March 15th was a sad day for my home town Nestani. Our Mother Superior Markela passed away yesterday in Athens. She had lived at the monastery (Panayia) in Nestani for 38 years. The funeral took place today with hundreds of people crowding the monastery to pay their respects. Nestani can be seen here.
This past Friday I was at a banquet were I was one of the recipients of the Hellenic Federation of Ontario Scholarship. During the banquet a man was going around to each table greeting people and introducing himself. I didn’t recognize him, but one of my guests that night did. It was Joe Volpe the MP of the Eglinton-Lawrence riding and the former Immigration Minister of Canada. Even more interesting, on April 21st 2006 Mr. Volpe announced he would be running for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada:
The Honourable Joe Volpe, Member of Parliament for Eglinton – Lawrence, announced today his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.
He told a crowd of five hundred enthusiastic supporters that it is because of the Liberal Party that Canada is a great society – tolerant, accepting, where growth begets opportunity and equality.
Here is a photo I took of him that night:
A few more random pictures from that night here
First off, I’ll say I got a new digital camera today – the PowerShot Canon A540. It’s my first camera, and honestly it’s amazing. Besides the fact that it’s 6 MP, large LCD screen, etc. It has the ability to turn on and be ready to take a picture in literally 1 second. One of my first photos:
I was at the Starbucks at Erin Mills & Dundas today (in Mississauga, Ontario) and as always the cars here were top notch. It blows my mind how so many nice cars can be in one location. I took these photos within a 5 minute span.
Thats only a few – More here
I got some good news earlier this week; I’ll be one of the recipients for the Canadian Hellenic Greek Scholarship this year. The banquet to receive the scholarship is this Friday at the Cypriot Banquet Hall in Toronto. It’ll be a nice end to a busy year as the McMaster Greek Society president.
Update May 15 2006: Joe Volpe was at the banquet
Today we played a pretty nice course in Bolton called Glen Eagle Golf and Country Club. The prices right now are pretty reasonable since their operating under spring rates. The course is made up of three 9 hole courses, with 18 holes costing $42. We played the Blue nine for the front and the Yellow nine for the back. It was slightly annoying that the Blue nine didn’t finish back at the club house. There was a halfway house set up, but it was closed for the spring. We basically played (walked) 18 holes straight, with no break or food.
Overall the course was in great condition, the greens were incredibly slow and the rough was long. The wildlife in the area was awesome; we actually saw a decent size turtle walking through the fairway (moving from one pond to another). Around 7:00pm the bugs came out in full force, so be sure to keep bug repellant in your bag.
The course was built sparing now expense for hazards, both around the greens and in the fairways. The Yellow nine especially had five foot bunkers and heavy water on many holes. The holes tempt you to use driver off the tee, but the smart move is to be accurate with an iron. If you’re in the mood for a 40 minute drive out of Toronto, this is a great course with an impressive clubhouse and learning facilities.
Update May 10 2006: We just played this course for the second time in 7 days. This time we played the Red 9 followed by the Blue 9. The course was still as impressive and we actually saw a fox run across the fairway. I shot my best round of the year – 4 pars, 1 birdie — totaling a 90 on the par 72.
More photos here
