC ON THE BARGE, AT GRAVENHURST'S ROTARY GULL LAKE PARK. WHAT A NICE PLACE IT IS!
IT MARKED THE NIGHT ANTHONY VON BROUGHT HIS ELVIS ACT TO TOWN, WITH HIS BAND MATES, "THE CASINO BROTHERS." IT WAS A VOYEUR'S BONANZA, AS THE PARK WAS BUZZING WITH SO MANY ACTIVITIES AND RECREATION DURING THE SHOW. THE SWIMMERS, KAYAKERS, CANOEISTS, BOATERS, SANDCASTLE BUILDERS, LAWN CHAIR SPECTATORS, BEACHFRONT DANCERS, AND THE PICNIC CROWD, WERE HAVING THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES. IT WAS THE INCLUSIVE PROMOTIONAL PHOTOGRAPH OF WHAT GRAVENHURST IS………THE HOSPITABLE HOST TO ALMOST ANYTHING YOU WANT TO DO……EXCEPT SKINNY DIPPING IN THE DAYLIGHT. SUZANNE WAS KNITTING A PAIR OF SOCKS FOR OUR SHOP…..AND SINGING ALONG WITH THE TALENTED MR. VON. OTHERS NEARBY WERE READING BOOKS, AND GYRATING TO THE MUSIC, WHILE A FEW FOLKS COMPARED THEIR DOGS, AND DOGGIE TRICKS. IT WAS A FREE-FOR-ALL OF GOOD FUN, AND GOOD COMPANY, IN A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE URBAN PARK, ON A SPARKLING MUSKOKA LAKE. MAKE NO MISTAKE MY FRIENDS. I HAVE BEEN TO PARADISE, AND THIS, FOR A HOT AND BOTHERED SCRIBE, WAS MY PLEASANT ESCAPE FROM THE WORK WEEK. A TEMPORARY PARADISE, BECAUSE APPARENTLY THEY WON'T LET ME SET UP CAMP THERE. I WOULD IF I COULD.
IT SHOULD HAVE RAINED. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A TEMPEST OUT THERE OVER THE LAKE. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STORMY SEA, WITH LIGHTNING FLASHING AND THUNDER BOOMING; BUT ONCE AGAIN, AND THE THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR THE NEW SUMMER BARGE CONCERT SERIES, THE RAIN HELD OFF, AND THE PERFORMANCE WENT OFF WITHOUT A HITCH. I DON'T KNOW HOW THE HELL ANTHONY SURVIVED IN THOSE HEAVY LOOKING ELVIS SUITS, BUT GOD BLESS HIM FOR STAYING UPRIGHT AND GIVING US THE SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL WE CAME TO SEE. AS SOON AS HE HIT THE STAGE……AS ELVIS, THE RAIN CLOUDS PARTED, AND THE SUN EMERGED. TALK ABOUT PROVIDENTIAL SIGNS. ELVIS CAN STOP THE RAIN. HE DIDN'T PART THE LAKE, BUT THEN NO ONE ASKED TO WALK ACROSS.
THE LARGE CROWD AT THE CONCERT ENJOYED THE PERFORMANCE. THEY ENJOYED THEIR PART IN THE TRADITION OF MUSIC ON THE BARGE, STRETCHING BACK MANY DECADES. IT'S UNCOMPLICATED, UNRESTRICTED ENJOYMENT AT A MINOR EXPENSE OF A DONATION IN THE BUCKET. I WILL HAVE MORE INFORMATION ON UPCOMING SHOWS EACH SATURDAY BEFORE CONCERT-SUNDAYS, SO STAY TUNED.
SUZANNE HAS JUST NOW BROUGHT ME A COLD DRINK AND AN ELECTRIC FAN. I CAN'T PLUG THE FAN IN, BECAUSE THEN I'D LOSE MY COPY ON THE COMPUTER SCREEN. SO I SAID "THANKS A LOT!" SHE SAID, "YOU'RE WELCOME YOU CRANKY OLD FART," AND TOOK BACK THE DRINK AND LEFT ME THE FAN. IT'S TIME TO GO BEFORE I MELT. THANKS FOR TAKING THIS TIME TO JOIN ME, FOR A LITTLE REVIEW OF THE MUSIC ON THE BARGE PERFORMANCE TONIGHT!
DID HEMINGWAY SUFFER THIS WAY FOR HIS CRAFT……ONLY TO GET A FAN WITHOUT AN AVAILABLE PLUG-IN!
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