George Mathewson
Point Edward Imperials?
The 21st Grey Cup game was played on Dec. 9, 1933 and saw the Toronto Argonauts defeat the Sarnia Imperials 4-3 before a crowd of 2,751 at Sarnia’s Davis Field.
All the history books say so.
But according to Lou Mattiacci, the history books have it wrong.
The gridiron called Davis Field has had many names over the years, including Athletic Field, Norm Perry Park, and today is officially known as Alix Field.
But was it always in Sarnia?
According to the Historical Atlas of Lambton County, the football field was located in the Village of Point Edward until Jan. 1, 1950, when it was annexed by Sarnia.
Last year, Mattiacci brought this to the attention of the CFL commissioner and executive director of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
“The residents of Point Edward,” he wrote in a letter, “ are quite proud of the history of their village and would welcome a correction to this footnote in Grey Cup history.”
Celebrity quote of the day
"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff."
- Singer-songwriter Mariah Carey
Sarnia gets around
Regular readers of The Journal might know its editor has a strange predilection for tracking down people, places and things that carry the Sarnia name.
New to the global grab bag are:
* Sarnia Japanese Gardens: A small park in Pinetown, South Africa with a grassy area, teahouse and children’s playground.
* The SS Sarnia: A British ship, launched in 1910 and reconfigured for the First World War as the HMS Sarnia, which sank after running into a minesweeper in 1915.
* Sarnia Road: A narrow street in Nanaimo, B.C. ending at a large elementary school that offers its residents a stunning view of the mountains.
The water of life?
I learned recently that vodka is a diminutive of the word voda, which is Russian for “water.”
Likewise, it turns out, the word whisky comes from the Gaelic “uisge beatha,” which literally means “water of life.”
And while we’re on the subject, the expression “shot of whiskey” has an interesting origin.
It originated in the U.S. Wild West, where a .45 gun cartridge cost 12 cents, which was about the same as a glass of whisky.
So when a cowboy low on coin walked into a saloon and asked the barkeep to exchange a cartridge for a drink, it became known as a “shot” of whisky.