Practices were at Fort York Armory in downtown Toronto.
The armoury was about 50 kilometers away from our house. This meant a few hundred kilometers a week driving to and from each practice. I owe Mom a lot for all the driving she did.
Our routine involved listening to countless hours of As it Happens with Barbra Frum on CBC Radio and the CBC nightly news. We talked a lot during these drives, good times.
On turning 16 I obtained my learners permit (365). By the end of the 365 days I had logged thousands of kilometers on the four lane highways to the Armoury and back home. I was one of the few that were not fazed when the drivers ed instructor announced that the next driving session involved Highway 401.
Our drivers ed instructor was a retired old school OPP police officer. Tough old guy with some really strong opinions. I’ll always remember two pieces of advise he shared with us.
First, if you can’t easily avoid it you can run over a squirrel but never run over a pig as the pig will roll your car. The second is kind of morbid and centered on the insurance costs related to a maiming accidents verses a terminal result. Only in the country eh? Ok back on track.
The Fort York Armoury is an old World War two practice hall situated just outside the CNE Princes’ Gates (google it they are really magnificent) and next to what was then the Molson’s breweries.
Having the brewery next store was great, we never ran out of beer which was a good thing. Being on Federal property we enjoyed a beneficial tax rate which equals cheap beer and liberal closing hour privileges.
We had an assigned practice space and band mess. The mess was really a big bar with benches and some dart boards. The building itself was huge and cockroach infested. Turning on the lights sent the roaches scurrying away to hide. You really never forget that sound. We had great dart players though – pity the roach that crawled across a dart board during a match.
Being from so far out of town and sometimes in no condition to drive, the mess served as an overnight crash pad. We had a routine – strip down to your underwear, seal your clothes in a bag and try to sleep with the lights on. There was always the possibility you would end up with crunchy stuff in your teeth the next morning. I know yeach!!! Thank god for the strong showers to wash away any remnants.
Come to think of it this first-hand experience came in handy a couple years back. A bug crawled across my keyboard and I experienced a Deja view moment. My boss ended up with my new friend taped to a note on his desk (deceased of course) thus starting the great cockroach panic of 2013. I’m not sure if he ever forgave me for that one as he became the lead for the eradication efforts.
The armoury is still there thanks to it being a Federally protected heritage site. The brewery though has become the site of high end condos, progress I guess.