Sometimes it seems a higher power gets involved in our lives, creating an unique tableau that will be remembered forever.
On Sunday evening, as the sun set over Lake Ontario, my helpful young neighbour Ty Sherlock and I were affixing the five Olympic rings to a bench in Ryerson Park and an “every second year task” became a memory for life.
BYBGR. My acronym for blue, yellow, black, green and red. The colours of the Olympic rings, from the left.
A young couple were sitting and chatting on a park bench and we politely asked them if they could relocate for a few minutes while we completed our ad lib task with the coloured hula hoops and Canadian flag.
They were happy to oblige, and kindly offered to assist us. We quickly learned that Stephanie Lee is a pharmacist, working at the world-renowned Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton.
Her loquacious friend, Alex Tsermentselis, is a data analyst at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie. They are fairly regular visitors to Niagara-on-the-Lake and a favourite spot is Ryerson Park for sunsets and picnics. A Zoom bike rental, two winery tours in the afternoon, a cold Barnraiser at Oast House, et voila, whaddaday.
Further, Alex is of Greek ancestry, so the Olympic rings have special significance to him. Stephanie and Alex provided some useful suggestions as we erected the hula hoops.
Since 1994, my Olympic hula hoops have been displayed 14 times, coincident with the Summer and Winter Games. They are a bit worse for wear, but a local fun tradition in our neighbourhood. And, the price is right, eh?
After about 20 minutes of injury-free work, the rings and maple leaf flag were ready for the traditional photo. Alex rather timidly asked if Ty and I could spare “just a few more minutes, to take another photo with his camera, of Stephanie and him. Of course, we said.
As I framed the photo, he elegantly dropped to one knee, proffered a fancy box, and proposed to the lovely and shocked Stephanie. She pondered and then replied in the affirmative.
I announced the occasion to the other folks in the park and spontaneous applause broke out. Congratulations and best wishes were called out. Harry Schlange happened by on his Vespa and was able to provide some oom-pah-pah music to the scene.
Another picture of the now-engaged couple waving festive sparklers. Wow, what an event …
Stephanie and Alex both graduated from the University of Toronto a few years ago and planned to get engaged fairly soon after that.
The ongoing deadly global pandemic scuppered their plans, so finally the stars aligned to make a truly wonderful moment in Ryerson Park last Sunday. We wish them well – and they promised to visit NOTL again.
*****
Since we are in the middle of the 2020 two-week Olympic Games, let me respectfully comment that some of the new events seem a bit of a stretch. Synchronized two -metre diving? How about synchronized co-ed pole vaulting in 2024? Perhaps synchro 400-metre hurdles?
Two women on the uneven bars at the same time? The 400-metre men’s individual medley, with swimmers accelerated by wearing flippers?
Rock Climbing? Hey, between 1900 and 1920, the Games included tug of war. And, in 1904, at the St. Louis Olympic Games, Canadians were thrilled when Etienne Desmarteau won the gold medal for tossing a 50-pound shot 10.46 metres, using two hands. Etienne was a Montreal gendarme and also competed in tug of war. He was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1949.
We Canadians want to win more Olympic medals. Thanks to childhood church picnics, many of us are good at the three-legged potato sack race. Usually about 40 metres, a turn and back.
On a personal note, my Olympic studies peaked in 1984 aboard the Queen Elizabeth II. NOTL drumming legend Penner MacKay did an evening stand-up comedy routine on the lido deck, including an analysis of the anatomical anomalies of Canada’s magnificent women and men rowers. To tumultuous applause, Penner’s finale was a backward belly flop into the swimming pool, tux and all.
Yes, the Olympics provide wonderful memories, in many ways.