George Mathewson
The Journal loves a good quote. Here are 10 that caught our eye in 2017.
10 - “There was some pizza in the dressing room around the 6th period. You had to continue to put food and hydration into your body just to keep the wheels moving.”
Former Sarnia Sting forward Joey Tenute, on a March 12 Norwegian league playoff match that took 8.5 hours to play, setting a record for the longest professional game in hockey history
9 - “The city has taken away a very important piece of Centennial Park. For myself and many others, it seems reasonable to ask for it back.”
Resident Irene Tessier, 80, on the loss of the Dow People Place.
8 - “He said, ‘Mommy, I feel like I was born in the wrong body; this isn’t right to me.’ I thought, oh my gosh, where do we go from here? There’s no manual, no rulebook. It was very hard.”
Sarnia Speaks presenter Stacey Regimbald, about 14-year-old son Cody whose assigned sex at birth was female.
7 – “A few Point boys our age had grabbed different vines and were swinging out over the pond, bellowing Tarzan’s cry as they did.”
Jean Paisley, 94, who was among of group of Point Edward youth who began calling the wooded area on the east side of Canatara Park ‘Tarzanland’ in 1934.
6 - “I once heard a woman say to her daughter, ‘I love you enough to let you hate me.’”
University of Toronto social studies lecturer Garfield Gini-Newman, on the parental need to set limits for teens instead of trying to be best friends.
5 - “I’m proud to say we hold the record with five appearances at Bayfest. We sure do miss Bayfest. Any artist who tells you they don’t want to play in front of 20,000 people is lying.”
Local country musician Scott Manery, of Scott Manery and The Barnburners
4 - "I can’t stop. I’m still painting because no one has yet told an old lady like me that I can’t.”
Sarnia artist Jesse Rabbitt, 91, on her May solo show called “Why Paint?”
3 - “I remember being on my co-op and I stood at the top of one of the towers and looked down, and I was amazed. People think it’s so ugly, but it was beautiful. I can’t believe that we built that, you know?”
Artist Christina Graham, 26, who started painting industrial scenes after arthritis and a heart condition ended her career as an operator in Chemical Valley.
2 - "There’s no freakin’ way I would go for a bylaw that says you can come on my property and tell me what I can and can’t do with trees on it. And I love trees.”
Sarnia’s Brent Vachon on a proposed city tree bylaw council eventually shelved.
1 - “I put 200 resumes out since college and only had a few interviews. And I knew as soon as I met the employer at those interviews that they weren’t going to hire me. You just know. They look at you in your wheelchair and can’t see that you’re smart and competent … I cried when Bill called to say I was hired. I hung up the phone and I cried. I literally couldn’t believe that I’d caught my break.”
- Sarnia's Rob Hughes, who landed his first full-time job this year as transportation co-ordinator at Lambton Elderly Outreach