The Big Blue House on Colborne Street
by Steve Andrusiak
30/12/08

Thirty-eight years ago, Hugh Skinner drove a City garbage truck. He also owned a nursing home and rented rooms next door. Today, he and his wife, Delores rent to tenants who wouldn’t be able to cope without them. It’s a business. But in running their business the Skinners have made their tenants a part of their lives. They insure that medications are taken. Every year the group goes on vacation together.

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Folding the London Sunday Paper
by Steve Andrusiak
21/12/08

The London Free Press published a Sunday edition for the last time December 21st. On the last page of content, above the crossword puzzle, stood the words- “You’re Out!” As in "three strikes and you're out!” It seemed the puzzle’s author- Mark Feldman was calling it like he saw it. It was a bit like getting divorced on a 95th anniversary because a crossword puzzle first appeared in a newspaper 95 years ago today in 1913

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The Charity Bin
by Steve Andrusiak
12/12/08

Alan Edwards has backed his large truck- an International 4200 VT365 onto a vacant lot at the corner of Dundas Street East at Woodman. Mr. Edwards works for the Canadian Diabetes Association and he is here to collect articles from one of the Association’s familiar red donation bins. There is one layer of bagged donations. But most of the items that have been “dropped off” at this location are strewn on the ground outside the box.

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Lorne Avenue School H-A-P-P-Y Feast
by Steve Andrusiak
12/12/08

“Walk in safely please.” Vice Principal Janice Davis was keeping a watchful eye on the last group coming down the passageway. They were heading for lunch. It was almost 2PM. It was Friday. And the kindergarten class was about to chow down.

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Start Me Up
by Steve Andrusiak
10/12/08

I clambered onto the train and scouted the upper reaches of the luggage rack. I lifted the bagels. Ugh! I felt a sudden stretch in my chest wall. And with a dumb half-smile and startled expression, I asked myself- “is this it?” No yeast. No preservatives. So natural. Who knew?

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1 Bill, 1 Chestnut - 5 Cents
by Steve Andrusiak
30/11/08

A motorcade of black SUVs heading south on Rideout Street, turned and entered a garage at the west entrance to the John Labatt Centre. It was the eve of American Thanksgiving. And Bill Clinton was in London to deliver chestnuts of wisdom about our troubled economy.

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Passing Posters in a Hallway
by Steve Andrusiak

24/11/08 It is 5:08 on a Wednesday night. Coming or going, 22 people-a-minute pass and barely notice the posters. The display in front of the Main Library is crammed with quotes with numbers and pictures of Joseph Stalin and his forced famine in Ukraine. It is the 75th Anniversary of that horror they call “Holodomor”.

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A Pastor Has Left the Building
by Steve Andrusiak
21/11/08

Reverend Art Hiley is looking for work. He was ordained three decades ago. Rev. Hiley served in London for eleven years.. It was only last September that he and this Church’s Board reached an impasse about future direction. The door opened outward. And Pastor Hiley was on his own.

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Metropolitan Andrey - A Film
by Steve Andrusiak
15/11/08

You wouldn’t expect to pray at a feature film screening. But that’s what is reported to have happened at the Ukrainian Hall on Adelaide Street East, Tuesday night. 60 people had gathered to watch a film about Ukrainian religious leader- Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. “Praying felt like the right thing to do,” says Daria Hryckiw, the President of London’s Ukrainian Canadian Congress branch.

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London's Farmers Market Sold
by Steve Andrusiak
10/11/08

The sun has barely broken through on the eastern horizon this Saturday morning. After crossing Rectory Street heading east, King Street curves to the left to meet Dundas. It is 6:55 and we have arrived at a local landmark- the Confederation Building. It's the home of London’s Farmers Market.

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Rest But Don't Quit
by Steve Andrusiak
06/11/08

“Rest if you must, but don’t quit” are the words stamped onto SWIM's yellow and cream coloured wristbands. Indeed, it was a broken wrist that led to the founding of this organization, recalls Ann Marie Ricketts. While she was convalescing, one sleepless night, she was inspired to bring hope to as many women like her as she could reach.

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Swastikas Over Dundas Street
by Steve Andrusiak
01/11/08

Stand at the crossroads of Lyle and Dundas Streets. Look up at the façade of a building constructed in 1926. At each end of that façade is a large swastika.
Successive owners of this building have covered them up with paint and with sheet metal. Today, fashioned into the original brick, the swastikas have resurfaced.

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The Hockey Tuque
by Steve Andrusiak
28/10/08

A white 1997 minivan pulls into the parking lot at an Ontario Beer Store on Oxford Street in London. The van door opens, then slides quickly shut. A tall man in a plaid shirt and layered clothing trundles in. He is carrying a green plastic grocery box, filled with 14 wine bottles and 2 beer empties.

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Pitching Ability
by Steve Andrusiak
25/10/08

It is 8:30 Friday morning at the Northland Mall in East London. The parking lot at Huron and Highbury is all but empty. Zellers next door won’t open for another half-hour. But like the overhead sign promises, there is “action” over at the employment “action” centre.

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Lessons from Lee Valley
by Steve Andrusiak
23/10/08

Leonard Lee is a millionaire who grew up dirt poor in a North Saskatchewan log house, where they sang “Men of the Soil” and other rallying songs. He is a combination of home spun “aw shucks” and laser-sharp business acumen. If you work for him, don’t swear.

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Election Night - Oo Blah Di, Oobla Da
by Steve Andrusiak
15/10/08

Irene Mathyssen smiles out at her friends; clutching an angel statue her daughter has given her. Her's will be one of 37 seats that will go to the NDP on this night. Prime Minister Harper will have another minority government, albeit a stronger one.

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Kalejdoskop - Polish Reflections
by Steve Andrusiak
14/10/08

Publisher Peter Cwynar says with self-deprecating humour that he would never recommend what he did to anyone. “To anyone who wants to start a paper, I would say that there are much better ways of committing suicide," he says breaking out into laughter.

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Mary Lou Ambrogio - Conservative
by Steve Andrusiak
09/10/08

"When I was sixteen, I played guitar in punk rock bands," says Conservative candidate Mary Lou Ambrogio. "And again it showed my interest in politics and how we are governed. Punk rock … was often about questioning the way things are. Questioning the status quo and asking is there a better way?"

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Jacquie Gauthier - Bridging the "Sensible Centre"
by Steve Andrusiak
04/10/08

Jacquie Gauthier already has some community recognition. Ms. Gauthier was a popular morning radio announcer (Country Favourites BX93) in the London area. She took a leave of absence to run for office. Today she is the Liberal candidate in London-Fanshawe.

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Orange You Irene Mathyssen?
by Steve Andrusiak
30/09/08

The door to Irene Mathyssen's campaign office opens. In walks another volunteer. He is Steve Twells with two month- old baby Kaden in his arms. Both are wearing the party's colour. Kaden was born with bright orange hair. He is an instant hit.

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Autumn Aglow on Nelson Street
by Steve Andrusiak
28/09/08

Debra and John MacLeod moved here three years ago. They have decorated their yards every season, every year since. And what they find rewarding is the respect neighbours and passers-by have shown for their property and the beauty they’ve tried to bring to this block.

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Rock and Rhodes Mission Walk
by Steve Andrusiak
25/09/08“

Andrus Rock and Randy Rhodes get up at 6:30 to exercise, eat and to read scriptures. Then they walk. The Mormon missionaries won’t stop walking, except for meals and appointments. They will walk until 9 at night, extending a hand, spreading their faith.

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The Old City Bus
by Steve Andrusiak
23/09/08“

First retired thirteen years ago, this bus has been un-retired three times. It was most recently pressed into service last January. And with a straight face, Larry Ducharme, the General Manager of London Transit says he just may have to bring it back again.

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Hey Rock in the Promised Land
by Steve Andrusiak
21/09/08“

The Hey Rock Recording Studio is just a few doors down from Adelaide Street on Dundas in East London. Tom Hard is out front, strumming his guitar and engaging pedestrians.

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Liberal Politics in a Biology Lab
by Steve Andrusiak
17/09/08“

Yousef Barbin cautiously pries his door open and squeezes into the packed hallway. Mr. Barbin is a technician on the third floor of the North Campus Building at UWO. There are 2,000 first year biology students. He says he is used to crowded hallways. This morning however, the hallway is jammed to welcome Liberal Party Leader Stéphane Dion.

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Life and Work at Woodfield Variety
by Steve Andrusiak
16/09/08“

Dorothy Walters isn’t ready to tell customers how she’ll vote on October 14th. But she will tell you how happy she is running her variety store Today in London, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government would give self-employed Canadians maternity and parental benefits.

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18 and 9-11
by Steve Andrusiak
12/09/08“

Perhaps it was to seal out the traffic noise from Horton Street that the five giant garage doors came down just around 11, yesterday morning. After that passers by would have had to explore and navigate around back to find their way in.

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You Need a Cab About Town
by Steve Andrusiak
11/09/08“

"Calls on lines two and five,” said the operator, sitting on the other side of the glass from Supervisor Carol MacKenzie. “Who’s on line two?” asks Ms. MacKenzie. “A complaint,” comes the reply. “Okay,” chuckled the supervisor- “give me line five!”

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"One Grandmother to Another"
by Steve Andrusiak
08/09/08

It was the simplest of gestures but one that caught the attention of the other diners. The King’s Buffet is on Dundas Street East. And while this happened on August 6th, it still has staff feeling pretty good, one month later.

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The Vacant Church
by Steve Andrusiak
03/09/08

Between 1985 and 1987 Rev. Wood invented and carried out a brand of behaviour modification on Mr. Howell and two other boys that was “both shocking and criminal … bordering on sadistic.” Such were the words of Superior Court Justice Lynda Templeton as she pronounced sentencing.

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Bed Sheets and Some Threads of Hope
by Steve Andrusiak
28/08/08

On August 17th, Sally Blake (not her real name) walked into the Northland Mall on Highbury Avenuet. She would be returning some bed sheets but did not have a receipt. The attendant at the service counter gave her a gift card valued at $157.00. Sally left the store. Ten minutes later, she was back.

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An "Independence Day" Ride
by Steve Andrusiak
24/08/08

It was five o’clock. In the warm glow of the late afternoon sun, it looked more like a trusty underappreciated old friend. The bus had returned..

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Barbershop Math - "More Love Than Maintenance"
by Steve Andrusiak
22/08/08

The scaffold has draped the corner building at Woodman Avenue and Dundas for over a week. New windows and bricks have been installed. A man with a camera is lingering out front, talking to a police officer. His father, grandfather, great grandfather- all were barbers. “I grew up in the building,” says Joe Moss.

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Dealing in Meats and Recalls
by Steve Andrusiak
21/08/08

The public alert is stark. It can and has killed two people in the London area. The elderly, the immune-compromised and unborn children and their moms are most susceptible. “Food contaminated with listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled,” according to a health unit “important notice”.

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Landing Student Pilots at London Airport
by Steve Andrusiak
18/08/08

A solitary yellow school bus is leaving an apartment complex on Mornington Avenue in East London. It is shuttling 175 students. All are from the Republic of China. They are 23 to 27 year-old university graduates who have already completed eight weeks of flight school.

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From Melody to Sunshine - The Asahi Restaruant
by Steve Andrusiak
16/08/08

John and Joan, George and Nina Kappos had owned and worked at the Melody Restaurant for 45 years "We wish the very best ... for all of East London,” said Ms. Kappos. I have fond memories. People would go by every day and wave at you, some of them for twenty and thirty years”..

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Winning Marbles, Friends and Business
by Steve Andrusiak
12/08/08

At Argyle Mall the Dollar Giant looms big and yellow. Lori Mackay is the store’s manager. Ask her about bargains and she’ll tell you marbles are a great deal. But for one business coach in East London, marbles are also part of a business philosophy.

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N'Amerind Centre - Not for Sale
by Steve Andrusiak
11/08/08

The "for sale" sign still dominates the lawn at the Friendship Centre, proclaiming the intention to sell. “We were looking for something a little more up to date,” says Brian Hill, a consultant to the centre’s board. That was back in February. On June 26th members voted to stay.

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The Puck Stops Here - In East London
by Steve Andrusiak
06/08/08

It is only August but the thoughts inside the Western Fair Sports Centre are of hockey glory- the kind that comes from keeping the score against low … very low.

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Citizen Kilbourn
by Steve Andrusiak
01/08/08

Roberta Kilbourn was at the Marvel Beauty School teaching 25 students how to cut hair. “I heard the noise and I turned around.,” she said. “He hit the telephone pole first … and then the cement wall."

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Racing The Hale Street Trains
by Steve Andrusiak
30/07/08

Hale Street sweeps into Trafalgar Road at a level crossing in East London. The junction is a collision of tracks, streets and footpaths.

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GM Ends Leasing - East London Dealers Respond
by Steve Andrusiak
29/07/08

Ken McMaster Chevrolet has been a presence at Dundas and Hale Streets in East London for more than a decade. GM has informed its Canadian dealers that it would stop financing incentives on most vehicles leased in Canada.

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Nu Finish Break-in
by Steve Andrusiak
28/07/08

Derek Arnold had just finished work and was back in East London. He turned onto Falcon Street. There were six police cars and an Emergency Response vehicle with a police dog. His first thought was that someone had broken in. He was right.

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Decade Long Fence Dispute
by Steve Andrusiak
26/07/08

Pauline Levasseur and Beverley Gilev have been neighbours on Atkinson Boulevard in East London for fifteen years. “We’ve all shared … we’ve had a lot of fun years, we really have,” said Ms. Levasseur holding back tears.

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McCormick's Plant Purchase Offer
by Steve Andrusiak
23//07/08

A buyer has placed a conditional offer on the vacant McCormick’s Cookie plant property in East London, according to the Regional Vice President of CBRE, an international real estate brokerage firm.

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Cemetery Culprit- "Someone We Knew"
by Steve Andrusiak
18//07/08

Aaron Hobberlin stood in the prisoners dock in courtroom seven downtown. Police had arrested him in Brantford thirty -one days ago. “I ain’t saying shit,” he had predicted at the time. Today would be different.

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Western Fair Gives Crocheting the Hook
by Steve Andrusiak
17//07/08

Crocheting has been a part of the Western Fair for generations. Now sewing, knitting, crocheting, ... they're all gone. Is the ten day "fair" held every September turning on its rural roots and away from our artisans?

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Maitland Street Demolition Concerns
by Steve Andrusiak
15/07/08

The house is a trim wooden bungalow on a fifty-foot wide lot. But it isn't only the demolition that troubles Wes De Shane who has lived across the street for 42 years. It’s the narrow two-two story buildings that will rise up on that lot.

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A Leader at the Church Door
by Steve Andrusiak
13/07/08

There is a Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Prince Edward Avenue in East London. If you visit Sunday mornings, the head of the Church Committee- Victor Pedenko will probably greet you at the door. Soon he will be far away in Kiev.

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Cemetery Vases Sold For Scrap
by Steve Andrusiak
12/07/08

Jeffery John Bunn spent 24 days in jail thinking about the cab rides he had taken to a Brantford scrap yard.  Bunn had been sharing an apartment in Brantford with Aaron Hobberlin who worked in East London at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

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East End Cemetery Vases
by Steve Andrusiak
11/07/08

Forest Lawn cemetery has no upright monuments to mark its graves.  Tombstones lie flat and the area looks like a park.  Flowers dot the landscape.  They stand in copper vases: some fresh, others wilted, still others made of plastic.

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The Hand Model
by Steve Andrusiak
10/07/08

You don’t notice Marilyn Ashworth’s hands at first or the steady confidence they express.  It is her story and her plans that draw listeners. She speaks of travels to expensive resorts and about the man her father never wanted her to meet.

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A Long Yellow Ribbon
by Steve Andrusiak
07/07/08

It may be the longest strip of yellow ribbon in all of London, Ontario.  You can see it from the corner of Hamilton Road and Inkerman. It is caution tape wrapped around two lateral pipes that run the length of a Tim Horton's property line.

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