It's a maxim I've mentioned before and no doubt will again, one which sounds particularly poetic in the original Spanish: El pasado es un buen consejero, pero un pésimo compañero.
That is, "The past is an excellent counsellor, but a terrible companion."
Large doses of nostalgia aren't good for us. We likely all know someone whose vision is unhealthily backward, fixated on the past, either pining for former glories or ruminating over regrets. Facebook is a honey-trap for nostalgia, and lately I've been prone to indulging in it more than I should.
That's why I think these weekly toe-dips into the river of history have been particularly popular. They are the right dosage. They're just refreshing enough to enjoy in passing, without getting weepily mired in dusty photo albums and grainy VHS recordings—and 20 years back is the sweet-spot. Tots and teens back then are young adults now, and the middle-agers of 2005 are now, with luck, sage elders or elders-to-be.
Plus, after the week that we've just had? My god.
Isn't it nice to return to a time when the entire world wasn't thrown into fresh chaos every 24 hours by a despicable would-be despot in the White House, threatening trade wars one day, wholesale ethnic cleansing the next, and demanding the FBI's personal loyalty on the third?
(Speaking of which, be sure to check out John Swart's guides this week on how to eat just fine without buying American produce or meat.)
So, back we go, to the Voice issue of February 9 2005!
First, an update from last week, when we asked whatever happened to this sweetie-pie gymnast:
Well, it seems that the Carter family moved to the US at some point, since last weekend I received an email from Julia's mother, who now runs a gymnastics studio in Florida. She says that Julia, now 27, is occupied with final work on a Master's degree, but promises to be in touch eventually. Stay tuned.
So let's turn to this week's main mystery subject, one Miss Mackenzie Cherney, seen below with her dad, Rob Cherney, at a Sparks Girl Guides crafts evening:
Sparks are either 5 or 6 years old, so today Mackenzie would be at or just past her quarter-century mark. Any idea where she is, what she's up to? How about Dad? Let us know!
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On to the main, front-page story this week in 2005, namely that a special, secretive Town committee created to work out a "rec centre" development deal for the newly purchased acreage at Highway 20 and Rice Road, in Fonthill, had failed to reach agreement with a potential private investor.
Given that the deal fell through, Mayor Ron Leavens said that any future discussions would be held in public. The next step, said Leavens, was for the Town to apply for a provincial grant that could fund two-thirds of the new centre's cost. However, the subsequent mayor and council failed to do so, leading, 20 years later, to today's continuing Pelham taxpayer debt for the Meridian Community Centre, opened in 2017 at a conservative cost of $36 million dollars.
Incidentally, the committee that failed to reach a deal in 2005? Its chairperson was Stephen Kaiser, a property developer and property development lobbyist, who went on to be financially involved in what became that East Fonthill development—i.e., those 32 acres purchased by the Town in 2005. Now he's building a controversial six-storey, 48-unit, condo building, across from the Circle K at Pelham St. and Welland Road. Likely asking price per unit? A mere $1 million dollars.
Most opposition to this project, I will note, comes from neighbours who live in a nearby development that was itself the target of protests before it was built, a few decades ago. And so the cycle goes.
Speaking of cycles, how about six more weeks of winter? That was our favourite Fenwick rodent's prediction 20 years ago:
This year Flossie said that spring would come early, so fingers crossed on that one.
By the way, each Groundhog Day I find myself wondering, "How old is that furry Flossie costume, anyway?" Our 2005 Flossie story noted that it was her 12th annual appearance before the schoolkids. Now add 20 years, meaning this year was her 32nd appearance. Could the same Flossie suit have lasted all this time, three decades of Groundhog Days? Let's look at the evidence.
Above, of course, you see 2005 Flossie. And here's 2025 Flossie:
I'm relieved to report, Your Honour, that the evidence shows at least one updated rodent suit. I'm tempted to search farther back in the archives to see when it happened, but my wife is already giving me some side-eye. Moving on.
Next up, a Dutch university student hangs out at Star Tile:
From the story:
José Reekers, a university student from Holland, finishes a five month international business internship with Star Tile this week. Reekers explained that she is studying international business and languages at university in Holland. In her third year of study Reekers went to Spain to continue her studies and now, in her last year of school, she is required to do a business internship. She said she had the choice of staying in Holland or going abroad, so she chose to come to Canada to improve her English and to work with her family at Star Tile, noting Hans Baltjes is her uncle and Gayle Baltjes-Chataway is her cousin.
I'm guessing that José is pronounced "Joesy" rather than the Spanish Jose, as in Cuervo. Also, if Gayle Baltjes-Chataway looks familiar, it's likely that you've seen her and the rest of the Bandshell Committee posse on summer Thursdays, helping run the free evening musical performances for these past several years. And two years after this, in 2007, she was named the Kinsmen's Citizen of the Year.
Next up it's a fiery new executive for 2005:
On to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 613's annual Speaking Contest, with its participants and winners, with not just one but two Lalamas:
On the gone-but-fondly-remembered-eatery front, we have a nearly typo-free caption this time (I'm relieved to see that we mastered "restaurant" this week) for the Lazy Loon's Heart and Stroke Foundation fundraiser:
For any of you newcomers, there was once a restaurant where now lives Boggio Pharmacy, on Highway 20 at the top of the hill (the highest spot on the Fonthill Kame), and it was called The Lazy Loon, and yes, inside, particularly near the front door, if you listened carefully, you would hear a loon's call. One hopes recorded, not trapped in the attic.
If you were in the real estate market in 2005, you might have spotted this ad for the delightfully named realtor "Brian O'Brine":
I'm sorry to say that Brian passed away almost exactly 10 years ago, in January 2015, at age 71.
While we're on the subject, let's see what a moderately large, new home in Fonthill cost in 2005:
Yikes. A mere $309,000. The internet is silent on this particular home's 2025 value. Around the corner, though, a few houses up, there is an active listing today for an almost identical house. If you guessed an asking price of $1.3 million, give yourself a pat, then steady yourself with just a wee tot of whisky.
Next up we have some tartan-wrapped Highland dancers:
In the Classifieds, family congratulations were in order for a newly minted Master's in Education:
For several years, Tammy was an administrator at Brock University, as seen from her Linked In profile:
Sadly, and updated from when this story was first posted, we've learned from a community member that Tammy passed away in 2020, after a long battle with cancer. "I knew her all her life," said the reader, "through school and church. She was truly an outstanding person and is missed by many here in Pelham and at Brock."
Finally, we come to not just any happy place, but The Happy Place:
Geiss's operation, which is pretty much in the exact centre of downtown Fonthill (she later bought the building), has seen several iterations over the last two decades, and she's been on some ample adventures. We'll bring that story to you next week, as a sort of bonus, we-already-know-where-are-they-now edition.
And remember, if you can put us in touch with Mackenzie Cherney or her dad, let us know!
For now, I'm sorry to say, it's back to 2025. Hang in there, everyone. Permission granted for extra rum rations. For the next three years and 50 weeks.
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