July 2008 - September 2008
New
Addition to the Goyetche Family
Sorry about the delay but, congratulations
Lynn Goyetche and Stewart Cartman (and the proud grand parents
Bernie and Jackie) on the arrival of Adelyn May Cartman, born
September 28, 2008. Harrison's new sister weighed in 7 lbs. 4 oz.
All are doing well. Click here
for a picture.
The
Kings of Sound
Someone brought to my attention a link
between Hollywood and Two Mountains. Brothers Gregory and Darren King
formerly of 2mo are successful sound engineers in Hollywood, California. They
have been working there for quite a while and their recent projects
are the movies
Hancock and
Flash
of Genius which was released this week. On IMDB, check out
Gregory's mini biography which lists his many accomplishments.
Darren is also listed
here.
For a picture and story of Greg, check out
this site. Their company's, the Sound Dogs, web site, has a list
of the many films and TV shows they have worked on.
Click here for that site. Congrats for the great work you guys
are doing and all the best in many future productions.
Two
New Ferries at Oka
Many people had told me about some boats
docked on the Hudson side of the Oka Ferry. Kevin Deschamps wrote to
me and told me they are now in operation. They each hold 16 cars and
are a far cry from the barges that used to be towed by a little
'tug' boat on a rope. Kevin took
this picture of one
coming into Oka. Thanks Kev. According to Mike McKeown who travelled
on the new ferry the day of operation, they can probably squeeze in
more that 16 cars and the trip is much faster and smoother getting
on and off. You no longer have to line up your car on those rotting
planks of wood. OK, I went for a drive today and checked. The new
ferry can fit at least 18 regular card (3 lanes by 6 cars or
trucks). It could probably fit 21 or even 24 small cars. Take a look
at
these pictures and see for yourselves.
A
5 Year Old Australian Shepherd Needs A Home
This is a dog, not a person with an accent
who owns sheep. It's a rare pearl blue pure bred. The reason he
needs a home is that his owner passed away and he will be put down
in a week if a home is not found. He was living in harmony with a
cat and is intelligent and obedient (to the owner not the cat). He
is a watch dog and barks to alert his family when something is
amiss. If interested drop me an e-mail and I will give you the phone
number to call. UPDATE
- Malou has found a happy home.
You
May Have Noticed That Visitor Map Lost Its Dots
That is because, after a year, it is
archived. Some sites that have this map would be excessively red and
cluttered. The one above was reset last week and the one below shows
visits for the last 12 months. Right now, after a week only North
America shows up with one dot in Kuala Lumpur (I think). We will see
how this year's looks after 12 months.
Canada's Do Not Call List
Many have been waiting for this for a long time and it finally
arrived on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was such a popular website
with over 200,00 hits that it crashed. It back online now and it's
very easy to register simply visit
this web site
run by the CRTC. The process is really easy and fast. Simply put in
you phone number and then a confirmation code. You can also do it by
phone by calling
1-866-580-DNCL. The web method is much faster especially if you are
reading this. Caution: it doesn't stop everyone from calling you (exemptions
here). If you miss these annoying calls you can also deregister
at any time. cKevin Deschamps also pointed out to me that for those
people/corporations on the exemption list there is another website
you can use to tell these people not to call you. The site is
http://www.ioptout.ca/
Happy Gang Golf Tournament
Ron Kesseler's 25th annual Happy Gang Tournament lucked out on the
weather as the rain stayed away on a weekend where the predictions
were basically all wrong. The fact that the tournament has been
brought forward by a week also may have helped the situation. 66
golfers took to the Golf Deux-Montagnes course. The winning score
was a 3 way tie for first at minus 6. Three more teams were at -5
and took the purse for 4th, 5th and 6th place. The ties were broken
by the usual shoot-out from 100 yards as you will see in the
pictures. This year Adesa Car Auctions and Golf Deux-Montagnes also
provided some prizes. The highlight of the day was Allan Hurlbert
ace on the par 3 5th and getting away without buying 65 golfers a
drink. See you all next year.
Here are the pictures.
Message For
All Dog Owners,
Got this message from Julie Laver of Two
Mountains Families: There will be a Town Meeting this Tuesday, Sept.
23 at 7:00pm regarding the Dog Park.
If you want the Dog Park, you must come, and come in numbers. We
need numbers to make this thing work. Please come and forward this
message to all your friends.
All Saints Church Notice
I have been advised that All Saints Church (on 18th avenue) in Two Mountains will be moving their Sunday service to 11:00am instead of 9:00am starting in two weeks on September 28th. The reason is: 'After discussion with parishioners it was agreed that to accommodate our children and the majority of the congregation, the later service is more appropriate for All Saints.' St. James (14th Avenue will begin their Sunday morning service at 9:30AM. The time change for the service will be announced in church on Sunday.
You can get all the news from All Saints by going to their website by clicking here. The upcoming events tab gives you a full calendar of activities at the church. In a few days, I will be updating my 'About 2mo" page (link of the left side) with links to community websites. If you want me to include your link on that page drop me an e-mail. If I deem your site a 'community' site I will include it. If not, it will probably be on my favorites page.
Congratulations to Shannon and Shawn and to Shannon and Jason
Firstly, grandparents Jan and Mike O'Neil are proud to announce the birth of their second granddaughter, Bryanna Leigh, who was born on September 11, 2008 at 8:32 am weighing 8 lbs. 14 ounces. Pictured here with her big sister, 2 year old Makayla, are the two little Irish lassies. Proud parents Shannon O'Neil and Shawn Thibodeau are also doing well. Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Secondly, congratulations go out to Shannon Hogan and Jason Bradley who tied the knot yesterday at Camp Kinkora. It was a fantastic time as many guests stayed at the camp overnight. The weather somehow cooperated and the rain stayed away until the wee hours of Sunday morning when the campfire and singers were still going strong. Great job to both families and friends who transformed Camp Kinkora into a perfect wedding setting. If you want to see some pictures, click here.
Coming Up This Weekend
Two things of note coming up this weekend. Firstly, Anne-Marie Pierre's production of Stepping Out hits Two Mountains after last week's run in Montreal. Secondly, on Saturday is the lost luggage sale put on by Mike Kane and Gary Dore. They bought an entire lot of lost unclaimed luggage from Air Canada and it's on sale this Saturday only. All events are on the 2mo calendar that can be reached by clicking on that little annoying calendar icon on the top left. Also, the Doppler radar is back on the Environment Canada site but if you want the direct feed from McGill, that is still available here.
Two Mountains Softball Road Trip
Once again, the Two Mountains Softball Team led by Mike Neville and Captain Bob (Fordham) were on the road this Saturday for the first of a home and home series against the Wendy's Gratten Lake Lodge Crusaders. Two Mo kept their winning streak alive by taking the game with a score of something like 14 to 4 but that didn't matter as we were all winners in the end as we 'invaded' the Lodge with a Western 'Ho Down' that featured country singer Eileen Wilson and guest performers. A great meal was served up and it was fantastic. Thanks to Wendy Fordham and everyone who welcomed us in Gratten Lake and we hope we can return the favour next Saturday (Sept 13) at Olympia Park followed by a home grown meal at the Legion. Click here for the pictures of the game and the lodge.
Shamrocks U18 Save The Day For Two Mountains Soccer
The U18 (male) Shamrocks scored a golden goal in the first overtime on a penalty shot to capture Two Mountains' only championship of the day in the 39th Annual Two Mountains Soccer Tournament. It was a hot day on the field and many teams competed in the finals. In the following game, the girl Shamrocks (U16) were not so lucky as their opponents, the Olympiques, scored in the first overtime to defeat them 1-0. Click here for pictures of some of the action. As usual, click on Start Slideshow for best results (only if you have hi-speed).
A Devastating Day in Chapeau 26-08-08
Yesterday was a sad day in Chapeau on Allumette Island a couple hours north west of Ottawa as Fred's Hotel and the building next door burned to the ground. The hotel and restaurant was the heart of this small community. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire although many were left homeless in the house next door. The fire started around 3:00am and was still being doused 10 hours later. Nothing remains but the chimney and the memories of the last 60+ years. My thoughts andheart goes out to Odie who fought hard to bring back the life into this establishment after Rollie Meilleur's premature death in 2002, to the Meilleur family, especially Fred who is gravelly ill in Toronto just short of his 85th birthday, to Brian Adam, Mayor of Chapeau and friend, who will have to rally the community to find an alternative to the heart and soul of the village and finally to the entire community that has gone through some rough times in the past but has managed to keep Chapeau alive and kicking. For more click here. For a video of the fire. For a video of the history of the hotel.
The Summer That Never Was
That may be a little exaggeration but if you lived through the wet June and July in the Montreal area, you might area you might agree. The reason that I am almost declaring summer over is that school is back on for many as you can tell by traffic this week. The other is that hockey is starting very soon. So if you want to know when everything starts, click on the LTHC, SOMD, and WNDL links on the left. Get out your tuques while you're at it.
Another Three Blind Mice Production Hits the Stage
Anne-Marie Pierre and 'crew' are ready with another stage production. This one is called Stepping Out and is a play by Richard Harris which won The London Standard's Best Comedy award in 1986. It is an upbeat saga of a church basement dance class, where all the participants get a chance to bare their souls and strut their stuff. It will be playing at the Mainline theatre, 3997 St-Laurent Blvd. in Montreal on September 4th to 6th but will move closer to home at the Senior Men's Club on the weekend of September 12 to 14. Check out the details here.
Congratulations to Dany and Kevin Deschamps
Congrats are in order for the proud new grand parents of Sean Michael McMillan, Steve and Christina (Deschamps)’s new addition to the family. Born Aug 19th at 5:47PM weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz. and measuring just over 20 inches. Mom and baby are doing very well, as are the first time grand parents on both sides. Click on the picture to enlarge it
122 Teams to Compete in Two Mountains Soccer Tourney
On Labour day weekend, the tradition continues as 133 soccer teams from across the province will be using every field available in town to win their division. This includes 21 teams from the Two Mountains Shamrocks ranging in age from U12 (under 12) to U18 that will be competing in the various categories. This will be the 39th year of this Two-Mountains tradition. Click here for the tournament website.
Legion Branch 185 Wins Softball Tournament
UPDATE - The Legion Branch 185 won the tournament by going undefeated in their 3 games while Verdun Branch 4 also went without a loss. It came down to a run differential where the local Legion edged out Verdun by 4 runs. Lots was raised for the Vets at St-Anne's. Congratulations to Mike Neville who put this all together and thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this a day success. A final tally on the amount raised will be made and published by the end of the week as some sponsorship is still coming in. The Legion 185 team has one official game left in their schedule. By chance it happens to be Verdun Br 4 in Verdun on September 27th. This could considered a revenge match not only for the tournament but also for last year's loss to Verdun.
Although the team's 'official' schedule only has one game remaining, Mike is forming a team and will be heading to Rawdon for an home-and-home series against the Warriors. The first game is September 6th and the return visit is the 13th. The post game activities of the 6th will be at the historic Gratten Lake Lodge which recently celebrated it 75th anniversary.
More pictures available here.
The Two Mountain Legion will be hosting its softball tournament this Saturday at Olympia Park and the weather finally looks promising. Last year the tournament was completely rained out but the prediction for the weather calls for a sunny Saturday. Six team are participating including 3 visiting Legions and two bars, Ye Olde Old Orchard Pub in N.D.G. and Rosie's Raiders which are connected to Kelly's Pub in Pointe-Claire. All proceeds are going to the St-Anne's Veteran's Hospital. The Legion is holding a supper for the players and there are a limited number of steak dinners available for $12. Come to the park and cheer for the teams and grab a beer and a burger for a good cause. For full details, go to the Legion Website. Link is above
Team USA takes back the Wyder Cup
After a 2 year drought, Team USA came back with a vengeance this year capturing the Wyder Cup, Edition 7 by beating Canada 38 to 32. They slightly added to the lead they had after day one when they were ahead 16-12. The weather was the best 2 consecutive days we've had all summer with absolutely no rain. Congratulations to Captain Robert Wall and his crew put putting on a great showing and thanks again to everyone for participating. Next year, we are heading South East to Bethlehem New Hampshire, as both teams will be on the road and Canada will try to regain the title. Click here for over 140 pictures of the action and festivities.
Mark MacDonald Charity Golf Tournament
On September 6th, the DMSA (Deux-Montagnes Softball Association) will be putting on a fund raiser for the Make A Wish Foundation. All the details here or check the September calendar. There are only 2 foursomes left, so hurry to sign up.
2mo Calendar Redesign
To keep up with the many activities, I have redesigned the event calendar to look more like a calendar (how ingenious). From now on, the calendar link on the side will go to this new format. If you would like me to include your event in my calendar, drop me an e-mail. New August Calendar.
Only 10 Days Left to the Wyder Cup Edition 7
There are only a few days left before the classic USA / Canada golf competition starts This year team USA has lost a few members however we were able to fill in the USA side with a few of our own people. There were so volunteers that didn't mind crossing over and we tweaked the team in order to make it as close a competition as possible, this after a runaway win of team Canada. The lineup will be unveiled by this weekend on the Wyder Cup pages on the left. As a cost cutting measure, this year will be a 'no frills' event. No special shirts as well as no individual gifts. We will concentrate on the competition and the festivities afterwards. The Friday game will be played at Golf le Cardinal and will be followed by a lunch at the Tartan Pub. Saturday matches will be held at Golf Deux-Montagnes with an earlier supper than usual followed by a celebration of our great cross border friendship. We are already talking about next year's event which will probably be played at the mid way point between Boston and here. More on that later.
Check Out The New Canada411.ca
The new Canada411 website has changed quite a bit. You no longer have to know how to spell the name exactly but that's not the impressive new feature. Once you do find the name and you click on it, you will see a map to where the house is. Still not impressed? When the map shows up, click on Bird's eye view. You can then zoom in to see the house close up. What's even more impressive is that you can rotate the view and get 4 different angles shots from each of the cardinal points. This is powered by Microsoft Virtual Earth and I think beats Google Earth because the view is not from straight on top. The pictures are more recent than Google. The ones from Two Mountains are probably from August of last year as compared to Google which are up to 3 or 4 years old.. I can tell the age by which car was in my driveway. That's how clear the pictures are. It's all a little scary that there pictures were taken in the first place and you cannot find the seems between pictures as this is obviously a 'collage' of many pictures. Check it out here. Of course, this doesn't work if you are out in the boonies but it seems that 2mo is not considered one.
Congratulations to Carla and Rick for their Ottawa/Two Mountains Bike Ride
On Friday August 1st, Carla and Rick Hoger set out on their mission of riding from Ottawa to Two Mountains to raise funds for Junior Diabetes Research. They did it! They arrived in 2 mo after about 9 hours to cover the 180 kms with Nora driving the support van in front of them. This was quite an achievement for Carla who was recently diagnosed with Diabetes as well as for her 62 year-old Rick dad who was determined to do the ride. On the way to this day, they collected over 1400 dollars so far. There is still time to donate especially for the skeptics who weren't sure that Rick would make it all the way. To donate online you can go to the following link: www.jdrf.ca. To read more about how this all started go to this link.
Oh Where Art Thou Radar?
I heard that many people use my website to get to the Environment Canada weather website by clicking the flag on the top right. Many of you also you the Doppler radar map on there but have obviously seen that the Montreal radar has been out of commission for the last while. It's supposed to be back in late August but someone at work gave me the link to the source at McGill. Here it is. You can use this until the other comes back. You may get a warning that you are going to a non standard web address but it is harmless. It is because the http address is an IP address at McGill rather than a domain name.
Video of Legion/Tartan Softball Game here
New Football/Soccer Field at PDM
Work has been completed on the new field at PDM (aka the Campus). You might have noticed it on Glenn Baxter's aerial views of 2 mo posted earlier. It's a first class installation on what used to be one of the worst fields in Two Mountains. Take a look at it here.
Battle of Two Mountains
Not really, but on Saturday July 26, the Tartan Pub will be fielding its first softball team since 1992. They will be playing against the Legion Branch 185 in a friendly challenge at Olympia Park at 1:00pm. It's a mixed format where each team needs a minimum number of women and everyone in the line-up goes to bat. I should be a lot of fun as there are MANY players coming out of retirement for this one time event. Click on the picture below for all the pictures and the video.
Front row (l-r) Les, Paul Bobby, Jennifer, Sandy, Liz, Terry- Middle Row Casey, Rita, Stan, Garry, Lou
Back row Dale, Brian, Dennis, Paddy, Tom, Dave, Jamie, Gary, Doug, Mike, Maurice
Wyder Cup News
The golf courses for this year's Wyder have been confirmed. Also due to an off year on the USA side, we may need 1 or 2 golfers to join the American troops. If you are interested in providing foreign aid. please drop me a line. The Wyder Cup link (on the left) will soon contain a list of confirmed players for this year as well as infirmed ones.
10 days to Carla and Rick's Pedal for a Cure Update from Carla
2mopaul.com Unavailable Earlier
Some of you may have noticed that my website was not up or looking much different earlier today. Someone had hacked in to my DNS (Domain Name Server) and had changed the server. What this does is that another server fulfills the address and another website is displayed. Apparently it happens all the time but it shouldn't happen again because I changed all my passwords. A lesson to be learned from this: Whenever you go to a website and it looks completely different than you are used to, don't click on any link within that page. I don't think there was anything malicious on the page that was showing up, but you never know. The header said 2mopaul.com but the rest of the page was advertizing and as you know this website does not send out any unsolicited ads or pop-ups. The people who hacked in my DNS definition or all those people who try to sell stuff through spam should be dealt with by the law. It is getting really bad. Never surf the net without being aware of the scum that's out there.
Latest Pictures
For the latest Tartan pictures click here and for the Legion Softball results and pictures click here.
2 Mo Area Aerial Views
You want to see some neat pictures of Two-Mountains and the surrounding area. Glenn Baxter sent me a bunch of pictures he took today while flying around the town. Many of you will recognize the landmarks while a few who have been gone for a while might see some changes. Here they are. If you have a decent internet speed, do a start slideshow, then do view full screen for best results. Enjoy and Thanks Glenn!
Another 1960's Picture
Trevor Vaage of Two Mountains recently sent me a picture of a hockey team from the early 60's. See if you recognize anyone. Click here. In case you missed Dave Whitehead's submissions, here they are.
Drive for the Cure Raises over $20,000
Just a note of thanks from Dan Klimas who has put together a great tournament once again this year: The tournament raised more money again this year that goes to the Lymphoma Research Fund of the Royal Victoria – Part of the MUHC. The total will exceed $22,600 for 2008 thanks to all our friends and colleagues. Here are a couple of pictures of the volunteers and members from Two Mo that participated. Thanks to everyone.
SERCAN Celtic Festival Draws Talent But Not People
The first annual Celtic Festival to raise funds for SERCAN was packed with incredible talent unfortunately the crowds didn't follow. Many people had bought their tickets ahead of time but could not bring themselves to go 'inside' what was one of the best weather days of the summer so far. The nine bands that were booked for this event all put on a great show nevertheless and the few people who attended were very pleased with what they saw and heard. All performed for the better part of their assigned hour as the setup time between bands was amazingly fast. Rarely was there a break of much more than 5 minutes. I have posted some pictures of some of the groups here.
Carla and Rick's Pedal for a Cure
On August 1st this year Carla and Rick Hoger will be Cycling from Ottawa to Two-Mountains in order to raise funds for Juvenile Diabetes. Read more about this one day ride that on which Rick has decided to join Carla. There will be a welcome home BBQ at 5:30 that night and it should be fun seeing Rick as he cycles the last hill to the house. Read more here and please help out this worthy cause.
A Great Day at the Auberge Beaux-Reves Golf Tournament
Friday July 4th provided the perfect weather for a round of golf in the Laurentians. Click here for pictures of the Hannes Lamothe 2008 edition of the golf tournament.
Obituary - Ricky McCarten June 16, 2008
While we were away, I learned of Ricky's passing but unfortunately could not update my Gone But Not Forgotten page. My condolences go out to his family and many friends. I have set up a page for him on my page which you can access by the link on the left or go straight there from here.
Upgrade to My Photo Albums
A few months ago, I wrote about how my picture albums were going to be by invite only and I would no longer be able to link to them from my website. Well, I wrote to the president of the company (phanfare.com) as many others did and they reversed their decision to be 'sign up' only access. Yesterday they were converting my old albums to the new platform so my pictures were off for 24 hours or so but now everything is almost back to normal, almost. Some of the links I have in my website may take you to all albums instead of a specific one. I am working to fix these links. The other thing is that you may have received an e-mail asking you to join. This was automatically sent out to 45 people that I had already invited to see an old album. When I called this back, it seems everyone go a message that you weren't part of my family or friends. It doesn't matter because my albums are now public. Anyhow, I know many of you like the style of my slideshows and if you sign up to Phanfare.com, you will have the same tools I use to produce my albums. It's free to open an account and it remains free if you stay under the 1 gig limit. As many of you saw on my last vacation, the albums are easy to produce even on the road.
On the subject of vacation, you may have noticed very little activity over the past 2 weeks. The reason was our Yukon/Alaska vacation. We just returned yesterday and while we were there I kept a travel log and put a slide show of about 400 pictures together. If you are interested in reading about our adventure or if you want to see some interesting wildlife photos simply follow this link or you can click on the happy face on top of the page to view our previous voyages.
Celtic Festival Coming This Saturday
The Sercan Celtic Festival will be held this Saturday July 5th. There will be something to please everyone. Please come and help out a good cause and have fun at the same time. It all starts at noon at the Olympia. Check out the 2mo calendar for more info.
Hope You Enjoyed My Entry Screen
How many of you read the caption under the picture on the my first screen and believed it? Come on admit it. I will admit that when I got this I thought it almost made sense. It certainly was funny. The part about Fortran was a little weird because I learned Fortran back in 1972 and I can't see any use of this language for a home application. I received this picture a few years ago and I filed it away somewhere. When I was looking for a new 2mopaul 'splash' screen, I decided to use it. Before posting it I wondered if this was a true picture. Back when I received it, I thought it might have been. So basically I was hoaxed because this chain e-mail, like 99%, of chain e-mails was a hoax. This e-mail was a little different because it didn't ask you to forward it. People were just forwarding it on their own. Anyway if you want a real explanation of this picture, check out this link. Snopes.com is one of the sites you should go to before forwarding e-mail that you receive, like the one about popping corn by surrounding it with cell phones.
Congratulations to Sean Magill (Jr.) and Kelly on New Arrival
Sean and his family recently moved out to Calgary and recently have added to their family. Click here for the birth announcement. Congrats and good luck in your new city with your growing family!
Obituary - Patricia 'Ann' Klimas (née Lariviere)
My heartfelt condolences goes out the the Klimas and Lariviere families for their loss. Ann was quite a lady that always had a laugh for me. She will be missed by many. Click here for her Montreal Gazette obituary and/or sign her guestbook. Her life will be celebrated at the Legion Branch 185 from noon on Saturday June 14 at noon with a 2pm funeral service on the grounds.
Update - The service was held on the shore of the Milles-Iles river right behind the Legion. It was an amazing service with at least 350 in attendance and many more had visited between noon and 2. It was a real celebration of a life that no one will forget. There will be one more service held for 'Ann'. This one will take her remains to their final resting place in a place she lived and loved, the Bahamas. Hats off the the Klimas' and Lariviere's for a great tribute to a very special person that touched hundreds of lives with her laughter and her love.
Wyder Cup Dates Confirmed
Although we are still in negotiation with the golf course(s), the dates for this year's 7th Annual Wyder Cup are definitely August 15 & 16. Of course this means that the Lady Wyder is on Saturday the 16th. Before all the rumours starts, right now it looks like the Friday morning round will be held at le Cardinal as usual with a 7am first tee-off followed up by a late lunch at the Tartan Pub. The other course, to be announced later this week will host the final day's men's competition as well as the banquet. The Lady Wyder will probably be held at le Cardinal as in the past 2 years. We will confirm the entire program and logistics shortly. I just posted this so that everyone stops asking what dates the Wyder Cup is. Anyone that played last year an is unable to attend this year please drop an e-mail and we can see how many open spots there are and how many golfers will compete for the few available. Click the link on the left to stay tuned to the announcement of the new venue.
Pictures from Tartan Steak Night Friday May 30th, 2008 - Sorry for the delay and June 6th.
