The first item I wanted to include in my chronology was a plaque I received when I first performed at Ontario Place. The plaque itself isn’t that big a thing – everyone in the group received one. Remember it’s about the memories.
There is lots of information online about what was then an amusement park on land reclaimed from Lake Ontario so I won’t go into a detailed description.
My most vivid memory of Ontario Place was of the first IMAX Theater. It was built into a geodesic dome and sat something like 700 people. North of Superior was the first movie I attended there. The close proximity to the 80 by 60 foot screen had you feeling like you were on a roller coaster, especially since it was filmed from the perspective of a bush plane’s pilot.
I still get queasy thinking about it. Probably is the reason I steered clear of the Bush Gardens roller coasters on a day off from performing at a Military Tattoo in Dunedin Florida.
More about this one later.
Back to the plaque though, at the time I was a Flag Bearer with the 400 Lions Drum Corp and this was a big time event for a pre-teen. It was a family affair – my sister Sue was a majorette.
Mom tells me that I hated carrying that flag and really wanted to be a snare drummer. I’d post a picture of me with the flag, mom has one, but I have an aversion to purple pants – maybe a reaction to too many hours watching Barney the dinosaur with my younger son.
Barney? – Google it and enjoy the show.
Next step: drum lessons.