What would your grandfather think?

If there is one thing I know about my wife it's that she adored her grandfather Howard Russell. He was someone who left an everlasting impression on his family. Almost every summer our immediate family travels to Port Elgin for vacation just so we can stop at the school house were Grandpa and Grandma Russell spent the early part of their retirement years. There hasn't been a single occasion when we've left the school house when Heather hasn't teared up. The times she spent there when her grandparents were alive were special, they were happy lifetime memories for her. I wasn't there but through Heather's stories about her grandparents I know they have helped shape the person she's become today. Howard and Hazel were much loved.

Howard worked for CCM for most of his working career. He was very much a man of the people and a proud union supporter. As such when the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was organizing in the 1930s he put his energy behind the cause helping sign members. With Tommy Douglas as a leader it was a righteous cause, one that benefits Canadians from coast to coast to this day thanks to our universal health care system that was heavily influenced by the CCF and later the NDP.

When Heather became a woman's advocate and later the first person to set up a Workers in Motion Action Centre after Lear Seating eliminated the third shift at its Whitby manufacturing plant in 2006 family members often commented, "Your grandfather would be proud." His labour roots were branching out through the actions of his granddaughter.

Heather met Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
at a campaign stop in Whitby.

Today Heather is seeking the federal Liberal nomination in Oshawa riding. She commented to me the other day some people think her grandfather would roll over in his grave if he knew what she was doing. I disagreed. He may roll over but I think he'd also sit up and applaud.

Heather isn't seeking the nomination for personal gain. Like her grandfather before her Heather is standing up for people just like herself, people who want a better life, not only for themselves but for their children. The fact she believes this can be accomplished through the Liberal Party and not the NDP wouldn't disappoint her grandfather. If anything I believe he would be proud that his actions, his passion and his good example had a profound influence on his granddaughter. An influence that has inspired her to stand up for what she believes in and to help her community.

Heather's involvement in Oshawa spans years, many of which were spent with the Boys and Girls Club of Durham Region. She served on the board for six years and later as president of the foundation for three years. As part of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce she served on the Community Education Committee for three years and she also served on the Literacy Network of Durham Region's board of directors. And just last month she joined the Campaign Cabinet of Feed the Need Durham. This isn't something she does to pad her resume or for personal gain. She's just hard-wired to being active and she cares enough about her community to do it.

Her actions have not gone unnoticed. In 2011 she was given a Volunteer Service Award by the Province of Ontario, in 2013 she was given a business award from Business and Professional Women of Durham  and this year she was nominated to attend a Bold Vision at a national Woman's Leadership Convention.

What would her grandfather think? He'd be the proudest grandfather in the world and rightfully so.

There's no guarantee Heather will get the Liberal nomination but I can think of no better person for the job.

Contributing to your community is something to be proud of and something that won't change for Heather whether she gets the nomination or not. It's what she does, it's who she is.

Books are here to stay

I'm reading a really good book now by Joe Hill called NOS4A2. It's the first of his novels I've tried and it's been a real page turner.

I say 'page turner' in reference to the book because it's a real book, not one read off an e-reader. Books are dependable, you can count on them. E-readers, not so much as I've discovered.

I've tried using a Kobo before and must admit I found it easy enough to use. When the black line of death crept across the screen though it left me less than impressed. My wife Heather sent it back and it was replaced free of charge. But the other day when she picked it up to continue reading the latest Ken Follet novel she started a few weeks ago the black line of death appeared again. It was done.

There's not much you can do with an expired Kobo. It's been three years since it was replaced so the chances of the manufacturer replacing it again are slim. Heather downloaded the book to her laptop so she could finish it. A laptop is not as convenient as an e-reader but it will do in a pinch.

 I do a lot of reading online. Given the nature of the business I'm in (media) much of my days are spent in front of computer screens. The newspapers and magazines I help produce are all compiled using computers. At the end of the day the product is printed but to get to that point requires the use of a lot of online technology. Plus everything produced on paper goes online.

When I want to sit back and read for pleasure it's nice to open a book, you know those things we've been reading from for thousands of years?

Stephen King, who is Joe Hill's father, said in a recent interview with Huffington Post that books are not like compact discs or phonograph records that have now been almost completely replaced by music downloads.

"There's a deeply implanted desire and understanding and wanting of a book that isn't there with music. It's a deeper well of human experience. Here's another thing: if you drop a book into the toilet, you can fish it out, dry it off and read that book. But if you drop your Kindle in the toilet, you're pretty well done," he told interviewer Josh Zepps.

I couldn't have put it any better than King did right there. All I would add to his comment is that you don't have to drop a Kobo in a toilet to render it useless. It pretty much does that all by itself.

I look forward to finishing Mr. Hill's book NOS4A2. It's not hard to tell his father has had an influence in his writing. When I'm finished I'll put it on my book shelf alongside his father's many books. Then I'll go out and buy another and if I drop it in the toilet (I won't) so be it. Real books don't short out or need upgrades. They're perfect just the way they are.

No place to play ball in Oshawa

A few weeks ago I dropped off my son Tavish at Baker Park where he was meeting friends for a game of pickup baseball. They’d met there a number of times throughout the summer but at this last meeting  they didn’t get a chance to play ball.

It wasn’t because somebody else was using the diamond. Rather it was because the ball diamond wasn’t there. The City of Oshawa had torn out the fencing, removed the benches and cleared out the bleachers. The only thing remaining was a vague outline of the former infield.

“Why would the City do that?” Tavish asked me.

I didn’t have an answer for him. My hope was that because this summer was the 50th anniversary of Baker Park the City was in the process of improving the ball diamond. What better way to celebrate a milestone anniversary than to replace an aging diamond with a brand new one? The diamond had seen better days. It was the same one I played on as a teenager and it was obvious the City was doing NOTHING to maintain it. Weeds grew all through the infield.

I contacted Mayor John Henry and asked him what was going on. He told me the diamond didn’t meet City standards anymore and a community meeting with the park association had taken place and it was agreed the diamond would be removed.

I wasn’t pleased with this decision for two reasons. One, Baker Park was my park growing up. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in. So I’m a little nostalgic when it comes to ball diamonds. To see Baker Park without a diamond upset me. Second, I am now in the coaching stage of my life. I coached many years in softball and I now coach for Baseball Oshawa’s house league system. Last summer I struggled to get a diamond to practice on with my team because there weren’t enough diamonds to meet the demands of the various softball and baseball organizations across the city.

How then would reducing the City’s ‘fields of dreams’ by one help kids play ball?

I vented my frustration on a Facebook group I belong to, NASC Softball. Olga Field, who administers the page, replied to my post indicating Baker Park wasn’t the only park to lose its ball diamond this summer. So too did Nipigon Park. Eastview Park was also on the City’s list to have its three diamonds removed as was MacKenzie Park. The City held off removing those diamonds only after the NASC convinced them otherwise. How councillors could ever consider removing the three diamonds at Eastview is a head scratcher. Drive by Eastview Park on any night of the week during the summer months and you'll see teams playing, parents cheering. The NASC uses the park extensively and hosts its tournaments on the three fields. Remove the diamonds? Give me a break!

What should be done at Eastview Park and others across the city is proper maintenance of the fields. The City grooms fields such as the one at Connaught Park and the beautiful diamonds at Alexandra Park but visit Eastview Park or MacKenzie Park and you'll see the neglect. Yet our kids are expected to play on these fields just as often as they are at other parks. It makes me wonder if the City only wants to remove diamonds to save a buck. It's easier to rip diamonds out than it is to maintain them.

I sent a letter to every councillor a few weeks ago asking them to reconsider this foolhardy approach to running the City. Ron Diskey, Director of Culture & Recreation got back to me to let me know there is an upcoming needs assessment study taking place on parks and recreation to determine future needs and locations of diamonds, soccer fields, etc. It takes place Oct. 8 at the Civic Auditorium Complex at 6:30 p.m. You can be I'll be in attendance.

Our city needs to maintain and improve it's baseball and softball diamonds, not remove them. Like I said before my team was shut out of practices during weeknights this summer because there weren't any diamonds available. Removal of the diamonds at Baker Park and Nipigon Park will only make matters worse next summer.

I found it funny as I scrolled through the NASC Softball Facebook page to see photos of this summer's championship teams. There were a lot of kids who played for Baker Park in those photos. Yet the City felt Baker's diamond wasn't being used enough to keep it?

Shame.