Category: Adventure

WHIMSY IN GRIMSBY

by BJM Publishing, posted in Adventure, Art, Travel

Grimsby, Ontario, is a town located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. It serves as the westernmost municipality of Niagara, situated west of Hamilton and east of St. Catharines. Bordered to the south by the Niagara Escarpment and known as the “gateway to Niagara” it is roughly 25-30 km east of Hamilton, and about 80-90 km southwest of Toronto and accessible from the QEW.

In this picturesque town is a neighbourhood of unique and quite extraordinary houses that will pull at the Alice in Wonderland child inside you. As people do live here; if you visit, you should be respectful of their properties and not trespass unless invited in.

“Collectively known as the Painted Ladies” – An amazing collection of a couple dozen century cottages. Each has it’s own unique, whimsical painting scheme. Today, most of the cottages have been renovated and have become year-round houses. They are colorfully painted in shades of yellow, blue, pink, purple, and green and meticulously maintained by their owner occupants. If you are in the area, you should definitely stop and take a walk around, maybe dip your toes in the historical beach a few streets away.

The Terry Fox Run

by BJM Publishing, posted in Adventure

The Terry Fox Run takes place September 20, 2026 and has been run by the Terry Fox Foundation continuously from 1981. For those who may not have heard of this amazing man I will give you a little background. He went to the Doctor because he had a pain in his knee when he was 18 years old studying for a degree in kinesiology. He was diagnosed with Osteogenic sarcoma, a type of bone cancer and had to have his leg amputated from the knee down. It was while he was in the hospital with other young cancer patients that he decided to run across Canada (using a prosthetic leg) to raise funds for cancer research. Running across Canada is not something you take likely.

Statue of Terry Fox outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario

Terry Fox planned to run approximately 8,000 kilometres (roughly 5,000 miles) across Canada, from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. His 1980 Marathon of Hope aimed to raise funds for cancer research, with a target of $1 for every Canadian citizen.

He ran a full marathon (roughly 42 km or 26 miles) every day. EVERY DAY! No matter what the weather. I was working as a bartender at the Richmond Inn when he came through Richmond Hill and went out to watch him go by. I don’t think I realized just what his destiny would be but he was definitely a hero. By the time he hit Thunder Bay he had covered 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles) over 143 days.

Unfortunately his cancer returned and he had to quit his marathon in September, 1980 and died at just 22 on June 28th, 1981. Terry Fox was invested as the youngest-ever Companion of the Order of Canada on September 19, 1980, in a special ceremony in his hometown of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. He is and always will be a symbol of hope for those who are touched by cancer.