Village Squire, 1974-06, Page 8Getting to know Stratford
before the tourists come.
., In many ways spring...yes, it is spring
w though the weather through most of the past
month hasn't been much like it...is the best
time to visit Stratford.
You won't see the Stratford that's famous
across the continent, of course, but you may
see the real Stratford. Next month that other
Stratford will come to life with the first gala
openings of the 1974 Festival Season, but
right now, before the crowds come, is a great
time for visiting the city.
To me, Stratford has always been what a
city should be. I guess it's impossible to
expect a really big city like Toronto to be like
Stratford, but it's too bad it isn't. Stratford is
a city of people, not buildings. I've never
quite figured out if it's a small town trying to
be a city, or a city that's trying to be a small
town. Whichever, it has set a mood all its
own.
When I think of Stratford, I must admit it
isn't of the glorious Festival Theatre or arty of
the other picture -post card things. To me
Stratford is the Avon River winding through
the city. It's the tall trees that line the streets.
It's the old buildings mixed in with the new,
giving spice to each other.
The river is nice in the spring. It was
swollen by the spring rains when I walked
along it recently. The swans and ducks, not
yet spoiled by the mobs of tourists of the
summer, acted like swans and ducks and not
like actors trying for a role in a new play.
They ignored this nutty stranger who came
for a walk along the river long before even the
opening night at the Festival.
The river gurgled its way along inches from
the top of the bank and only the odd car
travelled along the nearby street to disturb
the sounds of nature.
Walk up through the park, the water
squishing up around my feet as I tred on the
Conestoga college stretching high into the sky among the trees offers an architectural contrast to soggy ground, up past the theatre building
tithe modernistic Festival Theatre just behind it. where preparations are hastily going on for
6. VILLAGE SQUIRE/MAY 1974