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Eric Bunnell's People: Still Standing in St. Thomas

The hit CBC show's St. Thomas episode will air this Tuesday

Hey, St. Thomas. Ready for our close-up?

Our town gets its turn in the spotlight on Tuesday next, when StT is to be profiled by CBC’s Still Standing.

Eric Bunnell's People: Still Standing in St. Thomas Back to video

The episode is the finale of Season 11 of the long-running television show that celebrates community resilience through visits with locals and a live stand-up comedy routine by host Jonny Harris.

Still Standing stayed in St. Thomas a few years ago when the program dropped by Port Stanley, but Jonny said in a recent interview he had to rethink his comedy routine after getting to know St. Thomas better.

“I think the most interesting thing for me was that I got the Jumbo thing wrong.

“I thought it was just going to be sort of a, ‘Oh, this is the town that killed Jumbo’ joke.

“When I got there, I thought, ‘No, I need to treat this with a bit of respect.’”

And Jonny got a standing ovation from the largest crowd his stand-up routine ever attracted, last September at the Joe Thornton Community Centre, when he revealed his own, personal tribute to Jumbo – the elephant’s profile shaved into the back of his head by community booster Malachi Male, whose clothing line features the image.

“The haircut was definitely the biggest conversation piece I took home from St. Thomas.”

(Malachi, a Toronto hip-hop artist, moved to St. Thomas after discovering the town by accident. He’s been joined here by fellow musician Choclair, which Jonny calls “kind of neat.”)

Apart from Fort McMurray, Alta., which the program detoured to showcase following a devastating 2016 wildfire, St. Thomas is the largest community Still Standing has visited. “The closure of the Ford plant is probably the biggest loss of jobs for any one community that we have covered.”

Ford’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant in Talbotville shuttered in 2011. At its peak, the plant employed about 3,600 workers, but the closure also resulted in many indirect job losses through supplier layoffs.

But, Jonny says, he left St. Thomas in September feeling the community has bounced back.

“I think St. Thomas has a bright future,” he said.

“It’s such a car town, and the car culture is so strong there, I think that’s going to remain the No. 1 industry,” he added after interviewing former Ford worker David Matisko and current Formet worker Megan Dobbin, and vehicle customizer Offroad Addiction’s Lauren Galea.

And Jonny says he’d like to return as a civilian.

“Yeah, absolutely. I’d love to.”

Part of the show’s visit was a trip to St. Thomas Dragway to interview manager Jarrett Spriet and for a ride with champion mudder Dan Neeb.

“I’m a bit of a car guy,” admitted Jonny, noting the dragstrip’s Tune and Test nights.

“I’d like to come and actually check that out. . . . Maybe I’ll bring my car.”

Still Standing airs 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on CBC-TV and CBC Gem.

An afternoon of music

Brian Wilsdon checks in.

“So what does one do when they appear to have done everything?

“Tom Martin, 71, has 400 acres of land in Central Elgin. He sold seeds, he farmed, he is amazing with wood, built a new house for he and his wife Diane, built the wood table where he and his wife sit around with their family of three sons, wives and grandchildren on Sundays.

“He even built and sold 11 single-engine airplanes over the years.”

But for all the decades of work, there was a hidden passion in his heart, Brian says. Tom wanted to sing.

And after studying with Rhonda Seed and Brian May, Tom, who warmed up his vocal chords by winning a Seniors Got Talent contest late last year, is to be joined by musical friends Steve Sawchuk, Don Lunn and Madeline Carter to open Sunday in St. Thomas for popular local entertainer Jerome Thomas and an afternoon of favourite songs and Irish music. (Faith and beggorah, it’s already that time of the year!)

The show, a benefit convened by Brian W. for youth charities, is set for 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Central United Church. Tickets $20 at the door.

It’s also that time of the year for March Break – and the annual Springwater Maple Syrup Festival starting Saturday at the Springwater Conservation Area south of Orwell.

The event runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 14 to March 17, March 19 to March 22 and March 28, with maple sugaring demonstrations, tractor-drawn wagon rides through Springwater Forest and, as always, the festival’s popular pancake house (which, BTW, is cash only).

Maybe be sure to get there this year . . . with Ontario’s coming consolidation of conservation authorities – as if we needed another Thames Valley District school board monster-type of organization in our lives! – who knows the festival’s future.

Don’t get me started! I’m a little suspicious of who really is to benefit from the mega-merger of conservation authorities from 36 to just nine when the province says one of its objectives is “how conservation authorities can help get shovels in the ground faster on homes and other local infrastructure projects.”

(Well, I believe the government *does* have friends in the developer community.)

Anyhoo, the maple syrup festival’s full calendar is posted to catfishcreek.ca.

And as we hopefully emerge from hibernation, a sure sign of spring ahead.

It’s the roadside sign by Shaw’s Dairy Bar, which says the ice cream shop reopens lucky Friday the 13th this week with spring hours, noon to 8 p.m. daily.

Knowing your neighbours

What you find out by reading the newspapers!

Here’s from the Toronto Star the other day:

“Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff is calling it quits.

“Patrick Sackville, Ford’s top aide, is stepping down Friday ….

“Sackville, 36, who is married with two young children, has been commuting weekly from his home in St. Thomas, near London, for the past three years.”

You just never know your neighbours!

The previous item comes by way of a heads-up from former T-J colleague Wayne Newton (who now keeps readers well-informed by his regular Postmedia column covering the craft beer industry like the dew).

And as we’re chattering, Wayne happens to mention catching 125 Rooms of Comfort, that motion picture filmed in 1974 in St. Thomas, on YouTube.

By all accounts, it was a terrible early Cancon effort thatI think was made by people and featured people who later in life knew better and, thankfully, did better.

But I suppose you always have to start somewhere!

“I certainly closed my eyes for some scenes,” Wayne says.

All the same, he says it was nice to see the Grand Central Hotel and the Stork Club in Port Stanley, now both gone, along with the entryway to the St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital tunnel (which connected the hospital to the nurses’ residence across Sunset Drive). Of all the movie’s locations, pretty much only Mackie’s survives.

And before we leave Port Stanley, to note that Saturday’s 11th Polar Bear Dip at Little Beach attracted some 300 participants, and raised $101,584.53 for the cause, which is Childcan, a charity that supports children with cancer, and their families, throughout western Ontario.

Horticultural Society

The snowdrops are up and open in the garden, just in time for a return of wintry weather!

All the same, gardening is going to be on a lot of minds in a few short weeks in StT.

Here’s info from Richard Cartwright, who is secretary of St. Thomas and District Horticultural Society.

“On April 18, over 150 representatives from horticultural societies in Elgin, Lambton Shores, Middlesex, Oxford and Perth counties will meet at Knox Presbyterian Church in St. Thomas for the Ontario Horticultural Association District 10 annual general meeting. The last time that St.Thomas hosted was in 2004.”

Until then, Richard e-informs,  arborist Hunter Beamish, who is owner of Beamish Landscaping Services in our town, is to unveil the Mysteries of Pruning at the Hort’s monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on March 25 at the Canada Southern railway station.

All are welcome. Door prizes, a houseplant exchange, a mini flower show and refreshments will be part of the fun.

ericbunnellspeople@gmail.com

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