Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-08-23, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1989. PAGE 5. From hockey, to writing, to cooking She brings world of experience to new job Hitting the ‘Spot’ Visitors to the Blyth Festival don’t have to worry about going too far to find a terrific meal. The Food Spot located in the basement of Memorial Hall offers a delicious selection of soups, entrees, and dessert. BY BONNIE GROPP A new face has joined the family at Blyth Festival this year. Patti Archibald assumed the position of manager at the Food Spot, which is located downstairs in Memorial Hall. The Food Spot is open through­ out the summer season on perfor­ mance days and offers its patrons a delicious selection of soups, en­ trees, and desserts during lunch and supper. They also provide light repast during intermission, when Letters to the Editor Mrs. Archibald finds they draw the bulk of their crowd. For Mrs. Archibald, who now resides in Londesboro with her husband, John, and their two sons, Matthew, 2 and Luke, 6 months, the move to this area has followed many interesting and unique ex­ periences. Born and raised in Quebec, Mrs. Archibald attended Loyola for four years. She says she attended the Montreal University the first year the Jesuit priests who ran it decided to let women enroll. “It was great’’ she says. “There were 600 women attending the day classes and 30,000 men.” Her major was English and she had aspirations of being “a great novelist”. She was a published writer during University with four poems and two short stories to her credit. She also had three of her short stories published by Canada’s Conklin Shows Magazine which is called Jackpot. “It was an industrial magazine for people in the midway industry,” she ex­ plained. Other accomplishments included a story in the Montreal Star and a third place win in a short story contest. She has worked for numerous operatic societies and two films, though she had no previous stage experiences of her own. She did the curtain and make-up in the Jan Cader film “Lies My Father Told Me”. In addition to her studies at Univer­ sity, Mrs. Archibald studied still photography and early Canadian architecture and took a course in interior decorating. She was an antique dealer as well. Her interest in the restaurant business also began while she attended university, when she worked as assistant manager in a large steak house. Another part of her responsibilities there included after-game dinners for the Allou- ettes when they would literally “set up a restaurant at the Autostade.” Following that, she was secre­ tary for Yvan Coumoyer and Jacques Lemaire of the Montreal Canadiens, looking after the hoc­ key school they ran every summer. “We handled 180 boys between the ages of seven and 17 for ten weeks,” she explains. “It was amazing the number of parents that would lie to us and send a five-year-old to the camp because they wanted him to play hockey.” Mrs. Archibald continued, “This was a major investment at that time - and all these little guys did was cry.” Another interesting aspect was the planning of the dining room seating. “According to Mrs. Archi­ bald, about 40 per cent of the youngsters were American and the remainder was divided between English and French speaking Can­ adians. “We would try and ensure that the children would be seated with and rooming with someone who spoke the same language, she said, “but some of the parents would ask for the reverse so the camp could serve a double purpose and be like a language immersion camp.” It was during her employment with the Canadiens that the team was on their Stanley Cup winning Food Spot manager Patti Archibald of Londesboro has been manager of The Food Spot in Memorial Hall since June. Part of her duties involve checking out the menu. Six-month-old son Luke, who she refers to as the assistant chef, is frequently on hand to offer his input. streak. “I couldn’t believe the fan mail the players received from women,” Mrs. Archibald said with raised eyebrows. “They were ex­ tremely rude, vivid, accurately crude and vulgar, shall we say, and there was no attempt at anonymity either. It was like the writing on the bathroom wall - ‘for a good time - call ...’ ” The real highlight for Mrs. Archibald while attending Loyola was meeting her husband John, who did his post-graduate work in Montreal and was working at ABC Sports when they met. It was when the couple decided to marry that the Parti Quebecois were moving in and Mrs. Archibald explained that while she was fluently bilingual, her husband only spoke English. “He was looking for a career in broadcasting at that time so we moved to Toronto. The eight years that followed were described by Mrs. Archibald as boring. “People in Toronto are so unfriendly, I really hated it. I don’t ever remember even to our neighbours,” she said. To fill in time, while her husband worked she occupied herself with a course at Georgian College in bartending and restaurant manage­ ment. As Mr. Archibald was from Bruce County they eventually bought a house there to use as an escape from the hectic life of Toronto, but discovered they en­ joyed the country life so well they Continued on page 23 MP asks ‘Can Liberals be trusted to save rails?’ THE EDITOR, As the campaign to save VIA Rail rolls into high gear, perhaps your readers may wish to view the issue in its full political context - and the real reason VIA is so vulnerable to the cuts about to be made by the Conservative government. VIA was created by a Liberal Former student initiates 10 year CHSS THE EDITOR, This is an open letter to all former high school graduates and former/current teachers of Central Huron Secondary School (C.H.S.S.) I graduated from C.H.S.S. in June, 1980 and next June, 1990 will mark our 10th year of being free from the clutches of C.H.S.S. I have not heard of any plans to hold a 10 Year High School Reunion so I have taken the initiative and would like to get the ball rolling on plans to hold a reunion next July, 1990. Of personal interest to me is to reach as many graduates and teachers of the 1979 and 1980 school year but this reunion would certainly not be restricted only to those people. I invite all former friends, class­ mates and teachers to contact me regarding their interest in attend­ ing and/or planning the reunion. I also ask for the assistance of all the parents in the area to contact government as a means of bailing out Canadian National and Cana­ dian Pacific Railways, thereby allowing CN and CP to concentrate on more profitable freight services. The first spike contributing to VIA’s death was due to the Liberals forcing VIA to pay between $70 and $80 million to CN and CP for their dilapidated rolling stock. No com- reunion their sons or daughters who many no longer live in the Huron County area to let them know that plans are now underway for a 10 year High School Reunion. I urge anyone interested to contact me as soon as possible as there is less than a year to do all the planning and many details will need to be worked out. I will keep people informed via the local papers of how plans are progressing. Once enough interest is shown, I would like to co-ordin­ ate a local Reunion Committee to assist in the planning. C’mon Redmen Spirit - if you’re out there, I would like to hear from you! Ron May P.O. Box 1020 Banff, Alberta T0L 0C0 [403] 762-6444 [FAX] [403] 762-6163 [work phone] [403] 762-5217 [home phone] pany could survive on its own with that degree of debt. The second Liberal spike was their refusal to introduce legisla­ tion giving VIA the power to control its own destiny. They remain captive to the scheduling and costing decisions of CN and CP. The third Liberal spike was their refusal to provide VIA the neces­ sary funds to re-equip its passen­ ger fleet in order to properly serve the Canadian traveller. The fourth Liberal spike was the 1981 unilateral decision by then- Minister of Transport Jean Luc Pepin to cut 19 per cent of VIA’s services - without holding public hearings. As a result of these cuts, VIA’s deficit increased $27 million since rail costs are relatively fixed while revenue will change accord­ ing to ridership. This is now where the VIA story takes a bizarre twist. After the 1981 Liberal cuts the Opposition Conservatives conduct­ ed a cross-Canada tour to save VIA Rail. In 1981 they campaigned on a platform to replace the routes cut by the Liberals, to purchase new rolling stock and to enhance VIA’s operation. Once elected the Tories did re-establish the routes eliminated by the Liberals but that’s where it stopped. In spite of ongoing insistence by the NDP Transport critics, the PC’s reneged on their promise to pro­ vide new passenger cars and failed to follow through with VIA Rail legislation. Now, the most bizarre twist of all. In the name of deficit reduction VIA is to be dismantled, leaving only a few unconnected routes in place. In 1981 the PC’s were outraged by the Liberal tactics of using Cabinet decree to make their cuts. Now, in 1989, the Conservatives are going to make their decisions in secret and not allow any public hearings either. Mr. Editor, it is clear that the Weeds infest abandoned rails THE EDITOR, Due to a possible misunder­ standing about the letter written in last week’s paper I am writing to clarify weeds grow so wild along the abandoned C.P.R. right of way that in places the rails cannot be seen. The brush, vines and small trees are providing a thicket and haven for skunks, groundhogs and other animals. Noxious weeds are classified as weeds which can cause injury to people, increase crop disease, re­ duce crop yield and either are very difficult to control or have seeds that blow in the wind. In Ontario there are 23 noxious weeds: Bull Thistle, Canada Thistle, Common barberry, European buckthorn, Colt’s foot, Dodder, Goat’s beard, Johnson grass, Milkweed, Nodding thistle, Poison ivy, Poison hemlock, Conservatives are in an ideal position of attempting to dismantle VIA. Past neglect and deliberate policies of the former Liberal government have ensured this. As the Opposition Liberals hold VIA hearings in a few major cities in this country your readers should ask themselves if the Liberals can really be trusted to save our passenger rail system any more than the Conservatives could. I personally don’t think so. Iain Angus, MP Thunder Bay - Atlkokan Ragweed/Russian Knapweed, Russian thistle, Scotch thistle, Sow thistle, Cypress Spruge, Leafy spurge, Tiberous vetchling, Wild Carrot, Yellow Rocket, Velvet Leaf. In public or private land (includ­ ing railway corridors) if noxious weeds are growing uncontrolled a complaint should be reported to the county weed inspector. The present weed inspector, Joe Gibson, is under utilized in my opinion from lack of people knowing who to contact. The weed inspector’s job is to search out and destroy noxious weeds or order them to be destroy­ ed within his territory. From my personal experience, I have had great satisfaction from the weed inspector in dealing with our milkweed problem along the abandoned C.P.R. line. Larry Plaetzer Auburn.