ODDMENTS (3)

    My life is not generating much in the way of interesting material, so I will offer some bits about others who have far more to offer.

Xan Fielding

   I know about Fielding because he was a good friend of Patrick Fermor, of whom I am a big fan. Now that I am telling you about him, I will confess that I wondered how "Xan" was pronounced and learned that apparently Fermor would have called him "Zan." That Fielding is rather more adventurous and accomplished than I, is easily revealed in this personal ad he placed when in need of money:
It is found in The Times on July 31, 1950:

   Tough but sensitive ex-classical scholar, ex-secret agent, ex-guerrilla leader, 31, recently reduced to penury through incompatibility with the post-war world: Mediterranean lover, gambler, and general dabbler: fluent French and Greek speaker, some German, inevitable Italian: would do anything unreasonable and unexpected if sufficiently rewarding and legitimate. 

  He was among other things, a newspaper editor in Cyprus and ran a bar. He first met Fermor in "1942 as members of the Special Operations Executive, they were introduced in a vintner's hut in Yerakari in the Amari Valley in Crete. Over three years they developed a guerrilla force among the native Cretans and helped build an intelligence network on the island." 

Wait, there is more exciting stuff.

   "The theatre of war moved away from Crete towards the West. Believing he could do no more, Fielding applied for a transfer to the French section of the SOE. He was sent to an airfield camp twenty miles outside Algiers....
   Fielding parachuted into the Vercors in the South of France. However, in the guise of a clerk in the Electric Company of Nîmes, he was quickly arrested and imprisoned and was saved from the firing squad by a member of the Resistance in a remarkable rescue. At the end of the war he returned for two months to Crete and was then sent to Indo-China."

  For additional interesting material, read more about Fielding, or these books by him:
Hide and Seek (1954, wartime memoirs)
Corsair Country (1959, a history of the pirates of the Barbary Coast)
Money Spinner: Monte Carlo and Its Fabled Casino (1977)
Aeolus Displayed (1991)
Images of Spain (1991)
Hideous Disguise (1994)
  His name is also found in relation to these books (as translator): The Bridge Over the River Kwai and The Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation. 

Somerset Maugham

   Fielding is often encountered in the writing produced by Fermor. That is also where I ran across this next bit which allows me to balance out this post during what is known as "Gay Pride Month".  Admittedly, the Maugham material is less flattering then the Fielding offering, but that is not my fault. When Maugham's wife died, he reportedly sang "Tra-la-la, no more alimony, tra-la-la," which makes some sense I suppose since he was queer. Rebecca West called him "an obscene little toad."

   Fermor walked across Europe as a young man and later travelled extensively before settling in Greece. On this occasion he thought he might be able to mingle a bit in Maugham's circle on Cap Ferret. His stay was shorter than he thought, but from it, one does get a description of Maugham.

   ‘Paddy[Fermor] was invited [to Somerset Maugham’s house in the South of France] for lunch and arrived with five cabin trunks, parcels of books and the manuscript of his unfinished work on Greece strapped in a bursting attaché case,’ she writes. ‘Despite this inauspicious start, luncheon went like a marriage bell... so when coffee was finished I was not entirely surprised to hear Willie [Maugham] invite Paddy to stay and the minions carried in the trunks to a magnificent suite..." 

  But, Fermor did not charm Maugham, who characterized Fermor as "a middle-class gigolo for upper-crust women." You might want to tuck away this strategy if you tire of your house guests.

   ‘But, alas, that evening Mr and Mrs Frere of Heinemann came to dinner and Paddy, who never travels without a bottle of calvados, appeared more exuberant than one small martini could explain. The Freres left at ten o’clock. Willie saw them to the door, returned to the living room and said to Paddy, “Goodbye. You will have left before I am up in the morning.”

Admittedly this description is harsh, but it is at least a parenthetical one found in a private letter. 

(Do you know Somerset Maugham? He is 84, and his face is the wickedest tangle of cruel wrinkles I have ever seen and so discoloured and green that it looks as though he has been rotting in the Bastille, or chained to the bench of a galley or inside an iron mask for half a century. Alligator's eyes peer from folds of pleated hide and below them an agonzing snarl is beset with discoloured and truncated fangs, but the thing to remember is that he has a very pronounced and noticeable stutter that can seize up a sentence for 30 seconds on end.")
From: In Tearing Haste" Letters Between Deborah Devonshire & Patrick Leigh Fermor, ed. by Charlotte Mosley, pp.20-21.

The Bonus: Peter Fleming
   Xan Fielding placed the ad in The Times. Peter Fleming answered one found in The Times and it is also a source for additional interesting reading.

    Exploring and sporting expedition, under experienced guidance, leaving England June, to explore rivers Central Brazil, if possible ascertain fate Colonel Fawcett; abundance game, big and small; exceptional fishing: ROOM TWO MORE GUNS: highest references expected and given - Write Box S.1150
14 and 15 April 1932.

   Peter Fleming, the brother of Ian, is more interesting than James Bond. He supplies one of the guns and goes on the journey as a correspondent for The Times. The book, Brazilian Adventure, is the result and it is far better than the newer one about the search for Colonel Fawcett, The Lost City of Z by David Grann. If you would rather read about other places on the globe, Fleming can supply you with more books. See the Wikipedia entry, the source of the photo.

It is also the case that Fleming was the anonymous author of many "Fourth Leaders" for The Times. I also can be considered an anonymous author of "Fourth Leaders", in the sense that no one has ever read what I wrote about them almost ten years ago.
   Although there are books consisting of compilations of "Fourth Leaders", there has not been much written about them and, as a subject, information was difficult to research. There is still no Wikipedia entry and apparently AI doesn't troll deep enough to uncover MM. If you happen to work for The Times, or are a journalist looking for a topic, here is a good place to start for Fourth Leaders. 

Alberta and Secession

 Careful What You Wish For

   I generally try to avoid "BREAKING NEWS", about which there is too much, and most of it is bad. The topic for today is at least not about the bad news which is always breaking south of here.
  The issue for this post relates to one of the consequences for Albertans, if they choose to become tourists and, when visiting Canada, happen to get sick. Health care costs for Canadians travelling in Canada are generally covered and having a heart attack in Vancouver will cost much less for them than one experienced in Orlando. Thinking about that is enough to give you one.
  Although there are reasons to complain about "long waits" for procedures such as knee replacements, there are also reasons to feel grateful when we are asked for our health card rather than our cash, lots of it.

Health Care Costs
   We rarely think about them unless we are leaving Canada and wondering about how much travel insurance we need to purchase. Recently some dollar figures were attached to typical health care costs, along with the suggestion that Albertans might want to consider them. The retired doctor who provided them will probably not mind that I share them since he has published them in a few different articles which will be sourced below. 
   This article is from the Vancouver Sun, June 5, 2026:

"Independence From Canada Means a loss of Portable Health Benefits; Getting Sick While Visiting Home After Separation Would Prove Very Costly, Writes Dr. Charles S. Shaver."
    "Citizens of an independent province would no longer be under the Canada Health Act. 
   They would be by definition "non-residents of Canada" when seeking urgent hospital or medical/surgical care in a Canadian province..."

   Consider the following examples of rates set by health ministries for non-residents of Canada: St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver charges $1,355 for an emergency department visit, $4,690 daily for a standard room and $13,110 for an ICU bed. Vancouver General has a rate of $18,105 daily for the ICU.

   An urgent care visit at Victoria Hospital in Winnipeg is $1,452; a stay in a standard four bed room costs $3,066 per day.

   At Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, a standard room is $4,100 to $4,400 and an ICU bed is $6,400 to $6,600 per day.

   The Ottawa Hospital charges $1,249 for an emergency visit. A standard room is $4,323; an ICU bed is $9,594 daily. The Queensway-Carleton Hospital, also in Ottawa, bills $1,242 for an emergency or outpatient clinic visit, $4,005 for a standard room and $15,642 for the ICU...."

   After pointing out how difficult to get, and costly travel health insurance is, Dr. Shaver indicates that those from Alberta who need visit to a doctor in the province next door should note that:
   "B.C. physicians frequently charge foreigners 11/2 to two times the B.C. Medical Services Plan rates. Alberta doctors often charge foreigners two to five times the provincial schedule of benefits fee. MDs in other provinces do much the same."

    As I mentioned, variations of this article are found in some other papers and there may be one nearer to you that does not have a paywall. For example:

"Opinion: Provincial Independence and the Loss of Portable Health Benefits," Dr. Charles Shaver, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, June 6, 2026.
  "Separatists Risk the Loss of Portable Health Benefits," Dr. Charles Shaver, Hamilton Spectator, June 6, 2026

The Bonus:
  Curious about Dr. Shaver, I searched for more and found this piece which does not appear to be behind a paywall. It is an interesting one and he earlier provided some figures for the Quebec separatists to consider: "Dr. Charles Shaver: My Journey From U.S. Race Riots to a Fraught Quebec Referendum," The Chronicle Herald, June 9, 2020.

  The picture is from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. It is of Tommy Douglas who was campaigning here in London in 1965. "In October 1966, Tommy Douglas defined portability of health benefits across Canada as one of four major principles. These were enshrined in the Canada Health Act of 1984." 

Biking & Blogging

   It has been far too nice to be blogging, so again I went out biking. Along the way, I figured I could combine the two AND provide a public service.
    At this time, getting around London is problematic, particularly by car. There are people who have not left their neighbourhood in months. For them I present some new developments.

Towers of Spite
  Even on a bike, construction was an issue as I headed north. My efforts paid off since I was able to spot the "Towers of Spite", which are undergoing expansion near the University. The spiteful erections were erected around 2006/07 and they have now been altered to provide additional satisfaction and profits for the owner. 

   Those in the area who objected originally and provided the label, "Towers of Spite", are probably irritated again, but the winds have changed, as has the neighbourhood.

Towers of Hope

   If you have not travelled north on Richmond lately, you will be surprised to see that the dorms now stretch from the gates of Western to the river Thames. The new eight story building will house almost 800 students and include a dining hall, as well as a 4,500 square-foot fitness centre. Even better, it is closer to Broughdale Ave than the stadium, which means the students will not even have to cross the Thames to enjoy homecoming. Incoming students hope to get into this facility and Western hopes to be able to pay for it.

The Towers of SOHO
   Those who have not journeyed into the southern interior of London (this London, not the SOHO in the other one), will find that the old hospital buildings have mostly been removed and a new high-rise has risen along with some other attractive buildings along Hill Street. 

   The bridge across the Thames nearby is almost completed, but it may still be a while before you attempt a trip down Wellington Road.

Horizontal Towers of Rolling Stock

  Apart from the infrastructure construction that makes travel in London difficult, there are also the trains. I had to wait for this one for a very long time. It was also very long and consisted mainly of cars carrying what I assumed were various petroleum products which are in high demand right now because of events far from SOHO.

Sources:

  My photos are of the same quality as my prose. Good ones for the SOHO area are easily found. For a better one about the new dorms see: "University Drive Residence to Open Fall 2027," Finn Toporowski, Western Gazette, Jan. 7, 2026.

  The Towers of Spite are just off Richmond along Huron. Stories about them have been carried by the LFP over the years. For example, "More Units Proposed for Spite Site," Norman De Bono, Sept. 10, 2024.

The Bonus: 
  Just advice. Philip Aziz Avenue on the other side of Western is closed. It is wise to avoid going anywhere in London by car.

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 16)

 Prince Arthur's Tour -  He Visits London in 1869
   Apparently the "Blue Noses" were a bit rambunctious at this reception.

From: 

A Bonus:
   Also in 1869 one finds this Personal Ad in the New York Herald from a gentleman who wishes to resume a conversation. For another example of a personal ad placed by a Londoner see: "Lonely in London c. 1920."

Source: For more details see this book, Home to Canada: Royal Tours 1786-2010, by Arthur Bousfield & Gary Toffoli.

University of Ottawa Press

 Les Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa
   Although this is the eleventh post about university presses, nine of them were about those located south of our border. The tenth was about Wilfred Laurier Press (the links to the others are provided there). Readers should not overlook these book outlets since they often publish works of interest for those who are not members of any academy. 
   The UOP/PUO has been around since the early 1930s and has published hundreds of books in both English and French. Their mission " is to enrich intellectual and cultural life through the publication and dissemination of award-winning high-end trade and scholarly works in the humanities and social sciences..."
  As well, works of fiction are published as are biographies and autobiographies. In the latter categories, one finds a biography of the journalist Fulgence Charpentier. But, to illustrate that university presses can be surprising book stores, they also have published one about Bob Sliverman.

   "Few unknown figures have left such a lasting mark on the world as Robert "Bicycle Bob" Silverman.

   A true nonconformist, this tireless advocate for urban cycling lived an extraordinary life. Poet, bookseller, restaurateur, traveler, educator, gallery owner—but above all, a passionate cycling activist—Bob led his vélorution (a term he was the first to popularize in Canada) with authenticity, ingenuity, and boundless creativity.

  With his small but dedicated group, Le Monde à Bicyclette (MàB), and a handful of allies, Bob Silverman achieved the impossible. Over three decades, Montreal transformed from one of the least bike-friendly cities in North America into its cycling capital—thanks in part to MàB’s colorful cyclodramas, street theatre protests where members donned costumes to make their point.

  Silverman’s story reads like a film script. A poet and independent bookseller in the 1960s, he drew in a vibrant circle of artists, intellectuals, and musicians, including Leonard Cohen and Armand Vaillancourt. In 1962, he traveled to Cuba to join Fidel Castro’s revolution, meeting none other than Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Later, he worked on an Israeli kibbutz, becoming one of the rare Jewish activists to shake hands with Yasser Arafat. He studied in France and Spain, pioneered outdoor volleyball, and never shied away from challenging the status quo."

   Books about nature are not excluded, nor are sports.

  

   Another imprint from UOP/PUO - The Mercury Series - contains over 500 titles:

      "Strikingly Canadian and highly specialized, the Mercury Series presents works in the research domain of the Canadian Museum of History and benefits from the publishing expertise of the University of Ottawa Press. Created in 1972, the series is in line with the Canadian Museum of History’s strategic directions. The Mercury Series consists of peer-reviewed academic research, and includes numerous landmark contributions in the disciplines of Canadian history, archaeology, culture and ethnology. Books in the series are published in at least one of Canada’s official languages, and may appear in other languages.

The best resource on the history, archaeology, and culture of Canada is proudly published by the Canadian Museum of History and the University of Ottawa Press."

   The first publication produced by UOP/PUO was a journal and they still publish a few. One example will demonstrate again that interesting reading can be found at university presses.

For more information and to shop or donate go to their website: UOP/PUO. 
The Bonus: Those playing sports at the University of Ottawa are known as the "Gee-Gees."

Olde Posts Addenda (8)

  Since all of the news is "breaking" these days, here are some more stories which have broken and are related to older news items in MM.

Muffle the Mufflers
  In a recent post I mentioned that drivers of very noisy vehicles were, in some places, being fined (see: "Traffic Cameras"). I recall that many years ago, some of my buddies would install an extra tailpipe on their cars and on each of them, place glasspack mufflers which were very loud. More recently, a very loud car passed by me and, as it slowed, issued what sounded-like gunshots. It turns out that the noise-making technology these days is much more advanced. If you use it in London, you could be fined.

"Custom Car Owners Can Turn a Switch on Loud Exhausts, Police Say it's Still Illegal: Systems Allow Driver to Adjust Much-hated Loud Muffler Noise, and Avoid Police Attention," CBC NEWS, May 21, 2026.

  "In a video shared on the London Police Service's social media channels, Const. Greg Pearson gets down on his hands and knees and shines a flashlight into the exhaust pipe of an Audi he's pulled over.

  After his inspection, Pearson, who works in the London police's road safety section, gives the owner some bad news and two tickets, totalling fines of $220.

 "The sound emanating from this vehicle is excessive and unusual," he says on the video, using almost the exact wording from the section of Ontario's Highway Traffic Act that covers illegal equipment.

The fine isn't just for the noise.

  During his inspection, Pearson also zeroes in on an electronic device attached to the exhaust pipe. In one setting, the exhaust flows through the muffler and sounds like a normal car. When the driver flips a switch, the muffler is bypassed, and the car suddenly becomes very loud.

   "That's illegal," Pearson tells the driver. "You can't have that on the roadway...."

   Many car hobbyists like to hear the roar of a high-performance engine. Those trying to enjoy a quiet summer evening, however, often complain about excessive noise."

The Great Wine Burglary

   Large quantities of things are often stolen these days and MM  has covered some of the crimes under the heading, "Large Larcenies." My favourite thefts are still, "The Great Huron County Chicken Heist(s)", which have finally been solved. 
  Also ranked very high among my favourites is the theft of just a few bottles of wine, which can hardly be characterized as a "misdemeanour", since one of the bottles cost $24,000. Those are American dollars.
   This great story was probably missed by you since it was buried in this post, "Factlets (21 & 22)", where you will also find some photos of wine lists from restaurants where the corkage fees alone are far more than you would ever pay for a bottle. Go back and have a look at it.

   Last November a couple showed up at  L’Auberge Provençale Inn & Restaurant, which is in Virginia, not France. The woman indicated that she was working on behalf of a wealthy Canadian client who would perhaps book the restaurant. She asked to see the wine cellar. Her accomplice was wearing an unusual overcoat with deep pockets, in which he stashed a few bottles. As they were leaving, the crime was discovered and the couple chased. A few bottles and the woman were caught, but the fellow was last seen at an airport heading for Eastern Europe.
   The fellow may still be in Eastern Europe, but the wines have found their way back to Virginia.  The woman, Natali Ray, pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to 12 months in jail. The missing bottles had been delivered to Ray's lawyer's office. The owners of the wine think the $24,000 bottle of pinot noir is now likely worthless since it was probably improperly stored during the 145 days it was missing. 
"Nobody is going to pay $24,000 not knowing how the wine was kept," Alain Borel said."
    The male suspect is likely somewhere in Eastern Europe.

Sources:
  The return of the wine and the recent sentencing were reported in The Washington Post: "A $24,000 Bottle of Wine Was Stolen Then Returned," Dan Morse, May 18, 2026.

A Bonus Source:

   This story was also picked up by the reporters in the Kent seaside town where Ms. Ray resided, before her great American misadventure. Details about the crime are provided as well as some interesting items about Ms. Ray. The piece by Gerry Warren was found in the Herne Bay Gazette, May 21, 2026.

   "A former Herne Bay guest house owner has been jailed over an audacious fine wine heist at a luxury American restaurant.

   Natali Ray, 57, was sentenced to a year in prison after admitting her role in the distraction theft in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, according to The Washington Post.

   The creative writing graduate, who previously lived with her family in a property she had operated as the Bay View Guest House in Herne Bay, admitted grand larceny, possession of burglary tools and defrauding a restaurant or inn.

   The court heard how Ray and alleged accomplice Nikola Krndija posed as representatives of a wealthy Canadian businesswoman interested in booking a lavish dinner at the upmarket L'Auberge Provençale Inn & Restaurant.

   Using the fake name “Stephanie Baker” and wearing a disguise, Ray reportedly distracted sommelier Christian Borel with questions about the wine cellar while Krndija swapped rare bottles with cheaper substitutes, prosecutors said.

   The stolen wines, from the prestigious Domaine de la Romanée-Conti estate in Burgundy, France, were valued at about £30,000.

   Prosecutors said the pair had carefully planned the raid, parking away from the restaurant, using disguises and specially adapted clothing to conceal the bottles.

   Krndija fled and remains wanted, with authorities believing he boarded a flight from New York to Vienna the day after the theft. Ray, however, was apprehended in the restaurant car park.

   Judge Alexander R. Iden sentenced her to a year behind bars, although she is expected to receive credit for about six months already served in custody. Prosecutors had sought a three-year sentence, arguing the theft had involved extensive planning.

   The case took another bizarre twist earlier this year when two of the missing bottles resurfaced after being delivered to Ray’s lawyer’s office by an unidentified man, said to have an Eastern European accent.

   But the restaurant’s owners said the wines had effectively lost much of their value because there was no way to prove they had been stored correctly during the 145 days they were missing.

  Before moving to Kent, Ray had been raised in Leicester and later started a charity for orphans while living in an area affected by the Balkan refugee crisis, court filings stated.

   The filings also stated she enrolled in higher education aged 45, earning a first-class degree in creative writing at Canterbury Christ Church University and a master’s at the University of Kent in 2019.

   Her defence lawyer told the court Ray had no previous convictions and had spent the past decade battling a rare blood cancer while continuing chemotherapy treatment during her time in jail."

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 15)

 Guy Lombardo

   It is a cold and rainy day in London, but that was not the case forty-two years ago when The New York Times published a story about the Guy Lombardo Ball at Wonderland Gardens on the eve of the opening of the Guy Lombardo Museum. The title of the article may not be accurate and the Museum did not last, but it is worth remembering sunnier days on this gloomy one. Here is a portion from: "IN HOMETOWN, GUY LOMBARDO WON'T BE FORGOT," By Douglas Martin, The New York Times, May 21, 1984.

LONDON, Ontario, May 20 -- It had been a day of warm breezes and spring blossoms. But Saturday night at Wonderland Gardens, where thousands of colored lights twinkled and three shimmering silver balls hung from the ceiling, it was New Year's Eve.

 ''I want you to imagine it's winter out there and the snow is blowing and it's Dec. 31,'' the master of ceremonies said. Then, precisely at midnight, the dance band struck up ''Auld Lang Syne,'' couples kissed and everyone said happy new year.

  It was the first annual Guy Lombardo Ball at Wonderland Gardens, the now-fading dance palace where the bandleader and His Royal Canadians first played over a half-century ago. And even if London's most illustrious native son was only on stage as a cardboard cutout with a balloon taped to its hand, Mr. Lombardo was on hand in such tunes as ''A Sailboat in the Moonlight,'' ''Boo Hoo'' and ''My Gal Sal,' all made famous by the band.

   London, a town of 270,000 about 125 miles west of Toronto, was honoring ''The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven'' with the ball, a reunion of people including Mr. Lombardo's first piano player and his drummer for 56 years, and, most important, the opening of the new Guy Lombardo Museum next door to the dance hall.

   Indeed, the residents were doing the somewhat un-Canadian thing of crowning a hero. Unlike the United States, where heroes' faces are carved on mountainsides and Babe Ruth became a candy bar, Canada seems a bit suspicious of the heroic. Perhaps only Terry Fox, the young cancer victim whose 4,305-mile run across Canada on a route directly passing the new museum here, has been accorded unabashed hero status in recent years.

  Mr. Lombardo is made more difficult to categorize because it is tough to decide whether his success is Canadian or American. In his autobiography he said that he and his original nine Canadians were like ''characters out of Horatio Alger, seeking our fortune.'' All became American citizens.

  A sort of cultural schizophrenia was apparent in a short sketch prepared for the museum's opening. At one point it says Mr. Lombardo is ''the American Dream personified,'' while later it calls the Royal Canadians ''true Canadian heroes.''

  It is nonetheless a truism that many ambitious Canadians are naturally going to follow their dreams to a richer next-door neighbor 10 times larger in population. America's sweetheart, Mary Pickford, was Canadian. So was Raymond Massey, everyone's vision of Abraham Lincoln.

   And today, restless (or maybe just cold) citizens of this northern nation have made Los Angeles the third biggest Canadian city, behind Toronto and Montreal. From the television anchorman Peter Jennings to the singer Neal Young, Canadians are peppered through American life. A Part of New Year's Eve By any definition, however, Mr. Lombardo's success was huge. His was one of the the most famous big bands from 1930 to 1950; no one else came close to selling 300 million records, as did the Royal Canadians. The band played every Presidential inaugural from Roosevelt's in 1933 to Jimmy Carter's in 1976.

   Most important, from the time they began their New Year's Eve broadcasts from New York's Roosevelt Hotel in 1929 until Mr. Lombardo's death in 1977, they were as much the world's New Year's Eve as Times Square, funny hats and too much champagne....
   The 1,400-square-foot museum, built at a cost of about $100,000, is dominated by Mr. Lombardo's last big boat, Tempo VII, winner of a number of big races. Other exhibits are more meager, with Mr. Lombardo's violin, a trumpet and original Royal Canadian red jacket arriving only the morning of the opening. Most of the items are posters, photographs and press clippings, with an antique radio playing any of some 600 Guy Lombardo tunes. The museum's sponsor, the London Rowing Club, is still eagerly seeking contributions of more objects to display.

   But on opening day everyone's main object seemed to be to have a good time. The crowd was colorful, like a big party.

  Members of the rowing club favored tuxedos with different colored cummerbunds and ties; as the night air chilled a scattering of minks provided matronly warmth, and one local politician strutted about in a bright yellow suit with matching shoes. Col. Tom Lawson of the locally based Royal Canadian Regiment graced the occasion with his dress reds. All Want to Remember

   And everybody seemed to want to remember, particularly about Mr. Lombardo's generosity to the town even after he had traveled far enough not to have to look back. There was the 1937 benefit concert for flood victims here and a special concert at London's 1955 centennial.

  Students from Catholic Central High School played ''Powder Your Face With Sunshine'' on instruments given to the school by Mr. Lombardo. Most years, folks said, the Canadians were able to make it back for one concert.

   Elaine Gardner, Mr. Lombardo's sister and Mr. Gardner's wife, remembered that the name Royal Canadians resulted from the prodding of a Cleveland promoter. Lebert Lombardo, Guy's brother and the band's trumpeter, recalled that the band picked up ''Auld Lang Syne'' as a theme song when they were doing the Robert Burns Panatella radio show. (Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, wrote the song.) Stories were also told about Mr. Lombardo's legendary sense of discipline and decorum. Trousers had to have knife creases; drinking before or during a show was taboo, and a fresh carnation was expected to adorn the lapel of each red jacket.....
   At the dance, more than 1,000 guests, paying $10 each, glided across the floor like the old days. To at least one observer, the collective impression was that of a gracefulness such that everyone seemed at times to be gliding on wheels."

   On this bleak day, during a rather bad time, it is worth revisiting such an event and to remember that forty years ago Guy Lombardo was probably more popular than  the Canadian singer, Aubrey Graham, is today.

Sources: 
   The Wikipedia entry is a solid one and it even has a section related to the "Guy Lombardo Museum".
   "London, Ont., To Vote on Closing Guy Lombardo Museum," CBC Arts, Jan. 14, 2008:

   " It could be the swan song for a London, Ont., museum dedicated to native son and musical legend Guy Lombardo.

   London's city councillors will vote Monday on a staff recommendation to close the 1,000-square-foot museum.

   Called the Guy Lombardo Music Centre, it has been dogged by poor attendance, with only 400 visitors in 2007.Lombardo, a violinist and bandleader of The Royal Canadians famous throughout the world, was born in the city. The Royal Canadians were noted for playing the traditional Auld Lang Syne as part of New Year's celebrations in New York.

   Local heritage advocates said they're ready to fight the recommendation to close the museum.

   The closure would be a "slap in the face to Lombardo's legacy," said Barry Wells, an advocate for heritage preservation.

  The recommendation to close has not received public input or scrutiny, he told CBC News.

  The current facility needs to be expanded, run professionally and better marketed, rather than shut down, he said.

  The museum opened in 1983 and displays photographs, posters, video recordings, song sheets and the Tempo VII, an award-winning racing boat owned by Lombardo, who was a racing enthusiast.

   The museum was run by a volunteer board until 2001, when the city took over after infighting and resignations at the board.

   However, it costs taxpayers $27,500 annually to run the museum, according to Ross Fair, general manager of community services in London.

A city report recommends closing the museum permanently and turning artifacts over to Museum London.

  It says Lombardo's birthplace should be marked by naming a pavilion and walking trail in a London park after him."

   "A Bright Note: Guy Lombardo - A Series on Forgotten Canadian Legends, Patrick Maloney, The London Free Press, Oct. 2013.

   "Talk about an old acquaintance who's been forgot and never brought to mind.

   Those are essentially the lyrics immortalized by Guy Lombardo, who may be the most commercially successful musician in Canadian history -- and they serve as a mournful tune for his frayed legacy, a long note, fading into silence.

  "He represents music and the fulfillment of dreams," Nick Panaseiko of the Royal Canadian Big Band Music Festival, said a decade ago. "He is an all-around icon."

   Or, at least, he was.

   Born Gaetano Lombardo Jr in London, Ontario in 1902, Guy Lombardo and some of his brothers formed a big band that drifted from their Canadian roots to U.S. stages -- sparking a stunning run of success that's arguably unmatched among other Canadian performers (take that Celine Dion and Justin Bieber).

   It's believed Lombardo and The Royal Canadians sold at least 100 million records, though the group's boosters will argue sales were three times that.

   Whatever the exact figure, the dance band's popularity was stunning: From 1929 to 1952, there wasn't a single year the band didn't produce a record that hit the charts, many of them going to No. 1.

   But rock 'n' roll took root in the mid- 1950s, and a 1954 single that hit No. 24 on the pop charts was the last time Lombardo and his band enjoyed such a level of chart success.

   That, though, didn't spell the end of Lombardo's fame. He's perhaps most famous for having performed for nearly 50 years on New Year's Eve broadcasts enjoyed by millions across North America -- first on radio, then on television, until the tradition ended in 1976.

   They made the performance of the song Auld Lang Syne a New Year's tradition that still stands.

   Alas, more than 35 years after Lombardo's death at age 75, his name likely draws little recognition from Canadians.

   Even in his hometown of London, legal wrangling marred a 2002 attempt to mark the centennial of his birth, and poor attendance led to the shuttering of the city's Guy Lombardo Museum."