By Chris Parker
There is always a special moment at Christmas, Easter or back to school when you get to put on the new shirt, or skirt, suit or dress. You feel special and you feel the love given by your parents, family or friends. I will never forget as a child unwrapping boxes of gifts when they arrived from my grandparents in faraway Canada, and in particular remember with fondness one particular occasion when my brother Keith and I both received warm Canadian parkas with fur collars. We were teased unmercifully by our jealous school mates. We were called Puss and Kit(ten) but we laughed because we were warm, and what we had was brand new.
As I drove around our village this week, taking pictures of the burned out shell of a restaurant, and a house or two that had seen better days, I also saw the new overcoat that has been given to the firehall – insulated, warm-looking, special and cared for. I went by the Gigglin’ Grizzly and saw the new lighting fixtures that have been lovingly created and installed to both light the parking lot and to decorate the exterior – a new scarf perhaps – but it too showed the care and love given to the facility. I saw the new suit that has been installed on both the hardware and home supply businesses. Their owners, too, cared enough to make them special once again.
I remember with fondness the ads written for the old Woolco chain that still provide a mantra for us to hold special. ‘If you look good you feel good and if you feel good you do good!’. To those businesses that are wearing their new clothes proudly: congratulations to each. You remind us that it is nice to have the warmth of a new coat, a new set of lights that show you are cared for, the new coat of paint that makes you look good.
