by Bamsyn Burgmann
There is an old plaque hanging off the side of W&K’s Food Basics on Barrack Street. It is an understated plaque; much of the bronze has been rubbed away, and it is hard to discern most of the lettering. Facing a generously sized parking lot, it acts as a good-natured and yet noble reminder of the early history of Kingston.
The plaque is in honour of Orlando Sampson Strange, MD, one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Kingston. Born on June 13, 1826 to a Scottish merchant family, he studied medicine for two years at Queen’s University, which was then called Queen’s College. Later on, he was part of the group that founded the Queen’s Faculty of Medicine. Strange practised medicine for 30 years in Kingston, and became one of the governors of Kingston General Hospital. He died in 1909, and the aforementioned plaque was dedicated in his honour 37 years later.
1946 was a busy year for Canada, and Kingston especially. World War II had only just ended, and the Cold War was barely starting to lower in temperature. The Queen’s University Observatory was in the midst of being demolished to make way for McLaughlin Hall, and the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve was busily changing its name to the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve. In honour of one of the great men who built the town and enabled so many Kingston boys to be treated by Queen’s alumni overseas, Orlando Sampson Strange’s plaque was hung on the Barrack Street storefront where he had practised medicine decades before. The plaque was moved to the Food Basics on the other side of the street in 1974, when its original address was bulldozed to make way for an LCBO.
For the 60th anniversary of the plaque, the Kingston Historical Society has recently decided to move it to its original location, and to commemorate the move with an additional plaque in honour of the first. This new plaque will follow the history of the 60-year-old plaque, and describe the materials used to construct it. Quotes from the plaque will also be included, as well as historical photos of the plaque’s dedication.
The dedication of the new plaque will be taking place at 2pm on March 1st in the parking lot of the LCBO at 34 Barrack Street. Following the ceremony will be a reception hosted by Kingston Historical Society president Maurice Smith. “We wanted to preserve the plaque, to allow future residents of Kingston to be able to appreciate Kingston heritage,” said Smith in a press release promoting the upcoming ceremony. “We plan to restore the plaque in the summer of 2006, but for now, we’re just happy to return it to its original home.”
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WHITEHORSE – Stephen Harper has announced that the Conservative platform will include protection – not only of the traditional definition of marriage (the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others) – but also of the traditional definition of childcare, in a press conference Tuesday.
“Paul Martin is flip-flopping on this important issue but I refuse to do so,” said Harper, a creepy smile creeping creepily across his face. “I am not above capital punishment in the discipline of my own children, and I believe the same treatment should extend to Ordinary Canadians.” His aides later corrected him, clarifying that he meant “corporal punishment,” the minor pronunciation error being his attempt to fit in with the president of the United States and to patent his own string of endearing “Harperisms.”
The Conservative leader continued by describing his concept of the ideal childcare system. “Offspring would be entrusted to the care of the household nurse, and maintain an awkward but respectful relationship with their emotionally-distant parents. Parental contact would be constrained to 20-minute, daily ‘Compassion Junctures’ and uncomfortably silent dinners. To instil discipline within their tiny little bodies, males would be trained for the coalmines at seven years, allowing smaller mine tunnels to be built and putting off an epidemic of lung disease until they turn forty. Petty crimes by badly trained children would be punishable by hanging, with a side-benefit of reducing future gun-related homicides. And if our childcare dispensations aren’t enough, they can always be sold into slavery or prostitution.
“It’s truly a triumph of free-market economics.”
Mr. Harper also declared a Conservative return to the traditional definitions of education (with a focus on imposed Christian religion and discouragement of literacy), health care (scented amulets and blood-letting), and foreign aid (bomb the Japanese). When accused of taking the whole “traditional” concept too far, Harper responded that although he is in favour of the traditional definition of marriage, he is “totally okay with two chicks and one guy, because [he] once experimented with such an activity and deemed it quite nice.”
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http://www.stephentaylor.ca/archives/000409.html
Oh my goodness, did I just agree with a Tory? LOL
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http://www.obleek.com/iraq/index.html
I’d like to see them include Iraqi civilian fatalities, as well. It’d be HUGE.
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http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/chainspix.htm
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http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050620/2005-06-20T195442Z_01_N20542466_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-SADDAM-GUARDS-DC.html
which he would eat by sprinkling drops of water into the chips’ bag beforehand, the soldiers said. He requested a pingpong table but was refused, they said.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4570201.stm
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