Kevin Hilgers Blog

(Hit the title link above to see the whole story) Well we did it.   Christmas in Cuba.  Jan and I went December 23 – January 2.   Our eldest, Catherine – met us in Toronto on the flights.  

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   We spent the first few nights in a part of Havana called Vedado, a 10 minute cab ride from the Old Havana area.  We stayed at a Casa Particulares, a home that was legally a B and B.  It was a very sparse but clean and comfy home.  Estelle was a great hostess and provided a yummy breakfast.  She knew some English.   Her home was built in the 40′s.   We had Xmas morning here.  It was a pleasant end of town.  We strolled a lot and did restaurants,  all the usual stuff.  We really enjoyed the locals.  They loved to practice their English on us and eventually got around to asking us if we had any extra pesos.  It was common for this to happen.

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We then took a bus to the small town of Vinales, about three hours away.  Internet?  Yeah right.   Well, in one building they had it but it took too long so didn’t bother with it much.  Our hostess Gloria was a sweetheart.  I smoked a cigar on her roof while she made us supper. We ate lobster every night and she did a fantastic job with hearty, tasty meals!  Oh – we weren’t supposed to tell anyone it was lobster.  It was illegal for her to offer lobster.  She told us if anyone asked  – “chicken”!

She had a real enterprise happening with room for a few families.  We loved meeting a  family from France and enjoyed great conversation over meals.  The shower water was heated with a scary looking electrical device you flipped on while standing in the water.  Bedding was sparse but we sufficed.

We got hitched up with a local who took us for a day trip walk.  Little did we know it was 6 km’s to the caves, then 6 k’s back!   A tiring but cool day.   We hiked through tobacco farms and enjoyed some sugar cane rum and a freshly made cigar.

The tobacco farmers had  a crank device they put sugar cane through to get the liquid out,  mixed some rum in  then offered us some in metal cups.  All this in a little shed in the field near some small mountains.   After we drank and enjoyed we realized they just put the cups down for the next gang of folks who wandered by, and let them sip from the same cups, too!   No running water here!

We hiked for a full day – 5 hours. After a few days here we hopped on the bus again and this time stayed in Old Havana.  We didn’t have lodging so we splurged and stayed by the town centre square.  A very chaotic, loud area.  We loved it.  The hotel was called “Ingleterra” and featured tall, tall ceilings, every room was dark.  Electricity must be expensive. Continue reading →

In my freezer today I found a bag of fudge.  It’s been there for a few months.  Normally it’s nothing to think about but today it was.   It is fudge Grandma mailed to me and the family.  My Grandma Stasiuk passed away yesterday.  She was 90.   I last saw her a month ago, she lives 1000 km’s away so I flew to see her.  In the past month she had many, many visitors.  She was “ready to go” as she told us, and we all were able to visit with her in the last days.   Anyhow, about the fudge. For some years Grandma always made us fudge.   She would say “it was for energy because you are working”.  She made it for me, the girls and other relatives. Sometimes she would put it in our hands when we visited, sometimes it would show up in the mail.   I wasn’t a big fan of the fudge and the calories it contained – but loved what it represented.  It meant Grandma did something special just for us, and it meant as much to her as it did us.  As she got older there were many things she could not do any longer, but she could still make fudge.  So  a few times of a year a parcel would show up and there it was.  Fudge.  More fudge.  Truth be told sometimes we gave it to the staff at Jan’s office.   I nibbled on it of course.  We sent some to Catie in Montreal.  (Unbeknownst to us, Catie already had her own fudge delivered!)    It became something of  inside family folklore.  Jan and I and the daughters would often mention “Oh, more fudge!”  And we would laugh.  We would call Grandma and thank her and she would tell us how and why she makes it, and what it stands for.  “Energy for you young people”.   The fudge may have been a sweet treat, but it meant much more than that to all of us.  It represented something made from my Grandma just for us,  made with love.  It represented an excuse to call her and thank her and hear from her and what was new in her life. For her it was a  reason to connect with us, I guess.  I’ll probably never eat fudge again without thinking of Grandma.

So this is my last bag of fudge.  I’ll save some for the girls when they are home.  We’ll enjoy every bite and remember what the fudge meant to us, and to Grandma.

I’ll never have fudge mailed to me again,  but I’ll never forget how much Grandma meant to me from when I was a kid in grade school, to high school, to a married man, to a husband and Dad.  Through all of that she was always there.  I’ll sure miss that fudge.

 

Jan and I are spending the weekend in Jasper. Also with us is Becky from the office and her hubby Hayden. When we did this two years ago they got engaged. Who knows what will happen this weekend! Anyhow as always things are warm and cozy at the Lodge. A few days just four hours from Grande Prairie, but in another world.

 

Posted via Kev’s BlackBerry.

Jan and I are at Zone 24 & 32 Institute in London Ontario for the week, a training event for Rotarians.   Our Zone covers most of Canada , some of Russia,  Bermuda, a bit of the USA and the French Islands off Newfoundland.   In Zone 24 and 32 there are 37 Districts.   My district is Rotary District 5370.  This is a week of training and education.  In the group are 45 District Governors such as I,  all DG’s in 2012 2013.  So there are 45 “classmates” all preparing for our year and more.   There are around 400 Rotarians here in London all learning and enjoying.  One of the nice things is meeting people like Rotary International President Ray Klinginsmith and his wife Judy.   We lunched together. They are from Missouri, USA.

At this event we learned a lot.  For instance – young people in Interact and Rotaract (Rotary clubs for youth) don’t come to District Conference because – we don’t ask them!  Will work on that for my year!  We listened to a new evening Rotary Club trend.  A club for younger people, people with families, people young in their careers.  They meet at 6, food is an option,  child friendly, and more affordable. 

My classmates will meet again in Boston next August, and San Diego January, 2012 – as training continues down the road to the year we lead our Districts in 2012 2013.    A real honour to be with these people.  Not to mention – fun!

Other people here from our District include current DG Jackie (And Wayne) Hobal,  PDG Bruce (And Cheryl) Christensen, and of course DG Elect Harry (and Judy) Buddle.. and a few others.

Jan and I, being empty nesters – did a nice drive yesterday to celebrate the long weekend.  In Europe they would be astounded we would drive 600 km’s in day – but it was fun.

We started at 10 AM or so, spur of the moment.  We headed West to Beaverlodge, then cut across country towards the mountains.  Just before the Kelly Lake Indian Reserve we stopped for a few minutes.   The local farmers were moving their cattle across the road.  It was fun to watch them.   We then crossed the British Columbia border and onto gravel for 75 k’s towards Tumbler Ridge, BC, a coal mining town built in the 70′s.  It’s fate rises and falls with the coal industry.  We had a nice lunch there and from there went for a hike toward a mountain river.  Very Nice.

 

 

 

 

We then headed south towards Gwillam Lake, BC.   Gwillam Lake is where we camped a lot when the girls were little.  We loved it.  A mountain lake – it is deep and cold.  The campground was always quiet and remote.   BC Parks does a great job of their campgrounds.   The roads are paved and the place is well maintained.   When we got their the gates were locked at the road so we hoofed it from the gate all the way down, down, down to the campground.   It was quite a  hike but  a great day.  We had not been to Gwillam for maybe 8 years I bet.   We made it down to the lake side.  We hoofed around the campground a bit where we surprised the heck out of a forest ranger there doing some work.   It sure was a nice time in there.

 

 

 

We stopped for a beer in Chetwynd, BC, a logging town.   After that it was Dawson Creek (Home of Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway) and off to home for supper.

A fun day.   It was so windy we never did take the bikes off the car but that’s okay.   Good hiking.

Jan and I went to a Rotary campout BBQ this weekend at the Old Bezanson Townsite.  It overlooks a valley just 30 k’s East of Grande Prairie.   Not only did we have some fun – but the fall colours were breathtaking.  We did some cycling nearby, then went for a steak with the gang at the campsite.  It was almost hard to believe we were standing in front of this valley of colours.  I just had the cell phone camera with me but snapped a few pictures.  The weather has been calm and abnormally warm.  It was 22 degrees when we got there.  A great afternoon.

The Old Bezanson Townsite marks the original town site until 1914 when the railroad came through and decided to go 10 km’s north.  So the town moved.  All that remains are a few markers of where town buildings were, a campsite, and a beautiful view.

We are at a hotel in St. Adele, Quebec,  north of Montreal in the hills.  It’s an older ski lodge.   Quite nice.   Jan and I found our room on the older end of the hotel, no view.. and a  little small.   I asked the front desk if we could move as we are here for 3 nights, and she said “We have a large group,  so we don’t really have any other rooms suitable for you”.   Later that day I bumped into the General Manager of the hotel.  We had a great chat.  He was new to the place.  We swapped a few ideas, we talked a bit about Rotary.  He ended with “If there is anything I can do to  make your stay more enjoyable, please ask”.  I left and sat down with Jan and thought “Surely he meant it”.  Later I saw him and said “I know you are working to ensure your guests are comfortable as possible right?”   He replied, “Yes of course”.   “Could you find me a different room?”   He said “I will do my best.  We have some beautiful rooms.”  A few hours later we got a call and moved to a room with an adjoining living room suite/kitchen, and a view of the lake with 2 decks.   It doesn’t hurt to ask.  It doesn’t hurt to take peoples offers up.

We are in Quebec for a bit of business, some fun and tomorrow we see Catherine in Montreal.   Today turned very sunny and beautiful .  As always we looked for hiking and found some great trails reclaimed from old railroad tracks.

Our Inbound Rotary exchange student from Poland, Alex – is here and doing swell.   As I am his counselor, Jan and I host for a week or so before he goes to his first family.  He will live with 4 families through the school year.   Today we took Alex an hour north to Dunvegan – home of Canada’s 4th longest suspension bridge.  The bridge turned 50 years old this month.   We also had Ana come along.  Ana is the inbound exchange student from the Tuesday Rotary Club and is from Brazil.   Both students will be here for the school year.

An interesting moment was when we ran into some hunters at the gas station.  They were dressed in camouflage.  Ana was quite stunned to see a mule deer sticking out the back of the truck.   I guess when you live in Canada you don’t think of it much eh ? It was a sunny day and it’s always fun to see the area through the eyes of people from other countries.

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That’s what the man shouted in the lobby of the Delta Hotel in Kelowna.  We had just hopped off our bikes, locked them, and went inside.   I put my arm around Jan as we walked down the lobby and there was this fellow with his wife on the sofa.  He must have been around 70.  He looked as us and he looked at me and he shouted “You’re a lucky man! “   We laughed and I said “You’re doing pretty good yourself,”  and off we went.

We have been in the Kelowna area for a few days after being invited by Harry Buddle and spouse Judy.  (Harry will be Rotary 5370 District Governor the year before me, 2011/2012).  They have a summer home here near Oyama, BC overlooking the lake.  When they invited us for the weekend we thought about it for a day,  but – being kid-less now – thought “Why not!?”.  Friday we drove the 1000 km’s in 11 hours or so.  It was very smoky from  the forest fires.  Our eyes watered at times but it was a pleasant drive none-the-less. We stopped in Kamloops for a great bike ride…

The Buddles treated us to a nice boat ride and some fine suppers.  Jan and I went to Kelowna with our bikes for some great bike riding today and yesterday.   We compared some Rotary “DG notes”.

It has been a wonderful weekend and a reminder of how fortunate Jan and I are.   Two healthy kids now out in the world (Catie in Poland this week, then Montreal to Uni, Karly in Japan for the year on exchange),  healthy, happy and enjoying a great time of  life.  And me – I guess that 70 year old man is right.   Indeed I am a “very lucky man”!

We drive home tomorrow.

This morning we said good-bye to Karly at the Grande Prairie Airport. Karly will be on her Rotary Youth Exchange for a year outside of Tokyo, Japan. Her flight will be Edmonton, Vancouver, than Japan. In Japan she will attend high school, and live with 6 different families. Her Rotary District will provide orientation and guidance. Her 

Rotary Club will be her host club and include her in activities.  Her year at school doesn’t count so she will do grade 12 when she comes home.  Mom and Dad won’t visit during her year, this is usually discouraged.  Karly will spend a year most of us only dream about.  She will learn a lot about a new culture, a new language, and no doubt – a lot about herself.  We will miss her dearly but it is an opportunity she made for herself. After 10 months of training, youth exchange workshops, a Japanese language tutor, attending Rotary events and exchange training – she is ready.  Good luck Karly!