Soooo, for those of you who have been faithful followers of my Blog from the beginning, you have probably noticed that my once daily blog updates have become...oh....shall we say....a little less frequent... Well, this was not due to the fact that I was trampled by a moose in Corner Brook, or run over by coal miner in Sydney Mines, but rather I was caught up in the wheels of a Relay that operates and has needs 7 days a week for 20 hours a day. I was selfish and chose to sleep for those remaining 4 hours rather than blog and for that I apologize sincerely (okay, maybe 'sincerely' is not the right word).
At any rate, I did receive an earful from Momma Jones who was having a quiet period at the cottage and time that I failed to adequately fill with descriptive text for her to read was instead used to harass the wildlife with a camera lens thrust into their tiny faces. (I'm kidding, Mommy was very understanding and wished me all the best. She's lovely)
Well guess what! I have come to the decision that I simply cannot keep up the very ambitious schedule of daily updates. I will however attempt to keep up at least weekly.
In the meantime, please spend some time enjoying the following video clips that were put together by a fellow member of our team. Hopefully they will thrill and entertain and provide you with some context and fram of reference for some of the stories I've shared to date.
By the way, there has been lots of really cool stuff happen since I last wrote and some more amazing stories and people. You really should have been there! Maybe I'll send you a t-shirt. That t-shirt would say "I know someone who did some cool stuff and things and told me about some of the stuff and things but then stopped telling me any of said previously aforementioned stuff and things for awhile but might start doing it again soon, maybe and all I got was this crummy t-shirt"
I'm still working on the exact wording.
Enjoy!
Jonesy
Friday, 30 September 2011
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Day 20 - St. Peters to Port Hawkesbury
Sorry, its been another super long day and its 1am so this will be short.
Directions for an enjoyable day:
Step 1. Have lots of fun
Step 2. Meet lots of cool people
Step 3. Rinse
Step 4. Repeat
Jonesy
Directions for an enjoyable day:
Step 1. Have lots of fun
Step 2. Meet lots of cool people
Step 3. Rinse
Step 4. Repeat
Look how excited these little future doctors/lawyers/teachers are!
Leo? Is that you? Where's Kate?
SHOWTIME!!!
Highland Dancers
Monday, 12 September 2011
Day 19 - Sydney to St. Peters
This was probably one of my favourite days of the Relay so far. As we left Sydney and made our way along Cape Breton Island, we are encountering many small towns. Those small towns have some incredible people and we got to meet a few of them today. First thing in the morning, we had a pretty powerful Meeting Point. We quite often ask our Medal-Bearers to share their stories of why they wanted to participate in the Relay, or why they were nominated by someone or why they did nominate someone as their Difference Maker. We made our way around the room and heard some pretty good stories from folks and then there were just 3 people left. We didn't know this at the time, but they all knew each other and had been through a lot with each other. They were husband and wife John and June, and John's best friend. We'll call the friend Kevin because I can't remember for sure what it was and I don't want to get out of bed to find my paperwork to double check....I know, I know...that's sheer laziness, but its after midnight and I'm tired and cozy. Anyway, names are not important, stories and friendships are. John and Kevin have been friends since they were born. They were introduced to each other in the first 6 months of their lives and have been close ever since (now in their mid 40's). Six years ago, John and June were in the process of building their dream house. John had their future all mapped out. He was an excellent craftsman, and a cabinet maker and had ambitions of going back to school to become a guidance counselor as he has a heart for helping people. All that changed when they went for a leisurely motorcycle ride together and were hit at full speed by a drunk driver. John, suffering serious injuries, immediately began calling for his wife. Against odds, he got up, found her and stood over her mangled unconscious body as the drunk driver stumbled up. "You killed my wife", he said. "My life is over, you just killed my wife!" Hearing this, the drunk driver got back in his car and took off. He attempted to conceal himself but in his condition, ended up smashing into 3 or 4 more cars and a house before evacuating his vehicle and runnign to hide in the woods. Thankfully this story has a somewhat less devastating conclusion in that June did survive the wreck. The driver was caught, but received nothing more than a mild sentence while both John and June were left with permanent scars and debilitating pain on a daily basis. John had ligament and tendon damage in his hands and arms and still suffers from severe neck and back pain in addition to regular headaches. Its time for Kevin to enter the story. Kevin, John's best friend, wanted to help. Since John was injured and unable to use his hands, Kevin set upon finishing building John and June's house that was in mid build. A pretty incredible act in itself, is made even more incredible by the fact that while doing this, Kevin was facing his own challenges as he was battling cancer. Slowly, the two of them, despite their pain and fatigue, and limited mobility, worked diligently together for short periods of time between rests, John possessing the knowledge and using Kevin's functioning hands, finished building that house.
John had to stop to compose himself several times while telling the story as the emotions are still very fresh and very raw. It is clear that he still very much bothered by the fact that both him and his wife are suffering everyday and the person that caused their injuries is still a regular in the bars around town. He is working very hard every day to move towards a level of acceptance and forgiveness and participation in the Relay was a small step in that direction as he was able to share what it with someone who has truly been a Difference Maker in his life for both him and his wife. I was able to speak with John privately afterwards and could feel the strength and resolve in him. He is planning to finally go back to school to get the courses he needs for his guidance counselor ticket and is very much looking forward to doing whatever he can to give back.
In small town Nova Scotia, "Community" is everything. No one gets anywhere on their own and everyone pitches in where they can. In St.Peter's there is someone who is always stepping up to be that someone who aids or assists. A huge crowd showed up for a dual purpose function as the town was recognizing a local hero, Georgie, and dedicating a brand new recreation complex to him as part of him being selected as our final Medal-Bearer of the day. Georgie, owner of the local tavern and grill, has always been the first one to step up when someone needs help. He has given countless hours of his time and dollars to various causes and projects around the community. He has been an active coach in youth league baseball, and is a local hero as evidenced by the 2 different standing ovations he received during the ceremony. Sadly, Georgie as well has been attacked by cancer, his body riddled with bone cancer so badly that he has broken his femur and hip just during every day life. He can barely move himself and uses a wheelchair to get around, but in the 3 hours that I was chatting with him and interacting with him and watching him with others at the function, he was never without a smile, and never without a friend, neighbour, or grandchild close by. Yes, Georgie has found something special that even cancer cannot stop him from enjoying.
Following the ceremony, the community hosted our entire team of 35+ people for a fabulous Nova Scotian deluxe dinner. The feast they put together was unbelieveable. HUGE lobsters, t-bone steaks, salads, rolls....and as much as you like....yes, including the lobsters!! What an absolute treat to have such a fun, relaxed atmosphere for dinner with warm, friendly, welcoming people. In St. Peter's hospitality knows no bounds!
THANK YOU ST. PETERS!! YOU ROCK!!
Jonesy
John had to stop to compose himself several times while telling the story as the emotions are still very fresh and very raw. It is clear that he still very much bothered by the fact that both him and his wife are suffering everyday and the person that caused their injuries is still a regular in the bars around town. He is working very hard every day to move towards a level of acceptance and forgiveness and participation in the Relay was a small step in that direction as he was able to share what it with someone who has truly been a Difference Maker in his life for both him and his wife. I was able to speak with John privately afterwards and could feel the strength and resolve in him. He is planning to finally go back to school to get the courses he needs for his guidance counselor ticket and is very much looking forward to doing whatever he can to give back.
John and June...dating since 8th grade and still happy today!
In small town Nova Scotia, "Community" is everything. No one gets anywhere on their own and everyone pitches in where they can. In St.Peter's there is someone who is always stepping up to be that someone who aids or assists. A huge crowd showed up for a dual purpose function as the town was recognizing a local hero, Georgie, and dedicating a brand new recreation complex to him as part of him being selected as our final Medal-Bearer of the day. Georgie, owner of the local tavern and grill, has always been the first one to step up when someone needs help. He has given countless hours of his time and dollars to various causes and projects around the community. He has been an active coach in youth league baseball, and is a local hero as evidenced by the 2 different standing ovations he received during the ceremony. Sadly, Georgie as well has been attacked by cancer, his body riddled with bone cancer so badly that he has broken his femur and hip just during every day life. He can barely move himself and uses a wheelchair to get around, but in the 3 hours that I was chatting with him and interacting with him and watching him with others at the function, he was never without a smile, and never without a friend, neighbour, or grandchild close by. Yes, Georgie has found something special that even cancer cannot stop him from enjoying.
Georgie bringing it in!
Georgie with his family and friends
The Smile that made him a St. Peters icon!
Following the ceremony, the community hosted our entire team of 35+ people for a fabulous Nova Scotian deluxe dinner. The feast they put together was unbelieveable. HUGE lobsters, t-bone steaks, salads, rolls....and as much as you like....yes, including the lobsters!! What an absolute treat to have such a fun, relaxed atmosphere for dinner with warm, friendly, welcoming people. In St. Peter's hospitality knows no bounds!
YES! This actually exists...and no I did not try it.
Aww, now THESE are the ones I was looking for!
and I finally settled on my girl Loretta!
Jonesy
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Day 18 - Sydney Non-Event Day (with an event)
So today was officially slated to be a "day off" for everyone. Since there is no such thing as a "weekend" for the next 9 months, we try to take advantage of our off days to get some exercise in, relax, get away from the Relay, away from our work, and away from each other....but we haven't really had any of these types of days yet... and today was no exception.
Today, we decided to take an opportunity to "practice what we preach" by getting involved in the local community. Mike, our Relay Security Manager (and former RCMP member/current Professor) set up for the Relay team to spend a few hours at a local skateboard park. It would be a chance for us to interact with some youth while performing some community service. We went equipped with rubber gloves and garbage bags and took to the park to clean it up. There was garbage and crap all over. Big ditches full of food wrappers and cigarette packs, pop cans, coffee cups, and just about anything you could imagine...including 2 shopping carts! By the time we were finished, we had filled about 10 garbage bags full of trash, hosted a free BBQ for all the kids who were hanging out, and had the opportunity to share our messaging with a mostly attentive audience. The kids all helped to pitch in and pick up trash with us once they saw what we were doing.It was pretty cool. It was a crummy, rainy day with scattered periods of sunshine but what a great opportunity to make a difference for a group of youth....how big of a difference we made may never be known, but I guarantee that for some of them, we did more for them than simply clean up their park.
Jake, our quadriplegic host, thought he would get in on the action by wheeling down a ramp....Jake does silly stuff sometimes....and after 3 hours at the hospital and 5 stitches in his head, we all had a good laugh about it. Personally, I think he just wanted to get out of having to pick up trash!
Jonesy
Today, we decided to take an opportunity to "practice what we preach" by getting involved in the local community. Mike, our Relay Security Manager (and former RCMP member/current Professor) set up for the Relay team to spend a few hours at a local skateboard park. It would be a chance for us to interact with some youth while performing some community service. We went equipped with rubber gloves and garbage bags and took to the park to clean it up. There was garbage and crap all over. Big ditches full of food wrappers and cigarette packs, pop cans, coffee cups, and just about anything you could imagine...including 2 shopping carts! By the time we were finished, we had filled about 10 garbage bags full of trash, hosted a free BBQ for all the kids who were hanging out, and had the opportunity to share our messaging with a mostly attentive audience. The kids all helped to pitch in and pick up trash with us once they saw what we were doing.It was pretty cool. It was a crummy, rainy day with scattered periods of sunshine but what a great opportunity to make a difference for a group of youth....how big of a difference we made may never be known, but I guarantee that for some of them, we did more for them than simply clean up their park.
Jake, our quadriplegic host, thought he would get in on the action by wheeling down a ramp....Jake does silly stuff sometimes....and after 3 hours at the hospital and 5 stitches in his head, we all had a good laugh about it. Personally, I think he just wanted to get out of having to pick up trash!
Our whole clean up team with some of the local skaters.
Jonesy
Day 17 - Sydney, NS Event Day
We spent 4 nights at the Delta hotel in Sydney which was nice because we got to unload our gear and spread out a little. It also provided us some time to get out and visit in the community and explore a little. I took advantage of our Non-Relay day to go and get my first haircut since I left Vancouver. I visited a cute little place called Alma's Family Salon and when it was all said and done, I was charged $16. After recently making a very bad mistake in Vancouver and walking into the wrong place when I decided to "change it up a bit" for a haircut and being charged $90, this was a very pleasant surprise.
I had a lot of administrative work to get done on this day, so I was pulled off from working at the various events that we had going on. We did have several though and they were as follows:
1. An EMT where we had a Scuba Diver take the Medal down for a swim under Sydney Harbour
2. A trip to Louisburg, where we fired a cannon at the Fort. Photo credits to Bryn Isaac for capturirng what we were told was a 1 in 500 chance at getting the flame from the cannon fire which only lasts for a fraction of a second and is not even visible to the naked eye when it happens.
3. Membertou First Nations visit where we had 2 Medal-Bearers carry the Medal (an Elder and a youth), followed by a 4km walk for Parents Against Drugs and then a dance.
4. A trip to Mayfair Mall to set up some display items.
(No pics available...because who wants to see a mall?)
Jonesy
I had a lot of administrative work to get done on this day, so I was pulled off from working at the various events that we had going on. We did have several though and they were as follows:
1. An EMT where we had a Scuba Diver take the Medal down for a swim under Sydney Harbour
2. A trip to Louisburg, where we fired a cannon at the Fort. Photo credits to Bryn Isaac for capturirng what we were told was a 1 in 500 chance at getting the flame from the cannon fire which only lasts for a fraction of a second and is not even visible to the naked eye when it happens.
3. Membertou First Nations visit where we had 2 Medal-Bearers carry the Medal (an Elder and a youth), followed by a 4km walk for Parents Against Drugs and then a dance.
4. A trip to Mayfair Mall to set up some display items.
(No pics available...because who wants to see a mall?)
Jonesy
Day 16 - Sydney Mines to Sydney
Well, its been a couple days since my last post (Mom's not going to be liking this!) Its 1am on Day 19, but I need to play some catch up so I am going to get at least 1 day in before I forget too much of it.
Day 16 was our first day in Nove Scotia and our first day starting from a school. We intend to start from a school any time that we have a Relay day when school is in session. Rick is very focused on ensuring that the youth of today are made aware of his mission and vision as they will be the leaders of the future and will ultimately be the ones responsible for carrying on Rick's dream for healthy people to be living on a healthy planet within an inclusive society. Our first Medal-Bearer will be a student from the school and we'll host an assembly for all the students to attend and learn about Rick's story, his dream, and why he is doing this Relay.
Despite a wet and rainy day, it was exciting for all the team members to be able to go to a school and interact with the kids. We visited 4 schools on the day and had some incredible moments. An elementary school that we visited for 30 minutes was so excited for us to come. The students all came into the gym with their posters and banners they had made the day before. We got them all up and dancing as well, learning our routine that we perform at each Meeting Point. They had a blast and really enjoyed meeting our team and being able to see Sonny's cool hand cycle that he rode right into the gym. There is a video floating around somewhere of me at the front of the gym, trying to teach the moves to our warm up routine so we'll see if it surfaces later and I will add it......maybe. :)
Jonesy
Day 16 was our first day in Nove Scotia and our first day starting from a school. We intend to start from a school any time that we have a Relay day when school is in session. Rick is very focused on ensuring that the youth of today are made aware of his mission and vision as they will be the leaders of the future and will ultimately be the ones responsible for carrying on Rick's dream for healthy people to be living on a healthy planet within an inclusive society. Our first Medal-Bearer will be a student from the school and we'll host an assembly for all the students to attend and learn about Rick's story, his dream, and why he is doing this Relay.
Despite a wet and rainy day, it was exciting for all the team members to be able to go to a school and interact with the kids. We visited 4 schools on the day and had some incredible moments. An elementary school that we visited for 30 minutes was so excited for us to come. The students all came into the gym with their posters and banners they had made the day before. We got them all up and dancing as well, learning our routine that we perform at each Meeting Point. They had a blast and really enjoyed meeting our team and being able to see Sonny's cool hand cycle that he rode right into the gym. There is a video floating around somewhere of me at the front of the gym, trying to teach the moves to our warm up routine so we'll see if it surfaces later and I will add it......maybe. :)
Those are some hot dance moves!
Great Posters!
One Happy kid! This little guy was a hero with his classmates today!
INDEED!
Jonesy
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Day 15 - Non Event Day
So we finally got on our 12:30am ferry and departed Newfoundland at 5:30am. We parked all our vehicles down below and headed upstairs to find our cabins on the 8th floor. They were small, with double bunk beds and a bathroom (complete with a shower)...but pretty nice actually. I'ts all I needed or wanted anyway and within seconds all 4 of us were passed out. I was assigned to a room full of snorers but being as tired as I was, I didn't care if I was assigned to share a room with a family of jackhammers. When my head hit the pillow, I was out cold. I woke up around 10:30am and decided to get up and scout out the situation on the boat. I did a quick tour of a couple floors and debated eating breakfast but passed it over as I am just about over the "powdered scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, toast" at this point (I know...its a little early to be "over" standard hotel breakfasts with 8.5 months to go. haha) I went up to the sundeck on the 10th floor and just relaxed in the sea breeze as we moved toward land. It was about another 90 minutes before we were skillfully guided through a narrow channel and into dock. It was neat to see the seaside landscape come into view and slowly become larger and clearer. Lighthouses, churches, cementaries, and quaint beachfront houses dotted the horizon.
The rest of the day consisted of readying our vehicles, preparing for meetings, and creating our plan for tomorrow's Relay day.
I just finished dinner a little while ago. I figured I would dive right into some local fare so I went with the Lobster poutine! Not as good as it sounds actually...maybe I'll just stick to whole lobster dinners from here on. :)
Good Night all!
Jonesy
The Interior of the ferry
Morning Sunshine hitting the Atlantic....thankfully we did not have to utilize that orange thing!
The ferry's satellites and Navigation systems behind the Helipad.
Ladies and Gentlemen.....Welcome to Sydney Mines! (Yes, I am still in the same clothes I wore all day yesterday and slept in...at least I was smart enough to pick comfy clothes!)
The rest of the day consisted of readying our vehicles, preparing for meetings, and creating our plan for tomorrow's Relay day.
I just finished dinner a little while ago. I figured I would dive right into some local fare so I went with the Lobster poutine! Not as good as it sounds actually...maybe I'll just stick to whole lobster dinners from here on. :)
Good Night all!
Jonesy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)