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Qrono Weekly Times, Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 3 y Places I've Done Time mÉJ ■ w WHBÊSÊBHÊIK Down time A couple of weeks ago someone asked me if I had ever been in the crowbar hotel? "Maybe a couple of times," I said. The first time it happened started out with little or no thought of ending up there. I was 16 or 17 and was working for Mitch McDermott out north of Lindsay. Sometimes we would slip into Lindsay on a hot day and slide into the Benson House Hotel and have a couple of "cool" ones. I was more than several years underage for drinking but no one seemed to mind. Mitch always drank draft beer and soon I acquired a taste for it also. He would have 10 drafts and I would have two. No amount seemed to affect his driving or speech. Each and every Friday we would go to the local farm auction in Lindsay. Mitch never bought anything, but it kept him up to date on the price of cattle and pigs. One Friday, when it was particularly hot, off to the sale we went. After we had arrived to the sale I announced I was going into Lindsay. When Mitch said "fine", off I went in his old Fargo truck and drove into Lindsay. I pulled up in front of the Benson House and slipped in for a quick one. The bartender asked where Mitch was and I said he will be along in a minute. I remember like it was yesterday, a draft of beer was 15 cents and I had ordered two drafts. When the waiter arrived I dug 35 cents out of my watch pocket and gave it to him. "Keep the change, sir," I said. He thanked me and slipped the nickel into his pocket. pocket. Then I got the "makin's" out of my shirt pocket, rolled myself a cigarette and drank a draft. That was the first time I was ever in a hotel by myself. I was having my second draft and looking around when the guy over at another table yelled at me. "What are you looking at?" he asked. 1 looked at him again and he looked like a bull frog with an alkie flush with eyes bulging out of his head. "You want to take it outside?" he yelled. Back then I wouldn't say boo to a goose and I wasn't long getting out of there. Later I learned he would do that to people to get them to buy him a beer. I never did. Seeing that I got served at the hotel I thought I would try my luck and go to the liquor store. So I went in and got a bottle of wine, number 484, a nice red, not too expensive about $1.45.1 then went down to the river and drank the nice bottle of wine and headed back to the sales bam. Somewhere between the river and the sales bam, disaster disaster struck. I was sending the old Fargo truck along at a good rate of speed when I came upon a farm tractor and a wagon loaded with hay. Then I think I swung left to go around the load at the same time the tractor made a wide turn to go into a driveway. The rack of the old Fargo tmck caught the comer of the wagon rack and everything everything went spinny. The wagon went upside down, spilling the hay and I flew into the ditch with the truck. I almost had control till the bumper caught the paige wire fence sending it spinning around. That was the end of me escaping justice. I was glad to go to jail. The farmer whose wagon I overturned overturned was yelling at me. The lady whose fence I had destroyed was angry. Mitch was mad about his damned old truck. The cop was sour and everybody was mad at the bartender bartender and the guy at the liquor store for selling me wine. The jailer was mad and so was the judge. At least the person that fed me was half decent about it all. Some people do understand that accidents happen. When I went to court the old judge threw out the under aged drinking charge and the fact that I had "borrowed" a truck, being drunk in a public place, driving while impaired, and careless driving was also dismissed. dismissed. I had to pay a fine for driving without a license and 1 think banned from the town of Lindsay for five years. That was mostly for my own safety because I had a lot of people ticked off. DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS GO UP IN SMOKE. Clarington East Food Bank volunteer Pat Browne has been kept busy stocking the shelves at the food bank following a recent plea for help. Food bank says thanks The day after the Orono Weekly Times ran the story in October, that the food bank cupboards were bare, people started coming here with bags of food, said Food Bank Coordinator Coordinator Joan Haring. In fact, the Food Bank was inundated with donations from individuals and groups who when they became aware of the need, were eager to help. "The Orono Scouts and Guides had two food drives going door to door in Orono, which resulted in three vehicles vehicles full of food," said Haring in an interview Tuesday. "Area churches are bringing bringing in money and food, the schools have had food drives and the Newcastle Sparks and Brownies had a collection," Haring stated. While the added donations brought the food bank over the Christmas crunch, Haring is eager to point out that the bank's needs are on going. The Clarington East Food Bank services about 40 families families who come in once a month for a three day supply of food, the maximum the food bank will provide. They have serviced serviced 115 families over the year, though some families only came in once or twice a year. "We've had 25 new families families come to the food bank in the past two months alone," said Haring. She attributes the increase to new families mowing mowing into the area, and the fact that heating costs are putting a strain on some families. Harding, who became the food bank co-ordinator last year, says she finds her work very rewarding. "Many of the people who come in are so friendly," she said. "You know they're hurting. We do everything everything we can to make them feel that everyone is down on their luck sometimes," she said. The overwhelming response response by the community to their call for help this Fall and some of the stories of how the shelves were stocked help make Harding's job gratifying. "The eight grandchildren of one local lady spent their $25 Christmas gift from her to buy food for those less fortunate," she said. Also, the parents of one family felt their children had lost the meaning of Christmas so told them to do something for someone else or there would be no presents. "The children went door to door to collect for the food bank and enjoyed it so much they went out three times pulling their wagon collecting food," said Harding. With the generous donations donations received tiver the past few months the food bank is out of their crisis situation. Harding does emphasis that as the need is on-going, food donations throughout the year are appreciated. . lilllllli HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jessica Shepherd Love, Dad Quitting saves more than your life. Calculate how at cancer.ca j&smokers'HELPUNE ^ CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY :,1 877 513-5333 ~ HAPPENINGS ~ Wed nés dav. J an m 0LÜ „ n .. Graham Creek Watershed Study Public Process - from 7 to 9 p.m. Newcastle Community Hall, Centennial Room downstairs, 20 King Ave. W., Newcastle, hoi moi c info contact Linda Ryan at Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority 905-885-8173 oi I aye Langmaid, Muni-cipality of Clarington 905-623-3379. MiütÉüt MarchM n , "Canada Blooms'* Bus Trip Sponsored by Orono Horticultural Society, Bookings icquiied by January 23rd. Cost $33 per person. Departures from Orono, Newcastle, and Bowmanvillc. Vcunlact Loma 905-983-5608. ■ . . JJ