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2 Friday, June 23, 2017 brooklintowncrier.com "North-South-East-West, there'll be happy times…" Less than Half the Picture By Richard Bercuson The build up to Canada's 1967 centennial was nearly overwhelming. All over the country, governments doled out gobs of money for new community centres, arenas (naturally), parks, and buildings slapped with the name Centennial. (Now they need to spend more money to refurbish those old structures lest they crumble into the scrap heaps of history.) There was the cute ditty we heard over and over again, written and sung by the late Bobby Gimby. "Cana-da, now we are 20 million, we love thee…" On TV, with maybe six channels you had to turn by getting up and twisting a knob (heavens), we'd watch the fellow dressed as a Pied Piper prancing down the street while a chorus of kids followed, singing the happy tune. Kinda creepy, in retrospect. But the big show was in Montreal. We had this mayor, Jean Drapeau, who would later sink the city and province into a 30-year financial sinkhole with the '76 Olympics. He'd first convinced everyone they could build an island and a half in the middle of the St. Lawrence, not unlike what China is doing today in the South China Sea, minus the airstrips and armaments, and put a World's Fair on them. My Dad would drive us out to watch trucks dumping dirt into water. Holy cow, where does it go? Or come from? Suddenly, at the end of April, there it was, Expo 67. The entire world at our doorstep, a show of shows. The one down moment in a spectacular six months was the Jerry Lewis concert at the Place D'Acceuil outdoor theatre. He was two hours late and boring. Today, as we edge to 150, I sense little of the grandiose excitement nor the anticipation of celebrating the momentous birthday of a country so well respected worldwide. Perhaps we're more jaded these days. Darn that internet, eh? However, my senses, too easily influenced by the amount of red and white around town, are wrong. No, Brooklin will have no Expo nor other momentous events. There'll be the 5 km Running Room sponsored run I'll do on Saturday morning. I'll wear Canadian colours and mum- ble Gimby's ditty to myself, trying to squeeze in the extra syllables to make it, "Now we are 36 million…" Today I can be the pied piper to two gorgeous little grand daughters. Plus, I have a flag on the front porch. Our pride doesn't need to be overt. It's never needed to be. Yes, we'll wave flags, drink a bit too much, chant CANA-DA, and wish upon stars that the Stanley Cup was where it should be. A decent consolation is that the world's best player, who is renting it for another year, is a nice Nova Scotia lad. Revel in the next few days. Remember it so when we hit 200, you can drop me a t-mail (telepathic email) and remind me how the birthday parties, like the country, are better appreciated very 50 years. "Proud to be a Brooklinite" Founded in 2000 and published 24 times per year. Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 • editorofbtc@gmail.com The Brooklin Town Crier is locally owned and operated and is a publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: Marissa Campbell at 905.655.7642 Email: yeswomanbrooklin@gmail.com Next Issue: Friday, July 7, 2017 Deadline: Friday, June 30, 2017 The Welcome mats are out! Eight new businesses at 17 Baldwin, just north of Winchester, had their grand opening on June 16. Ward 1 Councillor Rhonda Mulcahy presented each with new Downtown Brooklin welcome mats. Also present were MPP Lorne Coe and Mayor Don Mitchell. A key aspect of the building was how its exterior retained the charm and integrity of other downtown buildings.