Saturday Oct. 12, 2024
 
Search


e-Edition
Oct. 10, 2024

e-Edition
10 octobre 2024







REAL ESTATE LISTINGS

 



Natural Health Tips
Last updated Oct. 7, 2024





Upcoming events


ORLÉANS FARMER’S MARKET from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot at the Ray Friel Recreation Complex on Tenth Line Road featuring local food vendors and producers.

TAPROOM 260 presents the Al Tambay Trio live from 8 p.m. No cover charge. Located in the Orléans Town Centre on Centrum Blvd.

CUMBERLAND FARMERS’ MARKET from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the R.J. Kennedy Arena, 1115 Dunning Rd. in Cumberland Village. Featuring local producers and artisans.

TAPROOM 260 presents Groove Night live from 8 p.m. No cover charge. Located in the Orléans Town Centre on Centrum Blvd

ORLÉANS FARMER’S MARKET from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot at the Ray Friel Recreation Complex on Tenth Line Road featuring local food vendors and producers.

TAPROOM 260 presents Groove Night live from 8 p.m. No cover charge. Located in the Orléans Town Centre on Centrum Blvd.

 

 


VIEWPOINT: Wisconsin capital an oasis of diversity in rural midwest
By Fred Sherwin
Oct. 10, 2024

I recently rode my motorcycle to visit the midwestern cities of Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin.

Chicago, with its musical roots in both the blues and jazz, has always been on my bucket list of places to visit, while Madison was meant to be a side trip to visit a friend who I had met in Mexico during my first trip to Puerto Escondido in 2022.

After stopping to spend the first night of my journey at my sister’s place near Orangeville, I rode the remaining 10.5 hours through Southern Ontario, Detroit and across Michigan to arrive at my final destination in the windy city.

I strategically booked a bed at the Wrigley Hostel on the north side of Chicago to take advantage of the fact that it was just a block away from Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

What I didn’t count on was the fact that it was only a block away from the L-Train downtown and it was located on a designated residential street which meant that I could park my bike for as long as I wanted on the street for free as long as I parked perpendicularly to the curb.

I only planned to be in Chicago for two days. Unfortunately, the first day was taken up by the necessity to replace both of my tires. I probably could have extended their life for the return trip to Ottawa, but the forecast called for rain for the ride back between London and Port Hope so I decided to bite the bullet and pay for new tires.

That just left me with one day to play tourist and I made the most of it by visiting the Field Museum of Natural History, Millennium Park with its famous “Bean” sculpture and the Navy Pier. I even walked strolled along the Riverwalk promenade to get from Millennium Par and the pier. By the end of the day, I had amassed over 23,000 steps.

To top the day off, I went to the Green Mill jazz club just north of Wrigleyville and saw an amazing quintet.

The Green Mill is one of the oldest bars in Chicago dating back to 1907. It’s also notorious for being a popular hangout of Al Capone during the prohibition era.

Over the years almost every jazz musician of note has played at the Green Mill including Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie.

As enjoyable as Chicago was, however, Madison, Wisconsin blew me away. I knew nothing about Madison before I went there, other than the fact that it was the capital of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin was located there.

Being that it was located in the middle of the rural midwest, I had assumed that it was mostly white and mostly conservative. It turned out to be an oasis of diversity in the middle of what is mostly Trump country.

On the ride there, I gave up counting the number of Trump/Vance signs I saw, and not a single Harris/Walz.

The weekend I decided to visit my friend Allison in Madison just happened to be the same weekend as the Willy Street Fair.

The Willy Street Fair is a celebration of Madison’s diversity with food vendors offering everything from deep-fried cheese curds or Twinkies, to Chicken Momo dumplings from Tibet and Chitir Chicken Vaasa from Laos.

There were also vendors selling clothing and other items from West Africa, Mexico and Central America.

And the music was also phenomenal, including a tribute to Bob Marley, a Rolling Stones tribute band and a Prince tribute artist all of whom were from Madison along with several other bands like the Old Soul Society and the The People Brothers Band.

But it was the local residents themselves that completely took by surprise. Willy Street is vernacular for Williamson Street which is located on the east side of Madison.

The residents are a mixture of aging hippies, artists, musicians and every letter of the LGBTQ+ community. They are white, black, brown and every other colour under the rainbow. In a nutshell, they are all members of the enlightened segment of American society which the mass media tends to overlook.

I only spent two days in Madison, but it was long enough to fill me with a renewed sense of America the good.

Chicago was nice, but Madison made the 15-hour ride there and back not only worthwhile but utterly enjoyable.

If a future trip should every take you through the American Midwest, I would highly recommend a stop in Madison, I promise you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was.

(If you wish to comment on this or any other View Point column please write to Fred Sherwin at fsherwin@orleansstar.ca)

 

Entertainment

  Sports


Orléans author publishes first fictional novel, The Spanish Note

Ottawa School of Theatre all ages production of Treasure Island was wonderfully entertaining

Orléans native wins Juno Comedy Album of the Year


Cumberland Panthers NCAFA season off to strong start

U14 Panthers win OSFL provincial championship

Inclusive rugby program started in Orléans

Young Orléans golfer continues to build on previous success

 

Commons Corner


 

Queen's Park Corner


 

Local business

  Opinion

 


DYNAMIC FOOT CARE CLINIC: The first step to pain free feet

 

LOUISE CARDINAL CONCEPT: Interior design consultant

 

BLACKBURN SHOPPES DENTAL CENTRE: Committed to providing a positive dental experience

 

 

 


VIEWPOINT: When it comes to public transit, Canada is a third world country

 


Vanxiety_life #15: Navan’s vanlifers complete cross-Canada odyssey

Sections
  Services
Contact information


www.orleansstar.ca
745 Farmbrook Cres.
Orléans, Ontario K4A 2C1
Phone: 613-447-2829
E-mail: info@orleansstar.ca

 

OrleansOnline.ca © 2001-2023 Sherwin Publishing