Flagging down Canada Day

Waking up at five in the morning may not be one of my most favourite things to do, well actually it's not on the list at all, but doing it for a good cause this Canada Day made it worthwhile.

At 6 a.m. I headed down to Leduc to participate in some flag planting with a fellow Leduc Rep sales rep and Bob and Sharon Buttar. Bob is the owner of Coldwell Banker in Leduc and he and his company have been secretly putting tiny Canadian flags in the front of every house in Leduc for the past 15 years.

The cat's out of the bag so to speak. 

I'm sure people have begun to figure out who has been putting miniature Canadian Flags in their front yards every Canada Day for the past 15 years, but thanks to me (hopefully) people will know who the devious flag planters are by next Friday.

Walking front yard to front yard on a somewhat chilly Canada Day morning planting the flags I found that I was actually enjoying myself rather than trying to hopelessly stay awake. 

I have never really done anything special for Canada Day and I definitely found it interesting to hear Bob talk about how patriotic Americans are for Independence Day while Canadians are pretty passive when it comes to our day. It made me realize that maybe I take this country for granted sometimes. I always hear people complain about how terrible Canada is sometimes and when you think about it how can you complain? We've got so many advantages over so many other countries yet I know that all Canadians have complained about our country one time or another. 

This unselfish deed that employees from Coldwell Banker and helpers do every Canada Day is a great symbol to what Canadians are like. Some of the helpers woke up as early as four in the morning to help with the Canada Day flag planting, which is a real testament to the importance of this annual event. 

I'm sure when people woke up in the morning they either loved the little flag or did not care at all. It's the little joys in life that make life worth living and being a part of something like this was great.

Interview with a draftee

I'm a huge hockey fan especially when it comes to the NHL. 

I live, breath and fart hockey all year round and my dream one day would be to exclusively report on a NHL team or just be around the NHL as a reporter.

On June 30 I got to interview a hopeful NHL player that got drafted in the second round of the 2009 NHL draft in Montreal.

Brett Ponich is his name. 

He was drafted in the second round by the St. Louis Blues at the draft this past Saturday. Being drafted in the second round is a pretty big accomplishment for the young man from Beaumont.

 

This was my first interview with any type of NHL hockey player so it was a pretty good experience for myself and maybe one day our paths will meet again on a larger stage. 

Stanley Cup maybe? One can dream. 

You never know how these young kids will turn out in the NHL once they are ready, so talking to them at a young age is always exciting because I could one of the first people to ever interview a future superstar. Here's hoping.

Ponich is a 6'7 defenseman with the Portland Winterhawks and God knows NHL teams are always looking for the next Pronger or Chara or even a less talked about Hal Gill, who did win a Stanley Cup this year.

Ponich will not likely see any NHL playing time in the upcoming season unless St.Louis experiences a bunch of injuries, but the young defenseman will get his chance in the future with the Blues. 

He could see himself playing alongside other rising stars like T.J. Oshie, Patrick Berglund and highly touted defenseman Erik Johnson.

Ponich told me how getting that call felt and who the first person was to talk to him about being drafted.

Getting a call from any NHL organization is a dream for many hopeful young hockey players, but Ponich got an experience that little others have had.

“Al MacInnis was actually the first person to call me and welcome me to the organization so that was really amazing that I got to talk someone like that,” said Ponich.

Being a NHL caliber hockey player is not easy to achieve. It takes a lot of hard work from not only the player himself but other surrounding him. According to Ponich and Debbie (Brett's mom) growing up in Beaumont and Leduc really helped him to where he is now. 

Ponich got his first taste of skating at the young age of four when he joined his sisters ringette team and from there the rest is history.

Ponich spent all his younger years playing hockey in Beaumont and for Ponich there were many influential people on his journey to eventually being drafted.

“One of my coaches Rick Hubbs was a great influence while I played hockey in Beaumont. He helped me become the hockey player I am today,” said Ponich.

Developing a hockey player takes a lot of time and effort from not only the parents but also a whole community. 

"Although it may not take a whole community to raise a child, it does take a community to raise a hockey player,” said Debbie Ponich, Brett’s mom.

Maybe once Ponich makes his way to the NHL he'll remember the interview that I did with him or maybe not. Either way it'll be very interesting to see where this kid is going to go.

Check out Ponich's bio on the Blues website.