TIMING & GOOD FORTUNE SOMETIMES COMBINE

In crokinole we call them Grandpa shots. These are shots taken on the crokinole board even by an experienced and formerly pretty good crokinole player, that go astry. They go astray and hit one post, knock your man off the board and then hit a second post before scoring the shooter twenty points by ending up in the centre hole on the board. Pure unadulterated luck. They are the bane of very good players who analyse each and every shot ahead of time to determine where the opponent's button will go after being hit and where their own button will end up after hitting the opponent's. .................................................................................................................... Sometimes environmentally you get a grandpa shot. In fact unless you have big time money and resources eventually that's all you have left is Grandpa shots. You study all the reports, you examine maps, you listen at public meetings that pretend to be honest public consultation, you pass on news to local newspapers in Elmira who ignore it 99% of the time, and once or twice a year you give a verbal Delegation to the Remediation Advisory Committee (RAC) which asks no questions or requests any clarification because fundamentally they a) are going through the motions and b) they don't give a crap. Afterall as far as they are concerned it's all been a done deal since the October and November 1991 sweetheart deals between Uniroyal Chemical and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE/MECP). .................................................................................................................. We've gotten a Grandpa shot recently. A couple of years back I received a phone call from Dr. Ron Harpelle from Thunder Bay. He wanted to do a Documentary about Uniroyal Chemical and Elmira and was I interested. I of course said yes. Interviews were organized including my recommending Dr. Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach, Susan Rupert and Dr. Henry Regier to Ron Harpelle. Henry attended an interview and commented but he preferred to stay out of the limelight. Time seemed to drag on but nevertheless it turns out that the effort expended by the film producers and by the participants has been extraordinarily worth while. For the record I absolutely did not recommend or solicit Darrol and Susan Bryant's particiaption in the project. Presumably Ron Harpelle contacted them on his own. ................................................................................................ The film premiered in Paris France on Agent Orange Day. Local radio and newspapers in Kitchener, Waterloo and hallelujah even in Elmira have stepped up and done their public service by informing their readers. People do care and sometimes the media think that it always has to be about something brand new. Or they have been intimidated by local power brokers. Regardless here in Elmira we've scored a Grandpa shot and all the status quo of silence, wealth, power and influence have had to cringe beneath it. Every dog has his day and those in charge better not forget it.