Retirees Association of Mohawk College

After a long cold winter and a rather miserable start to spring, we hope for better things to come. Since our last newsletter we have had three events:

• On February 9, fifty-seven retirees and their guests celebrated the Chinese new year at Le Chinois restaurant. Paul Yakimoff reports on page 6.
• Twenty-nine retirees and guests lunched and were entertained at the Famous People Players theatre in Toronto on March 8. Mary and Richard Smith report on page 3
• April 6 was the date that 35 of us travelled to Mississauga to lunch and enjoy a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Stage West Theatre. Donna Dunlop reports on page 5.

Coming Events

• Tuesday, June 7, Annual General Meeting (See enclosed sheet).
• Monday, June 27 – A Day at the Fort Erie Thoroughbred Races (Sold Out)
• Thursday, August 4, Showboat Theatre, Port Colbourne (See enclosed sheet).
• Tuesday, September 20, Hello Dolly, Stratford Festival, (See enclosed sheet).
• October 2– 6, Quebec City Trip, (See enclosed sheet).

Report on the April Board Meeting

Your board met at the College on April 5. It was decided to subsidise the lunch at the AGM by an additional $5 to assure an adequate supply of food. Geoff Brooker and Marie Yakimoff, having served two consecutive terms of three years each will be leaving the board. Brian Welsh is resigning as Newsletter editor and will be replaced by Fred Oldfield who will continue to serve as webmaster.

Joanne Echlin visited the meeting and discussed two subjects. First the college wishes to extend to all retirees free accounts on the college's Mo-Co-Motion email system. Further detail will be forthcoming.

The second topic was the new health insurance initiative which will come into effect after August 31 of this year. It is apparently mandatory that selection as to the plan and options under that plan be made before that date. As mentioned in the last newsletter it is a complex choice. In order to assist exiting plan members in choosing, the college proposes holding information sessions in May to help clarify the matter. The college contacts for further information on the insurance are:
Sue Gordon, Andrea Howard, or Sheila Walsh.

Let's Do Lunch

Recently Dave and Betty Crossley invited Mary and your humble editor (yhe) to lunch with them at the Thai Villa 1273 Plains Road West, Burlington. (It is the site of the former Lee's Garden Restaurant). The ambience is pleasant and comfortable. We all chose the Thai beer to start. The luncheon menu offers a selection of either soups and salads, stir fries with either soup or salad, or a choice of two curries. Dave, Betty and Mary went the stir fry route with salad, soup and soup respectively, while yhe chose the soup and the Panang Curry. .The soup was a Thai creation and almost unbelievably delicious. The reports on the stir fries was equally favourable and the curry was fantastic. Mary and yhe were so impressed that we returned a few weeks later for lunch again.. This time as well as the beer and soup Mary had the Panang Curry and yhe the Green Curry – marvellous! Lunch for two with beer tax and tip was $43. This will become a regular lunching spot for us.

Some time ago, shortly after it opened, we lunched at the Renaisscance Restaurant, 246 Governors Rd. in Dundas and found it wanting. Recently we visited there again and were pleasantly surprised at how the service and the food had improved. .Mary and yhe both chose a Guinness to start – Mary ˝ and yhe a pint. We both ordered the beef borscht which was very good indeed, followed by the sea food sandwich. The latter proved to be as good a choice as the former. Needless to say our opinion of the Renaissance has changed for the better. Lunch for two with beer tax and tip was $33.

The Main Street Bistro is located in the Visitors Inn, just west of hwy 403 on Main St W. It s a "white tablecloth" restaurant with beige tablecloths. The service was excellent, both friendly and attentive. We both had a Sleeman's dark ale and ordered soup and the veal Parmesan sandwich from the rather limited lunch menu. The leek and potato soup consisted of chunks of potato and leeks floating in what can best be described as brine, much too salty indeed. The sandwich consisted of a very pedestrian ground veal patty on a thin roll with tomato sauce and cheese. Lunch with beer, tax and tip was $43.

At 21 King St W in Dundas is the Matsu Sushi -- Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar. Mary and yhe both chose a Japanese beer and the sushi special for that day. It consited of soup followed by six sushi rolls and three rolls of rice wrapped in raw fish slices. The sushi and rice rolls were fresh and absolutely delicious. Both Mary and yhe considered it one of the best, if not the best, Japanese restaurant that we have lunched at. Lunch with beer tax, and tip was $39.

Famous People Players Theatre

On a cold March day when spring was still a dim memory, a group of us boarded a bus to the Famous Players Theatre in Toronto. Chatting and laughing we made our way to our intended destination. >h3>Upon arrival, members of the company greeted us and seated us at three long tables in their ground-floor restaurant. All the waiters and waitresses were dressed in black pants, white shirt and black bow tie. We had a delicious lunch of warm rolls, salad, Dijon Chicken, potatoes, peas and carrots. All of the chefs, waiters and waitresses were members of the theatre company. The service and the meal were excellent; the staff did everything possible to please us. Before and after the performance, we were able to meet and talk with members of the company.

After the wonderful meal, we made our way to the performance area on the second floor. On the way, we passed through a hallway with a gallery of autographed pictures and citations presented to the company by famous people. In addition, on the walls were the names of many famous and not-so-famous people who have supported this company.

In the theatre, we enjoyed watching a black-light production entitled A Black Light Night to Remember. We traveled to different musical times with music from Tom Jones, Dean Martin and the BeeGees. Puppets such as fish and sea creatures sang and danced. Brightly-coloured giraffes sang and made moon- eyes at each other. A streetlight sang a song of love to a fire hydrant. We even had a strip tease by a member of the company.

After much laughter and frivolity, we made our way back to the restaurant for coffee and dessert. Many of us had the opportunity to meet Diane Dupuy, the founder and president of the company. Some of us purchased her recently-released book entitled, Daring to Dream, The Story of the Famous People Players.

Finally we boarded the bus for the return trip to the College. Each of us marveled at the production we just witnessed, and all of us will go again when the company offers a new show. I think that for all of us who attended this excursion, spring came that day, and winter exited stage right.

Mary and Richard Smith

Spinning the Web - Spring 2005

As I write this, Pope John Paul II has just passed away. It is a loss that will be felt greatly especially because of his unceasing efforts to spread his message to all parts of the world. Some of us, myself included, question many of his conservative views, but that's a debate for another time. But the Pope's passing has very little to do with the rest of this article.

I have been pondering for some time about a topic for this issue. In the end, I decided to talk about a couple of books I have just read. Thus, the title of this piece could be "Popes and Bathrooms". What do Popes and bathrooms have in common, you might ask? Let me enlighten you.

For some time, I have been eagerly awaiting the paperback version of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Recently, however, a friend of mine lent me his hard-back copy. I started reading late Sunday afternoon and I finished sometime on Tuesday. I'm not a fast reader and I often read only a few pages at a time in my favorite reading parlor (the first reference to our title). But I got hooked on the book and, since I am retired, I was able to spend quite some time reading it. I'll try not to give away very much of the plot, because if you haven't read it, you should. This is one of those "bestsellers" that deserves to be there on the basis of the writing and the plot, not sensationalism.

The Da Vinci Code has garnered its fair share of publicity because it presents an idea that is at odds with established tradition, but remember it is fiction. What if Jesus had married? What if his wife were Mary Magdalene? What if it was his intention that Mary Magdalene would be the founder of his church and not Peter? For some people this probably borders on heresy. Actually it is heresy - since heresy is merely beliefs not accepted by the main body of the church. But what if there were proof found buried under the ruins of the great Temple of Jerusalem and protected for centuries by the Knights Templar and their successors? What if that proof still exists? I was immediately hooked by the book because it discusses ideas that I have myself been formulating, at least in part. It also hooked me by bringing in the Knights Templar about whom I had recently read another book (nonfiction).

If you can suspend belief long enough to accept the possibility of the above scenario, then you are in for a fun read. I have to say that I was a little let down by the ending, but it was still well worth it. Incidentally, the book is set in the near future when a younger, more liberal Pope has ascended the throne of Peter. (Our second reference to our title.) The book blends fact with fiction seamlessly. A little too seamlessly, for I would really like to know where the facts end and the fiction truly begins. One apparent fact that seems like it should be fiction is Da Vinci's The Last Supper. If you view a photograph taken before it was restored a number of years ago, you will see that the person sitting on Jesus' right is almost certainly a woman. Is it Mary Magdalene?

If you'd like to check out The Last Supper for yourself - or learn more about Dan Brown or The Da Vinci Code, go to www.danbrown.com. (At last a tie-in to the Internet.)

One of my favourite series of books to read is the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series, Now in its seventeenth year. In addition to the seventeen volumes (almost all of which are in print) there have also been a number of other books following the same format on history, great lives, the universe and more. I've just finished Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History Again. Interestingly, it contained an article on the Knights Templar which confirmed a fact mentioned in The Da Vinci Code that I hadn't known (or remembered) before: The Knights Templar provided a service that was a direct forerunner to our modern banking system.

You might have noticed the veiled (not really) reference to an essential bathroom tool in the title of this last book. All of the titles usually feature such an innuendo. But despite the occasional bathroom-related pun, these are good clean books filled with interesting facts, tidbits, quotes, quizzes and more. You can find out more at www.bathroomreader.com.

The least expensive place to buy new Bathroom Readers is at Costco. Unfortunately, they only carry the latest editions. Around Christmas time, they had three different books available. By now their stock is probably getting very low. Costco has also recently opened their own website: www.costco.ca. You may want to pay it a visit. [Okay, Costco doesn't really fit in to our title, except that it has carried the books mentioned (and may still).] Happy reading and, as Uncle John always says, "Go with the flow".

Fred Oldfield

Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

At 09: 45 a.m., on Wed., April 6, 2005, thirty-five people, composed of Mohawk College retirees/spouses/ friends, enthusiastically, left Fennell Campus, Mohawk College, aboard a Farr ‘s coach to spend the day in Mississauga at Stage West. The group enjoyed a splendid, fulfilling, buffet lunch and the colourful , energetic performance of the theatrical musical adaptation, Joseph & The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, the Biblical story of Joseph & his brothers and their trials in Egypt. Many thanks go to Santosh Dalal, who had the responsibility of organizing this event and to Ron, our coach driver, who negotiated the roads and traffic between Hamilton and Mississauga. As usual, Geoff Brooker kept us from falling asleep by entertaining us with his anecdotes. The day was a most enjoyable excursion that we hope will soon be repeated.

Donna Dunlop

Chinese New Year Celebration

In anticipation of the Lunar New Year, celebrated this year on February ninth, fifty-seven Mohawk College Retirees and their friends participated in a delicious twelve-course, sit-down dinner at Le Chinois, on January twenty-fifth.

Family, relationships and food are considered important at this time of year. In spite of the variety of Horoscope Signs peculiar to members and their guests and the heterogeneous nature of the group, the climate was lively and joyful. It was in keeping the New Year wishes of Happiness, Abundance (signified by the large amount of food), Good Luck (depicted by the red envelopes) Wealth and Prosperity (the gold coins in the envelopes) and a Long Life (represented by the long noodles in one of the menu items).

This Lunar Year is the Year of the Rooster. Persons born under this sign are considered to be out-going people who enjoy life–similar perhaps to those diners on January twenty-fifth.

Paul Yakamoff

The Editor's Dilemma

Here we are, my very last newsletter and half a page to fill. The problem was resolved when our two bullies, Beau and Belle, approached me and Belle growled

"We hear dat dis is youse las noose letter an dis is de las chance t'get ou picter in it".

"True "I replied.

"Youse got some room in it?" Beau queried.

And that is why we have the bullies pictures here.