Old school
71-year-old takes grandchildren to local hill with toboggan from his childhood
KITCHENER — It has been more than five years since 71-year-old Bill Mitchell took the toboggan out of the crawl space.
But on Thursday the grandchildren were over and they decided to bundle up in their ski clothes and head over to the hill at McLennan Park in Kitchener.
“It was such a beautiful day that I decided, let’s go tobogganing,” said Mitchell, adding that the cold temperatures didn’t bother them. “We’re outside people,” he explained. So up and down the hill Mitchell and his five and nine-year-old grandchildren went, carrying a six-foot-long wooden sled Mitchell has had since he was about 12.
And each time they reached the top of the hill all three would hop on and slide downhill together.
It’s the first time he’s taken the grandkids out on the sled his parents bought for him and his three siblings who grew up in Wingham.
“We did have a similar toboggan that was smaller and it got destroyed when I hit a rock,” he said, recalling the reason his parents purchased the sled. “This was a replacement.”
Since then, Mitchell has taken good care of the vintage ride.
“You got to keep it dry, store it inside and when you want to tune it up you put paste wax on and polish it,” he said.
He’s also had to repair a few of the loose boards.
After about 10 trips down the hill on Thursday, Mitchell and his grandchildren decided to warm up with few cups of hot chocolate from a café before heading home.
A great way to spend an afternoon in January.