Not that many years ago, it seemed that Niagara-on-the-Lake’s idea of decorating Queen Street for the festive season was to spend 20 bucks on white lights at Canadian Tire or Penners. Improvements have

Although I no longer watch hockey on the television, mainly because the players are too fast and too clever, the tragic news of a hockey player dying in England has been all over

The days come and go, and the seasons gently change. We somehow manage to keep up with the many shifts, technologically, socially and geopolitically. Occasionally, I just go with the flow, trusting our

Why is Halloween always awkwardly celebrated on Oct. 31? Mainly, because it has always been celebrated on Oct. 31. Perhaps too often, I ramble that traditions hinder progress and stifle creativity in our

As the seasons change here in our blessedly peaceful corner of the world, my hours spent downtown cause me to randomly ramble. Our creative and aggressive tourism marketers use their expertise to attract

An eventful 41 years ago, it was my good fortune to spend a lot of time in and around Interlaken, Switzerland  (pronounced Interlochen, not Interlaken.) It is a very old Swiss town that

My thick dictionary defines “marketing” as the provision of goods and services to meet consumer needs. This has always seemed a bit shallow to me, and I feel that people remember goods and

Always up for trying something new with new friends, and confident enough to admit I would be the weak link on a team, I participated in the NOTL Legion Branch 124’s music trivia

Queen Street was busy last weekend with visitors of all ages out and about, enjoying what we lucky NOTLers take for granted. Temperatures were perfect for walking and bike riding, and there were

A Sunday afternoon bike ride downtown and the day becoming a bit chilly. Grey clouds were hovering just above our beautiful tree cover. Our town council was wise way back in 1922, planting

A while back, I rambled about the project-delaying archeological study overkill at the corner of Simcoe and Johnson streets, where a new culvert was being painstakingly constructed. At one point, up to nine

Yes, NOTLers, strawberries, cherries and peaches enjoy a day in the sun each year here in Canada’s prettiest town. So, it was high time the plump red and under recognized tomato was put

As the Man in Black sang, “There’s something in a Sunday that makes a body feel alone.” It was an early-morning catch-up breakfast with my daughter at Butler’s Sports Bar last Sunday morning,

My musical career more or less peaked in the 1960s with Elvis, the Beatles and the Beach Boys. But even then, I had heard of the mystical Stradivarius violin. Last weekend, a violin

Back on July 6, I rambled about the situation in our pretty town, after a particularly busy weekend when we had welcomed an amazing number of happy tourists. Visitors are blown away by

Yes, folks, we mere mortals are just along for the ride. When Mother Nature sends us a message, find some shelter and hunker down. On Sunday our town was hopping until the rains,

My great-grandfather Jabel Robinson was a giant in the early days of farming in western Ontario. While studying family history last week, I learned he had been the founding president of the Dominion

Back about 10 years ago, Atis Bankas dusted me during a men’s tennis league night at the Memorial Park tennis courts. While enjoying a cold Oast House’s Barnraiser after the match, I told

The past few weeks, Queen Street has been chock-a-block with visitors and locals taking the airs and enjoying our unique village. I observe the passing scenes, as many different groups of people walk

This Sunday, June 11 at 12:30 pm, a ceremony of remembrance will be held on Byron Street, in a quiet corner of the St. Vincent de Paul cemetery. Yes, friends, let’s take a

Yes, I am bewildered again this year by the results of the hockey playoffs. Also puzzled, flummoxed, confounded and confused. Try as I might, I just don’t understand how year after year teams from