Black and white and red all over - redux

I hope blushing suits me, 'cuz I'm doing it again! 

I entered a themed series in the #WalkSTC photo exhibit this year, and one of my photos was awarded the Mayor's Pick! This means that it will hang at St. Catharines City Hall. Pretty cool.

All of my photos were taken at the Niagara Wine Festival in 2016 - at the Grande Parade and in Montebello Park. I called the series "Sharing Special Moments." Quiet moments, private moments, sweet moments, joyous moments - captured on "film." 

Thanks to the #WalkSTC organizers for another great opportunity, and to Mahtay Cafe for the space for all of us to hang our work for the month of May. 

Pi(e) Day 2016

I won my invitation to Pi(e) Day 2016 in a fundraising raffle for a Syrian refugee family. Truly a win-win! A group of friends, who self-identify as the Asian Food Mob, have been holding Pie Day for several years, traditionally on Pi Day (March 14 or 3.14). These ladies (and a few gents) are seriously committed foodies, with strong design and organizational skills, and a wonderful aesthetic. I'd like to say I fit right in - well, except for the not being Asian part!

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Happy at Harvest!

I've just spent another blissful afternoon photographing in the Stratus Vineyards' vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. With virtually no leaves left on the vines, the vineyard has taken on a whole new kind of beauty, different from the lush green of a few months ago. Both are so alluring, as are the many stages in between.

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Dorval Days

I've recently reconnected with some elementary school friends through Facebook, and specifically through a group called "If you grew up in Dorval, Qc...You remember when..." It's been fun remembering the friends of my youth.  Today, one of the members of the Facebook group asked who remembered the John XXIII performance of Oliver! This is what I wrote - a memory of a friend I hadn't met yet! 

Have I ever got a great Oliver story for you! Some years back I was introduced to a charming, effervescent, well-travelled woman who had just arrived to live in Niagara with her kids and her husband, the new winemaker for Le Clos Jordanne. They had lived in Burgundy and in Oregon, but we quickly established that they were originally Quebecois, and that she had grown up in Dorval. Of smillar ages, we began to compare notes as to what friends we might have in common. Not as many as we might have thought! She went to John XXIII and I went to Dorval High. When she mentioned John XXIII, that got me going about how great their high school was and how they had so many facilities that Dorval High did not, such as the pool and the theatre. Then I told her about how I so clearly remember sitting in the theatre during Oliver! and looking up at this kid on the stage who was playing the Artful Dodger and thinking how amazing he/she was and what a fabulous opportunity these kids had with such a great theatre program. As I'm telling the story, my new friend gets a very strange look on her face. "I WAS that kid," she said. "I was the Artful Dodger!" I still get shivers. 

Mary Monica Delaney and I SHOULD have met so many times in our youth. Our stories intersect on numerous occasions. But we didn't meet until the Niagara wine industry brought us together. Good friends now, we are making up for lost time!"

Mary and her husband, Thomas Bachelder, now have their own winery project, called Bachelder. They are making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Niagara, Burgundy and Oregon. 

Black and white and red all over

Well, I'm certainly blushing and it's because of my black and white photography, so I think the old gag fits! I was surprised and happy to learn Saturday night that a series of my photos won the Grand Prize in the second annual Walk STC YOUR Downtown Photo Exhibit.

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