Cottage 2019

A very nice week with beautiful weather all week long. Opa Vandenboom joined us with great energy while he is on his way to his 90th birthday in February 2020. Hilary came a few days with Shayd as well as Mark who brought Carly.

Old car - new starter

Since I always drive our older cars, today was the 3rd time I had to put a new starter in a car.... All done within a day so inconvenient only for s short period.

FC Toronto

Mark got us a few tickets again for a home game of the professional soccer team of Toronto which plays in the MLS (Major League Soccer) of North America. Two years ago FC Toronto became the champions of the MLS. Last year they ended the season near the bottom of the league. This season they are in the middle of the pack. It looked like a gloomy rainy day and still a bit dark just before the game started at 8 PM....

But it cleared up nicely and it was a beautiful evening for a soccer game. FC Toronto played against the number 2 of the league this year (from New York). FC Toronto won the game 3-1. Very nice entertainment for the evening and always great to hang out with Mark...

Rib Fest music

The Saturday at the Rotary Rib Fest was also a busy and sunny day; roughly 20,000 visitors...

Markham Rotary Rib Fest

It is early July and that is when the Mark Rotary Club organizes its main annual fund-raising event called the "Rib Fest". Friday from 6 - 11 PM, Saturday from 11 AM to 11 PM and Sunday 11 AM to 7 PM. Around 30,000 visitors and $60,000 raised with the entrance fee of $2. Most of that going to a "bear" program for children undergoing surgery at the local hospital. Last night I did my volunteering at the entrance and we had about 3,000 people coming through. Seneca is one of the corporate sponsors with the music program:

 A lot of things not allowed at such events in public spaces....

Niagara River

Today Mary and I took Opa Vandenboom (89 and still very fit for his age) for a day cycling along the Niagara River (the part coming from Fort Erie/Buffalo before it reaches the famous Niagara Falls. The Niagara Parks Commission maintains the river side and has constructed nice cycling paths (one would almost feel like you are in Holland).

Opa took my bicycle for a while and did excellent. In the meantime I had fun in his electric scooter!

Mark at work

Mark is now coordinating a variety of building projects in downtown Toronto where his company gets contracted to pour foundations of large apartment and office buildings. The plant in that area "feeds" 50-60 trucks several times each day and they unload at the different sites. Mark has to make sure the timing all goes well and trouble shoot + send information to his colleagues for invoicing and contract dispute settlement. I saw him in action this week for a moment when I was downtown for a conference. He has the technology and software available in his company truck for the coordination work going on his laptop and his smart phone.