Gary and I go waaaaaaaaay back to family birthdays in Charleswood slamming pool balls around the table in his basement to Sunday night dinners on Hector. I always looked forward to having him there to hang out with. It was back in the days where if you left the house your parents had no way of knowing where you were, or when you would be back. We would disappear to the park to at the end of the street to play catch or chat up the Fort Rouge kids.
I remember a time I was sleeping over at his place and he took me “frogging”. I think it was a little place in Charleswood called Beaver Creek or something like that. It was the first time I had ever caught frog to be honest and it seemed like old hat for Gary. Must have been a Charleswood thing.
Now we are 50 and birthdays look a little but different. Bo and the kids did an amazing job putting together a casino themed event that was spectactular. There was Blackjack and Roulette tables, amazing food and drink (thank you Julia), and it was great to see so many family members, and friends. Shannon and I had a blast. Who would have thought we would be working and playing hockey together after all these years.
Happy 50th Birthday Gary! So proud of all you have accomplished over the last 50 years and I can’t wait to see where it takes you.
Al and I took off for Thunder Bay this past weekend to attend Paul’s 50th birthday.
We took off early Saturday morning and it was nothing but blue skies and open highway. We did the usual stops for bathroom breaks and gas station egg salad. Of course Slurpees in Dryden, the last 7 ELEVEn this side of Thunder Bay. We stopped at the Subway in Ignace instead of the bar this time mostly because we were in a hurry and didn’t want any chance encounters with “The Newt” to hold us up.
We didn’t have much time when we arrived for visiting because it was almost time to roll out. We donned our “snaps”, threw on some baby powder and Gun Barrel, and headed out to On The Links. Charski reserved a section for all of Paul’s Thunder Bay crew along with a few golf sims to add to the fun. We had a blast so hat’s off to Melissa for putting the night together it was awesome. It was great to see the Ratte kids (who will always be kids to me) and also to hang out with Paul’s Mom and Pops who also made the drive out.
I can’t remember the last time we were all out until 3am but it might as well be Paul’s 50th! I think he had an awesome time. He has a really good crew of people out in Thunder Bay and it’s nice to know he is so well taken care of out there. It’s no suprise knowing how much we miss him around here.
Ratty and I have been besties in my eyes since Grade 5, when I first moved over to GWood. We grew up playing street hockey, sneaking out at sleepovers, and riding the bike trails by the Seine River. We were joined at the hip through high school, got our licenses, started jobs, got married, had kids, moved away, and somehow grew even closer together.
March 26, 2024 – Happy 50th big buddy! Not even a blizzard could keep us from this one.
It’s a big year for 50’s and what better way to start things off than with Scott Vernon!
I started hanging out with “Vern” in grade 11 or 12. We had a couple of classes together that we often skipped to go driving around in his Mom’s Nissan Pulsar NX. He showed me how to “bang shift” in that little red chick magnet with the T-Tops off. Shifting gears without the clutch for all you perverts reading this. We listened to Bootsauce full blast and drank slurpees (go figure).
Hanging with Vern came with all kinds of perks like afternoons by the pool and talking to girls way out of my league. After highschool he got a job at the Canad Inns and was literally our ticket to U4IA. I remember we would be getting to the bar late and seeing lineups out the door. We would ask for “Mr. Vernon” at the front desk and soon after Scott would be leading through the kitchen and into the club. He always took care of his friends and still does.
In fact, Scott’s parent’s used to own a Sooters Photography and it wasn’t uncommon for him to come in with friends for some professional portraits. This was a little before my time but it’s a pretty good indicator that Scott takes his friendships quite seriously.
One of the original members of the Three Pistols Vern might be one of the best hockey players I have ever played with. Hands all day and it often looks like he isn’t even trying. My favourite is waching him double tap the puck with the toe of his stick before unleashing a howitzer slapshot. Classic!!
It was actually at one of Scott’s birthdays (maybe his 28th?) that I was first seduced by my wife at the Tiajuana Yacht Club.
It’s been 36 years of friendship and now we share Dad stories and meet up for the occassional plate of wings when life permits us. Some might even say we work together.
January 12th, 2024 – Happy 50th Vern, it was a pleasure and an honour to celebrate with you.
Chistmas has come and gone and it’s time to open our arms and welcome in 2024.
My new years resolution as always is to write more and wash my legs below the knee. To stretch more, harness patience with my people, and give less f*cks about the things I can’t control.
We had an awesome holiday break and Christmas morning was awesome. It was the first time for this family that we opened presents in daylight. The kids slept in until almost 9AM. This year Ashlyn is back on the gecko train so after some thoughtful considerations we decided to open that door…again. It was hard to conceal a big terrarium so I did my best to convince her the big present under the tree was Mom’s (just like last year). Lexi had her heart set on some kind of insoles that make you jump higher that cost way too much so we said “Noooooope”. Actually we kind of talked her out of it by letting her know that we could satisfy much more of her PowerPoint presentation if we went without the gimmicky insoles.
It was also fun to shop for a Gecko after Christmas with Ashlyn. We ended up connecting with the person who bought Ashlyn’s gecko (Charlotte) who works at a pet store. She sent me a couple pictures that peaked Ashlyn’s interest and we went down to pick him up. Everyone, this is “Cricket”…
Sometimes you’re sitting at a beach and you have no idea how lucky you are to just be sitting on a beach.
Winter comes with a darkness for me in both the literal and physical sense. Going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark 5 days a week seems to take it’s toll on me. Ironically it’s this darkness that brings the troubles of the world into the light. A certain vulnerability washes over me in the cold months that I find hard to justify but it turns on like survival mode. Let’s call it “winter anxiety” because I usually don’t feel like this.
Others around me have it too. They wear it on their faces and they speak it with every deep breath they take in when you ask them how it’s going. It’s days without hearing from them and wondering what you can do to help. Can you do more? Do you have more?
Reaching out feels good. Getting out feels good. New socks feel good.
Just before the holidays I met a couple of the “OG” (original Glenwood) crew for a nice dinner and drinks at the Brazen Hall. I saw a picture last year of them out for dinner on the Facebook and remember thinking “man, I would love to get together with those guys and catch up” and this year I got the invite.
It was Corrine, Kelly, Melanie, and Dave. All people from the neighbourhood where I grew up. If you are doing the math I would have introduced Corrine and Kelly as my friends over the last 42 years. Dave and Mel I met when I moved to Glenwood from Varennes in 1985. Here we all are in 2022, sitting in the Brazen Hall sharing a gender-neutral bathroom and reminiscing about old times.
It was so cool to learn about who everyone still had contact with especially since we all kind of went our own way for high school. We all went to Glenlawn but up until grade 9, we were like family. I would see these people for 8 hours a day. We would funnel down Des Meurons and walk to school together. We hung out on the weekends and after school at the rink, or at someone’s house. Once we hit high school we all branched out on different paths but those formative years at Glenwood would connect us forever. Not just those who could make it this night, all of us I think.
Corrine lived on my street so I was hanging out with her the earliest. I would get in trouble for crossing Des Meurons by myself to get to her place. I was fascinated by her Smurf collection (she had all 100+) and we (I) would play Air Sea Battle on her Atari. My first exposure to video games, thank you very much! I am sure my wife thanks you as well.
Kelly, I met through Corrine I think and we all started hanging out after school in the same circles. She was the one I talked to the most about stuff. She lived a street up from me so I would often catch up to her on the way to school, or the way home, and have good talks.
Melanie, we met at Glenwood when we started there and she and I shared some good times out in Rushing River over a couple of summers. One of my most vivid memories of Melanie was the time I was “doubling” her home on the handlebars of my gold Kuwahara and thought I could go “no hands”. Needless to say, that didn’t end well and I don’t think Melanie got on too many handlebars after that.
Gold “Kuwie”
Dave and I played ball together and for me, that was some of the best times of my life as a kid. I was never an athlete in school but in baseball, I could hang with these guys and Dave was a big part of that time in my life. His brother Ray coached us for one year and he could really motivate me. I went to my first concert ever with Dave and Ray in 1986 at the Winnipeg Arena. It was AC/DC, the “Who made Who” tour and I remember it was so LOUD my ears were still adjusting the next day.
Glory Days
So there we all sit 40 years later talking about our families and our kids. People I haven’t spoken to outside of social media coming together after all these years just to appreciate that time in our lives when we couldn’t have known we were making friendships that would last a lifetime.
Obviously, my NY resolution is to write more. Also, yoga. I need more flexibility in my life.
In 2022 I moved peever.org over to a new secure host because I had all kinds of issues with GoDaddy and vowed I would write more. The end result was 3 posts. The positive spin on that is in 2023 I really only need 4 posts to achieve my new goal.
For my mental and physical health this year my intention is to take up yoga. Not any of that extreme hot yoga but the kind where you get down to your underwear in the basement and do some Yoga with Adriene.
Back in October, I suffered a hamstring injury playing hockey and it was a nothing play. I was just skating backward trying to keep the puck inside the blueline and “POP”. The guys had to push me off the ice and roll me out of the gate. Some yoga will prevent some of these injuries, and I think making some time in the evening or a Saturday morning will be good for mental health too.
I was all healed up just in time for the Hockey Helps the Homeless tournament in December. This would be our second year as a team and for me, it was a little harder to raise the money. Timmy G and Bry did an amazing job putting on a fundraiser and without them, I may not have made it! Once again the tournament was top-notch. We drafted Russ Romaniuk this year and he proved to be a class act on and off the ice. Unlike Garbutt who was out there playing like he was hoping to get another chance to play with the Ducks. Once again we won best dressing room.
Next thing you know it’s Christmas and WTF, we are all healthy! Last year I spent 10 days in the basement over Christmas with the “vid” and watched the kids open gifts from a distance. This year it was nice to have some normalcy over the holidays. It was nice to get my mom over for dinner and around the kids as well without worrying about her getting sick from us.
NYE we ordered up some 4 Seasons (damn the ginger beef is good) and spent the evening with the Grants and Morrisons. Fun Shan got some games going, we watched some hockey, had a few slurpees. Again, it was nice just to be together and have the kids together.
Lexi and Ashlyn head back to school on Thursday for 2 days. Ashlyn is into horseback riding and Lexi will be starting Volleyball later this month. Lexi is still playing soccer as well so we are busy during the week with activities and such.
I will do better with updates in 2023 so that I am less overwhelmed with summarizing an entire Peever year. It hardly does it justice.
The reality is that each player MUST raise $500 to take part in the tournament. You donate on my behalf and I get to have all the fun. I get to spend the better part of a working day playing hockey with my friends and whooping it up in the dressing room. It sounds pretty selfish when I hear myself say it out loud. But…
Last year our team alone raised over $10,000 for Winnipeg homeless and this year we are hoping to top that. The tournament provided over $150,000 of resources to support local shelters and is back to do the same in 2022. Our team raised well over the required amount and each player made a personal donation as well. We also collected 3 bags of clothing including 8 winter jackets along with another box of daily essentials. We do not take the cause lightly.
On December 16th, I hope to be participating in the 3rd Annual Hockey Helps the Homeless Winnipeg Tournament, raising awareness and funding for 3 very deserving local homelessness support agencies. To do so I need your support.
Tax receipts will be issued upon receipt of the donation for all gifts $25 and above.
