June is upon us and I’m looking forward to some warm sunny days although Environment Canada is predicting a wet summer somewhat on the cool side.

By mid-month our Dirty Dozen group has had seven rainouts with restrictions on the use of carts when we do get to play. We have had as many rainouts as actual play days. Course drainage continues to be an issue and there doesn’t seem to be an easy solution, I guess that what happens when you build on former swamp land. Temperatures keep fluctuating with June 15 onward is not looking good.

My morning entertainment has been a pair of Northern Cardinals that come to our patio door when I’m having breakfast looking for a hand out. I have a supply of bird seed that I put out hoping they’ll get it before the squirrels show up. Fascinating watching how the male and female cooperate passing each other seeds and constantly on the lookout for cats, squirrels and other predators.

The world cup finally comes to and end July 19. It proved to be a huge success driven in large part by all the fans travelling to North America to support their country’s team. As an example, Scottish fans took over Boston and drank the pubs out of beer. All this without any fights (hard to believe). I was never a big professional soccer fan but my daughter played at a high level and her son carries on the tradition. I watched them both play in fact driving all over Quebec when my daughter was a teenage - so I understand a lot about the game.

I watched snippets and highlights of quite few world cup games and quite a bit more of the semis and finals. I was glad Spain won, they deserved it. Argentina proved to be a tough, unbelievably dirty opponent who got away with murder. But in the end justice prevailed. I think half Argentina’s practice sessions are devoted to perfecting dives.

The US and Canada had great expectations but they aren’t there yet. Perhaps by next world cup they will be more competitive. Most amazing to me was how well some of the smaller countries played. Cape Verde with a population of about 600,000 people stood out against much bigger nations.

The Open (also known as the British Open) finished on the same day with an amazing display of golf by 39 year old New Zealander Ryan Fox who birdied the last hole with an 11 foot putt to win by one stroke over Cameron Young who had be waiting patiently for two hours hoping to get into a playoff. Actually Fox birdied 4 of the last 6 holes. Scottie Scheffler made a bit of a charge on the last day but fell short and Sam Burns who led the event for several holes on Sunday couldn’t close the deal. Rory McIlroy, a heavy favorite going in was 10 shots off the pace.

As we near the end of July we have done a lot better on the weather front with temperatures warming to seasonal and occasionally above. So far our Dirty Dozen golf group has lost 9 games to rain and we have a lot of money in the bank for our closing luncheon. When we don’t play we don’t distribute prize money. Any funds left over at the end of the year will be used for the luncheon. It could be a real blowout

Trump World: So many shenanigans these last two months but three stand out.

1. Pond scum and lining problems in the reflecting pool. After an attempt to make the reflecting pool blue with a new “indestructible” liner, disaster strikes. The pool gets clogged with green algae and the liner starts ripping apart and floating to the service. Right away the Donald claims sabotage, someone dumped fertilizer into the water and the indestructible line was deliberately cut. Six individuals were singled out and charged with various crimes trying to prove Trump’s claim of sabotage. Pure baloney, he hired an incompetent contractor who had no viable experience for a job this big. The final price tag of this folly will probably exceed $25 million. Here is my take on what “really” happened. Democrat ninja vandals in scuba gear and equipped with giant, extra sharp box cutters slipped unseen into the pool one night and sliced up the liner. After their work was done they exited the pool, climbed into their ninja stealth vehicle, activated the Klingon cloaking device and got the hell out of dodge never to be seen again. Oh yeah, and while they were at it they dumped about a ton of nitrogen rich fertilizer into the pond to encourage algae growth knowing full well that duck poop wouldn’t do the job.

2. The Crypto scam. A classic “pump and dump” scheme with a crypto twist. Trump earned about $ 1.4 billion from his crypto investments. Others who he encouraged to invest lost over $3 billion. He also managed to set up the scheme so that he took a fee on every transaction. He couldn’t lose, but lots of others did, some of them millions. In a different world this would be considered a major crime, a felony deserving of jail time but it won’t happen.

3. Wildfires in Canada have seen smoke drifting south into several US States even affecting Washington, DC. Trump is outraged and threatens to impose more tariffs on Canada and/or otherwise seek compensation for damages. Of course all this is done in ignorance, he seems to be unaware or has forgotten how many times Canada has sent water bombers, other equipment and men south to help with their fires and other natural disasters.

I’m just about done for the month and kind of disappointed. I thought my little piece about musical memories would spark some interest but apparently not. No one commented or provided any input about their recollections. I thought we could keep this topic going for a few months but will put things on hold unless a few people step forward.

On a final note I am actively seeking a person to take over as Newsletter editor – I get the feeling I have been at this too long (more than eight years) and that we need new blood with new ideas. Anyone interested just drop me a line and I’ll get you started.

Thanks to all who contributed to this addition, Jim Baxter, Jean Rath, Mike Barber, Bob Wrigley, Jim Groundwater, Rob Ellicott and of course John Charlton who has survived his relocation from Ontario and now lives and thrives in Nova Scotia. And once again a plea for input, send me a letter, an article some pictures or whatever you think might be of interest.

Until next month take care.
Harvey

Stay Strong Ukraine

Ukraine and Russia are still negotiating but are still far apart. Russia continues to bomb Kiev and other cities but appears to be losing ground in the Crimea. If one can believe news reports, Russia is losing almost 30,000 men a month and is now unable to draft enough men and women to fill the ranks. Putin is caught between a rock and a hard place – if he withdraws he almost certainly will be ousted as president and perhaps jailed or executed. If Trump really wants to be known as a peace maker he should step in and arrange a “deal”. I will say Trump’s attitude towards Ukraine appears to be shifting, perhaps because he now sees them as winners and he doesn’t want to be caught backing the wrong horse.

The war in Iran drags on – it will be 5 months at the end of July and no matter how many air strikes the US carries out, Iran is able to bounce back and inflict damage on Arab states that are aligned with the US and so doing kill US service personnel. How much longer can they keep this up? The US says Iran wants a deal but apparently not one the US is proposing.

Thanks for your letter Jean. We have featured Buckminster R. Fuller's Geodesic Dome several times in recent years. Here is another to show that it lives on.

Photo by John Charlton

I looked up the building you visited during the Olympics. It was the Centre Étienne Desmarteau which was one of two venues for basketball events at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The other was the Montreal Forum.

Joseph-Étienne Desmarteau
Photographer unknown

Joseph-Étienne Desmarteau was born in Boucherville in 1873 and won gold for Canada at the 1904 Olympics in the 56 pound weight throw in St. Louis with a distance of 34' 4". He was the only non-American to win in the field events. Interestingly, this ties at least tangentially into your first story of the fire in that Joseph took time off work as a Montreal Fireman to compete at the games. He was denied leave, but went anyways, losing his job for his efforts. When he returned to Montreal, he was hailed as a hero and promptly rehired as a Police Officer, but died the following year, possibly of typhoid fever.

Now if we only knew the name of your blog?

I would not call myself a golfer, more of a hacker. I play at the St. Lambert Municipal course affectionately known as the Rock Pile although I will say it is much improved from years ago. I did not start playing golf until after I retired and after having a knee replacement - so about age 65. I enjoy the game and believe it or not I was somewhat aware of your accomplishments. I used to caddy at the Country Club in the late 50's (Red Beck, Doc Chevrier, Carl Gardener and that crowd) and I believe you were a junior phenom back then. I don't know if it is a false memory but recall the Country Club had put up a picture of you blasting out of a sand trap.

Take care.

The Country Club days were wonderful. I used to play with Don Alexander as my partner against Doc and Karl every weekend. We played for far more money than we should have, but my winnings paid for my tuition to McGill!!!

Good to hear you took up the game. I play at Kanawaki now and The Heights in San Diego in the winter. I get in about 170 games a year now, down from 220 a few years ago. 

Keep swinging away. It’s a great game.

Mike

Thanks Jim, the spitfire cockpit sure looks small and to me it’s amazing how effective those planes were during the battle of Britain, I don’t know if you watched any of the Open that was played at Royal Birkdale, Southport England but on Saturday there was a lone Spitfire flyby. Very impressive for a plane that was probably 80 to 90 years old.

p.s. - Jim also passed along this:
Further to our trip there is now a video of the event at Hill 70 sent to me by brother Rob. I thought it may be of interest.
Jim

Rob writes:
The pics of our event in France on June 10th have just been put up on our Website and can be viewed at: https://hill70.ca/special-event-inauguration/

SCHOOL NEWS

Principal Mervin Hunter will be leaving SLI and the end of the moving to Terry Fox Elementary School in St. Hubert. The directors would like to thank Mervin for the help he extended during his tenure, especially with both the 2023 and 2025 Reunions.

Taking over the reins will be Jamie Allen who has been Vice Principal for the last few years.

2026 St. Lambert International Bursary Winners

Your Alumni Association annually funds seven prizes given to the graduating class. Five bursary winners are chosen by the teaching staff and the two outstanding student awards by members of the graduating class. These last two awards were previously provided by the St. Lambert Legion and were taken over by the Association when the Legion ceased operations.