banner.gif (3613 Byte)

Corner.gif 1x1.gif Corner.gif
1x1.gif You are at: Home - Discussion Forum 1x1.gif
Corner.gif 1x1.gif Corner.gif
      
round_corner_upleft.gif (837 Byte) 1x1.gif (807 Byte) round_corner_upright.gif (837 Byte)

Go Back   Gordon Lightfoot Forums > General Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 05-10-2015, 04:27 PM   #1
Affair on Touhy Ave.
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: park ridge il. america
Posts: 1,154
Default Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

I posted the same question here.



http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...5164757AAdkEOs
Affair on Touhy Ave. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2015, 10:37 AM   #2
charlene
Moderator
 
Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 15,877
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

there are many people who visit Orillia who never heard of him and are there as tourists in the area-foreign and Canadian.. Orillia is part of the gorgeous are in Ontario known as 'cottage country' that leads to points north and thousands of lakes filled with people who hike/bike/boat/camp/cottage. And then there are those who are fans who know of Lightfoot and go to Orillia because we want to see where The Man came from.. SOme go as tourists and then find out... I'll be back up the highway about 75 minutes to that pretty little place on the 30th...
charlene is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2015, 12:22 PM   #3
lighthead2toe
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: canada
Posts: 920
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

Last summer during the Lightfoot Tribute shows in Orillia an interesting and quite famous friend of Gordon Lightfoot was in town appearing at the Casino Rama.

During breakfast one morning in our hotel we sat with a couple who came to visit from Kapuskasing, a small town north of Orillia. I asked them if they were in town for the Lightfoot celebrations and they said no, we're here to see Tony Bennett who was in town performing at the Casino.

Gord has a nice picture on the wall in his home of he and Tony Bennett.
lighthead2toe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-12-2015, 12:54 AM   #4
Lisa J
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: arizona, usa
Posts: 342
Send a message via AIM to Lisa J
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

the first time i went to orillia, i was a devoted lightfoot fan from the western united states. I never knew he was from orillia and i was there with my dad doing some grocery shopping. Had i known then that Gordon was from there, I imagine I would have done so much more than grocery shop.
Lisa J is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-12-2015, 08:23 AM   #5
charlene
Moderator
 
Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 15,877
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

beautiful Orillia - check out the photos section and the art installments over the years..https://www.facebook.com/streetsaliv...ctions?fref=nf
charlene is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-2015, 05:50 AM   #6
paskatefan
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Philadelphia., PA
Posts: 461
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

We were actually there in the summer of 1977 (not sure if we knew @ the time that it was Gordon's hometown, we DID know, a few years later from the 1984 Winter Olympics that it was Brian Orser's hometown). We visited Toronto for about a week, and decided to travel north, up to Orillia, and Georgian Bay. We took boat rides on Lake Couchiching & in Georgian Bay. The weather was lovely, but chilly @ night to the point that we had to turn on the heat in the hotel room. Glad we actually continued north on that particular trip!

The pics from the FB page are beautiful.

Gail
paskatefan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-2015, 07:16 AM   #7
charlene
Moderator
 
Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 15,877
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

Brian is from Belleville, Ontario from what I remember... never heard his name and Orillia mentioned together when reading/hearing about people from Orillia....
he trained in Midland which is near Georgian Bay..and grew up in Penetanguishene which is close by....
the commentators in 1984 were misinformed..lol..
charlene is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-14-2015, 07:09 AM   #8
paskatefan
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Philadelphia., PA
Posts: 461
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

^ Hmmm, that's interesting. When the ABC Team did their "up close & personal" profile on Brian, they specifically said that his hometown was Orillia! Oh, well, I still think he's one of the best figure skaters of all time (and coaches - 3 top men @ this year's World Championships in Shanghai - the winner - awesome Javier Fernandez, Yuzuru Hanyu - 2014 Olympic gold medalist & World Champion & this year's silver medalist, and Canadian guy Nam Nguyen who finished a very impressive 5th). Brian is my favorite Canadian men's skater, with Kurt Browning a close second.

When we took our boat ride in Georgian Bay, we got on the boat in Midland.

Gail
paskatefan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-14-2015, 07:36 PM   #9
charlene
Moderator
 
Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 15,877
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

There is an arena named for him in Orillia - biggest town nearest to Midland/Penetanguishene..He is an awesome talent...

http://www.orillia.ca/en/livinginorillia/brianorser.asp

http://www.orilliapacket.com/2015/05...to-its-closure

A crack in the floor at Brian Orser Arena could lead to its closure.

That was the news from Bob Ripley, the city’s chief financial officer, at Wednesday’s major capital budget planning meeting.

Despite the crack in the floor, the draft capital budget prepared by Ripley does not include money for the Gill Street facility, in part because of the possibility of a new arena being built as part of the proposed recreation centre.

Ripley had $2 million slotted for Brian Orser Arena, but none of it coming before the tail end of the current five-year plan being discussed by council, including $600,000 to fix the floor. If a leak forms because of that crack, Ripley said, the rink will be forced to close its doors.

Accordingly, some councillors felt money needed to be spent on the aging rink as soon as next year.

“I think we should leave $2 million in there for sure until there is some decision made on the site of the new arena,” Coun. Tim Lauer said. “As far as timing ... we should actually put that $600,000 up front. I’ve already lived through an arena closure and it’s not a pleasant time in your life.”

Staff seemed to differ on how urgent the issue is.

Ripley had indicated Lauer’s comments echoed those of the city’s former CAO, which is why money for such repairs was previously added into the budget. However, that money was removed at the recommendation of Ray Merkley, director of parks, recreation and culture.

How serious the crack is also remains to be seen, said recreation services manager Marcia Russell.

“It is unknown to us. We work with it now. We create ice that is thicker in some areas and thinner in others, because (the floor pad) is on a tilt and we’ve got cracks in it,” she explained. “We can’t predict when it will give, but I would say that our manager of facilities would say to you, ‘Do it sooner than later.’”

Recently, Russell said, a company was brought in to look at the structural aspects of the arena, including the floor pad, albeit not in “close detail.”

“I think, probably, Mr. Merkley’s recommendation is based on the fact they didn’t show that as an emergency within their report,” she said. “I just think, from our operating standpoint, we look at it a little different. We might make it to 2018.”

Coun. Ralph Cipolla was the lone dissenting councillor who spoke on the issue. He noted Lauer had alluded to the Orillia Community Centre’s closure and he didn’t want to make the same mistakes again. If council is to do something, Cipolla wants it done right.

“We spent $1 million trying to fix it up in such a way that it could be used, and the next thing you know, it got shut down completely,” he recalled. “We got raked over the goals for it, for spending $1 million and then having to shut it down, I think, (four to six) months later.”

Coun. Sarah Valiquette-Thompson thought it prudent to have money for Brian Orser Arena in the budget soon. Further, if council decides to pursue a new arena in conjunction with the recreation centre, it would be a way to “get creative” with funding that would not increase the $45-million burden on the taxpayers councillors agreed to at their May 7 budget committee meeting.

“That will include exploring external funding; that will include revisions in this capital budget where we reallocate without burdening further,” Mayor Steve Clarke said, using an example of taking the money from repairs to Brian Orser Arena and using it for the new facility. “We could even get to the point where we agree to explore that new arena concept and move that $2 million into the new facility budget.”

Ripley urged council members to be cautious.

“This is meant to be a plan,” he said. “Placing $2 million in a year where we really have no intention of spending $2 million does not help in developing a plan ... We should show the expenditures approximately where we plan to have them.”
charlene is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-15-2015, 06:24 AM   #10
paskatefan
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Philadelphia., PA
Posts: 461
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

Wow! Thanks for the article link!

Gail
paskatefan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2015, 06:56 PM   #11
Kelly Davis
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Dieterich, IL , U.S.A.
Posts: 155
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

Actually, my wife and I did visit Orillia in 1994, after we went to Niagara Falls and on into Toronto and up to Orillia.

We did know Gordon was from there and got a nice shot of the sign that used to be there on the edge of town.

Stayed in a not-so-nice motel - don't remember the name.

We told Gord we had visited his hometown once and he asked if we stopped in to see his mom. He said people used to do that a lot when she was still alive.

Kelly Davis
Kelly Davis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2015, 01:08 AM   #12
Gitchigumee
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 504
Default Re: Do People Visit Orilia Because Gordon Was From There?

Why yes they do! I know this for a fact because I was one of those people. Traveled from Onalaska, Wisconsin, to Orillia, Ontario, on my Harley Davidson. Orillia was the destination. Gordon Lightfoot was the reason.
__________________
"There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run. When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun. Long before the white man, and long before the wheel. When the green dark forest was too silent to be real."
Gitchigumee is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:27 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
downleft 1x1.gif (807 Byte) downright