Only in Chapleau...

Sorry about the lack of activity, folks.  Things are a little busy in my corner these days.

In the 5+ years I have been in Chapleau, I have noticed an interesting local phenomenon.  I have previously lived in Sudbury, Toronto and Ottawa.  This activity is unique to Chapleau, from my experience.  I am referring to the act of stopping one's vehicle in the middle of a street (sometimes when there is traffic) to roll down the window and have a conversation with someone.  Even more extreme is the act of two vehicles going in opposite directions stopping so that their drivers can shoot the breeze.  Chapleau is indeed a very friendly place.  Personally, I find the usual nod or wave to suffice.  While this practice can at times be a little annoying (when the stopped car or truck is holding up traffic), most of the time I get a kick out of this local form of social networking.  Clearly, larger centres could not support this type of activity due to the larger traffic volumes.  I can't imagine people doing this on Lasalle Blvd. or on Steeles Ave.

I have a few questions to you longtime Chapleau residents:

1. Is there a name for this stopping and chatting?

2. Have people in Chapleau always done this?

3. Have you ever seen people in other towns doing this?

I am anxious to hear what people have to say about this.

Recycling update

Here are some pictures of a recycling depot in Hearst, Ontario, as promised. 

There are two such depots in town.  Hearst is a town of about 5500 residents on Highway 11.  Other towns with recycling depots on Highway 11, are as follows:

Opasatika - population 280

Mattice -population 772

I am not sure if any other towns along Highway 11 have similar facilities.  No doubt, a similar model could be applied to Chapleau.  No collecting would be required by the municipality, thereby reducing costs.

Something to think about in 2011.  We are already decades behind other municipalities in Ontario (and even the rest of Canada, I'd imagine) in having no recycling whatsoever.  Let's move into modern times, shall we.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all!  Let's hope 2011 is a great year for Chapleau.  I have decided to nominate someone as 2010 Chapleau newsmaker of the year.  For 2010, I choose Dr. William Pellow.  He taught us to care about politics again and to take nothing for granted.  Who will it be in 2011?  Only time will tell.