Monday, 28 December, 2009
Afternoon Snow falling near the museum.
-Arnprior, Ontario, Canada.
Today was the Boxing Day holiday for federal employees and bankers.
Kind of a grey day, we had a bit of snow in the afternoon.
& The famous Globe Theatre in Stratford on the Avon had its construction begun on this day in the late 1500’s.
—–Jim
Freezing Rain on Boxing Day
-Arnprior, Ontario, Canada. Boxing Day (December 26, 2009)
Arnprior was a skating rink this morning. Our poor dog had a heck of a time trying to find a nice, flat, and rough enough so his feet didn’t fly out from under him… spot to take his morning pee.
Anyway, the photo was taken looking East from just outside the TVCOGECO studio on Madawaska Street (kind of one of the back doors of the Town Hall.) (except the studio no longer connects with the rest of the lower floor of the building.)
The soundtrack was classical music from CBC-2.
—–Jim—–
They Say it might Rain For Christmas ????
Gloomy View from the Quality Inn parking lot, Catholic Church distant left
-Arnprior, Ontario, Canada. Christmas Eve, 2009.
It’s bitter cold in the Nation’s Capital Region (and we’re just west of the Greater Ottawa City Limits) (at least until a dis-amalgamation happens. Big “IF”)
So it’s kind of strange that after a couple weeks of bitter cold, they’re forecasting possible rain on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
We’ll have to see.
—–Jim
Excitement in Arnprior?
Scotia Bank, Corner of Madawaska & John Streets. with crime scene tape.
-Arnprior, Friday, December 18, 2009. And I thought the cold temperature was the story of the day.
Apparently, there was an armed robbery in town. Crime scene tape all around the bank, an unmarked truck that may have been a major crime scene investigation unit or something.
One OPP officer asked me through the door what I was doing with the camera. He seemed happy when I was concerned that no one was hurt.
An older woman walking South on John Street north saw somebody with a video camera, getting background shots for the local cable company (TVCOGECO) and asked him what was going on, I heard him whisper, “Apparently, there’s been an armed robbery.” “In Arnprior?” she gasped.
A younger woman’s face turned sour as she parked her car and crossed the street and wanted to go into the bank. The OPP Officer came out to where the tape ended and was speaking to her (I couldn’t hear anything) as I bundled my freezing fingers into my pockets with my camera and headed for the relative warmth of my vehicle.
—–T. Talxalot, frozen reporter at large. —–
Brrrrrrr!
There was Diamond Dust in the air & -24˚C/-11˚F (-31˚C wind chill) -jrw
-Arnprior, Friday, December 18, 2009.
Brrrrrrrr! (but it was pretty.)
-24˚C / -11˚F this morning in Arnprior. ((-31˚C / -24˚F wind chill))
So I pretty much froze my fingers off shooting a couple snap shots around town.
I tried to get some video with a flip cam too. I still have to plug that in.
Diamond dust is the frozen particles of moisture in the air when it gets this cold. The diamond dust didn’t show up in this photo, probably just too small and not quite the right angle to catch the sunlight magically lighting up the pixilated diamond dust.
—– T.Talxalot, reporter at large. —–
Arnprior & District Museum Looking for new board members
Arnprior & District Museum Curator Janet Carlile
-Arnprior, Ontario, Canada, December 16, 2009
The Arnprior & District Museum is looking for new executive board members.
The Museum Board is mandated to have 9 members. There are more than one openings.
This is a volunteer position. Duties include attending meetings (One meeting per month from September to June) and to set policy and advise the Curator.
Curator Janet Carlile has suggested that a new board member be recruited who has skills in marketing, public relations and fund raising for acquisitions; not necessarily to run the gift shop so much as to advise the other board members and volunteers on how to get the word out that the museum is here, has services to offer, meeting rooms available to the public, and items for sale.
—–T.Talxalot, Reporter at Large—–
Arnprior & District Museum Party for Volunteers
-Arnprior, Ontario, Canada- Monday, December 14, 2009.
-We got to the Arnprior & District Museum in time to wave goodbye to several of the volunteers who had come to their pre-Christmas party.
Curator Janet Carlile was on hand to thank the many volunteers who make the Museum work. She also announced that she was thankful to the town and people of Arnprior who support the Museum.
One volunteer was particularly impressed with the way students from Algonquin College put in so much time and effort to work near miracles every year with new exhibits, and this year, a kit to bring aspects of the Museum to local schools and other places.
In the second photo, Three volunteers are looking at a photo of firefighters and an old fire engine they believe might be the one that’s on display beside them.
During the party some of the volunteers spoke with wonder at how the fire engine actually fit through the doors behind the volunteers in this photo. Someone else remembered that the floor had to be reinforced to handle the weight of the vehicle.
—–Jim—–
Olympic Torch Visits Arnprior
Olympic Torch Run Photo by Cathi Harris
-Arnprior, Ontario, Canada, Sunday, December 13, 2009-
The Olympic Torch was carried through Arnprior today. This first photo was taken on Edey Street, just before the runner turned onto John Street, heading north.
At 11:21 AM the Torch left Tim Horton’s on Daniel Street (Out near the 417 construction & confusion.) And made it to this corner in a very short time. It later arrived at the Town Hall at 11:44 AM, where it looked like more people than live in Arnprior were gathered for the festivities, and to say, “Hey, I was there!”
Local video producers and volunteers from TVCOGECO were on hand to capture the moments for their local newscasts and possibly for other programmes that may be in the works.
Passing the Flame. Photo by Cathi Harris
We were extremely luckly, as soon as the torch-bearer rounded the corner onto John Street, there was another runner waiting to take the flame from there. The two runners paused long enough to be sure the flame had indeed been transferred successfully and then waited for the cheers to quiet down before the new runner took off on his or her leg of the journey.
Beside the torch run itself, there were several other related events in Arnprior today. There was a ‘Fun Run’ (that I almost misstook for the torch arriving here, it would have had to have taken a weird detour to be coming from the west instead of the east) and a Free barbecue at the Shoppers Drug Mart. Downtown streets were blocked off and a stage was set up for a free concert. Stores that are usually closed on a Sunday were open today.
(We didn’t get any photos of the related events as we were concentrating so fiercely on the main event that this reporter has one heckuva nasty headache.)
—–Jim—–
Overheard Outside the Town Hall This Morning
-Sunday, December 13, 2009. Arnprior, Ontario, Canada.
A Reporter for TVCOGECO was on hand outside the Town Hall in Arnprior today. As he finished up interviewing one of the officials with the Olympic Torch relay, a woman from the crowd came up to him and asked what channel she could tune to to watch what he’d just shot.
He replied, “TVCOGECO, channel 22 in Arnprior or Renfrew.”
The woman responded that she lived in Ottawa, and asked again, “What channel will it be on in Ottawa?”
It won’t be.
She pressed further to ask if CTV or CBC or any of the other local channels associated with any network would air this event.
Her answer was, “No, but you can see it on the TVCOGECO dot com web site, if you click on-”
“But I don’t have a computer-” she complained.
The reporter looked defeated. He looked like he was trying to come up with a polite way of saying, “I’m sorry, then, I can’t help you.”
The woman then blurted, “This is important, somebody has to show this on television.”
Somebody will. TVCOGECO’s got a saying, “Truly Local Television.” Local Cable subscribers will be able to see this news item on their local stations. No Local network affiliate would come out to Arnprior (a town of between 7,500 and 8,500 people, depending on who you ask) to cover really local events such as the Olympic Torch relay through this small town.
If the woman who asked the reporter how she could see this on her television has any friends or relatives in Arnprior, one of them could tape, or somehow make a copy of the News Programme that will cover today’s Olympic Torch relay, and get that copy to her.
Along with Junior Hockey games and other very local programmes that local stations affiliated with the big networks would never even consider covering, The Olympic Torch relay through a town like Arnprior would only find air time on a cable station.
(climbing down from soapbox now…)
—–Jim —–
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