Cheers & Jeers
Cheers to Bob Gray who is about to receive a flood of jeers. The current UPEI coach and sessional instructor, and former teacher, school board staffer, Guardian sports writer and food critic is going on the hot seat during a fundraiser roast. The ‘Celebrating The Many Faces of Bob Gray’ roast takes place Sunday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. at the APM Centre in Cornwall. The emcee for the evening is CBC's Bruce Rainnie, with entertainment provided by Liam Corcoran. The roast is a fundraiser for the International and Indigenous Specialization Education students who will complete six weeks of teaching practice in 10 different countries in 2016. Some of the roasters include Tim Kendrick, Joanne Ings, Cathy Carragher, Jennifer Taylor and Jim Blanchard. For tickets, contact Carolyn Francis 902-894-2813.
Jeers to those responsible for the drastic format changes to the Saturday Night Hoedown on CFCY. The local, interactive country radio show developed into a P.E.I. institution over a generation or more that attracted a huge listening audience between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. every Saturday night. During its 25-year heyday under host J.P. Gaudet and sidekick Kevin Lewis, the show took live requests for birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones, gave plugs to various events, provided up to date weather and sports information, road reports and general chit chat. Despite attempts by local managers to retain the format, decisions made off-Island reduced the show to a pre-taped, boring, sterile package that interested no one. Saturday night, the local station manager went on the air at 6 p.m., told Islanders the station listened to complaints, basically apologized and said the Hoedown was back - live. As Grandpa Jones ripped into a rousing edition of Mountain Dew, Islanders cheered.
Cheers to Earl Affleck, of Mount Stewart, the Director of Safety Atlantic for Bird Construction, one of Canada’s leading general construction firms. Affleck, who worked on the Confederation Bridge before taking on projects in New Brunswick and now Nova Scotia, was recently awarded a Gold Seal Certificate in N.B., a program that demonstrates safety expertise and industry commitment to meet the demands of construction projects. His responsibilities included assisting safety co-ordinators, superintendents and district management to ensure a safe work environment. Affleck has been involved in on-site safety from the late 1970s when he assisted the Construction Association on P.E.I. and the Labourer's International Local form a Training Trust Fund to assist training of construction craft workers to complete their tasks efficiently and safely.
Cheers to the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture which will be celebrating its historic 75th annual general meeting later this month in Charlottetown. The meeting will celebrate 75 years of accomplishments by the federation, discuss key issues of the day and prepare for the year ahead. A presentation on the pricing of electricity by Maritime Electric will be of great interest to many farmers. Members will gear a report on the recently completed Water Act consultations as well as municipal amalgamation and how these changes will affect Island farms. The diamond anniversary meeting of the federation could well be its most important to date.
Cheers to Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee for asking Fire Chief Randy MacDonald to put together a report on how much it would cost to outfit some of the city-owned buildings with generators so that people have an option when the power is out for an extended period of time. Cheers also to the CARI Complex for, without being asked, opening its doors during the last storm so that people could take a hot shower or simply charge their cellphones.