It was a dark and stormy night...............okay, it wasn't.
But!! it was a grey November day when 6 Yahooers got together at Burty Bob's
2, in St. Thomas, Ontario. We all met to try to add a little ooomph to the
Christmas hamper program here, known as Christmas Care.
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First to arrive was Night_mom, from Missoula, Montana. Mom flew
over 2000 miles into London two nights before, where I met her at the airport
about 9:30 that night. No Mr. Canadian Customs Man...that is not a fire-arm....it's
a camera tripod!! Oh, the other stuff?..Can you say "Shampoo?" (I know our
guys are polite and don't carry weapons, but sheeeeesh, they can be sooooooooooo
dumb!!)
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We arrived at Brneyestoo's home, where Mom was staying during
her visit and visited for a couple of hours. Mom bearing gifts for Eyes,
and a pair of beautiful goblets and candles for Sang and Marsh's Christmas
visit.
After work the next day, I drove the 20 minutes back into London to re-unite
with fellow Indy Campers Nadine789 (best prepared camper at Indy), and her
cyber fiance, Sirluvsalot, who were staying at a motel in town. After loading
them into my trusty chariot, we headed off to Eyes' place, stopping only
briefly to pick up a couple of things at the grocery store. A couple of things
to Nadine means that I should have bought a mini-van instead of a Topaz!
No Nadine, you can't get beer or alcohol of any kind in Ontario Supermarkets!!
Arriving at Eyes' place shortly there-after, long time chat friends quickly
became New IRL buds. Having met Nadine and Sir at Indy, I made the intro's.
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Me and Brneyestoo
Best of buds!
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We hung out for a couple of hours over beers...trading chat stories
and remembering the funnies from Indy. I then returned the happy couple to
their motel and headed back home to meet Sang online and say the hellos that
were referred thru me.
The next morning, the caravan arrived at my humble apt. where I had coffee
waiting. Funny how coffee and chatters get along so well, but we all tend
to frown on mornings!! It quickly turned noon and we logged on briefly as
"SirMomNadM.T.Eyes" and had the regs room kind of flabbergasted. Allbeit,
very briefly. We took a few pics under my Longhorn Steer horns and then headed
out for the benefit site. I have to tell you, it was quite the rush to have
4 of my best friends, online or otherwise, in my abode at the same time.
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At the bar, while I sorted thru the assortment of donated prizes,
ably assisted by Brneyestoo....the others visited and traded more stories.
Sir spent his time working up his courage to get onstage for the first time
in a long while. The work-up wasn't necessary bud...ya did Excellent!!
B-cat came strolling in fashionably later, it's her style don'tchaknow? This
time, Eyes made the intros....B-cat, Eyes and I are getting to be the ultimate
chat meeters in this part of the continent I think, LOL!!!
Night_mom played the videographer for the afternoon at the benefit, getting
excellent footage of all the bands and chatters. All the musicians donated
not only their time and talents, but equipment too, for the afternoon's festivities.
Tons of still pics, some of which are seen on this page, were taken as well.
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Albert: Bass/vox, Me: Drums/vox, Tony: Guitar/harp/vox, Sirluvsalot:
Guitar
Sir could not be convinced to sing, even for the benefit!
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The finale to the afternoon was when I got the chance to jam with
Sir, onstage, along with a couple of other IRL best buds in Tony and Albert.
Hey Sir, Tony plays a nasty harp eh? (Eyes thinks he rocks!!! She told me
so!!) We grooved out on "Can't You See?", "Sweet Home Alabama" (thought about
Chici during that one!), "Before You Accuse Me"from Clapton, and "Statesboro
Blues" from the Allman Bros. I can't wait to get Sir onstage again between
Christmas and New Years!!! All we need now is a host band, LOL!!!
All in all, a great afternoon was had by everyone!
We finished our meet on the quiet side, with B-cat and I meeting Sir and
Nadine at the Burger King, one of my corporate sponsors, for dinner. Eyes
and Mom had to leave to take Eyes' little human back home to dinner and bed.
I must say that "Lil-human" did a great job helping the volunteers, (Nadine,
Eyes, and B-cat being 3 of them), sell raffle tickets and take pictures!!
Thanks Lil-human!! Couldn't have done it without you!!
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Me and Sirluvsalot show ya how a ^5 is done!
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Me, on drums, of course!
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After dinner, Sir and Nadine took off to return to Michigan. We're
making plans for another get together during Sang's visit to Canada at Christmas
time. B-cat and I retired to a different bar for an hour or so to catch my
old band, The Caledonia Blues Band do their Sunday night jam. We were both
pretty pooped by that time and called it a night. B heading out for the 1
hour drive east and me heading home.
You know you've had a good time when you wish it wasn't over, and can't wait
to do it again. For me, it's yes on both counts!
I must, at this point, say thank you to all the chatters that met that day.
We didn't break the bank with donations, but we couldn't have raised as much
as we did, without all of your support. Thank you. Also, thanks to the bands
that helped me as well. Abbie's Dream, The Cutting Edge, The Ridin' High
Band, and Backbeat! If you're in this area and you get a chance to see them,
please do. They're all great friends of mine and deserve all the breaks that
may come their way.
That's it from this end, for now anyway!! Can't wait till the next one. See
you soon, I hope!
M.T.
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B-cat, Me, Lil-Human, Brneyestoo, Night_mom, Nadine789, Sirluvsalot
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