Daytripping March 2021 Issue

Congratulations everyone!
For staying positive as much as possible,
for staying safe, staying sane, helping
others out, growing food, baking bread,
remembering to exercise, remembering
what puzzles and board games are, sharing,
caring, crying when you needed to, reaching
out and reaching in. It’s been a whole year
now of you-know-what.
My dad, James (Jimmy) Moran, was born
in 1933 during the great depression and
he always talked about it being the best of
times. He was young and I’m sure it was
the worst of times that it’s properly billed
as, but he nostalgically described an era
when neighbours helped neighbours make
it through, day by day. Maybe it was because
they wanted to do all they could to help their
community, or maybe it was because they
had no choice. I’m not sure. In his book, The
Great Depression, Pierre Berton described
a time when some people would rather
die than take a hand out, and did just that.
We’ve come a long way since then.
The rest of this issue will have very little
mention of you-know-what. We’d rather not
give it any more attention than it’s already
stolen from us, but I’m so very proud of
many friends and acquaintances that I’d
like to mention a few examples of feel good
stories. Most of these are in my own area of
Lambton County (because I’ve been cooped
up the same as all of you) but I know that
awesome tales such as these have been
happening everywhere. Please feel welcome
to write in about your own experiences.
When the first lockdown came one year
ago, Kevin Churchill and James Miller posted
a few videos of themselves playing guitar
and singing, one song at a time, and called
it The Quarantine Sessions - Connecting
Through Music. They invited anyone else to
join in and were absolutely overwhelmed by
the response. A few members turned into a
few hundred and now it’s a bit over 18,000.
More important than the success, is the
opportunity it gave musicians of all different
skill levels to post a song. For some this was
second nature, while for others it required
them to face their greatest fear. It would
have been like a mountain they needed to
climb, a true bucket list item. And, of course,
group members are always supportive in
their comments.
There are other examples of this from
coast to coast such as Saskatcha-tune with
over 4,000 members and various East Coast
Kitchen Party sites inluding one that boasts
over 270,000 members.
Facebook Live is a way that someone can
easily broadcast whatever they want live to
an audience of their Facebook friends who
will “stream” or watch it using a computer
or their phone in real time. I’m a musician
myself and posted a number of concerts
throughout the year from my house. Friends
and family would tune in on Tuesday nights
as a way to help the time pass. I’ve done
about 20 shows. As I write this, a well known
country musician from Wyoming, Ontario
named Joan Spalding has done a show every
afternoon for 340 consecutive days. She’ll
hit the one year mark sometime around
March 27th.
My own shows were inspired by
another local musician who paved the way.
Scott Manery starting broadcasting three
hour long concerts from his basement
TOWN NAME, TOWN NAME and another awesome TOWN NAME
It Takes a Village, and it Builds a Country.
in Southwestern Ontario
on Saturday nights and we got in the habit
of joking back and forth in our shows, with
Scottie being as hardcore country as country
can be and me playing what he described as
my “Devil Music.” We’ve become very good
friends through this experience but have only
met each other a handful of times.
Kinship has been another big winner this
year. Most of us have admired how some of
our peers have conducted themselves in this
trying time, whether that’s been in their words
or their actions, and this absence has made
us appreciate some of our friends and mere
acquaintances more than we’d ever imagined.
When Rodney James Medwid and Kendra
Petley saw local restaurants and salons close
or be reduced to take out meals last April they
started a Facebook page called Supporting
Sarnia and Surrounding Businesses. The
original idea was to show menus for local
restaurants and encourage the public to support
the industry by ordering food to go. Nowadays
members are routinely treated to photos of
other peoples takeout dinners, positive reviews,
live streamed concerts, fundraisers and much
more, and it all has an overwhelming, positive
vibe. A typical post might be asking if anyone
knows a good dog groomer or piano teacher
and, with over 18,000 members to make
recommendations, the results are always quick
and plentiful. Rodney has also become a good
friend though the course of this year, and we’ve
never even met.
Each of these examples takes considerable
time to manage, and all were done out of the
goodness of their hearts.
Shopping locally has never mattered more
than it does now, and it’s been embraced by
almost all of us in countless ways. This is what
I, more than anything else, will be proud of and
take away from this crazy year. For example,
the boys on my hockey team like to drink beer,
and they’re quite good at it. Much better than
they are at playing hockey. With the popularity
of craft breweries, we’ve gotten in the habit
of taking orders when we’re driving out to
Stonepickers in Forest, Imperial City in Sarnia
or Black Gold Brewery in Petrolia. I’m lucky
that my travels also take me to other ones on
page 34 such as Cowbell, Railway City, Blue
Elephant, Jobsite or Ramblin’ Road. I haven’t
been to Natterjack in West Lorne yet but I’m
on my way and I’m taking orders for the team.
This brings me to one last point I’d like
to make. My good friend and teammate, Rob
Cullinan, was on his way back from Ottawa
and brought me a six pack of beer from Perth
Brewery, which is about 6 hours away from
Sarnia, but I thanked him for shopping locally.
People who shop at the nearest Gargantaumart
and see that as shopping locally, because it‘s
nearby, are missing the point. That’s better
than spending the money across the border
or with a massive online distributor, where it
has absolutely no chance of coming back to
help our own economy, but it’s not ideal either.
“Shopping Locally” and “Supporting Small
Business” are two terms that are pretty much
synonymous. If someone from Perth makes a
purchase at Chocolate Sensations in Paris or
buys wine from Alton Farms in Forest, they are
shopping locally. They are spending their hard
earned dollars with a small company that will
ensure that their money stays here in Ontario
and in Canada. If we all do this, we’ll all be
better off, and feel good about it as well.
Thanks for reading! Say you’re Daytripping.
Mark Moran, Publisher
March - April 2021
This issue is dedicated to Don Cherry & Dr. Suess.
Apparently they may not have been flawless,
but let’s not forget all the good they did.
Daytripping Features
MAPLE SYRUP FARMS...................................20
Daytripper’s Directory Pullout Map........... 9-12
“Where You Should Eat” List...........................38
Tourism Contact Information..........................11
2020 Photo Contest Winners..........................39
S.W. Ontario’s (Largest?) EVENTS List................8
Antique Tours..............................................32,40
Buy Fresh, Buy Local, Farm Markets...........30,31
Recipes........................................................18,24
Corkscrews & Craft Brews................................34
On The Covers
1) Fort Rose Maple Company, Parkhill
2) Coyle’s Country Store, Tillsonburg
Your Contributors
Ruth Sharon, Jeanette Paddon, Agnes Burroughs, Vicki
Hornick, Fred Parry, Laurie BurrowsBreakey, Adina Haas,
Spokeshave, Cheryl Smith, Jan Fisher, Kathryn Hixon Lees,
the anonymous maple baby, Jean Johnson, Mike Keenan,
C. Lloyd Brown-John, Nancy Loucks-McSloy, Nancy & Jack
Storey, Murray & Sherry McCall, Andre & Shirley Aerts,
Janet & Larry McLellan, Mark, Paige & Avery Ballantyne,
Barbara Townsend-Batten, Wanda Cakebread, Dave
Steadman, Paul Schneider, Stan & Clare Champ, Jim Ryan,
Debbie McCormick, Dave McClure, John & Nancy Van
Geel, Dave Brown, Tim Beaudette, Dorothy Debruin, Rick
Wismer, Louis Vandermark, Brad Hamilton, Barbara Perrin,
that persnickety, elusive unknown author, numerous
graphic designers and printing firms, and the outstanding
Daytripping office, sales and delivery staff have been
instrumental in helping us create this issue. Printed with
pride by the good people (Chris, Peter, Julli, Devin and so
many more) at Huron Web, Wyoming, Ontario, Canada.
Your Tour Guides
Mark Moran ........................ Publisher, Advertising Sales & Design
Carrie Ann Timm .................................. Graphics / Office Manager
Laurie Dunlop ..................................................... Advertising Sales
Rhonda Long .............................. Advertising Sales & Social Media
Ben & Dylan Moran .................................. Research & Distribution
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DESTINATIONS TO EXPLORE
BF = See our Buy Fresh Pages
CC = Craft Brews & Corkscrews Pages
Aberfoyle 37
Alvinston 13,BF,CC
Arva
23, BF
Aylmer 27,28,BF
Bayfield
BF
Birr 40
Blyth
CC
Bothwell
BF
Brantford 32,35,BF
Brights Grove 8
Burlington 37
Cainsville 32
Chatham 5
Copenhagen 28
Courtland 32
Dashwood
BF
Delaware 40
Delhi
32,BF,CC
Dresden 6,40
Dundas 36
Dutton
BF
Embro 22
Essex 4
Forest 14,20,BF,CC
Goderich 17
Gorrie 21
Grand Bend 16,BF
Hamilton 36
Harriston 17
Harrow 4
Hensall
BF
Ilderton
BF
Ingersoll 32
Kent Bridge 5
Kettle & Stony Point FN 15
Kincardine
BF
La Salette
CC
Lambton Shores 14-16,BF
Leamington 4
Listowel 17
London 20,23,24,BF
Melbourne
BF
Millbank
18,BF
Morpeth 5
Mount Brydges 23
New Hamburg BF
New Sarum 27
Norwich 22
Palmyra 5
Paris 35
Parkhill 20,23
Petrolia
13,BF
Point Edward 7
Port Franks 16
Port Stanley 20,25,BF
Reeces Corners BF
Ridgetown
BF
St. Clements 19
St. George 35
St. Jacobs 19
St. Marys 19,20
St. Thomas 1,25,BF,CC
Sarnia 7,8,40
Scotland
BF
Shakespeare 19,BF
Simcoe
BF,CC
Sparta 28
Stratford
CC
Strathroy 23
Sweaburg 20,22
Talbotville
BF
Tavistock 19
Thamesville 40,BF
Thedford
CC
Tillsonburg 29,BF
Union
BF
Vanessa 32
Vittoria 29
Waterford 20,32,33
Waterloo 19
West Lorne 20,24,CC
Wheatley 4
Windham Centre 32
Woodstock 20,22,BF
Wyoming 13
Zurich
17,BF
Mar-Apr 2021 If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving isn’t for you.
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