If looks could kill

Good old fashioned Hespeler stare!

Between Woodstock and Reagan[The great Hespeler Moped Crash of 1973]

The other day one of my student employees came into work all bruised and battered, so naturally I asked him what happened and as he explained that he wiped out on his mountain bike while riding home from work, my mind flashed back to an incident that happened to me.
It was in July 1973 when the great explore Moped crash occurred. I was 15 going on 16 and as such did not have a drivers license so my parents gave me the next best thing, they bought me a Moped for my up coming birthday. Not that they really had a choice as 5 of my friends already had one or were getting one for the summer ahead, so on a late June day they presented me with my Fire engine red Moped. That was the beginning of the summer of driving, I went everywhere on it, to kitchener, Guelph and points in between. Hell even some of the girls loved them and that made me even more popular[not a bad side effect to that]. But as in anything that teenagers set their mind to we got more adventurous on the bikes and soon were able to do wheelies like the big boy's, we even nicknamed ourselves "Hespelers Rejects", not a good name I admit but hey! We were teenagers. So all of June and July we terroised the streets of Hespeler and even the local constabulary'flashlight Freddie" could not stop us,of course i don't think he really tried that hard. And so July 26th came in to play.
It was one of those warm summer rain kind of day's, not hard enough or long enough to stop your fun but still damp enough for the average person to be careful while out on the road. And there was the problem, thought did not enter the equation. So off the 6 of us went that day driving down the hills and valleys of Hespeler without a care in the world and then Edward Street appeared on the Horizon and the challenge was made. I don't know who made the call but it was there, drive as fast as we van down Edward toward the valley and may the best man win. Everything was going good, I sat in a close third when suddenly just before the bottom of the hill someone went down and the rest of us followed, by the time we finished tumbling and sliding there were 6 mopeds and 6 bodies lying on Edward street, scuffed, bruised and bloody but we all managed to pull ourselves together get our mopeds off the street and survey the damage. There were no broken bones or damaged mopeds, somehow we all survived that crash. As we sat at the side of the road we all just suddenly started laughing and realized what a funny sight we must of made, six bodies and 6 bikes rolling and sliding down Edward. Needless to say that was the end of the day for all of us as we slinked off to lick our wounds and get ready to ride another day.
As for the rest of the summer , well let's just say we rode a little more carefully...Ah who am I kidding we did not learn our lesson and continued to drive as stupidly as ever. As for the Mopeds, well they lasted one more year as many of us got our drivers license and moved on to bigger and better things, but probably still did not drive any safer....And that my friends is the story of the Great Hespeler Moped crash of 1973...Drive safely everyone..

From the files

Some old Hespeler girls. From the war years. My Mom and her Sisters with her parents.

Fireman vs Police

This is from around 1969[ I'm not sure of the date, but it is in that area] it was a benefit hockey game pitting the Hespeler Fireman against the Hespeler Police. The fireman won 5-3 and i remember having a great time at it. In the picture is Jack Stark,Jack Westbrook and Jim Hillis[my dad]. During the game Police chief Fred Stewart was assessed a number of penalties including 2 minuets for speeding and 2 min for leaving the scene of an accident after two members of the fireman collided and fell down. My Dad had to use a goalie stick that was 3 times bigger than a normal one to hide what chief Stewart called the sure target caused by my Dad's awkward goalie stance,some called it bowlegged. The police were forced to use wooden pucks on penalty shots to make handling easier. I have no idea how much money was raised but everyone had a good time.

Ethics, Vegetarians and Uranus

Ethics are annoying, i avoid them on principle
Who are our enemies, who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution----Chairman Mao
My ship came in, but it hit an iceberg and sank

The only things in life that are unavoidable are death and taxes, oh and the occasional pedestrian
I love vegetarians, leaves more beef for me
Join the Army, meet interesting people then kill them

Good news: Your son has a girlfriend
Bad News: He is having sex with the married woman next door
Worst news: So are you

Laughing Stock:Cattle with a sense of humour
I get enough exercise just pushing my luck
I hate waking up grumpy, so i usually let her sleep late

If love is the answer could you rephrase the question
"Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes, there is too much fraternizing with the enemy"--Henry Kissinger

In Chicago it was once illegal to leave your Elephant outside at night.
"I keep waiting to meet a man who has more balls than i do"---Selma Hayek
Uranus is the only planet that rotates on it's side

Edwards/Obama/Clinton. The middle aged mod squad
Baldage: The accumulation of hair in the drain after a shower
There are over 15'000 miles of neon tubing in Las Vegas


And in parting
What has 75 balls and screws old ladies? A=BINGO

Now and Then

Me in 2007 and from 1982, where the hell did all the hair go?